Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) (29 page)

The ship
suddenly shook and seemed to cry out in pain. Sanders could hear screams of
fear and yells for help. The lights in the Command Center went out and then the
emergency lighting came back on.

“I can’t
contact Main Engineering,” reported Commander Vickers as she wiped blood away
from her face. Her forehead had a wicked cut on it. “Energy screen is at five
percent. The next hit will take us out.”

“Contact
Admiral Rivers,” uttered Sanders to Lieutenant Brassels with an understanding
look upon his face. “Tell him he has command of the fleet.”

“Message
sent,” Brassels reported a moment later in a nearly toneless voice.

“Sir,” began
Vickers but her words were never completed as a pulse fusion beam tore through
the Command Center.

A moment
later, the Phoenix exploded as the four attacking Kleese warships riddled her
hull with energy beams and pulse fusion beams. A scattering of debris and
glowing gases was all that remained of Second Fleet’s flagship.

“Phoenix is down,” Lieutenant Jarvis reported on the Independence as the flagship’s green
icon suddenly expanded and then vanished.

“You have
command, Admiral,” Commander Greerman stated as he looked over at Admiral
Rivers.

“This is
Admiral Rivers,” he spoke quickly over the fleet communications channel, not
allowing himself any time to grieve over Admiral Sander’s death. “The Phoenix is down and I am taking command. All ships continue to drop down to the edge of
Mars' atmosphere. At that point, we will hold our position and the ion cannons
will fire. They will continue to fire until the Kleese fleet has either been
eliminated or the cannons have been destroyed. We shall see to it they are
not.”

“Fifteen
seconds until ion cannon range,” reported Lieutenant Wesley Jarvis.

“General
Sanchez reports cannons are going hot,” reported Ensign May Simone from
Communications.

“Light
cruisers Thrasher and Antarctica are down,” reported Lieutenant Jarvis as the
Zaltule ships continued to blast away at the fleet.

“Ion cannons
are firing,” reported Commander Greerman as hundreds of white beams of energy
leaped up into space from the surface of Mars.

-

Zaltule
Overlord Tetus gazed in shock as hundreds of deadly beams of energy erupted
from the planet’s surface and smashed into his fleet’s shields.

“Report!” he
demanded his triangular shaped head shifting to his second in command.

“Ion beams,”
uttered Minor Overlord Grafton. “The beams are neutralizing our energy
shields.”

Even as they
watched, the weapons fire from the Human ships suddenly became far more deadly.
Without energy shields to protect them, the Zaltule battlecruisers were
suddenly very vulnerable. Human particle beams, pulse fusion beams, and even
energy weapons were now ravaging the Kleese fleet.

“Spatial
anomaly detected,” reported the Kleese standing in front of the ship’s sensors.
“Numerous ships dropping out of Fold Space.”

“Who are
they?” demanded Tetus, feeling concern. The reserve fleet was not due for two
more weeks.

“Sensors
detecting Alliance ships,” reported the sensor operator. “They are heading for
the third planet and War Overlord Harmock.”

“Disengage,”
ordered Tetus. He needed to go to the War Overlord’s aid.

“We have
twelve ships with inoperable Fold Space Drives,” reported Grafton.

Tetus thought
for a moment and reached a fateful decision, he could still teach these Humans
a valuable lesson. “Contact those ships; I have a special mission for them.”

The Kleese
fleet began to rapidly extricate itself from the Humans, suffering even more
losses from the deadly fire of the ion beams and Human ship weapons. As the
fleet withdrew, it left twelve badly damaged ships behind, which suddenly began
accelerating toward the surface of Mars.

-

“Get those
ships!” ordered Admiral Rivers worriedly as they entered the planet’s
atmosphere. “We can’t let them get too close to the surface.” He had seen the
arrival of the Alliance fleet, but it was too far away to be of help.

Pulse fusion
beams and particle beams smashed into the Zaltule battlecruisers, which were
without shields. In moments, eight massive explosions and falling debris
littered the upper Martian atmosphere. Then two more ships were wiped out by
heavy energy weapons fire from the surface. The remaining two Zaltule
battlecruisers were glowing cherry red as they began to heat up from their
swift passage through the thin Martian atmosphere. One of them was hit by
multiple pulse fusion beams and broke apart just above Mars Central. The final
one smashed into the huge dome, which covered the largest city on Mars.
Instantly, a dozen antimatter warheads, which had been set to explode on contact,
detonated. Mars Central was instantly flattened, and the massive blast wave
moved out across the surface, damaging even more habitats. A huge cloud of red
dust began to rise up into the planet’s atmosphere.

“Confirmed
detonation of antimatter warheads on the planet’s surface,” reported Lieutenant
Jarvis his face turning pale.

“I don’t know
if even the deep bunkers could have survived that,” spoke Commander Greerman
his eyes wide in shock.

Admiral Rivers
forced himself to turn his attention away from the viewscreens and back to the
fleeing Kleese warships. “How many of them did we destroy?”

“One hundred
and forty-seven,” Lieutenant Jarvis answered in a shaken voice. “They’re headed
for Earth.”

Rivers nodded
as he turned to Ensign Simone at Communications. “Inform Admiral Johnson he is
to remain here at Mars with Third Fleet and help with rescue operations. The
rest of us are heading to Earth.”

-

“Detecting Alliance ships!” reported Lieutenant Fullerton, excitedly. “Ten million kilometers.”

‘How did they
get here?” asked Commander Makita, relieved to see them. The Kleese had nearly
pushed them back to Centerpoint Station.

“I have
Admiral Adamson on the com,” added Lieutenant Jones.

“How many
ships are you detecting?” demanded Fleet Admiral Kelly, reaching for the com
button and gazing in stunned amazement at the horde of friendly green icons,
which had just appeared.

“Two hundred
and eighty Alliance ships, plus Seventh Fleet,” answered Fullerton, her hazel
eyes showing the excitement she was feeling.

“That’s over
three hundred and fifty ships,” spoke Commander Makita with relief spreading
across his face.

Kelly
activated the com link, which put him in instant touch with Admiral Adamson.
“How did you get here?” was the first thing he asked.

“A couple of
Waltarn scout ships picked the Kleese up as they passed through a brown dwarf
system,” Adamson replied. “The Waltarn deployed several hundred small scout
ships as well as some special buoys which can detect ships in Fold Space if
they pass close enough. Once we had their course plotted, we knew where they
were heading. I brought the Alliance fleet with me. They know they can’t allow
the solar system to fall to the Kleese.”

“Bring your
fleet up and hit them from the rear,” Kelly ordered, crisply. “Between us, Centerpoint,
and your fleet we should be able to crush the remaining Kleese ships.”

“We’re on our
way,” replied Adamson.

“Sir, I’m
getting some bad news from Admiral Rivers,” reported Lieutenant Jones from
Communications. His face was nearly white. “The Kleese attacking fleet has been
driven away from Mars, but they launched a suicide attack toward the end and
Mars Central has been destroyed. Admiral Rivers reports ten to twelve
antimatter missiles detonated on the surface, wiping out Mars Central and heavily
damaging the surrounding habitats. He expects the loss of life to be heavy. He
also reports the loss of Admiral Sanders and the Phoenix.”

“Damn!”
uttered Commander Makita, feeling as if he'd been punched in the stomach. “What
else can go wrong?”

“This battle,”
answered Kelly, grimly. “We can’t let the Kleese get to Centerpoint.”

-

War Overlord
Harmock gazed at the tactical screen, which showed the new arrivals. Most of
the new ships were battlecruisers and being from the Alliance would be armed
with technology dangerous to Zaltule warships. Not only that but the four large
human warships were using plasma weapons, which were blasting right through his
ships’ shields. They were even more devastating than the Humans’ particle
beams.

“Overlord
Tetus is on his way to our position,” reported Minor Overlord Gareth. “He will
be here shortly.”

“This battle
is over,” Harmock spoke in a cold and nearly emotionless voice as he watched
several more Zaltule ships explode on the viewscreens. “Order all ships with
inactive Fold Space Drives to make to the trading station and land their
warriors on it. If they can capture the decks containing the Fold Space Drive,
they can activate it and fly the station out of the Human’s system. Once out of
the system, we can send more warriors aboard and take full control. Without the
station, the Humans will not be able to rebuild. The fleet will cover them
until they have docked and then we’ll withdraw to repair our battle damage.”

“Tetus reports
he has wiped out the Human colony on the fourth planet.”

“That will
greatly reduce their population,” uttered Harmock pleased that at least one of
his objectives had been accomplished. Now if he could just take back control of
the trading station he would consider this battle a victory.

-

General
Mitchell looked grimly at General Pittman. “Governor Scott is believed dead and
General Sanchez is reporting the casualties may reach over one million.” He'd
spent the last several minutes speaking with General Sanchez about the
situation on Mars.

“We won’t know
until we reach the deep bunkers,” replied General Pittman. “Communications are
out to most of them due to the residual effects of the antimatter explosions.”

Mitchell
turned his gaze back to the main viewscreen. With the arrival of Seventh Fleet and
the Alliance, the battle was rapidly turning in their favor. The Kleese were no
longer pressing the attack but seemed to be fighting a holding action.

“Sir, we have
twenty-two Kleese battlecruisers that have broken away from the main fleet and
are making a run for the station,” reported Lieutenant Bryan Vail, worriedly.

“They’re going
to ram,” spoke General Pittman grim faced as he stared with worry at the
tactical screen.

“No, they’re
not going to ram, they’re going to try to board us,” General Mitchell said as
he leaned forward, gripping the armrests on is command chair. “Major Lest;
don’t let those ships dock to the station.” Major Lest was the station’s
tactical officer.

-

The twenty-two
Kleese warships sped toward Centerpoint Station, coming under heavy fire as
they drew near. Particle beams and pulse fusion beams played over their energy
screens, knocking them down and leaving them vulnerable to attack. Massive
explosions spread across the hulls of the attacking Zaltule ships, leaving a
number of them nothing more than burning wrecks. However, for all the firepower
Centerpoint had, three managed to make it to the station and dock, sending
hundreds of Zaltule warriors on board.

Human light
cruisers fell back from the main battle and blasted away at the docked
battlecruisers trying to destroy them. While docked, the ships couldn’t operate
their energy screens. In only a matter of a few minutes, all three had been
destroyed, causing some damage to the station as well. Damage that would take
weeks to repair.

-

“We have
Kleese in the station,” General Pittman reported as he listened to the reports
coming in from the docking stations. “Three docking stations have been overrun
by Zaltule warriors and the marines at those stations are no longer reporting.”

“Their fleet
is beginning to withdraw; there has to be a reason why they sacrificed so many
ships to get their warriors on the station,” said Mitchell as he tried to
figure out the Zaltule’s strategy.

“I know what
it is,” Pittman said with a horrified look spreading across his face as he
received word of more contacts with the invading Kleese. “They’re headed for
the Fold Space Drive.”

“Crap!”
uttered Mitchell his face showing sudden comprehension. “If they can start up
the drive they can take the station out of the system to where their fleet will
be waiting. We won’t stand a chance.”

“I’m sending
orders to Colonel Nelson and Major Winfrey,” Pittman said. “I’m ordering them
to intercept the Kleese and either turn them back or kill them.”

“Send marines
to plant explosives on all the main power plants’ energy couplings,” General
Mitchell ordered. The station was powered by sixteen fusion energy plants. “If
we cut the power to the drive, the Kleese can’t activate it.”

“I’ll send the
orders and have the command sequence to initiate the blasts set up on the main
command console in front of you. If we have to, we can set the explosives off
from here.” General Pittman shook his head in worry; this situation had
suddenly gotten very serious.

-

Wade looked
over at Beth, deeply concerned. “The Kleese have managed to board the station
and are headed for the Fold Space Drive; we have to cut them off.”

“Captain
Stern, Captain Foster, the Kleese are on board, it’s up to us to stop them.”

“Lead the
way,” Jamie said as she took her RG rifle down from her shoulder looking at the
colonel.

“To reach the Fold Space Drive the Kleese will have to pass through junction eight from transit station
fourteen,” Wade said as he called up the schematics of the station on his HUD.
“It’s the most direct route for them to take. “If we take the shuttles in
station four we just might beat them to the transit hub.”