Galactic Empire Wars 2: Emergence (13 page)

“What about
our fleet assets here at Centerpoint?” asked Makita, worriedly. It was
essential that the station be well protected. “We’re taking all of the heavy
units.”

“We still have
over two hundred assault ships based at Centerpoint Station,” Kirby pointed
out. “As soon as we set out, those ships will take up defensive positions
around Centerpoint, Holbrook Station, and over the Moon.”

Makita nodded,
feeling satisfied with the admiral’s answer. With the heavy weapons that
Centerpoint, Holbrook, and Luna City possessed along with the assault ships,
they should be relatively safe from harm.

Fleet Admiral Kirby
quickly contacted Admiral Sanders and worked out a battle plan. If it all
worked, the fleet would suffer minimal casualties in the battle. Kirby also
contacted General Mitchell and explained what was going on and what his plan of
battle would be.

“Just be
careful,” General Mitchell cautioned. “We don’t know how many Kleese mother
ships may be hiding in Neptune’s atmosphere. We know about possibly two; there
may be more.”

Kirby agreed
with General Mitchell’s assessment. There was no way to know. For now, he was
assuming there were at least two; if there were more, he would have to adjust
his battle plan. It would also mean his fleets would suffer heavier losses.

“Most of our ships
are in position,” Major Makita reported as he studied the main sensor screen. “We’re
still waiting for the battlecruiser Vanguard and two of the light cruisers to
exit the flight bays. They’re waiting on crewmembers. Their commanders report
they’ll be exiting the flight bays within the next fifteen minutes.”

First Fleet
had four battlecruisers, sixteen light cruisers, and thirty-two assault ships
at its disposal. All had been constructed or updated in the last two years with
better weapons and shields. Every ship had particle beam cannons, which had
proven in the past to be extremely detrimental to Kleese mother ships, as well
as assault ships. Second Fleet had three battlecruisers, fourteen light
cruisers, and twenty-eight assault ships. They were missing the ships that had
been assigned to the trading station mission. Fleet Admiral Kirby felt
confident that he had what he needed to handle this Kleese incursion into the
Solar System. That would still leave him Admiral Rivers and Admiral Stehr with
their fleets in reserve.

“We depart in
thirty minutes,” ordered Kirby, feeling that they had done everything they
could to be ready for this battle. He also knew that the best-laid plans had a
habit of going incredibly wrong.

-

Deep within
the atmosphere of Neptune, four Kleese mother ships waited. In their flight bays,
one hundred and eight assault ships were fully manned by conscripts and ready
to attack when the order was given. In one of the disk ships, six Kleese stood
upon the Command Pedestal waiting for the expected attack. They had direct
orders from the Council of Overlords to test the Humans' weapons and to weaken
the Human fleet substantially. All six knew that a small fleet of Kleese
warships from the core systems was being dispatched shortly to eliminate the
Human nuisance once and for all. The Supreme Overlord wanted an in depth report
on the Human weapons before he dispatched the warfleet.

The Kleese
commander had decided on this strategy of hiding in the planet’s atmosphere to
lay a trap for the Humans. They would allow the Human fleet to pass by the
planet and then hit them from the rear when they were not expecting an attack.
It would be quite devastating and would ensure that when the Kleese warships
arrived, the Humans would meet their end. This would demonstrate to the council
that there were still some powerful Kleese working for the continued well-being
of the Empire.

“The assault
ships have reported that the Humans have departed their world,” one of the
Kleese spoke in its strange voice. “Estimated contact time is less than one
hour.”

Another of the
Kleese nodded its triangular head, its multifaceted eyes gazing at the
conscripts in the Command Center. They had a good plan and the Humans would be
defeated. The ship shook slightly; there was strong turbulence in this planet’s
atmosphere. It was even affecting the ship’s recently strengthened energy
screen. The Kleese spoke to the conscripts at Navigation, reminding them that
their continued existence depended upon them keeping the ship stable. If it was
necessary to eliminate these conscripts, new ones could be brought quickly in
to replace them.

-

First Fleet
and Second Fleet jumped into Fold Space and rapidly accelerated toward Neptune. Fleet Admiral Michael Kirby gazed at the main viewscreen showing a highly
magnified view of the light blue planet. He knew the blue color was caused by
the methane in the planet’s atmosphere.

“Fleet is at
Condition One and ready for combat operations,” Major Makita reported. “Orders
have been passed on to all commanding officers.”

Michael
nodded. Makita was an efficient and highly professional officer. He looked
across the Command Center, noting the look of confidence on the faces of the
crew. It was hard to believe that just a few years back he had been the captain
of the prospecting ship Raven. In some ways, he missed those old days where he
could do pretty much as he pleased. He had always had a sharp mind when it came
to figuring out tough and difficult problems. That had led to him being placed
in command of the Armageddon and later, after several victories over Kleese
forces, he had been promoted to Fleet Admiral.

Now he had the
fate of thousands of people in his hands on the ships he commanded. It was a
different world. His wife Susan was very proud of what he had accomplished. He
allowed himself to smile, knowing he wasn’t the only one that had been saddled
with additional authority and responsibility. His brother-in-law, Mason Randle,
was now considered to be the president of the scattered colonies and habitats
that represented the Human race in the Solar System.

The minutes
passed slowly as the Armageddon and her attending ships hurtled toward Neptune at nearly six times the speed of light. Neptune was two hundred forty-five light
minutes away from Earth. Due to acceleration and deceleration, it would take
them fifty-one minutes to reach their destination. The one hundred twenty-two
ships would pass in front of Neptune, which would screen them for a few precious
seconds from the twelve assault ships waiting ten million kilometers beyond the
planet. That was all the time that would be needed to detach Admiral Sanders
and his ships on their covert mission. They could have reached Neptune much quicker, but Michael had decided to move at a slower rate to see if the Kleese
had any other surprises waiting.

As it neared
time for them to drop out of Fold Space, Michael could sense a slightly higher
anxiety level in the Command Center. Even Major Makita was pacing more than
normal as he walked from one console to the next, speaking to the different
crewmembers. The crew was talking less and eyes looked furtively at the main
sensor screen, which was showing Neptune and the twelve Kleese assault ships
waiting beyond it.

“Kleese
assault ships still haven’t moved,” Major Makita pointed out as he stopped and
gazed intently at the screen. “They’re just waiting for us.”

“Dropout in
forty seconds,” Ensign Bisset reported from Navigation as her hands ran
delicately over the controls. “We’re on course and will be passing in front of
Neptune twenty-six seconds after drop out.”

Michael could
feel his pulse quicken as the counter neared zero. There were no guarantees in
combat. He knew that if something happened to him Mason would see to it that
Susan and the girls were taken care of.

“Drop out,” Ensign
Bisset called out as the Armageddon dropped back into normal space.

On the main
viewscreen, the blue globe of Neptune was rapidly growing in size. A few bands
of thin white ice clouds were visible in the upper layers of the atmosphere.
Turbulent winds swept the planet and the cloud layers hid the surface from view.
It was a cold and inhospitable world made up primarily of hydrogen, methane,
and helium with an average surface temperature of minus 214 degrees centigrade.
The planet was nearly twenty-five thousand kilometers in diameter, which would
help to shield the fleet from the Kleese for a few short, valuable seconds.

“All ships
have formed up into standard fleet formation,” Major Makita reported as he
studied the data coming in from the sensors as well as on the tactical sensor
screen. The green icons representing First and Second Fleet had formed up into
a precise formation. “Admiral Sanders is prepared to initiate Neptune
incursion.”

On the large
sensor screen, six green icons broke away from the fleet and entered the
turbulent atmosphere of Neptune. Two battlecruisers and four light cruisers
would spring the trap on the Kleese.

“Coming around
the planet,” Lieutenant Fullerton reported from her sensor console.

“Begin
accelerating toward the twelve assault ships,” Michael ordered. He wanted the
two Kleese ships hiding in Neptune’s atmosphere to think their plan had worked.

-

The Kleese watched
as the large Human fleet began pulling away. There had been some concern when
the ships had momentarily vanished from their sensor screens as they dropped
out of Fold Space on the other side of the planet.

“This is a
larger than expected Human fleet,” spoke one of the Kleese as he studied the
main sensor screen. “We will suffer major casualties to our assault ships in
the attack.”

“Irrelevant,”
replied one of the others, dismissing the losses. “Conscripts and assault ships
are easily replaced.”

“We will
attack the Humans and if we lose our assault ships then we will withdraw; they
will have served their purpose,” the Kleese commander spoke in a cold and
impassionate voice. The conscripts serve us, and their sacrifice will be for
the Empire.”

At one of the
sensor consoles, one of the conscripts noticed a discrepancy in the number of
ships in the Human fleet compared to the number that had dropped out of Fold
Space; six ships were missing. The conscript elected to remain silent, fearful
of addressing the Kleese and reporting that he could not find the missing
ships. To speak to the Kleese about this discrepancy could very well end in his
death.

“Launch our
assault ships,” ordered the Kleese commander as he noted that the Humans were
now beginning to pull away from the planet. “They’re to attack immediately.”

From the four
Kleese ships, one hundred and eight of the two hundred-meter disk shaped
assault ships left their bays and accelerated rapidly toward the unsuspecting
Human warships. They should be able to get off several rounds of weapons fire before
the Humans could respond. They might even catch the Humans with their shields
down.

-

“Assault ships
are rising from the atmosphere of Neptune,” Lieutenant Fullerton reported
anxiously. “They’re already in combat range of the fleet.”

“They’re
locking their weapons on us,” warned Lieutenant Edmonson from Tactical as he
readied his own weapons in response.

“There are
four Kleese mother ships now appearing on our sensors,” spoke Major Makita in a
highly concerned voice as he saw the latest data appearing on the sensor
screen. From this close range, it had been easy to detect the large vessels
with the Armageddon’s powerful sensors. “They’re beginning to come up out of Neptune’s atmosphere.”

“Turn the
fleet and engage the enemy,” Michael ordered as he leaned forward in his
command chair feeling the adrenaline beginning to flow through his system.
There were twice as many mother ships as he had been expecting.

“Enemy assault
ships are firing!” Lieutenant Fullerton warned as the Armageddon shuddered
violently. “Antimatter missile just struck our energy shield.” The lights in
the Command Center dimmed briefly and then returned to full brilliance.

“Shield
holding at forty percent,” reported Major Makita as he hurriedly checked
several data screens. “No reports of damage.”

On the main
tactical screen, several of the friendly green icons representing Human assault
ships vanished. Antimatter missiles with twenty-megaton warheads were not to be
trifled with and when several struck a screen, it was likely to fail. Even with
the new, more powerful shields the Human ships were equipped with.

In space,
brilliant explosions washed over the Human fleet as it was pummeled by the
Kleese assault ships hurtling toward it. Assault ships died violently as their
screens failed and hulls were exposed to the deadly weapons. Miniature suns
seemed to appear randomly throughout the formation of First and Second fleets.
They'd not been expecting to face this many Kleese assault ships.

“Beginning to return
fire,” reported Major Makita as the weapons systems on the Armageddon and the
other Human ships began to answer back.

Sublight
antimatter missiles, pulse fusion beams, and railguns roared back their anger.
Space became full of deadly ordnance as the two fleets tried to destroy the
other.

The one
hundred and eight Kleese assault ships didn’t have energy shields as powerful as
the Humans. When a sublight antimatter missile struck a Kleese shield it
invariably failed, leaving the assault ship unprotected from other weapons. A
series of violent explosions rolled across the attacking assault ships as the
deadly missiles found their targets. A brief, brilliant explosion of light
would generally indicate the destruction of the targeted ship as it was
annihilated by a second antimatter missile or torn apart by railgun fire.

“We’re firing
particle beams,” reported Lieutenant Edmonson as two powerful blue beams leaped
from the bow of the Armageddon, striking an attacking assault ship.