The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire Raymond Weil (the reading list TXT) 📖

Epilogue

Morag Admiral Voxx fled the Golan Four System. He had been stunned when so many ships from worlds supposedly under Confederation control had showed up and had attacked the Morag fleets. Even more surprising was their command crews had all been protected by Lormallian nullifiers. The surprise had been total when combined with the Human Resistance ships which had changed the course of the battle. Voxx had taken command—as soon as Morag Fleet Admiral Torrant had been killed, when his flagship had been rammed by a Human dreadnought—and had ordered the Morag fleet to withdraw.

Looking at his ship’s main tactical display, slightly over two thousand green icons represented the surviving Morag warships. Fourteen of those were the big Conqueror class battleships. The attack on the Human homeworld had been a complete disaster, and it would be years before the Morag recovered from its ship losses. Years where the Morag would be facing numerous dangers both from within the Confederation and from the outside.

Deciding that, for now, the surviving fleet was safe in hyperspace, Admiral Voxx would go to his quarters and prepare his report on the failed attack. The Morag High Council would not be pleased to hear that not only had Golan Four survived but so had the Hagen Star Cluster. Even more worrisome was that more worlds, once thought to be under Confederation control, were now joining the Humans. It was now extremely possible that the Confederation and the Morag could lose the war against the Humans. The future had suddenly become very unclear and unsettling.

-

Derrick spoke to the Visth admiral in charge of all the races who had come to the aid of Golan Four. “Why did you come? Doesn’t this put your worlds in grave danger?”

“Perhaps,” replied Admiral Larr. “But, if your Empire were to collapse, our worlds would be doomed anyway. Only by the Humans winning were we assured of a possible future. Visth representative Stralon Karn, has been visiting many of the races in our vicinity of space. It was surprising how many felt as we did, some even had secret warfleets as well. We decided to combine our fleets and to come to your aid. Our only regret is that we did not arrive sooner.”

“Your arrival was perfect,” replied Derrick. “With the Morag engaged against my fleets and the defense grid, they were in a very vulnerable position. It could not have worked out better. I thank you.”

Admiral Larr replied, “Is there anything else we can do to aid you?”

“You have done more than enough. Your help has been greatly appreciated. However, it might be wise for your fleet to return home and to guard your own worlds. Some Morag ships did escape, and they will spread the word back to the Confederation that your worlds were involved. As soon as we can, I promise we will send a large fleet to help defend you. I’ll have a government and a fleet representative come to your worlds shortly to work out the details. In the meantime, the task force we sent earlier will remain with you.”

“Thank you, Fleet Admiral,” replied Admiral Larr. “We have a few repairs to make, and then we will be on our way.”

“If any of your ships need the aid of one of our shipyards, I’ll be glad to arrange it.”

“I do not believe that will be necessary, but once again I thank you.”

-

Derrick studied his Command Center, where numerous technicians busily tried to get all the consoles functioning again. Throughout the entire ship, repair crews were busy. Already the sublight drive had been repaired, and power was back to normal.

“We’ll need considerable time in a repair bay,” reported Colonel Bryant. “We have several large holes in our hull that need repair, and numerous compartments suffered major damage.”

Derrick nodded; he had expected that. Much of the surviving Human fleet would need time in repair bays. Fortunately, when he considered the shipyards available in the core worlds, that would not be a problem. He still didn’t know how much of his fleet had survived. That information should be available shortly.

Leaning back in his command chair, Derrick thought about Audrey and the sacrifice she had made. It was hard to believe he would not ever hear her voice again or her laugh. As in all battles, there was always a price that had to be paid.

“Contact Rear Admiral Collison,” ordered Derrick. “I need to find out the status of his fleet.” He would mourn Audrey later. Right now he needed to get the surviving ships organized and to get a defense set up around Golan Four.

-

Derrick spent nearly an hour talking to Collison. He still had 617 battlecruisers and 133 dreadnoughts, a little over half the fleet he started out with.

“Of course many of them will need some repairs done,” said Collison. “Our supply and repair fleet should be here in a few more days.”

“In the meantime, any of your ships that need it can have access to our repair bays,” promised Derrick. “We can use the repair bays on the shipyards orbiting all the core worlds. That gives us a huge repair capability.”

“I appreciate that,” replied Rear Admiral Collison. “I’ll prepare a list of ships that have suffered major damage and will need some dock time. What do you think will happen next with the Morag?”

Derrick was quiet for a moment and then answered. “They’ve suffered their biggest defeat ever, and it cost them a major portion of their fleet. They’ll have to rebuild, and they may be facing problems back in the Confederation as well. Particularly since the Lormallians furnished the Visth and the other races with nullifiers that work against the Morag mind control.”

Collison nodded. “I’ll have to speak with Fleet Admiral Reynolds, but I suspect we’ll combine my fleet with