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

1,700 Human ships are in that formation,” reported the sensor officer. “I’m also detecting twenty of the Human attack interceptor carriers.”

This did not surprise Admiral Falorr. He had expected that. Fortunately he had twenty drone carriers in his fleet. He still had a nearly three-to-one advantage in warships. “We will advance and engage the Human fleet and annihilate it. Once the fleet is destroyed, we will move forward and engage the planet’s defenses. While the defenses are engaged, the drones will move in to bombard the planet.”

“A good plan,” commented Falorr’s First Officer Dagor. “When should we launch the drones?”

“As soon as the Humans launch their attack interceptors. I want them destroyed.”

-

Dylan watched the tactical display, as the combined Druin and Zynth fleets advanced.

“We’ve identified twenty vessels that might be drone carriers,” reported Colonel Bidwell. “Should we order Rear Admiral Carrie to launch her interceptors?”

Dylan shook his head. “Contact the interceptor bases on the planet and tell them to launch. I want all three thousand of those interceptors in orbit as soon as possible.” Once the battle started, he would rotate the ground-based interceptors through the bays of the battlecarriers to be refueled and rearmed. It would be much quicker than sending them back to their planetary bases.

“Orders sent,” reported Lieutenant Newsome from Communications.

-

On the planet in the huge reinforced hangars that held the attack interceptors, ground crews began the process of rolling them out. The crews had been standing next to their ships for nearly two hours, waiting for the enemy fleets to show up. In rapid succession, squadron after squadron took off and accelerated toward space and the waiting fleets. All knew that a good part of them might not be coming back. Into the crystal-clear sky the squadrons formed and then headed upward toward their waiting destiny.

-

“Human interceptor launch from the planet has been detected,” warned Falorr’s First Officer Dagor. “Six hundred and still rising.”

Druin Admiral Falorr frowned at hearing this. “Launch the drones. They are to stay near their carriers until needed. I also want to know how many Human interceptors are launched from the planet.”

-

Several more minutes passed, and First Officer Dagor turned toward Admiral Falorr, with a look of concern on his face. “Scans detect slightly over three thousand ground-based Human attack interceptors. They are taking up positions near the Human battlecarriers.”

“Seven minutes to attack range,” reported the sensor officer. “Human ships are not moving. They are in a line formation, facing us. The line is 10 ships high and 170 ships long. All their dreadnoughts are in the center of the line formation. No reserves other than these warships protecting the battlecarriers.”

Admiral Falorr nodded. The formation the Humans were in could easily be broken, and, once it was, their defense would fall apart. His own ships were in a wedge formation, with the point of the wedge facing the center of the Human fleet. His battleships and the Zynth battleships were scattered throughout the formation to give better coverage of weapons fire.

Looking at the viewscreens, he saw the Human dreadnoughts and battlecruisers lined up to take on his fleet. “As soon as we open fire, send our drones to attack the Human battlecarriers. I suspect they will send out all their attack interceptors to stop our drone attack. That will give us the opportunity to destroy the Human small attack craft.” Falorr felt confident the Druin drones were far superior to the Human attack interceptors.

-

In space, the two large fleets drew closer. The Human fleet was unmoving, forcing the Druins and the Zynth to come toward it. In orbit, all sixteen ODPs, two thousand energy beam satellites, and three hundred missile platforms prepared to fire. In addition all three space stations were heavily armed and protected by energy shields, and the greatly expanded shipyard was also heavily armed with an active energy shield. On the surface of the planet, missile interceptors, energy beam turrets, and the twelve ground-based PDCs were ready to fire.

-

As the fleets neared combat range, the Human ships moved forward. A stationary object was just too easy to hit.

“All dreadnoughts are to target enemy battleships with their particle beam cannons,” ordered Dylan. He was anxious to see the effects of the beams on the enemy energy shields. If they worked as predicted, the enemy was about to get a major surprise. Dylan felt his heart pounding in his chest, as he waited to see the results of their opening attack.

“Thirty seconds to weapons range,” reported Casella. “Detecting power buildups in the enemy ships. They’re getting ready to fire!”

Dylan keyed the ship-to-ship comm. “All ships prepare to fire. Hit them with everything we have. I want a full wave of antimatter missiles going in, as well as the new particle beam cannons. Cannons are to fire as quickly and as often as possible.”

“Weapons range!” called out Casella.

“Fire!” ordered Dylan, his focus on the enemy battleships. Suddenly the entire front of the Druin and Zynth formation erupted in bright explosions. Light-violet beams slashed out from the fleet’s dreadnoughts. The beams struck the screens of the enemy battleships, causing them to flare up brightly, and then they were through. Massive explosions rocked over one hundred battleships, ripping massive holes in their sides. Many of the ships’ energy shields failed, making them vulnerable to missile attack. All across the front of the enemy wedge formation, ships were dying.

Druin and Zynth battleships careened out of control, as huge holes were blasted from one side of the ship to the other. Massive explosions threatened to tear apart the ships, as numerous compartments were ripped open to the vacuum of space. Emergency bulkheads slammed shut, and damage control teams raced to control the damage, but it was already too late. Their power failed, as too many power couplings had been destroyed. The energy shields protecting the ships failed, and,