Galactic Empire Wars 2: Emergence (3 page)

He knew that
down on the planet, the communications facility and the nearby barracks and
port facility had been evacuated. Captain Williams had informed the alien races
present that the entire area would shortly be destroyed and that they needed to
get to a safe distance. She had allowed them to take some supplies with them so
they could survive until the next supply ship arrived. Wade knew that there was
a good chance that the Kleese, when they found out what had happened, would eliminate
the survivors. They wouldn’t want anyone left alive that had witnessed Kleese
being killed in the attack. With a heavy sigh, Wade wished there was someway to
save those fleeing the facility below, but there wasn’t. They were on their
own.

“Facility is
targeted,” Colonel Adamson informed Wade. The colonel was standing next to Tactical
waiting for Wade to give the order.

“Fire,” Wade ordered
in a hollow voice, knowing they were about to rain hell down upon the planet.

-

From the
Constellation, six of its secondary railguns fired. Brilliant flashes of light
lit up the atmosphere of the planet as the tungsten rounds hurtled toward their
target. The railguns fired twice, sending twelve of their deadly rounds toward
the Kleese facility.

On the planet,
the rounds struck. The communications facility vanished as six fireballs blew
the building apart, even penetrating and destroying the hidden floors beneath.
The same occurred to the barracks and port facility. The ground shook and debris
rained down from the sky. The air was full of smoke, and fire raged where the two
buildings had once stood.

-

The surviving aliens
watched from a safe distance. There were nearly two hundred of them, with
twelve of their number in Type Two battle suits. They had enough supplies to
last several months and this planet was hospitable enough that they could survive
on it if necessary. They knew it would be best if the Kleese never found them.
The two leaders of the survivors turned and began walking away. As far as the
Kleese would be concerned, everyone had died in the attack upon the facility.

-

With a sigh of
relief, Wade felt the ship jump into Fold Space. The ship generated an energy
field directly in front of it which warped space and shortened the distance
between two points. The more powerful the energy field, the more space was
warped, allowing the ship to attain even higher speeds. They were now safe from
attack and on their way back home.

Wade heard the
hatch to the Command Center open and turning saw Beth enter. She had removed
her battle suit, taken a shower, and put on her regular marine uniform. “How
was it?” he asked as she walked over to stand next to him. Since their time as
prisoners on the Kleese space station, they'd become very close friends.

“About as
expected,” she replied her eyes focusing on Wade. “We got the information and
the facility is destroyed. The two alien races the Kleese were using as
conscripts are going into the mountains to hide. The Kleese may never know it
was us that did this.”

“That’s good,”
Wade responded pleased with that information. “The longer we can keep the
Kleese from realizing that we’re actively working against them, the better.”

General
Mitchell had informed him that in the coming months more raids were planned. The
Human race had recovered to the point that they could start taking an active role
against the Kleese and their Empire. With a sigh, Wade knew that when he got
back to Vesta he had another important decision to make. His younger brother
wanted to join the military and become a space marine.

General
Mitchell was in the process of training several thousand troops in the use of
the Type Three battle suits. There were soldiers from across the planet that
had volunteered for the program. Wade had watched a recent training session
with troops from Canada, Australia, the U. K., Germany, and France. Thanks to the universal translators, the language problem had been eliminated.

When the
Kleese had originally come to Earth, they'd kidnapped nearly 60,000 soldiers
from various countries to serve as conscripts in their wars. After the rescue,
many of these had elected to stay in the new military and serve in different
capacities. The new army was no longer primarily made up of troops from the United States; they were now an army of the world and allegiance to individual countries,
for the most part, no longer existed.

“Thinking
about your family?” asked Beth, seeing the concerned look on Wade’s face.

She knew about
his little brother. At least Wade’s parents and brother had survived the
destruction. The only member of her family that had made it out was her mother.
Before the Kleese attack upon Earth, she had been planning her wedding. Her
fiancée had vanished in the attack and never been heard from.

“Yes,” replied
Wade, forcing a smile upon his face.

“Your little
brother, I imagine,” added Beth, knowingly. “Let’s go get some chow and we can
talk about it.”

Wade nodded;
he only now realized how ravenous he was. Beth always seemed to know what to
say and do.

The two left
the Command Center as the Constellation hurtled through Fold Space on its way
back to Earth. Today they'd fired Earth’s first shot in the new war against the
Kleese, but it wouldn’t be the last.

Mason Randle
was walking with his wife Adrienne in the recently finished New Eden habitat
inside Vesta. The area was forty kilometers in length and nearly twenty in
width. In its center, a modern futuristic looking city extended the length of
the habitat. The areas on the edges of the habitat were reserved for farming,
with a number of slow flowing rivers and several small blue lakes making it appear
much like Earth. It looked like a virtual paradise, and Mason knew that for the
survivors that had fled the dying planet to live here, it literally was. It was
well stocked with various breeds of livestock as well as other animals, birds,
and insects to make the habitat ecologically stable. The streams and lakes had
even been stocked with fish.

“I’m amazed at
the diversity of animals in this habitat,” Mason commented as they walked past
other people on the busy sidewalk. “Lori did an amazing job setting up the
ecology for New Eden.”

“I spoke to her
yesterday; she said there’re over twenty different bird species alone in this
habitat.” Adrienne looked over at Mason and sighed heavily with a sad look on
her face. “I know we’re fortunate to have saved so many, but there are thousands
of species that are now extinct due to the disaster on Earth. I still find it
hard to accept that there are so many animals and birds that we’ll never see
again except in pictures or videos. Our children are going to miss so much.”

“We still have
a lot of species in the zoo,” Mason reminded her, recalling all the effort that
had gone into saving so many zoo animals. “Once their numbers have increased
sufficiently, Lori will be releasing some of them into the habitats. But you’re
right; there are a lot of animals and birds that we’ll never see again. There
were only so many we could save. You know as well as I do that in some
instances we had to save people over animals.”

Adrienne
reached over and took Mason’s hand as they continued walking down the spacious
sidewalk along one of the busy streets in the bustling metropolis. Slightly
over 1.2 million people lived in the new city. “I can’t believe we built his,”
she said as she watched several electric powered vehicles speed by on the wide
street. “We’ve accomplished so much in the last two years, it’s almost
unbelievable. There was a time at the beginning when I wondered if we would
even be able to survive.”

“The Kivean’s construction
technology is remarkable,” responded Mason as he gazed at several of the tall
buildings around him; some were nearly thirty stories high. “You’ve seen their
city and you know what they’re capable of building.”

Adrienne
nodded. She was close friends with the Kivean leader’s life mate, Harnett. She
had been to the Kivean city a number of times and always marveled at how their
buildings and homes almost seemed as if they possessed a life of their own.
Their buildings soared into the air and were connected by slim, delicate bridges
at various levels. The buildings were brightly colored and almost seemed to be
out of a fairy tale.

“Ah, here we
are,” said Mason as he stopped in front of a small restaurant.

He could smell
the savory scent of steaks cooking on the grill. It had been a while since he
had treated himself to a steak. Going inside, they were led to a private dining
room where the others were waiting. This was going to be a meeting to discuss
the current state of affairs in the Solar System and what was to be done about
the Kleese.

“Mason, there
you are,” Mayor Silas spoke as he stood up with a big friendly smile. He walked
over, shook Mason’s hand, and gave Adrienne a fatherly hug. It wasn’t often
that he could leave his duties as Mayor of Luna City and come to Vesta. It
seemed as if every day there was a new crisis.

Looking around
the room, Mason spotted his sister’s brother-in-law, Darren Kirby. Others in
the room included Lawrence Henderson from Jornada, Professor Alex Scott from
Mars, Ethan Hall, Cheryl Robinson, and Colonel Bailey.

“Now we can
eat,” Darren said with a grin. “I was getting hungry!”

“You’re always
hungry,” commented Ethan. “You’re just like your brother.”

“We don’t have
restaurants on Holbrook Station,” Darren shot back, patting his lean stomach.
“It’s been months since I’ve had a good steak!”

Everyone laughed
and sat down; they soon had their orders placed and everyone looked expectantly
at Mason. This was an important meeting and everyone was curious as to what he had
to say. They knew he had been meeting with General Mitchell and the head of the
Kiveans, Marken, discussing their future. It was very seldom they could all get
together with the responsibilities they had at their respective colonies. Mason
had called this meeting so there would be no misunderstandings about what was
going to happen.

Once Mason was
satisfied that everyone was ready, he stood up and looked at the people in the
room. “As all of you have probably heard very soon we will begin military
operations against the Kleese. As a matter of fact, one has already been
launched and should be returning shortly.”

“I thought
so,” Alex said with a deep frown, his dark eyes focusing on Mason. “I had heard
rumors about a mission. I asked Major Sanchez about it, but he refused to
comment. He told me I would have to get that information from General Mitchell.”
Alex paused and looked slowly around the group. “It’s been nearly two years and
the Kleese have left us alone. Is it wise to start a war against an enemy that
vastly outnumbers us? We’ve lost so much; do we dare risk losing everything?”

“Perhaps we
should wait and let our population grow more,” suggested Stan, glancing over at
Alex and feeling uneasy about attacking the Kleese. Both of their colonies were
more vulnerable to attack than Vesta. “The last census indicated we had just
slightly over eighteen million people. That’s not a lot of people to fight a
war with.”

“I understand
your concerns,” Mason replied evenly. He had voiced the same ones himself to
General Mitchell and Marken. “But the Kleese have not forgotten us. From what
Marken has told me, their Empire is so large that sometimes it takes them
months or even years to respond to a potential threat. Our world was considered
a threat when they first discovered it so it was destroyed after they removed
the military personnel they wanted for conscripts. It may be this year or
several more years in our future, but the Kleese will return. The military is
of the opinion that we dare not wait and allow them to gather their forces
against us.” He paused and looked at the group knowing they were uncertain
about engaging the Kleese in a war.

Everyone was
silent as they weighed those words. Each wondered what was in store for them in
the future. Could the Human race even hope to have a chance to survive? While
it was true that most of the survivors from Earth were now safe in new
settlements in the main colonies, there was still much work to do. Earth had
possessed a massive manufacturing ability; fortunately, Centerpoint Station had
replaced much of that. However, the different colonies themselves needed to
become more self-sufficient and they were a long ways from accomplishing that.
It would be difficult to allocate even more resources to the war effort.

“We’ve done
everything we can to ensure the safety of our surviving population,” Colonel
Bailey said as he looked around the group, wanting to reassure them. “Every
Human settlement or colony is protected by railgun and energy beam turrets. In
addition, deep bunkers have been built to accommodate our people in case of an
attack. Plus we now have a powerful fleet to protect us.”

Mayor Silas
let out a deep sigh and focused his eyes on Colonel Bailey. “I understand what
you’re saying, but I’m not sure the people will after everything they’ve been
through. Their lives are just now beginning to return to normal. We’re talking
about a war that could go on for generations!”

“How can we
even hope to defeat the Kleese?” Darren asked his eyes staring narrowly at
Colonel Bailey. Holbrook Station was now heavily armed, but it could still be
damaged or even destroyed in a determined attack by the Kleese or their
military conscripts. “We’re talking about a Galactic Empire that has existed
for thousands of years!”

“That’s why we
intend to fight a guerilla war against the Kleese,” explained Colonel Bailey,
patiently. “For the last two years, we’ve steadily built up our fleet to the
point that even the Kleese would have a difficult time getting close enough to
one of our settlements to attack it. We can fight them in space if we have to.”

“If we fight a
guerilla war, are you saying that there will be no major fleet engagements?”
Darren asked his eyes widening. For some reason, he had been imagining massive
fleet battles between Kleese and Human ships.

“Not at
first,” responded Bailey, shaking his head. “There undoubtedly will be some
small fleet actions, perhaps even large ones if we have a decisive advantage.
But we won’t be risking valuable fleet assets in major battles we can’t win
decisively.”

“What is this
current mission?” Darren asked his eyes turning to gaze at Mason. He wanted to
know exactly what the military was doing. Their actions could affect everyone
in the Solar System and he felt they had a right to know.

“The current
mission is for intelligence gathering only,” explained Mason, recalling what
General Mitchell had told him. “I doubt if any other military missions will be
launched for several months until we’ve had the time to study the data the
mission brings back. Our military is currently mapping out a strategy to keep
the Kleese off balance and buy us the time we need to expand our population and
increase the size of our fleet. We’re hoping this mission will give us the
information we need to accomplish that.”

“Will we be
consulted before future attacks on the Kleese are launched?” Professor Scott
asked his eyes focusing on Mason. “I don’t want a large Kleese fleet to appear
over Mars Central as a result of one of these missions.”

“Yes,” replied
Mason, nodding his head. “The leaders of our colonies and some of the
settlements will be briefed on a regular basis.”

“What about a
civilian government?” asked Professor Scott, accepting that war with the Kleese
was inevitable. He just wanted to voice his concerns to the others. “I've had
several delegations come to me recently requesting we reinstate civilian
authority.”

“I’ve had the
same problem,” Mayor Silas added with a heavy frown. “We have a number of Earth
politicians and a few high ranking former government officials demanding we
hold elections and return all authority over to them. They are upset that they
have had no real say in what has been happening. For the time being, they’re
all in the same dome where they can’t cause too much trouble.”

“I’ve had
several ask me the same thing,” added Cheryl, looking over at Mason. “Just
yesterday, a former mayor from a city in Germany came in and asked when there
would be elections. I don’t think we can keep putting them off much longer.”

Mason let out
a deep sigh. Cheryl had mentioned this to him earlier. He had been getting the
same reports from nearly every settlement. This was something he had seen
coming, and now they'd have to decide how to deal with it. “I’ve spoken to
General Mitchell and some of the others about this. We can’t afford to allow
politicians to endanger what is left of the Human race. However, we’re also not
situated to run such large colonies and settlements by ourselves.”

“So, what are
you suggesting?” asked Mayor Silas, looking perplexed. “Surely you don’t want
to turn everything over to the politicians. Look at what they did on Earth.
Most governments were nearly dysfunctional!”

“We allow our people
to hold elections to select representatives from each settlement to help manage
our colonies. They will report directly to us and will be allowed a limited amount
of authority. That should get us by for the immediate future and help relieve
us of some of the daily work of managing everything.”

“It still doesn’t
answer the question of who is actually in charge,” Alex commented. “We need
someone the people can look to as being responsible for their well being and
continued survival. They need to feel that there is an ultimate civilian authority
that everyone, including the military, has to answer to.”

“That’s
certainly not any of the surviving politicians,” commented Mayor Silas
derisively, recalling some of the long-winded conversations he had experienced
with some members of that very vocal group. “I think most of the ones at Luna City are just interested in being in power and telling people what to do. They don’t
seem to understand the situation we now find ourselves in. They want a return
to the old status quo.”

“Mason’s in
charge,” spoke Darren in a calm and authoritative voice, looking around the
group challengingly. “He single-handedly orchestrated the rescue of most of the
survivors. No one is going to question his authority.”

The others in
the room nodded as they thought over what Darren had just said. That would be
acceptable to them and would solve a major problem. Mason had been coordinating
everything from the beginning and they were willing to recognize his authority.
The people in all the colonies saw him almost daily on the media channels and
knew who he was. The group knew that now was not the time to change the way
things were being done. The old politicians from Earth would cause everything
to grind to a halt if they were put back in charge. That could not be allowed
to happen with the survival of the Human race at stake. The old ways of
government on Earth had to be abandoned if they were to survive.

“The military
can accept that,” Colonel Bailey spoke with a confirming nod. “General Mitchell
will agree to Mason being in charge, and I’m pretty confident the civilians
will also.”