Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) (22 page)

Kanab turned
his multifaceted gaze toward Caleeb. He had calmed down now that the other
exploration ship had its energy shield up. “We have nothing to fear; the
remaining exploration ship will destroy these upstart Humans. We are Kleese,
and we are the superior race.”

Caleeb rose up
to his full height and stared at Kanab in anger. “If you believe that then
prepare to die,” he said harshly. “I have studied these Humans, and they are
fearless in battle. Our Military Overlord has even stated he believes they are
comparable to the Zaltule in combat.”

“You are weak
minded,” snarled Kanab, shaking his head in denial. “No race is equal to any
clan of the Kleese, let alone the Zaltule. I am sure the exploration ship and
our assault ships will soon deal with this minor Human threat.”

Caleeb didn’t
reply. He looked once more at the viewscreen showing the remains of the
destroyed exploration ship. Turning around, he left the Command Center to make his way to the station’s flight bay. Kanab’s arrogance was going to cost the
Kleese this system and Caleeb had no intention of dying. There was a small
cargo ship docked to the bay, and he intended to commandeer it and leave.

-

“Battlecruisers
have engaged the other exploration ship,” Ensign Davis reported.

“Put it up on
one of the viewscreens,” ordered Commander Symington. “Lieutenant Adams, move
us closer and prepare the plasma cannon to fire. Once we’re in range, hit the
exploration ship with our primary particle beam cannons followed by the plasma
cannon.”

“Light
cruisers are dropping out of Fold Space,” Ensign Davis reported as eight
friendly green icons appeared on the tactical screen.

Bree nodded
and quickly contacted the eight light cruisers, ordering them to engage the
assault ships. She felt confident the three-hundred-meter ships could handle
the Kleese vessels.

“Firing
particle beam cannons,” reported Lieutenant Fields.

Bree looked
expectantly at the viewscreen, now showing the Kleese exploration ship. The
massive vessel filled the screen.

-

From the
Callisto
,
two powerful particle beams flashed out to impact the screen of the exploration
ship. The vessel was already under heavy attack from the three battlecruisers.
The screen flared up brightly under the attack and then the plasma cannon
fired. The plasma beam overloaded the screen in the area of the particle beam
strike and penetrated. In a massive blast, the exploration ship shook as a deep
glowing crater appeared where the beam had struck its hull. Debris floated free
of the ship, and several secondary explosions blew more hull material out into
space.

On board the
exploration ship, panicked conscripts rushed to escape the damaged area of the
vessel as emergency bulkheads slammed shut. Fires and smoke filled the
corridors dooming those unfortunate enough to become sealed in. Several more
explosions rattled the huge ship as power junctions shorted out.

However, the
exploration ship was huge and heavily armed and shrugged off the damage. Its
own pulse fusion beams and energy beams were focused on the attacking Human
battlecruisers. Numerous hatches on the hull of the ship suddenly slid open,
and dozens of antimatter missiles were fired toward the Human vessels. However,
instead of targeting all three of the battlecruisers, all the missiles struck
just one. The battlecruiser
Carina
seemed to vanish under the powerful
onslaught of antimatter energy. The Kleese commander of the exploration ship,
sensing an opportunity, also fired a heavy barrage of pulse fusion beams at the
vessel. Several penetrated the overtaxed screen and drilled deep glowing pits
into the side of the ship. The
Carina
seemed to shudder violently as
several secondary explosions caused additional damage inside the vessel,
blowing out bulkheads and spreading fires throughout the ship.

Half a dozen
Kleese energy beams flashed through the weakening energy screen and began
tearing open compartment after compartment. With a sudden flash of bright light
the
Carina
exploded, sending glowing debris in all directions.

-

“Battlecruiser
Carina
is down,” reported a stunned Ensign Davis. “She just blew apart!”

Bree felt a
cold shiver run down her spine. “Hit that exploration ship with our
multi-warhead missiles. We need to finish it off before we lose any more
ships.”

“Marine
assault cruisers are dropping out of Fold Space,” Davis added as nine more
green icons suddenly flashed into existence on the tactical screen.

Bree quickly
ordered them to stay back and out of the fighting.

“Launching
missiles,” said Lieutenant Fields.

“I have two
assault ships exiting the flight bays of the exploration ship,” called out
Ensign Davis.

Bree knew she
needed to destroy the exploration ship quickly before it could launch its full
complement of assault ships. If that were to happen, then the battle could
quickly turn in favor of the Kleese.

-

Multi-warhead
missiles began to slam into the Kleese exploration ship, all in the same area
where the shield had already been weakened. The other two remaining
battlecruisers were also firing missiles as well as their beam weapons.

From the
Kleese ship, another assault ship exited and then a missile penetrated the
screen and struck the exploration vessel. Six twenty megaton explosions shook
the massive Kleese ship. For a moment, it seemed as if it would survive, but
then it began coming apart. The exploration ship broke into five sections, all
with fires raging inside. More missiles struck, obliterating the sections and
turning them into glowing gas and molten metal.

-

“Kleese
exploration ship is down,” reported Ensign Davis with relief in her voice.

“A bright
light suddenly lit up one of the viewscreens.

“What was
that?” Commander Symington demanded. She knew a ship had just died.

“One of our
light cruisers,” Davis reported. “The
Aquila
is down.”

Bree quickly
ordered the
Falcon
and the
Cygnus
to help the light cruisers with
the Kleese assault ships.

She looked at
the viewscreens which showed the two large space stations in orbit. She knew
the Kleese controlled these and there were Kleese on board as well as numerous
conscripts. She wasn’t going to risk a boarding action to capture the stations;
it would be too costly.

“Are those two
stations armed?”

“Only lightly,”
Ensign Davis answered. “Sensors are picking up a few energy weapon turrets but
nothing else, not even an energy shield.”

“They never
expected an attack here,” Bree said, nodding her head in satisfaction.

“Hit both
stations with a multi-warhead missile. I want them annihilated.” She had
already lost two valuable ships, and there was no doubt that the Kleese
commander in charge of this system was on board one of the two stations.

-

From the
Callisto
,
two more multi-warhead missiles flashed out from the missile tubes and streaked
toward the stations. Moments later, six miniature suns appeared at each and the
stations were no more.

-

“Both stations
have been destroyed,” confirmed Ensign Davis.

Bree nodded.
“Move us toward the nearest assault ship and we’ll help the battlecruisers and
light cruisers take them out. We need to end this battle so the assault
cruisers can send down their Marines.”

“We have
several cargo ships leaving the system,” Davis added as she watched the two
ships accelerate away from the battle in preparation for entering Fold Space.

“Let them go,”
Bree said, dismissing them as a threat. “We’re not here to kill helpless
civilians.”

-

On board the
smaller of the two cargo ships, Caleeb was watching several viewscreens in the
ship’s small control center. He hadn’t been surprised when the Humans had
destroyed the second exploration cruiser. He had been shocked with how swiftly
they had annihilated the two space stations with Zaltule like efficiency. He
had been right all along; these Humans were not a race to be trifled with.

“Take us to
Zaroth Three,” Caleeb ordered in a cold voice. It didn’t seem as if the Humans
were interested in the cargo ships. He would make his escape now before they
changed their minds.

“By your
command,” replied Antolth. Caleeb had brought a number of Nabians on board to
operate the small cargo ship.

There was a
small Kleese compound at Zaroth Three with an FTL transmitter he could use to
spread the word of the Human attack on Anglesh. He was curious if the Humans would
still be at Anglesh the next day as the Zaltule battlecruiser was due to
arrive. Unfortunately, there was no way he could contact the ship and inform
them of what might be awaiting them.

Moments later,
the cargo ship activated its Fold Space Drive and left the Anglesh System
behind.

-

Captain Ryan
Nelson was in the Command Center of the
Deliverance
watching the battle
on the viewscreens and the tactical screen. With a groan of despair, he saw two
Kleese assault ships bracket the already damaged light cruiser
Swiftsure
and begin pummeling its energy screen with pulse fusion beams as well as
antimatter missiles. He knew the small cruiser wouldn’t last long under that
punishing attack.

“They need to
get out of there,” said Commander Durham as he watched the battle on the
viewscreen. The light cruiser was nearly invisible due to the brilliant flashes
of light from the antimatter missiles exploding against its energy screen.”

“They can’t,”
called out Ensign Ernst from Communications. “Their subspace drive’s been
damaged, and they only have enough power to stay in orbit.”

Another bright
flash lit up the viewscreen and when it died away, the stern of the light
cruiser was gone. Several more explosions wracked the ship, blowing out large
segments of the hull. Then another Kleese antimatter missile arrived and the
ship was obliterated.

“
Swiftsure
is down,” reported Ensign Donna Edwards in a subdued voice.

On the screen,
the
Callisto
appeared and began to engage the two Kleese assault ships.
It didn’t take long and both vessels were reduced to molten slag. It almost
seemed as if the
Callisto
was out for revenge for what the two Kleese
vessels had done to her smaller sister.

“All Kleese
assault ships have been eliminated,” reported Ensign Edwards. “Commander
Symington is giving us the go ahead to make orbit and begin operations against
the Kleese compound on the surface.”

Captain Durham
nodded his head. “Take us in.” Then, turning toward Ryan, he added. “Better get
your Marines ready, we’ll be deploying them shortly.”

Ryan quickly
left the Command Center. Since Major Winfrey had been killed, there had been a
shakeup in the Marine command structure. Captain Olivia Morris had assumed
overall command of all the remaining Marines and Ryan had taken over the role
of second in command. Captain Stern and Captain Taylor were still on board the
Callisto
recovering from the disaster at Lymeth Three.

-

The
Deliverance
and the other eight Marine assault cruisers went into orbit over Anglesh. There
were no attempts from the government of the planet to contact the orbiting
fleet. The Kleese in the compound were controlling all communications.

-

In the
compound, armored conscripts were sent out and ordered to bring in hundreds of
the planet’s citizens. It was unfortunate that the only FTL communicator had
been in one of the two orbiting space stations. The Kleese now had no way to
inform the empire of what had transpired above. However, the Kleese had a large
army of conscripts since their compound and the two stations had been responsible
for the control of a large number of inhabited systems in the local area. By
rounding up hundreds of the planet’s inhabitants and bringing them inside, they
felt it might prevent the Humans from bombarding the compound from orbit. From
the reports they had received of past attacks, the Humans seemed to go out of
their way to hold casualties of the planet’s inhabitants to a minimum. The
Kleese would now use that weakness against them.

-

Ryan felt the
drop ship leave the
Deliverance
and begin its rapid entry into the
planet’s atmosphere. They were going to land outside the compound and spend
some time observing it to see just how many of the planet’s inhabitants might
be inside. If it were a minimal number, then railgun strikes from the orbiting
assault cruisers would be used to destroy it. If there were a large number of
civilians, then it would be necessary to move in and kill the Kleese and their
conscripts while freeing the civilians.

The drop ship
began to vibrate from its passage through the thicker regions of the planet’s
atmosphere. A roaring noise could be heard from the passing air as it was
heated up by the ship’s rapid passage. Then a few minutes later, the ship
suddenly dropped straight down and landed with a resounding thud, jarring the
Marines. The hatch slid open and the ramp descended.

“Everyone
out!” barked Sergeant Reinhardt, gripping his RG rifle.

The Marines
quickly vacated the drop ship with Ryan following close behind. Pausing on the
ramp Ryan gazed about, not seeing any signs of resistance to their landing.

“No conscripts
nearby,” Reinhardt reported from the base of the ramp where he was standing and
surveying the immediate area.

Ryan paused
and ordered his neural implant to have his command suit use its internal
sensors to scan the area around them. They were in a park like area with a few
unfamiliar looking trees and tall grass. Glancing at his HUD, he saw the
sensors weren’t picking up any obvious danger. Over his comm, he heard other
platoon leaders begin to report in.