Conflict Unending Read online

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  On board the Dominator Kia worked desperately with the ship’s main computer trying to break the distortion field holding the fleet prisoner.

  “We’ve lost two hundred and fourteen battlecruisers and thirty-one dreadnaughts,” reported Captain Grayson as the list of destroyed and damaged vessels continued to grow.

  “Targeting Eternal battlecruisers with our blue energy spheres,” reported Kazak.

  Commander Zafron knew that would help to even the battle but there were still just too many Eternal warships. Even the powerful weapons of the Dominator could not destroy them all.

  “Decrease the size of the defensive sphere,” he ordered. Too many ships had been lost and the sphere was beginning to become frayed with ships becoming too exposed to incoming weapons fire.

  The Dominator suddenly shook violently, and alarms began sounding.

  “What was that?”

  “A number of Eternal antimatter missiles struck the same spot on the energy screen as well as a focused attack by hundreds of energy beams,” reported the AI at damage control. “Two beams penetrated and struck our hull. We lost two antimatter projectors and one gravitonic cannon. We have six compartments open to space. Emergency bulkheads have activated and repair robots are en route.”

  “Energy shield is stable,” added Kazak as he launched more blue energy spheres at several nearby Eternal battlecruisers. He was targeting over one hundred of them, firing two energy spheres at each one. The Eternal vessels were so large it took two spheres striking the hull to convert the vessels into space dust in a reasonable amount of time.

  Commander Zafron felt stunned by the damage to the Dominator. For the first time he realized he could die in this battle. “Kia, what’s the progress on the disruption field?”

  “Another minute,” she replied. “We’ve almost got it.”

  “Kazak, are there any of our ships we need to destroy to prevent the Eternals from collecting our technology?”

  “No,” Kazak replied as he checked the ship’s sensors with his neural implant. “All damaged ships have been reduced to space junk either by their destruction or the self-destructs our vessels are now armed with.”

  Under Fleet Admiral Strong’s recommendations, each Originator vessel now had a number of powerful self-destruct devices on board which would activate if the vessel became disabled in battle. The devices could be deactivated by a command from the vessel’s Command Center or Engineering.

  The Dominator shook again and the power briefly flickered.

  “We’re switching more power to the shield,” reported Kazak as he blew an Eternal battlecruiser apart with four well-placed dark matter missiles. The vessel had already been heavily damaged by the blue energy spheres.

  “We’ve got it!” called out Kia excitedly. “We can jump anytime.”

  “Then get the fleet out of here!” ordered Commander Zafron. He had already lost too many ships in this battle. It was going to be necessary to return to the Communications and Transport Hub and report his mission had been a partial failure.

  -

  The Originator fleet broke formation and made the jump into the safety of hyperspace. As soon as they were in hyperspace all vessels activated their stealth fields, making them invisible to Eternal sensors. The Eternal ship that had been following the fleet and staying at the edge of the system watching the battle was taken by surprise by the fleet’s sudden disappearance. Before it could lock on with its sensors, the fleet was out of range and gone.

  -

  Fleet Commander Durant felt anger flow through him as the trapped Originator fleet escaped.

  “They must have analyzed the frequency of the distortion field and adjusted their hyperdrives,” said Second Officer Carmmod.

  “How many of them did we destroy?” There was a lot of wreckage at the former location of the Originator fleet.

  “Three hundred and seventy-seven of their battlecruisers and forty-four of their dreadnaughts.”

  Durant leaned back in his command chair in thought. They had destroyed nearly half of the enemy fleet. No doubt it would now return home in defeat.

  “Did our stealth ship get a trace on the heading of the Originator fleet when it left?”

  “No,” replied Carmmod. “They were not expecting the fleet to escape the distortion field.”

  This did not please Fleet Commander Durant. “See that the ship’s commanding officer is sentenced to duty supervising shifts at the mines in the Stralon Star Cluster. His lack of efficiency displeases me.”

  “I will see to it immediately,” replied First Officer Carmmod.

  “What were our losses?”

  First Officer Carmmod hesitated and then answered. “We lost two hundred and seventeen battlecruisers and both of the shipyards.”

  This did not surprise Durant. Those deadly blue energy spheres the flagship of the Originators used were deadly. He would report to the Council of Eternals the enemy fleet had been defeated and driven from this galaxy. He would also inform them the Originators had two weapons, which could penetrate Eternal energy shields though he suspected the council already knew this.

  “Set a course back to the Stralon Star Cluster. I don’t believe we will have to worry about another Originator fleet coming to this galaxy again for quite some time.”

  -

  Commander Zafron was highly upset with himself. He wondered if it was his belief that being an Originator made him superior to many other life forms. After meeting the Humans and the Altons, he had come to question that belief. Now he feared his own belief in his superiority had cost him a large portion of his fleet. Even worse forty-four dreadnaughts had been destroyed with their Human and Alton crews. Granted there had only been crews in the Command Centers and Engineering but it had still resulted in the loss of over five hundred lives.

  “Kia, set a course for Galaxy X-938,” he ordered. “We’ll stop there for repairs before continuing on to the Communications and Transport Hub.” Once they reached Galaxy X-938, he would send a report to Fleet Admiral Strong. He would take full responsibility for the failure of this mission.

  “The Eternals are a dangerous enemy,” commented Kazak, coming to stand next to Zafron. “Even in the days of the Great War many Originator vessels were lost before the Anti-Life were driven back to their galaxy.”

  “I am aware of that,” Zafron replied. “My fear now is they’ve spread across this section of the universe so much we can never drive them back again. I don’t see any good way for this new war to end.”

  -

  Kazak did not reply. He was a military AI and trained for war. But he also knew they were fighting an enemy with possibly vast resources available to them. Twelve million Originators and their Human, Alton, and Carethian allies could not fight against the trillions of Eternals that must exist and hope to win. Even with his vast experience as a military AI, Kazak could not come up with a viable solution to win the war.

  Chapter Eight

  “The Originator fleet in the Median Galaxy has been defeated,” reported Second Leader Nolant. “Fleet Commander Durant managed to lure the fleet into a trap and inflicted heavy losses, causing it to flee.”

  “It is unfortunate it managed to destroy the shipyards in the Kassel System,” said Queexel. “Those were the largest shipyards we had in that galaxy.”

  “They did little harm in the Stralon Star Cluster. The Debens refused to aid them or to break away from our rule,” said Nolant.

  “Their time in the star cluster allowed Fleet Commander Durant to set up the trap he lured their fleet into,” said First Leader Clondax. “They were fools to follow the convoys.”

  Queexel looked at the others. “They will not be so foolish next time. We must not underestimate the Originators or the Humans working with them.”

  Second Leader Fehnral spoke up. “We need more information on the Humans as well as how many Originators still live. Are they free of the pathogen or have they found a cure?”

  “F
leet Commander Tarsal should soon be attacking the Originator fleet bases in the next galaxy on his target list,” said First Leader Clondax. “He has instructions to attempt to capture one of the bases. If he is successful we may know the answers to those questions.”

  “There are several thousand of these fleet bases,” pointed out Second Leader Barrant. “One fleet will not be able to destroy all of them.”

  Clondax shifted his attention to Barrant. “Shortly we will be sending more fleets into Originator space to eliminate their fleet bases. The Originators and their Human allies will not be able to defend them all. We believe it would spread their available fleet assets to the limit. Once we have eliminated the fleet bases, we can begin to isolate the Shrieels.”

  “We will take over their galaxies one by one,” Second Leader Tarmal said. “We are constructing more warrior robots and training additional Eternal shock troops for the planned invasions.”

  “By isolating the Shrieels we cut them off from additional resources,” said Second Leader Barrant. “They will be forced to surrender.”

  Clondax nodded. “When the time is right we will offer to allow the Originators who still live to choose a single Shrieel to live in. All Originators will be taken there. The other Shrieels will be ours.”

  “And these Humans the Originators are sharing their technology with?” asked Second Leader Fehnral.

  First Leader Clondax looked at the others and then replied. “Technology such as that possessed by the Originators cannot be allowed into the hands of any other races. We will find the home world of these Humans and destroy it as well as any colonies they may have. It is still believed by many that the Humans reside in one of the Shrieels. If that is so, on the day the Shrieels become ours the Humans inside will be disposed of.”

  “How soon before more fleets are sent into Originator Space?” asked Second Leader Queexel.

  “Shortly,” answered Clondax. “Ship production in all of our galaxies has been increased to provide warships for the new fleets. In three weeks ten fleets of ten thousand battlecruisers each will be sent into Originator space to attack the fleet bases. More will be sent as ships become available.”

  “We could suffer some major fleet losses in this conflict,” said Second Leader Nolant. “Losses which may take years to make up.”

  Second Leader Barrant shook his head. “We are committing so many ships to this war effort against the Originators our planned expansion into other galaxies of this universe has slowed down.”

  “We are still expanding,” corrected Clondax. “We are expanding into Originator space. Soon we will possess the Shrieels and with their industrial output added to our own our expansion across this universe will be vastly increased.”

  Second Leader Fehnral stood up, staring directly at First Leader Clondax. “I must caution you about underestimating the Originators. They have already demonstrated they have weapons that can penetrate our energy screens. They can even free themselves from the hyperspace distortion fields we use to prevent enemy fleets from escaping. They defeated us in that star cluster in which the Originators were experimenting. Defeating them might not be as easy as you indicate.”

  “It is a risk we must take,” responded Clondax, his eyes focusing coldly on Fehnral. “We are the Eternals. We are the most advanced race in this universe. In time, the Originators will fall before our superior power. It is our destiny to rule, and we must let none stand in our way.”

  -

  Fehnral sat down, not wanting to challenge Clondax. It would be unhealthy. Others in the past who had challenged the First Leader had died or mysteriously disappeared. He did not want to join those ranks.

  -

  “However, Fehnral has brought up a good point. The technology of the Originators is close to our own. We must be careful in our battles with them to always possess superior numbers. While it is true they can destroy our battlecruisers we can also destroy theirs. I believe Second Leader Nolant has a report to make on the new antimatter missiles our ships are being armed with.”

  “We have designed a 100-megaton antimatter missile,” Nolant said. “While not as powerful as the dark matter weapons the Originators and Humans are using, it should aid our ships in taking down the shields of enemy ships.”

  “As you can see, with newer and more powerful weapons it is only a matter of time before we control all of Originator space,” said Clondax. “Once we have possession of the Shrieels, there is nothing that can stop the spread of our empire across this universe.”

  Clondax was pleased with the way things were going. Both Fleet Commanders Durant and Tarsal had reported recent victories. It was obvious to him the Originators and Humans were not prepared to fight a widespread war. By attacking different Originator galaxies at the same time, he would spread their fleets and destroy them one by one. Eternal victory was inevitable.

  -

  Fleet Commander Tarsal waited expectantly as his fleet prepared to exit hyperspace at his next target. Long-range sensors indicated this fleet base was protected by a larger fleet than the last one. It would make no difference. His numerical superiority would allow him to reduce it with minimal losses. From the survey that Fleet Commander Parnon had completed of this galaxy, there were four Originator fleet bases which needed to be annihilated.

  -

  Malyk, the military AI in charge of the fleet base, studied the long-range sensors. A large void area was approaching in hyperspace. No doubt this was the Eternal fleet that had destroyed the fleet base in Galaxy X-257. He had been expecting its arrival.

  “They will be here in twelve minutes,” reported Dasoon from the Sensors.

  Malyk nodded. “We are prepared for them.” The extra warships from the Shrieel in galaxy X-243 had arrived. What really pleased Malyk was a cargo ship had come with the fleet carrying a supply of dark matter missiles for the fleet base. Not only that, there were two hundred of the new and larger battlecruisers, which were, all equipped with dark matter missiles and better energy screens. The big surprise had been the ten dreadnaughts that came with the fleet as well.

  “Carlton is asking how you want the fleet to be deployed. He’s recommending placing it around the fleet base so the base’s weapons can be used to support the fleet.”

  “Agreed,” replied Malyk.

  On the viewscreens of the Command Center, the 1,410 ships of the fleet rapidly formed up around the large fleet base.

  “Energy screen activating,” reported Halvor. “All weapons are online, and dark matter weapons are in all missile tubes.”

  Malyk was pleased with the actions of the AIs who served with him on the fleet base. They were efficient and had no fear of what was to come. “Stand by.”

  -

  The Eternal fleet dropped out of hyperspace just short of engagement range. The fleet formed up into a massive cone formation and then began moving toward the fleet base and the waiting Originator fleet.

  “Detecting 1,400 Originator battlecruisers,” reported Garald. Then he frowned, looking over at Fleet Commander Tarsal. “There are ten dreadnaughts as well.”

  “Twice as many as before,” Fleet Commander Tarsal said. “It is obvious they have been reinforced in anticipation of our attack.” The presence of the dreadnaughts concerned him. They would be more difficult to destroy and could cause some serious damage to his fleet.

  “Two hundred of the battlecruisers are the larger ones like the ones we encountered at the star cluster battle.”

  Tarsal’s eyes widened at hearing this. The larger battlecruisers were more powerful and harder to destroy. “Target them and the dreadnaughts first. They will be the most dangerous.” This battle was going to be much more difficult and costly than he had planned.

  “Engagement range,” reported Garald.

  “Firing,” reported Lomart.

  -

  From the Conqueror and the other Eternal battlecruisers heavy energy beam fire erupted, striking the Originator fleet. Almost instantly several energy screen
s collapsed and the exposed battlecruisers were quickly obliterated by antimatter missiles.

  -

  On board the command dreadnaught Carlton, the military AI, studied the tactical display showing the incoming weapons fire. “All regular battlecruisers are to fire in groups of four on Eternal targets,” he ordered. “Our enhanced battlecruisers are to work in groups of two. Use of dark matter missiles is authorized.”

  Carlton’s duty was to inflict as much damage as possible on this Eternal fleet, forcing it to abandon its attacks on the fleet bases. Carlton was well aware this would most likely result in the destruction of the entire defending fleet and possibly the fleet base. His dreadnaughts were crewed entirely by AIs as there were no organic crewmembers available.

  -

  In space, hundreds of dark matter missiles were fired at the Eternal fleet. Across the entire forward section raw energy erupted, assailing Eternal energy screens. Antimatter projectors and gravitonic cannons added their firepower to the onslaught. Under such firepower a few shields began to go down.

  In the Eternal formation, dark matter missiles detonated against the hull of a battlecruiser. The resulting explosions turned the vessel into plasma and clouds of glowing gas. Other Eternal battlecruisers were destroyed in the same manner as the firepower from the Originator fleet was augmented from the fleet base. Hundreds of dark matter missiles were detonating against Eternal energy shields every few seconds. Space was awash with raging energy. The ten heavy dreadnaughts were pouring heavy fire into the Eternal fleet. More than one Eternal battlecruiser saw their energy screens smashed and their hulls ravaged by the firepower from the deadly ships. In case after case dark matter missiles blew the besieged Eternal ships to oblivion.

  A pair of gravitonic beams from a dreadnaught struck the stern of an Eternal battlecruiser, ripping deep into the ship and separating the rear third of the vessel from the front section. A pair of dark matter missiles arrived turning the two sections into small supernovas.