The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) (17 page)

The two spoke
quietly for a few more minutes and then went their separate ways. Admiral Streth
flew up to his new flagship, the Vanquisher class battleship StarStrike. As his
shuttle approached the new ship, he couldn’t help but marvel at her 1,600-meter
length. This new StarStrike was the most powerful ship ever built by the new
Federation. It was fully capable of acting as a command ship for the entire
Federation fleet.

A little while
later, Hedon was in his quarters. He looked around, taking note of how new and
immaculate everything was and let out a heavy sigh. It would take a while, but
this was his new home. He reached into a bag he had brought aboard and took out
several photographs. The first was of his brother Taylor and Lendle. It had
been taken in front of the cabin on Maken down by the lake. The second was of
his old flagship, the battle cruiser StarStrike. Hedon placed both pictures carefully
on his desk and then sat down. He was quiet for quite some time as he thought
about all the people and friends he had left behind.

War Leader
Bisth stood on the command pedestal in the War Room of his flagship the Hocklyn
dreadnought WarCry. He had just finished a briefing of his three subordinate
War Leaders and they were in the process of returning to their respective
commands. Tomorrow, they would be leaving to attack the human mining colony. It
would take eight days to reach the targeted system by the route Bisth had
chosen.

Bisth had
wanted to make sure that the other three War Leaders understood their
objectives in the coming conflict. The first was to eliminate any armed resistance
in the system, which included all warships and orbital defenses. If any
civilian freighters were located, they were to be disabled and boarded. Once
that was done, they would form a cordon around the mining planet just outside
of the planet’s gravity well. Bisth did not intend to allow his fleets to be caught
as Sangeth had.

They would
then begin landing Protectors on the planet under the covering fire of several escort
cruisers. The primary goal of the Protectors was to secure information; computers,
star maps, and even captives were desirable.

In the two
transports that Resmunt had furnished were 1,200 highly trained Protectors, all
anxious to advance their honor in combat. Bisth allowed himself to bask in the thought
that all of his mission objectives would be accomplished. His honor would be
substantially increased as well as his standing as a War Leader. Fleet
Commodore Resmunt had even requested that a number of human captives be returned
to the fleet base. He was interested in seeing what type of slaves they would
make.

Bisth turned
his attention to the new orbiting shipyard that was nearing completion. Why
Resmunt had demanded they spend so much time and labor building the monstrosity
was beyond Bisth’s understanding. The shipyard was six kilometers across and
two wide. It contained four large repair bays as well as the facilities to make
most of the parts to repair any ship of the Hocklyn fleet. The shipyard was
also heavily armed. There were other larger shipyards deeper in the empire,
where new ships were being built and others repaired, but he had never heard of
one out on the outskirts of the empire such as this one.

Even more
alarming were the defenses that Resmunt was putting up in orbit. Missile platforms
and railgun satellites surrounded the planet. Much of the current construction
capability of the completed sections of the shipyard were being dedicated to
building these satellites. It made Bisth wonder if Resmunt knew something that
he had not conveyed to the others in his command. Perhaps Resmunt had some
other devious motive.

If Bisth
didn’t know better, it almost seemed as if Fleet Commodore Resmunt was
preparing for an attack against his fleet base. He shook his head and had the
view on the main viewscreen changed. The dreadnought Crimson Oblivion appeared.
The ship had been completely repaired in one of the new repair bays on the
station. It looked as new as the day it came out of its original construction
bay. The Crimson Oblivion was 1,200 meters long and slightly wedge shaped, its
hull covered with numerous weapon emplacements. Bisth knew that his own ship
looked the same.

“All ships are
ready for departure,” First Leader Gresth reported from his position at the
plotting table. “Supplies and munitions are on board, and the crews are anxious
for battle.”

“Excellent,” Bisth
replied, his large eyes turning toward his second in command. “We will be
departing orbit in the morning. Hyperjumps will be twenty light years each, and
we will be doing five per day.”

“As you
command,” Gresth responded with a slight nod of his head.

His pale green
skin was covered in gray colored body armor, which was customary among Hocklyn
fleet officers. Gresth’s six digit hands were a darker green, and the long,
sharp nails on the tips of his fingers could be deadly in hand-to-hand combat. He
also carried a sharp blade in a small scabbard attached to his armor at the
waist. Gresth was renowned among the crew of the WarCry for his combat ability,
and had personally been involved in four honor matches between Hocklyns that
had substantially increased his honor.

Bisth had
watched several of Gresth’s matches. Hocklyns could challenge each other for
honor points. The objective was to draw blood from your opponent. Normally in a
match, each successful blow was awarded with ten honor points deducted from
your opponent.

In a good
match between skilled individuals, there would be much blood from numerous cuts
as the battle waged back and forth. If an opponent appeared to be too severely
injured to continue, the match was halted and the winner awarded the maximum
amount of honor points allowed. The point of these matches was not to kill your
opponent but to hone your combat abilities.

Bisth looked
closely at the sensor screen, which showed his assembled fleet. He had eight dreadnoughts,
twenty-four war cruisers, and sixty-four escort cruisers. It was an
overwhelming force in normal times. In the previous battle, he had held most of
his ships back, including over half of Sangeth’s fleet. That would not be the
case this time. He knew what he was up against, and he would use his superior
numbers and firepower to annihilate any human ships that were in the target
system. Even with their superior shields and weapons, the humans would be crushed
by the massive amount of firepower the combined Hocklyn fleets would bring to
bear.

Bisth spent
several long minutes reviewing his strategy; there were still several questions
he had about the ultimate objective of this mission. He also wanted to speak to
Fleet Commodore Resmunt one more time. He changed the view on the main
viewscreen and watched as a large shuttle left the shipyard and headed into
orbit, doubtlessly to place more defensive satellites above the planet. He
still felt as if he were missing something. Perhaps speaking to the commodore
one more time would allow him to fill in the missing pieces.

-

Admiral Tolsen
was sitting at the command console in the heavy battlecruiser WarHawk, gazing thoughtfully
at the holographic display above the plotting table to his left. Colonel Beck
was standing next to him as they discussed the tactical situation. His fleet
was currently stationed twenty million kilometers outward from Caden’s World.

“How much
longer until they attack?” Peter asked as he studied the deployment of the
laser satellites and missile platforms around the planet.

There were
currently two hundred laser satellites as well as forty missile platforms in
geostationary orbits. Beneath them were ten Federation destroyers and four
light cruisers.

“Intelligence
believes it will be shortly,” replied Tolsen, letting out a deep breath. “Enough
time has passed since our last engagement for the Hocklyns to have completed
the plans for their next attack.”

Tolsen’s fleet
had been heavily reinforced. He now had four battle cruisers, three battle
carriers, six Monarch heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers, and twenty
destroyers. It was a massive fleet for a single Federation admiral to command.

“I think it
might be wise if we divide our fleet,” Tolsen said after a minute of thought. He
had spent a lot of time thinking about how this battle needed to be fought.

Fleet Admirals
Johnson and Streth wanted to make this system a trap. He was afraid that if the
Hocklyns jumped in and found a fleet much larger than the one they had
previously engaged, they might withdraw. However, Intelligence had pointed out
that due to the Hocklyn’s crazy honor system, withdrawal was not an option. But
Tolsen was not so sure; after all, the flagship of the Hocklyn fleet he had
engaged had fled.

“Divide the
fleet?” Peter asked surprised, arching his eyebrows and shaking his head in
confusion. “Why?”

“We want to
set a trap,” Tolsen explained. He then went on and told his executive officer
his reasoning.

“You may be
right,” Peter agreed after a moment, folding his arms across his chest. “We can
pull part of the fleet out to the comet ring, and they can jump back in when
the Hocklyn fleet is committed.”

“I think that
will work,” Tolsen nodded. “Rear Admiral Strong is also sitting out in the
comet ring if we need him. If our ships jump back in after we have engaged the
Hocklyns, then the trap will have been sprung. Hopefully we can hold them in Caden’s
World’s gravity well between our fleet and the planet’s defenses and finish
them off.”

“It would help
if we had some advance warning of their coming,” Peter continued, his eyes
narrowing. “If we’re lucky they will be detected on some of the hyper detection
buoys before they arrive.”

“Admiral
Stillson has placed his stealth scouts along what Intelligence believes will be
the Hocklyn’s approach route,” Tolsen informed Peter. “With some luck, we will
have a day’s warning before they hit us.”

“Do we have
enough ships to take them?” asked Peter, uneasily. There was a big question as
to how large this attacking Hocklyn fleet would be.

“We have
Admiral Strong’s task group sitting nearby if we need them,” Tolsen responded.
“Admiral Streth will also be close by with the Ready Reserve’s Second and Third
Fleets.”

“Admiral
Streth seems to be taking this very seriously,” Peter commented. He was also
glad to hear that Admiral Streth was close by.

“He’s fought
the Hocklyns before and knows what they are capable of,” Tolsen replied, hoping
all the extra ships wouldn’t be needed. “He wants this Hocklyn fleet not only
defeated, but annihilated.”

“What about
other Federation fleets, how close will they be?”

“As soon as we
detect the Hocklyns all Federation fleet units will go to Condition One. If we
need additional forces we can call them in,” answered Tolsen. He also knew that
if that were necessary then the Hocklyns had attacked in overwhelming force and
his fleet was probably in dire straits.

-

On Caden’s
World, Captain Krandle was standing behind the sensor operator watching the
screens. She felt some anxiety since over two thousand
marines were now on the planet and dug in. The mines were still in
operation, but just barely. Everything had been made to look as if the civilian
miners were still on the planet while in truth, less than one hundred were. Those
were mainly supervisors and technicians that were necessary to ensure the
equipment would stay running.

“Nervous,
Captain?” General Abercrombie asked from her side.

Lucy nodded
her head, not trusting her voice to speak.

“This will be
a big battle,” Abercrombie spoke in a steady voice. “We have our defensive satellites
and the fleet above us in orbit as well as a lot of heavy weapons we brought
with us. If the Hocklyns manage to get into orbit and land their Protectors, we’ll
be ready for them.”

“I know,” Lucy
finally managed to say. “It’s just the significance of what this battle means.”

“The official
start of the war,” said Abercrombie, nodding his head in understanding. “Some
say that already started with the previous battle with the Hocklyns in this system.”

“But the
Hocklyns didn’t know what they were up against then, this time there will be no
doubt.”

Captain
Krandle looked at several viewscreens on the wall next to the large sensor
screen. She could see heavily armed marines on patrol in the two mining
settlements as well as several missile batteries that were pointed upward. Caden’s
World had always been so peaceful. It wasn’t the greatest world to live on in
the Federation, but it had been home to over twenty thousand people. Now it was
an armed military camp and one big trap for the Hocklyns.

-

Lieutenant
Simmons was out inspecting the deployment of the marines around the operations
center. He was carrying a heavy assault rifle with armor piercing rounds. Hocklyn
Protectors wore heavy body armor and regular bullets would not penetrate. Much
of the operations center was underground except for the top two levels. On the very
top level numerous antennas, sensor dishes, and communications equipment was
pointed upward.

He allowed his
gaze to turn to the six marines in front of him; one was a corporal in charge
of this particular squad. They were dug in with a wall of thick sandbags
surrounding them, and all six marines were heavily armed. Inside sat a missile
launcher capable of bringing down inbound troop shuttles as well as fighters.
The missile launcher had six fire-and-forget missiles in its slim tubes. There
were four of these emplacements around the operations center. Taking a deep
breath, Lieutenant Simmons continued on his inspection tour.

-

On Ceres,
Fleet Admiral Johnson was meeting with Admiral Teleck, Admiral Kalen, and
Colonel Anne Grissom. Admiral Teleck had requested that the Fleet Admiral come
to Ceres for the meeting.