Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) (9 page)

Marken hesitated
for a moment. “Actually a slightly larger percentage than we originally projected.
Currently, nearly twelve percent of the clones elect to take civilian jobs, though
most of those jobs do involve the military in some way.”

Beth nodded; she
had already been familiar with some of this from what Wade had told her in
previous conversations. She knew Wade came to the cloning facility on occasion
to check up on its progress as he had been instrumental in talking President
Randle into instituting the program to begin with.

“The clones
plus our regular Human volunteers are allowing us to greatly expand the fleet
as well as our ground forces,” Wade added as he watched another clone take its
first hesitant steps. “Nearly one hundred and twenty thousand Human born volunteered
for military duty last year and we expect about the same this year.”

“Not bad out
of eighteen million people,” commented Beth, thoughtfully.

Wade watched
as several more clones were awakened and processed. They seemed so innocent in
their newborn state. He turned and looked over at Beth, who was watching the
awakening process with keen interest.

“We’re taking
both the military troop transports,” Wade informed her. They had some important
decisions to make as far as personnel went. “I’m putting you in charge of the
Fire Fox and Major Jeffries in charge of the Crimson Star. Both of you need to
pick your command staffs and what marine companies the two of you want deployed
on each ship. For this mission, the assault ships will only have a small
complement of marines on board.”

Beth turned
her attention away from the awakening chamber to focus her eyes on Wade. “I
want Captain Stern and Captain Foster’s two companies for sure,” she responded
without a moment’s hesitation. “I suspect Major Jeffries will want Captain
Perry’s company.”

Wade nodded.
He'd expected that. “We’ll be gone from two to six months,” he added in a
softer voice. “You need to tell your mother, and I need to speak with my
parents.”

“What about
Ryan?” asked Beth her eyes focusing intently on Wade. “Are you going to talk to
him?” She knew her mother wouldn’t be happy with her being gone for such an
extended time, particularly after moving into the retirement center.

“Probably just
a short message. When we return, he should be finished with his training and
will be getting his first assignment.”

Wade let out a
deep breath. He knew Ryan would easily qualify in the Type Four suits; it also
meant he would be getting some of the toughest and more dangerous assignments.
The Type Four battlesuits were designed to take on armored members of the
Kleese race, most likely the Zaltule.

Harnett and I
will be accompanying you on this mission,” Marken said his narrow eyes focusing
on the two Humans. “There will also be ten other Kiveans going along to give support
from a technical perspective as well as assisting in the negotiations. There
are several Kiveans from our home world highly familiar with some of the races
we’ll be speaking to.”

“Marken?” Beth
said, inquiringly. “What do you think the odds are that some of the nonaligned
worlds will join us?”

“We’ve pretty
much determined which ones were involved with giving us the information on the computer
drive as well as the nonaligned world ship that gave us the warning about the
Kleese attack,” he said slowly as he thought hard about the different races. “I’m
certain we can turn six or seven of them to our cause, but we need more. The
Kleese have an Empire to draw their resources from, whereas we will only have a
few worlds.”

“Unless we can
sow discontent on more of the Kleese controlled planets,” Wade pointed out. He
had spoken in considerable length with General Mitchell about launching more clandestine
attacks in an attempt to tie down some of the Kleese warfleet.

“What concerns
me is what the Kleese and the Zaltule are up to now,” Marken said his eyes
showing worry. “They may start moving against some of the nonaligned worlds any
day now, particularly those closer to the central part of their Empire.”

Wade nodded;
he knew they needed to get the mission launched as soon as possible. He was
afraid they were rapidly running out of time.

-

Harmock winced
as his flagship, the Warrior’s Fire, was bracketed by multiple antimatter
missiles. The ship’s energy screen was showing stress as it glowed brightly
under the mounting attack. Harmock stood upon the Command Pedestal of his
flagship, gazing with rapt attention at the numerous viewscreens and tactical displays
showing the fighting around the Warrior’s Fire. He'd brought two hundred
Zaltule warships to the Talt system to pacify the nonaligned world and bring it
permanently into the grasp of the Empire. The Talts were a humanoid species
with large yellow eyes and a very dark complexion.

His fleet had
been met by sixty smaller warships, all with incredible weaponry. Twelve of his
warships lay in ruin, split apart by some type of massive plasma round that
smashed through a ship’s energy screen and caused tremendous damage to the
interior. Fortunately, the weapon took time to recharge or his fleet would have
suffered far heavier losses.

“Firing
primary pulse fusion beams,” Minor Overlord Gareth reported as the Warrior’s
Fire unleashed twenty powerful fusion beams upon the nearest Talt ship.

The Talt ships
were four hundred meters long and spindle-shaped. Their maneuvering ability was
remarkable, making them even more difficult to hit. A pulse fusion beam needed
a few seconds on target to inflict appreciable damage. The beams on a Zaltule
warship were powered by dual fusion reactors and could project a massive amount
of energy.

The Talt ship
darted out of the way after only suffering a microsecond's worth of fire from
the deadly beams. It spun around and a fiery red plasma bolt darted toward the
Warrior’s Fire. It struck the energy shield, clung to it, and then burned
through, striking the ship’s heavy armor and penetrating into the interior of
the ship, setting off several large explosions.

Harmock felt
his flagship shake violently and warning alarms began sounding. He cursed
silently to himself, knowing his flagship had been seriously damaged.

“Secondary Engineering
has been destroyed,” Gareth reported nearly stumbling off the Command Pedestal as
the ship shook violently. His six legs managed to keep him upright as he
continued to study the data coming in on the damage done to the ship. “Fusion
cannons seven, nine, and twelve have been destroyed. Energy beam turrets
twenty, twenty-one, and thirty are no longer responding. We are streaming
atmosphere and I’m locking down the damaged areas of the ship.”

“I want our
ships to attack in groups of four,” Harmock ordered, infuriated that a lesser
race would dare to damage his flagship. “Switch to sublight antimatter missiles
and use volley fire upon these vermin. We’ll see if their ships can dodge a
hundred missiles coming toward them at sublight speeds.”

The orders
were quickly passed and the remaining Zaltule ships formed up into their
designated groups. Once assembled, they began advancing toward the waiting
enemy.

-

The Talt
reformed their fleet and waited to see what the Kleese would do next. The Talt
commander had hoped that if enough Zaltule ships were destroyed in the early
part of the engagement the Kleese would decide to honor the neutrality
agreement. Now the Talt commander was beginning to have his doubts. His
greatest weapon was the plasma rounds and the speed of the Talt ships, but he
was badly outnumbered.

With trepidation,
he watched the Kleese warships form up into groups of four and begin advancing.
He was outnumbered by nearly three to one, which would mean that each of his warships
would have to engage a group of Zaltule ships. However, he would not play into
the Zaltule’s hands. If his fleet was to be destroyed and his world conquered
by the Zaltule, then he would teach the Zaltule a lesson that might make them
hesitant about attacking other nonaligned worlds.

The commander
had already sent word back to his home planet that all the designs for the
plasma weapon were to be destroyed as well as all military research. The plans
for the highly maneuverable sublight drive his ships were equipped with were
also to be destroyed. That type of advanced technology would not be allowed to
fall into the hands of the dreaded Kleese.

“It is time,” Commander
Cribbs spoke, his large yellow eyes focusing on his second in command. “Send
word to Commander Pasha that his mission is confirmed.”

Sub Commander
Leyen stepped over to Communications and quickly passed on the message to the
ships hidden behind the home world and away from the Kleese sensor scans. Four
ships waited in their world’s shadow; there were two warships and a couple of large
passenger ships. In the past few years, rumors had spread through the
nonaligned worlds of a civilization far out on the edge of the Empire, which had
dared to challenge the Kleese. These ships would be leaving in an attempt to
find that world. The two largest ships contained scientists and their families
who, if all else failed, would flee to the far edge of the galaxy to begin a
new Talt civilization.

“Take us in,”
Cribbs ordered grimly, knowing there would be no surviving this battle. “All
ships to attack in groups of three and hit the right quadrant of the Kleese formation.”

-

Harmock
watched as the Talt ships began shifting about and suddenly started
accelerating toward one section of his fleet. He swiftly sent out new orders as
he recognized what the Talt were attempting. He would wheel his other ships
around and hit the Talt from their flank as they hit his fleet formation. He
would pin them between two walls of warships.

The two fleets
closed and the Zaltule warships let loose with a barrage of antimatter
missiles, their missiles far outranging the Talt’s deadly plasma weapons. In
the Talt formation, massive explosions danced across energy shields, overloading
a number of them. Whenever that happened, the Talt ship vanished as antimatter energy
annihilated it. Twelve ships quickly died and then the Kleese ships hit the
flank of the Talt formation. More missiles were fired and sixteen additional Talt
ships vanished in flashes of fiery death. Then the Talts were in range of the
Kleese warships and their plasma weapons fired.

Balls of fiery
orange-red plasma energy struck the three-kilometer Zaltule warships, burning through
energy screens and impacting the armored hulls. Large sections of hull plating
were blasted loose into space and then interior explosions caused even more
damage. Eight Kleese warships were hit by multiple plasma rounds and died a quick
death as the intense heat of the plasma killed the ships.

Harmock
watched impassively as the icons representing the Zaltule warships dropped off
the tactical screen. It would take a short amount of time for the Talt ships to
recharge their weapons. While they were doing that, every ship in his fleet was
firing sublight antimatter missiles in waves at the darting and dodging enemy
ships. On one of the tactical screens, he watched as Talt ship after Talt ship
met its fiery death.

-

Commander
Cribbs grimaced as another one of his warships blew apart under the unrelenting
attack of the Kleese. He was making them pay for every ship the Kleese were destroying,
but he was too heavily outnumbered. They should never have trusted the Kleese
to keep their word on the neutrality agreement. They should also have built up
a much larger fleet to defend their world. Now they would pay for that lack of
foresight with the loss of their freedom.

“We only have
four ships left,” Sub Commander Leyen reported as the flagship shuddered
violently and the lights flickered. “Our plasma weapon is recharged.”

“Fire it!”
uttered Cribbs his yellow eyes focusing on his second in command. “Shortly we
will go and join our ancestors.”

Leyen nodded
as the weapons officer fired the plasma weapon one last time.

On the main
viewscreen, Cribbs and Leyen watched as their weapon impacted the screen of the
nearest Kleese ship, burning through and striking the ship’s armor. A massive explosion
indicated the plasma round had struck something vital.

Before Leyen
could say another word, a Kleese antimatter missile flashed through the ship’s weakening
shield and the Talt flagship ceased to be.

-

“Last enemy
ship has been neutralized,” Gareth reported his multifaceted eyes focusing on
the War Overlord.

“What were our
losses?” demanded Harmock, still finding it hard to believe a lower race such
as the Talt could inflict such losses upon his fleet.

“Thirty
vessels destroyed and another eighteen are reporting heavy damage,” Gareth
reported.

Harmock was
beginning to understand why the Council of Overlords had left these worlds
alone. “Move us into orbit around the Talt home planet and have our ground
forces prepare to invade. “We’ll take the capital city and all of the
spaceports on the planet’s surface.”

“There’s a
large orbiting space station above the planet,” Gareth added.

“We’ll destroy
it after we have searched it for any technology we may find of interest,”
proclaimed Harmock. “The Talt will no longer be allowed access to space. Have
our scientists and technicians ready to board the station once we go into
orbit.”

Harmock had
been surprised at the ferocity of the attack by the Talt ships. Back in the
home system, new Zaltule warships were nearing completion. If the rest of the
nonaligned worlds were as difficult to conquer as this one, they would be
needed. The Talt would make useful servants to the Empire. It would be the new
order of things; all races would be subservient to the Kleese. As long as they
obeyed and provided a useful service they would be allowed to continue to exist;
if found otherwise then the surface of the offending planet would be cleansed
of all life.