The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire by Raymond Weil (ereader ebook .txt) 📕

“Not only that but we received a confirming hyperlight message directed at Golan Four this morning from the Lormallians,” said Andrew. He hadn’t had a chance to tell anyone yet, since the message had to be authenticated. “The Lormallians say they and the Zang will no longer be a part of this war. This war should have never happened, and they lay the blame directly on the Morag.”

High Princess Layla smiled. This was good news. “How are the Morag handling this?”

“Not well,” replied Fleet Admiral Marloo. “They are using excessive force to quell the uprisings on many Confederation worlds. We believe, as soon as they have the uprisings under control, they will turn toward us. We estimate we have a two- to three-month window, before we are once more under attack.”

Layla looked over at Chancellor Stein. “How many worlds have now joined the Empire or are planning to?”

Chancellor Stein smiled. “We have 317 worlds now represented in the House of Worlds. We have an additional 57 considering joining.”

“What’s our current fleet status?” Layla knew that dozens of worlds were now producing warships, and many others would be soon.

Fleet Admiral Marloo also smiled. “At the end of the week, all our worlds combined will have produced 2,230 new warships. In three months we can easily double that.”

“What about Earth?” Layla had been very concerned about Earth, as it was far from the Empire.

Chancellor Stein laughed. “The Confederation should never have attacked Earth. They’re building new shipyards and accelerating the rate of warship construction. In three months’ time, they’ll have their fleets rebuilt and will be ready to strike back at the Confederation.”

“What about the installation of the particle beam cannons?” asked Andrew. He knew just how important this was. The particle beam cannons could be a game changer.

“We’re now installing them on all new construction,” answered Marloo. “We also have one shipyard converting the dreadnoughts built without them.”

Andrew nodded. “I’ll see about the possibility of installing the particle beam cannons on the shipyards. I may have an idea that will work.”

“That would be great,” said Fleet Admiral Marloo approvingly. “The more particle beam cannons we have, the better off we’ll be.”

“I understand Earth may have a new superweapon as well?” asked Derrick. He had heard some rumors over the last several days.

Fleet Admiral Marloo nodded. “Yes, they are constructing an accelerator cannon that accelerates a projectile to almost the speed of light. Fleet Admiral Reynolds believes it will instantly knock down the shields on Confederation ships.”

Rear Admiral Carrie nodded to herself. “It sounds like, if we have the time, we may have the weapons to win this war.”

Everyone nodded. “If we have the time,” said Rear Admiral Barnes. “Let’s hope we have three more months.”

“I also want to report we have improved the forward shield on our attack interceptors,” added Carrie. “We have developed a new miniaturized fusion power plant that doubles the power of the shield. We will install the new generator in our interceptors next week.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” said Derrick. “We’re losing too many of them in our battles with the Confederation.”

The meeting lasted another two hours, with numerous issues discussed. Finally it ended, with everyone returning to their duties.

-

Later, High Princess Layla and Derrick were near the top of one of the sky towers, standing on a large balcony. The sun was setting, and the horizon was filled with a rainbow of colors.

“We’re doing it,” said Layla, as she leaned back into Derrick’s arms. “The Empire is growing and growing fast.”

Derrick nodded. “Fifth Fleet will be up to full strength by the end of next week. At that time Rear Admiral Barnes will return to Earth. Her Third Fleet will be needed to defend Earth, when they launch their attack against the Confederation.”

“Will we have enough ships to defend ourselves without Rear Admiral Barnes?”

“Yes, more than enough. We have a lot of warships now coming out of the shipyards. In another few weeks we will reassign some of our new rear admirals to the new fleets.”

Layla felt more at ease. “We’re building a lot of defensive grid elements as well and shipping them all across the Empire.” Layla took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “We’ll lose a lot of people in this war, won’t we?”

“Maybe,” answered Derrick. He knew war always brought losses, some quite substantial. “We always have losses in war, and the Confederation won’t hesitate to attack civilian targets, once this war fully breaks out.”

Since the earlier meeting, Layla had a burning question she wanted to ask Derrick. “Is there any chance the Lormallians and the Zang will aid us?”

Derrick shook his head. “No, I don’t believe they’re ready for anything like that. We must hope they stay neutral.”

“I guess we’ll have to settle for that. At least now we’re only fighting five of the races of the Great Council, better than all seven of them.”

Layla and Derrick stood on the balcony for nearly an hour, until the sun had set and the lights of the city came on. In the air above the city, thousands of aircars were visible in the sky lanes.

Derrick felt Layla shiver. “We better go in. It’s getting a little chilly.”

Layla nodded. “We have a long day tomorrow. I’m meeting a number of the representatives from the new worlds that have joined the Empire.”

“Are you going over to the House of Worlds?”

Layla shook her head. “No, we’ll hold the meetings in the Royal Court. Many of the representatives want to see the Palace, and we’ll arrange some tours as well.”

“Fifth Fleet will be back toward the end of the week. I’ll inspect one of the shipyards building the dreadnoughts and installing the particle beam cannons.”

Layla frowned. “Just don’t go flying around in one