Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) (14 page)

For another
hour, the Zaltule warfleet continued to orbit the planet and then two thousand
more antimatter missiles rained down upon the planet. Large areas of the
surface turned molten and the ground shook from earthquakes and reawakened
volcanoes. If there were any survivors on the surface, their remaining
lifespans would be very short.

-

“It’s done,”
Minor Overlord Gareth said without regret in his voice. “The Alishian
civilization has been destroyed.”

“Send our
ships out across the system,” Harmock ordered. “Track down every Alishian ship
and destroy every base or facility they can find.”

-

For hours the
Zaltule battlecruisers spread throughout the star system, seeking out any cargo
ships or passenger liners that might be in hiding. Across the moons and
asteroids, Zaltule ships cruised low scanning for any signs of Alishian life.
Occasionally a battlecruiser would pause and the surface of a moon or asteroid
would erupt with antimatter energy, leaving behind a deep and often molten
crater.

Alishian ships
were ruthlessly hunted down, and a few in desperation entered Fold Space to
flee toward Alliance space. Most of the ships were undersupplied and had no
chance of completing the journey. Other ships that lacked a Fold Space drive
tried to hide in the outer regions of the system using just enough power to
keep their life support systems functional. Unfortunately, this made the ships
detectable to the Zaltule and after awhile even those vessels ceased to exist.

-

“It’s over,”
Minor Overlord Gareth reported as Zaltule ships began reporting in. “All
Alishian vessels and outposts have been destroyed.”

Harmock stood
still upon the Command Pedestal. “What about those that managed to jump into Fold
Space?”

“Most will not
make it to Alliance space,” Gareth answered. “Those that do will spread word of
the destruction of Alish.”

Harmock felt
no remorse that he had in all likelihood just wiped out an intelligent species.
“The Alliance will hear of what we did to this star system. They will know the
fate that awaits them. Perhaps this will weaken the Human led Alliance and some
of their worlds will decide not to resist us when we launch our attack.”

“This system
had nothing to offer us,” Gareth said in a cold and uncompromising voice. “It
is just as well that this species has been eliminated.”

“When we have
conquered the Alliance and destroyed the Humans, the Kleese Empire will be
firmly under Zaltule control,” Harmock said, his feet making clicking noises
against the metal deck of the Command Pedestal. “At that time, we will
eliminate those races which are mere vermin and only keep those that can be of
service to the empire.”

“That day
comes near,” Gareth responded. “The Kleese are the superior race in the
universe, and the Zaltule are the supreme clan of the empire. It is our destiny
to rule.”

Harmock spent
a few moments gazing at the viewscreens, several of which showed the now
obscured planet of Alish. Its atmosphere was dark and menacing, laced with brown
and black. Static lighting flashed from the massive quantities of contaminants
that now polluted the air. It would be many years before life came back to the
planet. Until then, it would stand as mute testimony to the power of the Kleese
and particularly the Zaltule.

“Assemble the
fleet,” Harmock ordered. “We will go to the trading station in Sector Thirteen
to await our other ships. Once they arrive, we’ll launch our attack against the
Alliance and the Humans.”

Gareth moved
to obey. Very shortly all the internal threats to the empire will have been
removed. Then it would be time for the Zaltule to lead the Kleese race in the
conquest of the rest of the galaxy. It was the destiny of the Kleese to rule,
and all would know and obey the supreme race.

-

Fleet Admiral
Rivers stood in the Command Center of his flagship, the heavy battlecruiser
Independence
. The ship was only two light-years from Alish, and he was gazing at
the large viewscreen on the front wall of the Command Center in shock. Several
stealthed reconnaissance ships were in the Alishian system transmitting back
data on the Zaltule attack.

“They
destroyed the entire system,” muttered Commander Greerman, his eyes wide in
shock at what was on the viewscreen. “They dropped over four thousand antimatter
missiles on the planet and then ruthlessly hunted down every surviving ship in
the system.”

“They’re
animals,” said Lieutenant Sandra Brim from Tactical.

“Damn
spiders!” added Lieutenant Horace Rodriquez from his helm and navigation
console. “How could they do that? An entire race wiped out.”

“There will be
a few survivors,” Rivers said, recovering his composure. “A number of vessels
escaped into Fold Space, and I’m sure there are some cargo ships and perhaps
even a few passenger liners visiting other systems.”

“Not enough to
provide for a viable gene pool,” said Greerman, shaking his head sadly.

Admiral Rivers
nodded in agreement. He had brought part of Fourth Fleet to this region of
space to observe the Zaltule attack upon Alish. It hadn’t been practical to
attempt to engage the Kleese in battle as the fleet wasn’t quite ready yet. It
had pained Rivers to no end to watch what the Zaltule had done to the
Alishians. They had also come for another reason.

“Contact the
Ellipse
and tell Captain Johnson his mission is a go,” ordered Rivers with a heavy
sigh. Now would begin the dangerous part of his plan.

The
Ellipse
was one of the two stealth vessels in the Alish System. The Kiveans and the
Deltons had been pretty certain the two small ships would be undetectable to
the Kleese. Now was time for the hard part. The
Ellipse
was going to
close with the Kleese fleet and attempt to attach a number of tracking devices
to their hulls. The devices were constructed of the same stealth material as
the small ships and were designed to give off a single tracking ping once per
day on a specific frequency. With any luck, the Kleese would never know the
tracking devices were there, nor would they be able to detect the brief signal.

“Message
sent,” reported Ensign Martin Entz from Communications.

“Now we wait,”
Admiral Rivers said as he sat down in his command chair.

On one of the
viewscreens, he could see the heavy battlecruiser
Union
. He had brought
the
Union
as well as four regular battlecruisers as escorts. His ships
were hidden in the far outskirts of a small brown dwarf star system in a rocky
ice field of comets and small asteroids.

-

In the
Alishian Star System, the
Ellipse
received the message that her
clandestine mission was on.

“Take us in,
ten percent sublight,” ordered Captain Johnson. It was completely silent in the
small Command Center as if everyone was afraid that even their breathing might
be detected by the Kleese.

“Twenty
thousand kilometers from the nearest Zaltule battlecruisers,” reported Ensign
Howard in a soft voice. “No sign they’ve detected us. The Kleese don’t seem to
be doing any active scanning at the moment.”

“Why should
they?” commented Captain Johnson. “They’ve destroyed everything in the system.”

The Command Center became quiet once more as everyone focused on their jobs. The small ship
steadily drew nearer the Zaltule battlecruisers. On the ship’s two viewscreens,
the monstrous three kilometer in width vessels steadily grew larger until they
filled the screens.

“Twenty
kilometers to nearer vessels,” whispered Ensign Howard.

“All stop,”
ordered Captain Johnson, his eyes glued to the viewscreens. “Deploy the first
flight of tracking drones.”

Two small
hatches slid open on the outer hull of the dark black vessel. Six small drones
drifted out and then began moving rapidly toward the Kleese ships. As the
drones neared the Kleese vessels, they slowed and then crept forward, landing
upon the hulls. The drones were painted the same dark color as the Zaltule
battlecruisers, which would make them nearly impossible to see.

Once the first
set of drones had been successfully deployed, a second set drifted out of the
open hatches on the
Ellipse
and proceeded to do the same as the first.

“All drones
are attached to Zaltule battlecruisers,” reported Ensign Howard with relief in
his voice. “There’s no evidence the Kleese ever noticed.”

“Very well,”
Captain Johnson said pleased that the plan had worked. “Now, back us out of
here and let’s put some distance between us and those Kleese warships.”

-

On board one
of the Zaltule battlecruisers, a sensor operator looked closely at his console.
It was detecting an unidentified contact within one hundred kilometers of the
vessel. The only problem was the contact kept fading in and out. After a few
more moments, the contact faded away completely, and the sensor operator
decided it had been a sensor ghost or possible malfunction. Shrugging his
shoulders, the Zaltule decided the strange contact wasn’t worth reporting.

-

Back in the
brown dwarf system, the communications officer turned toward Fleet Admiral
Rivers. “The
Ellipse
reports the tracking drones have been deployed.”

“We did it!”
Commander Greerman said with a jubilant look in his eyes.

Admiral Rivers
allowed himself to take a long and deep breath. This had been the dangerous
part of the mission and even the Kiveans had felt there was a 40 percent chance
the
Ellipse
might be detected when they deployed the drones. It looked
now as if they had gotten away clean.

“The two
stealth ships should be jumping into Fold Space shortly,” Commander Greerman
added.

“Once they
return, let’s get out of here,” Admiral Rivers ordered. “With a Kleese fleet
that large, I have no desire to hang around to see what they’re going to do
next.”

Admiral Rivers
thought over what they had just achieved. There had been nothing they could do
to save the Alishians. At least their deaths wouldn’t be in vain. If the
tracking drones worked as the Kiveans and Deltons said they would, then they
would be able to track the Kleese fleet. Already a series of hyperspace
communication buoys were being emplaced around the Alliance. With any kind of
luck, they would have a two to three day notice of any impending Kleese attack.
Tactical wise, they had just achieved a strategic victory. Rivers just wished
there had been something the Alliance could have done to save the Alishians.
The failure to do so would haunt his dreams for quite some time.

Seventeen days
after their attacks on Airad and Haycen, Seventh Fleet once more dropped out of
Fold Space within range of their planned targets. They were on the distant
outskirts of a red giant star system close to three former nonaligned worlds.

“No contacts,”
reported Lieutenant Lash, the sensor operator on board the
Constellation
.
“I’m also not detecting any planets, moons, or asteroids.”

“Secure from
Condition One and go to Condition Three,” ordered Admiral Adamson. “We’ll stay
here for twelve hours before launching our attacks.” He was relieved that they
had made it this far without being detected. They’d been careful to only drop
out of Fold Space in systems with low probabilities of the fleet being noticed.

“Three systems
at once,” commented Commander Shepherd with a frown. She looked over at the
admiral. “Do you think it’s wise to spread our forces so thinly?”

Adamson
switched his gaze from the tactical screen to his second in command. Sandra was
a good officer and not afraid to voice her concerns. “It’s a risk,” he
admitted. “By now the Kleese know there’s a Human fleet prowling around in
their space and they’re bound to be looking for us. That’s one of the reasons
we came another fourteen hundred light-years deeper into their empire. They may
not suspect we would go this far into their space. Also, once we launch these
attacks, it’s bound to cause the Kleese to wonder if our ultimate target might
not be their core worlds.”

Sandra nodded
her understanding. “I wish we knew what was going on back home. I hate being
out of communications range like this.”

Adamson fully
agreed. The
Constellation
had the power to send a message back to the Alliance, but it would take several days from this range for the message to get there and
then two or more days for a reply. It would be too dangerous to remain in one
location for that length of time if they wanted to continue to avoid detection.
There was also the grim possibility that the transmission could be detected or
intercepted.

“Get some
rest, Sandra,” Adamson suggested. “Twelve hours from now things are going to
start to get intense.” That was when he would be sending the fleet to their
designated targets.

Commander
Shepherd nodded and contacted the ship’s third officer. Captain Swenson could
handle the Command Center while she was away. The admiral could also step out
if he so desired.

-

Captain Ryan
Nelson was once more in the Command Center of the assault cruiser
Deliverance.
He was talking to Captain Durham about their planned target and what they might
encounter on the planet. “This is an older nonaligned world,” Ryan was saying.
“From what we know of it, the people of this system were depending solely on
the neutrality agreement they had signed with the Kleese to protect them. When
the Zaltule came, there wasn’t even any attempt at resistance. The leaders
capitulated as soon as the first Zaltule ship dropped out of Fold Space.”

“This is a
unique system,” said Captain Durham. “There are two planets in the Goldilocks Zone
and both are inhabited.”

“We’re not
even sure where the Kleese are on either planet,” Ryan said with a deep sigh.
He had spent hours studying the information they had on the system. The
databases from the two captured trading stations were quite useful in that
regard.

Captain Durham
adjusted the screen they were using to view one of the planets. It quickly
swelled to a close up view of a large city. “This is the capital of the two
planets. It also has the largest spaceport in the system. If I had to make a
guess, the Kleese will be somewhere on it.”

“That seems to
be their normal operating procedure,” Ryan said, agreeing with Durham. The spaceport was quite large and had numerous large buildings on it and around its
periphery. There were landing berths for dozens of spacecraft.

They spent
another few minutes discussing the upcoming mission and then Ryan excused
himself. He wanted to get something to eat before turning in to get some rest.

-

“Come on,
Lauren,” Alexander pleaded as he twirled his fork in his mashed potatoes. “I
didn’t mean to put Private Richards in the infirmary.”

Lauren stood
up and put her hands on her hips. “Hand-to-hand combat using a Type Four suit
against a Type Three isn’t fair.”

“He needed the
practice in the Type Three,” Alexander said defensively, wondering how he was
going to extricate himself from this mess. Too often recently he was ending up
on Lauren’s bad side. This was another one of those unfortunate situations.

“Alexander’s
right,” Juan said as he munched on a ham sandwich. “We all need to be
proficient in both types of battlesuits. Camden made a mistake and got his arm
broken. It wasn’t intentional.”

“Sit down,
Lauren,” Casey said, feeling bemused by the situation. It was becoming more
evident every day that Lauren was becoming more infatuated with the young
private. “We all need to eat and then turn in for some rest before our mission.
Camden will be out of the med bay in another few hours as good as new.” Casey
knew a shot of the medical nanites would have the private’s broken arm
completely healed in no time.

Lauren sighed
and sat back down. She reached for her fork and speared a piece of cut up
chicken breast on her plate. Looking over at Alexander, who was sitting across
from her, she said, “Just be careful; I don’t want anyone else hurt
unnecessarily.”

Alexander
nodded and began eating again. He had gotten off easy this time, but he knew
Lauren would get him back sometime in the future. The problem was he hadn’t
intentionally tried to hurt Camden. It had been an accident and he had rushed
the private immediately to the med bay for treatment.

-

Ryan came into
the mess hall and, going to get a tray and a plate, proceeded to fill it. He
picked roast beef and mashed potatoes but only about half of what he normally
ate. Going over to the table where his friends were he sat down next to Casey.
“Anything new going on?”

Casey smiled
and nodded. “Just the usual. What did you find out about our mission?”

“We’re not
quite certain where the Kleese are on the planet we’re going to hit. I spoke
earlier to Colonel Winfrey and later to Captain Durham, and they both agree our
best bet is the main spaceport.”

“What are the
people like on this planet?” asked Alexander curiously.

Ryan leaned
back and looked over at Alexander. “Did you ever watch any werewolf movies when
you were younger?”

Alexander’s
eyes widened. “You have got to be kidding!”

With a laugh,
Ryan shook his head. “No, I’m not. The people of this planet are very similar
to large wolves that walk upright. Their heads are wolf-like, and they have
bright yellow eyes. They have hands, but also very sharp claws that retract.”

“How can a
race like that not be warlike?” asked Lieutenant Guthrie. Autumn was sitting at
the end of the table eating a large leafy salad.

“They were in
their early days,” responded Ryan, recalling what he had read from the
database. “They were so violent they nearly destroyed their world. Since that
time they’ve put their violent tendencies behind them and have taken great
pains to become a peaceful and productive society.”

“Until the
Kleese and the Zaltule showed up,” muttered Jasmine.

Ryan looked
back over at Alexander. “I understand Private Richards had a training
accident?”

Alexander
turned a little pale and fidgeted in his chair, not daring to look at Lauren.
“A broken arm; he should be fine by the time we deploy.”

“Accidents
happen,” Ryan said. “Let’s just make sure we do everything we can to hold them
to a minimum. We never know when we may need everyone to fight.” He wondered if
Alexander had been involved. He would ask Lieutenant Guthrie later when they
were alone.

“Yes, sir,”
Alexander answered as he took a bite of his mashed potatoes.  For some reason,
the potatoes didn’t taste as good as they had earlier.

“How much
resistance are we expecting on the planet?” asked Mary.

“Unknown,”
Ryan answered as he cut up his roast beef. “We’ll take sufficient Marines to
ensure we can complete our mission. Also, the
Defender
will be going
along as our heavy backup. The
Constellation
and the
Callisto
will be leading our other ships against the other two targets. We’ll be
dividing the fleet up into three task groups.”

Casey put her
hand on top of Ryan’s; at least at this table, she wasn’t concerned about the
others seeing this showing of affection. “I don’t like splitting the fleet up
like that; what if one group runs across heavy resistance?”

Ryan
understood Casey’s concern. “That’s why we have Admiral Adamson and Colonel Winfrey.
It’s their job to keep us safe and ensure we have the resources to complete our
mission.”

Casey nodded
and removed her hand from Ryan’s.

The group
continued to talk about the upcoming mission as well as what they would do with
their leave time when they returned to Freedom Station. Juan wanted to go astro
gliding again at Luna City, and Alexander wanted to spend time in Vesta doing
some fishing in the rivers and small lakes. Lauren liked that idea as her
parents lived in New Eden.

-

Later, Ryan
walked Casey back to the quarters she shared with Lauren. “I’ll be glad when
this mission’s over,” he said. “I miss spending time with you.”

Casey smiled
and looking up and down the short corridor was pleased to see that no one was
in sight. She stopped and kissed Ryan quickly on the lips. “I miss our time
together also. When this mission is over, I want us to spend some time with
your parents, and I want to see Wade and Beth’s little boy.”

“Getting
ideas?”

Casey’s face
blushed and she giggled. “Not yet, but someday, who knows?”

Ryan walked
her the rest of the way to her quarters and after saying goodbye, turned to go
to his. He allowed himself to smile. In the years he had known Casey, she had
come a long ways. Perhaps someday, when this war with the Kleese was over, they
could settle down in Vesta. He knew it would make his parents very happy.
However, that was quite a ways in the future. For now they still had a war to
fight.

-

Admiral
Adamson looked at the large tactical screen in the Command Center. He had divided his fleet into three task groups. He felt uneasy about doing this, but
if they wanted their mission to succeed, it was necessary. They needed to hit
the Kleese hard, and by attacking these three systems, they would announce
their presence in no uncertain way to the Kleese. It was bound to force them to
respond. If things went as planned, then Military Overlord Harmock would be
forced to pull his ships away from Alliance space to search for the marauding
Human fleet.

“All task
groups are ready for departure,” Commander Shepherd reported. She was in
contact with all the ships in the fleet over her command comm channel.

Adamson
nodded. “All task groups are to enter Fold Space as planned.”

Due to the
distances between the three systems they were going to attack, the three task
groups would be departing the red giant system at slightly different times.
This was to ensure they dropped out of Fold Space within a few minutes of each
other at their targets. That would prevent word of their attack from reaching
the other targets in time for them to summon help. Nearly all civilized worlds,
even those the Kleese had conquered, had FTL communication. Fortunately, it
wasn’t instantaneous. By the time any of the three systems could spread the
warning, the attacks would be underway or nearly over.

-

On board the
one-thousand-meter long troop ship
Defender
, Commander Greer was waiting
for the timer to reach zero. Along with the
Defender
, he had the
battlecruisers
Falcon
and
Firebolt
, five light cruisers, and two
Marine assault cruisers. Once they reached their target system, the two
battlecruisers and the light cruisers would be responsible for taking out any
Kleese assault ships that might be in the system. The
Defender
would
hang back with the two Marine assault cruisers, providing them protection.

“Two minutes
to Fold Space entry,” reported Lieutenant Alexis Dragger from the Helm. “Fold Space Drive is online.”

“How long will
it take us to reach Lymeth Three?” asked Colonel Winfrey, who was standing next
to the sensor console.

“It’s six
light-years distant,” Dragger replied. “At the speed we’ll be traveling, it’ll
take seventy-eight minutes to reach the system.”

Dylan nodded.
That was about what he had expected. He was a little nervous about splitting
the fleet in case they ran across a Zaltule battlecruiser or even a Kleese
exploration vessel. However, this three-pronged attack was necessary if they
wanted to draw the Zaltule away from the Alliance.

“One minute to
Fold Space activation,” reported Lieutenant Dragger as she prepared to activate
the ship’s drive system.

“The entire
fleet will go to Condition One ten minutes prior to our drop out from Fold
Space,” Commander Greer informed Dylan.

“How close to
Lymeth Three will we be?”

“Two million
kilometers,” Greer answered. “That will put us close enough to quickly engage
any Kleese assault ships there and still far enough away that we can withdraw
if we find stiffer opposition than expected.”

Dylan sat down
and prepared to wait. This mission was vital to the Alliance and it just had to
succeed.

“Fold Space Drive activation,” reported Lieutenant Dragger as she pressed several controls on
her console.