The Great Betrayal (31 page)

“Lieutenant Ryante, your thoughts?”

The young tactical officer didn’t even have to think about it before she replied.

“Admiral. Our fighters have fired warning shots, and they are continuing on their course. In less than three minutes, they will be able to bring an exponential rate of gunfire on our forces. When we move past that window, it could go either way.”

Yes, and we still have plenty of marines on board.

He looked at the officers on his bridge and back to the disposition of the remaining group of Alliance ships. He was tempted to contact Admiral Anderson again, but he didn’t have the time.

You’ve already made one mistake today. Don’t make another one.

“Very well. They’ve been given the chance. Let them know we mean business. Target the battleship and give them a volley.”

“Admiral.”

Lieutenant Rola Ryante already had the lead ship in her sights. She tapped the final release button, and the ship hummed with power as the forward emitters unleashed incredible power. The particle beam was completely invisible in the vacuum of space, although the minute particles of dust around Helios allowed a small quantity of light to be reflected. At the speed of light, the powerful blast struck the battleship and exploded a section the size of a destroyer. Large chunks ripped off, yet it continued onward. Admiral Lewis almost called off the attack when scores of warning lights flashed through the CIC.

“Admiral, they are opening fire!” cried out Lieutenant Ryante.

“Very well.”

He lifted the intercom and selected the channel to all the ships’ captains. There were some orders that needed to be done personally and not by a computer.

“This is Admiral Lewis, engage the enemy fleet.”

The opening phase of the battle was as short as it was bloody. The nine ships of the Alliance 4
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Heavy Strike group used a mixture of particle beams and railguns to decimate the ships in the front of the enemy fleet. In the first five minutes, a third of the automated ships were burning hulks; the rest slowed their advance and interspersed themselves with the Alliance vessels. Rather than firing as individuals, they selected one target at a time, unleashing all their firepower into one place. The robotic fighters, on the other hand, ignored the capital ships, merely circling the Alliance fighters and drawing them into a cat and mouse game of space combat. The first ship to be hit was ANS Sentry. Hundred of shells and missiles rushed to her, but only a fraction made it past her battery of defense turrets.

“Is this all they have to offer us?” complained Admiral Lewis.

It wasn’t that he wanted some great battle, but the destruction of a fleet as large as this made little sense. It would have taken considerable time to assemble such a force, as well as substantial resources.

“Admiral, the Confederate ships and the Khreenk battleship have changed course. They are on an intercept course with us.”

“Stop them!”

She nodded and directed the primary weapons of four Alliance ships to the targets. Gunfire flashed from both sides, and now ANS Conqueror started to take damage. Even her massive batteries of defense turrets couldn’t stop every impact.

“Gun ports open, they’re launching nukes!”

Nuclear weapons were an old weapon for use in space. Though very powerful, they were nowhere near as useful as when used for terrestrial battle. In space there was no shockwave, and all ships were heavily shielded against radiation to protect their crews. Even so, a direct impact by a nuclear weapon could easily disable or destroy even the largest warship.

“New ships, range seven hundred kilometres!” called out the XO with a minor hint of surprise in her voice.

Admiral Lewis looked at the tactical screen and surprised to see the Alliance signature appear.

“It’s Captain Hampel, Admiral. His ships are providing a defensive screen.”

He smiled at this news. The small escorts were nothing compared to the massive capital ships, but their defensive weapons were the latest the Alliance had to offer. In tests they had been shown capable of destroying targets as small as a coin at incredible ranges. There were no formations now for this kind of battle. The ships from all sides were interspersed with the Alliance ships engaging the nearest threatening targets, as opposed to the automated fleet’s system of selecting one ship at a time.

“All railguns load Sanlav rounds and bring them down.”

The railguns had their benefits, and the older models of ships quickly turned to the special close ranged rounds developed early in the Uprising.

“What is the status of ANS Sentry?”

“She’s sustained heavy damage. Her engines are offline. She can’t take much more, Admiral,” said the XO.

“What can we do to take the fire off her? Why did they target her?”

He looked at the displays. Sentry was the closest to the enemy battleship.

“She’s the closest to their flagship!”

“Admiral?” asked the XO.

“Helm, set a collision course for their flagship. Maximum speed.”

His orders shocked the crew. To them it must have looked as though he were mad, sending his own ship to destruction for such a modest chance of destroying an enemy ship. Even so, they carried out their orders, and they were soon heading toward the battleship. He had already sent the orders to the other ships to pull back and fire on the enemy at range. Almost immediately, the guns of the enemy fleet changed their targets and proceeded to fire upon the flagship.

Lieutenant Rola Ryante smiled inwardly.

“They are firing on whichever ship is closest to threatening their battleship. That is a pretty simple command system.”

Admiral Lewis nodded quickly.

“Exactly. Their tactical systems are primitive at best. This fleet isn’t here to destroy us. It is here to keep us busy while they do whatever it is they are doing. We will maintain a distance of ten kilometres. The rest of the fleet will select the smallest of their ships, one at a time. Keep firing until they are all burning.”

“What about us, Admiral?”

His confidence had returned.

“Simple, I want us to present our beam to them. Captain Hampel and his escorts will form up on our opposite flank and assist with a defense screen. Every single gun will open up a flak corridor.”

“And their ships?”

“Leave them to the fleet. We will take the punishment while they finish the fight.”

The ships changed formation quickly, and in minutes the automated fleet concentrated its full power onto the single Battlecruiser. The occasional projectile struck into her flank, but incredibly after twenty minutes of continuous bombardment not a single nuclear missile had reached her. The 1
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Battle of Helios ended with the complete destruction of the automated fleet for the cost of a single crippled Crusader class ship. By the time it was over, Admiral Lewis was sweating profusely. He looked over the casualty and damage reports. He counted less than fifty on his own ship, but it was the information coming back from ANS Sentry that almost made him vomit.

Two hundred and twelve dead, seventy-two wounded, and for what?

Because of his decision, hundreds of men and women were now dead or wounded. One of the newest Crusader class warships would need months of repair work, assuming it was even salvageable. He wiped his brown and ran his finger along the lines of data.

“Admiral, incoming message from the AJ Naval Station. It’s Admiral Anderson,” said the communications officer. He nodded slowly in reply.

“Put him on the main screen.”

The face of the Admiral filled half of the main screen, and he was surprised to see the man was smiling at him. There was a delay while the signal worked its way from the Naval Station, through the Rift in T’Kari space, and then through Helios to his ship.

“Admiral Lewis, I have been monitoring the battle reports in the T’Kari Sector. You’ve done great work. Your Captains are to be commended. This is one of the most decisive battles in the Alliance’s history.”

Admiral Lewis wiped his brown again, wondering quite how many battles the Alliance had even fought in its short history.

“The ground operation is going well. Our troops have the Animosh and their commanders boxed in around the Triangle sector.”

He took a short breath as if he was preparing for something bad.

“The T’Kari inform me they have intercepted communications between the Khreenk and the forces of Justitium Lyssk.”

Now it was Admiral Lewis’ turn to hold his breath as he waited for the inevitable news.

“It looks like they are attempting a rescue of their High Command.”

The face moved to the right, and a map of the Helios Sector appeared. To the left were the planet and the small group of ships under the command of the Khreenk Admiral. A short distance away sat the three ships led by ANS Crusader.

“Your ships are too late to stop them getting on the ground. I need you to blockade the planet. Do not let Justitium Lyssk and his commanders escape, or this war could go on indefinitely.”

“Understood, Admiral. We’re on the way.”

The wild frontier of Alliance space was based in T’Karan, the area of space that was once the heart of the T’Kari Empire. With just a few small colonies of these advanced aliens remaining, they quickly turned to the Alliance for protection and became the first group of outsiders to join the growing empire. First there were just the humans that had originated on Earth. Then came the synthetics, creatures built for war with technology from an unseen race. The T’Kari were the third people to become part of the Alliance, but they would not be the last.

A Brief History of the Alliance

ANS Crusader and her two sister ships burned their engines at maximum power as they approached Helios. Directly in front of them waited the force of Khreenk ships, each of them sat in high-orbit like a group of fat slugs. The distance was less than a thousand kilometres when the shapes of two-dozen troop transports detached and made for the surface of the planet. Admiral Lewis watched the video feed from aboard ANS Conqueror.

“Admiral, can we open fire?” asked Commodore Andon Leson.

Admiral Lewis knew full well that destroying transports loaded with unknown numbers of Khreenk could be disastrous. According to Admiral Anderson there was a chance they might be on a rescue mission, but they could easily be mercenaries. Yet he had no idea who might be inside. It was just as likely they were simply prisoners. He just didn’t know, and enough had died on his watch that day already.

“Have you been able to reach Admiral Lanthua?”

The Commodore looked back at him on the video communication channel. He shook his head.

“No, Admiral, he is refusing to answer our hails.”

“Very well, your orders are to establish a close-proximity position and to deploy fighters. They are not to leave Helios, understood?”

“What if they try to leave?”

Admiral Lewis grinned.

“Then you will have to stop them, by any means necessary.”

* * *

The last assault comprised over a hundred Helion militia that were forced to charge the guns of the marines, or face being shot by the Animosh security forces. Over a quarter of them tried to escape, but the Animosh were merciless. As the last civilian fell to the ground, Jack had to turn around and opened his visor. The stench of blood, smoke, and battle filled his nostrils, and he vomited behind their barricade. Wictred saw him and shouted over.

“Jack, you okay?”

He retched twice more before reaching for his water bottle and taking a swig. He spat on the floor and looked back to Wictred.

“Yeah, just great.”

“Marines, this is it. They are falling back in large numbers. Push them back!” said Sergeant Stone calmly.

One by one the marines climbed out from whatever cover they were using and moved toward the place where the enemy had emerged. First they walked past or over the hundreds of bodies, then past the vehicles, and finally deep into the tunnel. The bight lights from their armor-mounted lamps lit the way and revealed the cost the civilians had played. Even that far back, there were bodies on both sides.