The Los Angeles moved in on the two dreadnoughts and began taking on the massive armaments of those two monstrous ships. Each of them was 3,300 feet long and housed 430 primary lasers and missile batteries that could launch ninety missiles per salvo. Beside them the Los Angeles looked tiny. The Earth ships screen glared from the missile and the laser beam attack being directed at it from the two dreadnoughts.
Screen status? Captain Rubens of the Los Angeles asked.
Holding, sir. We arent into the red yet. If we wait for another of those monsters to join in, it could get dicey real quick.
Lets not keep them waiting then. Have we absorbed enough energy to supplement the primary beam?
Were at 90 percent.
Then fire on the dreadnought on our port side, and then roll to use our starboard beam to finish the job.
On board the dreadnought, the commander could not believe what was happening. That small ship was taking the fire of two dreadnoughts, and its screen was not even in the red. That ended abruptly. The entire length of the port side of the Earth ship fired a beam into the dreadnought, ripping through its five screens and blowing a seven-hundred-foot hole through the center of the 3,300-foot-long warship. The missile magazines ignited and blew the ship into tiny fragments.
Belay that roll, Rubens said. Fire the starboard beam at the second dreadnought.
The second dreadnought saw what happened to the other and turned to escape. They werent fast enough and the entire rear end of the dreadnought was blown away. It could no longer maneuver and it had lost screen integrity. It would have probably survived the battle, but it made the mistake of firing at the Los Angeles as it moved away. Two Earth cruisers moved in and launched ten strike missiles and blew the rest of the ship into rubble.
Sir, Lieutenant Kelley said, weve lost the Taj Mahal.
What happened? asked Kosiev.
Six dreadnoughts cornered it and overloaded its screen. Those six are now moving on the Melbourne, and her screen is moving into red. It cant last much longer.
Can we get there in time? Kosiev asked.
Probably not, sir, Lieutenant Kelley said.
Wouldnt screen dumping work for the empire ships feeding our smaller ships? Tag asked.
Mikado, Kelley, and Kosiev all looked at Tag with blank expressions. Then Kosiev said, Make it happen, Kelley, and Helmsman, move us alongside the Melbourne.
Attention all ships close to the Melbourne, Kosiev said over the general fleet frequency. Switch your screens to charge and fly through the Melbournes screen. Melbourne, switch your screen to discharge mode. They watched as two Earth cruisers flew through the Melbournes screen, entering and exiting it at the rear of the beleaguered ship where it was not the heaviest direct attack. Six more ships flew through so fast that the dreadnoughts didnt have time to target them before they were out of range. Melbournes screen went from light blue to red and finally yellow. Now the ship could use the energy the enemy ships had poured into its screen. It had been using all its power to support its screen integrity during the attack, but now it could turn its attention to the attackers. It fired both of its primary beams into two of the six attacking dreadnoughts and both of them were cut in half. One of them drifted away and the other exploded. The remaining four dreadnoughts were joined by three others and continued to fire on the Melbourne.
Join on the Melbournes left flank and join screens, Captain Mikado ordered. The Washington flew in and joined Melbourne at the center of the attack. Once the two screens touched, Melbournes screen turned yellow. Washington targeted two of the Alliance behemoths and Melbourne targeted two others. In less than thirty seconds there were four more dead hulks floating in space. The remaining three dreadnoughts turned to flee. Washington chased one and Melbourne the other. The third accelerated away from the planet toward the star drive limit to try to escape to warn the main fleet. Only four dreadnoughts remained of the twenty, and then there was only one, which was trying to escape.
Sir, we have one dreadnought making a break for the star drive limit, Lieutenant Kelley said. Should we use the blocking force to stop it?
How many Alliance ships remain? Kosiev asked.
Forty-five, sir.
What is the count of our remaining ships?
We have eighty-nine remaining ships. We have lost one of our empire class battle ships, four cruisers, and six destroyers for a total of eleven ships lost against 155 of theirs.
Assign two ships to each of the remaining Alliance ships and lets complete this operation, Kosiev ordered. What happened to the Alliance troop transports?
Just as you said, sir, they ran to the planets surface.
Kosiev looked at Tag and said, Im glad you were here to anticipate that. We probably need to start giving support to our marines. We can let the blocking force handle the escapee. Theyll feel like theyve taken part in the action.
I agree. Besides, didnt you assign all of your ships to finish the Alliance presence in this system? Pick out the one you want and lets finish this business.
Admiral Ecsra accelerated out of the Ross system toward the safety of the star drive limit, where he could jump to safety. He was in a state of shock at what had happened to his fleet. No one could have guessed that the Earth ships were capable of what he saw. They were things that inhabit an admirals nightmares. Ships that wouldnt die no matter how much energy or missiles were fired at them. Nothing could withstand a dreadnoughts fire power except another dreadnought. That was a fact that had been proven in endless battles. Only he had seen one of their small battleships withstand the fire of six dreadnoughts for twenty minutes before it exploded. Then the next one handled that fire and destroyed two of them. Two of those small ships destroyed six dreadnoughts. The Alliance had to be warned. Are they chasing us? Admiral Ecsra asked.
No sir, his sensor officer said. One of those medium Earth battleships started to move our way, then turned around and attacked one of our remaining battleships.
Ecsra didnt need to ask the outcome of that engagement. The Alliance battleship didnt stand a chance against that demon ship.
Sir, all of our ships have been destroyed or severely damaged. Were the only one to escape.
How many ships attacked us?
Sir, they only used one hundred ships.
How many did we destroy?
According to our sensor log, no more than fifteen were killed.
The Admiral was stunned speechless. How many ships do they have? he wondered. Maybe all they have are those one hundred ships.
Sir. Sir!
Admiral Ecsra looked at his sensor officer and saw in his face the fear he was starting to feel. What?
Sir, our sensors show more than 180 of those human warships powering up their screens on all sides of us. Twenty of those battleships are moving in to intercept us; what are your orders, sir?
Admiral Ecsra was beyond giving any orders. All he could do was stare at the screen and mumble over and over, Why did we have to start this?
Chapter 28
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Wiseman stood in front of his men in front of the Rossville concentration camp and could see their nervousness. He could hear his weapon floaters broadcasting to the civilian population to return to the camp so they could be protected. Most of them had left as soon as the Alliance ground troops evacuated, but fortunately they had not had time to go very far before Wiseman landed. His battalion was assigned to liberate the largest camp, which was just outside Rossville. There were over thirty thousand unarmed civilians that had been staying there in terrible conditions. Fortunately, most of them listened to the broadcast and were returning. His engineers had set up the small black hole reactor and the Coronado screen was already in place over the camp. The camp was located in the middle of a flat floodplain surrounded by high hills. The green valley was lush with plant life and farms that the colonists had been farming before the Cainth occupation. He saw that the Cainth would have to come down the middle of that plain to retake the concentration camp. Now if our navy is successful up there, we might get out of this alive, he thought. We have to hold out until they can support us. He looked at his troops in their shiny new armor and understood their fears.