Empire's End (Empire Rising Book 20) by D. J. Holmes

Author:D. J. Holmes [Holmes, D. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-14T00:00:00+00:00

James felt the weight of what his Chief of Staff was saying. There were four systems with settled planets within the Void and a further twenty-four systems that were inhabited in one way or another. Less than four hundred ships guarded all of them, and south of the Void were the former British colonies of Britannia, Cambridge, and Oxford. Billions of Imperial citizens lived on the three planets. Excalibur, Damang, and the Void were east of New Shanghai. If James wanted, he could dispatch a couple of thousand warships to try and stem the advance of the Karacknid fleet that was pushing through the area. Yet, he couldn’t. The Karacknid battlefleet was all that mattered. He had to stop it. If he didn’t, Excalibur would be nothing compared to what Tanaka-lan would do to Earth and every other Human colony.

“Order the evacuation of The Void and all the surrounding systems,” James said after finishing the report himself. “Include all our warships. They are to fall back to Britannia and make a stand there if they can. Instruct the battlestations and other orbital defenses at the colonies being evacuated that they are to stand down if threatened. It’s not worth destroying a handful of Karacknid warships if they’re going to start nuking our cities. The war is going to be won or lost here, not in The Void or even at Britannia.”

When James looked at Christine for approval, she nodded as she wiped away a tear. “We need to make him pay!” She said fiercely. “For everything.”

James nodded but didn’t reply. If only it were that easy, he thought.

As soon as Sparrowhawk and Justice reached two-way communication range, James hailed both flagships. He smiled when he saw Georgia was on Justice’s bridge with Reverus. “Welcome home,” he said to his two children and Reverus. “All three of you have done a good job, however, I’m afraid I have more to ask of you.”

“The fleet looks like it’s getting ready to break orbit, Father. What are you planning?” Jonathan asked.

“We’re going to confront Tanaka-lan at Pattel,” James replied. “We can’t stand against him there, but maybe we can delay him and buy ourselves another day or two. If you and Georgia are willing, I need you back in action right away as well. I want to deploy at least a couple of thousand ships beyond Pattel to engage the initial screening squadrons that fan out from Tanaka-lan’s battlefleet. Are you and Georgia ready to head back into action?”

“I can’t speak for Georgia, but we’ve had a few days of downtime as we’ve rushed south. I’m ready,” Jonathan said confidently.

“As am I,” Georgia said. “Though if I’m to lead a fighter force under Jonathan’s command, I’d like to bring some of my Eagleton pilots with me. They are very handy in a scrap. Plus, it would do our Imperial and Eagleton fighters some good to fight together.”

“What do you say, Vice Admiral?” James asked Reverus.

Reverus made a gesture with his feathered arm, “That is fine by me, Admiral.

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