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

If we hit them with enough antimatter missiles, they will collapse, replied First Officer Bale.

Admiral Voxx nodded his agreement. We have enough ships for a general assault on all their defensive assets, as well as the space stations and the shipyard. This battle will not last long and will be an example to the rest of the Human Empire not to resist the Morag.

-

Captain Jill Jennings was in charge of the small squadron of Imperial battlecruisers currently just inside the small defensive grid protecting the shipyard.

“Weapons range in three minutes,” reported the sensor officer.

Jill shook her head. She had six battlecruisers opposed to over four thousand Morag warships. She wondered if anyone else had ever fought against greater odds.

“All ships are at Condition One,” reported Lieutenant Drew Berry, her executive officer.

“Stand by to fire. I want as many missiles launched as possible and as fast as possible. Keep us behind the shipyard’s defensive grid at all times.” The defense grid would give them some protection but not much.

“Combat range in two minutes,” called out the sensor officer. “Morag ships are in a wedge formation. Estimate at least 607 battleships.”

-

Colonel Hatcher watched apprehensively as the Morag fleet approached. She was fearful this would be a very short battle. The firepower of that fleet was nearly beyond belief.

“Morag fleet is entering extreme weapons range,” reported the sensor officer.

Hatcher knew there was no point in waiting. “Fire! All commands to initiate immediate weapons fire.”

From the defensive grid, the ODPs, the battlecruisers, the small defense grid around the shipyard, the space stations, and the shipyard itself, weapons fire erupted. From this extreme distance, only about 30 to 40 percent would actually strike the Morag fleet.

-

Morag Admiral Voxx frowned when the Human defenses opened up on him. He had expected to close the distance for at least another minute. Return fire, he ordered. Target all Human orbital installations. With four thousand warships he did not expect this to last long.

On the ship’s viewscreens, the front of his fleet lit up as antimatter and fusion missiles detonated against energy screens. Voxx frowned when he saw a few of them go down. It was a reminder that the Humans possessed very powerful weapons.

A moment later his own weapons fire began reaching the Human installations. Defensive energy beam satellites and missile platforms vanished in brilliant flashes of released energy, as they were blown apart in fiery blasts of destruction.

-

In the underground Command Center, General Landryal watched, as the Morag fleet annihilated the defensive grid protecting the planet. “Launch the interceptors. They’re to stay under fifty kilometers, and their primary job is to take out any inbound missiles. They are not to engage any of the Morag fleet.” General Landryal knew, if they did, they would quickly be wiped out.

“We’ve lost 68 percent of our energy beam satellites and 42 percent of the missile platforms,” reported Major Billingsly. “The remaining platforms are launching missiles as fast as they can.”

“Place the remaining platforms on automatic and evacuate the crews,” ordered General Landryal. “We can control them from here if necessary. What’s the situation in the underground bunkers?” He knew there had not been enough time to get everyone inside yet.

“Sixty-two percent full,” replied Major Billingsly. “They still need another hour to get everyone inside.”

General Landryal shook his head. “We don’t have an hour. Tell them to speed things up.”

On the viewscreen, the bright flashes in space increased as the Morag fleet drew nearer. Already debris from the destroyed elements of the defensive grid fell to the planet. Brilliant streaks of light were prevalent, as the fragments burned up in the atmosphere.

-

Captain Jennings felt her battlecruiser shake violently, and she heard the sound of tearing metal.

“Energy shield is down to 36 percent,” reported the tactical officer.

“We have a hole in our hull nearly thirty meters long and extending inside through four decks,” added Lieutenant Berry, shaking his head. “We have nearly 50 percent of our weapons off-line, and the hyperdrive is nonfunctional.”

Jennings found it difficult to swallow. She realized there was no escaping this battle. “All weapons are to continue to fire. Seal off all the damaged compartments. Tell the chief to get to work on that hyperdrive.”

Berry’s gaze met Jennings’s. “He says it will require at least fourteen hours or more to repair.”

Taking a deep breath, Captain Jennings squared her shoulders. “I want this ship empty of missiles. Let’s take as many of those Morag as we can with us.”

The ship suddenly keeled over hard to one side and then back to the other. It was all Jennings could do just to stay in her command chair. Not true for some of her other officers. She saw that Berry had been thrown to the deck and was not moving. A medic rushed over to check him and, after a moment, looked up at the captain and shook her head.

Jennings merely nodded. Drew Berry had been her executive officer since her ship was commissioned. Everyone on the ship was from the core worlds, and it looked as if their military careers would be short ones.

“Energy screen is failing,” reported tactical. “Those last two strikes took out our main fusion power plant. We’re operating on the reserve, but it won’t be enough.”

Looking at the tactical display, Jennings saw that only her battlecruiser and one other still survived. The others had been destroyed by the heavy firepower of the Morag. “Can our other ship escape?”

“No,” answered the communications officer. “They report their damage is worse than ours.”

At that moment the icon of the other battlecruiser swelled up and then vanished. Jennings knew they were now alone. Her squadron was gone.

Deep inside her ship, she heard a rumbling sound, steadily growing louder. Explosions could be heard tearing open compartment after compartment. In the outer corridor, she