Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) (2 page)

“We’re not
going to last much longer,” the second officer commented as he carried out the
admiral’s orders. “We’re losing ships too quickly.”

A few more
moments passed as Admiral Aniled kept a grim watch on the tactical display and
the ship’s viewscreens. All around the flagship Hytalian ships were dying. Ship
after ship was blown apart in what seemed like a wave of systematic
destruction.

“Defense grid
has been retasked and is firing,” reported the second officer.

-

The satellites
in the defense grid shifted their targeting to just four Zaltule
battlecruisers. Over one hundred energy beams flashed out and struck each ship.
They were joined by the more powerful beams of the surviving Hytalian warships
and after just a few moments, the Zaltule energy screens flickered, and brief
openings began to appear. The entire bottom section of a Zaltule battlecruiser
exploded, and massive pieces of glowing debris began hurtling away from the
stricken vessel. Moments later four sublight antimatter missiles streaked in,
and four miniature suns appeared. When the fireballs died away, all that
remained of the Zaltule ship was a spreading debris field of glowing molten
metal.

-

Supreme Military
Overlord Harmock gazed icily at the large viewscreen as another Zaltule battlecruiser
vanished in an antimatter fireball. “Target the defensive satellites,” he
ordered. “I want every Hytalian space construction annihilated.”

“Orders have
been sent,” Minor Overlord Gareth responded. “Switching fire of all secondary
batteries to defensive satellites and other space structures. There are three
large space stations in orbit. Should we destroy them as well?”

“Yes,” replied
Harmock. His cold, unblinking eyes moved to the weapons officer. “I don’t want
there to be any signs the Hytalians ever ventured into space.”

On the main viewscreen,
numerous explosions began erupting around the planet in lower orbit. Each
explosion marked the death of an orbiting defense satellite. Three massive
blasts of light in higher orbit signified the death of the three space stations.
Harmock nodded his triangular shaped head satisfied at the destruction. There
was always a penalty for resisting the Kleese.

“What’s the
status of the Hytalian fleet?”

Jalridd checked
the data coming from the ship’s sensors. “Only forty-two of their warships
remain. All are damaged to some extent.”

“Destroy them
and then prepare to bombard the surface of the planet,” Harmock said in a
nearly emotionless voice void of mercy. “We shall make an example out of this world
for all others to see.”

-

Admiral Aniled
raised himself to his knees gasping in pain. The Command Center was full of
smoke and he could hear crewmembers crying out for help. Only the dim glow of
the emergency lights allowed him to see his crew. The flagship had been badly
damaged by several Zaltule pulse fusion beams. Taking a deep breath, he
staggered to his feet. “Report!”

“Power’s
gone,” his second officer replied. “I can’t raise Engineering or any other
section of the ship. I’m pretty certain one of the pulse fusion beams struck
the stern directly above the engineering section.”

The ship
shuddered violently several times. Aniled knew the shuddering was being caused
by internal explosions. His flagship was in the midst of its death throes.

“It’s over,
isn’t it?” asked the second officer, who had a jagged cut on his forehead. He
straightened his uniform and stood at attention in front of the admiral.

“Yes,” Admiral
Aniled said in an even voice. “We did our duty; now it’s up to the council to
decide whether our world lives or dies.”

“As slaves to
the Kleese,” replied the second officer in disgust. “I’m glad I’m on this ship
and not down on the ground.”

“At least our
people will survive if we surrender,” Aniled said in a voice filled with sorrow,
knowing that his death and his crews was close at hand. “Perhaps someday the
Human led Alliance will free our world.”

Before he
could say anything else, a brilliant light filled the Command Center, incinerating everything in its path.

-

“Our fleet’s
gone and the defense grid has been annihilated,” the military officer reported
to the council. “Admiral Aniled died when his flagship was destroyed.”

“Our entire
fleet?” uttered one of the senators in disbelief. “What do we do now?”

“Surrender,”
suggested the military officer. “If we do anything else, the Kleese will
destroy our world.”

“Then we
surrender,” proclaimed the older senator. “We should never have built warships
or the defense grid to begin with; perhaps without those, the Kleese would have
honored the neutrality agreement.”

“Doubtful,” responded
the council chairman. “However, in order to save our race, we will make the
offer to surrender.”

-

Supreme
Military Leader Harmock nodded with satisfaction as he listened to the Hytalians’
offer. “The planet is ours.”

“Should I
begin sending down Zaltule with the collars of obedience?” asked Gareth. “We
have pinpointed the council chambers and confirmed that all the senators are
present.”

“No, not yet,”
replied Harmock in a harsh and uncompromising voice. “We must teach these
nonaligned worlds what it means to resist the Zaltule. Target ten of their
largest cities, excluding the capital, and destroy them.”

“It will be a
good lesson and a warning to other lesser species,” responded Gareth fully in
agreement with that action. “The Kleese are the superior race and all the minor
worlds must understand that.”

-

Moments later,
ten antimatter missiles streaked through the atmosphere of Hytalia. Two
thousand meters above their intended targets they detonated, spreading
destruction for kilometers in all directions. Buildings were pulverized,
skyscrapers collapsed, and massive fireballs of destruction blasted outward,
leveling everything in their wake. In less than five minutes, twenty-three
million Hytalians lost their lives. Above the stricken cities, palls of dark
black smoke blotted out the sky, and ash floated in the air making breathing
nearly impossible for the few survivors.

The antimatter
missiles left no radiation, but the blasted out cities would forever bear
testimony to the cruelty of the Kleese toward all other races.

-

In the council
chambers, they had just received word of the destruction leveled upon their
planet. The senators were silent, feeling shock at such wanton destruction.
They had offered to surrender, why had the Kleese responded with such ferocity?

“It is as I
said,” the older senator commented, rising once more to his feet. “We should never
have armed ourselves. Now we are paying for that foolishness. If we would have
had no weapons, the Kleese would have let us be.”

Another
military office burst into the council chambers with a look of fear upon his
face. “Several Kleese shuttles have landed in front of the council building.
The Zaltule will be here shortly.”

“What do we
do?” one of the younger senators asked. For years, he had heard stories about
the cruelty of the Kleese and the disdain they felt for all other races. He had
felt safe with their powerful fleet and the defense grid that had been placed
around the planet to ensure its safety. Now all that was gone.

“We submit,” answerer
the council chairman in a weary voice. “We lost and the Kleese are victorious.”

“These are
Zaltule,” the head military officer quickly pointed out. “They are the warrior
clan of the Kleese and will show no mercy. Any attempts to disregard their orders
will end in disaster.”

Before anything
else could be said, the doors to the council chamber were flung open, and six monstrosities
in dark armor appeared. These were Zaltule warriors, and heavily armed. Behind
them came four other Kleese dressed only in light ceremonial armor. One of them
stepped forward and gazed at the Hytalian Council.

“I am Harmock,
the Supreme Military Overlord of the Kleese Empire.”

The chairman
stood facing the Kleese. “I am Zaltron, the Chairman of the Hytalian Senate and
Council.”

Harmock was
silent as he gestured for several of the armed Kleese to approach the ten
senators and emplace the collars of obedience around their necks. He watched as
the frightened senators allowed the collars to be put in place and locked.

“Why did you
attack our cities?” the older senator demanded as his shaking hands moved to
his neck to touch the silver obedience collar. “We were willing to surrender.
Why did you violate the neutrality agreement? We were no danger to you.”

“Silence,
vermin,” spoke Harmock harshly, his eyes focusing on the older senator. “You
will not speak in the presence of a Kleese unless spoken to first. Without a
moment’s hesitation, he pressed a button on the small black box he held in his
right hand.

A sharp
explosion rang out in the council chamber as the obedience collar around the
old senator’s neck detonated. The senator’s headless body fell to the floor
where it twitched uncontrollably in a growing pool of blood.

The other
senators stepped back in shock with rampant fear showing on their faces. It was
dawning on each what had come to their world, and they were powerless to
challenge it.

“The collars
of obedience will be put on all of your citizens of stature,” Harmock
pronounced. “All of your government leaders, business leaders, and any others
we find appropriate will wear the collars. Any attempt to disobey an order of a
Kleese will result in more deaths, some will be indiscriminate.”

The senators
looked at each other, realizing that for the rest of their lives they would
never know if their collar was going to detonate because of the action of
someone on the other side of the planet. They were doomed to live a life of
fear and doubt.

“In the coming
month, we will determine what service you can be to the Kleese Empire,” Harmock
continued, his multifaceted eyes raking over the council members. “Remember one
thing, you are being allowed to live for one reason and one reason only, to
serve the Kleese Empire.” With that comment, Harmock turned and left the
council chambers. More shuttles would be landing shortly, and Zaltule would
spread out across the planet with hundreds of thousands of the collars of
obedience.

-

Once back on
board the
Warrior’s Fire
, Harmock checked the current status of his
fleet. It would be necessary to send some of the vessels to one of the Kleese
trading stations for repairs. He still had several more nonaligned worlds to
subdue before he could begin his main campaign. For months now he had been
slowly encircling the worlds aligned with the Humans. Their so-called Alliance would shortly be crushed, and all of Kleese controlled space would be under the
rule of the Zaltule. Once that was done, the Zaltule fleet would begin moving
out into other areas of the galaxy, expanding the empire.

One of the things
that concerned Harmock were all the missing exploration ships that had fled
with former Supreme Overlord Xatul. Those ships would have been useful in
exploring those unknown regions and searching for suitable targets for the
Zaltule warfleets. While there were still some exploration ships he could call
upon, some of the exploring would have to be done by Zaltule battlecruisers.

However,
before any of that could begin, the Humans and their Alliance would have to be
dealt with first.

Colonel Wade
Nelson stood in the Command Center of the Earth heavy battlecruiser
Victory
.
For the last eighteen months, ship construction in the Solar System had been
highly intense as new heavy battlecruisers were being turned out like
clockwork. Since returning from the Delton rescue mission, Wade had been busy
flying between different worlds of the Alliance in between stops back at Vesta.
He was anxious to return home and spend time with his new son. He knew that
Beth was very happy to be a mother and his parents had been exuberant to become
grandparents. His mother was already spoiling the child over Beth’s mild protests.

“Thirty-seven
worlds,” commented Hyram Blake, who was the chief Human ambassador to the Alliance. “All dedicated to the overthrow of Kleese domination of this section of the
galaxy.”

“I hope that’s
enough,” sighed Wade, knowing some very big battles were ahead of them.

They had
scored a significant victory by their attack on the Kleese home system. It had
bought them sixteen months to prepare. The Delton rescue mission had also
managed to bring back Wade’s younger brother and the Marines that had been
trapped with him on Delton. It had been a huge relief to find his brother still
alive. He had greatly feared that Ryan might end up a conscript of the Kleese
and would never be seen again. Ryan was currently going through training at Freedom
Station, the second huge trading station now in orbit around Earth.

Freedom
Station had been seized from the Kleese in a daring attack and brought back to
the Solar System. The station’s construction and repair bays had been modified
to produce battlecruisers and a special Marine assault ship to be used in hit
and run raids against Kleese controlled worlds. It also had a crew of over
seventy thousand former Kleese captives and conscripts, who were working under
Human supervision. They had elected to stay on the station and serve the Humans
since their home worlds were under Kleese control.

“Colonel,
President Raytol’s shuttle has arrived,” Commander Raelen Blair announced as
she received confirmation from Communications. “The president and his aides are
being taken to the main conference room.”

Wade nodded.
This was going to be a war meeting to discuss the disposition of Alliance fleets in preparation for the expected Kleese attack. Several leaders of the Alliance would be attending as well as others Wade had invited that he felt were essential
at this planning stage.

The
Victory
was in orbit around Lanolth, which had been chosen as the capital of the Alliance. Around the
Victory
were other heavy battlecruisers as well as numerous ships
from other Alliance worlds. There was also one of the large Kleese trading
stations in orbit. The station had been seized from the Kleese and taken to
Lanolth in the same attack that had brought Freedom Station to the Solar System.
The station was being used to create new Alliance ships to greatly enhance the
number of warships, which could be used against the Kleese. Across the entire Alliance, a massive effort was underway to build new ships to greatly expand the fleet for
the coming battle.

“Let’s get
this meeting going,” Wade said as he turned and made for the hatch leading from
the Command Center.

-

The conference
room was full of dignitaries from numerous Alliance worlds as well as allies
who had taken refuge in the Solar System. Lanolth, Nalton, Pradel, Waltarn,
Tureen, Delton, Talt, and of course Kivean representatives were waiting
expectantly. There were also representatives from over a dozen other Alliance worlds.

Wade took his
place at the table and called the meeting to order. Then, in a grim voice, he
began speaking. “I want to thank all of you for coming today. As all of you know,
we just received word that the nonaligned world of Hytalia has fallen to the
Kleese. We had a long-range scout ship observing the battle and from the
reports we received, we know the Hytalian fleet was wiped out as well as the
planet’s defense grid. Unfortunately, the Kleese didn’t stop there. They struck
the surface of the planet with ten antimatter missiles, destroying some of the
largest cities. The Kleese are currently conducting landing operations, no
doubt placing obedience collars around those Hytalians they find essential to
controlling the planet.”

President
Raytol stood and looked with grave concern at his fellow members of the Alliance. Raytol was humanoid and stood six feet tall with dark hair and eyes slightly
larger than the Human norm. He was also slim in stature, which was common for
all Lanolthians. “In the last sixteen months, we have continued to expand the Alliance. As of today, we have thirty-seven star systems willing to oppose the Kleese.”

“The problem
isn’t so much the Kleese as it is the Zaltule,” commented the representative
from Nalton. “I think we could come to an agreement with the regular Kleese to
leave the Alliance alone, but the Zaltule will never be willing to let us exist
free of their empire.”

“We’ll have to
fight for our freedom,” spoke the Tureen ambassador, rising to his feet and
looking at the others. “If we don’t stand up to the Kleese and the Zaltule, a
year from now we’ll all be wearing their collars of obedience. I have no
intention of allowing that to happen to my people!”

“My people
wore those collars for generations,” Marken said, his eyes taking on a somber look
of understanding. “If we don’t stop the Kleese then I’m afraid they’ll go on a rampage
throughout the known galaxy. This is a precarious time; the steps we take in
the next few months might well determine the fate of tens of thousands of
worlds. War is not something I enjoy; it is something I greatly deplore.
However, sometimes battles must be fought for the greater good and I believe we
are now at that point.”

President
Raytol nodded his head. He had a lot of respect for the Kivean and agreed with
his words. All the races of the Alliance had known peace for hundreds if not
several thousand years. The course they were currently on went against most of
what they believed in. However, they could not allow themselves to become
slaves.

“Colonel Wade
Nelson represents the Human military who have shown us that the Kleese can be
defeated in battle. I have spoken to the Human President, Ralph Steward, as
well as General Mitchell and Fleet Admiral Kelly. We are agreed that Human admirals
will lead our fleets, and Admiral Rivers will become the new fleet admiral for
the Alliance.”

Everyone
nodded their heads in agreement. Most of the worlds of the Alliance had very
substantial fleets of highly advanced vessels; they were just unfamiliar with
the tactics required to conduct a space war. Most of the commanders of their
ships, as well as the crews, had never fired the weapons on their vessels
against an enemy. The few who had were the ones that had been on the Delton
rescue mission.

“The Humans
know the art of war better than any of us,” commented Fleet Commander Achlyn of
the Deltons. “They are as fierce in battle as the Zaltule and with their
guidance, we may indeed find a path to victory.”

-

The meeting
lasted for several more hours, with plans being made and forecast production of
new fleet units discussed. When it was finally over Wade, Marken, Fleet
Commander Achlyn, and Ambassador Blake went to Wade’s quarters where they spent
more time discussing what was ahead of them.

“Fleet wise
we’re in a much better position than we were a year ago,” Hyram commented as he
sat down with a cup of hot tea. “All the Alliance worlds are building warships
at an astounding rate and the two trading stations we took from the Kleese have
added a tremendous amount of ship construction capacity.”

“Ships with
inexperienced crews,” Fleet Commander Achlyn quickly pointed out. “There’s a
lot of training that needs to be done.”

Marken looked around
the small group and then spoke. “There are only two more nonaligned worlds that
haven’t fallen to the Kleese. I strongly suspect they’ll feel the wrath of the
Zaltule shortly.”

“They’re at
the far edge of Sector Twelve,” Hyram said, shaking his head. “Too far for us
to send assistance.”

Wade nodded
hating to write off those worlds; however, they had been contacted in the past
about joining the Alliance and refused. “We probably have two to four months
before the Zaltule start probing our defenses. There’s a lot of work ahead of
us in order to get our fleets ready for what’s coming.”

“We need a diversion
to give us more time,” Marken said with a thoughtful look. “We’re getting close
to having the ships we need to stop the Kleese. The crews just need more time
to become familiar with them.”

“We have a
tentative plan,” Wade announced as he thought about his last meeting at
Centerpoint Station. “General Mitchell and Fleet Admiral Kelly have an idea
that just might give the Kleese pause and perhaps buy us a few more months.”

“Why do I feel
this involves your brother and his new training?” commented Marken with a heavy
frown. “It seems your family can’t stay out of harm’s way.” Marken and his
lifemate Harnett had come to know Ryan and Casey very well on the trip back to Alliance space from Delton as they had been on the
Micene
, a Kivean hospital ship.

Wade gave a
weak smile and nodded. “I guess it runs in our blood. For generations the
Kleese have fought wars on their terms; we’re going to change that. The Zaltule
may be the warrior caste, but they’ve never fought an enemy quite like us. That
was apparent when we attacked their home system. They made a colossal mistake
in suspending their attacks for such a long time while they fortified their
core worlds. It shows they’re not infallible and are susceptible to innovative
tactics. We’re going to test that notion and see if we can’t throw the Kleese
another curve ball.”

“A curve
ball?” asked Marken, looking confused. He still wasn’t familiar with all the
idioms Humans used in their speech. “What’s a curve ball?”

Wade quickly
explained and the others nodded their understanding. “I’ll be returning to the Solar
System in a few days and we’ll set our new plan into motion.”

Marken nodded
his acceptance. He was concerned about Ryan Nelson being involved. He recalled
how upset Wade had been when he found out Ryan and his Marines had been taken prisoner
by the Kleese.

In the back of
his mind, he was satisfied with the way the war was going. His people had
chosen the Humans to destroy the Kleese Empire, and Marken was pleased with the
current direction the Humans were taking. He and Harnett had spent many long
hours talking about the Humans and how they were different from most races the Kiveans
had previously encountered. He still didn’t believe the Kleese, and the Zaltule
in particular, realized just how big a danger the Humans were. He strongly
suspected they were shortly going to find out.

-

In Freedom
Station recently promoted Captain Ryan Nelson was putting his Marines through
their paces. They were all wearing Type Four battlesuits and attempting to take
a ridge in the training facility. Sergeant McElroy and a platoon of Marines in
Type Three battlesuits were entrenched upon the ridge, firing down at Ryan’s advancing
Marines. The Marines on both sides were using stunners, which were quite
effective at immobilizing a battlesuit when its anti-stunner equipment was
turned off. After the Marines had been captured by the Kleese on Diadem, the
Kiveans had come up with new gear to prevent stunners from immobilizing a Marine
inside a Type Three or Type Four battlesuit.

-

“Damn
stunners,” muttered Corporal Alexander Parker as he ducked down beneath a stone
wall. “I hate that stinging sensation when you’re hit. It feels like you’re
being bitten by a hundred bees.”

“Then keep
your big ass down,” replied Corporal Lauren Adams. She and Alexander were good
friends even though he had been trying for months to get her in bed with him.
“At least we’re not going up Charring Mountain.”

Ryan was
listening to the exchange and couldn’t help smiling at the banter between the
two. Since their initial training in the Type Four battlesuits and their
harrowing experience with the Kleese, as well as being stranded on Delton, they
had become a tight-knit group as well as close friends. Normally this would be
frowned upon, but the size of the Human race had been drastically reduced by
the Kleese almost to the point of extinction. Now clones made up a significant
portion of the population and nearly 40 percent of Ryan’s Marines were clones.

The training
center they were in was inside a large dome on the exterior of Freedom Station.
The station had been seized from the Kleese and brought back to the Solar
System in a daring raid. A second station was also seized and taken to the
Lanolth System. The entire station was one hundred and twenty kilometers across
and twenty-four kilometers thick. The domes covering its upper hull ranged
anywhere in size from ten to twenty kilometers across. The smaller domes were
normally home to the humanoid races that served the Kleese upon their ships and
maintained the stations.  They were currently home to the seventy thousand
crewmembers who had decided to stay and work with the Humans.

Ryan took a
moment to study the ridge in front of him with the sensors in his command suit.
He allowed himself to smile seeing Sergeant McElroy had set up his platoon to
provide overlapping fire down the slope. McElroy was a dedicated Marine and
very crafty when it came to engaging the enemy. However, McElroy still hadn’t
taken into consideration the difference between a Type Three battlesuit and a
Type Four. The Type Fours were smaller, faster, and much more nimble and Ryan
would now use those advantages to take the ridge.