Fall of the Terran Empire - Traci Ganner series book 1

FTE - Ch 13

“Sire, we must get you safely away to Mizar,” said the disturbed first space lord as he marched into the emperor’s private study. He was accompanied by four men-at-arms, who knelt before the monarch. It was the knight admiral’s duty to serve the Empire, one he took very seriously. And in this instance, it meant protecting the emperor any way he knew how.

The emperor looked at his longtime comrade with compassion and understanding. “No, my friend,” he said gently. ”There is no place I can go that they will not find me. And there is no better place to make a stand than under the protection of the orbital works surrounding Earth itself.” The emperor walked over and placed a hand on the larger man’s shoulder. “We have seen many campaigns in the years gone by. And now, we will see one more together, you and I.”

“Sire, our ready response force has received word that Second Fleet has been destroyed at Alpha Centauri. The enemy will reinforce and move upon Sol within the next few days. Once they arrive, there will be no way to leave without detection.”

“I know. But I will not run from my enemy like a coward. I will face them head on. Lead me to my flagship.”

It seemed strange to see the emperor dressed in the same military fatigues as the rest of the command staff, but no one paid any mind. The top brass of Home Fleet had assembled in the large flag briefing room and were now laying out the final stages of ops planning for the coming assault. Knight Admiral Elbazi had finished two rounds of briefings before this one, in which several rough ops plans were prepared. Each would be reviewed once again at a higher level during this particular meeting, for the benefit of their distinguished guest.

“Mohammed, which ops plan do you intend to use?” the emperor asked politely.

“With your majesty’s permission, I would like to go with Anvil-three,” he said. “It offers the best overall defense of all of the ops plans, and provides an element of surprise for the invaders. In addition, sire, it also places you in command of the ‘anvil’ force, as it were, and allows me to command a very heavy force to use as the hammer.”

Vice Admiral Krowal pressed a key sequence, and the plan they had named Anvil-three appeared on the monitors. It was a bold plan that left one-third of Home Fleet staged near Earth itself. The other two-thirds of the fleet would be in hiding in the rings of Saturn and Jupiter, where the natural dust and ice would mask them from cursory sensor scans. In fact, Task Force Eleven, “the bait,” would be on high emission just outside of Earth orbit to attract the invading fleet to come in for the attack. If the plan worked, Elbazi’s two heavy task forces, Twelve and Thirteen, would smash into their rear and drive them into the waiting arms of TF Eleven, which would also be supported by not one, but three orbital defense bases. It was critical to the success of the plan that the ambush force wait until the invaders were committed; the invading fleet could not be allowed to withdraw.

The Earth fleet bases were not just for show. Tradition ensured that each emperor not only had the largest fleet elements stationed in Home Fleet, but that the Earth orbital bases were in a constant state of upgrade. Every new weapon system or shielding improvement was applied to Earth’s Titans first, before refits were made available to the frontier areas. It communicated a sense of power from the capital, and also served to deter anyone from thinking they could overtake the government’s seat of power in a show of force.

“Very well, Knight Admiral, I approve the ops plan.” And that was that. Each of the staffers rose, bowed to the emperor, and left for the more detailed planning sessions and preparations to get the two beater task forces underway and into place for the coming attack.

The sovereign was not a part of the regular navy, nor really a part of the admiralty. Nevertheless, he spent his time in briefings, aboard the flag bridge, and occasionally touring the ship. By all appearances, he radiated the gravity of an immovable object. But deep inside, he had the knowing feeling that a clock was winding down--a clock that measured out his reign as supreme ruler of the Imperium.