Machine Planet (Conquest of Stars Book 4) Read online

  His thoughts were interrupted by a fleet wide announcement emanating from the command room of Starship RedStorm and Setvyk could hear a tinge of fear and hesitation in Commodore Melvyk’s otherwise usually firm voice.

  “Starfleet Majestic, this is your battle commander,” Melvyk said, “You must have been confused by the sudden and secret nature of our mission when you were ordered to your starships for immediate duty with no advance notice and no briefing. This is why we could not inform you. Even one word of the menace we were chasing would have caused panic to spread amongst our civilian population and would have induced, uncertain and chaotic reactions from the other galactic powers.”

  Hell, the panic would spread amongst their military if Commodore didn’t have a very good explanation for this…metallic giant out of deep space, Capitan Setvyk thought.

  “You may not believe your eyes,” Commodore Melvyk continued, “But there it is, the Machine Planet, whom we have been tasked to destroy. It is one gargantuan machine, it is armed to the teeth and it is controlled by an algorithm of warfare and conquest. If we don’t stop it, it has the firepower to smash our Empire and every other civilization in our galaxy.”

  Capitan Setvyk’s crew and the technician all stared at him. Why look at me, he thought but didn’t say it out loud, I don’t have a clue in all hell how to even begin to fight that beast. Commodore better…

  “I will admit, we have never fought an enemy like this, we have never trained to fight an enemy like this, never even imagined, but we have our mission and our people are counting on us even if they don’t know yet,” Commodore Melvyk said, “If there is one fleet in the galaxy that can take it on, it is Starfleet Majestic, the best spacefighting force ever to fly amongst the stars, the pride and crown jewel of Starfire Empire. Victory or Death!”

  “Victory or Death” his crew repeated in unison. The slogan came naturally to them. But Setvyk was silent. Why use three words when one would do, Setvyk scoffed, it would be their Death.

  The starfighters had apparently been briefed already. They had reached close to the Machine Planet and were firing lasers and rockets and maneuvering to avoid getting hit by the self-same fired back at them from the planetary surface. Setvyk was looking at the data feeding back on his battle computer. The starfighters were not emptying their arsenal every which way, but were targeting specific structures on the Planet. That means that their government must have known about the Machine Planet before it let anyone else become aware of it. How else would the starfighters have the data to pick particular targets?

  Few seconds after their Commodore’s announcement, Starfleet Majestic changed course and swung towards the Planet. Setvyk and his crew almost fell on the floor with the shock of their lives by what happened next: Machine Planet jumped its orbit and accelerated towards them.

  “The damned monster is a spaceship too!” someone exclaimed but Setvyk was still trying to recover his mental balance to put a face to the voice.

  But the Starfleet as a whole was not fazed and its operations were not interrupted. Instead, tens of thousands of rockets launched simultaneously in synchronization with each other, a feat only possible if planned in advance, and the rockets accelerated to their theoretical maximum speed as they targeted the Machine Planet.

  Their target was too large to miss and it could not even attempt an evasion, nor did it try. Instead the Machine Planet kept advancing forward towards their fleet.

  Setvyk and his crew watched in terror when more than fifty thousand rockets, each carrying at least a 10 Megaton warhead, struck the Machine Planet at the same second.

  It was as if a large, barren ground had suddenly sprouted an entire field covered with red mushrooms. Over the next few seconds the mushroom clouds gave way and the entire planet turned into a large, red fireball with flames shooting outward, resembling a small star that might have popped into existence.

  It took a few minutes for the fire to simmer down and Setvyk wondered whether the Planet had melted or perhaps even evaporated, though he knew the later scenario was pure runaway imagination on his part.

  But to his and every other Starfirian’s horror, the Machine Planet had survived and even with massive damage apparent on its surface and through the sight of the giant holes and the broken structures, it was still operational.

  The proof of this was now racing fast towards their fleet, all thirty thousand of them, the rockets fired in retaliation by the mechanical monster of the deep space.

  Chapter 2: Siege of Bravo

  Regional Star Commander Carvyk Botlar and Capitan of his palace guards Jontvyk Tubyt reached the command room built deep underground into the depths of planet Bravo and the two guards standing outside the room saluted them.

  “Who else has arrived?” Carvyk asked the guards.

  “The entire staff is awaiting you, sir,” one of the guards replied. The other guard slid his card and entered his password to open the thick, metallic doors.

  Carvyk and Jontvyk walked into the large cubic room. The command room was around 50 ft. on each of its three sides and its four walls were plastered with terminals relaying both data from the sensors being displayed in numerical format as well as beaming live visuals from the cameras around the planet, the moon and the solar system. There were tens of officers seated in front of the ground level terminals, punching in commands, discussing with each other and sending out messages to the armed forces above ground and in space.

  Carvyk stood in the center of the room and turned around slowly looking at all the live video feeds first. He was stunned to see the unknown Mercurian fleet descending from all sides and converging onto Bravo. They had completely taken them by surprise and the gravitron scanners and the patrol ships hadn’t picked up a clue. Carvyk snickered at the misfortunate situation he now found himself in and then brought the room to attention.

  “Who is in charge here?” Carvyk asked. He had rarely bothered to come down here. He had not imagined that he would have a need for it and never had run even a single drill for a siege scenario. After all, this frontier region looked out into empty space and the nearest galactic power capable of overrunning his Sixth Frontier Fleet was still very far away.

  “I am, sir,” a short but stout man with a wide face at his chins, saluted him, “Colonel Granvyk Mayek, commander of planetary defense coordination under your aegis.”

  “What have you prepared for this…umm…situation?” Carvyk asked him.

  The colonel looked uneasy and he twitched on the spot while changing his bearing from one leg to the other. “As you are aware, the regional capital planet of a frontier region is allocated the standard firepower equal to that of thirty starships of our frontier fleet, distributed across rocket and laser systems, but…”

  “But what?” Carvyk turned his attention away from the terminals to look at him with a frown.

  “But…we are a newer region and are low priority for delivery of arms and ammunition due to our isolated location. We only have force equal to twenty five starships, however,” Col. Granvyk smiled slightly, “because we have a fortified moon, that gives us firepower equivalent of ten additional starships.”

  “They have three hundred!” Carvyk exclaimed loudly pointing to the terminals with all his fingers in a palm up indication. He walked over to the largest terminal attached to the wall opposite to the door and which displayed symbols for starships, planets and rocket and laser batteries. Starfirian forces had returned to the safety of the planet and the moon after an initial foray towards the Mercurian fleet where they had taken incoming fire from all directions. Now they had retreated to the narrow space between Planet Bravo and its moon. The Mercurians were arrayed up on the outer side of the planet and the moon; their fleet split in half for this twin formation.

  Both fleets were firing rockets at each other but without a straight trajectory and with the gravity of planetary bodies to overcome, they were not very effective. Lasers were mostly being fired by the ground batteries and were fired upon
in return by Mercurian spaceships.

  “What orders are you sending out to our spaceships?” Carvyk turned his neck to ask of Col. Granvyk.

  “None sir, Interior Commander Artvyk Torran has taken charge of the space operations,” he replied, “both Commodore Bastlar and Zarvyk are reporting to him as well.”

  “I see,” Carvyk scoffed, “And what about my ships?”

  “They are also following, Com. Artvyk,” Granvyk said then saw an expression of displeasure on Carvyk’s face and added, “But if you want to take command of Sixth Frontier’s spaceships, I can send an order…”

  “No, that will not be necessary,” Carvyk smiled, “I trust Com. Artvyk’s battle abilities.”

  “Yes sir,” Col. Granvyk replied.

  Carvyk knew that Artvyk had chosen the only tactic available to them. A ship against ship open space battle would be a disaster against such odds. They had to take protection of Planet Bravo.

  “Capitan Jontvyk, take a walk with me outside,” Carvyk said and his capitan walked over to him and they headed towards the hefty, metal door.

  “Sir, it is not advisable to be outside,” one of the inner guards said, “a hard strike above could cause the rocks outside to start falling. This room can withstand…”

  “Oh shut up,” Carvyk waved his hand, “What are the chances that they decide to target my palace just right now?”

  The guard was embarrassed but said nothing. He opened the door.

  “You two go inside and give me the access card,” Carvyk ordered the two outer guards who saluted him briskly and marched right in. The door closed behind them.

  Carvyk and Jontvyk walked towards the elevators that were a hundred meters ahead of them. On both sides were hard, gray and black, craggy rocks, as if deep inside a coal mine. There was a paved steel walkway leading to the elevators and there were floodlights placed at the interval of ten meters on either side.

  “Jontvyk, I have a secret mission for you, and I am going to ask you to risk your life,” Carvyk said.

  “I serve you, Commander Carvyk,” Jontvyk replied, “I presume I will have to run the blockade that the Mercurians will now be enacting.”

  “Not just yet,” Carvyk said, “but yes, once matters settle down here. This is going to be a long siege, but we can’t afford to wait it out.”

  “But why not Commander,” Jontvyk asked, “There is enough food and fuel stockpiled around this command room to last a hundred years.”

  “That is good for them,” Carvyk pointed with his thumb to the command room behind his back, “But not for me or you. Commodore Raptor is onto us and my old enemy Barryett is with him. No doubt the bastard is plotting with Raptor against me. I thought I would get rid of Barryett forever by packing him off to Starship Conquistador; but now he is more dangerous out there, than he was under my thumb here.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Jontvyk asked.

  “I want you to meet Baron Karjax Jak and secretly, just like we did the last time,” Carvyk said, “and impress upon him the need, his need as well as ours, to break me out of the siege here.”

  “But our own Starfleet will be mobilizing…” Jontvyk began speaking.

  “They will take their due time,” Carvyk shook his head, “This is a military outpost, not a civilian settlement planet. Breaking our siege will not be a priority of our fleet. They might first attack Mercurians at Nestor. But the Jak Forward Fleet under the command of Baron Karjax is not far from here.”

  “Will he listen?” Jontvyk asked as they reached the elevators and then turned around to walk back to the command room.

  “Not out of any love for me,” Carvyk said, “But you tell him if I go down, I will take everyone else down with me. I will tell all to all who listen. I will expose his role and take him down. You be polite if you want with that swine, but be firm and clear that I will not keep my mouth shut.”

  “A bit risky,” Jontvyk gulped.

  “A lot risky,” Carvyk chuckled, “It was the moment we decided to play the game. You don’t attempt to establish your own spacefaring empire without risking your life.”

  Chapter 3: Surprise at Rainmar

  “Grand Admiral,” the communications officer saluted Grand Admiral Valorun Lynam in the grand lounge abroad Megaship Maverick where the admiral was sitting in a corner, aloof and away from the other admirals and vice-admirals, sipping his cocktail of liquor and assorted fancy-tasty chemicals that Mercurian chemical corporatexes churned out on a gargantuan scale.

  “Go on,” Valorun said as he put down his glass on the colorful crystal table in front of him. The other senior officers present in the lounge turned their ears towards him.

  “Admiral Molan Kal reports that Starfirians have assumed a defensive posture in the space between Bravo and its moon,” the officer said, “He estimates a loss of over a hundred and twenty of our spaceships if he were to crush the defensive forces. He wants to know if you want him to attempt to take the planet by force anyhow?”

  Valorun said nothing but looked at the rest of his officers in the lounge. They had walked over to him by now and were intently listening.

  “A sacrifice worth the cost,” his Vice-Admiral Lewyn Mal blurted out.

  “Do not be so eager to sacrifice others,” Valorun said, “They are our fellow Mercurians too, no less.”

  “I do not mean it lightly,” Lewyn said, “But our occupation of their planet would be a big blow to the morale of Starfirians.”

  A few other admirals nodded their heads in support.

  “Only if they are emotional fools,” Valorun said and many who had nodded in support of Lewyn felt a slight tinge of rebuke towards them as well. Valorun picked up his glass, gulped it down, slammed it back on the table and stood up with a jump that startled the other officers.

  “I want Starfirians to start assembling their fleet at one location,” Valorun said, “if we take that planet, they may change their tactics. This was never more than a diversion. Gollan,” he addressed the communications officer, “send a message to Admiral Molan to hold steady. He is not to make an attempt without my express permission.”

  “Yes, Admiral,” Gollan saluted him crisply and left the room.

  Valorun walked over to the large screen on the opposite wall displaying a real-time video feed of their fleet assembled just outside the star system of planet Bravo. It was the largest fleet he had ever commanded and for all he knew it was the largest fleet ever amassed in the galactic history. It certainly was in the Mercurian history for he knew all the Mercurian space battles by heart.

  Then he turned around to face his senior officers.

  “We have thrown a fake, now the time has come for the real punch,” Valorun said, “Admirals return to your spaceships and prepare for departure. Our next stop will be our battlefield.”

  The Admirals saluted him and left the room.

  He took a heave of sigh. He felt a slight pity for Starfirians. This was going to be the fastest defeat and rollup of a large space empire.

  But then he shuddered a bit.

  But if Starfirians were a stubborn and hardy nation, this would be an absolute supernova blasting of a war this galaxy had ever seen.

  “I want to nominate Stardjacker Capitan Kyrtar Prym for our highest award,” Commodore Raptor instructed his records officer, “Prepare an official report of his brave act and I will attach my authorization code to it.”

  “Commodore Raptor, I would like to remind you that our awards for gallantry, not the least of it the highest award, are to be given to very special warriors and for very special acts of courage and battle feats,” Capitan Toryett Korren, the starship’s records officer, replied but with a bit of hesitation.

  “Excuse me, Capitan,” Raptor’s eyes widened in surprise, “I make that judgement for the initial nomination.”

  “Yes, Commodore, sorry if it sounded as if spoken in opposition,” Toryett said softly, “I am required by my section’s regulations to issue that warning as a matter of f
act. I do not have any disagreements with your decision.”

  “Alright then,” Raptor said, “Dismissed.”

  Capitan Toryett saluted him, turned around and walked out of Raptor’s personal office. Then Raptor walked over to his door and entered his code to lock it from inside and confirmed the sound proofing of his room. Afterwards he turned to the small group of his senior officers who had assembled there.

  Along with Vice-Commodore Barryett, present were laser officer Capitan Alvina, Capitan Dorrvyk the communications officer, Legtar Pytar the starship’s law officer, Capitan Styx the head of Starship Guards, Hartar Pytar the Army’s Chief Detective abroad, and Colonel Tollvyk the rocket officer. All of them were senior officers and top commanders of their respective sections. Most importantly, Raptor had taken all of them in confidence in regard to Commander Carvyk’s conspiracy and his planned move to expose it.

  “You made the right decision,” VC Barryett spoke first, “Kyrtar may have been working for Commander Carvyk, but he was following orders, doing what he thought was right. He gave his life but saved this starship from the mercenaries of Dark Star Company. If saving an entire spaceship and the lives of thousands abroad is not the highest act of gallantry, then what could be.”

  “I bet Carvyk’s boy Segwyk thinks he deserves an award for cutting himself while shaving yet showing up for the command,” Tollvyk remarked.

  “Toll…” Raptor cautioned him. He didn’t want jokes right after a solemn matter and right before a serious one.

  “He probably does,” Alvina chimed in, “He thinks he is a hotshot who will one day become the commander of Starfleet Majestic.”

  Raptor was dismayed by this banter and this distraction. But he did not want to scold Alvina. His feelings for her, if anything, had grown stronger since her rebuke of and rescue from Segwyk’s clutches.

  Law officer Legtar came to his rescue when he loudly cleared his throat.

  “Commodore,” he said, “I have prepared official charges against Commander Carvyk and Commodore Segwyk,” and he held out a black, rectangular metallic pad that was 7 by 10 inches and half an inch thick. It was lit up by a dozen, tiny colorful bulbs embedded on its top surface, along with a few carvings and depressions that were the channels for interior electrical connections and a small screen near the bottom that was protected by a larger, transparent diamond glass above, and a keypad right below the screen. The metal itself was a very strong alloy that would allow the ‘Chargekeeper’ as it was called in the Army to survive tampering and destruction attempts by all hand held tools and weapons.