Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) Read online

  Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion

  (Galactic Empire Wars Book 3)

  By

  Raymond L. Weil

  Books in the Galactic Empire Wars Series

  Galactic Empire Wars: Destruction (Book 1)

  Galactic Empire Wars: Emergence (Book 2)

  Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (Book 3)

  Website: http://raymondlweil.com/

  Copyright © January 2015 by Raymond L. Weil

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover Design by Humblenations.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion

  Chapter One

  It was a small, discreet star system huddled between two warring Empires, which would soon be witness to an event that would change the galaxy. Six planets and fourteen moons circled the small, yellowish-orange star with a small asteroid field between the fifth and sixth planets, both of which were small gas giants. The system’s only habitable planet was .82 AU out from the system’s primary and held a budding civilization just beginning to explore the planets in its own star system.

  The Strell had long since found the Beltian system and added it to their Empire as a minor planet with an intermediate technological civilization. Due to its technology level and minimal resources, the Strell had only requested the Beltians furnish specific food products to the Empire. Twice each year, six large Strell cargo ships would come to the planet to have their holds filled with the designated agricultural products. Other than that, the planet was left to govern itself with strict instructions from the Strell not to attempt to venture out of their star system. To do so would result in disastrous consequences for the Beltians.

  -

  The Strell warfleet dropped out of Fold Space into the unsuspecting system. For six years, they'd been fighting a fierce war against the Kleese, who were attempting to smash the Strell Empire and add it to their own growing territory. The first hint the Strell had that the status quo between the two Empires had changed was when the Kleese attacked several of the inhabited worlds between the Empires. It had been followed up by a massive attack by the Kleese warrior caste, the Zaltule, on the Strell Empire itself.

  The Zaltule were a dangerous and warlike caste, which the Strell had long believed, had died out. They'd paid for that false belief with the loss of millions of lives and nearly a quarter of their Empire. Now, a major portion of their remaining warships had been gathered to ambush an inbound Kleese fleet that would be entering the system shortly. If the fleet could be destroyed or forced to retreat, it would buy the time the Strell needed to rebuild their forces and push the Kleese back.

  “All ships have dropped out of Fold Space,” hissed Minor Den Leader Lish his tongue flicking forth. Lish was two meters tall, very thin, and his head resembled that of a large snake.

  “We will wait here,” ordered Den Leader Rith. His eyes, set wide on both sides of his head, narrowed to thin slits as he turned to gaze at the tactical screen.

  The screen was covered in green icons, which represented the two thousand powerful Strell battlecruisers lying in wait for the inbound Kleese fleet. Rith’s eyes could make out the different colors, though his ancestors in the dim past had only been able to see in black and white. The Strell had progressed far on the evolutionary scale from the time they had slithered on the ground until they'd developed arms and legs, which allowed them to build a technological civilization.

  “We will not be favored in this battle,” Lish spoke, the scales on his body seeming to ripple as he turned to face the Den Leader.

  “If we lose, our Empire will surrender to the Kleese,” Rith responded in a cold and nearly emotionless voice. “The Kleese will have demonstrated their superiority and won the right to lay claim to our Empire. The Dens will swear allegiance to the Kleese and become part of their realm.”

  Lish nodded in agreement. The Strell were a logical race and rather than suffer the total destruction of their Empire, they would surrender and serve the Kleese as willing vassals.

  -

  Several hours passed and the Strell battlecruisers waited. The ships were dark gray and nearly two kilometers long and one thousand meters in diameter. Their hulls were covered with small hatches covering sublight missile tubes. Numerous weapon turrets, which were pointed out toward empty space, waited on the enemy, who were expected to arrive shortly. Sensors reached out searching for an enemy that was nearly as ruthless and cold as the Strell and would show no mercy in battle. This would be a battle to the death until one side or the other had been completely annihilated.

  Tens of thousands of Strell stood at their posts waiting to throw their deadly weapons at the Kleese. There was very little talking as the Strell were a cold-blooded species and showed very little emotion. Only the Queens in the great dens were emotional and they controlled the Empire. A Queen very seldom ventured into space, preferring to stay beneath the ground surrounded by thousands of Strell, who obeyed her every command.

  The sensors continued to probe space and then the first Kleese warship dropped out of Fold Space. Instantly, warning alarms sounded in the waiting Strell fleet and their crews snapped suddenly to full vigilance. Their eyes narrowed and loud hissing noises echoed down the narrow corridors of their ships.

  Den Leader Rith gazed at the tactical screen as Kleese warships appeared all around his fleet. Somehow, the Kleese had detected the ambush and adjusted their fleet formation accordingly. His tongue flicked out as he turned toward Lish. “All ships fire! We must destroy these den killers.”

  -

  Kleese War Overlord Harmock gazed without compassion at the massive Strell fleet assembled before him. Harmock was an arachnid standing upon six legs. His upper torso was humanoid with two nearly black arms extending from the shoulders. The arms ended in a slim hand with seven long digits. A large triangular shaped head with multifaceted eyes took in the data the ship’s sensors were recording. Harmock was the War Overlord of the Zaltule and he had come to end the war against the Strell and add their Empire to that of the Kleese.

  “It is as we expected,” Minor Overlord Gareth spoke from Hammock’s side. “The Strell have gathered their remaining ships to oppose us. If we win this battle, their Empire will be ours.”

  Harmock was silent for a moment. Much had happened in the six years since his awakening by Xaltul, the Supreme Overlord of the Kleese race. The rest of the Zaltule had risen, the ancient shipyards had been reactivated, and new warships were in the process of being constructed. Now Harmock watched as the last of his four thousand disk ships dropped out of Fold Space. Each ship was dark black, three kilometers across, and one thousand met
ers thick. They were armed with heavy pulse fusion weapons, energy turrets, and antimatter sublight missiles. It was a force capable of crushing any opponent as the Strell were about to find out.

  “For the Empire!” roared Harmock over the ship’s com, which connected all of the Kleese ships. “Destroy them all!” His multifaceted eyes gazed with annoyance at the multitude of enemy before him.

  Resistance to the Empire was not permitted. The Strell should have been conquered over a thousand years ago. Instead, the Council of Overlords had grown weary of the war against the Strell and had come to an agreement with the cold-blooded race. The war had ended and the Zaltule had gone into deep sleep to serve the Empire in the future. Now that day had arrived, and Harmock fully intended to conquer every species that stood between the Kleese and domination of the galaxy, even if it was necessary to make changes to the Council of Overlords. The Zaltule would never agree to go into deep sleep again, and it was only fitting that the first major threat to be dealt with were their old enemies, the Strell.

  -

  From Strell battlecruisers, thousands of metal hatches slid open and sublight missiles vanished from their tubes as they accelerated at one hundred gravities toward their designated targets. Inertial compensators were stressed as they were pushed to the limit to handle the sudden thrust of the sublight drives on the deadly missiles. Around the surrounded fleet, massive ten-megaton antimatter explosions blossomed into existence as they slammed into their targets.

  Space flared in brilliant flashes of light as raw energy clawed at the powerful shields protecting the Kleese warships. Under the intense onslaught, more than a few shields faltered, allowing missiles to impact the vulnerable armored hulls. Across the Kleese formation, twenty ships died in massive fiery explosions as they were blown apart by antimatter energy.

  However, the Kleese were firing back and they had a two to one advantage plus more powerful ships. A Strell battlecruiser’s energy shield collapsed, allowing a Kleese pulse fusion beam to strike the top section of the ship. Massive sections of the hull were torn loose as the beam penetrated deep inside, setting off secondary explosions. Then a couple of twenty-megaton antimatter missiles struck the hull and two burning suns flashed into existence where the ship had been. Moments later, all that remained were glowing gases and a scattering of debris.

  The Strell ships tenaciously held their positions as they poured heavy weapons fire into the surrounding Kleese fleet. As with the Zaltule ships, the Strell battlecruisers had been designed for war and could take a lot of punishment. More Kleese ships were blown apart from the furious onslaught as energy weapons and antimatter missiles penetrated faltering screens and smashed into the armored hulls. Across the Kleese formation, bright suns appeared where powerful warships had once been.

  Kleese ships began to coordinate quickly and efficiently as they used their superior firepower against their ancient enemy. Strell ships began to die as the Kleese used their numerical superiority to overwhelm the Strell battlecruisers. Two or three Kleese ships would join together and pummel an opposing battlecruiser until there was nothing left but a drifting hulk or burning debris. Once the ship was out of action, the Kleese vessels would shift their fire to the next ship.

  -

  Den Leader Rith felt his flagship shake violently and listened impassively as damage reports began to come in from across the ship. Six compartments had been opened to space, secondary Engineering had been destroyed, sixteen missile tubes were nonfunctioning, and twenty percent of the ship’s energy weapons were gone.

  “We are severely damaged,” hissed Lish, his forked tongue waving in anguish. “The Kleese outnumber us and are destroying our ships.”

  “It is as I feared,” replied Den Leader Rith his snakelike head turning toward his second in command. “The Zaltule cannot be defeated, at least not by us. Too long have we allowed our military to become weak due to a lack of enemies, now we are paying for that oversight.”

  “We thought the Zaltule were gone,” Lish responded. “It is the primary reason the Queens agreed to a truce in the original war with the Kleese. The Kleese Council of Overlords promised they would do away with the warrior caste.”

  “We were tricked,” Rith responded his eyes becoming very narrow slits. “The Kleese used subterfuge to fool our Queens, and now we will pay the ultimate price for that grievous error in trusting their council.”

  On one of the main viewscreens, a Kleese battlecruiser was burning. Even as Rith watched, a series of antimatter explosions finished the ship off. If the Strell only had more warships, the Kleese could be defeated, but they were too heavily outnumbered. They would die for their Queens; it was far better than having a Kleese obedience collar placed around one’s neck.

  The ship shook violently again and the lights went out. The emergency lighting came on, but the command crew were no longer working at their stations. All heads and eyes were focused on the Den Leader.

  “Our energy shield is down,” Lish reported as he listened to one of the assistant Den Leaders in Engineering. “Fusion reactors one and two have been compromised and have been taken offline. We have battery power for two hours of life support.”

  Rith looked slowly around the Command Center acknowledging his den mates. “I don’t believe we will need life support shortly,” he spoke calmly. His eyes narrowed into slits as he contemplated his impending death. “Our Empire ends today; we serve our Queens in death.”

  Rith never saw the four Kleese antimatter missiles that struck his flagship. Raw, uncontrolled energy flashed through the two-kilometer long vessel vaporizing metal and incinerating flesh. In a microsecond, the flagship ceased to be.

  -

  In space, the surviving Strell warships moved closer together for mutual support with their energy screens nearly touching. Their energy weapons were firing nonstop and they were launching sublight antimatter missiles in sprint mode. Space was lit up from the multitude of antimatter explosions. Occasionally a Kleese energy shield would fail and the hapless ship would instantly be attacked by dozens of Strell battlecruisers. When that happened, the disk ship would vanish in a series of fiery explosions, leaving glowing debris behind.

  One of the other Den Leaders had taken command and formed what remained of the fleet into a compact globe formation to allow for maximum defensive support. The Strell had superior computers tied into their defensive systems, and many of the Kleese sublight antimatter missiles were being intercepted. Unfortunately, the Kleese were launching thousands in massive waves at the Strell formation and too many were getting through.

  The commanding Den Leader recognized the inevitable and sent word back toward Strell space that the battle was lost and the fleet would not be returning. He informed the Queens to prepare themselves to receive the Zaltule and to surrender the Empire.

  -

  Harmock watched in deep satisfaction as the Strell fleet was steadily pushed back. Every minute, their globe formation was becoming smaller and smaller as more ships were eliminated. The Strell formation was full of glowing suns, which indicated dying ships.

  “They are defeated!” spoke Minor Overlord Gareth. “We have forced them back into a purely defensive position and their offensive weapons fire has greatly diminished.”

  “They are fools to resist the Empire,” responded Harmock as he watched another ten Strell battlecruisers being torn apart on the viewscreens by Kleese pulse fusion beams. “This will be a great victory for the Zaltule.”

  “Then it will be time to return to the council,” Gareth added his powerful arms folding across his dark chest. His triangular head focused on the Overlord. “It is time the Zaltule were better represented by the council.”

  “As we shall be,” agreed Harmock. “But first we must finish this battle.”

  -

  The black Kleese ships continue to press the Strell. Even with their numerical advantage and superior weapons, it takes time to destroy two thousand warships. Ship after ship died in blazing deaths as
the Kleese eliminated them. Occasionally a Kleese shield would fail and the Strell would take revenge for their fallen den mates. The Strell formation was slowly becoming a cloud of glowing energy and drifting debris. Finally, the last Strell ship died in a blaze of light as over one hundred antimatter missiles blew it into oblivion.

  -

  “What were our losses?” demanded War Overlord Harmock. The battle was over and the Zaltule were victorious. It proved once more that the Kleese were the superior race in the galaxy and all others should be subservient.

  “We lost four hundred and twelve ships,” Gareth answered.

  “Acceptable, considering the size of the victory,” Harmock replied after a moment. “We will take six hours to repair our damage and then we’ll set course back to our home system. It is time that I meet with the Council of Overlords. A new era has arrived for our Empire, and the Zaltule will lead our people to new victories and glory. There are members of the council that are weak and will resist the new order; they will need to be replaced. The ranks of the Zaltule will furnish new and stronger leadership for the council.”

  -

  Six hours later, the Kleese warfleet entered Fold Space and left the small indiscreet star system far behind. From the second planet of the system, the Beltians had watched the entire battle on their primitive space sensors. They cringed in disbelief as the Strell warships were blasted into oblivion and wondered if the Strell would still come for the agricultural products the planet furnished. If not, then would the strange black disk ships, which had destroyed the Strell fleet, return instead? The Beltians had always believed the Strell were the supreme power in the galaxy, now that belief had been blown away. For the immediate future, they would look to the skies in fear; fear that the black disk ships would return and take the place of the Strell in making demands of the Beltians.