The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (7 page)

The bombers
finished their attack run. They had gone in with four hundred bombers, but only
one hundred and eighty flew back out. Behind them, they left eighteen Hocklyn
support cruisers in ruin as well as four warcruisers.

-

Hocklyn are
moving out of the gravity well,” reported Ariel, looking over at Jeremy. He had
a ghastly look upon his face from seeing the staggering losses the bears had
suffered. “The bear bombers and fighters are disengaging.”

Jeremy took a
deep breath and then looked over at Colonel Malen. “Get me a status report on
the fleet. I want to know our damage and what we lost.”

“Yes, Sir,”
Malen replied. She knew that if not for the massive use of Devastator Threes
and the bear bomber strike, the Hocklyns could have destroyed Fourth Fleet.

Jeremy looked
across the Command Center at Kelsey. She must have felt his look as she turned
around and looked back. For the first time in a long while, she wasn’t smiling.

-

Commodore
Krilen glared angrily at the tactical screen, which showed his ships beginning
to enter hyperspace. White spatial vortexes were forming in front of the ships
as they fled back to the system where their other ships waited. He had not
expected the Humans to use so many of their powerful missiles.

“What did we
lose?” he demanded, turning toward First Leader Angoth.

“Reports are
just coming in,” Angoth rasped in his heavy, deep voice. “Two dreadnoughts, eight
warcruisers, and thirty-seven escort cruisers. Many other ships are reporting damage.”

Krilen cringed
inwardly at the losses. Those damn Human sublight missiles were deadly. At
least they had destroyed a large number of the defending fighters and bombers.
The AIs had also managed to significantly degrade the planet’s defensive grid
in one section. Krilen had already decided they would continue to attack and
weaken the defenses until they reached a point where they could attack the
planet. There had to be a limit as to how many of the deadly sublight missiles
the Humans had.

-

Jaseth watched
in elation at seeing the damage they had done to the Humans. While it was true
the Hocklyn fleet had suffered more, they had forced the Humans to use a large number
of their powerful missiles. Jaseth knew that each subsequent attack would
further weaken the Humans more until the last of them would fall to Hocklyn
weapons. These Humans were trapped with nowhere to go. Jaseth gazed around the War
Room, noticing other Hocklyns. All were busy at their consoles. Looking behind him,
he frowned at the tall Protector standing there. It had felt good today to fire
the ship’s weapons upon the Humans, particularly when they had destroyed the Human’s
battlecruiser.

Versith was
watching Jaseth. The young warrior had performed his duties admirably today, no
problems and no fits of rage. If he continued to do so, there might not be a
need for a Protector to be present. Versith felt the Viden jump into the safety
of hyperspace. Trion was already working on a status report of the damage
suffered by the war fleet. Repairs would have to be made and perhaps more ships
shuffled around to keep his fleet at full strength. Commodore Krilen had
already informed Versith that the Viden would be leading all of the future
attacks.

-

Jeremy studied
the loss report on the small data screen on his command console. Fourth fleet
had lost one battlecruiser and four light cruisers. The battlecarrier Cygnus had
been damaged and was already on its way to one of the two large repair docks at
the station. Jeremy needed his first line ships repaired and available for
combat. Numerous other ships were damaged and would also need repair time.
Other losses included two hundred and sixty fighters, two hundred and twenty bombers,
two destroyers, six battle stations, and over two hundred of the defensive satellites.

Orders had
already been issued to reposition the other battle stations to cover the gaps
left in the defensive grid from the AI attack. More satellites were being
brought up from the surface to replace those the AIs had destroyed.

“I just hope the
battle today has bought us some time,” Colonel Malen spoke as she walked over
to the command console from the tactical display. “The Hocklyns lost forty-seven
ships and Admiral Stillson did manage to damage one of the AIs.”

“We may have,”
replied Jeremy, hoping Colonel Malen was right. “They'll likely take the time
to repair their battle damage before attacking us again, even though they have
nearly four hundred ships that did not participate in this attack. There are
also six more AI ships sitting in system K-774. Our placement of Devastator
Threes on our light cruisers really hurt the Hocklyns. They weren't prepared
for that. I doubt if we can expect such lopsided fleet victories in the future.”

“We need to
buy all the time we can,” Ariel spoke from her position next to Jeremy.
“Admiral Streth and Clarissa will be here soon. They said they'd be coming
back. We also have large reserves of Devastator Threes.”

Jeremy just
nodded. He hoped the light cruiser they were sending could find out what had
happened and return with a relief fleet. Even if that happened, it would take
close to three weeks for the light cruiser to reach New Tellus and come back with
help. The only problem was Jeremy didn’t know if the Human forces in the
Carethian system could survive for three more weeks.

High Leader
Nartel gazed in open contempt at Councilor Ruthan. The councilor had been
demanding that all weapons research be stopped and that more ships be brought
in from the outer regions of the Empire to protect the twelve home systems. The
recent turn of events in the war with the Humans had deeply shaken Ruthan.

“We will not
stop the weapons research,” responded Nartel, gazing defiantly at the standing
councilor. “I have informed the AIs of our decision to pursue a robust weapons
research program to counter the Humans. I have also requested additional
weapons from them, including their sublight antimatter missiles.”

“They will
send their ships again,” Ruthan grated out his dark, cold eyes turning red with
anger. “They will wipe more of our habitats from orbit causing the ruins to
rain down upon our worlds. How can you dare risk such a disaster? The AIs will
show us no mercy!”

“There will be
no risk,” Nartel replied in a confident voice, his eyes sweeping over the other
councilors. “The AIs have agreed to the weapons research and are sending ships
to all four of our major ship production sites, including Kenward Seven, to
help in modernizing our fleet.”

“If the AIs
have agreed to that then they must greatly fear the Humans and these new allies
of theirs,” Councilor Berken spoke as he stood up and gazed at the other High
Councilors with deep concern on his face. It might be wise for us to consider
what must be done to better fortify our home systems in case they decide to
attack us here.”

“They will
never be able to attack our home worlds,” spoke Councilor Desmonde, shaking his
head in denial. “We are too far behind the front lines of this war. Our
resources should be devoted to building more modern ships and to holding the
current boundaries of our Empire. Perhaps it would even be wise to expand our existing
ship building capacity.”

“I agree,”
Councilor Jarles added, his large, cold eyes looking around the council.
“Expansion of the Empire under the current conditions will be impossible. We
must preserve what we have and determine how best to meet this new threat. If
we build more shipyards, when the time comes that we can begin aggressively
expanding our Empire once more we can make up for the time lost in dealing with
the Humans.”

“What will the
Humans' next move be?” Berken asked as he sat back down. “Will they attempt to
take more of our slave worlds?”

“Commodore
Krilen is still in the process of attacking the system of Careth,” High Leader
Nartel responded. “He has over five hundred warships and ten AI spheres with
which to annihilate the Humans and the Carethians. Once that's done, he will
hold his position in the Carethian system and notify us when the Humans
return.”

“How soon
before the Humans show up?” demanded Ruthan, nervously. “They could be on their
way right now!”

“A few weeks
at least,” replied Nartel, confidently. “They suffered heavily in our attack
upon their system. It will take them time to repair the damage and assemble a
fleet. When they return, Commodore Krilen will attempt to fight a delaying
action. We must finish updating as many ships as possible before engaging the Humans
in a major battle. We still have thousands of ships in the Empire that we can
call upon if need be and they will all have to be sent to the shipyards.”

“What if the
new, advanced aliens come with the Humans?” Ruthan asked as he looked worriedly
at the High Leader. “How can we hope to stop them if the AIs could not?”

“The AIs have
other weapons,” replied Nartel, recalling his most recent conversation with the
metal monstrosities. “I suspect if these aliens do show up, the AIs will be
better prepared next time.”

This seemed to
satisfy the council and after discussing several other matters of importance to
the Empire, the meeting broke up. Once the other councilors had left, Nartel
went to his office and stepped out onto the balcony that over looked the
capital city. He took in a deep breath and looked up into the sky. There was a
heavy haze over the city and even though it was mid afternoon, the city seemed
dark and gloomy.

Nartel took
out his blade from the scabbard at his waist and gazed thoughtfully at it.
Things had been so much simpler back in his youth when he had served as a
warrior upon a warship. While it was true the AIs had agreed to the weapons
research and to further upgrade Hocklyn ships, Nartel thought he had detected a
definite undertone of fear from the AIs. This was something he had never
noticed before and it was causing him some grave concern. There was something
about this new race of aliens that had come to the Humans' rescue that deeply
worried the AIs.

However,
Nartel had another ace up his sleeve. There was additional help he could call
upon, and to preserve the Empire he had done so. When the Humans returned, he
had a surprise that he hoped would end the Human problem once and for all. If
he succeeded, then he would have the advanced weapons and warships he wanted
and the Hocklyns could move quickly to finish expanding the Empire to the edge
of the galaxy and possibly beyond. It might also put them on a more equal
footing with the AIs.

-

Hedon was in
Governor Malleck’s office meeting with Admiral Telleck and the Alton Ambassador
Tureen. They had been discussing the current situation in the Federation as
well as the ongoing war with the Hocklyns and the AIs.

“If we go on
the offensive, how many of your warships can we count on?” asked Admiral Streth,
looking intently at Ambassador Tureen.

He was growing
impatient to launch his relief fleet. Two more weeks had passed since he had
interrupted the meeting in the Federation Council Chambers. He knew that he had
aggravated a number of Federation Senators in doing so.

The tall,
white haired ambassador took a deep breath and then replied. “You must
understand Admiral that close to ninety percent of my race will not participate
in this war. As I have explained earlier, even those warships we have deployed have
minimal crews aboard.”

“Is there any
chance we can put Federation crews on your ships if we agree to let your people
remain in command?” Admiral Telleck asked. He had gone on board one of the Alton battlecruisers and been highly impressed by what he had seen. Even with the designs,
it would be years before the Federation could build such ships.

“It might be a
solution and is one my people have already discussed,” Tureen responded with a
slow nod. “We have a fleet of slightly over four hundred battlecruisers. To
ensure the safety of the Federation and the other races in our section of the
galaxy, our leaders feel we must keep at least three hundred of those cruisers
close to home.”

“That still
leaves over one hundred,” Hedon spoke, his eyes lighting up at the thought of
having those ships added to his fleet.

“We would not
want to risk all of those at once,” Tureen added as he placed his right hand
palm down on the conference table. He gazed at his long, slender fingers. “I
have already spoken to my people and we would be willing to furnish you with
twenty ships to go with your relief fleet. If you wish, I can have those ships
at New Tellus in forty-eight of your hours.”

“What about
adding Humans to your crews?” Governor Malleck asked.

“We are not an
overly aggressive race,” Tureen responded with a heavy sigh. “It was extremely distasteful
for our crews to fight at New Tellus, though they realized it was a necessity.
Our battlecruisers, in order to function at full capacity, need a crew of four
hundred. We can furnish fifty Altons to crew each ship and we would like you to
furnish the rest. The commanding officer will be an Alton, but we would like
the executive officer to be a Human.”

“It will be
necessary to modify the ships for Human crews,” Hedon said between pursed lips.
“That might take a while.”

“The twenty
ships I am speaking of have already been modified to handle Human crews,”
Tureen replied. “Once they arrive at New Tellus I propose that you have some of
your own construction engineers go on board the ships and see if anything else
is required.”

“Will there be
any problems mixing the crews?” Governor Malleck asked his eyes focusing sharply
on Tureen. They couldn’t afford to have an incident between the Human crew and
the Alton crew.