Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3)
Read Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) Online
Authors: Raymond L. Weil
Empire Wars: Rebellion
(Galactic Empire Wars Book 3)
Wars Series
Galactic Empire Wars: Destruction (Book 1)
Galactic Empire Wars: Emergence (Book 2)
Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (Book 3)
Website:
http://raymondlweil.com/
Copyright © January 2015 by Raymond L.
Weil
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design by Humblenations.com
This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either
products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.
It was a small,
discreet star system huddled between two warring Empires, which would soon be
witness to an event that would change the galaxy. Six planets and fourteen
moons circled the small, yellowish-orange star with a small asteroid field
between the fifth and sixth planets, both of which were small gas giants. The
system’s only habitable planet was .82 AU out from the system’s primary and
held a budding civilization just beginning to explore the planets in its own
star system.
The Strell had
long since found the Beltian system and added it to their Empire as a minor
planet with an intermediate technological civilization. Due to its technology
level and minimal resources, the Strell had only requested the Beltians furnish
specific food products to the Empire. Twice each year, six large Strell cargo
ships would come to the planet to have their holds filled with the designated agricultural
products. Other than that, the planet was left to govern itself with strict
instructions from the Strell not to attempt to venture out of their star
system. To do so would result in disastrous consequences for the Beltians.
-
The Strell
warfleet dropped out of Fold Space into the unsuspecting system. For six years,
they'd been fighting a fierce war against the Kleese, who were attempting to
smash the Strell Empire and add it to their own growing territory. The first
hint the Strell had that the status quo between the two Empires had changed was
when the Kleese attacked several of the inhabited worlds between the Empires.
It had been followed up by a massive attack by the Kleese warrior caste, the
Zaltule, on the Strell Empire itself.
The Zaltule
were a dangerous and warlike caste, which the Strell had long believed, had
died out. They'd paid for that false belief with the loss of millions of lives
and nearly a quarter of their Empire. Now, a major portion of their remaining
warships had been gathered to ambush an inbound Kleese fleet that would be
entering the system shortly. If the fleet could be destroyed or forced to retreat,
it would buy the time the Strell needed to rebuild their forces and push the
Kleese back.
“All ships
have dropped out of Fold Space,” hissed Minor Den Leader Lish his tongue
flicking forth. Lish was two meters tall, very thin, and his head resembled
that of a large snake.
“We will wait
here,” ordered Den Leader Rith. His eyes, set wide on both sides of his head,
narrowed to thin slits as he turned to gaze at the tactical screen.
The screen was
covered in green icons, which represented the two thousand powerful Strell
battlecruisers lying in wait for the inbound Kleese fleet. Rith’s eyes could
make out the different colors, though his ancestors in the dim past had only been
able to see in black and white. The Strell had progressed far on the
evolutionary scale from the time they had slithered on the ground until they'd
developed arms and legs, which allowed them to build a technological
civilization.
“We will not
be favored in this battle,” Lish spoke, the scales on his body seeming to
ripple as he turned to face the Den Leader.
“If we lose,
our Empire will surrender to the Kleese,” Rith responded in a cold and nearly
emotionless voice. “The Kleese will have demonstrated their superiority and won
the right to lay claim to our Empire. The Dens will swear allegiance to the
Kleese and become part of their realm.”
Lish nodded in
agreement. The Strell were a logical race and rather than suffer the total destruction
of their Empire, they would surrender and serve the Kleese as willing vassals.
-
Several hours
passed and the Strell battlecruisers waited. The ships were dark gray and
nearly two kilometers long and one thousand meters in diameter. Their hulls
were covered with small hatches covering sublight missile tubes. Numerous
weapon turrets, which were pointed out toward empty space, waited on the enemy,
who were expected to arrive shortly. Sensors reached out searching for an enemy
that was nearly as ruthless and cold as the Strell and would show no mercy in
battle. This would be a battle to the death until one side or the other had
been completely annihilated.
Tens of
thousands of Strell stood at their posts waiting to throw their deadly weapons
at the Kleese. There was very little talking as the Strell were a cold-blooded
species and showed very little emotion. Only the Queens in the great dens were
emotional and they controlled the Empire. A Queen very seldom ventured into
space, preferring to stay beneath the ground surrounded by thousands of Strell,
who obeyed her every command.
The sensors
continued to probe space and then the first Kleese warship dropped out of Fold
Space. Instantly, warning alarms sounded in the waiting Strell fleet and their
crews snapped suddenly to full vigilance. Their eyes narrowed and loud hissing
noises echoed down the narrow corridors of their ships.
Den Leader
Rith gazed at the tactical screen as Kleese warships appeared all around his
fleet. Somehow, the Kleese had detected the ambush and adjusted their fleet
formation accordingly. His tongue flicked out as he turned toward Lish. “All
ships fire! We must destroy these den killers.”
-
Kleese War
Overlord Harmock gazed without compassion at the massive Strell fleet assembled
before him. Harmock was an arachnid standing upon six legs. His upper torso was
humanoid with two nearly black arms extending from the shoulders. The arms
ended in a slim hand with seven long digits. A large triangular shaped head
with multifaceted eyes took in the data the ship’s sensors were recording.
Harmock was the War Overlord of the Zaltule and he had come to end the war against
the Strell and add their Empire to that of the Kleese.
“It is as we
expected,” Minor Overlord Gareth spoke from Hammock’s side. “The Strell have
gathered their remaining ships to oppose us. If we win this battle, their
Empire will be ours.”
Harmock was
silent for a moment. Much had happened in the six years since his awakening by
Xaltul, the Supreme Overlord of the Kleese race. The rest of the Zaltule had
risen, the ancient shipyards had been reactivated, and new warships were in the
process of being constructed. Now Harmock watched as the last of his four
thousand disk ships dropped out of Fold Space. Each ship was dark black, three
kilometers across, and one thousand meters thick. They were armed with heavy
pulse fusion weapons, energy turrets, and antimatter sublight missiles. It was
a force capable of crushing any opponent as the Strell were about to find out.
“For the
Empire!” roared Harmock over the ship’s com, which connected all of the Kleese
ships. “Destroy them all!” His multifaceted eyes gazed with annoyance at the
multitude of enemy before him.
Resistance to
the Empire was not permitted. The Strell should have been conquered over a
thousand years ago. Instead, the Council of Overlords had grown weary of the
war against the Strell and had come to an agreement with the cold-blooded race.
The war had ended and the Zaltule had gone into deep sleep to serve the Empire
in the future. Now that day had arrived, and Harmock fully intended to conquer
every species that stood between the Kleese and domination of the galaxy, even
if it was necessary to make changes to the Council of Overlords. The Zaltule
would never agree to go into deep sleep again, and it was only fitting that the
first major threat to be dealt with were their old enemies, the Strell.
-
From Strell
battlecruisers, thousands of metal hatches slid open and sublight missiles
vanished from their tubes as they accelerated at one hundred gravities toward
their designated targets. Inertial compensators were stressed as they were
pushed to the limit to handle the sudden thrust of the sublight drives on the
deadly missiles. Around the surrounded fleet, massive ten-megaton antimatter
explosions blossomed into existence as they slammed into their targets.
Space flared
in brilliant flashes of light as raw energy clawed at the powerful shields
protecting the Kleese warships. Under the intense onslaught, more than a few
shields faltered, allowing missiles to impact the vulnerable armored hulls.
Across the Kleese formation, twenty ships died in massive fiery explosions as
they were blown apart by antimatter energy.
However, the
Kleese were firing back and they had a two to one advantage plus more powerful
ships. A Strell battlecruiser’s energy shield collapsed, allowing a Kleese
pulse fusion beam to strike the top section of the ship. Massive sections of
the hull were torn loose as the beam penetrated deep inside, setting off secondary
explosions. Then a couple of twenty-megaton antimatter missiles struck the hull
and two burning suns flashed into existence where the ship had been. Moments later,
all that remained were glowing gases and a scattering of debris.
The Strell
ships tenaciously held their positions as they poured heavy weapons fire into
the surrounding Kleese fleet. As with the Zaltule ships, the Strell
battlecruisers had been designed for war and could take a lot of punishment.
More Kleese ships were blown apart from the furious onslaught as energy weapons
and antimatter missiles penetrated faltering screens and smashed into the armored
hulls. Across the Kleese formation, bright suns appeared where powerful warships
had once been.
Kleese ships
began to coordinate quickly and efficiently as they used their superior
firepower against their ancient enemy. Strell ships began to die as the Kleese
used their numerical superiority to overwhelm the Strell battlecruisers. Two or
three Kleese ships would join together and pummel an opposing battlecruiser until
there was nothing left but a drifting hulk or burning debris. Once the ship was
out of action, the Kleese vessels would shift their fire to the next ship.
-
Den Leader
Rith felt his flagship shake violently and listened impassively as damage
reports began to come in from across the ship. Six compartments had been opened
to space, secondary Engineering had been destroyed, sixteen missile tubes were
nonfunctioning, and twenty percent of the ship’s energy weapons were gone.
“We are severely
damaged,” hissed Lish, his forked tongue waving in anguish. “The Kleese
outnumber us and are destroying our ships.”
“It is as I
feared,” replied Den Leader Rith his snakelike head turning toward his second
in command. “The Zaltule cannot be defeated, at least not by us. Too long have we
allowed our military to become weak due to a lack of enemies, now we are paying
for that oversight.”
“We thought
the Zaltule were gone,” Lish responded. “It is the primary reason the Queens agreed to a truce in the original war with the Kleese. The Kleese Council of
Overlords promised they would do away with the warrior caste.”
“We were
tricked,” Rith responded his eyes becoming very narrow slits. “The Kleese used
subterfuge to fool our Queens, and now we will pay the ultimate price for that
grievous error in trusting their council.”
On one of the
main viewscreens, a Kleese battlecruiser was burning. Even as Rith watched, a
series of antimatter explosions finished the ship off. If the Strell only had
more warships, the Kleese could be defeated, but they were too heavily
outnumbered. They would die for their Queens; it was far better than having a
Kleese obedience collar placed around one’s neck.
The ship shook
violently again and the lights went out. The emergency lighting came on, but
the command crew were no longer working at their stations. All heads and eyes
were focused on the Den Leader.
“Our energy shield
is down,” Lish reported as he listened to one of the assistant Den Leaders in
Engineering. “Fusion reactors one and two have been compromised and have been
taken offline. We have battery power for two hours of life support.”
Rith looked
slowly around the Command Center acknowledging his den mates. “I don’t believe
we will need life support shortly,” he spoke calmly. His eyes narrowed into
slits as he contemplated his impending death. “Our Empire ends today; we serve
our Queens in death.”
Rith never saw
the four Kleese antimatter missiles that struck his flagship. Raw, uncontrolled
energy flashed through the two-kilometer long vessel vaporizing metal and incinerating
flesh. In a microsecond, the flagship ceased to be.
-
In space, the surviving
Strell warships moved closer together for mutual support with their energy
screens nearly touching. Their energy weapons were firing nonstop and they were
launching sublight antimatter missiles in sprint mode. Space was lit up from
the multitude of antimatter explosions. Occasionally a Kleese energy shield would
fail and the hapless ship would instantly be attacked by dozens of Strell battlecruisers.
When that happened, the disk ship would vanish in a series of fiery explosions,
leaving glowing debris behind.
One of the
other Den Leaders had taken command and formed what remained of the fleet into
a compact globe formation to allow for maximum defensive support. The Strell
had superior computers tied into their defensive systems, and many of the
Kleese sublight antimatter missiles were being intercepted. Unfortunately, the
Kleese were launching thousands in massive waves at the Strell formation and
too many were getting through.
The commanding
Den Leader recognized the inevitable and sent word back toward Strell space
that the battle was lost and the fleet would not be returning. He informed the Queens to prepare themselves to receive the Zaltule and to surrender the Empire.
-
Harmock watched
in deep satisfaction as the Strell fleet was steadily pushed back. Every minute,
their globe formation was becoming smaller and smaller as more ships were
eliminated. The Strell formation was full of glowing suns, which indicated dying
ships.
