The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (11 page)

“New Eden is down,” Kevin spoke in a shocked voice.

-

Commodore
Krilen felt jubilation as another enemy capital ship died. He was losing far
more ships under the bombardment of the enemy’s deadly sublight missiles but he
had the ships to lose; the Humans did not. On the main viewscreen, he watched
as two more nuclear detonations appeared over Carethian cities. The battle was
going his way and nothing the Humans could do could save the planet.

“Large numbers
of small warships are rising from the planet’s surface,” First Leader Angoth
reported in his cold rasping voice.

“How large?” snapped
Krilen, wondering if this was some type of trick. He was leery of traps set by
the Humans.

“One hundred
meters,” Angoth replied.

“Scout ship
size,” Krilen responded as he wondered what the purpose of these small ships
might be. “They may contain Carethians trying to escape. Order War Leader
Osbith to intercept those ships. There can be no survivors!”

-

War Leader
Osbith watched impassively as the small ships clawed upward into space. He had
already hit the planet three times with nuclear missiles. This area of the
planet’s defense grid was steadily growing weaker under the attack of his
fighters' and ships' weapons. His dreadnought, the BattleHand, had been
instrumental in two of those strikes.

“Target those
small ships,” he ordered his First Leader. “They may be trying to escape. We
will destroy them.”

-

Grayseth was
in the Command Center of the space station. It was under heavy attack from the Hocklyn
fleet and beginning to suffer damage. From its outer hull, the twenty power beam
installations continued to fire as well as the numerous laser turrets.
Devastator and Devastator Three missiles were being launched continuously and
the encroaching Hocklyn fleet was suffering heavily. The bomber strike was almost
within range, though its numbers had suffered serious losses.

He knew there
was only one possible solution to save the worsening situation. It had pained
him to no end at seeing the three nuclear detonations on Careth’s surface,
knowing that millions of his fellow Carethians may have died under that
hellfire.

He turned to Daelthon,
his second in command. “Contact our ships and tell them it is time for the Final
Hunt.”

“Is that
necessary?” Daelthon asked, the short fur on his face turning pale.

“We have no
other choice,” replied Grayseth, gravely. “Our Human brothers are dying; we can
do no less.”

Daelthon
nodded and the large Carethian moved off to Communications to carry out the
orders.

Grayseth
looked back at the viewscreens. This battle was not yet over; he had one more
surprise for the evil ones; a surprise they would not be expecting.

-

War Leader
Osbith watched in satisfaction as the small Carethian warships came into
engagement range. He would destroy them and then continue to bombard the
planet’s surface with his nuclear missiles. Then he would return to the home
systems as a hero and be richly rewarded. Perhaps someday he would become a
Fleet Commodore or higher. With his connections to the High Council, it was
possible.

“War Leader,
the small ships are accelerating rapidly,” his First Leader spoke with concern
in his voice.

“Where are
they going?” demanded Osbith, fearful that his easy victory was escaping him.
He had to destroy those small ships; they couldn’t be allowed to escape
Careth’s gravity well and jump into hyperspace.

“Straight for
us!” the First Leader replied, his eyes growing wide. “They’re going to ram!”

Osbith gazed
at the main viewscreen, too stunned to speak. He had let the small warships get
to close to his fleet, now he was going to pay the price.

-

In space,
fifty of the two hundred and thirty small Hocklyn warships had activated their
subspace drives at nearly eighty percent power. In mere seconds, they closed
the distance, throwing their ships at their hated enemies. The Hocklyn ships had
no chance to evade, and suddenly massive explosions wracked their formation as
the Carethian ships struck their astonished targets.

Forty-two
Hocklyn ships died in massive explosions of energy, including the dreadnought BattleHand
and War Leader Osbith. The rest of the fleet was thrown into disarray and the
remaining one hundred and eighty small warships fired all of their weapons in
unison. More Hocklyns ships died under their ferocious attack. The loss of War
Leader Osbith threw the remaining Hocklyn ships into disarray. They were
fighting back individually and not as a fleet. The losses continued to mount as
the small Carethian warships took advantage of the Hocklyns' obvious confusion.

-

Commodore
Krilen looked at the tactical screen in shock. War Leader Osbith’s entire fleet
had been nearly wiped out. War Leader Versith was under heavy attack by enemy
bombers and the space station. His own fleet was still suffering losses from
the Human fleet he was engaging. Even as he watched, the Human strikecruisers
managed to destroy another one of the stupendous AIs spheres in a blaze of
light.

“Retreat,” he
ordered, fearing that he might lose his entire fleet. He needed to withdraw and
rethink his strategy.

“Retreat?”
First Leader Angoth spoke in disbelief. “We can still win this battle!”

“Not if those
small ships decide to ram the rest of our fleet,” Krilen replied. “Order all
ships to make for the edge of the gravity well and return to our rendezvous
point. We will repair our damage and determine our next course of action.”

“As you
command,” Angoth responded, not liking the order. “Many warriors, including War
Leader Osbith, have found honor today.”

-

War Leader
Versith swore as the Viden shook violently from multiple nuclear explosions
striking the ship’s screens. He knew if the ship had not been updated, they
would all have died.

“Commodore
Krilen is ordering an immediate withdrawal,” First Leader Trion reported his
eyes growing wide.

“It is just as
well,” Versith replied in his cold, reptilian voice. “I told him it was a
mistake to split up the fleet. We should have attacked as one and destroyed
each segment of the planet’s defenses a piece at a time. Now we are paying for Commodore
Krilen’s refusal to accept the strategy I suggested. Disengage and make for the
edge of the gravity well at our best speed. Keep our cripples under our protective
fire in case the enemy launches any more of their small bombers.”

“Yes, War
Leader,” Trion responded.

Second Leader
Jaseth looked angrily at his small sensor screen, knowing the battle had been
lost. He had overheard War Leader Versith’s comments about the commodore not
using the strategy he had suggested. Even though Jaseth regretted not being
able to kill more Humans, he understood the need to survive to fight another
day. His burning rage was now more under control. For this battle, not even the
ever present Protector had been watching him. He let out a deep breath. The Humans
were still here and after retiring to repair their battle damage, they would
return to finish what they had started today. The Humans would have a brief
respite, but not much of one.

“The enemy is
beginning to withdraw,” Kevin spoke in astonishment as his sensors showed the Hocklyn
fleet beginning to break off contact and move away.

“AIs have
jumped out,” Ariel added with obvious relief in her youthful voice.

“It was the bears,”
Colonel Malen spoke in awe. “They rammed the Hocklyn fleet that was attacking
the planet, devastating it, and then used the lack of an organized command
structure to nearly wipe it out.”

“I didn’t know
they were planning that,” Jeremy spoke in a stunned voice, finding it hard to
accept the sacrifice the bears had made. “Call our fighters back and let’s see
what we have left.”

Ariel felt immensely
relieved; she had been so certain that she was going to die in this battle. Somehow,
they had managed to survive, but the fleet and the defenses were now in
shambles. If the relief fleet didn’t show up shortly, there would soon be no
one left alive in the system. She hoped that Clarissa didn’t arrive to find the
Avenger destroyed and that the end had come for Ariel.

Jeremy was on
the space station meeting with Grayseth and Rear Admiral Susan Marks. They were
discussing the losses and what their options would be if the Hocklyns launched
another major attack.

“We don’t have
the fighters to stop another attack on the defense grid,” Susan spoke as she
thought about the horrific losses suffered by the fighters and bombers in the
recent battle. “We have less than two hundred fighters remaining on our ships
and only forty-two bombers.” It had pained her to watch from the Command Center of the Retribution as her pilots died trying to defend the fleet and Careth.
She'd felt like crying each time a green icon representing a Federation fighter
or bomber had faded out on the tactical screen.

“What were
your losses?” asked Jeremy, looking over at Grayseth. He knew the bears had
done everything in their power to force the Hocklyns back. There were even
reports of Carethian fighters strafing Hocklyn warships with their 30mm
cannons.

“Heavy,”
Grayseth responded, his powerful voice sounding tired. “We have sixty-two
fighters remaining and less than twenty bombers. We do have one hundred and
twenty-eight of our small warships that survived.”

“Our fleet
losses were heavy also,” admitted Jeremy, taking a deep breath. “We lost two battlecruisers,
three of our battlecarriers, five of our strikecruisers, seven Monarch
cruisers, fourteen light cruisers, and ten more of the destroyers in the
defense grid, as well as Admiral Stillson.”

“Admiral
Stillson was a brave hunter,” spoke Grayseth, respectfully. “He died a
warrior’s death.”

“He will be
missed,” Jeremy responded with a heavy sigh. It had shaken him to see the New
Eden destroyed. He knew it could just have easily been the Avenger.

 “The station
suffered some damage,” Grayseth continued. “We lost four of the power beam
installations, which can’t be replaced. We have serious damage to the outer
hull of the station, and numerous compartments are open to vacuum. Two of the
type two battle stations were also destroyed.”

“What now,
Admiral?” Susan asked. She knew that if the Hocklyns and AIs had not broken off
their attack, they all would have died above Careth. They were in a desperate
situation and she didn’t see any way out of it.

Jeremy let out
a deep sigh of frustration at the situation they now found themselves in. “We
hurt the AIs and the Hocklyns badly in the battle. Grayseth, your people’s
sacrifice probably saved us. I think it shook the Hocklyn commodore enough to
force him to call off the attack. We also used nearly ninety percent of our
remaining Devastator Threes.”

“The evil ones
will not be stopped next time,” Grayseth spoke, his large eyes taking on a sad
look of hopelessness. “We will fight until the last warrior has passed. It will
be a great hunt and a proud way to die.”

Jeremy was
silent as he thought over his options. He could think of only one way to save
the situation. It would be dangerous and risky, but he didn’t see any other
choice.

“You’re
planning something, I can tell from the look in your eyes,” spoke Susan,
arching her eyebrows. “What is it?”

“It’s the
AIs,” Jeremy responded as his gaze shifted to each of the other two. “If we
could destroy their remaining ships or make them withdraw, then I think the
Hocklyns would call off the next attack.”

“And how do
you propose we do that?” Grayseth asked, his large eyes focusing on Jeremy. “We
will soon be out of Devastator Threes and once those missiles are gone we have
nothing that can harm an AI ship. Just one ship would be capable of wiping us
out.”

“We have eight
strikecruisers left, counting the Avenger,” Jeremy began. “I propose to take
all eight of those ships and attack the AIs in system K-774.”

“Attack the
AIs?” Susan repeated not believing what she had just heard. She looked at
Jeremy shaking her head. “That would be suicide! You can’t do that.”

“Not without
Ariel,” countered Jeremy, leaning forward. “If I turn the Avenger and several
other of the strikecruisers over to Ariel’s control, I believe we could destroy
enough of the AI ships to force them to leave. It’s our only hope of surviving.”

“It’s a daring
plan,” spoke Grayseth, hoping that his Human friend was not about to sacrifice
himself. “But it may be the only plan that might have a chance of success.”

“But what good
will it do?” Susan asked her eyes showing deep concern over Jeremy’s
suggestion. “Even if you do drive the AIs off, it will only be a matter of time
before they return with more ships.”

“I’m buying
time,” Jeremy responded in a determined voice. “If I can get us a few more
weeks, surely Admiral Streth will be here with the relief fleet.”

Susan didn’t
know what to say. She knew as well as Jeremy did that if the Federation had
lost at New Tellus then there was no relief fleet coming. “When would you
leave?”

“Tomorrow,”
Jeremy replied. “That will give us twenty-four more hours to do basic repairs to
some of the damage the strikecruisers have suffered. We also need to make sure
they have plenty of Devastator Threes for this attack.”

“It will take
half of our remaining stockpile to fully arm them,” Grayseth commented as he
placed his large hands upon the conference table. “But it may be worth the
risk.”

“What are our
orders?” asked Susan, knowing she would not be able to talk Jeremy out of this
decision. She also knew that Jeremy was doing the only thing that might have a
remote chance of saving Careth and the remaining Federation ships.