Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) (20 page)

Ryan was
silent. Juan’s story was one that had been told repeatedly by hundreds of
thousands of refugees. The Kleese attack upon Earth had left tens of thousands
of orphaned children and even more families whose loved ones didn’t survive the
horrors of that first year after the attack.

“From the
stories I read, the survival camps were not pleasant places to be,” spoke up
Casey, recalling some of what she had read at the Academy.

“No, they
weren’t,” Rios answered with a haunted look in his eyes. “We were always cold
and never knew if we would have food for the next day. It’s something I don’t
want to ever experience again.”

“That’s why
we’re out here,” Ryan interjected. His eyes looked over the small group of
marines. Most of them he could call friends, though he knew it wasn’t wise to
get too close to individuals in your command. “We’re going to show the Kleese
they never should have come to our solar system or this part of the galaxy.”

“I’m ready to
kill some spiders,” Alexander spoke in a boisterous voice. “I understand the
best way to kill a Kleese is to cut its head off with an Energy Lance.” Alexander
made a swinging motion like he was holding a lance, sweeping it through the
air.

“Just so you
don’t cut yourself,” cautioned Lauren with an enigmatic grin. “Don’t forget
that Kleese battle armor will probably be impervious to an Energy Lance anyway.
You might want to use an energy cannon to burn their heads off.”

“Either way,
I’m going to kill them,” boasted Alexander in a confident voice.

“They need to
die,” agreed Rios. “They are a cruel and evil race.”

“We’ll
probably be going into battle shortly, isn’t that right, Lieutenant?” asked
Mary with concern in her eyes. Her face was so innocent and lacking any
blemishes or birthmarks.

“Probably,”
Ryan responded. “I'd better go get changed and head to my meeting. I’ll let you
know if anything has come up.”

-

Ryan put on a
fresh uniform and made his way through the large ship until he reached one of
the briefing rooms. Stepping inside, he paused and his eyes grew wide when he
saw who was standing there. “Beth!” spoke Ryan, feeling stunned and then,
recovering his composure, he quickly spoke again. “Major Williams.”

“Sit down,
Lieutenant,” Major Stevens said, trying his best not to laugh at the young
lieutenant's reaction to seeing his brother’s wife. “Major Williams has come to
brief us on an important matter, one that may be exceptionally difficult to
accomplish.”

“We’ll do
whatever is necessary, Sir,” Ryan responded as he took the indicated seat at
the small conference table. “My platoon is ready for combat.”

Beth looked
over at Ryan, very pleased with what she saw. He was in excellent shape and
seemed to be carrying himself with an air of authority. “Admiral Adamson has
suggested a slight change of tactics,” she began. “After Colonel Nelson,
myself, and a few others reviewed the admiral’s request we decided it might be
an excellent idea for the war effort.”

Ryan looked
confused. He wondered if Beth was talking about some type of guerilla action on
the Kleese controlled planets. He knew it was an option the High Command had
been considering. The Type Four suits would be ideal for such a commitment.

“We want you
to capture a Zaltule,” Beth said evenly her eyes focusing intently on Ryan.
“More than one would be even better.”

“What?” Ryan
blurted out his eyes growing wide in shock. “How do we capture a Zaltule?” Ryan
felt numb at the suggestion. The Zaltule were the warrior caste of the Kleese
and would not be easy to take into custody.

“We expect the
Kleese to attack one of the nearby nonaligned worlds sometime in the next
month,” Major Stevens announced as he leaned back and rubbed his forehead with
his right hand. He knew this mission wasn’t going to be easy. Hell, it sounded
downright impossible.

“When they do,
they will undoubtedly land ground forces upon the planet,” continued Beth,
knowing she was asking a lot of Ryan. “We’ll make a heavy duty stun rifle
available to several of your marines that should, when at its highest setting,
knock out a Zaltule even if they’re wearing a battlesuit.”

“How close
will we have to get?” asked Ryan, suspecting he wasn’t going to like the
answer. He strongly suspected the Zaltule wouldn’t exactly be standing still
waiting to be stunned.

“Within knife
throwing range,” replied Beth in a lower voice. Looking at Ryan, he reminded
her so much of Wade when she'd first met him.
She wasn’t happy about sending Ryan and his platoon into this type of danger.

“What kind of
support will we have?”

“I’ll be going
down with the four platoons in the Type Four suits,” replied Major Stevens.
“We’ll deploy all of our hover tanks if the fighting looks intense as well as
the four hundred marines in Type Three suits who are aboard the Defender.”

“This will be
a difficult mission to accomplish,” stated Beth evenly, taking a deep breath.
“From the reports of their war with the Strell, the Zaltule caste are fierce
warriors. I'll be coming down also with all of my marines from the Fire Fox.
Many of them have experience fighting the Kleese.”

“But not
warriors of the Zaltule caste,” responded Ryan, gravely.

“No, not the
Zaltule,” Beth admitted her eyes focused on Ryan.

“Colonel
Nelson will command the operation from orbit aboard the Defender, while Major
Williams will be in overall charge on the ground,” Stevens said. “Colonel
Nelson will be transferring over sometime in the next week. He’s still trying
to finish up some negotiations.”

They spent a
few more minutes discussing the upcoming operation and what was expected of
Ryan’s marines. Once satisfied they had gone over what was necessary, Major
Stevens excused himself and left Beth and Ryan alone.

“So, you conquered
Charring on your second attempt,” commented Beth with a relaxing smile.

“Yes,”
stammered Ryan. He hadn’t expected Beth to know that. “How?”

“How did we
know?” Beth responded with a pleased look that she had surprised the young
lieutenant. “Your brother was keeping a close watch on you. He’s extremely
proud of how well you did in your training. He was even there in the dome Command Center watching your first attempt at Charring.”

“Thanks, I
guess,” answered Ryan, feeling embarrassed. He hadn’t suspected Wade had been
at the training dome watching.

“Ryan,” spoke
Beth in a more serious tone. Leaning forward in her chair, she placed her hands
on the hard surface of the conference table. “This mission is going to be
extremely dangerous; there’s a good chance that some of the marines in your
platoon might not make it back.”

“I understand
that,” answered Ryan, taking a deep breath. “It’s what we were trained for.”

“This won’t be
like training,” Beth quickly pointed out. “A mistake out here and someone dies;
I’ve seen it too often.”

Ryan was
silent for a long moment and then focused his eyes on Beth. “What advice can
you give me?”

Beth nodded.
She was pleased Ryan had asked that question. It showed he wasn’t so caught up
in his new position and the power of the Type Four suits to understand he
didn’t know everything.

“Be cautious
but don’t hesitate once you’ve made a decision,” she spoke in a firm voice.
“Make sure your marines know you’re in charge and looking out for them.”

“I have a good
group of marines,” Ryan responded. It made him uneasy thinking he might lose
some of them on this mission. “I trust them to do whatever is necessary.”

“One more
thing, Ryan,” Beth said her tone a little softer. “If you get into trouble or
find you’re in a situation you can’t handle, don’t hesitate to call for help.
Major Stevens, myself, and others will be close by. In this operation, we’re
there to support you.”

“It’s not
going to be easy to capture a Zaltule, is it?”

“No,” Beth
answered with a sigh. “It’s not. We’re not even sure if it’s possible.”

Ryan was
silent as he thought over what his sister-in-law had just told him. For their
first mission, his platoon had drawn a bad hand, but he was determined to make
it a winning one. “We’ll do it,” Ryan finally said. “We’ll capture a Zaltule.”

Beth allowed
herself to smile. Ryan even sounded like his older brother. She just hoped they
all made it back safely from this mission.

-

The first
three-kilometer Zaltule battlecruiser dropped out of Fold Space followed almost
instantly by seven hundred more. In just a matter of a few seconds, space was
full of the massive and deadly black warships.

“Status,”
barked Harmock as he stepped on top of the Command Pedestal, which gave him an
unrestricted view of the Command Center.

“All ships have
dropped out of Fold Space,” reported Gareth from where he was standing next to
the large sensor console. “All ship commanders are reporting normal flight
operations.”

Harmock stood
silently as his gaze focused on the large tactical screen, full of the myriad
of green icons, which represented his fleet. Since learning of the theft of the
trading station, his fleet had stopped in several other inhabited systems
controlled by the Kleese Empire. The more he learned about these Humans, the
angrier he'd gotten at the Kleese Council of Overlords. For six years, the
council had done nothing. They'd allowed an inferior race control of a Kleese
possession without making additional efforts to recover it. To Harmock such
actions were irresponsible and even treasonous.

What was even
worse were the capabilities of the station itself. There was no doubt the
Humans had learned how to operate the station, particularly since they had such
a large number of Kiveans under their control. Harmock wondered what type of
threat the Humans were using to control the Kiveans. He doubted if the Kiveans
would work for them voluntarily.

“All ships
have seventy hours to perform system’s checks and prepare for battle,” Harmock
spoke in a cold and nearly emotionless voice. “Once all systems have been
checked we will enter Fold Space and attack our target system.”

“The system of
Pradel is only two hundred light years distant,” commented Jalridd from the
sensor console. “It has six planets, two of which are inhabited. The second
planet out from the system’s star is the home world.”

“Reports from
some of the traders we spoke to in the last two systems we stopped in seem to
confirm an Alliance is being formed against us and the Humans are behind it,”
added Gareth. “This Human threat has been allowed to simmer far too long.”

“Yes,” replied
Harmock as his multifaceted eyes focused on his second in command. “The council
in many ways has failed its duty with the handling of this upstart race. We’ll
take care of annihilating that problem, but when we return to the council
world, there will be some major changes. The Council Overlords must learn not
to keep secrets from the Zaltule.”

Harmock left
the Command Center to make a tour of his flagship. He knew that back home on
several specially selected worlds, the Zaltule Queens would be laying their
first clutches of eggs. Soon new Zaltule warriors would begin to emerge to take
their rightful places in the Empire. Within a few years, the Zaltule numbers
would swell to their ancient levels and they would sweep across the galaxy,
crushing everyone who stood in their way. Harmock also knew that at that
glorious moment, he would take over as the Supreme Overlord of the Kleese race.

On the other
side of the system, a small Nalton cargo ship rose up out of the atmosphere of
the planet it had been hiding in. In just moments, the ship accelerated and
jumped into Fold Space. The communications gear on board could reach nearly one
hundred light years. It would take the small ship six valuable hours to reach
the necessary range to be able to contact one of the nonaligned worlds, which
was considering joining the Alliance. From there, word would be sent back to
Lanolth and the waiting Human fleet.

The Warrior’s
Fire dropped out of Fold Space into the Pradel System and instantly went to
full combat alert. Klaxons sounded and lights flashed as the Zaltule crew
prepared for combat. Other battlecruisers began showing up around the flagship
until the full seven hundred warships were present. They rapidly moved about
into a compact defensive formation as their short-range and long-range sensors
began reaching out scanning the system for potential hostile contacts.

“No hostile
contacts within twenty light minutes,” reported Jalridd as the first sensor
scans began coming in. “Picking up a few cargo ships, but no warships.”

“Hold the
fleet at its current position,” ordered Harmock, rising up to his full height
on his six legs. “This is a nonaligned world and we know they have warships to
defend their two worlds. I want to know where they are!”

The
three-kilometer wide disk ships continued to hold motionless, their energy
screens fully powered and weapons searching space for any hint of a hostile
ship. The long-range sensors reached farther into the system and finally began
picking up the Pradelians’ battlecruisers. They were all together in a loose
formation halfway between the second and third planets.

“Seventy-two
ships,” reported Jalridd as the red threat icons began appearing on the primary
tactical screen. “They seem to be holding at their current position and have
made no movement since we detected them.”

“They might
not know we’re here yet,” suggested Gareth as he studied the tactical screen.

“They know
we’re here,” Harmock spoke in his cold and hard voice. “The cargo ships would
have detected us and reported our presence as soon as we dropped out of Fold
Space.”

“Why are they
waiting?” asked Gareth.

“They want us
to make the first move,” answered Harmock, taking several steps forward on the
Command Pedestal. “Move the fleet toward them on our sublight drives and let's
see if we can provoke a response. Keep our sensors focused on those warships; I
want to know as much about them as possible before we initiate combat.”

Gareth quickly
activated the ship-to-ship communicator. “All battlecruisers proceed ahead at
one third power on sublight engines. Standard defensive formation with the
flagship at the center until further notice.”

The seven
hundred Zaltule warships instantly began accelerating and adjusted their course
to intercept the waiting Pradelian ships. Metal hatch covers slid open,
revealing waiting sublight antimatter missiles, and energy turrets rotated
until they were focused in the direction of the fleet’s travel. The heavy pulse
fusion weapons were charged with energy and readied to fire upon command.

-

Aboard the
Constellation, Admiral Adamson watched the Kleese ships intently as they began
moving toward the waiting Pradel battlecruisers. Seventh Fleet had arrived just
a few hours previously after receiving a frantic warning about the approach of
the Zaltule fleet. After receiving the message from the Nalton cargo ship,
they'd decided the Kleese were going to attack one of three nonaligned worlds.
The Naltons and the Lanolthians had been adamant that Pradel would be the world
under fire from the Zaltule. Pradel was a highly civilized world with a major
colony on their third planet and even served as a trading hub for several of
the nearer nonaligned worlds.

“They were
right,” spoke Commander Shepherd as she watched the tactical screen. “The
Kleese are right on time.”

“Make sure we
keep our power output at a minimum,” ordered Adamson, feeling his heart beating
faster at the thought of combat. “We don’t want the Kleese to know we’re here
until they’re heavily engaged with the defending Pradel warships. I also don’t
want to use the new missiles unless absolutely necessary.”

“All ships are
operating at minimal power levels,” Sandra assured the admiral. “They
understand we need to remain undetected and to use regular twenty-megaton
missiles unless otherwise ordered.”

Adamson nodded
as he allowed his gaze to play over his command crew. All were busy at their
stations as if this was just a normal duty shift. Adamson let out a deep
breath. He knew that a victory in the coming battle meant the Alliance would
become a reality. A loss and everything they'd worked so hard for would fall
apart. If he could win this battle without revealing the new six-warhead
antimatter missile R&D had designed, it would give the Human ships a
tactical advantage in future battles. However, if it became necessary to deploy
the missiles to ensure victory, he wouldn't hesitate.

On one of the
viewscreens, the troop assault ship Defender was displayed. At one thousand
meters, the ship was very impressive and perhaps the most powerful ship in the
fleet. She had heavier energy screens, thicker battle armor, and the weighty
weapons of a battlecruiser. Colonel Nelson had left the Constellation and taken
a shuttle over to the Defender just before they departed the Lanolthian System.

“The
Pradelians are on the move,” reported Commander Shepherd as the green icons on
the tactical screen representing the nonaligned world’s ships began to change
positions. “They’re moving to just outside the orbit of the third planet to
intercept the Kleese before they can target Ryerson.” Ryerson was the name of
the other inhabited planet in the system and held slightly over one billion
inhabitants.

“Kleese ships
have jumped into Fold Space,” called out Lieutenant Lash as the Kleese ships
suddenly began moving rapidly toward the Pradelian battlecruisers.

“All ships go
to full power,” ordered Admiral Adamson over the com, which linked him to all
of his ship commanders. “Standby to enter Fold Space upon my command.” He knew
the Kleese couldn’t detect his ships as most long-range sensors didn’t function
well in Fold Space.

-

“Dropping out
of Fold Space,” reported Minor Overlord Gareth as the viewscreens on the
Warrior’s Fire began to clear and show the space around the ship.

“Pradelian
ships are at extreme combat range,” added Jalridd as the tactical screen began
to light up with red threat icons.

“Close the
range,” Harmock ordered as he prepared himself for battle. “Detach twenty ships
to begin the invasion of Ryerson.”

“Orders have
been passed to the indicated ships,” spoke Gareth. He watched on the tactical
screen as the small force broke off from the fleet and accelerated toward the
planet.

 “What’s the
latest status on the Pradelian battlecruisers?”

“The ships are
one thousand meters in length and two hundred meters in diameter,” answered
Jalridd, promptly. “They are of standard cylinder shape with what appear to be
numerous energy weapons and open hatches indicating missile tubes.”

“A formidable
warship,” uttered Gareth. “Except they are dealing with the Zaltule and they
shall soon learn their ships are not nearly as powerful as they believe.”

“Weapons have
locked on the nearer Pradelian ships,” reported Salten from his weapons
console. The Kleese all stood at their battle stations, as their form was not
made for sitting. “Ready to fire.”

“Overlord!”
spoke one of the Kleese at another sensor panel. “I am detecting a spatial
disturbance approaching from our rear.”

“What type of
disturbance?” demanded Harmock, feeling alarmed.

“It’s a Fold
Space disturbance approaching us at a high rate of speed.”

“All ships
come to a stop,” Harmock ordered. “Prepare defenses for a massed antimatter
attack!”

He wasn’t a
fool, and as the Supreme War Overlord of the Kleese and particularly the
Zaltule, he was wise enough to spot a trap. It was obvious now that the
Pradelian battlecruisers had been acting as a lure to draw his fleet into
combat so these unknowns behind him could hit his fleet at the worst possible
moment. The trap had almost worked. If not for the Zaltule at one of the sensor
stations spotting the spatial disturbance, the inbound ships would have hit the
Zaltule battlecruisers when they were fully engaged with the Pradelians.

Harmock began
hurriedly adjusting his fleet formation as he realized he would soon be facing
an attack from two directions. It would make maneuvering difficult.

“Unknowns are
dropping out of Fold Space,” Gareth reported his multifaceted eyes focused
intently on the tactical screen, which was lighting up with numerous red threat
icons.

“Numbers!”
demanded Harmock his eyes seeking the tactical screen for more information.

“Nearly four
hundred ships,” uttered Jalridd as the information came over his sensor
screens. “I’m detecting at least eight different ship types.”

“The Alliance!” spoke Gareth as he turned toward Harmock. “This must be the Alliance we've heard
about.”

“Inbound
weapons fire!” reported Jalridd.

“Return fire!”
ordered Harmock in a hard voice. “We will destroy this Alliance here and now.”
He was confident his seven hundred ships could withstand this attack and
complete its objective.

“Overlord,”
interjected Jalridd. “I am detecting two hundred Kleese assault ships in the
attacking fleet.”

“Assault
ships?” questioned Gareth, feeling confused. Could a faction of the Kleese race
be helping this Alliance?

“It’s the
Humans,” answered Harmock without hesitation. “They have the trading station
and could easily build assault ships for their own use. These Humans are a
clever enemy indeed.”

-

Admiral
Adamson felt grim satisfaction in the knowledge they had trapped the Zaltule
fleet between his forces and the Pradelian battlecruisers. Now he had to
destroy it.

“Particle beam
firing,” spoke Lieutenant Kali Summers from Tactical.

“All ships are
engaging,” added Commander Shepherd as the viewscreen showed a Waltarn
battlecruiser firing its massive KEW cannon at a Kleese battlecruiser.

Sandra knew
from her earlier briefing that the Waltarn’s cannon fired a ten thousand
kilogram shell at twenty percent the speed of light. She was curious to see its
effect upon a Zaltule battlecruiser. She was quickly rewarded when the screen
lit up with light as the KEW round impacted a Zaltule energy screen, tore
through, and then ripped into the hull, causing a massive explosion as its
kinetic energy was released. When the glow faded, all that was left of the
enemy battlecruiser were two shattered and burning sections.”

“Now that’s a
railgun,” uttered Lieutenant Summers with a jealous smile. “I want one.”

On the
viewscreen, other Alliance ships were now engaging the Zaltule and it was
quickly becoming apparent that the combined Alliance fleet had a decisive edge
in advanced weapons. Zaltule battlecruisers were being blown apart in rapid
succession as powerful energy beams, pulse fusion beams, particle beams, and
antimatter missiles battered down their energy shields.

-

Harmock’s gaze
turned cold and deadly as he watched another of his warships being destroyed on
one of the Command Center’s multiple viewscreens. These Alliance ships were all
equipped with very advanced weapons as well as powerful energy shields.

“Overlord,”
spoke Gareth, addressing the military commander. “We are detecting Delton ships
in this attacking fleet as well.”

“Deltons?”
uttered Harmock his gaze shifting to his second in command. “They must have
fled to this sector and rallied the nonaligned worlds here to their defense.”

“At least now
we know where they went.”

“The Pradelian
ships are advancing and beginning to attack,” warned Jalridd from his sensor
console.

“Order all
ships to intensify their weapons fire; we must destroy this Alliance before it
becomes a major threat to the Empire!” ordered Harmock in a grim voice. He
pointed one of his dark arms at a viewscreen showing an Alliance warship.
“Focus our fire on that ship and destroy it.”

-

In space, the
opposing fleets were now so close to one another that very few weapons were
missing or being intercepted by defensive systems. The Zaltule had the larger
warships and could take greater punishment while the Alliance ships had the
superior weapons. A group of ten Human two hundred-meter assault ships
simultaneously fired their particle beam cannons at one of the Kleese
battlecruisers. The beams struck the energy shield, causing cascades of glowing
energy to erupt before penetrating and striking the ship’s heavily armored
hull. Ten massive explosions tore into the ship, ripping off large sections of
hull plating before penetrating deeper inside and setting off secondary
explosions. With a massive flash of light, the Zaltule battlecruiser
disintegrated.

Each segment
of the Alliance fleet was operating with some autonomy as there'd not been time
to set up a rigid fleet coordination system. The Nalton battlecruisers were
advancing in a compact formation, firing off their high intensity energy
weapons at the Kleese ships ahead. The space between the two fleets was alive
with the flashes of energy beams, pulse fusion beams, and the occasional
detonation of a sublight antimatter missile.

Two Zaltule
battlecruisers suddenly blew apart as Tureen 40-megaton sublight missiles
flashed through weakened screens, leaving glowing fireballs to mark their
passing.

-

“What was
that?” demanded Harmock as the viewscreens momentarily dimmed from the sudden
glare of the multiple explosions.

“Antimatter
missiles,” answered Jalridd, feeling shaken. “Sensors indicate explosions in
the 40-megaton range.”

“That’s
impossible,” responded Harmock in a hard voice. “Antimatter becomes too
unstable in amounts larger than what is used in our own twenty-megaton
warheads.”

“Evidently at
least one of the Alliance races has found a way to keep it stable,” commented
Gareth as he studied the sensors, confirming what Jalridd had reported. “We’re
also detecting ion beams and massive KEW rounds being fired.”