As soon as the fleet was within weapons range, both sides opened fire. A single defense station found itself trying to fight off no fewer then 15 Chroniech super weapons. For a brief second the shield held throwing enormous ribbons of plasma back into space. Seconds later 22 crackling balls of electromagnetic fury, the Chroniech equivalent of the Alliance sledgehammer, crashed into and through the overloaded shield.
Three of the defense stations giant energy cannons were instantly silenced as the projector ends were blown into their component atoms. The associated power accumulators shorted out through the damaged emitters causing two of them to explode. An enormous column of molten steel and station internal components billowed out into space where it was further melted and vaporized by the energy weapons that continued to attack.
Defense stations, however, were built to take an extraordinary amount of punishment. Even though the shield was overloaded and three weapons had been lost, the station’s remaining three main guns continued to fire. The business end of the monstrous weapons were glowing red-hot from the Chroniech energy weapons which had their energy diffused and weakened as they passed through the overloaded shield.
Twelve of the shield penetrators had been boring their way through layer after layer of armor. Unlike most Alliance ships, the defense stations did not rotate to spread the energy leakage over the surface of the hull. These gigantic, unmanned weapon platforms remained still so as to enable their targeting systems to remain absolutely fixed upon a single target.
Deep within the interior of the station, surrounded by layer after layer of heavy armor and buried under thousands of tons of equipment lay the shield generator along with its dedicated fusion reactor. It took nearly a full minute for one of the shield penetrators to burn its way down but eventually the shield generator was hit and the station died. It had not gone down easily.
If a tactical computer system could have a sense of pride, the defense station’s computer would have been proud in knowing, as it executed its last instruction, that it had taken out four of the attacker’s heaviest ships before it had fallen. It died knowing that it had served its purpose. As the shield failed, the remaining guns fell silent and the station ended its existence.
The loss of a single station created a weak spot in the defense grid. Fleet Commander Kartvack took advantage of this. Instead of maintaining the cylindrical formation the fleet quickly reformed itself into a hemispherical formation and moved towards the next target.
In this formation, the Chroniech could concentrate a terrific amount of firepower onto a single point in space. By keeping their backs to the weakened section of the defense perimeter Kartvack’s fleet had little to worry about except the weapons from the current target and the planetary guns. With over 600 ships available, he could inflict tremendous damage even at the extreme range of his fleet’s weapons. Station after station began to fall as the fleet swept around the planet. With the destruction of each station the capability of the Alliance defense grid was reduced even more.
As they moved around the planet, the fleet would occasionally turn their attention towards the surface. When the huge planetary energy cannons came into range the fleet would turn and fire on them. It took more time and energy to dispose of the planetary threats since these weapons were protected by far larger shield generators. But even those powerful shields could not stand up against the power of the Chroniech fleet. Pinpricks of red appeared on the planet’s surface as the fleet left vast glowing pools of magma where each weapon used to be.
Twenty minutes into the battle, Fleet Commander Kartvack ordered a small battle group to disengage from the main fleet. With most of the defenders eliminated, the orbital shipyards under their protection were completely undefended. The massive orbital construction platforms had relied upon the fleet and the defense stations to keep the enemy away from them. They had no shields, no weapon mounts, no means of defense what-so-ever.
As the main force continued the task of eliminating all resistance, the battle group turned their attention toward the undefended shipyards. Beam weapons were unnecessary. A single missile armed with a 25 megaton fusion bomb blasted each of the dozens of construction platforms and the partially built ships they contained to dust. One platform, however, contained a surprise.
The Human battleship
Antarctica
lay unmoving and apparently dormant within one of the construction platforms. Unable to move because its entire drive system was being replaced, the ship patiently waited until the very last minute to reveal itself. The Chroniech battle group passed close by and a single missile was fired. Prior to impact, the
Antarctic
hit it with a single energy beam turning it into a harmless mass of molten metal. At the same time, it opened fire with everything it had.
The Chroniech, perhaps through overconfidence, had somehow overlooked the fact that the
Antarctic’s
weapon systems were active and all fusion reactors were operational. They may have thought the energy signatures were from the station. Despite the fact that some of the ship’s weapons were behind portions of the construction platform, the
Antarctic
fired them anyway. Designed for strength and to be lightweight, the structural steel of the construction platform simply evaporated away as the
Antarctic’s
beam weapons powered up.
Caught completely by surprise, two of the lighter Chroniech ships found themselves with overloaded shields and their hull with several holes in it. Three of the
Antarctic’s
missile launchers were clear of obstruction and they belched forth a barrage of missiles toward a third ship. The Chroniech’s anti-missile defenses sprang into action and took out most of them but the six that got through were all that was needed. The ship died as it was engulfed by fusion fire.
The remaining Chroniech ships returned fire. The
Antarctic
also had no shield generator – it had been removed so it could be replaced by one built by the Kyrra. The new generator lay unpowered in its shipping crate somewhere inside the station.
Unshielded and unable to move the warship was a sitting duck. Armor melted releasing the compressed atmosphere inside into space. Secondary explosions rocked the ship. In a matter of seconds the once mighty warship was nothing more than a slowly expanding collection of still cooling debris. The Chroniech finished the job with another missile. This time there was nothing to stop it and the station, along with what was left of the
Antarctica
disappeared in thermonuclear glory.
An hour after returning to Shavact, the Chroniech fleet had erased all Alliance defenders and had destroyed every orbital construction platform. The original fleet of 629 ships had been reduced by 63. With complete control of the space above, the remaining 566 ships proceeded to lay waste to the planet. Several hours later not a single city, town, or village was left standing. Shavact had fallen.
The presence of the hytrans had allowed the Alliance to witness, in real-time, the actions of the Chroniech fleet as they methodically beamed the cities of Shavact to slag. The Planetary Governor had tried to offer a surrender without terms to the Chroniech. They ignored it. She pleaded with the Chroniech, asking them to at least allow them to move the women and children to a designated city that would be spared.
The Chroniech showed no mercy. They ignored cries and pleas for the lives of the inhabitants children. An unarmed civilian ship broadcasting the fact that it was filled with women and children was cut in half as it tried to leave the surface. In the end only a very few of the original 2.7 billion inhabitants survived.
The Alliance Grand Council had watched the entire battle in stunned silence until the hytrans was destroyed. Prior to Shavact, the council had been divided on the use of the new Crossbow weapon. Some still could not stomach the thought of indiscriminately obliterating civilian cities in order to eliminate a military target.
The Grand Council took another vote after the shouting had died down. The use of the Crossbow super weapon was unanimously approved. The council leader announced the results of the vote then personally called Alliance Fleet Admiral Hikondi Mocburan. The order was passed down through the chain of command from Alliance Fleet Admiral to Sector Fleet Admiral to Fleet Admiral to Base Commander to tactical officer until it finally reached a First Class Petty Officer who keyed a command sequence into his console. The message traversed space at FTL velocities and was received by a Mishpa class interceptor. The Crossbow super weapon had received its order to execute.
The Weapon
The Chroniech world of Bantrich had been chosen for the location of the hyperdimensional field generator for several reasons. Prior to the generator’s construction, the planet had served as a major military base. Located far from the Chroniech home world, Bantrich had quickly grown from an outpost to a significant military facility. Several large orbital stations existed that were capable of servicing even the largest warships in the fleet.
The planet itself was ideally suited for the Chroniech. It had an abundant supply of materials and plentiful life. Orbiting a G type star, Bantrich boasted a mild climate. Large farms provided the fleet with all the food they needed, making the planet one of the primary supply centers for the military ships in the area.
More than 300,000 military personnel were permanently stationed on Bantrich. Since a good portion of Chroniech life revolved around the family, large civilian population centers had also sprung up around the 75 sprawling military bases that dotted the planet’s surface. These families, along with the other civilians that supported them and the military brought the total population to about forty million.
Although they had heard the warning broadcast by the Alliance, the Chroniech military had chosen to ignore it. Many believed it was another Alliance ploy in an attempt to end the war based on a threat that did not exist. The planet was protected by a permanent fleet of 33 master battleships, 153 heavy battle cruisers, 1,277 automated defense stations, and 52 monstrous planetary based energy cannons. The defenses were such that even the Kyrra considered the system impregnable.
The crewless Mishpa class interceptor had been accelerating in a straight line at 276 Earth gravities for over 46 hours. The ship’s unique navigational system knew with unparalleled precision its exact speed relative to almost any other object in known space. The computer’s software had been upgraded to allow it to compensate with equal precision for the relativistic effects it now experienced.
Traveling at nearly 15% of light speed the ship began to charge its Falnath jump drive. The normal compliment of gravity mines had been removed and the weapons bay gutted of all unnecessary equipment. Tucked in the modified bay lay the Alliance designed and Kyrra built warhead. On their own, the Kyrra would never have been able to imagine constructing a warhead such as this. It had taken the mind of an aggressive species to come up with the design. But only the Kyrra could build it.
The interceptor’s velocity was now great enough. The target coordinates were set. The ship’s computer prepared itself then issued a command causing the jump drive to come online and the ship vanished from Alliance space. Without any delay in time it reappeared in the Bantrich star system. FTL driven long-range sensors instantly detected its presence and alerted the base.
The intense surge of energy forced the ship’s computer to reboot itself. But this computer had been designed to reboot nearly instantaneously. As the computer reawakened other systems were coming back on line. As soon as it was able, the interceptor’s electronic eyes searched for and found its target. As it gathered the necessary data the jump drive prepared itself for one last jump.
Although they had been warned, the military command on Bantrich was totally unprepared for what was about to happen next. They had anticipated some type of massive attack by Alliance forces and the appearance of a single ship was unexpected.
“Long range sensors have detected a single vessel,” the tactical station announced as soon as the information appeared on his screen. “It is traveling at an extremely high relativistic speed and is currently headed out of the system. The ship has been classed as a small interceptor.”
“A single ship?” the Base Commander replied looking at the tactical data. “How did it get past our deep space tracking stations? How did it get so far into the system before it was detected?”
“The appearance of the ship was preceded by an energy pulse with transdimensional components. A similar pulse was observed when fleet F11 detected the sudden arrival of several defense stations. It is believed the Kyrra have developed a new type of stardrive utilizing transdimensional technology.”
It was laughable that a single ship would be sent deep into one of the most heavily defended star systems in the Chroniech empire. It was such a small ship too. The Base Commander chuckled to himself. The Alliance must think they are fools. The ship was probably meant to lure his defense force away from their positions so the main force could attack. That might explain why was it moving so fast. He didn’t really care much about the ship’s speed since tactically it made little difference. Besides, it was millions of kilometers away and heading out into space.
“Ignore it,” he ordered. “Extend all sensors to maximum range and keep a sharp eye out for any additional ships. That one must be a prelude to a larger attack force. Perhaps it is only a sensor platform sent ahead to gather intelligence. Alert all forces and tell them to prepare for battle.”
Out in space, the interceptor had pinpointed its target and had gathered enough information to complete its mission. The computer ran through the complex math, made the corrections for relativistic effects, and set the jump coordinates. It now knew with extreme precision the exact point in space it needed to jump to in order to place it on an intercept course with the intended target.