Space Chronicles: The Last Human War (44 page)

General Tragge called out a stream of orders as he positioned his assets for the approaching hostilities.

“Sir, Heptari lead cruisers are minus three t
o shields. Coming hot!”

“Hold positions. How far behind are those command ships?”

“They’re in the pack. Standard Heptari formations with shielding Rahls.”

The general
rubbed his chin. Again, Heptaris displayed unusual tactics by risking their command ships. He thought they must have great confidence in their vast advantage in numbers and firepower. Perhaps, they were displaying a level of arrogance that could be a valuable tool for Tanarac.

“Admiral, begin secondary deployment.”

“Now, General?” The admiral’s voice betrayed concern about the plan.

“Yes. Who is in command of that decoy ship?
What do you know about him?”

“General, we had trouble finding commanders for those
old Kyomes. Our active duty pilots don’t know the command sequences on those ships. Retired officers took most of them, but that decoy ship . . . it’s commanded by some young guy named Kob. He’s a tough pilot, got six kills before he was shot down two days ago. Then, he fought on the ground alongside Taskers at Quarry 33. This guy did his graduate thesis in War College on Kyomes and has understanding of their systems. Unfortunately, all his flight hours are on simulators. Sure hope he can handle the real thing.”

“Thanks,
Admiral. I’ll take over his command from here. Comm, get me Captain Kob on my private line. Full encryption.”

The general
checked the approach of the Heptari fleet while he waited for the connection with the decoy ship.

“Captain Kob, reporting.”

“Hello Kob, General Tragge here. Thank you for volunteering. Let me tell you about your mission.”

The
general briefed Kob on his role in the upcoming engagement. The young officer’s eagerness pleased him.

“General, we have contact
. Hep ships are penetrating shields in all off-sun sectors. Main screen, sir.”

The image showed small Heptari ships passing through the shields in many places. The Tanarac fleet scrambled to intercept them, that is, all but one.

That lone Kyome remained stationary, just below the three-layered shield. Heptari fighters penetrated directly above it, but the ship ignored them while numerous Tanarac fleet fighters roared past to engage the intruders.

“General, the Hep command ships are spreading out. They’re following tangents to each of our shield generators. Pretty obvio
us what they want, sir.”

“They’re doing exactly wh
at I would do in their position. Ludic, on my mark, drop all shields. We’re going to take out those command ships with ground cannons.”

“Sir, we only have two ground batteries. The third Royal ship will get a free shot at my shield arrays.”

“Follow orders, Ludic!” The general did not have time for discussion. “Ground batteries. Are you ready?”

“Yes, s
ir. Firing control routed to the War Room. It’s all yours, General.”

“Captain Kob, are you ready?”

“Say the word, General.”

General Tragge watched several monitors as the bulk of the Heptari fleet approached the combined shields and slowed. Tanarac forces swarmed each Heptari ship that penetrated the barrier while the massive command ships came to stationary positions directly above each planetary shield
projection array.

General Tragge acted.

“Captain Kob, now! Ludic, drop shields!”

Ludic dreaded this but acted with
military discipline.

Kob’s old ship surged into the dissolving planetary shields. Sheets of sparks cascaded along its nose section as it forced its way through the decaying energy residue.

General Tragge slammed his finger down on a button at his console and two thick bolts of energy slammed into two of the three command ships.

In the same instant, the huge enemy ships fired a volley from each of their new cannons, destroying or damaging several attacking Tanarac warships.

The enemy command vessels rocked with secondary explosions from the unexpected powerful ground volleys and began slow turns back into space.

“I thought so,” the general said. “No stomach
for direct assaults on command structure.”

By dropping the planetary shields and using lethal ground cannons, two of the three central command ships were
seriously damaged. However, the untargeted third Royal starship fired all its cannons directly into the unprotected planetary shield generator below, destroying it in a single flash.

Captain Kob’s starship accelerated at an astonishing rate once shield resistance vanished. It set a direct collision course at that third Heptari command ship. The old Kyome fired all its forward weapons as fast as they would recharge.

The Heptari Royal ship rolled to one side, attempting to swing the targeting field of her main cannons onto the renegade attacker.

“Captain Kob, we’re going too fast.
Can’t get a weapons lock.” The electronics warfare officer on Kob’s ship didn’t know their real mission.

“Fire blind
. Manual targeting. Maintain maximum rate of fire. We don’t have to kill her. We just have to look like we can!” Kob was busy handling the old style controls without a copilot, a task made doubly difficult by the thick bandages on the hand with the missing finger.

The Heptari command ship altered course several times, unsuccessfully trying to target the frequently maneuvering Tanarac vessel. The big
enemy warship finally headed back out toward open space to escape the persistent threat, leaving smaller ships to deal with Kob’s attack.

The Tenacious Kyome commander out maneuvered screening Rahls and
followed the Codae command ship, firing continuously into the big command ship’s shields and engine nacelles.

At one point, the royal ship fired an energy blast at the
bridge of Kob’s wildly rolling Kyome but the particle beam glanced off his enhanced forward shield and destroyed one of their own nearby medium ships.

The enemy ship fired as fast as all six of her cannons would recharge
, but Kob flew the old starship like a fighter, weaving, abrupt course changes, and varying speeds. With each dramatic change of direction, the Kyome’s tired frame groaned, and Heptari gunners missed.

Kob’s weapon officer sustained fire as best he could without targeting resolutions. A few of his scattered shots found shield weaknesses and impacted non-vital surfaces. While they did not significantly damage the Heptari ship, their mission to create a perception of risk was achieved.

The Heptari Royal ship was now moving away from its primary targets on Tanarac, forced to defend their central command structure.

“Fire on recharge!” General Tragge ordered the ground batteries to continue firing at the two damaged Royal vessels while he personally handled targeting directly from his command center.

Ludic kept the general apprised of his shield status.

“General, the third command ship took out Shield One, but that Kyome’s got her turned back out to space all by itself.”

Ground batteries continued pouring salvos into the other two command ships, occasionally taking out smaller Heptari ships that attempted to screen for the royals.

Most of the Heptari fleet moved to insert themselves in the line of fire, but not all came to the aid of their com
mand vessels. Half a dozen enemy ships remained behind to take advantage of the lowered shields. They attacked the ground cannon batteries and shield stations with the Tanarac fleet challenging them at every turn.

“Sir, Ground
Battery Three lost primary charging banks. I’m routing them into the planetary power grid. That’s only good for a couple more shots.”

“Ludic, prepare to raise shields. Both ground b
atteries fire on my mark.” The general targeted both cannons on the command ship that was moving away from Shield Two.

“Fire!”

Simultaneous beams of energy rose from the planetary cannons to impact on the center of the targeted command ship. The big ship’s main engines glowed as it attempted to increase distance from the planet. Random explosions began appearing in its exhaust wake.

“She’s gonna blow,
sir! Antimatter leaks . . . main injectors.”

“Shields up
, Ludic!”

The
crippled Royal ship exploded in a brilliant matter-antimatter cascade. Several Heptari combat ships vanished inside the blast radius. As each additional enemy ship vaporized, their secondary antimatter explosions expanded the initial ball of destruction.

An intense
electromagnetic surge hit Tanarac’s shields and spread sparks across the sky like an umbrella covering the entire planet. Shields held, and the energy quickly dissipated.

“Sir, the Heps just knocked out Ground Battery One.”

General Tragge frowned at the bad news. He lost his last fully functional ground cannon.

Ludic continued his report.
“I’ve still got two shields up, full strength and compounded, general. Ground Battery Three has one charge left. After that, their energy banks are exhausted.”

“Get me Admiral Raccos.” General Tragge responded to Ludic’s report.

Across the War Room, a strange voice responded to the general’s request.

“Sir, the
admiral’s flagship was destroyed. We lost four heavies, and we’ve got one Kyome outside the shields. I’m Commander Wik, ranking field officer. I assumed fleet command.”

“How many enemy heavies are still below our shields?”

“Seven, sir. We’re engaging them now.”

Across the War Room, Ludic called out. “Sir! One of their heavies just took out Shield Three. We’re down to one shield.”

“Commander, send all your heavies to defend Shield Two. Comm, recall that decoy ship.”

“Sir, there’s no response from Captain Kob.
Comm towers must have been hit. They’re still engaged with that command ship. It’s on Monitor eleven.”

A high orbit sentinel satellite showed the Tanarac ship maneuvering well beyond its design limits. Every time the Heptari command ship rolled to get a clean shot, the Kyome would pull enormous maneuvering loads to stay clear. At one point, Kob even even bounced his ship off the larger ship’s shields to enhance his rate of turn. All the while,
his old warship continued to fire at the enemy vessel.

The number of Heptari heavies trailing the old Kyome doubled
, but they still could not match her speed and course changes.

“Where’s that second Royal?”

General Tragge maintained focus on the total battle while his staff watched Kob’s dramatic attack on monitor eleven.

“Screen twenty,
General. She’s moving back over Shield Two right now. Ground batteries took out most of her heavy cannons but she’s still got two fully operational banks.”

Several Tanarac deep space warships held position below the Heptari command ship. They poured energy beams through the planetary shield into her belly with little effect.

Commander Wik’s voice came over the comm again.

“Sir, we just destroyed the last of the Hep heavies under the shield. Those
Kyomes can sure take a beating. Captain Kob’s still out there. Should I send him some help?”

“Negative. He and his crew knew they would be alone when they volunteered for this
decoy mission. We’re trying to recall him, now.”

General Tragge took a brief glance at the monitor of Kob’s battle with the far more powerful command ship. A growing armada of Heptari support vessels finally clos
ed down his maneuvering options.

“Sir, the command ship’s breaking off with Captain Kob. She
’s coming around toward us again.”

The g
eneral watched the royal Heptari ship set course directly for his remaining ground-based cannon. Captain Kob did his job of distracting her but now this fully armed mega-ship was headed back to Tanarac while a line of Rahls pinned Kob’s ship deeper in space where he could no longer threaten the big command ship.

“Sir, we’re getting partial transmissions from Captain Kob.”

“Midsection structural collapse.” “Engines critical.”

General Tragge listened to the broken transmission.

“Keep trying to reach Kob. Tell him to disengage, if he can.”

The
general turned his full attention to his last planetary shield generator.

“Sir, the Heps landed three troop carriers for ground assaults. General Krit says he’s got plenty of troops to deal with them.”

“General, we’ve got a second wave of cruisers coming through the shields over the Central Jungle. We’ve only got one heavy left in that area.”

General Tragge could feel the battle slipping away. He had too few assets and there were simply too many targets.

“Sir, Ground Battery Three has one shot left.”

The general
did not hesitate.

“I’m targeting the command ship over Shield Two. Ludic, on my command, drop the shield, I’ll fire and then raise shields immediately.”

Ludic and the Ground Battery acknowledged.

On command,
he dropped the shield and the ground battery fired.

The impact hit a structural point where antimatter reactor couplings feed the engines. The big ship suffered a massive internal explosion, breaking into three sections with each showing
secondary internal explosions. An instant later, the Heptari royal vessel vanished inside a brilliant flash as core containment failed.

“Ludic
, get that shield back up.”

The shield did not reappear.

“Trying, sir. Projector matrix lost its polarity during the EMF surge from the antimatter explosion. I’m re-installing now.”

Ludic worked feverishly at his console.

“Send the entire fleet to attack that last command ship. Atmospheric fighters will have to protect the shield facility. We need to buy time.”

General Tragge stood up as he watched a graph above Ludic. Ten percent. Twenty percent. Forty percent. It never seemed to take so long to format a shield matrix. This was agony.

“Sir, the last command ship changed course. She’s heading for the capitol.”

Again, General Tragge looked at the shield status monitor. Eighty percent. Ninety percent.

“Sir! They fired all cannons into the capitol. Massive damage to buildings and secondary fires.”

“Shield up,
” Ludic shouted his success.

Another officer immediately gave the bad news. “Hep command ship is below the shield
.”

“She’s changing course
, heading for the shield generator.”

“Ludic, drop that shield to a lower altitude
.”

“Already doing it,
sir.” Ludic’s fingers flew on his keyboard.

“Notify General Krit. We may have to win this war on the ground. Prepare to evacuate the War Room.
Nonessential staff leave now.”

Massive sheets of sparks surrounded the command ship as the remaining planetary shield transitioned across her to its new position closer to the planet. The Heptari royal ship continued toward the last shield transmitter.

Remaining Tanarac heavies closed on the giant vessel while Heptari Rahls accompanying the royal flagship ship countered. The giant Heptari vessel established position directly above the shield generator. It began firing one of its big cannons at the shield below, while its other cannons engaged attacking Tanarac ships.

As the threat to the Royal Command Ship diminished, a second cannon joined the first
in firing down at the last shield generator. A dazzling umbrella of deflected energy grew in size, but the shield held. Before long, all of its cannons joined in the attack on the generator facility.

“Sir, I’m drop
ping the altitude of the shield,” Ludic said. “The closer it is to the generator the thicker it gets.”

“We need a little more time. I’ve got two more heavies on the way.”

Just as the general made his comment, the shield failed. Cannon fire from the Royal warship pierced the energy veil, reaching the ground in a millisecond. The shield station below vaporized in a large blast cloud.

An approaching Kyome accelerated
toward the enemy ship on a collision course. Its enhanced forwards shields held just long enough to glance off the stern quarter of the Heptari vessel. Despite the impact, destroying the Tanarac warship, the command vessel did not appear badly damaged as it began rising to a higher orbit.

With no shields and no ground-based cannons, General Tragge gave the order every commander dreads.

“Destroy command and control codes. Prepare the self-destruct sequence for this War Room. All personnel meet at the underground central command bunker.”

“Sir, the Heptari commander is hailing you.”

“Open channel.” General Tragge waited for the light to indicate a completed communication link. “This is General Tragge. I’m listening.”

A
statue of the Codae Coat of Arms appeared above the hologram pad where there would usually be a three dimensional image of his counterpart.

“The Codae of Heptari demands your unconditional surrender.”

“I don’t talk to pictures, and Tanaracs do not surrender. If you wish to negotiate with me, let me see your image.”

“You are not privileged class. You may not view the Codae. We grant the picture before you to inferiors. You will bow before it when we capture your planet. There are no terms, only unconditional surrender. Agree, or forfeit your head.”

General Tragge held little hope that he could soften Heptari terms.

“You may control some of our space, but you will never occupy this planet. Our extended fleet remains operational. When they arrive, you will be defeated.”

“Your fleet at Wallow Minor has been crushed. Those ships that survive are incapable of coming to your assistance. The war you started is over. Defeat is complete.”

“We will fight you to the death
, and you will not have a planet to occupy. ”

“Occupation is not our intention. You will agree to serve our Codae
, or your planet will be incinerated, just as we did Earth. If you pledge obedience, you may become a possession of Heptari, and your people will serve us. It is your choice, death or service to the Codae. We will begin the destruction of your planet while you consider our generous offer.”

The holo-pad went blank.

“Sir, we still have a few ships engaged with the Heps but the rest of their fleet has started firing on our major cities. Sir? Sir?”

General Tragge stared at a monitor showing the closest Tanarac sun. He was squinting as he examined the image.

“Ludic, what is that?” He pointed.

“I don’t know,
sir. I’ve never seen anything that fast in near-space.”