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

Her ship shook slightly, and suddenly the energy shield on one of the Druin battleships lit up brightly and then failed, overloaded. Several small explosions erupted from the hull of the Druin ship. The next projectile arrived, and the ship vanished beneath a massive fireball, as the vessel disintegrated.

All across the rear of the Druin and Zynth formations, ships were dying by the hundreds. It was a massacre, as the Confederation ships had no defense against this new weapon.

-

“What are they hitting us with?” demanded Falorr, as he saw the rear echelons of his fleets being decimated.

“Some kind of projectile accelerated to a very high speed,” reported First Officer Dagor. “We have no defense against it.”

“Get us out of here,” ordered Admiral Falorr, knowing this battle was lost. “Take us back to the red giant system. If we remain here, we will all die.”

The least he could do was save part of his fleets. To stay here and fight would be suicide. While he could still inflict serious damage to the fleet in front of him, the one in his rear would eventually destroy his two fleets. Better to retreat and come back to fight when they were better prepared.

-

Morag Admiral Norlan saw Druin Admiral Falorr suddenly turn and flee the system. Norlan had witnessed the arrival of the Earth ships and their devastating attack on the Confederation fleets. We shall withdraw as well. Take us to the red giant system. We need to evaluate these new weapons the Empire and the Earth Humans have used against our ships. We must also contact Fleet Admiral Torrant. The fleet admiral must be made aware of the new weapons the Humans have used in the Tantula System.

A few moment later, the Morag fleet vanished from the system, and the fighting, for now, was over.

-

Admiral Cleemorl leaned back in his command chair, with a huge feeling of relief. Most of his fleet was still intact and, not only that, now had a very powerful Earth fleet in the system. “Contact Rear Admiral Barnes. I need to know how her fleet got here and exactly what her orders are.”

-

On Golan Four, Fleet Admiral Marloo had a big all-knowing grin on his face.

“You knew!” exclaimed Layla accusingly. “You knew an Earth fleet would intervene.”

Admiral Marloo nodded. “I knew one was on the way. I just wasn’t sure if it would  reach the Hagen Star Cluster in time. They have been pushing their hyperdrives ever since they left the Solar System to get here. I didn’t tell anyone, as I didn’t want to give anyone a false sense of hope, until I knew for sure they would make it.”

Cheryl had sat down in shock. For many minutes she had feared the Themis might be destroyed, but now all those fears had evaporated. “Is the battle over?”

“Who knows,” replied Marloo. “The Morag fleet is still intact, and a major portion of the Druin and Zynth fleets are still intact as well. I’m sure our new particle beams and Earth’s accelerator cannons must have come as a shock. It may force them to reconsider this entire attack.”

Layla looked suspiciously at Fleet Admiral Marloo. “Are there any more Earth fleets currently in the Empire?”

Marloo smiled. No point in keeping secrets any longer. “One more. It’s on its way here. It should arrive sometime tomorrow.”

Layla felt as if she could cry. Their odds of winning had just increased tremendously. “What do you think will happen now?”

Fleet Admiral Marloo let out a deep breath. “If I had to guess, the Confederation will halt their attacks, while they evaluate our new weapons. Whether they will continue their attacks is hard to say. All we can do now is wait.”

Krista sat next to Cheryl. “It looks like our men survived this battle.”

Cheryl nodded. Dylan and Mathew had both survived. She would just feel better when they were both home.

“The Tantula System and the entire Hagen Star Cluster will return to Condition Two,” reported Colonel Hillstrum. “It looks as if the fighting was over, for now.”

Admiral Marloo nodded. One thing that did concern him was that the Morag supposedly had a secret weapon as well. A weapon they hadn’t seen yet. Because of that, he strongly suspected these attacks were probably not over but just beginning.

Chapter Twenty

Morag Fleet Admiral Torrant was stunned when he heard the report from Druin Admiral Falorr, Zynth Admiral Donlur, and Morag Admiral Norlan. Torrant had brought his fleet to a stop in a white dwarf system that only contained a small ice planet and a large asteroid field. His fleet was currently tucked in close to the asteroid field at reduced power, making it harder to detect.

After listening to the three reports, Torrant ordered the three admirals to stay where they were, until they heard back from him. Next he contacted Fleet Admiral Colane and told him what the other admirals had reported.

So the Humans have two new weapons, sent Colane. It’s evident one was developed by the Humans of the Empire and the other by the Earth Humans. It’s also evident the Earth Humans’ weapon is the more dangerous, as it is also on their battlecruisers.

Both weapons can penetrate our energy shields, replied Torrant. In combat we must target the Human Empire’s dreadnoughts, as only those ships seem to meet the power requirements of their new weapon. The Earth Humans are a different matter.

Perhaps, but keep in mind their fleet in the Hagen Star Cluster only consists of 1,400 ships. If we have a sufficient numerical advantage, we could still destroy them.

Fleet Admiral Torrant was in agreement with this. We must call forward Admiral Voxx and his reserve fleet. We shall send part of his fleet to reinforce Admiral Norlan, and the rest will come with us. That should