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

Berks. “The scientists and technicians feel they can give us thirty more minutes, and then they need to try to shut it down. If they’re unsuccessful, they’ll have to detonate the fusion charges.”

“Can we fire the big cannons?”

“Yes, General,” reported Colonel Harkin. “We only have twenty-eight of them still fully functional. Some of the others were damaged from all the shaking from the explosions.”

“Then fire them!” ordered Flynn. “This battle isn’t over yet.”

-

Dylan smiled when he saw the big cannons from the base firing once more. Not near as many but it indicated a sizable portion of the base still survived. “Move us forward. It’s time we engaged the Morag.”

Looking at the tactical display, it was obvious that, between his fleet and Rear Admiral Barnes’s, they had lost nearly 30 percent of their ships. However, they still had a powerful fleet, and it was time to teach the Morag a lesson. Already he noticed that General Flynn had moved some of the other ODPs to put them within firing range of the Morag. This battle still had a long way to go.

-

In the underground Command Center on Tantula Five, everyone stared at the giant mushroom clouds rising above the base. Absolute quiet took over the massive Command Center.

“We have reports of an increase in earthquakes, and several volcanoes have erupted on Gideon,” reported Colonel Jensen. “We have contacted the base, and General Flynn reports they lost over 40 percent of it. He also says they may lose the core tap, and they’ll try to shut it down in thirty minutes. They don’t know if they will be successful.”

“Send our interceptors to Gideon,” ordered General Clarkson. “At full speed they can be there in twenty minutes. Maybe they can make a difference.” It was a chance he was taking, sending in his interceptors. But he wanted to keep the battle at Gideon. He didn’t want to see that kind of damage on Tantula Five.

-

Krista and Cheryl could not believe what they saw. The inhabited moon of Gideon was on one of the viewscreens. The big mushroom clouds were clearly visible. The moon’s atmosphere was already turning a dark gray with static lightning.

“That’s horrible,” said Cheryl, tears in her eyes. She knew that tens of millions of people must have just died. “That’s what they’ll do to Golan Four, if they get the chance.”

Krista nodded. She felt ill, seeing all the destruction. “That’s why both Dylan and Derrick insist on leading their fleets. They know what’s at stake.”

Cheryl shook her head. “I feel guilty about being so selfish. Dylan is where he needs to be.”

Krista returned her attention to the viewscreens. She knew that soon Golan Four might well be under the same type of attack.

-

Morag Admiral Norlan was now heavily engaged against the Human fleet, as well as the defenses of the moon. At the moment he was losing two ships for every Human ship he destroyed. Between the Human fleets’ particle beams and accelerator cannons, he had already lost most of his battleships. Now the big base on the moon had started firing again. Not as heavily as before, but those big beams were still deadly.

We can’t win, said First Officer Kenold, his eyes wide in disbelief. We lost the Druin and Zynth fleets, and our own fleet has suffered substantial losses. We have fewer than four thousand ships left. The Humans have nearly two thousand warships, plus several thousand of their attack interceptors. We have also detected another three thousand that have launched from Tantula Five. They will be here in about fifteen to twenty minutes.

On the viewscreen, one of his few remaining Morag battleships exploded, blown apart by an energy beam strike from the moon. If Norlan stayed, he could still destroy Gideon and the Human fleet, but he would have no fleet left.

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. We have no choice. We must withdraw. Even if we destroy Gideon and the Human fleet, we won’t have the forces left to conquer Tantula Five and the rest of the cluster. We have lost. Stand by to take the fleet into hyperspace. At least I can save the rest of the fleet.

A few moments later, the Morag fleet disappeared from the Tantula Five System. The battle for the Hagen Star Cluster was over, and the Humans had won.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dylan was stunned when the Morag ships suddenly vanished, as they made the transition into hyperspace. On the tactical display, only a few heavily damaged Morag ships remained, and Gideon’s defensive grid was taking care of those.

“Where did they go?” asked Colonel Bidwell, as he gazed at the empty viewscreens.

“They left,” replied Dylan. “Their admiral realized, as we did, that neither side would win this battle, so he pulled out.”

“Where will they go?”

Dylan thought for a long moment and then replied, “Probably to join up with the other Morag forces to attack Golan Four.”

Dylan quickly contacted Rear Admiral Barnes and ordered her and Rear Admiral Carrie to return to Tantula Five. He would stay at Gideon with his fleet—or what remained of it. On the ship’s main viewscreen, Gideon’s atmosphere turned darker and darker.

-

In the underground Command Center, General Flynn leaned back in his command chair, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Gideon was a mess, but they had survived and had driven off the Confederation fleets. “Take all commands to Condition Three, and implement full rescue operations.”

Flynn knew that, in only minutes, a massive rescue effort would begin. In each of the huge underground bunkers, hundreds and then tens of thousands of rescue personnel would be moving out.

“Get me the scientist in charge of the core tap. I need to know what’s going on over there.” If the tap blew, then all of this was for nothing.