Hey! Did you know that the novel you just read from amazon is actually version two of the same story? I'm not talking about prologue version 2 or whatnot... the whole novel is version two of an original story I wrote in 2010. It's a rewrite.
Here's version one (Go easy on me, I wrote it 8 years ago):
Title: The Battle of Sol
Category: Fiction » Sci-Fi
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Published: 03-30-10, Updated: 03-30-10
Chapters: 4, Words: 5,924
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Laser beams moved at the speed of light through space. Seconds later, they crashed into the shields of a mobile fortress that made up the outer defenses of the Helvon system's defense grid. The mobile fortress was a massive pyramid spanning thousands of meters. It began to return fire by angling its laser cannons towards the origin of the laser beams. When its target was locked by its onboard computer, the laser cannons erupted in huge magnetic bursts of spiraling ammunition that streamed through space towards their targets. The beams crashed through their shields, impacted the hulls, and caused the abrupt deaths of five enemy warships.
The enemy then renewed its intensive fire by retargeting the mobile fortress as a priority target and launching a fleet's load of missiles. Afterwards, thousands of missiles sped through space towards the mobile fortress. Seconds later, they detonated with nuclear explosions that splattered against the fortress's shields. The fortress gave out a "cry of help" in all friendly channels before it succumbed to the continuous missile barrages and exploded with a fiery blast that looked like a new star had been temporarily born.
Mik Wendu, onboard the missile ship Yacu, watched through the main screens of the Yacu's bridge as the "cry of help" message was displayed. The Yacu's bridge spanned ten meters in length and contained a central holomap that updated on the whereabouts of the enemy and friendly fleets. The glowing holomap, a causation of the latest holotechnology, suddenly flashed red as new missile signatures were detected. The missiles were not friendly.
Mik Wendu, with the tense acknowledgement of his portly first officer, immediately ordered that all missiles from all missile racks be launched before the Yacu was no longer capable of launching them. The order was executed with abrupt precision as the officer in charge pressed the button that ignited all missiles. Suddenly, the Yacu looked like it had sprouted gigantic hairs in space as all missiles left trails of exhaust in their wake as they began trajectories that would lead them towards enemy warships.
Captain Wendu then told the pilot of the Yacu to execute a zigzag pattern that would hopefully shake off the missiles that were being aimed at the Yacu. The pilot of the Yacu, a young ensign by the name of Brinks, immediately executed his superior's order and the Yacu went into a deep dive followed by an abrupt twist to the port side. Next, gravity shoved to the right as the little missile ship did acrobatic movements that its internal gravity could not adapt fast enough to. Minutes into the movements, gravity flung in massive directions as the nuclear explosions detonated from missiles that had reached their target successfully. The little ship was flung about like an old dilapidated doll. Its shield generators hummed at max efficiency in order to replace losses to its shields as result of the nuclear discharges.
Mik Wendu, soldier of forty-two years, held onto the railing and wondered if he would ever make it out alive. He would, he hoped, survive just like his father and grandfather had survived the wars of old Earth and then lived to give birth to Mik Wendu himself. But this war wasn't anything like the wars of old Earth. This war was mightier and lengthier than any war fought before. This war was really testing humanity to its limits and Wendu wondered if humanity could survive what was coming. The Arconans, the mighty race that was unfortunately humanity's enemy, was beginning a new offensive, one that was deadly and quick. The latest attack on the Helvon system had already resulted in the decimation of the outer defenses, as seen by the death of the star fortress. Wendu wondered if the inner defenses had what it takes to defend the Helvon system or if the enemy had expended all its missiles. If the inner defenses fell, the Hypergate to Earth would fall into enemy hands, and then the conquest of Earth would begin – this time with the Arconans as the invaders and not some half-sensible human tribe. And if Earth fell, then thirty billion of its people would also fall to the whims of aliens.
Earth must not fall. Wendu was sure of that. He would do everything in his control to make sure Helvon's Hypergate didn't fall to the enemy's hands.
"Ready the laser cannons." Said Mik. Despite having expended all the missiles from the missile racks, the Yacu still had some small numbers of laser cannons onboard. Wendu would use everything he had left to turn the tide of the battle, however strongly against him it felt.
He looked at the holomap. The enemy counted for some three hundred starships. The outer defenses of Helvon's defense grid had been peppered by laser shots at its shield matrix and were already falling. There was nothing he could do about that. But he could align his ship for the battle of the inner defense grid. That was, of course, if his ship the Yacu could survive the missiles aiming at it.
The young ensign's zigzagging had truly done its job. Brinks would be commended for that. Enemy missiles fell off course and many detonated far away from the Yacu to make a dent on its shields.
"Target this cruiser and fire!" The officer in charge of lasers targeted the cruiser Wendu pointed at in the holomap and fired all lasers. The laser beams emitted from the Yacu's cannons, streamed through space, and splattered against the cruisers shields. The shields were enough to fully deflect the blast.
The cruiser responded by launching its own laser cannons. Mik saw it aim its bow at his Yacu then moments later his ship shuddered as the blasts hit.
"Shields?"
"Not enough to hold for long," said the defense officer.
"Keep firing lasers."
"Aye, sir," said the laser officer.
Mik watched through the holomap as an enemy ship stopped from attacking the waning defense grid and turned their bows towards the Yacu. Then another. The Yacu must have been targeted as a priority target.
The ships then fired off their laser cannons and the Yacu shuddered as if a giant had gripped hold of it and shook it. Mik watched as the enemy ships turned their attention towards him and fired their lasers. Something from above clanked as if falling free. Mik put up his arms to block himself from getting hit. Then all went black…
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Sector General Yamata was weary of the bad news from the front. Inside the primary holoroom of fleet headquarters, Yamata touched his full beard. He hadn't shaved it in months, all because of this invasion. The holoroom showed the inner defenses fighting the enemy Arconan's continuous onslaught of the Helvon system. The inner defense grid composed of three fighter squadrons, two hundred and fifty turret positions, a scattering of minefields, and a class three pulsar gun. The primary weapon of the inner defense grid was the pulsar gun, which used a pulsar to fuel its disruptor. It was a magnificent work that encompassed the use of the natural environment and Yamata saw it through the holoroom.
Then Sector General Yamata saw the key to Arconan's invasion of the Helvon system, a triple bypass artificial wormhole that connected the Helvon system to Sol. It was this wormhole that the Arconans wanted and they were willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of lives to get it. And now… it seemed – they had it.
Which was why Sector General Yamata was ordering the artificial wormhole be destroyed. It involved multiple nuclear detonations at the center of the hypergate which contained the opening to the wormhole, and it required that three teams do it together at the same time. The wormhole was massive, so it required a massive amount of manpower to close it.
"Bomber teams, ready sir." Came the voice from outside the holoroom. It was Rear General Bishap's voice.
"Begin."
Like lightning, a wing of bombers flew through wormspace and was seen by Yamata in the holoroom as represented by four dots in quick motion. They were moving slowly on the holomap, but they were actually moving at ten thousand times the speed of light. The holoroom that Yamata was in encompassed two hundred light years. It included the Sol system and the Helvon system. Currently, the bombers were moving from the Sol System and reaching towards the hypergate opening in the Helvon system.
When they arrive, they would detonate their bombs. It was a one way trip, but it had to be done. The gateway to Sol would forever be closed. It would take years to reopen a link between Sol and Helvon, years in which the Earth fleet could prepare for the Argonan's Sol offensive.
But in order for that to happen, the bomber force had to get there. It would take time. Meanwhile, the inner defense grid fought a loosing battle with the remaining Argonans in system.
The pulsar gun, as Yamata could see, aimed again for a target. It had a target linked, a battlecruiser, and fired. The stream of particles in the disruptor passed through space and hit the battlecruiser perfectly. It slammed into the battlecruiser. The battlecruiser then exploded into particles.
Yamata watched as the pulsar gun aimed, again. This time on a carrier. It aimed, fired, and the resulting stream of particles hit the carrier which exploded into a mix of particles.
Then the enemy did something bold. They launched wings of fighters at the pulsar gun. The fighters had to pass through rows of turrets of the inner defense matrix first. Yamata watched as a hundred turret positions fired laser beams at the incoming fighters. Through the holomap, he could see the beams streaming through space like little pockets of lightning that attacked enemy fighters as they passed through their range.
Tens of fighters were falling at a time, but the enemy had launched a thousand of them. Many passed through the turret ranges unharmed and continued towards the pulsar gun. When they reached it, they began firing their own lasers at it. The pulsar gun's shields splattered as laser hits dented its surface. Turrets kept firing but just weren't enough to repel the thousand size fighter force that had laid siege on the pulsar gun.
Yamata looked at the bombers moving within the wormhole, again. They just weren't arriving onto the Helvon's side fast enough. The pulsar gun's shields began failing. Once it fell, the last true defense against the three hundred size army of the Argonans would be much closer to the Helvon Hypergate.
Yamata ordered the pulsar gun to find another target, and fire another stream of disruptors at it. It did. Another enemy battleship exploded into a mix of particles.
The turrets kept firing on the fighters but the pulsar gun's shields continued to get weaker.
30%
20%
10%
…
The shields collapsed! Now, Yamata could see the lasers beams of enemy fighters directly pounding the pulsar gun's armor. The pulsar gun did not have much armor to begin with, so soon many parts of the gun stopped working. Yamata ordered it to fire at a new target but it did nothing. It stayed there, wrapped in a shell of enemy laser fire. Seconds later, it exploded in a dazzling array of particles. Nothing remained, except for the miniature pulsar on which the gun was built on. The pulsar kept spinning at quick speeds. It sent energy freely that did nothing against the shields of fighters and the shields of friendly turrets.
Then the enemy began an even bolder move that encompassed all their units. All units of the Argonans began passing within the range of the friendly turrets. Battleships and cruisers alike came closer, and without the pulsar gun to threaten them, they freely attacked the turrets whose weak shields were quickly disabled by the capital ships that fired laser beams into the turrets.
The turrets were weak compared to the masses of enemy capital ships that passed by. Their weak fire were both lower comparatively in numbers and in individual firepower. Agonizingly slow, the turrets began falling to the enemy laser beams. One by one, their shields were depleted and their internal hardware was attacked by laser beams that neutralized them as an effective fighting force.
Yamata watched in horror, as one by one, the friendly combatants of the inner defense grid were destroyed.
He then watched as the enemy fleet, three hundred capital ships, surrounded the Helvon Hypergate. The bomber group still hadn't reached the Helvon side, yet. Yamata wondered if the enemy knew what he was trying to do. The truth was, the only way to stop the enemy from entering the Helvon-Sol wormhole was by destroying the gate on the Helvon side. Destroying the gate on the Sol side would only disable ships from entering the wormhole from Earth. Thus, it was critical that the bomber groups reach the Helvon side to prevent the enemy ships from entering. It looked like they wouldn't reach it in time.
Enemy ships then lined up to pass through the Helvon hypergate to Earth. The hypergate and the wormhole were big enough to fit four enemy capital ships at a time.
As they entered, the first enemy units – to Yamata's astonishment – attacked the friendly bomber groups that were arriving from the other side. The enemy frontline units shot lasers at the bomber groups within the wormhole. The bomber groups, with their bombs still locked for use on the hypergate, could do nothing as one by one they were extinguished by enemy fire.
Soon, all friendly bomber groups were dead, and the road to Sol for the enemy was open…
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Sixty battleships lined up around Jupiter's moon Io ready to fight the oncoming invasion of Sol System. The battleships were large, monstrous creatures. Their gigantic laser cannons moored against their bows and broadsides. One hundred missile ships lined up behind the battleships. Their missiles racks were fully loaded with long-range anti-capital missiles.
The Sol hypergate was further out system. It lied in the outer Oort cloud, a massive array of dust and small particles far outside the orbit of Pluto.
Sector General Yamata watched as his capital ships represented dots on his holomap. He himself was located on a satellite station around Earth's orbit.
In order for the enemy ships to attack Earth, the enemy fleet needed to navigate through the oort cloud, which was a vast space, and into Sol inner orbit. When they did that, Yamata planned to surprise them with a vehement defense around the rings of Jupiter. Jupiter was exactly between the center of the Oort Cloud's Hypergate and Earth itself. As a last resort, Yamata planned to use his own satellite station's laser cannons to fend against the invaders. Of all this, one hundred and sixty ships and a defense station, was all that stood against the invaders. It wasn't enough.
Yamata had planned on the bombers being able to bomb the hypergate on Helvon's side, thus preventing the enemy from reaching Sol for years. But the bombers had failed, or more so, the enemy had been too quick in their capture of the Helvon Hypergate. It was a disastrous result of sudden planning.
The truth was, Sector General Yamata had never expected the Argonans to invade human space. The Argonans had been a malicious speck within the larger framework of the Orion Arm, but never a critical one. Thus, the Argonan invasion had come with a bit of a surprise for many humans, including Sector General Yamata. His senior, and the only man higher in rank than Yamata, had also been shocked with the sudden invasion. Thus, it was from this that the Helvon Hypergate had not been destroyed.
Yamata looked at the Earth defense forces with intense concentration. He didn't think it would be enough to stop the coming invaders but he would use them with the best ability he had. That, and time would tell…
Short radiation spikes splashed throughout the Sol Hypergate. This meant that large objects were on the way through.
Sector General Yamata, within the holoroom, had been waiting for this moment for the last sixty hours. Sweat pronounced his brow and he used a hand to wipe it off. Was his forces ready? He didn't know. It was time to find out.
He zoomed onto the Sol Hypergate. Suddenly, the room suddenly shrunk from the size of the Oort Cloud into a mile wide diameter that centered on the Sol Hypergate.
Suddenly the space at the very center of the Hypergate seemed to tear itself open. Revealed inside was a rift through space. Seconds later, a large object the size of a mile came through. It looked like a gigantic spearhead, all with a sharp edge.
Yamata recognized this as the leading Argonan battlecruiser. As it exited the wormhole, it gave Yamata the sudden impression of an infant exiting its mother's womb. This was done all together quickly, and seconds later another objected followed, followed by another. Soon, there were tens of them. Then twenty.
As Yamata kept watching, the numbers grew until there was approximately three hundred mile-wide capital ships all lined up outside the Sol Hypergate. Then they began spreading outward from each other. Yamata zoomed out at the same rate to keep apace with the expanding cloud of battlecruisers. Next exited their missile ship escorts. Sixty in all came through, followed by supply ships and carriers. Last came frigate class ships.
Yamata saw the tally reported by the computer: 289 battleships, fifty carriers, sixty missile ships, and two hundred frigates and smaller vessels.
He thought to himself how his intended plan of action would be enacted; whether it would be successful or not. The truth was he had no other choice. It was only by a hard blow that he could repel the oncoming invasion of Sol System.
Yamata checked, again, by zooming out and zooming in to his small fleet orbiting Jupiter's moon Io. His squadron comprised largely of sixty battleships and one hundred missiles ships. Each battleship had about one hundred laser cannons moored across their bow and broadsides. The missile ships contained up to one thousand nuclear missiles per ship. The missile ships themselves were simply missile containers that properly moved missiles onto depleted missile racks. Other ancillary ships provided backup support for the fleet, and this comprised of fifty transport vessels that hauled fuel and backup missiles.
Next, he messaged Earth Command.
"Have the backup missiles ready and loaded."
"Aye, sir." Came back the answer.
There was nothing else to do but wait. Wait and be ready to launch the counter assault on the enemy forces.
Hours passed. During this time, Yamata had witnessed the movement of the enemy fleet away from the Sol Hypergate and on a route to Earth. They were a bit far away from Jupiter for Yamata to launch his attack. The reason he had chosen Io was because of Io's volcanic activity, which obscured the signatures of ships hiding nearby.
He wondered what the enemy was thinking this whole time. He believed they must have thought Earth's defenses were completely inadequate to fight off the coming invasion. That must be why the Argonan invaders continued moving towards Earth regardless of the existence of a possible Earth fleet.
And the truth was, it was nearly true. Earth's defenses were inadequate to fight this fleet, which was massive and comprised of a headstrong three hundred warships, plus ancillary craft.
Which was why the attack had to be NOW!
"General Hievus, General Plank, and General Servus."
"Yes, sir?" came the replies.
"Launch all missiles from missile ships. Prioritize targets according to my priority groups."
"Aye, sir." Came the replies.
Yamata zoomed in on his missile ships, all which prepared to fire their missiles. All the missile slots opened their doors in preparation. On his holomap, one hundred missile ships began loading their mile long missile racks as the open doors showed missiles filling the space beneath each slot.
"Fire."
At a second's notice, fifty thousand missiles streamed out of the missile racks which had contained them. On the holomap, the fifty thousand missiles moved through space heading towards the Argonan fleet.
"Reload missile tubes."
As the missile racks began reloading, the missiles continued their pathway towards the Argonan Fleet. The Argonan fleet responded by suddenly forcing a break on all their capital ships. Yamata could see all the enemy warships suddenly slowing down in their velocities.
"General Cayes and General Bool."
"Yes, sir?" – "Yes, sir?"
"Order the battleship squadrons to leave IO's orbit and proceed at flank acceleration towards the Argonan Fleet. Prioritize targets according to my priority groupings."
"Aye, sir." – "Aye, sir."
The battleships that were dots on the holomap began moving from Io's orbit. The enemy noticed this. The enemy halted and reversed coursed all of their warships, including missile ships, carriers, and frigates. Then suddenly, the stopped and reversed course, again. Why? Because of the size of Yamata's fleet. There were only sixty warships.
Meanwhile, the missiles steadied on course. New missiles had also been loaded onto the missile racks of all one hundred missile ships.
"Fire final round of missiles."
Another round of fifty thousand missiles sped away from their missile ships and headed towards the enemy fleet before the first round even hit their targets. The first round of missiles was halfway there.
Yamata looked at the enemy fleet, again. His assigned priority groupings had resulted in most of the battleships being targeted while their missile ships had not. This was because he already thought the missile ships would unleash their missiles before the incoming friendly group of missiles could hit their target. Carriers, on the other hand, had been targeted. Even if they had managed to unload all their fighters and bombers, the fighters and bombers would need to refuel eventually – let alone the bombers that needed to reload their bombs. Thus, battleships and carriers had been assigned as priority targets while frigates and missile ships had not.
It was this assigning that Yamata hoped would win the battle. Any left over frigates would be wiped out by friendly battleships and thus were not thought of as a target. Any missile ships left would not have any ammunition to be considered as a threat.
By now, the missiles had already nearly reached their targets. Yamata watched closely as they honed in on each of their targets, about 400 targets for the first batch of 50,000 missiles. This had to be perfect because only this batch and the next were the only shots he'd get. The battlecruisers fired anti-fighter flak into the midst of the incoming missiles. A few were taken out and detonated their nuclear payloads before reaching their target. The rest continued on course and –
The missiles hit their targets!
Yamata saw bright white detonations on the holomap as the vanguard of the enemy battleships were captured in white flashes. He could only estimate and hope that the damage would be severe enough to neutralize them as an ongoing threat.
In the very same time, he saw missiles being sent outward from the enemy's sixty missile ships. They streamed towards the friendly capital ships. The computer began tracking all the missiles and there were about thirty thousand. The enemy had fired their missiles late, and now Yamata wondered what damage could have been caused if the missiles he had fired earlier had been targeting the enemy's missile ships, instead. But it was too late to retarget. The missiles of the first batch had already hit their targets. This caused a massive amount of bright light like thousands of new stars to form within the enemy formation as thousands of missiles hit their mark and detonated their nuclear payloads.
He couldn't avert the path of the first batch, but he could avert the path of the second batch!
"General Hievus, General Plank, and General Servus; retarget yours missiles according to my new priority groupings!"
"Aye, sir." – "Aye, sir." Came the replies.
Suddenly, a portion of the fifty thousand missiles shifted their targets and veered towards the enemy missile ships.
Yamata wondered if the enemy realized what had just happened and if they were already reloading up their missile racks to fire off their last and final shot before the newly redirected missiles hit their missile ships. He also wondered how many last and final shots were there and if they had a third batch of missiles within their missile ships. If so, then the redirection would have been definitely cost efficient.
He zoomed into the enemy missile ships to see the exact status of their reloading state. They were reloading but it was no where fast enough because the friendly missiles were arriving at an extremely fast pace.
Seconds passed. Then the friendly missiles hit their target. Kaboom! They slammed into the enemy missile ships and caused a spectacular array of destruction. The shields of the enemy missile ships that were reloading were little, and thus the nuclear explosions of the friendly warheads easily collapsed them and destroyed the enemy missile ship within. The other friendly missiles of the second round also slammed into the enemy battlecruisers. Titanic explosions enshrouded the battlecruisers. Their shields, although much more powerful than the missile ships, still weakened as the nuclear missiles slammed into them.
After many explosions, the final result of both rounds of missiles could be tallied by the main computer that operated the holomap. Thirty enemy missile ships dead. Fifty enemy battleships destroyed. Thirteen of their carriers were wrecked. And a number of support ships had been wrecked as well. A total of one hundred enemy ships out of five hundred and ninety nine ships. It was a huge amount but the enemy fleet that was left was still massive.
The enemy missiles that had fired were now streaming into the lines of friendly battlecruisers. As they wrecked through friendly shields and armor, the computer tallied the damage. Thirteen -no -fourteen friendly battlecruisers were out of commission. That was a much smaller percentage because the enemy missile ships had been targeted.
Still, it was forty six friendly battlecruisers versus four hundred and ninety nine enemy ships. These were horrible odds.
Yamata kept watching as the battlecruisers began engaging those enemy ships that had entered their range. Their hulls, pecked with laser shots, rained out laser shots into the enemy ranks. The friendly battleships were using their laser cannons to the max. Massive amounts of laser fire exchanged between the lines of friendly and enemy battleships. The laser shots looked like small lines of light that interconnected two battleships. Yamata could see how they hit the enemy's shields and how enemy shots pecked friendly shields.
Priority targets were already assigned. That meant priority targets were already being fired upon. As of result, several of the enemy battlecruisers already had their shields depleted in the first few minutes of battle. Now, laser shots were pecking the hulls directly of those whose shields had been depleted. Yamata watched as fires spread throughout the hulls of the priority targeted enemy battlecruisers.
He continued watching now as friendly battlecruisers were being attacked and suffered shield depletion. It was time to retreat. The enemy battlecruisers were now fully engaging the friendly battlecruisers on a wide front. Yamata suffered six to one in terms of firepower.
"General Cayes and General Bool, retreat all battlecruisers. Retreat all battlecruisers to Earth orbit."
"Aye, sir."
On the holomap, the friendly battlecruisers began retreating. And that was the end of the first battle of Sol System.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Mik Wendu, onboard the missile ship Yacu, eyed the holomap tediously. The small bridge of the Yacu was bathed in red light as the ship was still in red alert after having launched all its missiles. The enemy had watched the little ship take a broadside of laser cannon fire and assumed the ship was dead and adrift. The truth was much more different.
He eyed the enemy's supply route carefully within the little red room. The enemy fleet had already passed through the Hypergate and went into Sol System but their supply route that kept their missiles fully loaded was fully extended and required the Helvon Hypergate. That meant that if he could disrupt the supply route, then the enemy would not have new missiles to reinforce their ranks. But he had no more weapons. The only thing he had was several laser cannons. All his missiles armed with nuclear warheads had already been fired.
That meant there was only thing he could do. Mik Wendu told the young pilot to plot a course to the center of the Helvon Hypergate. At this moment, there were no enemy combatants except for small groups of enemy supply ships in the Helvon side. All the enemy firepower was still in the Sol System.
He felt the little ship move when the pilot entered the commands into his console. Slowly, slowly the little ship drifted towards the Helvon Hypergate.
Three…
Two…
One…
The pilot confirmed they were at the dead center of the Helvon Hypergate.
MIk Wendu nodded and walked to his own computer console nearby his captain's chair within the little bridge of the Yacu. There was still one nuclear warhead left. That was the Yacu's fusion engines.
He inputted commands into the console and the self-destruct circuitry lit up. A new countdown began.
He stood up and gave the young bridge crew a full salute.
"You've all been an excellent crew."
Three…
Two…
One…
The bridge of the Yacu flashed in a gigantic eruption of light.
It was morning, October 5th, when Sector General Yamata noticed something odd about the Argonan fleet. Ships were no longer leaving from the Sol Hypergate, especially refueler ships and missile transport ships. That meant there would be no more rearming of missiles for the Argonan navy parked right outside Earth's defenses.
Yamata drank from a cup of coffee inside the general holoroom on Earth base, New Hampshire, North American Continent. It was exciting news, indeed. The holoroom was dark because space was dark. Small glowing dots showed the positions of friendly and enemy forces as if they existed in the holoroom.
The enemy would also not be able to reload their fuel tanks with heavy water, which was essential for hyperfusion to occur in all standard ships. This was another blissful news that made the day for Sector General Yamata.
But there was bad news, too. The fighting around Jupiter orbit had ceased. That meant the Argonans had full control of Jupiter system and all its remaining satellites. Earth's outer defense grid had also been shattered and now the enemy was ready to strike Earth's inner defense grid. The inner defenses comprised of sixty two laser turrets and a full planetary shield. It was this shield that Yamata hoped would win the war simply by stalling the Argonan fleet from ever being able to penetrate it.
Lastly, there was the friendly battlecruiser fleet that remained encircling Earth. It was much more torn after having survived the battle of Io and Ganymede, which had lasted for several days. Now, only thirty nine battlecruisers remained still operational.
The enemy fleet had also survived the battle but was now a hundred ships fewer. Still, they were a mighty fleet. This mighty fleet was much closer to Earth than before.
And what was that? He eyed the holomap once more. There was a movement in the enemy lines. The enemy fleet was on the move, again. Yamata immediately called forth his generals.
"General Cayes and Bool. Line up your battlecruisers along with the laser turrets."
The enemy was nearing in range to the laser turrets.
"Laser turrets, fire all lasers!"
On the holomap, the laser turrets began shooting laser beams into the enemy's shields. Many missed but those that hit dented the enemy shields.
"All friendly battlecruisers, open fire on my priority targets!"
The friendly battlecruisers fired off their weapons into the enemy. Once again, they dented the shields of those they hit. The enemy battlecruisers responded by firing back laser shots into friendly ranks. Yamata could see some friendly turrets getting hit as if they were priority assignments.
The shields of friendly turrets began to weaken and soon the armor of friendly laser turrets was being dented, instead.
Slowly, enemy battlecruisers fell, too, one by one. But not at the same rate as friendly turrets were falling. Friendly turrets were falling much faster.
Within minutes, all friendly turrets had been deactivated.
"General Cayes and Bool, retreat to Earth's orbit."
The generals responded by moving all thirty nine battleships to retreat. They did so immediately.
The enemy fleet was hot on their tail, firing laser shots at the retreating friendly battlecruisers. Throughout the battle, about twenty enemy battlecruisers had fallen, while all sixty two laser turrets had been deactivated. Now, the enemy fleet was breaching Earth's final defense, the shield wall. Earth's planetary shield could hold back the enemy fleet, and now was the time to test it.
"Cayes and Bool, retreat to within the planetary shield."
The battlecruisers did so, and not a second later did the first enemy units began firing at the planetary shield.
All three hundred and seventy nine enemy ships fired their laser cannons at the shield. Yamata knew that the shield generators were operating at peak efficiency to replace the parts that were lost. But the overall shield was still being drained…
90%
80%
70%
Yamata watched closely as the planetary shield continued falling. After the planetary shield, there was no defense, except the thirty nine battlecruiser squadrons, but against three hundred and seventy nine enemy ships, they were no match.
60%
50%
40%
The shield continued falling.
30%
20%
Then several of the battlecruisers stopped firing. Yamata blinked. Next, several other stopped firing. The planetary shield began rising as the enemy firing rate became less and less. 30%... 40%... 50%...
Then Yamata realized what was happening. The enemy battlecruisers had no more ammunition as they had drained their deuterium reserves. And this was all because for some reason enemy supply ships could not enter Hypergate from the Helvon side. Something was happening over there that had disrupted their line of shipping.
The enemy ships were now sitting ducks.
"General Cayes and Bool, attack the enemy ships at flank speed!"
All thirty nine friendly battlecruisers emerged from Earth low orbit and began attacking the enemy fleet. The enemy fleet, without deuterium reserves, could not regenerate their own shielding. Furthermore, the enemy fleet could not fire back with such intensity as they did so before. The friendly fleet could regenerate their own shield and fire with maximum intensity.
A voice from outside the room called, "General Yamata? The enemy fleet commander wishes to surrender."
The day was saved. "We accept only their unconditional surrender."
Several seconds later, the voice said, "the enemy fleet unconditionally surrenders."
Inside the dark holoroom, Yamata smiled in awe, the battle of Earth had been won.
Here's version one (Go easy on me, I wrote it 8 years ago):
Title: The Battle of Sol
Category: Fiction » Sci-Fi
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Published: 03-30-10, Updated: 03-30-10
Chapters: 4, Words: 5,924
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Laser beams moved at the speed of light through space. Seconds later, they crashed into the shields of a mobile fortress that made up the outer defenses of the Helvon system's defense grid. The mobile fortress was a massive pyramid spanning thousands of meters. It began to return fire by angling its laser cannons towards the origin of the laser beams. When its target was locked by its onboard computer, the laser cannons erupted in huge magnetic bursts of spiraling ammunition that streamed through space towards their targets. The beams crashed through their shields, impacted the hulls, and caused the abrupt deaths of five enemy warships.
The enemy then renewed its intensive fire by retargeting the mobile fortress as a priority target and launching a fleet's load of missiles. Afterwards, thousands of missiles sped through space towards the mobile fortress. Seconds later, they detonated with nuclear explosions that splattered against the fortress's shields. The fortress gave out a "cry of help" in all friendly channels before it succumbed to the continuous missile barrages and exploded with a fiery blast that looked like a new star had been temporarily born.
Mik Wendu, onboard the missile ship Yacu, watched through the main screens of the Yacu's bridge as the "cry of help" message was displayed. The Yacu's bridge spanned ten meters in length and contained a central holomap that updated on the whereabouts of the enemy and friendly fleets. The glowing holomap, a causation of the latest holotechnology, suddenly flashed red as new missile signatures were detected. The missiles were not friendly.
Mik Wendu, with the tense acknowledgement of his portly first officer, immediately ordered that all missiles from all missile racks be launched before the Yacu was no longer capable of launching them. The order was executed with abrupt precision as the officer in charge pressed the button that ignited all missiles. Suddenly, the Yacu looked like it had sprouted gigantic hairs in space as all missiles left trails of exhaust in their wake as they began trajectories that would lead them towards enemy warships.
Captain Wendu then told the pilot of the Yacu to execute a zigzag pattern that would hopefully shake off the missiles that were being aimed at the Yacu. The pilot of the Yacu, a young ensign by the name of Brinks, immediately executed his superior's order and the Yacu went into a deep dive followed by an abrupt twist to the port side. Next, gravity shoved to the right as the little missile ship did acrobatic movements that its internal gravity could not adapt fast enough to. Minutes into the movements, gravity flung in massive directions as the nuclear explosions detonated from missiles that had reached their target successfully. The little ship was flung about like an old dilapidated doll. Its shield generators hummed at max efficiency in order to replace losses to its shields as result of the nuclear discharges.
Mik Wendu, soldier of forty-two years, held onto the railing and wondered if he would ever make it out alive. He would, he hoped, survive just like his father and grandfather had survived the wars of old Earth and then lived to give birth to Mik Wendu himself. But this war wasn't anything like the wars of old Earth. This war was mightier and lengthier than any war fought before. This war was really testing humanity to its limits and Wendu wondered if humanity could survive what was coming. The Arconans, the mighty race that was unfortunately humanity's enemy, was beginning a new offensive, one that was deadly and quick. The latest attack on the Helvon system had already resulted in the decimation of the outer defenses, as seen by the death of the star fortress. Wendu wondered if the inner defenses had what it takes to defend the Helvon system or if the enemy had expended all its missiles. If the inner defenses fell, the Hypergate to Earth would fall into enemy hands, and then the conquest of Earth would begin – this time with the Arconans as the invaders and not some half-sensible human tribe. And if Earth fell, then thirty billion of its people would also fall to the whims of aliens.
Earth must not fall. Wendu was sure of that. He would do everything in his control to make sure Helvon's Hypergate didn't fall to the enemy's hands.
"Ready the laser cannons." Said Mik. Despite having expended all the missiles from the missile racks, the Yacu still had some small numbers of laser cannons onboard. Wendu would use everything he had left to turn the tide of the battle, however strongly against him it felt.
He looked at the holomap. The enemy counted for some three hundred starships. The outer defenses of Helvon's defense grid had been peppered by laser shots at its shield matrix and were already falling. There was nothing he could do about that. But he could align his ship for the battle of the inner defense grid. That was, of course, if his ship the Yacu could survive the missiles aiming at it.
The young ensign's zigzagging had truly done its job. Brinks would be commended for that. Enemy missiles fell off course and many detonated far away from the Yacu to make a dent on its shields.
"Target this cruiser and fire!" The officer in charge of lasers targeted the cruiser Wendu pointed at in the holomap and fired all lasers. The laser beams emitted from the Yacu's cannons, streamed through space, and splattered against the cruisers shields. The shields were enough to fully deflect the blast.
The cruiser responded by launching its own laser cannons. Mik saw it aim its bow at his Yacu then moments later his ship shuddered as the blasts hit.
"Shields?"
"Not enough to hold for long," said the defense officer.
"Keep firing lasers."
"Aye, sir," said the laser officer.
Mik watched through the holomap as an enemy ship stopped from attacking the waning defense grid and turned their bows towards the Yacu. Then another. The Yacu must have been targeted as a priority target.
The ships then fired off their laser cannons and the Yacu shuddered as if a giant had gripped hold of it and shook it. Mik watched as the enemy ships turned their attention towards him and fired their lasers. Something from above clanked as if falling free. Mik put up his arms to block himself from getting hit. Then all went black…
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Sector General Yamata was weary of the bad news from the front. Inside the primary holoroom of fleet headquarters, Yamata touched his full beard. He hadn't shaved it in months, all because of this invasion. The holoroom showed the inner defenses fighting the enemy Arconan's continuous onslaught of the Helvon system. The inner defense grid composed of three fighter squadrons, two hundred and fifty turret positions, a scattering of minefields, and a class three pulsar gun. The primary weapon of the inner defense grid was the pulsar gun, which used a pulsar to fuel its disruptor. It was a magnificent work that encompassed the use of the natural environment and Yamata saw it through the holoroom.
Then Sector General Yamata saw the key to Arconan's invasion of the Helvon system, a triple bypass artificial wormhole that connected the Helvon system to Sol. It was this wormhole that the Arconans wanted and they were willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of lives to get it. And now… it seemed – they had it.
Which was why Sector General Yamata was ordering the artificial wormhole be destroyed. It involved multiple nuclear detonations at the center of the hypergate which contained the opening to the wormhole, and it required that three teams do it together at the same time. The wormhole was massive, so it required a massive amount of manpower to close it.
"Bomber teams, ready sir." Came the voice from outside the holoroom. It was Rear General Bishap's voice.
"Begin."
Like lightning, a wing of bombers flew through wormspace and was seen by Yamata in the holoroom as represented by four dots in quick motion. They were moving slowly on the holomap, but they were actually moving at ten thousand times the speed of light. The holoroom that Yamata was in encompassed two hundred light years. It included the Sol system and the Helvon system. Currently, the bombers were moving from the Sol System and reaching towards the hypergate opening in the Helvon system.
When they arrive, they would detonate their bombs. It was a one way trip, but it had to be done. The gateway to Sol would forever be closed. It would take years to reopen a link between Sol and Helvon, years in which the Earth fleet could prepare for the Argonan's Sol offensive.
But in order for that to happen, the bomber force had to get there. It would take time. Meanwhile, the inner defense grid fought a loosing battle with the remaining Argonans in system.
The pulsar gun, as Yamata could see, aimed again for a target. It had a target linked, a battlecruiser, and fired. The stream of particles in the disruptor passed through space and hit the battlecruiser perfectly. It slammed into the battlecruiser. The battlecruiser then exploded into particles.
Yamata watched as the pulsar gun aimed, again. This time on a carrier. It aimed, fired, and the resulting stream of particles hit the carrier which exploded into a mix of particles.
Then the enemy did something bold. They launched wings of fighters at the pulsar gun. The fighters had to pass through rows of turrets of the inner defense matrix first. Yamata watched as a hundred turret positions fired laser beams at the incoming fighters. Through the holomap, he could see the beams streaming through space like little pockets of lightning that attacked enemy fighters as they passed through their range.
Tens of fighters were falling at a time, but the enemy had launched a thousand of them. Many passed through the turret ranges unharmed and continued towards the pulsar gun. When they reached it, they began firing their own lasers at it. The pulsar gun's shields splattered as laser hits dented its surface. Turrets kept firing but just weren't enough to repel the thousand size fighter force that had laid siege on the pulsar gun.
Yamata looked at the bombers moving within the wormhole, again. They just weren't arriving onto the Helvon's side fast enough. The pulsar gun's shields began failing. Once it fell, the last true defense against the three hundred size army of the Argonans would be much closer to the Helvon Hypergate.
Yamata ordered the pulsar gun to find another target, and fire another stream of disruptors at it. It did. Another enemy battleship exploded into a mix of particles.
The turrets kept firing on the fighters but the pulsar gun's shields continued to get weaker.
30%
20%
10%
…
The shields collapsed! Now, Yamata could see the lasers beams of enemy fighters directly pounding the pulsar gun's armor. The pulsar gun did not have much armor to begin with, so soon many parts of the gun stopped working. Yamata ordered it to fire at a new target but it did nothing. It stayed there, wrapped in a shell of enemy laser fire. Seconds later, it exploded in a dazzling array of particles. Nothing remained, except for the miniature pulsar on which the gun was built on. The pulsar kept spinning at quick speeds. It sent energy freely that did nothing against the shields of fighters and the shields of friendly turrets.
Then the enemy began an even bolder move that encompassed all their units. All units of the Argonans began passing within the range of the friendly turrets. Battleships and cruisers alike came closer, and without the pulsar gun to threaten them, they freely attacked the turrets whose weak shields were quickly disabled by the capital ships that fired laser beams into the turrets.
The turrets were weak compared to the masses of enemy capital ships that passed by. Their weak fire were both lower comparatively in numbers and in individual firepower. Agonizingly slow, the turrets began falling to the enemy laser beams. One by one, their shields were depleted and their internal hardware was attacked by laser beams that neutralized them as an effective fighting force.
Yamata watched in horror, as one by one, the friendly combatants of the inner defense grid were destroyed.
He then watched as the enemy fleet, three hundred capital ships, surrounded the Helvon Hypergate. The bomber group still hadn't reached the Helvon side, yet. Yamata wondered if the enemy knew what he was trying to do. The truth was, the only way to stop the enemy from entering the Helvon-Sol wormhole was by destroying the gate on the Helvon side. Destroying the gate on the Sol side would only disable ships from entering the wormhole from Earth. Thus, it was critical that the bomber groups reach the Helvon side to prevent the enemy ships from entering. It looked like they wouldn't reach it in time.
Enemy ships then lined up to pass through the Helvon hypergate to Earth. The hypergate and the wormhole were big enough to fit four enemy capital ships at a time.
As they entered, the first enemy units – to Yamata's astonishment – attacked the friendly bomber groups that were arriving from the other side. The enemy frontline units shot lasers at the bomber groups within the wormhole. The bomber groups, with their bombs still locked for use on the hypergate, could do nothing as one by one they were extinguished by enemy fire.
Soon, all friendly bomber groups were dead, and the road to Sol for the enemy was open…
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Sixty battleships lined up around Jupiter's moon Io ready to fight the oncoming invasion of Sol System. The battleships were large, monstrous creatures. Their gigantic laser cannons moored against their bows and broadsides. One hundred missile ships lined up behind the battleships. Their missiles racks were fully loaded with long-range anti-capital missiles.
The Sol hypergate was further out system. It lied in the outer Oort cloud, a massive array of dust and small particles far outside the orbit of Pluto.
Sector General Yamata watched as his capital ships represented dots on his holomap. He himself was located on a satellite station around Earth's orbit.
In order for the enemy ships to attack Earth, the enemy fleet needed to navigate through the oort cloud, which was a vast space, and into Sol inner orbit. When they did that, Yamata planned to surprise them with a vehement defense around the rings of Jupiter. Jupiter was exactly between the center of the Oort Cloud's Hypergate and Earth itself. As a last resort, Yamata planned to use his own satellite station's laser cannons to fend against the invaders. Of all this, one hundred and sixty ships and a defense station, was all that stood against the invaders. It wasn't enough.
Yamata had planned on the bombers being able to bomb the hypergate on Helvon's side, thus preventing the enemy from reaching Sol for years. But the bombers had failed, or more so, the enemy had been too quick in their capture of the Helvon Hypergate. It was a disastrous result of sudden planning.
The truth was, Sector General Yamata had never expected the Argonans to invade human space. The Argonans had been a malicious speck within the larger framework of the Orion Arm, but never a critical one. Thus, the Argonan invasion had come with a bit of a surprise for many humans, including Sector General Yamata. His senior, and the only man higher in rank than Yamata, had also been shocked with the sudden invasion. Thus, it was from this that the Helvon Hypergate had not been destroyed.
Yamata looked at the Earth defense forces with intense concentration. He didn't think it would be enough to stop the coming invaders but he would use them with the best ability he had. That, and time would tell…
Short radiation spikes splashed throughout the Sol Hypergate. This meant that large objects were on the way through.
Sector General Yamata, within the holoroom, had been waiting for this moment for the last sixty hours. Sweat pronounced his brow and he used a hand to wipe it off. Was his forces ready? He didn't know. It was time to find out.
He zoomed onto the Sol Hypergate. Suddenly, the room suddenly shrunk from the size of the Oort Cloud into a mile wide diameter that centered on the Sol Hypergate.
Suddenly the space at the very center of the Hypergate seemed to tear itself open. Revealed inside was a rift through space. Seconds later, a large object the size of a mile came through. It looked like a gigantic spearhead, all with a sharp edge.
Yamata recognized this as the leading Argonan battlecruiser. As it exited the wormhole, it gave Yamata the sudden impression of an infant exiting its mother's womb. This was done all together quickly, and seconds later another objected followed, followed by another. Soon, there were tens of them. Then twenty.
As Yamata kept watching, the numbers grew until there was approximately three hundred mile-wide capital ships all lined up outside the Sol Hypergate. Then they began spreading outward from each other. Yamata zoomed out at the same rate to keep apace with the expanding cloud of battlecruisers. Next exited their missile ship escorts. Sixty in all came through, followed by supply ships and carriers. Last came frigate class ships.
Yamata saw the tally reported by the computer: 289 battleships, fifty carriers, sixty missile ships, and two hundred frigates and smaller vessels.
He thought to himself how his intended plan of action would be enacted; whether it would be successful or not. The truth was he had no other choice. It was only by a hard blow that he could repel the oncoming invasion of Sol System.
Yamata checked, again, by zooming out and zooming in to his small fleet orbiting Jupiter's moon Io. His squadron comprised largely of sixty battleships and one hundred missiles ships. Each battleship had about one hundred laser cannons moored across their bow and broadsides. The missile ships contained up to one thousand nuclear missiles per ship. The missile ships themselves were simply missile containers that properly moved missiles onto depleted missile racks. Other ancillary ships provided backup support for the fleet, and this comprised of fifty transport vessels that hauled fuel and backup missiles.
Next, he messaged Earth Command.
"Have the backup missiles ready and loaded."
"Aye, sir." Came back the answer.
There was nothing else to do but wait. Wait and be ready to launch the counter assault on the enemy forces.
Hours passed. During this time, Yamata had witnessed the movement of the enemy fleet away from the Sol Hypergate and on a route to Earth. They were a bit far away from Jupiter for Yamata to launch his attack. The reason he had chosen Io was because of Io's volcanic activity, which obscured the signatures of ships hiding nearby.
He wondered what the enemy was thinking this whole time. He believed they must have thought Earth's defenses were completely inadequate to fight off the coming invasion. That must be why the Argonan invaders continued moving towards Earth regardless of the existence of a possible Earth fleet.
And the truth was, it was nearly true. Earth's defenses were inadequate to fight this fleet, which was massive and comprised of a headstrong three hundred warships, plus ancillary craft.
Which was why the attack had to be NOW!
"General Hievus, General Plank, and General Servus."
"Yes, sir?" came the replies.
"Launch all missiles from missile ships. Prioritize targets according to my priority groups."
"Aye, sir." Came the replies.
Yamata zoomed in on his missile ships, all which prepared to fire their missiles. All the missile slots opened their doors in preparation. On his holomap, one hundred missile ships began loading their mile long missile racks as the open doors showed missiles filling the space beneath each slot.
"Fire."
At a second's notice, fifty thousand missiles streamed out of the missile racks which had contained them. On the holomap, the fifty thousand missiles moved through space heading towards the Argonan fleet.
"Reload missile tubes."
As the missile racks began reloading, the missiles continued their pathway towards the Argonan Fleet. The Argonan fleet responded by suddenly forcing a break on all their capital ships. Yamata could see all the enemy warships suddenly slowing down in their velocities.
"General Cayes and General Bool."
"Yes, sir?" – "Yes, sir?"
"Order the battleship squadrons to leave IO's orbit and proceed at flank acceleration towards the Argonan Fleet. Prioritize targets according to my priority groupings."
"Aye, sir." – "Aye, sir."
The battleships that were dots on the holomap began moving from Io's orbit. The enemy noticed this. The enemy halted and reversed coursed all of their warships, including missile ships, carriers, and frigates. Then suddenly, the stopped and reversed course, again. Why? Because of the size of Yamata's fleet. There were only sixty warships.
Meanwhile, the missiles steadied on course. New missiles had also been loaded onto the missile racks of all one hundred missile ships.
"Fire final round of missiles."
Another round of fifty thousand missiles sped away from their missile ships and headed towards the enemy fleet before the first round even hit their targets. The first round of missiles was halfway there.
Yamata looked at the enemy fleet, again. His assigned priority groupings had resulted in most of the battleships being targeted while their missile ships had not. This was because he already thought the missile ships would unleash their missiles before the incoming friendly group of missiles could hit their target. Carriers, on the other hand, had been targeted. Even if they had managed to unload all their fighters and bombers, the fighters and bombers would need to refuel eventually – let alone the bombers that needed to reload their bombs. Thus, battleships and carriers had been assigned as priority targets while frigates and missile ships had not.
It was this assigning that Yamata hoped would win the battle. Any left over frigates would be wiped out by friendly battleships and thus were not thought of as a target. Any missile ships left would not have any ammunition to be considered as a threat.
By now, the missiles had already nearly reached their targets. Yamata watched closely as they honed in on each of their targets, about 400 targets for the first batch of 50,000 missiles. This had to be perfect because only this batch and the next were the only shots he'd get. The battlecruisers fired anti-fighter flak into the midst of the incoming missiles. A few were taken out and detonated their nuclear payloads before reaching their target. The rest continued on course and –
The missiles hit their targets!
Yamata saw bright white detonations on the holomap as the vanguard of the enemy battleships were captured in white flashes. He could only estimate and hope that the damage would be severe enough to neutralize them as an ongoing threat.
In the very same time, he saw missiles being sent outward from the enemy's sixty missile ships. They streamed towards the friendly capital ships. The computer began tracking all the missiles and there were about thirty thousand. The enemy had fired their missiles late, and now Yamata wondered what damage could have been caused if the missiles he had fired earlier had been targeting the enemy's missile ships, instead. But it was too late to retarget. The missiles of the first batch had already hit their targets. This caused a massive amount of bright light like thousands of new stars to form within the enemy formation as thousands of missiles hit their mark and detonated their nuclear payloads.
He couldn't avert the path of the first batch, but he could avert the path of the second batch!
"General Hievus, General Plank, and General Servus; retarget yours missiles according to my new priority groupings!"
"Aye, sir." – "Aye, sir." Came the replies.
Suddenly, a portion of the fifty thousand missiles shifted their targets and veered towards the enemy missile ships.
Yamata wondered if the enemy realized what had just happened and if they were already reloading up their missile racks to fire off their last and final shot before the newly redirected missiles hit their missile ships. He also wondered how many last and final shots were there and if they had a third batch of missiles within their missile ships. If so, then the redirection would have been definitely cost efficient.
He zoomed into the enemy missile ships to see the exact status of their reloading state. They were reloading but it was no where fast enough because the friendly missiles were arriving at an extremely fast pace.
Seconds passed. Then the friendly missiles hit their target. Kaboom! They slammed into the enemy missile ships and caused a spectacular array of destruction. The shields of the enemy missile ships that were reloading were little, and thus the nuclear explosions of the friendly warheads easily collapsed them and destroyed the enemy missile ship within. The other friendly missiles of the second round also slammed into the enemy battlecruisers. Titanic explosions enshrouded the battlecruisers. Their shields, although much more powerful than the missile ships, still weakened as the nuclear missiles slammed into them.
After many explosions, the final result of both rounds of missiles could be tallied by the main computer that operated the holomap. Thirty enemy missile ships dead. Fifty enemy battleships destroyed. Thirteen of their carriers were wrecked. And a number of support ships had been wrecked as well. A total of one hundred enemy ships out of five hundred and ninety nine ships. It was a huge amount but the enemy fleet that was left was still massive.
The enemy missiles that had fired were now streaming into the lines of friendly battlecruisers. As they wrecked through friendly shields and armor, the computer tallied the damage. Thirteen -no -fourteen friendly battlecruisers were out of commission. That was a much smaller percentage because the enemy missile ships had been targeted.
Still, it was forty six friendly battlecruisers versus four hundred and ninety nine enemy ships. These were horrible odds.
Yamata kept watching as the battlecruisers began engaging those enemy ships that had entered their range. Their hulls, pecked with laser shots, rained out laser shots into the enemy ranks. The friendly battleships were using their laser cannons to the max. Massive amounts of laser fire exchanged between the lines of friendly and enemy battleships. The laser shots looked like small lines of light that interconnected two battleships. Yamata could see how they hit the enemy's shields and how enemy shots pecked friendly shields.
Priority targets were already assigned. That meant priority targets were already being fired upon. As of result, several of the enemy battlecruisers already had their shields depleted in the first few minutes of battle. Now, laser shots were pecking the hulls directly of those whose shields had been depleted. Yamata watched as fires spread throughout the hulls of the priority targeted enemy battlecruisers.
He continued watching now as friendly battlecruisers were being attacked and suffered shield depletion. It was time to retreat. The enemy battlecruisers were now fully engaging the friendly battlecruisers on a wide front. Yamata suffered six to one in terms of firepower.
"General Cayes and General Bool, retreat all battlecruisers. Retreat all battlecruisers to Earth orbit."
"Aye, sir."
On the holomap, the friendly battlecruisers began retreating. And that was the end of the first battle of Sol System.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Mik Wendu, onboard the missile ship Yacu, eyed the holomap tediously. The small bridge of the Yacu was bathed in red light as the ship was still in red alert after having launched all its missiles. The enemy had watched the little ship take a broadside of laser cannon fire and assumed the ship was dead and adrift. The truth was much more different.
He eyed the enemy's supply route carefully within the little red room. The enemy fleet had already passed through the Hypergate and went into Sol System but their supply route that kept their missiles fully loaded was fully extended and required the Helvon Hypergate. That meant that if he could disrupt the supply route, then the enemy would not have new missiles to reinforce their ranks. But he had no more weapons. The only thing he had was several laser cannons. All his missiles armed with nuclear warheads had already been fired.
That meant there was only thing he could do. Mik Wendu told the young pilot to plot a course to the center of the Helvon Hypergate. At this moment, there were no enemy combatants except for small groups of enemy supply ships in the Helvon side. All the enemy firepower was still in the Sol System.
He felt the little ship move when the pilot entered the commands into his console. Slowly, slowly the little ship drifted towards the Helvon Hypergate.
Three…
Two…
One…
The pilot confirmed they were at the dead center of the Helvon Hypergate.
MIk Wendu nodded and walked to his own computer console nearby his captain's chair within the little bridge of the Yacu. There was still one nuclear warhead left. That was the Yacu's fusion engines.
He inputted commands into the console and the self-destruct circuitry lit up. A new countdown began.
He stood up and gave the young bridge crew a full salute.
"You've all been an excellent crew."
Three…
Two…
One…
The bridge of the Yacu flashed in a gigantic eruption of light.
It was morning, October 5th, when Sector General Yamata noticed something odd about the Argonan fleet. Ships were no longer leaving from the Sol Hypergate, especially refueler ships and missile transport ships. That meant there would be no more rearming of missiles for the Argonan navy parked right outside Earth's defenses.
Yamata drank from a cup of coffee inside the general holoroom on Earth base, New Hampshire, North American Continent. It was exciting news, indeed. The holoroom was dark because space was dark. Small glowing dots showed the positions of friendly and enemy forces as if they existed in the holoroom.
The enemy would also not be able to reload their fuel tanks with heavy water, which was essential for hyperfusion to occur in all standard ships. This was another blissful news that made the day for Sector General Yamata.
But there was bad news, too. The fighting around Jupiter orbit had ceased. That meant the Argonans had full control of Jupiter system and all its remaining satellites. Earth's outer defense grid had also been shattered and now the enemy was ready to strike Earth's inner defense grid. The inner defenses comprised of sixty two laser turrets and a full planetary shield. It was this shield that Yamata hoped would win the war simply by stalling the Argonan fleet from ever being able to penetrate it.
Lastly, there was the friendly battlecruiser fleet that remained encircling Earth. It was much more torn after having survived the battle of Io and Ganymede, which had lasted for several days. Now, only thirty nine battlecruisers remained still operational.
The enemy fleet had also survived the battle but was now a hundred ships fewer. Still, they were a mighty fleet. This mighty fleet was much closer to Earth than before.
And what was that? He eyed the holomap once more. There was a movement in the enemy lines. The enemy fleet was on the move, again. Yamata immediately called forth his generals.
"General Cayes and Bool. Line up your battlecruisers along with the laser turrets."
The enemy was nearing in range to the laser turrets.
"Laser turrets, fire all lasers!"
On the holomap, the laser turrets began shooting laser beams into the enemy's shields. Many missed but those that hit dented the enemy shields.
"All friendly battlecruisers, open fire on my priority targets!"
The friendly battlecruisers fired off their weapons into the enemy. Once again, they dented the shields of those they hit. The enemy battlecruisers responded by firing back laser shots into friendly ranks. Yamata could see some friendly turrets getting hit as if they were priority assignments.
The shields of friendly turrets began to weaken and soon the armor of friendly laser turrets was being dented, instead.
Slowly, enemy battlecruisers fell, too, one by one. But not at the same rate as friendly turrets were falling. Friendly turrets were falling much faster.
Within minutes, all friendly turrets had been deactivated.
"General Cayes and Bool, retreat to Earth's orbit."
The generals responded by moving all thirty nine battleships to retreat. They did so immediately.
The enemy fleet was hot on their tail, firing laser shots at the retreating friendly battlecruisers. Throughout the battle, about twenty enemy battlecruisers had fallen, while all sixty two laser turrets had been deactivated. Now, the enemy fleet was breaching Earth's final defense, the shield wall. Earth's planetary shield could hold back the enemy fleet, and now was the time to test it.
"Cayes and Bool, retreat to within the planetary shield."
The battlecruisers did so, and not a second later did the first enemy units began firing at the planetary shield.
All three hundred and seventy nine enemy ships fired their laser cannons at the shield. Yamata knew that the shield generators were operating at peak efficiency to replace the parts that were lost. But the overall shield was still being drained…
90%
80%
70%
Yamata watched closely as the planetary shield continued falling. After the planetary shield, there was no defense, except the thirty nine battlecruiser squadrons, but against three hundred and seventy nine enemy ships, they were no match.
60%
50%
40%
The shield continued falling.
30%
20%
Then several of the battlecruisers stopped firing. Yamata blinked. Next, several other stopped firing. The planetary shield began rising as the enemy firing rate became less and less. 30%... 40%... 50%...
Then Yamata realized what was happening. The enemy battlecruisers had no more ammunition as they had drained their deuterium reserves. And this was all because for some reason enemy supply ships could not enter Hypergate from the Helvon side. Something was happening over there that had disrupted their line of shipping.
The enemy ships were now sitting ducks.
"General Cayes and Bool, attack the enemy ships at flank speed!"
All thirty nine friendly battlecruisers emerged from Earth low orbit and began attacking the enemy fleet. The enemy fleet, without deuterium reserves, could not regenerate their own shielding. Furthermore, the enemy fleet could not fire back with such intensity as they did so before. The friendly fleet could regenerate their own shield and fire with maximum intensity.
A voice from outside the room called, "General Yamata? The enemy fleet commander wishes to surrender."
The day was saved. "We accept only their unconditional surrender."
Several seconds later, the voice said, "the enemy fleet unconditionally surrenders."
Inside the dark holoroom, Yamata smiled in awe, the battle of Earth had been won.