Chroniech! (45 page)

The leader jerked himself into action. "Standby while the council analyses this new information." He then terminated the communications link with a command from the console in front of him.

"It appears as if your theory concerning the Kyrra was wrong," a voice was finally heard. The leader looked around to see who had spoken. His gaze settled on the councilman who believed that some sentient species could coexist together.

"I refuse to believe such drivel," the leader replied and noted that most of the other members nodded agreement. "The Kyrra are obviously superior to the Alliance. I believe, instead, that the Alliance is controlled by the Kyrra. They are the true masters."

"What shall we do?" someone asked. "The commander is waiting."

"What can we do?" another spoke up. "That battleship is the size of a small moon!"

"Perhaps we can convince the Alliance to help us rid them of their Kyrra masters," the leader replied. Without waiting for the council to respond the leader reestablished the link with their combat forces and issued orders.

* * * * *

Stricklen watched his tactical display as the Chroniech fleet continued their advance on Almaranus. Nearly a minute had gone by since Trel'mara had sent his message.

"Chroniech planetary assault ship will be within firing range of the nearest space yard in two minutes," Doug announced. "My screen shows that all weapon systems are active."

Another thirty seconds crept by. Ken turned to Trel'mara and said, "Try again. They may not have under… "

Ken literally jumped in his seat when the reply came blaring out of the speaker. "Attention Kyrra! We, the Chroniech, acknowledge your superiority and we pledge our support in helping you conquer the Alliance. Do not attack our forces, instead, allow us to help you. We will then withdraw."

"That was an interesting response," Doug said. "Just what the hell did that mean? One minute until they can open fire. I detect no defense shield around the construction yard."

"Receiving a message from sector command," an operator said.

"Ken? I'm assuming that's you inside that monster. What the hell are those crazy Chroniech talking about? Don't worry about the orbital yards; they were evacuated a long time ago. All of the non-military population on the surface have been moved to deep shelters, so the only people you have to worry about are us military. The Chroniech have not yet had a taste of our planetary based weapons. They're in for a bit of a surprise! We will be opening fire any second now."

Ken used his console to establish an open connection and replied, "It's me alright admiral. Don't ask me what the Chroniech were thinking when they replied the way they did. Personally, I think they're nuts. We are still a few minutes away. Hold them off as best as you can. Stricklen out."

Almost simultaneously, both the Chroniech and the planet-based Alliance weapons opened fire. In an instant, one of the valuable space docks was reduced to a floating pile of vaporized metal. In that same instant, one of the planetary assault ships found itself fighting for its existence. Five enormous rods of force had reached up from the surface of Almaranus and were pitting their strength against the incredibly resilient shields of the assault ship.

The passage of those inconceivably powerful force beams through the atmosphere caused the air itself to literally explode. With the force of a thousand bolts of lightning, the beams of energy caused thunderous booms so loud and powerful that unprotected buildings would have been damaged by the shock waves. Weapons of this power had never before been fired within an atmosphere.

The Chroniech responded by returning fire toward the planet. The weapon installations, however, were protected by powerful defense shields of their own. The energy that deflected off the shields caused tremendous damage to the surrounding area.

The defense stations had been built in remote areas of the planet specifically for this reason so no loss of civilian property resulted. Within the first fifteen seconds of the battle, the ground surrounding the defense stations outside the protective defense shield was glowing an angry red.

During this brief time period, Trel'mara had considered the Chroniech response to his first message and had prepared a reply. He opened a channel and said, "Chroniech vessels — our two races have had conflict with each other in the distant past. It is your race, and not ours that desire conquest. We were once peaceful but you taught us war.”

"During our last encounter we destroyed many of your planets along with those of several other races. It has been thousands of years so perhaps you have forgotten. We are not the enemies of the Alliance — we are their friends. We are almost within weapons range of your attacking ships. You will withdraw immediately or we shall take whatever action is required."

The reply was instantaneous and completely unexpected. "Kyrra! After thousands of years the legendary Kyrra finally return. The ancients will be avenged!" All Chroniech ships immediately broke off their attacks against the Alliance and raced toward the incoming Kyrra worldship at maximum acceleration.

"Chroniech warships vectoring in," an operator stated matter-of-factly. "Suggest holding here as this will afford the Alliance with the greatest possible protection."

"All drive systems disengaged," the helm announced.

"Good Lord, what did we say?" Scarboro exclaimed.

"Apparently," Ken said after a moment. "The Chroniech remember the Kyrra for what they did to them thousands of years ago. The story must have been passed down from generation to generation until it became legend. I believe we may have just started a holy war. Trel'mara, what is your defense status?"

Trel'mara consulted a screen and replied, "Defense shield up and stable. Weapon systems are charged and ready, however, I do not think we shall need them. The Chroniech appear to be interested only in us and are no longer engaged in battle with the Alliance. Since this ship cannot be harmed by them there is no need to destroy their ships."

"Are you nuts!" Doug burst out. "You have the ability to wipe those bastards out. Why don't you use it?"

Trel'mara backpedaled a bit in the wake of Doug's overzealous remark. Recovering, he explained, "We will not fire upon any ship unless absolutely required. I agree with your opinion of the Chroniech in that they are an aggressive, repulsive, and easily hated race, but that does not mean we shall seek to destroy them at every opportunity. Such behavior may be common in the Alliance, but it is not the way of the Kyrra."

"Incoming message," an operator announced as he put it on the speakers. "Captain Stricklen — I'm not too sure how you did it, but all Chroniech ships in the area have ceased their attacks on us. You, however, now have a big problem. Our sensors show that all Chroniech ships are now on an intercept with you. If I were you I would get the hell out of there."

Stricklen opened a channel and replied, "The Kyrra assure me that this ship can withstand any conceivable attack by the Chroniech. Their response to one of our messages was unexpected. I thought we were going to have to duke it out with them but something we said really pissed them off. How are things on the surface?"

"The surrounding countryside is in ruins," the Admiral replied. "Maintown reports several buildings damaged from the concussion effects of the weapons. No civilian casualties. We lost one orbital construction platform. Not bad considering."

"Glad to hear it. I'll keep you informed of our situation. Stricklen out." Ken broke the communications link then turned to his console.

The tactical display showed that four Chroniech ships had already opened fire on the worldship and many more were on the way. "What are you going to do now?" he asked Trel'mara.

"This response was unexpected," his friend replied. "I will consult with the council as to our next action concerning the ships that are attacking us. We have taken care of the first problem — the Chroniech are no longer attacking Almaranus. We must now deal with the two remaining problems facing the Alliance. The removal of all hostile Chroniech forces from Alliance space, and establishing a method of preventing their return."

While Trel'mara spoke to the council, the number of attacking Chroniech ships rose. After twenty minutes the worldship was fending off the attacks of over 200 Chroniech ships including the three planetary assault ships.

Trel'mara finished his discussion and came over to talk to Ken. "The council is working on a long-range plan that is currently being voted upon by the population. In the meantime, it has decided that it would be in our best interest to disable all of the Chroniech ships in this area. We are to do so with minimum loss of life. I intend to give them one final warning before we open fire."

Without waiting for a reply, Trel'mara walked over to his console and told the other operators what the council had decided. After opening a channel to the Chroniech, he said, "Attention Chroniech vessels. As you can see, your weapons are useless against us. This is your final warning. Cease your attacks and return to your own space immediately or we shall open fire."

"I am detecting a transdimensional matrix field forming between the three planetary assault ships," a Kyrra operator reported. "All other attacking ships are moving into position to assist in charging the matrix."

"What is a transdimensional matrix field?" Doug asked.

Ken had never heard the term before, Trel'mara explained it to him. "It is a very energy intensive field which, if properly developed, can potentially penetrate our defense screen. I am surprised the Chroniech know of it since it involves a rather detailed knowledge of hyperdimensional physics and requires a tremendous amount of energy to generate.”

"The field will require some time to establish but, once stable, it can be adjusted to form a transdimensional tunnel through which an energy beam can be directed. If the hyperdimensional matrix is setup properly, the energy beam could impact on the surface of the worldship. To my knowledge, there is no defense against this form of attack."

"You mean the Chroniech can shoot through your shields?" Doug exclaimed.

"Figuratively speaking, yes. You will note that it is taking the full power output of three planetary assault ships to generate the field and several other ships to control the matrix field formation. This is one reason why this form of attack is difficult to implement. We will take action to disrupt the formation of the field."

"I wonder why they didn't use a transdimensional tunnel against Almaranus," Doug remarked. "It would have been easier than wasting 200 ships against our defenses."

"A transdimensional tunnel cannot remain stable in the vicinity of a large gravitational field such as near a planet," Trel'mara explained. "Apparently, the Chroniech have noted that the worldship is gravitationally neutral."

Stricklen watched and listened as the self directed team of Kyrra initiated their first combat action. "Activating analysis beam," the Kyrra at the main weapons console announced. Numbers, symbols, and graphs appeared on one of the screens. "Shield analysis completed. Transferring data to weapon control. Configuring primary weapons for shield penetration … Configuration complete … Targeting … Firing."

Three intensely bright blue spheres of energy traveled from the Kyrra worldship and struck the shields of the planetary assault ships. With barely a flicker of resistance, each sphere passed through a Chroniech shield and impacted on the hull of one of the previously invulnerable assault ships. Instead of creating a massive explosion, as Ken had expected, the blue spheres seemed to pass over each ship.

It was difficult for Ken to see what was happening beyond the Chroniech shield since the shield itself was reflective. What he did see though was that the sphere of bluish energy seemed to be elongated on the other side of the shield, almost as if part of it were sticking to the ship's hull. It then snapped backward and vanished inside the shield.

Unbelievably, no earth shattering explosions occurred to destroy the assault ships. As Ken watched, the shields of the Chroniech ships wavered, became cloudy and then suddenly blinked into oblivion. Ken looked closer and saw that the hull of each ship now crawled with electrical discharges. Enormous, eerie electrical arcs completely covered the surface of each ship.

Several puffs of gas accompanied by minor explosions occurred as external sensors and other devices failed under the intense electrical discharge. Several large areas of the hull glowed red. The electrical discharges continued for many seconds as the blue sphere grew weaker and weaker. Eventually, the blue glow of the weapon dissipated along with the electrical discharges.

When the display was over, Ken looked at his tactical monitor and was surprised to discover that all three assault ships had been rendered inoperable. Power output had dropped to near zero; the defense shield was down; and all weapon systems had been disabled.

Ken was turning to ask Trel'mara a question when the Kyrra said, "Attention Chroniech ships. As you can see, our weapons are far more advanced than your own. Your shields are useless and your ships impotent against this vessel. I will tell you one more time to leave this area immediately or the remainder of your fleet will be rendered harmless. You have two minutes to comply."

After Trel'mara had finished addressing the Chroniech, Ken asked, "What kind of weapon was that? What did it do? How did it penetrate the Chroniech shield?"

"It is a terra-gauss magnetic field," Trel'mara replied. "The Chroniech shield was analyzed for a resonance frequency of proper phase and orientation which would allow the magnetic bubble to pass through. A magnetic bubble was created with this exact pattern, allowing it to pass through the shield with little trouble.”

"The terra-gauss magnetic field then reacted with the hull of the assault ships, resulting in the generation of circulating electric currents. The effect is similar to that used to produce the electric currents in a generator."

Stricklen was familiar with how an electric generator worked. Basically, any conductor that moves within a magnetic field will generate an electric current. The Kyrra must have turned the entire assault ship into a gigantic generator. Ken also knew that most electric generators employed magnetic fields measured in hundreds of thousands of gauss. A terra-gauss field was something unheard of. The damage to the Chroniech ship must have been extensive.