Exodus_Empires at War_Book 13_Retaliation by Doug Dandridge

Author:Doug Dandridge [Dandridge, Doug]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2017-12-03T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack. Sun Tzu

NOVEMBER 16TH, 1003, CENTRAL FRONT.

"Scouts have translated into normal space, sir. So far, no indication of enemy ships in hyper on the way in."

Len looked at the plot that was being transmitted through the wormhole aboard the battle cruiser in command of the scouting force. Two squadrons of the smaller capital ships, eight of them in all. Along with them were four squadrons of light cruisers, totaling thirty two of the eight hundred thousand ton warships. All were hyper VII ships with over-sized grabber units for greater acceleration. Two of the battle cruisers had wormholes, giving them some redundancy in case one got taken out.

This was the first of the major systems they had been tasked with taking. The first where they would crash through an enemy system defense force and take the planet, liberating the slaves, and procuring it as their own base.

"It doesn't look like they're going to contest hyperspace anymore," said the chief of staff. "Maybe we weakened their fleet to the point where they can't afford to meet us in fleet actions."

Len thought about that a couple of seconds. The Caca Empire was vast, an estimated twenty-five times the real estate of his star nation. They were in a war on two fronts, and had already expended a great number of vessels. But that didn't feel completely right to him. Of course, they also had to hold down a huge empire with over a hundred thousand inhabited worlds, worked by slave races. They should be able to accomplish that with ground troops, but major revolts could result in the need for ships to transport troops where they were needed most. It was hoped that an invasion by an outside force that seemed determined to liberate the slaves would increase the number of revolts, fanning the flames into a wildfire that could sweep across the Ca'cadasan Empire. Partisan forces on their own could probably not liberate their worlds, and uncounted billions would probably die in the attempt, but if it disrupted the industry and flow of resources in the Caca empire, it would be worth it. At least to the humans and their allies. If it would be worth it to the natives who were slaughtered was another question. In the long run? Definitely, since they would be free and able to determine their own fates.

But was their freedom a good thing in the long run? What if they fragmented into a thousand smaller star nations, each with space faring technology. That could bring about its own problems. It might be better for the Empire to just annex the whole thing, though the leaders of the other allied powers wanted no such deal.

Getting ahead of yourself, aren't you, Len? They still had a long war, and they were only into the fringes of the Caca Empire. When they hit the core planets the resistance was sure to intensify, if the Cacas didn't build up enough of a reserve force to go back on the offensive and kick them out.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.