What War Had Wrought (Rise of the Empire Book 7) Page 18
“What is the chance that they would notice the skims and react before our wave gets there?” Adrian asked.
“Less than twenty percent,” Iris answered.
Adrian nodded and turned to the holo. Everyone around him watched and waited as the timer ticked down. Then when it hit the halfway point, Adrian gave the order for the fleet to enter skim. The twelve fleets entered skim. Twenty and a half thousand warships started on their way towards the Erasi fleet that outnumbered them thirteen to one.
***
The Empire’s missile pods exited the skim first, dropping out of it inside the outer layer of the large Erasi formation. Six pods didn’t survive the trip as a small group of Erasi ships moved into the area. The pods smashed into three Erasi battleships, blowing them to bits and destroying the pods in the process. Their targets had been well chosen in advance, and before the Erasi even had a chance of detecting them, the pods started releasing their missiles. With the element of surprise, the pods got the first strike. Each of the pods carried three hundred missiles, and they were firing them as fast as possible, but the first missile struck against an Erasi warship long before the last missile left the pod.
Confusion reigned, and just as the Erasi were figuring out what was happening, a mere minute after the pods had exited skim, the skim missiles arrived. Five thousand one hundred missiles, or something more like shuttles armed with nuclear weapons, dropped out of skim, and their thrusters pushed them towards their target, across the section of the Erasi formation. Nuclear fire blossomed, destroying super battleships in its wake, and the EMP taking down the systems of the surrounding ships.
Caught unprepared, the Erasi couldn’t respond. Across their fleet, chaos spread.
***
Adrian’s fleets dropped out of skim at the furthest edge of the Empire’s missile range. Immediately, his holo updated, and he saw the devastation that his attack had wrought.
“Order all ships to fire,” Adrian told Rtsaar, and she relayed his orders.
Every Empire ship started firing missiles as fast as their launchers could handle. The drones and cruisers started firing explosive kinetic shells intended to overload their shields in the direction of the massive cloud of ships. Battleships and dreadnoughts targeted their k-turrets in the general direction and started firing the ship killer kinetic weapons. Tens of thousands of missiles left his fleets every second, countless slugs of metal, and hundreds of kinetic ship killers, and soon the Gallant’s holo was filled with missile signatures streaking across space towards his confused and disoriented enemies, who wouldn’t even know of danger until it was much too late.
Adrian had chosen the types of missiles his forces equipped for this mission very carefully. The pods were armed with a mix of MAHEM MK VII and Enforcer MK X missiles. MAHEM for their powerful magnetic force generators that would shape the missile’s liquid core into a spearhead and penetrate deep into an unshielded hull to deliver their explosives inside, ensuring if not a complete destruction of the enemy ship, then at least critical damage. And the Enforcer missiles were chosen for their sheer destructive power. They were simple explosive warheads equipped with small, shimmering fields, enough that they could survive point defense long enough to reach their targets.
Most of the missiles that his warships had fired were Swarm MK IX missiles, with ion missiles mixed in. By the time those missiles reached the Erasi, they would have gotten their shields online, and would actively be searching for the enemy. At the highest rate of fire, the last of his ships finished emptying their missile and kinetic magazines almost half an hour later, just as the first fired missiles passed the halfway point towards the Erasi.
“Order a retreat,” Adrian told Rtsaar, while his eyes were still glued to the holo. His twelve fleets had fired more missiles for this one engagement than what the Empire had used in the entire war with the Sowir. And by now, the Erasi must’ve noticed. His ships turned and made their way towards the hyperspace barrier. The Erasi ships were faster, and Adrian did not want to be caught by a force far larger than his; the counter above him told him that the skim drives across the fleets would be recharged in around twenty minutes. He would be able to escape long before the Erasi caught up, but he didn’t want that, not yet. His ships were not moving at their top speed, because he wanted them to follow.
Adrian’s attacks had targeted a part of the formation that was dense, and occupied only by Erasi warships. He could’ve attacked their support fleets and probably destroyed far more ships, but that would’ve harmed only their force’s long-term capability, and Adrian needed to harm their short-term capabilities. Another possible target had been their levy fleets, but from gathered intelligence he knew that they were a mix of races that were less advanced than the Erasi, with a few exceptions that were on par. Adrian needed to hurt them, and that meant attacking Erasi ships of the line. He had wanted to take a shot at one of their massive ships, of which there were now two, and one of which had probably been a part of the ambush on Numvani, but unfortunately those ships were at the center of the formation. Impossible to get with a skim missile without it hitting something before and losing most of its destructive potential. So Adrian had settled with destroying as many of their warships as possible.
And by the look of it, he had succeeded. The pods and the skim missiles had been effective. There was no way for him to tell the exact number of destroyed ships, not with all the confusion and destruction. But he knew that the number had to be high; he had caught them completely off guard.
Then his attack reached the Erasi. Not surprisingly, they had managed to recover enough from the sneak attack. The Erasi ships had their shields online, and they had a semblance of a formation in the first line reestablished. It didn’t matter. His missiles overwhelmed that first line, smashing through and destroying it in its entirety and pushing deeper into the formation. Kinetic shells pelted the shield of any ship in their path; his ship killers shattered against their shields and, in the cases of them coming against a smaller class of ship, punched through entirely, destroying the ship in the process.
Two large forces of ships, both from parts of the formation untouched by his attack, started accelerating towards his fleets. The two large forces outnumbered his twelve fleets by almost a factor of two. They took the most direct path towards him, as he’d known that they would.
Adrian’s fleet kept running, utilizing only about ninety percent of their drives, fast enough that they wouldn’t suspect something and yet slow enough that their calculation told them that they would overtake his ships before the hyperspace barrier. His skim drives had already been recharged, but Adrian gambled on the fact that the Erasi would be too enraged to wonder why he hadn’t skimmed away.
Both Erasi forces flew right into his trap.
Even before Adrian had entered this system, he had lain a trap. His stealth ships had lain mines along the direct route that his ships would take to leave the system. Although they weren’t really mines, just missiles floating in space and guiding drones that would detect hostile ships once they entered range, and as soon as the last line of Erasi ships did so, they activated.
Missiles all around and inside the Erasi formations activated, found targets, and sped towards them. Ion missiles took down shields and Enforcer missiles blew their hulls open. In a span of several minutes, the two Erasi forces had lost half of their number.
Adrian’s face contorted into a predatory smile as he ordered his fleets to turn around and attack the now weakened force. Burning at full thrust, his ships advanced on the surviving Erasi ships. He kept out of the range of their energy weapons and pummeled them with his proton beams, taking down their pathetic and disorganized attempts at striking back with missiles. As his fleets destroyed the last ship, he noticed more leaving the large formation in pursuit.
Adrian ordered his fleet towards the hyperspace barrier, and as Erasi entered the missile range, he watched and waited. When they had expended a significant number of missiles, and when they
had reached more than two thirds of the way to his ships, he ordered his fleets to skim. Leaving the Erasi with a taste of what awaited them in Kaleras.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
December; Year 58 of the Empire — Erasi Devastator End of Hope
The reports kept coming in, filling the holograms in the command room of Garash’s devastator. Somehow, it didn’t yet seem real to him. The Empire’s ships had attacked his great force, and had destroyed tens of thousands of ships. The attack had come out of nowhere, and with a devastating effect. Before his ships could recover enough and bring their shields online, the Empire’s attack had ravaged his formation. This attack by the Empire had destroyed almost forty-three thousand ships, and all because he hadn’t seen it coming.
“They destroyed almost a fourth of my force,” Garash whispered, “and damaged at least half as many more.” He raised his eyes to glare at Valanaru, who stood on the other side of the holo-table.
“We didn’t know that they had such weapons; we didn’t even imagine that they could utilize their FTL drives in such a manner,” Valanaru said.
“What good are you, then, to me? To the Erasi?” Garash asked harshly. “This is your purpose, Weaver.” He said the last word mockingly. “The Weavers are the ones that were supposed to gather information about other races.”
“If you hadn’t pushed for this war”—Valanaru glared back at him—“if you hadn’t disregarded the Empire as insignificant, we would’ve had the time to learn more about them.”
Garash’s face twitched in annoyance. “It doesn’t matter, they will die soon enough.”
“You still intend to continue with the assault?” Valanaru asked, perplexed.
“Of course. They hurt my fleet, but I still outnumber them.”
“But what of the Empire’s weapons? You saw what they did to us, and you want to attack them?”
“They caught us unaware, with no shields and no point defense net, and they used nuclear weapons to spread even more confusion and destruction. That will not happen again,” Garash said resolutely. “And I do not believe that we will encounter these weapons again.”
“And why not?” Valanaru asked.
“Because if they had more, they would’ve used them already, destroyed all of my forces. However, they didn’t; this was only a desperate attack to reduce our numbers. But even if they had more, I would still go.” Garash looked at Valanaru and allowed his rage to rise to his eyes. “In all of the years of my life, I have never before been so humiliated. That Human and Shara Daim bested me on that planet, and then dared to attack my ships!” he bellowed angrily, making the air around him tremble.
“We should call for more aid from the core,” Valanaru added carefully.
“There is no time. If we don’t strike now, defeat the Shara Daim and then turn towards the Empire, they will grow to become too large of a threat to be defeated.”
“Every moment that you give the Empire, they will use to build more of those weapons,” Valanaru cautioned.
“I won’t give them time. I will destroy theirs and the Shara Daim’s fleets at Kaleras. While Weaver Hanaru creates chaos in the Empire’s territory, I will end the Shara Daim and then turn to the Empire.”
“Every time we have gone against them, things did not go according to plan. Be careful, Garash; the loss of this force would not be received well by the rest of the O’fa.”
“They have nothing else to throw at me, I am confident of that. And after Kaleras falls, they will have no fleets left to oppose us. If you do not care for my plans, you are welcome to get back to Tarabat and wait. I will not have you and your manipulating ways inserting doubts into my head when I cannot afford a single mistake.”
***
Kaleras
Anessa looked over the records that Adrian had showed her of his attack on the Erasi for the tenth time. She hadn’t really believed him when he’d told her what he was going to do, yet somehow he always did exactly what he claimed he would. She watched the devastation among the Erasi fleets recorded by the Empire’s stealth ships in the system, and shuddered imagining those weapons being used against her own fleets. The Erasi were too surprised to act, to defend themselves, and that had cost them.
“If you’ve had these kind of weapons, we could’ve defeated the Erasi by now,” Anessa said, turning to look at Adrian, who was standing to her left.
“You wouldn’t; we didn’t have them until recently. And I used most of what we had there,” Adrian said, pointing at the holo.
“But you have more?”
“Only a hundred or so missile pods, and a dozen skim missiles. Lurker of the Depths had been working nonstop to build them, but it won’t be enough. They won’t be unprepared again; the missile pods won’t hurt them nearly as much as they did there when they have their shields active. We are still outnumbered,” Adrian said somberly. “These new ships of theirs are better than yours, their weapons and shields more powerful, and they are faster than my ships. They still have the advantage.”
“We are defending,” Anessa said.
“Defending gives us an initial advantage, but they won’t get close enough to let our fixed defenses harm them. If I was them, I would take them out by missiles or kinetic weapons.”
“Erasi don’t use kinetic weapons.”
“Space is filled with rocks; all they have to do is collect enough and push them towards our platforms and stations,” Adrian told her.
“So you still don’t think that we can win?”
“It will be very hard. If we can force them to make a few mistakes, if we can hit them when they do, force them to overextend, then perhaps…” Adrian said, “I and my fleets will do everything we can to help you.”
***
The few of the Empire’s remaining stealth ships watching over the Erasi force observed for two days as the Erasi readied their force. The ships that had been too damaged to move or fight effectively had been left behind, while those lightly damaged had been hastily repaired. In the end, several thousand of the Erasi ships stayed behind, as well as one of the two massive ships. The stealth ships waited and transmitted everything, until every Erasi ship heading for Kaleras entered hyperspace and left.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
December; Year 58 of the Empire — Sanctuary
Laura Reiss, Fleets Master of the Empire, entered the private office of Emperor Tomas Klein. She found him standing by a window looking out at Olympus City. Behind him on a holo-table were several different reports, those of the battle in Sanctuary, and the subsequent chase of the Erasi ships through the system, damage reports, casualty reports—lists of names, too many for them all to be shown at the same time.
“Tomas?” Laura said, trying to grab his attention. When he didn’t respond, she stepped closer. She was just about to say something again when he spoke.
“I can’t memorize all of their names,” Tomas said, still looking through the window. “There are just too many of them. I can put the lists with their names in my implant, call on them at any time, but I can’t keep them in my own mind. Sixteen and a half million people, dead.”
“Those deaths are not your fault, Tomas.”
He turned and gave her a sad smile. “The responsibility for the lives of the people of the Empire ultimately lies with me. I was the one that ordered the Sentinels to seek a diplomatic solution with the Erasi, even when we knew that they were stalling, all because I was worried about perceptions. As if I hadn’t learned anything from Earth.” His face twisted in pain. “Did you find them?”
“No, only about fifteen hundred of their ships managed to escape, and we haven’t seen any sign of them. It isn’t surprising, really; they must’ve dropped out of hyperspace in deep space and then turned to their destination. I have started sending more scout ships trying to find them, but…” Laura shook her head. “Our territory is too big, we have stretched too far. Most of our systems are empty, and there are huge swaths of territory virtually empty between Clans.”
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“Another one of my ideas. I was so worried that we might not be able to grow in the future that I forced us to take more territory than we can hold,” he said grimly.
“There is something else. The relays between the Shara Daim and the Empire are finally up and running. We’ve received a message from Adrian; the Erasi had called for peace talks and then tried to kill him and Anessa. They almost succeeded. Akash is dead, and Adrian tells me that if the wolions and Lurker of the Depths hadn’t been there, both Adrian and Anessa would’ve been dead. The Erasi force is going to move against Kaleras, and Adrian and Anessa just don’t have the numbers to defend. Adrian thinks that he has a plan that can hurt them a bit before they attack, but he doesn’t think that it will be enough. He asked that we send anything that we can to Kaleras, although if his calculations are right, whatever we send will come after the Erasi attack the system. He hopes that they will be able to hold out for long enough.”
“If I hadn’t asked the Shara Daim to wait, if we had put pressure on the Erasi together, then perhaps none of this would’ve happened.”
“You can’t second guess your decisions. It was not your fault, you are not responsible for their actions,” Laura said forcefully.
“But it is my fault,” Tomas said angrily. “I am the one that has kept us back on purpose, because I wanted us to struggle.” He sneered at himself and shook his head. “I was an idiot. I was so focused on threats so far into the future that I completely disregarded those that were in the present.”
“Tomas—” Laura started.
“No!” Tomas swiped his clenched fist in her direction. “They attacked Sanctuary! A place that was supposed to be untouchable, the one place where our people were supposed to be safe! I was an idiot; I thought that we could protect ourselves enough as it is, that we had time to slowly develop and master the technologies from the sphere. That we can coexist with other races peacefully. But I see now that the only thing that matters in the universe is power. You need to have a big enough stick that no one dares to come against you. And I do have that stick—I just thought that using it would harm us more than not using it.” Tomas walked over to the holo and pointed at the list of names. “And those people paid for it. They died because the Erasi thought that we are weak, that they could come here and kill our people with no repercussions.”