Solbidyum Wars Saga 6: Defeat of the Tottalax (14 page)

“We are using half the available space at the moment, and as soon as we can get a larger Cantolla Gate assembled, we are going to move some equipment through to the other side that we can use to bore out more tunnels and rooms.  I’m hoping to offer jobs to the POW’s that were forced conscripts, and we believe pose no further threats to the Federation, to do the work.  It will be completely voluntary, and they’ll be paid standard wage rates, so by the time we have cleared them to be released in the Federation again, they will have built up some cash to get them reestablished once more.”

“Do you think that’s safe, Tibby?  Letting the prisoners do the work?  How do you know they won’t try and tunnel out instead of excavating more space for the prison?”  Regeny asked.

“Admiral, you haven’t been to the L-1 facility, have you?”  I asked.

“No, I can’t say as I have.  I know it’s at the old colony Ming had set up for the Chinese on the Earth’s moon, but that’s about all,” the admiral replied.  I noticed Captain Slater suppressing a grin.

“Captain Slater, would you care to enlighten the Rear Admiral why the prisoners won’t escape by tunneling to the surface at L-1?” I asked.

Slater grinned and said, “The Earth’s moon has no atmosphere.  If they dig to the surface they will be dead in seconds.  Even if they managed to get to the surface and had a space suit, there is nowhere to go.  There are no ships on the Moon, and no ships visit it.  It would be suicide to even try.”

“I see,” Regeny said, “do the prisoners know this?”

“Ah, no sir, they do not.  However, I’m sure that if any of the prisoners ever try and tunnel out, they will be the last to do so.  As soon as word gets out about how they died, no one will ever try that again,” I added.

The next 24 hours went by quickly.  I managed to get about five hours of sleep before returning to the
DUSTEN
.  The view inside the War Room was impressive, with the holographic display set to scale the outer limits of the fleet assembled there, in preparation of the assault at Windsor.  In the War Room thousands of ships hung in the air, and a 3-D display of the node ships for the Cantolla Gates could clearly be seen.  There would be about a half-dozen frigates going through the gate before the
DUSTEN
did.  We would all be emerging from a gate in the Windsor system but hidden behind a planet, so we would not be detected on arrival.  After we were there we would quickly cloak and move in toward Windsor while more ships came through the gates behind us.

At noon, I told Marranalis to issue the order to the fleet to begin moving through the gate.  The first ships through reported back that there was no sign of the arrival of the Brotherhood fleet so far, and there was nothing on the long-range  scanners.  Even with many of the smaller ships tucked away inside the giant starships, it took a full day to bring all the ships through from our original assembly point.  Landing ships and troop transports were made ready, but until the Brotherhood fleet arrived, we made no move to get them to the surface.  If the Brotherhood showed, we would rapidly send the troopers and their gear to the surface in cloaked ships.  The beauty of the GW drives that moved the ships through space was they made no sounds at all, so the arrival of the ships on the planet would be unobserved.

Two days went by with no sign of the Brotherhood fleet.  We had observers on the planet, and during this time they continued reporting the activity of assembling supplies and troops was going on.  Then on the third day the activity of the planet seemed to come abruptly to a near halt.  Nevertheless, we detected no sign of the Brotherhood fleet.  I was about to give the order to attack the planet in the belief the fleet was not going to show, when some blips began to display on the edge of our 3D display.

“Here they come,” I said, “Captain Wanoll, what do you estimate their ETA will be?"

Wanoll consulted some instruments and replied, “At their current speed, I’d say in about seven hours.”  As we watched, more and more ships appeared following the first ones.

“It looks like it’s a larger fleet than we anticipated,” I said.  In the back of my mind, I was hoping I didn’t need to make a call back to Stonbersa and Kophious to send more ships, then abruptly there were no more ships joining the incoming fleet.  Eventually, the fleet was close enough that our sensors could determine the size and types of ships in the arriving task force.  Indications were there was only one starship like we hoped, and as we watched, we could see frigates, freighters and other smaller ships departing from the starship.  “It looks like they are getting their ships ready to begin going to the surface for supply pickups,” Marranalis said.

“Yes, I think it’s time we get our ground troops down there.  Give the order,” I commanded.

Moments later as I watched the holographic display, I could see small pinpoints of light moving toward the planet surface.  Sir, the ships are on their way.”  Marranalis said.

“Admiral, with your permission I think I should return to the bridge to see to the affairs of commanding this ship during the conflict,” Wanoll said.

“Good idea, Captain,” I said.

Wanoll headed for the door and then stopped, “Sir, why are you assuming that these Brotherhood ships won’t have RMFF’s?”

“Because the Brotherhood has allocated these ships to the outer sectors where the Federation has had fewer ships with RMFF’s, and they are less likely to run into Federation ships.  All the Brotherhood ships we’ve encountered to date with RMFF’s have been ones they have captured from the Federation, or where the Brotherhood had infiltrated the crews of Federation ships and mutinied.  They have not been able to reproduce a working RMFF on any of their ships, so far as we know.  The Brotherhood also lacks Cantolla Gate technology, so all their ships in this sector have needed to fly here, and it’s a long way from the inner worlds where RMFF technology exists.  So even if they had the technology, it’s unlikely they would have reached here.  The same holds true for cloaking.  If 10% of the ships we encounter here have it, I will be surprised.”

“What do you think Ming will do when he learns we’ve defeated his fleet here and conquered this planet?”  Wanoll asked.

I paused as I contemplated this.  Before I could come up with an answer, Captain Slater interjected, “I can answer that.  Ming ran into a similar situation back on Earth when the united Earth forces managed to cut him off from one of his main sources of supplies.  He organized raiding parties that made fast strikes on many small outer areas taking anything of value and killing everyone in sight.  I suspect he will do the same here.  He’ll go for small undefended worlds with lots of resources but little in defenses.  He won’t bother taking prisoners, after he has plundered all he can he’ll depart quickly destroying as much of what is left behind as he can, as a means of punishing the Federation for cutting him off from his supplies earlier.”

“I see,” Wanoll said, “so by capturing this planet and cutting Ming off from his supplies and resources, we are condemning some other poor planet to Ming’s wrath.  It hardly seems logical.”

“It could be far worse if we didn’t,” Slater answered, “if we didn’t, Ming would eventually subject everyone to his conquests.  Believe me, he will be no kinder to those he captures than he is to those he kills.  The only difference is that those he kills outright suffer less.”

“I guess you’re right,” Wanoll said, “I just wish there were some ways we could protect the other planets, the ones who will feel Ming’s wrath after we do our job here.”

“If we can shut down this operation here and take control over the planet, the Brotherhood’s offensives will be greatly reduced, that’s why we are taking this war on the offensive.  The more of their bases and planets we shut down and take over, and the more ships we destroy, the less power they will have to attack others.  If we don’t do this, we have surrendered ourselves and the Federation to eventual slavery at the hands of the Brotherhood and the likes of Ming and Roritat,” I said.

Captain Wanoll nodded and left the War Room.

“I wonder what got Wanoll so concerned at this point.”  Regeny asked.  He’d been sitting in one of the observation chairs at the edge of the 3D holographic projection area and listening to the conversation.  “You don’t think he’s going soft on us do you?”

“No,” I answered, “I understand his feelings.  He, like all of us, feels the pain of knowing that because of our actions here today Ming will take vengeance on some poor innocents.  However, we also know that if we do not take action millions, if not billions or even trillions of others in the Federation will suffer fates just as bad.  There is no easy way to do this.”

“I agree with you, Tibby,” Slater said, “our leaders back on Earth faced the same dilemma with Ming and the Chinese army.  At first they were too reserved in their decisions and actions against the Chinese.  Then one day they realized that if they didn’t start taking aggressive actions, knowing some innocents might suffer for it, everyone would soon be under the rule of the Chinese and the likes of Ming.  After the united Earth governments made the resolve to rid the world of this aggression, the united forces started to see victory.”

It took about six hours before we received word that our ground assault teams were all in place and ready for action.  Freighters and supply ships from the Brotherhood fleet made their landing on the surface while their frigates and corvettes hung in low orbits to receive them when they returned with supplies.  The
BELLAS
stayed a bit further out, away from the planet, though a lot of ships were traveling to and from the surface carrying supplies.

“I think it’s time to get this show underway,” I said.  I want the
BELLAS
hit hard in a unified strike.  Main targets are the hangars and the Gravity Wave drives. I want that ship disabled and unable to launch or receive ships.  As soon as it’s out of action, we focus on the frigates.  While our larger ships are slicing up the
BELLAS,
I
want our fighters and patrol ships attacking the frigates and corvettes in orbit.  We’ll let the ground force deal with the Brotherhood and any ships on the ground.  Those ships on the ground will have no place to flee once we knock out the
BELLAS
and the frigates.  We can mop them up later.

“Marranalis, give the order for the attack to begin in exactly two minutes.  I want all the firing to commence at once.”

“Aren’t you going to offer them a chance to surrender first?”  Regeny asked, somewhat surprised.

“No sir, I am not.  The Brotherhood isn’t making any kind offers to the Federation planets they conquer, nor to any prisoners taken.  I see no reason for us to alert them to our intentions and give them a chance to prepare or escape.  We hit them now, and we hit them hard.”

We had never watched a real battle unfold on the 3D holographic display before, and I must tell you, it was impressive.  At times, we zoomed in, to focus on one small cluster of the battle and at other times we zoomed out to view it all.  As ships were taken out of commission their color changed in brightness; if they were totally out of action, they went grey.  The surprise attack on the
BELLAS
must have really caught the Brotherhood at a lax moment, because they never got their GW Drive activated, and the ship just sat there taking more and more fire.  After it was apparent the ship was dead in space with nowhere to go, I had a link opened between the ships.

“Starship
BELLAS
, this is Fleet Admiral Thibodaux James Renwalt of the Galactic Federation, do you wish to surrender, or be destroyed?”

There was a pause and then the screen view opened to show a rather disheveled man with a scruffy beard and wearing a Brotherhood’s captain’s uniform.

“I see no reason to surrender to you,” he spat.  I recognized him immediately from the images in his file.

“Captain Ainton Dummulac, I assume.  You are totally surrounded.  Your ship is disabled, and you aren’t going anywhere.  Our ground forces are taking your surface facilities as we speak, and your frigates and corvettes are being given the same treatment you just received.  Make it easier on yourself and your men by surrendering now.

“Never!”  He growled.  “If we surrender and Ming gets word of it, we will be worse off than those we take prisoners.  I’ve no desire to live as anyone’s slave or prisoner.”

“Surrender and you’ll survive.  We’ll put you where Ming can’t find you,” I replied.

“Ha, ha, you don’t know Ming very well.  Trust me, he would find us.  I’d rather eat an edloha snail and die a slow excruciating death than go against Ming’s will.”

“Very well, you leave us no choice, if we have to take your ship by force, we are prepared to do so, just like we did the
HAPRIN
at Kendrop.”  I said.

Dummulac’s face twisted into a cruel smile, and he said, “I don’t think so, Admiral.”  I saw his hand moving toward the console, and I heard Admiral Regeny shout “NO!” as a white flash filled the screen and in the 3D display, there was a bright pinpoint flash as the
BELLAS
vanished from the display.

“What the…?”  I exclaimed.

“He blew up the ship.  That Korgian blood sucker blew up the ship with himself and all his crew aboard!”

“That’s a shame,” I answered, “we could have used the ship!”

“Tibby, he just killed six to ten thousand of his own people if the ship was full,” Regeny said in a shaky tone.

“I know, and I wish I could thank him for that.  It’s six to ten thousand we won’t have to kill or take as prisoners.  He did us a favor.”

“Isn’t that a little cold, Tibby?”  Admiral Regeny asked.

“Admiral, it is not that I don’t regret the losses of lives, but if lives are going to be lost, I would prefer they be the lives of enemies and not friends.  Those in the Brotherhood made a choice to be who and where they are, if we had needed to take the ship by force, some of our own good men would surely have died in doing so.  A lot of reprobate Brotherhood members would have survived, and we would have needed to see to them and care for them.  This way, none of our citizens died and we don’t need to waste resources imprisoning and caring for the enemy.”

“Maybe we should just kill them all outright in the future and not take prisoners,” Regeny said jokingly.

“Don’t tempt me, Admiral; I’ve already lost too many dear friends to the Brotherhood to have a lot of sympathy for them.  However, I am concerned for the slaves and citizens forced to fight for the Brotherhood, and I would like to see them freed.  I don’t know how many of those were on that ship.  I’m hoping there weren’t too many.”

I had hoped that once the
BELLAS
had been destroyed that the Brotherhood at Windsor would surrender, but they didn’t.  If there was any change at all in their fighting, it was that they now fought even harder.  Although our fighters were cloaked, the enemy managed to hit several of them, and I was beginning to wonder if it was just by luck or if the enemy had some means of detecting and targeting them.