The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders (28 page)

On the main
viewscreens, blasts of dark matter energy pummeled a large number of the
fleet’s warships.

First
priority is to protect all the motherships
, ordered Prince Brollen,
watching two Vorn cruisers explode in brilliant fireballs as their engorged
energy screens collapsed.

Mardok
suddenly grew deeply concerned. More Vorn ships under his command were being destroyed.
He glanced at Prince Brollen, worried this time that he might not escape
deletion.

-

Across the
Vorn formation, the cruisers targeted by multiple Lakiam battlecruisers died in
fiery funeral pyres. One hundred and forty Vorn ships were struck by numerous
five-hundred-megaton explosive warheads. Seventy-eight of those ships were
annihilated as their screens were overloaded and collapsed. In the Vorn battle
line, small novas glowed briefly, marking the location of the destroyed ships.

-

“Second wave
launching,” reported Alborg as he sent the next barrage of hyperspace dark
matter missiles toward their next designated target. “All ships are firing
force beams and direct energy projectors targeting enemy vessels from the first
missile wave which weren’t destroyed. Those screens have to be close to going
down.”

“How many did
we get?” demanded Fleet Commodore Dreen. He could see the remains of the
novalike explosions so he realized they’d had some success. At any moment the
black ships would be firing back. His eyes searched the viewscreens for any
signs of the deadly black antimatter spheres.

“Seventy-eight,”
answered Laylem. “We got seventy-eight of them, and a number of others have
been damaged.”

“Force beams
and direct energy cannons are firing,” added Alborg as his hands flew across
his console. He picked out a target with a screen bloated with absorbed energy.

-

More dark
matter energy flooded across the screens of the Vorn cruisers. Space lit up
with brilliant flashes of light from exploding dark matter warheads. At the same
time, a second round of lesser energy from the Lakiams struck the already
engorged screens of those dark vessels not destroyed in the first missile
attack. More Vorn screens collapsed, releasing nearly incalculable amounts of
energy.

The dark
matter missiles killed additional Vorn vessels. Ship after ship died as their
hulls were turned into plasma and glowing gas, leaving very little wreckage
behind.

-

Military
Commander Mardok stood paralyzed in the Command Center of the
Reaper
.
This was a calamity; his fleet was being blown apart by weapons of unheard of
power! For a moment, Mardok was at a loss as to what action he should take.

All ships
fire our black antimatter beams
, sent Prince Brollen, seeing Mardok failing
to carry out his duties.
Our black antimatter spheres will be too slow.
Target the enemy ships and continue to fire until I order you to stop
.

Prince Brollen
then turned toward Military Commander Mardok. With another quick thought, he
ordered two guards to escort the military commander to his quarters and to ensure
he stayed there. With sadness, Prince Brollen knew Mardok would have to face
deletion. He had not fulfilled his duties at a critical juncture, and such
rampant failure could not be tolerated in the Vorn civilization.

-

Fleet
Commodore Dreen flinched as fourteen of his battlecruisers blew apart under the
deadly attack of the black beams. “All ships jump!” he ordered hurriedly.

The jump
coordinates had already been calculated, and all hyperdrives in the fleet were
on standby. On the main viewscreen, he saw numerous Lakiam battlecruisers
vanish into hyperspace, and then moments later he felt the
Basera
jump.

In what seemed
like the blink of an eye, the ship exited hyperspace a few million kilometers
away from the black fleet. Looking at the viewscreens, he could see brilliant
flashes of light where the black fleet was. He was seeing the light from his
battle with the enemy that was only just now reaching this area of space.

“How many more
of them did we get?”

“One moment,”
said Laylem as he studied his sensors. “Between the missile strike and our
energy weapons, we took out sixty-seven more. That’s one hundred and forty-five
total.”

“How many
ships did we lose?” He had expected the enemy to use their black antimatter
spheres, not those deadly black beams. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

“Twenty-seven,”
replied Laylem, looking expectantly at the commodore.

Dreen nodded
his head as he thought over his next move. “In order to force them to withdraw,
we need to destroy one of their big ships.”

“That will be
difficult,” Alborg said as he studied the nearby tactical display. “The three
motherships are in the heart of their formation, surrounded by cruisers.”

“The black
fleet is still on course for Kanop,” reported Laylem.

Fleet
Commodore Dreen knew he had no choice. They needed a victory against the black
ships, no matter how costly. “All ships, this is Fleet Commodore Dreen. We will
jump into point-blank range of the black fleet. Half of our fleet will target
their cruisers, and all other ships will focus their fire on target Alpha
Prime.” Before they had originally engaged the black fleet, each mother ship
had been given a designation.

With a deep
sigh, Dreen knew he was about to lose a lot of valuable warships. “Alborg, I want to target as many of the cruisers between our fleet and our target. Once
the path has been cleared, we will fire dark matter missiles until the target
has been destroyed or we run out of missiles.”

“I’ll set it
up,” Alborg answered solemnly. “I’m pretty sure we can do this, but it’ll cost
us a lot of dark matter missiles.”

Fleet
Commodore Dreen didn’t have to be told how important those missiles were. It
would take months to replace what he had already used and the ones he was about
to. The only good thing was, the enemy didn’t know how short the Lakiams were
on dark matter missiles or how long it took to produce them.

-

Prince Brollen
faced a quandary. He was outnumbered by over two to one, and the enemy had
already demonstrated they had a weapon dangerous to Vorn ships. The prince stood
in the middle of the spacious Command Center, contemplating what he should do.
He didn’t have the training of a military commander, and, in that regard,
Military Commander Mardok was sorely missed. However, Mardok had demonstrated
his inability to command in the heat of battle when the fortunes of war were
not going his way.

Total
cruiser losses are one hundred and forty-five, and we destroyed twenty-seven
enemy warships
, reported the Vorn standing in front of the sensor console.

Prince Brollen
turned to study one of the tactical displays. The enemy had not fled, merely
retreated a few million kilometers. No doubt they were deciding upon their next
move.
All ships
, Brollen broadcast telepathically.
I expect the enemy
to return and attack shortly. When they do, we will use our black antimatter
beams to annihilate their vessels. If we can destroy enough of their ships,
they will withdraw, and we can complete the harvesting of this system
.

Brollen turned
his triangular-shaped head back to the viewscreens. A few wisps of glowing gas
still marked where Vorn warships had died. This was the second time a
harvesting fleet under his command had suffered losses. He was becoming
concerned that the harvest of this galaxy might not be as simple and easy as first
believed.

Enemy ships
are jumping
! sent the Vorn at the sensor console.

Standby to
fire weapons
! ordered Prince Brollen as he prepared for combat. He was
confident his black matter beams could still destroy this enemy fleet.

-

“Fire!”
ordered Fleet Commodore Dreen as the
Basera
exited hyperspace within
easy combat range of the black fleet.

“Missiles
launched,” confirmed Alborg.

“Enemy are
firing,” warned Laylem as his sensors went wild.

They had come
up with a simple strategy. The first wave of missiles from all ships would be
targeted on the cruisers between the Lakiam fleet and target Alpha Prime. The
second and third wave of missiles would all target the massive mothership in
the hope the release of so much energy would cause its screen to collapse,
destroying the vessel. If two waves of missiles weren’t enough, they would
continue to fire until all dark matter missiles were expended.

On a nearby
viewscreen, a Lakiam battlecruiser exploded as an enemy black beam blew it
apart. On other screens, brilliant explosions marked the death of enemy
cruisers as their energy screens were overloaded.

“Six more of
our battlecruisers have been destroyed,” reported Laylem as the friendly green
icons on the tactical screens swelled up and vanished.

“Firing force
beams and direct energy cannons,” called out Alborg.

“All ships,
hold your positions and continue to fire!” ordered Commodore Dreen
determinedly. On the tactical display, he could see more of his battlecruisers
dying. But in order to win this engagement, he had to destroy the mothership
they were targeting, even if it meant the sacrifice of a major portion of his
fleet.

-

In space, the
battle intensified. A Vorn black antimatter beam slammed into the main part of
a Lakiam battlecruiser, setting off massive explosions and blowing out a large
portion of the hull, sending the ship adrift, out of control. The next beam cut
completely through the ship, leaving it to be destroyed by Vorn antimatter
missiles. Other Lakiam vessels were blown apart rapidly as the deadly black
antimatter beams performed their lethal work. They cut right through defensive
energy screens as if they were not even there.

In the Vorn
fleet, forty-seven cruisers died in the first wave of dark matter missiles.
Then force beams and direct energy fire took out eleven more.

The Lakiam
fleet launched its second wave of missiles. Every one was aimed at a single
Vorn mothership. In the center of the Vorn formation, a glowing star was born.
Missile after missile exploded, releasing torrents of energy, which were
rapidly absorbed by the ship’s powerful screen. Then another wave arrived and
another. The mothership’s screen glowed brilliantly with all the energy it had
absorbed. Then the final wave of missiles arrived, and, in a titanic release of
energy, the screen collapsed. The Vorn mothership didn’t explode; it was simply
vaporized from the intense amount of energy that struck its hull from all
sides. For the first time in Vorn history since coming to this universe, a
mothership had been destroyed.

-

“Target is
down,” cried out Laylem exuberantly. “There’s nothing left of it. The released
energy from the screen vaporized the vessel completely.”

“Jump us out,”
ordered Fleet Commodore Dreen. His heart was pounding, and he took several long
deep breaths. On the viewscreens, Lakiam battlecruisers were still dying
rapidly from the deadly black beams.

“Jumping,”
reported Jalad as the
Basera
transitioned into hyperspace.

-

Prince Brollen
stared in shock at where the
Hetel
had been only moments before. Now a
raging fire of dying energy marked the vessel’s location.

“
Hetel
has
been destroyed
,” reported the Vorn at the sensor console.

For a moment
Brollen stood frozen, and then his multifaceted eyes shifted to one of the
tactical displays, showing the enemy fleet. It still had not fled. No doubt its
commander was already planning the next attack. For the first time since
leaving the Conclave Habitat, he spoke out loud. “All ships are to enter
hyperspace and rendezvous at System X-42-397.” Prince Brollen didn’t trust the
use of telepathy to hide his deep concerns over what had just happened.

Moments later
the
Reaper
, the
Scythe
, and the remaining Vorn cruisers
transitioned into hyperspace, leaving the system of Kanop far behind.

-

“They’re
gone!” called out Laylem as he watched the last red threat icon vanish from his
sensors. “We beat them!”

Fleet
Commodore Dreen let out a deep sigh. Yes, they had beat them, but the last
battle had cost him 117 battlecruisers, all destroyed within two minutes. He
had never been in a battle so violent and so intense. What frightened him the
most was many more such battles were probably in his future.

“Contact Kanop
and inform them we have driven off the Destroyers of Worlds, and the Kanop
people are safe.”

Dreen leaned
back in his command chair, his pulse returning to normal. They had their
victory, and just possibly the enemy would pause in their attack on the
Enlightened Worlds and their colonies. It would take time for the Lakiams to
build sufficient black matter warheads to give the galaxy a chance at defeating
the black ships. Even then they had no idea of the actual strength of the enemy
or how many there were.

“Jalad, set a
course for Kanop. We’ll use their shipyards to repair our vessels. As soon as repairs
are finished, we’ll set a course for home.”

-

In hyperspace,
Prince Brollen watched silently as Military Commander Mardok was led to a
disposal chute, which connected to one of the vessel’s reactors. Without a
comment or a thought, he allowed the two guards to open the chute and toss him
in.

Prince Brollen
still reeled from the disaster in the food system they had just left. Over two
hundred of his cruisers had been destroyed as well as the
Hetel
. It was
the worst disaster the Vorn had suffered since coming to this universe. It would
be necessary to once more halt the harvest of this galaxy until sufficient
forces could be amassed to ensure success. This had now become a battle for
survival. Without the food resources in Galaxy X241, the Vorn would starve.
There wasn’t enough time or resources to go to another galaxy. Besides, most of
them had already been picked clean.