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

General Gantts put down the reports, a heavy frown on her face. “Ranier Two lost four more cities, though many of the inhabitants were in personal shelters. They’re in the process of rescuing them now. Even so, the casualties will still be in the millions.”

Fleet Admiral Marloo leaned back in his command chair. “What are we missing?”

General Gantts pursed her lips and then answered. “Could these two attacks be a diversion?”

Marloo looked at the general. “You mean, to get us to take our eyes off the real target.”

Gantts nodded. “How better to fool us than to make us think the Morag fleet is still on the periphery of the Empire. Could this be a fleet they were holding in reserve?”

“Eight thousand ships?” answered Marloo, stunned. “I can’t imagine them having that many ships held back as a reserve force.”

“But what do we know about the Morag? Supposedly they are very intelligent and, from what we know, an extremely warlike race. This could be part of their strategy.”

Marloo shook his head, as he thought over what General Gantts said. What should he do now? “I think we have no choice but to assume the main Morag attack is still aimed at the core worlds. However, I want some battlecruisers sent out to monitor these two new Morag fleets. I want to know everywhere they go and what worlds they attack. Also see if we can monitor their communications. We need to put a few ships between them and the core worlds and see if we can detect any directional communications.”

Admiral Marloo looked at the reports he held in his hand. He hated the thought of eight thousand Morag warships running rampant in the periphery of the Empire. They could do considerable harm. Unfortunately Marloo didn’t have the ships to send to try to stop them. For now he could do very little. Marloo contacted Admirals Masters and Cleemorl and informed them of what was going on, if they didn’t know already. The situation had changed again. If these eight thousand ships were reserve ships, they were facing a massive number of Morag ships. A number they may not be able to stop.

-

On Leonora Five, Governor Barrington stared at the large tactical display in disbelief. Four thousand Morag warships were inbound toward his planet. “What can we do?” He was in a small underground Command Center directly beneath the capital building.

“We have a defensive grid. All four space stations are armed and have energy shields. In addition the shipyard is heavily armed with its own energy shield. Unfortunately we have no warships or other means of defense,” answered Colonel Pierson. “I tried to get you to increase our defenses.”

Governor Barrington turned around, glaring at Colonel Pierson. “It was too costly.”

“The Empire volunteered to defer much of the costs,” Pierson reminded the governor. “We could have had a very powerful defensive grid, if you would only have allowed the Empire to help us.”

Barrington looked back at the tactical display. “Could we have built any defense that could have stopped that?”

Colonel Pierson shook his head reluctantly. “No, we never expected to face a fleet of that size.”

“What do you recommend?”

“Ranier Two surrendered, after putting up a brief but stiff resistance. There was no retaliation from the Morag fleet. I would suggest we surrender immediately, before we lose some of our space stations or even the shipyard.”

Governor Barrington immediately stood, his expression horrified. “Surrender to the Morag and fall back under Confederation control?”

Pierson nodded. “It’s better than losing some of our cities. Ranier Two lost four of their cities, even with their powerful defenses. We are not anywhere close to their defensive strength.”

Governor Barrington sat down. “You’re right. We dare not risk having our cities bombed. Contact the Morag fleet and offer our immediate surrender. Then contact Golan Four and explain to them what we have done and why.”

The governor felt as if he had let his people down. He had firmly believed that, as long as they were not a threat to the Confederation, they would be left alone. For that reason, he had refused help from the core worlds in strengthening the defenses around Leonora Five. He had also refused to allow any warships from the Empire or the Human Resistance to be stationed in the system as well.

It took a few minutes to establish communications with the inbound Morag fleet. Their offer to surrender was immediately accepted with the conditions that they destroy their defensive grid and immediately begin to disarm the space stations and the shipyard. Governor Barrington quickly agreed.

-

Captain Liam Anderson stood in the Command Center of the dreadnought Lodestone. They were in orbit over the Human world of Astor. He had a mixed fleet of Imperial warships and Resistance warships. He had his dreadnought, twelve Imperial battlecruisers, six Resistance battlecruisers, and fourteen Resistance support vessels. Liam’s fleet was one of the largest ones on the periphery of the Empire.

“We have several cargo ships that have spotted a Morag fleet,” reported Lieutenant Ardlee Proston, the executive officer. “It appears to be the one that attacked Ranier Two, based on its current location, and it’s headed directly for us. I estimate the fleet will be here in four to six hours.”

Liam nodded. He had hoped they would be bypassed. “Contact Golan Four and tell them we have detected a Morag fleet headed toward us with an arrival time of four to six hours. Ask if any additional support is available. Also contact the planetary governor and inform him that we will soon be under attack and to evacuate the major cities.” Liam knew a large number of underground bunkers had been built over the last few months.

“What’s the status of the planet’s defenses?” Governor Stewart had been adamant that he wanted the planet as