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

“I’ll do my best,” said Mathew, releasing Krista. Mathew then went off and sat down at a large console, where four other officers waited for him. The console was covered with small viewscreens and tactical readouts.

Krista noticed a lot of the female personnel in the Command Center stared at her, smiling. Krista realized they all approved of how Mathew had greeted her. It reminded all of them that Krista was just as Human as they were, with the same emotions and desires.

-

In the command chair surrounded by several high-ranking officers General Clarkson watched the viewscreens and the tactical displays intently. He was in constant communication with General Flynn on Gideon. Other communication stations were in contact with all the primary worlds in the star cluster, as well as most of the larger mining colonies.

General Clarkson looked at the fleet officer, standing next to him. “Order the High Kingdom and its two escorts to take a lower orbit, just beneath the defense grid. Also have the special shuttle ready to launch at a moment’s notice.” A special heavily armored shuttle was in a launch bay close to the surface. This would carry the Princess and her people to safety, if the worst came to be.

Suddenly alarms sounded, and, on one of the tactical displays, hundreds and then thousands of red threat icons appeared.

“They’re at Gideon,” reported the sensor officer. “Six thousand contacts and increasing.”

“Take us to Condition One,” ordered General Clarkson, just as Governor Dyson came in through the massive metal hatch that protected the Command Center.

Dyson’s face paled as he saw the red threat icons appearing on the tactical display. Taking a deep breath, he came over and sat down by Krista in an extra chair. “I don’t want to bother the general. He’ll be very busy for the next few hours.”

“That’s a lot of Confederation ships,” said Krista. She now wondered if they had made a mistake by coming here.

Governor Dyson nodded. “Yes, it is, but we’re prepared for them.”

-

Admiral Cleemorl had just given the order to go to Condition One. “What are we facing?”

“Six thousand Morag warships, 1,800 Druin warships, and 2,000 Zynth warships,” reported the sensor officer.

“Nearly ten thousand Confederation ships,” said Colonel Bidwell, his eyes widening. “Two thousand more Morag ships than they had last time.”

“Confederation forces are thirty thousand kilometers from Gideon,” added the sensor officer.

Dylan leaned back in his command chair. “Have the fleet set a course for Gideon, three-quarters sublight speed.” Dylan didn’t want to use a hyperspace jump. He wanted to watch the Confederation forces for a few minutes, just to see what they were up to.

-

On Gideon, General Flynn had already placed all of his forces at Condition One. The deep underground bunkers were all full and sealed, and all the cities were evacuated of everyone willing to leave their homes. Still a few thousand people in each city refused to leave. Most of these were older people who didn’t want to leave their homes and possessions behind.

“Are the attack interceptors ready?”

Colonel Edison nodded. “Yes, crews are standing by to launch.”

“We have some time,” replied General Flynn. “The Confederation is very slowly closing the distance. I believe they are making sure no surprises are waiting for them.” Fortunately there was no way they could know about the huge energy cannons on the base.

“Admiral Cleemorl’s fleet is coming up behind them,” reported Colonel Berks, who was second in command. “He’s still a good twenty minutes away but coming fast.”

“He’s being cautious.”

“I don’t blame him,” said Edison. “This will be the biggest battle in the Empire yet.”

General Flynn’s gaze shifted to the tactical display. If the Confederation threw this many ships at the Tantula System, what would they attack Golan Four with? “Send a directional hyperlight message to Golan Four and inform Fleet Admiral Marloo what we’re up against.”

-

Detecting a massive military base on the north pole of the moon, reported the Morag sensor officer. It’s by far the biggest one I’ve ever detected. The power readings coming from it are off the scales.

Morag Admiral Norlan grew suspicious. What is the base’s power source?

The sensor officer frowned and shook his head. If I’m reading this correctly, they have an active core tap.

Norlan knew how dangerous a core tap was. If the Humans lost control of it, the entire moon could be torn apart. See if you can find the source of the core tap. If we can destroy it, the battle for this moon will be over, as the core tap will do our job for us. The Humans may have made his job much easier by creating an easy way to destroy the moon.

-

“Engagement range in twelve minutes,” reported Lieutenant Casella. “The Confederation fleets will reach engagement range of Gideon four minutes before that.”

“I just received a message from General Flynn,” reported Colonel Bidwell. “The base on the pole is being scanned heavily. He believes they’re searching for the source of the core tap.”

Dylan nodded. He knew the power station for the core tap was nearly twenty kilometers underground, putting it out of range of any of the Confederation’s weapons. They would have to hit the ground above the core tap with at least forty antimatter missiles to come even close to it.

“Increase sublight speed to 90 percent. That should put us there a few minutes sooner.”

Dylan felt the Themis surge forward, as more power was fed to the sublight drive. Looking up at the tactical display, he saw the large number of green icons that surrounded his flagship. Taking in a deep breath, he knew it wouldn’t be long before they were once more engaged with the enemy.

-

Rear Admiral Carrie busily prepared her battlecarriers for combat. She knew that Major Barkley would command the actual interceptor