Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) (15 page)

The drive
activated and instantly in front of the
Defender
space became warped,
making the distance between two points considerably less. The more power
applied from the ship’s drive, the greater the warping effect was. The ship
quickly accelerated to a speed far in excess of the speed of light.

-

The
Defender
and the other nine ships of her task force made the transition to Fold Space
and vanished from the red giant system. The
Callisto
, under the command
of Commander Bree Symington, had left twenty minutes earlier, and now all that
was left was the taskforce under the command of Admiral Adamson aboard the
Constellation
.
Ten minutes after the
Defender
left, Admiral Adamson’s task force made
the transition into Fold Space, leaving the red giant system behind. In the
system, there was no trace of the Human fleet ever having been there.

-

Ryan was in
the Command Center of the
Deliverance
waiting for the ship to drop out
of Fold Space. His Marines were already on the drop ships awaiting the orders
to deploy.

“Drop out in
five minutes,” reported the officer at the helm controls.

“Are your
Marines ready?” asked Captain Durham.

Ryan nodded
his confirmation. “They’re on board the drop ships. I’ll be joining them as
soon as we go into orbit.” Ryan had decided that from now on his Marines would
board the drop ships just prior to the
Deliverance
coming out of Fold
Space. That way if something catastrophic happened to the Marine assault
cruiser, his Marines would have a chance to survive. Of course if something
that dire happened to the ship, then they would be in a very serious situation.

The remaining
minutes passed by quickly and then the
Deliverance
dropped out of Fold
Space into the Lymeth Three System.

“Energy screen
is coming online,” reported Lieutenant Samuel Michaels from Tactical. “Weapons
are powering up and should be available shortly.”

“Contacts!”
called out Ensign Edwards sharply from her sensor console.

“How many and
what are they?” demanded Captain Durham, sitting up straighter in his command
chair. He had expected there to be some civilian ships in the system as well as
possibly a few Kleese assault ships.

“I’m detecting
twelve Kleese assault ships in orbit around Lymeth Three,” Edwards replied.
Alarms suddenly began sounding on his sensor console. “Holy crap! I’ve got
Zaltule battlecruisers dropping out of Fold Space all around us!”

Captain Durham
took a deep breath as his eyes shifted to the tactical screen. Red threat icons
were blinking into existence all around the Human fleet.

“How long
before we can jump back into Fold Space?” he demanded as he stood up and stared
intently at the tactical screen, which was coming alive with even more red
threat icons.

“Two minutes,”
the helm officer replied as his hands flew over his panel. “I’m recharging the
drive now.”

“A trap,” Ryan
said. Somehow, the Zaltule had figured out where the fleet was heading and had
been waiting for them. He looked around the Command Center uneasily seeing the
sudden increase in tension.

“Orders from
the
Defender
,” called out Ensign Ernst from Communications. “We’re to
engage the nearest Zaltule battlecruiser until we can enter Fold Space. Once
our drive is charged, we’re to withdraw and head to the rendezvous
coordinates.”

“A Marine
assault cruiser against one of those,” muttered Captain Durham unhappily.
“Lieutenant Michaels, I want all available energy applied to our defense
shield. I need two minutes so we can escape.”

“You’ll have
it, sir,” Michaels promised.

-

Commander
Greer grasped the edge of his command chair as the
Defender
shook
violently. “Status!”

“Energy shield
is at 62 percent,” reported Lieutenant Craig Coleman from Tactical.

“How many
Zaltule battlecruisers are we facing?”

“One hundred
and three,” reported Ensign Martin Walton from his sensor console. “They’ve
englobed us and are concentrating their fire on our ships.”

Commander
Greer turned toward Colonel Winfrey, who was standing close by. “Have all of
your Marines put on their battlesuits in case parts of the ship suffers a hull
breach.”

“I’ve already
sent the order,” Dylan replied evenly. He knew they were in a precarious
situation. He wondered how the hell the Kleese had figured out where they were
going, or was this just a coincidence? Either way, he knew they were in
trouble.

-

Kleese Minor
Overlord Matol gazed at the large tactical screen with satisfaction. War
Overlord Tetus had been correct on where the Human fleet would appear. Tetus had
spread fifteen fleets of one hundred ships each across the former nonaligned
worlds in this region. Matol was pleased it was his fleet that would have the
privilege of eliminating this pest from Kleese space. He didn’t share Supreme
Military Overlord Harmock’s opinion that the Humans were as great as the
Zaltule in combat. He was about to demonstrate that very decisively.

“Ten Human
ships detected,” reported the Zaltule at the sensor console.

“Order all
ships to target their Fold Space Drives. That will prevent them from escaping.”
Matol stood upon the Command Pedestal, knowing he would soon have a victory
over the Humans. Perhaps the Supreme Military Overlord would see fit to raise
his status to that of a full overlord with greater responsibility.

-

In space, the
Zaltule had the Human fleet exactly where they wanted them. The orders were
quickly sent to disable the Human Fold Space Drives so they couldn’t escape.
Weapons fire erupted between the two fleets, and hundreds of deadly beams of
energy filled space with their destructive power.

-

Zaltule energy
beams and pulse fusion beams were pummeling the shields of the ten Human
vessels. One of the light cruisers was being heavily targeted, and its energy
shield was radiating higher and higher as it attempted to shrug off the vicious
attack. The ship’s screen had never been designed to withstand such an
overwhelming assault. A single pulse fusion beam managed to penetrate a
weakening section of the screen and struck the armored hull. It drilled deep
into the ship’s interior, tearing through multiple compartments. Emergency
bulkheads slammed shut and repair crews hurriedly rushed to the affected areas.
In the Command Center alarms sounded and numerous red lights began appearing on
the damage control console.

Another beam
penetrated, raking the hull and creating a gash two meters wide and forty
meters long. Several explosions from inside the ship tore large pieces of the
hull loose, causing them to drift away from the ship. Then a Zaltule antimatter
missile struck and the light cruiser was turned into a miniature sun, killing
all on board instantly.

-

Commander
Greer saw a brilliant flash of light on one of the viewscreens. “What was
that?”

“The light
cruiser
Corvus
is down,” reported Ensign Walton grimly.

“We have
additional ships reporting severe damage,” added Captain Alicia Damon as she
listened to the communications from the other vessels over the command
frequency. “It’s going to be a good minute before we can enter Fold Space. Some
of the ships aren’t going to make it.”

The
Defender
shook again and several warning alarms began sounding. Red lights appeared on
the damage control console.

“Colonel
Winfrey, I would suggest you return to your Marines and put on your
battlesuit,” Commander Greer said in a calm voice.

Dylan started
to argue but from the icy look upon Commander Greer’s face, he knew it would be
wasted. “Good luck, Commander.” Dylan turned and sprinted from the Command Center.

“Damage?”
asked Commander Greer, staring directly into Captain Damon’s eyes, seeing the
look of deep concern on her face. He knew the report wouldn’t be good.

“Our Fold Space Drive’s been damaged,” she said in a strained voice. “It was a glancing hit. The
Chief Engineer says it will take at least an hour to repair.”

“The Marine assault
cruisers are entering Fold Space,” reported Ensign Walton.

Another flash
of light lit up another one of the viewscreens.

“Light Cruiser
Ajax
is down,” reported Walton. “The rest of the light cruisers are
jumping.”

The
Falcon
and
Firebolt
are moving in to cover us,” added Captain Damon. “Commander
Melvin on the
Falcon
wants to know the situation with our Fold Space Drive.”

Looking at the
viewscreens, Commander Greer could see the two battlecruisers. The
Firebolt
had a jagged hole in her side and numerous weapon turrets had either been
disabled or destroyed.

“Commander
Strand is reporting that the
Firebolt’s
Fold Space Drive has been
destroyed and is not repairable,” Captain Damon said in a tense voice.

Commander
Greer knew he had no choice. “Inform Commander Melvin of our drive status. The
Falcon
is to make the transition into Fold Space immediately. The
Firebolt
is
to follow us to the planet.”

“Message
sent.”

“Helm, take us
to Lymeth Three. We’re going to attempt to land at the spaceport.”

“Land?” choked
out Captain Damon, her eyes bulging. “The
Defender
wasn’t designed to
land on the surface of a planet!”

“If we don’t
land, we’re dead,” Commander Greer answered simply. “At least on the planet, we
can give Colonel Winfrey and his Marines a chance.”

-

Minor Overlord
Matol stared in anger at the tactical screen as a number of the Human ships
escaped into Fold Space. Their energy screens were far more powerful than he
had expected. He had managed to destroy two of their smaller warships and
seriously damage a couple of the larger ones. The two larger ones were still
there and it was obvious their Fold Space Drives were nonfunctional. He could
still achieve a strategic victory if he could destroy the two Human ships.

“Concentrate
our fire on those last two Human warships; I want them destroyed!”

-

The
Firebolt
and the
Defender
were the only two Human ships left in the system. The
Zaltule were pouring heavy weapons fire into the two ships trying to overload
their shields.

Commander Lynn
Strand on the
Firebolt
felt her vessel shake violently as if struck by a
giant fist. She knew there was no way the battlecruiser could land on the
planet; the damage to the ship was too severe.

“Shield it at
32 percent,” reported Lieutenant Vardes from Tactical. “It’s not going to last
more than another minute.”

Commander
Strand took a deep breath and pointed to a viewscreen showing three Zaltule
battlecruisers that blocked their path to the planet. “Lieutenant Vardes, I
want a full spread of our multi-warhead missiles on those targets. Then reload
the tubes and hit them again. We need to clear a path for the
Defender
.”

“Yes,
Commander,” Vardes replied as his hands flew over his console and he spoke to
the other weapon officers sitting next to him.

The
Firebolt
shook again and the lights dimmed and then brightened. More alarms began
sounding and additional bright red lights began appearing on the damage control
console. Too many lights!

Commander
Strand knew her ship was dying around her and there was nothing she could do.
She drew in a deep breath and leaned forward, gazing at the three Zaltule ships
that blocked their path to the planet.

“Missiles
launched,” reported Lieutenant Vardes.

-

In space,
twelve multi-warhead missiles streaked at sublight speeds toward three Zaltule
battlecruisers. In addition, the
Firebolt
was firing her four particle
beam cannons as well as all eight of her remaining pulse fusion turrets. Each
missile contained six twenty-megaton antimatter warheads. They struck the
Zaltule energy shields and detonated with a violence that threatened to bring
them down.

For a brief moment,
the Zaltule ships were obscured by the brilliant flashes of light. The energy
released by the antimatter warheads did cause a few short-lived holes to form
in the shields. Through those holes particle beams flashed, striking the hulls
of several of the Zaltule ships and blasting out deep, glowing crevasses.
Moments later the next wave of missiles arrived. One of the missiles flashed
through a Zaltule energy screen, and the battlecruiser vanished as six
antimatter explosions blew it apart.

-

“Zaltule
battlecruiser is down,” reported the lieutenant at the sensor console. “The
other two battlecruisers are damaged and pulling back.”

The
Firebolt
suddenly shook violently. The lights dimmed and several consoles exploded in
fire, sending sparks flying across the Command Center.

“We just lost
our sublight engines,” reported the helm officer. “I have no power. The only
thing we have left are some of our maneuvering thrusters.”

“The
Defender
is moving past the Kleese ships and accelerating toward the planet,” the sensor
operator added.

Commander
Strand took a deep breath. “Helm, use our thrusters to turn us around.
Tactical, fire everything we have left at the nearest Zaltule battlecruiser.
Perhaps we can buy the
Defender
the time it needs to reach the planet.”

“It won’t be
much,” Lieutenant Vardes replied grimly. “We’ve lost two of our particle beam
cannons and half of our pulse fusion turrets. Power is also becoming sporadic.
Shield strength has dropped to 14 percent.”

The ship began
shaking violently. On one of the still active viewscreens, Commander Strand saw
the
Defender
heading toward the planet. Already a number of Zaltule
battlecruisers were in pursuit. Commander Strand wasn’t certain if the
Defender
would make it or not. The ship shook again and Commander Strand could hear
panicked screams of pain from outside the Command Center. On the damage control
console, there were more red lights than green.