Read Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) Online
Authors: Raymond L. Weil
Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5)
Wars: Insurrection
(
The Galactic Empire Wars
Series
,
Book
5)
in
The Galactic Empire Wars
Series
The Galactic Empire Wars: Destruction
(Book 1)
The Galactic Empire Wars: Emergence
(Book 2)
The Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion
(Book 3)
The Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance
(Book 4)
The Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection
(Book 5)
Website:
http://raymondlweil.com/
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Copyright © March 2016 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.
Supreme
Military Overlord Harmock gazed at the large viewscreen in front of him, which
showed the burning remains of a Hytalian battlecruiser. Harmock was a member of
the Zaltule clan of the Kleese race. He was the leader of a warrior caste that
had been bred to engage in war and expand the Kleese Empire across the galaxy. When
their last great enemy had been defeated, the Zaltule had been placed in deep
sleep. For thousands of years, they had slept only to be awakened when it had
been discovered their long sleep was becoming dangerous. The Zaltule were dying
in the sleep chambers, so Supreme Overlord Xatul had made the decision to
awaken them before the warrior caste was lost.
The Kleese
resembled giant arachnids but had a large hair covered upper body that rose up
into the air with a large triangular shaped head and strange looking
multifaceted eyes. Two nearly black arms extended from the upper chest ending
in what looked to be hands with seven long, thin digits. The Kleese were large
with bodies and six legs reaching nearly eight feet in width and six feet in
height.
“Hytalian
flagship has been destroyed,” confirmed Minor Overlord Gareth, Harmock’s second
in command. “Their remaining fleet is retreating toward their world.”
The Kleese,
for the most part, were devoid of most human emotions such as empathy, love, or
pity. Instead, they focused on serving their clan and the Kleese Empire and the
colder more harsh emotions that allowed them to rule with contempt all of the
lower races of their empire.
“What’s the
status of their remaining vessels?” demanded Harmock.
“One hundred
and eighteen battlecruisers still remain as well as the defense grid above the
planet,” reported Jalridd from his sensor console.
Harmock
stamped his feet upon the Command Pedestal as he considered his fleet’s next
move. He had twelve hundred updated Zaltule battlecruisers. The ships were over
three kilometers across and one thousand meters thick. Their hulls were covered
in weapons emplacements with pulse fusion batteries and energy turrets in
abundance. Hundreds of small hatches hid sublight antimatter missiles ready to
be launched at a moment’s notice. Unlike the larger Kleese exploration ships,
the battlecruisers were designed for war, and there were no large training
facilities for conscripts or holding areas inside the ships. The ships were
filled with power systems and narrow corridors that would make it nearly
impossible for a conscript in a battlesuit to traverse. These ships were
designed for fleet battles and planetary bombardment. They were capable of
traveling at one hundred twenty light-years per day in Fold Space.
“Move us in
toward the planet,” ordered Harmock. “Contact the Hytalian ruling council and
explain to them that if they agree to surrender, we will spare their world.
They must swear allegiance to the Kleese Empire and wear the collars of
obedience. If they refuse our demands, we will bombard their planet with
antimatter missiles.”
“I will have
the message sent,” replied Gareth, fully in agreement with the Military Overlord’s
pronouncement. The Kleese were the dominant species in the galaxy and all
others were subservient. The remainder existed only to serve the Kleese race.
-
Harmock
watched from the Command Pedestal as his fleet moved toward the Hytalians’ home
planet. The Hytalians were a very advanced race, and Harmock was determined to
see to it they didn’t join the Human led Alliance that had become so
troublesome. The Humans had even attacked the Kleese home system, destroying a
Zaltule shipyard, heavily damaging another, and demolishing the Zaltule deep
sleep chambers on the icy moon where four Queens had remained in suspension.
The Queens had died in their sleep. This was the first time in the recorded
history of the Kleese that a Queen had been killed by another species. Not only
that, a Human battlecruiser had managed to attack and destroy the heart of the
Kleese capital city, killing over six million. Never in the long history of the
Kleese Empire had another race dared such sacrilege.
For over a
year Harmock had been forced to halt his war of expansion against the
nonaligned worlds. He had consolidated his forces and ensured the other Kleese
worlds were well protected from future attacks. Former Supreme Overlord Xatul
had also vanished with a major portion of the Kleese exploration fleet as well
as two of the valuable Kleese trading stations. A search had been made but as
of yet there had been no indication of where Xatul had fled. When he was found,
Harmock intended to use the Zaltule warfleet to eliminate the former Supreme Overlord
as it had been deemed he was unfit to rule the Kleese Empire. The Zaltule were
now in charge, and all who refused to submit were being quickly eliminated.
“The Hytalians
are refusing to surrender,” Minor Overlord Gareth reported in a harsh voice,
his eyes focusing on the Supreme Military Leader. “They dare to defy us!”
“Perhaps they
hope an Alliance fleet will arrive in time to save them,” spoke Salten, the
weapons officer.
Harmock turned
to glare at Salten with angry red flashing in his multifaceted eyes. “We’re too
far away from the Human led Alliance,” he proclaimed in a commanding voice.
“The Humans cannot reach the Hytalians in time. We’ll engage the Hytalian fleet
and destroy it as well as all of their orbital works. When that has been
accomplished, we’ll allow them one more chance to surrender before we destroy
their world.”
-
The black
ships of the Zaltule fleet rapidly approached the Hytalians’ planet. The
defending fleet fell back into the planet’s powerful defensive grid hoping to
add its firepower to their own. On the surface of the planet, sirens were sounding,
sending the populace scurrying to find shelter. In the council chambers of the
Hytalian Senate, accusations were flying over the failure of their fleet to
defend them.
“We should
have joined the Human Alliance!” yelled one of the senators standing up to his full
seven feet height and shaking his thin hand accusingly at the chairman of the
council. “When the Lanolthians came and offered us a seat in the Alliance, we should have accepted!”
“War!”
challenged another senator, who was much older and nearing the end of his long
life. “We are a peaceful culture; we are not warriors! We could not in good
faith join the Alliance.”
“Look above us!”
the first senator said in a shrill voice. “The Zaltule have brought the war to
us!”
“But the
neutrality agreement,” cried out the older senator, shaking his head in denial.
“The Kleese promised to obey it; that’s why we signed it to begin with.”
“The Zaltule
are not the Kleese we signed the agreement with,” replied another senator,
rising to his feet. “The Zaltule have been violating the agreements since they
awakened. The only nonaligned worlds that remain free are those few who have
joined the Alliance. By us not agreeing to join, we signed our own death
warrants!”
A high-ranking
military officer opened the doors to the council chamber and stood gazing at
the assembled senators. “The Zaltule ships are nearing our world; the surviving
admiral of our fleet does not feel he can prevent them from bombarding the
surface of our planet. The Zaltule are demanding we surrender and swear
obedience to their empire.”
“Bah!” one of
the younger senators said, rising up and shaking his head. “They will place
their obedience collars around our necks, and we will be slaves from then on.
Our fleet must fight!”
The older
senator pointed his shaking fingers toward the other senators. “We must
surrender; war is not our way.”
“Surely our
defense grid will protect us,” the original senator to speak said. “It’s very
powerful, and we built it for just this type of emergency. Who is our surviving
admiral?” They had all been informed the commanding fleet admiral had died
along with his flagship in the initial attack.
“Admiral
Aniled has taken over command,” the military officer replied.
“A good
admiral,” commented the chief councilor, rising to his feet. “What are our
chances of stopping this attack? Can we prevail?”
“I fear not,”
the military officer answered with sadness in his eyes. “We did not design the
defense grid to stop a fleet of this size and power.”
“Nevertheless,”
the chief councilor said, folding his arms across his chest. “We will not reply
to the Zaltule until we know how our fleet and the defensive grid fare.”
“Then we all
may die,” replied the military officer in a calm voice.
“Then we die,”
the chief councilor answered, determined to give the fleet and the defensive
grid the opportunity to save the planet. The other alternative was too horrific
to even contemplate.
-
In orbit above
the planet, the admiral in charge of the surviving ships of the Hytalian fleet
prepared to engage the enemy. His one hundred and eighteen battlecruisers had
fallen back to the powerful defensive grid that surrounded the planet. Six
hundred orbiting satellites armed with powerful dual energy cannons were focused
on the inbound Zaltule fleet awaiting the command to fire.
“We are about
to die,” said Admiral Aniled to his second in command as he listened to his
orders from the council over his comm unit. “The council refuses to surrender.”
“It will be an
honorable death. Death in battle is much more preferable than wearing a Kleese obedience
collar.”
“You are
right, my friend,” responded Admiral Aniled, taking a deep fortifying breath.
“Order the fleet to prepare for combat.”
-
Supreme
Military Overlord Harmock felt annoyance over the continued refusal of the
Hytalians to surrender their world. In the past few months, many nonaligned
worlds had done the same. All had been conquered and brought fully into the
fold of the Kleese Empire.
“Enemy fleet
is within range,” reported Jalridd.
“Destroy
them,” ordered Harmock coldly. “Let none of their ships escape.” It still
angered him that the Kleese Council of Overlords had granted so many advanced
worlds autonomy through the use of the neutrality agreements. It had been
necessary for his fleets to conquer them one by one.
“Firing
weapons,” said Salten as he activated the
Warrior’s Fire’s
weapons.
-
The space
between the two fleets suddenly was filled with deadly energy and pulse fusion
beams. The Hytalians’ beams were nearly comparable to the Zaltules’ energy weapons;
however, the Zaltule had the more powerful pulse fusion beams as well as larger
ships allowing them to bring more weapons to bear. The Zaltule energy screens
were also more powerful as they had taken technology from numerous conquered
nonaligned worlds to strengthen them.
The Hytalian
ships were pyramid shaped and one thousand meters in length. Bright white
energy beams lanced out to strike the Zaltule shields. The beams struck and
then held as all the power the Hytalians could bring to bear was applied in an
attempt to penetrate the powerful screens. More ships brought their weapons to
bear trying to bring the shields down in coordinated attacks. Suddenly a beam
penetrated, blasting a deep hole in the side of one of the Zaltule battlecruisers.
The massive ship seemed to shudder and then several more beams penetrated,
raking the hull with deadly energy. A large section of the hull was laid open,
damaging numerous energy conduits. The shield wavered, and the Hytalians used
the opportunity to launch several sublight antimatter missiles. The two
missiles flashed past the weakened energy screen and struck the damaged enemy vessel.
Two brilliant fireballs formed and moments later, the Zaltule battlecruiser
blew apart.
However, the
Zaltule were also firing. Energy beams, pulse fusion beams, and antimatter missiles
were pummeling the Hytalian shields. The concentrated firepower from twelve
hundred Zaltule warships was too much for the Hytalian fleet. Ship after ship
saw their shields go down and then died in massive blasts of light as
antimatter missiles sent them to oblivion.
-
Admiral Aniled
held on to his command chair as his flagship shook violently from the enemy
attack. “Report!” He knew the battle was going badly for his fleet.
“Thirty-seven
of our ships have been destroyed, numerous others are reporting heavy damage,”
his second in command reported.
“The Zaltule?”
“Four of their
ships have been destroyed and seven or eight others have been damaged.”
“Our defense
grid?”
“It’s firing,
but having little effect on the Zaltule battlecruisers. The defense grids’
energy cannons just aren’t powerful enough.”
Admiral Aniled
nodded, knowing the situation was getting desperate. On the main viewscreen, he
could see one of his battlecruisers. Several Zaltule energy beams penetrated
its shield, carving huge glowing rents into the side of the vessel. Then a
pulse fusion beam struck, sending large sections of the hull drifting away into
space. A Zaltule antimatter missile slammed into the bow of the ship and the
vessel vanished in a fiery explosion.
Admiral Aniled
felt his flagship shake violently, and warning alarms began sounding. Several
consoles exploded into flames, sending sparks flying across the Command Center. The fires were hurriedly put out, but the smoke caused by the damage was
only slowly clearing. Aniled felt his eyes watering and he began coughing.
“Damage report!”
“Sublight
drive is out, energy screen is down to 40 percent, the secondary fusion reactor
is offline, and we have numerous compartments open to space,” replied his
second officer. “We were hit by an antimatter missile that exploded just inside
our energy shield. A little closer and we wouldn’t be here.”
“Have the
defense grid switch their targeting to just a few of the Zaltule warships.
Perhaps that way they can overload their energy shields.”