Theogony 3: Terra Stands Alone (15 page)

“Ye are welcome,” greeted the High Archon, causing a warm glow that put all of the Terrans at peace.
At seven and a half feet tall, he was the tallest Archon the Terrans had seen. The emotions he transmitted were similarly strong.

“Thank you,” said the
ambassador. “We have travelled a long way to get here, and your warm greeting is greatly appreciated.”

“Yes,” said the Hig
h Archon. “I understand that ye have come from Earth, 16 stargates from here, in order to ask for our aid.”

“You have me at a disadvantage,” said
the ambassador. “You seem to know a lot about us; we, however, know almost nothing about you.”

“
Thy planet is not unknown to us,” said the High Archon, “as we were called by the Psiclopes to defend it from the rakshasas. Nasty creatures, those rakshasas.” He looked at Steropes and then back to the ambassador. “I can see why the Psiclopes would care about defending thy planet,” he added. “Ye do look similar to them, although a good bit taller.”

“
That is true, I guess,” the ambassador allowed, not wanting to disagree.

“I had my aide look up all of the information we had on
thy planet,” the High Archon explained. “Apparently our ancestors visited it on two occasions; once to drive out the rakshasas and the other to help with the capture of a shape shifter that made it to thy planet.”

“Yes,” agreed Sterop
es. “I was there for both of those occasions, and your assistance was instrumental in allowing the Terrans to grow and develop unhindered. Both the rakshasas and the shape shifter would have reduced them to little more than slaves on their own planet.”

“Thank you for your previous assistance,
” added the ambassador, “even if we did not know it at the time. We are already in your debt, but find ourselves in a similar position once again, as we are about to be overrun by the Drakuls.”

“They are also nasty creatures,”
the High Archon said with a sniff, “and if it were in my power to give you aid against them, I would. Unfortunately, I am not the one to talk to for military matters. I am the benefactor for civil administration; for military assistance, ye must talk to Grand Admiral Michael, who is in charge of the fleet. He is the benefactor for all things military. He is currently in the HD 10180 system, defending it against a Drakul invasion of our own. Although I am not an expert in warfare, it seems to me that the battle there has become very static of late. He may be able to send some ships to thy planet, but ye will have to travel there to ask the question. I realize that ye have already traveled far, but ye must go another two systems to seek the aid ye desire.”

* * * * *

“Terra,
all of our mines are placed, and we’re empty
,” radioed the
Septar’s
communications officer. “
We’re going back for another load.
”

“
Roger that,
Septar,” transmitted the
Terra’s
communications officer. “
Godspeed and hurry back!
”

“
Don’t start the party without us!
”

Captain Adler smiled. The longer the Drakuls gave them, the better prepared they
became. The TSS
Atlantic
had entered the Ross 154 system an hour previously and was inbound to the stargate with a load of missile launchers. Each launcher was nothing more than a cruiser-sized anti-ship missile in a box, with a small communications and navigations suite that would allow it to stay in place for about five years.

The battlecruiser
Atlantic
was making its maiden voyage to bring the load of missiles. The government had finally decided to name the battlecruiser class based on the number of countries bordering each ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean had more than any other. The name didn’t matter to Captain Adler; he was just happy his ship was finished in time for him to fight the Drakuls with it. He wouldn’t mind a little time to train his crew prior to battle, too, if he could get it.

Every moment of every crewmember’s day was spent in training, trying to master the ship’s systems. If not to master them, at least to become proficient with them. Hell, thought Captain Adler, if we could just figure out how to launch missiles, that would be great. The ship didn’t have a motto yet
, and he idly wondered how, “There’s plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead!” would sound.

Captain
Bullig didn’t have to be onboard the first ship to go into the Ross 154 system; the Overlord had only specified that he lead the assault into the system of the new food source. As the last battlecruiser moved into position, he smiled. They were ready.

It would be interesting to see how the new food source had prepared for his return. Based on what had happened to the last force that had gone up against them, he figured it would be something nasty.
He sent his forces through the gate accordingly. He wouldn’t be on the first ship if he didn’t have to be.

“
Commence the assault!
” he transmitted. The first battleship began its attack run, followed by the rest of the fleet. As the
Destruction of Olympos
started to pick up speed, he grinned from ear to ear. He had waited a long time to lead a conquering force.

The first battleship made the jump.

“Stargate emergence!” called the DSO. “Drakul Battleship! Mines are being activated. Launchers are coming online.”

“Cleared to fire,” said Captain Griffin. “All weapons. Let’s show them what we’ve got.”

The crew of the
Terra
had been waiting for this moment. Not anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Drakuls, but not quite dreading it, either. As each load of mines was placed and each layer of box launchers was added to the stargate’s defenses, the Terrans had become more and more confident they could hold the gate.

Waiting
within laser and graser range, the
Terra
began firing as its mounts came online. Hatches opened down the length of its starboard side as the
Terra’s
missiles indicated their readiness and then roared off in search of their targets.

Within
a minute of the battleship’s entrance into the system, the first of the Terran mines detonated, far closer to the stargate than they were normally placed. The Terrans had hoped to hit the ship before its shields stabilized, but they didn’t succeed. The battleship’s shields were in place and absorbed the blast, as they did the explosions of the second and third mines, as well. Counter-missile missiles and lasers began firing from both sides of the battleship in an effort to keep any more mines from reaching it, but a fourth mine activated. Although it didn’t breach the shield, it was all the battleship’s forward shields could take, and they collapsed.

A second battleship entered the system in time to see the first round of missiles impact its comrade, and nuclear fire enveloped the ship from both sides as it was hit by 17 missiles from the first box launcher salvo and another 25 missiles from the
Terra
that made it through its defenses. Its aft shields failed as well, and the battleship was defenseless against the
Terra’s
energy weapons. The 16 grasers in the starboard broadside drilled four meter holes into the Drakul invader, while the
Terra’s
12 lasers added their own 3.5 meter holes.

After firing twice at the first battleship, the OSO could see that there was little to be gained by hitting it again
. Its bridge was open to space in at least two places and all four of its engines were out. It floated powerless in space. Seeing this, the OSO shifted targets as the
Terra’s
shields absorbed the first volley of laser fire from the second battleship. Before he could fire, a third battleship entered the system.

“Damn
,” muttered the OSO, “I’m falling behind. Maybe this will help.” He triggered three waves of box launchers as the first mines came into proximity with the second battleship and detonated along its sides. Missiles hit the ship from both sides, and two more mines detonated alongside it. The battleship’s shields collapsed.

No longer able to stop
the Terrans’ energy weapons, the lasers and grasers of the
Terra
struck home on the second battleship, augmented by the weapons of the battlecruisers
Septar
,
Atlantic
and
Pacific
, and the Drakul battleship began venting atmosphere in a number of places.

The death
throes of the second battleship gave the third battleship’s crew the time it needed to stabilize their systems, and the Terran ships were forced to defend themselves from the incoming missiles it launched. Making matters worse for the Terrans, the first Drakul battlecruiser entered the system, followed closely by a second and a third.

The Terran battlecruisers
ignored their counterparts and continued firing at the second battleship. With a wave of missiles from the
Terra
and two more waves of box launcher missiles, the battleship was finished, its magazines detonating in a cataclysmic explosion that would have been spectacular in atmosphere. The
Terra
shifted fire to the third Drakul battleship.

A fourth battlecruiser entered the Ross 154 system, followed by a fifth and a sixth. “It’s
getting a little crowded in here,” noted the DSO, who was starting to lose the battle against incoming missiles. As more and more ships entered the system, all of them targeted the
Terra
as the biggest threat. The OSO couldn’t kill the invaders fast enough, despite using the last two waves of box launchers to breach the third Drakul battleship’s shields. Several mines also struck the battleship, with two detonating next to the giant ship’s engines. Powerless, the ship absorbed the next round of battleship missiles from the
Terra
without destroying a single one; 34 missiles, each bigger than a space fighter, detonated along its length. Lasers and grasers sought out critical areas, and the battleship was quickly rendered into scrap.

T
he
Terra
shifted fire to the Drakul battlecruiser engaged with the
Septar
, and its weight of fire quickly turned the battle for the Terran battlecruiser. The Drakul battlecruiser it was fighting lost its shields and then its bridge to the combined energy weapons of the
Terra
and the
Septar
. The OSO on the
Terra
shifted fire again to the battlecruiser that the
Pacific
had engaged. As the prepositioned mines came within range of the enemy battlecruiser fleet and took their toll on the battlecruisers’ shields, the OSO started to feel confident that he could hold the stargate.

Until
the Drakul dreadnought entered the system.

Recognizing the dreadnought for the threat it was,
all four Terran ships immediately shifted fire to it in an effort to knock down its shields. The Drakul vessel did not return fire immediately; instead, it focused its weapons on the mines that were moving toward it. The dreadnought eliminated all but one of the mines before they could detonate. The one that did activate did not appear to have much effect on the behemoth’s shields; the OSO barely noticed a fluctuation in them as the mine exploded.

Having eliminated the closest threat, the dreadnought fired at the
Atlantic,
which had the misfortune of being in full view of one of the dreadnought’s broadsides. Although the dreadnought was not as long as some of the other nations’ dreadnought classes, it still massed over seven million tons and was much wider and taller. Its broadside included 48 dreadnought-sized missile launchers and 35 lasers that were each 5.25 meters in diameter.

All of these fired at the
Atlantic
.

It was impossible to tell, even later in the slow motion replays, how many of these hit the
Atlantic
and how many were absorbed by its shields, but the answers were easy enough to comprehend without replay. Too many and not enough. The
Atlantic
was hit by at least 35 of the dreadnought’s missiles, each of which was nearly half the size of a frigate-class warship, and at least 25 of the lasers. As the sensors cleared, the Terrans got their first look at what was left of the
Atlantic
. Five pieces were all that remained, blown apart so thoroughly that all were open to space. As the crews of the other ships watched, a last missile, launched later than the rest of the broadside due to some technological glitch, arrived at what was left of the Atlantic, obliterating the largest piece.

“Holy shit,” someone said. It was hard to tell who; everyone
thought it.

“
Retreat!
” commed Captain Griffin. “
All ships retreat to the Solar System at flank speed.
”

Captain Griffin looked again at the remains of the
Atlantic
, which had been shifted to one of the smaller monitors and sat back in her captain’s chair. The battle had been going so well, she thought, before the arrival of the dreadnought. They had all fired at it several times and not made a dent in its shields. She knew that all of their defenses combined weren’t up to the task of defeating the dreadnought. They didn’t have anything that could.

If the
Vella Gulf
didn’t get back with something big, they were doomed.