The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (47 page)

As they fired the Intrepid registered the incoming fire immediately and activated its shields.

“Sir the scout ships has shields. They activated them immediately after we fired.

Vosk watched with surprise as the shields shrugged away the plasma beams.”

“Fire the guns at full power. We are done playing games.”

The same thought came to the mind of Kerak but it was already too late.

The MAC rounds moved at speeds ranging from150 to 258 km per second. They crossed the distance between the fleet and the corvettes in seconds. The sensors on both ships registered the moments before they impacted.

The shields were hammered by the huge kinetic release each projectile delivered. When they hit the corvettes simply evaporated.

“My lord the corvettes were destroyed.”

Kerak watched the destruction of two of his ships at the same time. He felt his blood boil. He felt that he made a mistake launching just two ships. As he watched he noticed that Ahia’s group was closing in. They would be in firing range in three arns. The ten ships were going to reach the ship they were chasing in four arns. He knew that the corvettes were destroyed by kinetic projectiles. His fleet had those weapons too but they were mostly used for point defense although they could be used for targeting more distant targets. They moved at great speeds three times faster than the projectiles the humans fired but they were small rounds ranging from several kilograms to several hundred kilograms. Compared with the tonnage of each MAC round that greater speed meant nothing.

As he watched it was obvious that Ahia didn’t need his order. All ships fired hundreds of kinetic rounds at the incoming ships. At the speed they were moving it would take some time to reach their targets.

But just as he started to ease in his chair and relax to watch the outcome he got his second surprise.

Jennings watched as the alien fleet closed in on the Intrepid. They were just seconds away from the small mine field the Intrepid laid behind it.

“All ships prepare to engage.”

He didn’t need to give the fire order or the order to activate the shields or polarize the hull plating. They all knew what to do. The ships sensors registered the incoming rounds from the enemy fleet as soon as they fired. The point defense reacted immediately, traced the incoming rounds and fired back. Somewhere out in the distance in several moments everyone knew that small rounds will meet moving at great speed. As they thought that they could notice bright explosions in the distance just beyond the Intrepid as the point defense projectiles found their targets. The Aegis system that in effect controlled the point defense system could easily track any incoming rounds and it fired thousands of rounds at the incoming projectiles. And it fired continuously preventing any incoming fire.

As Kerak watched the unfolding battle he was beginning to be impressed by the defensive network of the enemy ships. They were using primitive weapons but they were using them well. He knew that he is in for a good fight and his interest for the enemy increased with every passing moment.

The enemy ships had shielding and it was activated several arns before. His further attempts to try to scan them were being blocked as the ships launched counter measures.

The fleets were almost in to firing range.

As Ahia was preparing to give the fire order suddenly the alarms sounded.

“What is it?”

“Radiological signals detected my lord.”

He jumped from his seat. He knew that the shields of his ships could deflect the power but that was going for the battleships the cruisers and the destroyers. And even then it depended on the yield of the weapon.

“What!!! Where…?”

The centurion turned and with a look that foretold disaster just answered.

“All around us Sir, we are reading fifteen weapons.”

Before he could finish his sentence the battleship rocked hard.

In space a nuclear weapon doesn’t have the same power and effect as it does in atmosphere or better said as it did on Earth…There is no secondary shockwave, except from the parts of debris that are caught in the initial explosion, that at that moment move at astonishing speeds.

As the bombs read the unknown ships that entered their kill zone they activated immediately.  Just seconds later all the outside observers could see was a sudden flash as the huge stored energy was released. There was no sound in space and nothing could be heard, but a lot could be seen.

The battleship, two of the destroyers and two light cruisers found them self directly on top of several warheads. Not even the powerful shields they had could help them in that situation. As the warheads detonated they were literally cut in half. All their crews noticed were a powerful shaking and the brilliant hot white light as they were vaporized. The smaller corvettes and frigates never had any chance only one from each managed to survive thanks to the fact that they were on the far edges of the formation but they too didn’t go unscathed. Of the seventeen ships that were racing towards their opponents just seconds ago ten were totally destroyed and all the others suffered huge damages.

And just as the bombs detonated the ten human ships fired. MAC rounds raced towards all ships in the fleet. When they got there they hit pieces of some and finished the remaining ships as the first salvo passed a second followed. In less than a minute where there were seventeen enemy ships just moments before now all that was left was debris, pieces of metal that were moving in to every direction.

As the human crews cheered on the Dacarian ships only silence rained.

Kerak was furious. Nineteen ships disappeared in just an arn. He was furious at himself. He underestimated his opponents and he paid a terrible price. It was strange that he even regretted his decision to go after that ship at all.  But that thought stayed for just a second. Then he turned and gave the command.

“I want three corvettes and one destroyer to stay with the carrier. All other ships move to engage. I want all fighters from the carrier and from the ships launched immediately. They will form our screen. One air wing will stay here as support for the carrier battle group.”

His command was carried out immediately.

The carrier had an air wing of four hundred seraphines. Two hundred more were on board the other ships. Thirty remained to keep a watch over the five ships that were staying behind. The rest went in front of the fleet.

Thirty three ships went to meet the eleven ships.

And in the meantime sixteen other ships were silently closing in on the small group at the warp point. They still waited and watched as the battle unfolded.  As the nineteen dacarian ships exploded, cheers of joy erupted on all ships.

Even Elisabeth on board the Prince Royal felt like leaping with joy. But she remained calm. This was only the start. She was surprised by the explosion and wondered how Sanders managed it. However he did it, it was timed perfectly.

“He must have used his load of warheads as mines. That means that he lost half his offensive fire power but it got a good result. It was brilliant. Just a little more time you bastards, just a little more time.”

As she watched she noticed that Jennings squadron stopped. Jennings was waiting for the enemy to reach the second mine field. That was going to be harder considering the large screen of fighters that were moving ahead of the fleet that was moving to intercept him. She watched the report on the ships that remained.

One battleship, one heavy cruiser, four light cruisers, three destroyers, four frigates and six corvettes were destroyed. Leaving the three corvettes and the destroyer that remained behind with the carrier meant that Jennings had three battleships, three heavy and six light cruisers, four destroyers, eight frigates and nine corvettes confronting him. He was outweighed both in tonnage and in firepower. But so far the result was astonishing and encouraging. He still didn’t suffer any loses and all of his ships were still in the fight, But as she watched the fleet moving in she knew that that will change.

One light year away the Eden defense fleet also watched the results of the battle. They were at the edge of the system ready to jump in if needed. It was contrary to the orders he was given but admiral Peck discussed with the leaders of the colony and they all agreed that if Earth falls and if the Proxima fleet loses Eden will follow it.

As he saw the opening shots in the battle and the destruction of third of the enemy ships he was pleased just as everyone else. He knew that by this time the battle in Sol was also probably started. He hoped that the news were as good there as they were here. He felt fear as he watched the large fleet that jumped in system and headed in to Sol, but after seeing the results of the nuclear warheads here he felt assured. The mine field around the warp point and earth was a thousand time stronger than the one here. If this caused such devastation then those ships were in for a hell of a surprise when they would exit the warp point.

He noticed that thirty three ships were headed towards the eleven ships that admiral Jennings had under his command. His information was showing results of things that already happened. Even with the satellites that were deployed in the distance between the two star systems it still took almost forty five minutes for the images to reach him. He could get the information in a heart beat if he went to full power but on passive sensors that was the maximum at this distance. It took him just a minute to make his decision.

“Inform governor Ivanov that we are jumping in to Proxima.”

“Yes Admiral.”

The Admiral inhaled.

“Open a link with the fleet.”

Several seconds later he got confirmation that the link was established.

He waited a second and then addressed them.

“As you all know the battle for Earth and Proxima is under way. Our fellow soldiers are right now fighting for everything we hold precious. We have been ordered to stay away. But we all know that if they fall we will be next. Our only chance for survival, this colony’s only chance of surviving is the victory in this battle. That is why I spoke with governor Ivanov and the provisional government and we all agreed that we should join the fight. We will give our best, we will give our all, and by god we will prevail. Good luck and Good speed.”

He finished his speech and then after a second gave his command.

“Jump to Proxima.”

In several moments all ships started accelerating and opened their hyperspace windows. To an outside observer, to those that watched the fleet through telescopes it would have looked as if the ships elongated as they entered the blue vortexes.  That was the result of the dilating effect of the achieving and surpassing light speed.

The technology was new. The best that they could achieve was a speed 15 times faster than the speed of light. The only exception to that were the Alteran ships that were capable of far greater speeds. The windows to hyperspace that the fleet opened were their creation. The other ten ships locked with them in order to be able to enter and move through hyper space at that speed. It was all controlled by the AI’s who did all the needed calculations. But it could only be done at short ranges. The distance to Proxima was less than a light year. It was I distance that they would cross in a little over an hour. They all hoped that they would be there in time.

27 June 13:57 hours

Sol System Warp Point

Admiral Johnson watched carefully at the disposition of the fleet. All ships reported ready and were on full alert since the moment the news reached them. Two hundred and thirty three ships most of them Los Angeles class, were waiting in formation around the warp point. Forty of the civilian ships from the Alteran fleet were also with them. They were there to house the vipers that couldn’t be placed on the ships of the fleet. They were acting like carriers and staying in the background. It was an improvised decision, considering the need for fighters and the lack of fleet carriers. The three alteran ships, the battleship and the two cruisers were leading three separate battle groups. Each had eighty ships under its command.

The nerves of everyone were at the point of braking. It was hard to just sit and do nothing to wait.

“Are there any news Anaya?”

The AI turned towards her commander. Her face was serious as well.

“Nothing new Sir, the scans are not showing any changes in the status of the warp point.”

“Wonder why they are delaying so long. I hope Third Fleet is ok. Jennings is a good man.”

The AI remembered the first human commander that stepped on the decks of Argus after twelve thousand cycles. She was fond of him. He was a good officer and an excellent captain.

“I’m sure they are fine. He is an excellent officer…and a good man. You all are.”

Johnson was surprised by the emotions he noticed in her words. He always knew she was much more than just a hologram, a computer program. She told them that the Alterans considered the AI’s sentient. All who had a chance to meet her agreed with that assessment. He thought he got to know her well in the time he served as commander of the Argus. But there were always moments like this one, moments when she would surprise him, moments when her humanity will come to the surface.

“Thank you Anaya.”