Prevail (The Pike Chronicles Book 2) (26 page)

High Lord Toth surveyed his forces on his tactical display. His fleet was now fully mobilized along the edges of Otan space. The military movements hadn’t gone unnoticed and the Otan responded by mobilizing their own forces in response. Now the two fleets were squared off against each other with just empty space between them. Of course that empty space consisted of the border between the two, as defined by treaty. It was that treaty in particular that High Lord Toth intended to break.

With his forces in position it was time to act. As a customary diplomatic gesture he established communication with the Otan fleet commander, Admiral Gurzail. A communication display flickered on and Gurzail’s face appeared. The Otan were hideous creatures with no hair on their bodies and only a handful of teeth in their mouths. Their heads were obscenely small for their bodies with disproportionately large eyes. Toth could barely stomach looking at the thing and wondered why a treaty was ever established with such repulsive looking lifeforms.

“This is Admiral Gurzail, of the Otan Fleet Commander. Why have you mobilized your forces along our border?”

“Admiral, I am High Lord Toth, of the Kemmar Empire. I am here to offer you a gift.”

“What kind of gift?” said Gurzail, cautiously.

“The gift of life. Recent developments have made it necessary for the Kemmar Empire to annex Otan space. I give you one opportunity to withdraw and save the lives of your men.”

“This is outrageous. The Kemmar and Otan have a treaty, which you will be violating if you cross into Otan space.”

“You are correct, Admiral. It is out of respect for that treaty that I am giving you the opportunity to withdraw peacefully. What is your answer?”

“You want my answer?” shouted Gurzail. “Cross our border and I will bathe in your blood. That is my answer you Kemmar scum.”

Toth bared his teeth at the display. “I was hoping you would say that,” said Toth, and turned off the display. He opened a communication with his fleet officers, “This is High Lord Toth. Begin operations.”

He watched on his tactical display as his fleet lurched forward, crossing the border into Otan space. In response, the Otan fleet moved to engage the invaders. Each side’s carriers spit out hundreds of fighters which raced forward to attack each other. The darkness was lit up with energy bolts and explosions as innumerable celestial dog fights took place. The squadrons met each other in a no man’s land where they were out of the range of the other side’s heavy guns. Here, the first important victory in this battle would be decided.

The fighters streaked back and forth across the sky. Toth watched with interest as the Kemmar pilots displayed their fighting prowess. The Kemmar were a warrior race. They lived for battle. Admiral Gurzail was foolish not to take his offer. The Otan were simply outclassed. As the battle progressed it started to show. It became clear that the Kemmar possessed the more advanced fighters. The Kemmar kills were adding up and the Otan fighters were slowly finding themselves losing ground. With the Kemmar fighters starting to dominate the engagement, Toth ordered a squadron of destroyers to move in. The Otan countered with their own squadron, blocking the Kemmar advance. The two destroyer groups engaged each other with energy weapons and missiles. While they weren’t as fast and agile as the fighters, they still had some maneuverability, but moved together in tight battle formations.

Toth sent in the remaining destroyer squadrons, trying to overwhelm the Otan. Gurzail impressed him by keeping up and countering his moves with his own squadrons. A broad line of battle took shape between to two groups of destroyers. Whenever one side tried to gain an advantage, the other countered the move. The back and forth between the two continued, while the Kemmar fighters easily outclassed and destroyed the Otan fighters.

A squadron of Kemmar heavy cruisers entered the fray to support the destroyers. They tried to outflank the Otan squadrons, but the Otan Admiral was still up to the task and moved a squadron of his own cruisers to intercept. The Admiral’s abilities continued to impress Toth. He fought defensively, which compensated somewhat for the weaker nature of his force, but it would not be enough. The Kemmar fleet was superior in ability, and in numbers. The outcome of the battle was never in doubt.

As the battle wore on the Kemmar fighters really started to show their superiority, enjoying a two to one advantage against the Otan fighters. That advantage allowed some of the fighters to support the larger cruisers and destroyers. In an attempt to even things out the Otan deployed their battleships. Toth bared his teeth and ordered his own battleships to engage. The battle would now be fought in earnest as the hulking warships squared off against each other and traded blows. The battleships on each side were evenly matched and both sides took damage as the giant vessels pounded each other.

The earlier fighter battle proved to be the deciding factor, as Toth had expected. The Otan fighters had now been virtually wiped out which freed up all the Kemmar fighters to assist the heavier Kemmar squadrons. One by one the Otan destroyers and cruisers were destroyed. With each lost ship the Kemmar advantage grew greater and the Otan became increasingly outnumbered. As the battle wore on destroyers and heavy cruisers were able to offer their assistance against the Otan battleships. With the Otan battleships weakening under the weight of the Kemmar attack, the Kemmar fighters hastened their demise with suicide attacks. Each fighter that got through the Otan defenses punched a hole in their target’s hull. The hull breaches compounded, crippling the Otan battleships until one by one each ship fell off the battlefield in blinding explosions.

With the battle all but over Toth opened a communication with the Grand Sovereign.

“It is done, Eminence. The Otan fleet has been defeated.”

“Excellent, High Lord Toth. You will take your force to the capitol and remove the Otan rulers. You will then secure Otan space,” said Grand Sovereign Tsogt.

“Yes, Eminence.”

“While you are doing so, you will dispatch scout ships to their far border and amass as much intelligence as you can on their neighbors. These humans. I want to know everything about them, their worlds, and their defenses.”

“Understood, Eminence. May I ask the goal of this information?”

“Invasion.”

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