The lost fleet box set, p.1
The Lost Fleet Box Set, page 1
part #1 of The Lost Fleet Series
The Lost Fleet Series:
Books 1-5
By
Raymond L. Weil
USA Today Best Selling Author
Books in The Lost Fleet Series
The Lost Fleet: Galactic Search (Book 1)
The Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness (Book 2)
The Lost Fleet: Oblivion’s Light (Book 3)
The Lost Fleet: Genesis (Book 4)
The Lost Fleet: Search for the Originators (Book 5)
Website: http://raymondlweil.com/
Copyright © March 2015 by Raymond L. Weil
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design by Humblenations.com
These books are a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.
Table of Contents
The Lost Fleet: Galactic Search
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
The Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
The Lost Fleet: Oblivion’s Light
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
The Lost Fleet: Genesis
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
The Lost Fleet: Search for the Originators
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Epilogue
The Lost Fleet: Galactic Search
Chapter One
Admiral Race Tolsen grimaced as the WarHawk shook violently. They were at Condition One with everyone at their battlestations. On the tactical display, forty glaring red threat icons represented the warships which continued to harass his fleet.
“Light damage to outer hull, section D-12,” reported the Damage Control officer. “Hull integrity is holding.” The ship shuddered as missiles and energy beams continued to impact the defense shield.
“Damn Borzon,” Commander Madelyn Arnett uttered as she held on to the armrests of her command chair. “They should have stayed in their own territory!”
“We’re having this problem all along the entire border of the former Hocklyn Slave Empire,” commented Admiral Tolsen as the WarHawk fired off a series of sublight antimatter missiles at the nearby Borzon cruiser attacking them. “The Borzon are trying to add these worlds to their own empire. This is the deepest any of their fleets have penetrated into Federation-controlled space.”
“Well, that’s not happening today,” said Madelyn, as she ordered the 1,600-meter WarHawk to close the range with the nearest enemy cruiser. “We’ll show them what the penalty is for trespassing in our territory.”
On the main viewscreen, the energy screen of the targeted Borzon ship was lit up from massive antimatter explosions and showed signs of imminent collapse. Other Borzon ships were also under heavy attack from the various ships of the Third Fleet. The Borzon cruisers were slim vessels, heavily armed, and 1,200 meters in length.
“Fire particle beam!” commanded Madelyn, sensing a weakness in this particular Borzon ship’s protective shield. It was flickering and, in some areas, seemed to have faded away completely. While the Borzon ships were quite powerful, the Federation ships had superior weapons and energy shields.
Instantly a bright blue beam flashed from the WarHawk and easily pierced the Borzon ship’s energy screen, impacting the ship’s hull and causing a tremendous explosion of released energy. A massive section of the hull broke loose and floated away from the ship. Internal explosions could be seen blowing out other sections of hull material. The Borzon ship seemed to falter, and then its energy screen flickered and collapsed. A fifty-megaton Devastator Three missile finished off the ship in a fiery burst of consuming nuclear fire. A few moments later, all that was left of the enemy cruiser was a scattering debris field and some glowing gases.
“Borzon cruiser is down,” confirmed Lieutenant Brent Davis from his Main Sensor console.
“Battleships Ajax and Constitution are heavily engaged with three Borzon cruisers,” reported Commander Arnett as she studied one of the holographic tactical displays. “They’re taking some damage.”
Tolsen nodded as he thumbed his minicomm to Fleet-wide setting. “Strikecruisers Vendetta and Longhorn move to coordinates 17° down by 22° starboard of central axis and assist the Ajax and the Constitution.” Race wasn’t that concerned about the two battleships; he just wanted to hold their damage to a minimum.
-
The pair of strikecruisers quickly accelerated and headed toward the two battleships’ positions. Upon arriving, they found the Ajax and Constitution involved in a missile duel with three Borzon cruisers. Antimatter missiles and powerful nuclear missiles were exploding against energy shields. Suddenly the screen on one of the Borzon ships failed, and twin antimatter suns formed where the ship had been. The two remaining Borzon cruisers shifted their attack, focusing on the Ajax. The battleship’s energy screen lit up in a cascade of raw defensive power as over a dozen twenty-megaton nuclear missiles detonated against it.
From the two strikecruisers, multiple sublight antimatter missiles flashed away from their missile tubes impacting the Borzon energy shields. For a brief moment, it seemed as if two new stars had been born. When the glare died away, the two Borzon cruisers were gone. Several fiery filaments were all that was left to mark their passing.
-
Admiral Tolsen nodded his head in satisfaction at the destruction of three more Borzon cruisers. So far the battle was going just as he had expected. There was no doubt in his mind that the Borzon Empire was testing the Federation’s will to defend former Hocklyn space.
“Light cruiser Baltic is under heavy attack,” reported Lieutenant Denise Travers from Communications. “They report their shields are down to 20 percent and still dropping.”
“How the hell did a Borzon cruiser slip past us and get to our rear echelon?” demanded Tolsen, his face showing concern. Third Fleet’s ten light cruisers were protecting the fleet’s four large battlecarriers, and they weren’t built to take on an enemy cruiser.
“They microjumped,” reported Lieutenant Davis in explanation.
“Saratoga is launching two squadrons of Anlon bombers toward the enemy cruiser,” reported Commander Arnett, the tactical screen showing twenty small green icons flash away from the carrier and accelerate toward the Borzon ship.
“Will they get there in time?” asked Race, his eyes focusing intently on the indicated tactical display. He knew the light cruiser wouldn’t last long against the more powerful Borzon ship.
“No,” replied Lieutenant Davis, as a viewscreen lit up with a brilliant light. “Light cruiser Baltic is down. Anlon bombers are making their attack ru ns.”
Race watched the tactical display grimly as six of the small green bomber icons vanished, then the icon representing the enemy cruiser seemed to swell up, and afterward it also disappeared.
“The Borzon cruiser is down,” spoke Lieutenant Davis, satisfied that the Baltic had been avenged.
Race let out a deep sigh of regret at the loss of the light cruiser, and the six Anlon bombers and their crews; this was war, and people died, sometimes very suddenly. He turned his attention back to the battle, ordering his ships to press the attack and drive back the remaining Borzon ships.
-
In space the Federation ships’ bright blue particle beams, violet-colored power beams, and the orange-red flash of pulse lasers lit up the darkness. In response the Borzon returned fire with powerful white energy beams and their own orange-red pulse lasers. Both sides were using their deadly sublight missiles in an effort to knock down energy screens and destroy the ships they were fighting. The only difference being, while the Borzon’s sublight missiles were armed with twenty-megaton nuclear warheads, the Federation’s were armed with one-hundred-megaton antimatter warheads.
When multiple Federation antimatter missiles struck a Borzon cruiser’s shield, invariably the shield either weakened substantially or collapsed. In most cases, bright blue particle beams would then finish the destruction, blasting massive holes inside the enemy ship, until it exploded. A Borzon cruiser could only stand a few hits from the deadly missiles. The cruisers, while dangerous to smaller ships, were finding it difficult to even damage the more powerful Federation ships, particularly the battleships and battlecruisers.
-
“The Humans grow more powerful in every engagement,” rasped Fleet Commander Tilett—a male Borzon standing well over two meters tall with wide multifaceted eyes upon a strangely shaped head. A pair of long, narrow wings was on his back, and his body was covered with fine, stiff short hair. Tilett stood on two legs that were bent strangely and had four slender double-jointed arms capable of grasping and operating the ship’s control consoles.
“Perhaps we have tried to extend the empire too far into former Hocklyn space,” suggested High Nest Leader Trill. “It seems the Humans have laid claim to a large portion of the Hocklyns’ former territory.”
“The Humans have restricted the surviving Hocklyns to their home worlds and a small area of space surrounding them,” Fleet Commander Tilett responded, as he watched several more of his battlecruisers being torn apart by Human antimatter missiles. The empire’s losses were inconsequential as the Borzon had many more cruisers. This raid had been to test the Humans’ determination to retain the space previously held by the Hocklyns.
“Don’t forget about High Leader Nartel,” High Nest Leader Trill spoke, his multifaceted eyes focusing on the fleet commander. “The Hocklyns with him still possess a powerful fleet and control twenty other worlds near the border of our empire.”
“The Hocklyns, along with High Leader Nartel, will not have the numbers to be a threat to anyone for centuries,” answered Fleet Commander Tilett dismissively. “Our high queen has signed a treaty with the Hocklyn’s High Leader Nartel, guaranteeing the Borzon Empire will not attack them, as long as they don’t venture into our space. In addition, the Humans have not been active in that region of space, and we have expanded our empire to completely surround the new Hocklyn system and the twenty worlds they control. Any hope they have of future expansion has been removed.”
“Then they are neutralized from ever becoming a threat,” replied High Nest Leader Trill, as the flagship shook from multiple energy weapons striking its defensive screen.
“Yes,” answered Fleet Commander Tilett, watching one of his cruisers destroy another of the Human’s lighter units. “It is time for us to withdraw. We’ve learned what we needed to. We’ll take over the outer regions of the former Hocklyn Empire, but the central regions are now under Human control.”
“I will pass on the order to enter hyperspace,” responded the High Nest Leader.
“We will make our report to the high queen,” stated Fleet Commander Tilett, partially spreading his wings. “She will be satisfied with what we’ve learned today.” Tilett was anxious to return home; it was time for him to mate with his own queen and add his genes to the Borzon race. His many offspring would continue to grow the Borzon Empire.
-
“Light cruiser Dante is down,” reported Lieutenant Davis in a neutral voice. That was the second light cruiser and its crew they’d lost, though several of the heavier ships were reporting some damage. There would be casualties on those vessels as well.
“The Borzon are withdrawing,” spoke Commander Arnett, pointing toward one of the tactical displays, as the enemy ships vanished into hyperspace.
“Let them go,” responded Admiral Tolsen, nodding his head. “We’ve shown them that certain areas of the former Hocklyn Empire are off-limits to them.”
A few moments later, the last Borzon cruiser vanished into a swirling white spatial vortex, leaving the Federation fleet alone in the small star system.
“Remaining ships report able to enter hyperspace,” spoke Lieutenant Travers from Communications. “Several have mentioned that they’ll need some yard time to repair damages.”
“Very well,” answered Admiral Tolsen. “Commander Arnett, have the fleet set course for Careth. The Bears’ shipyards can easily repair our battle damage.”
“Do you think the Borzon will come back?” asked Colonel Brice Cowel, the executive officer. He had been at the Tactical console, helping to coordinate the firing of the ship’s weapons.
“Not for a while,” Tolsen answered, his face covered in a frown. “They know we won’t allow them to enter the central regions of the former Hocklyn Empire, but we don’t have enough ships to adequately guard the periphery.”
“Then we allow the Borzon to take over all the inhabited worlds near their empire?” asked Colonel Cowel, knowing they were talking about hundreds of inhabited planets. Many were just beginning to recover from their years or even centuries of Hocklyn rule.
“No,” responded Tolsen, shaking his head. “Several fleets will be assigned to patrol the regions next to Borzon space. We’re hoping we can slow down or even discourage Borzon encroachment, but, for some areas, that may already be too late.”
Race turned his attention to the primary viewscreen as a blue-white spatial vortex opened up in front of the WarHawk. Moments later the Helm officer flew the powerful battleship into the vortex, and the ship made the transition into hyperspace.
Still looking at the viewscreen, Race could see the swirling deep purple colors, which designated this strange realm that allowed spacecraft to travel many multiples of the speed of light. With a sigh he turned the Command Center over to Commander Arnett, then Race headed toward his quarters. He wanted to get some rest and think about what was still ahead of them. Taking a turbolift, he reached his quarters in a few minutes, and, after going inside, he sat down on the comfortable couch.
On the far wall of his room was a picture of a blazing white light surrounding a Federation warship. It was the Avenger, which had been missing for over four years. The entire Fourth Fleet and the Carethian Fleet had been swallowed up by the raging nightmare at the galactic center. What had happened there had shaken to their core the New Human Federation of Worlds and their allies.
To this day, there was much supposition about what had happened to Admiral Strong and his ships. Many people believed Strong and his fleets had been destroyed outright in the violent energy surges at the heart of that blazing sphere of light. Others firmly believed Admiral Strong and his ships had been transported to another galaxy, and the blazing sphere of light was a distorted spatial vortex—a vortex created when Admiral Strong had used the Avenger in a daring suicidal attempt to destroy the Hypertranslation Station of the dreaded AIs.
There were unconfirmed rumors that the last two survivors of the Special Five were working with the Altons on a rescue mission. No one could verify if this was true or just a wild hope that something was being done. Many felt, even if the swirling white light had been a spatial vortex, that Admiral Strong and his fleets had been transported so far away that there was no conceivable hope of rescue.
