Chapter 2

The battle with the armadas was now even more frenzied. Flaming hulks of ships glided around being hit by the occasional stray shot which shattered even more charred metal off them. The evacuation shuttles were dodging the intense bombardment and weaving in and out of the debris.

The escorts peeled off now and then to drive away any stray enemy interceptors that had edged out of the battle. One of the shuttles split from the group as it moved around one of the pieces of debris from the dreadnought, and was swarmed by a squadron of Federation fighters. The Imperial escorts attempted to save the assaulted troop carrier but it was too late. The ship was torn apart and collided with the debris it had been avoiding. The rest made it to a nearby carrier called the Valhalla. The carrier was one of the larger ships left in the fleet, and the Echelon, the task group it was commanding. Which was still mainly intact. A few Imperial frigates moved forward to attack a Federation straggler group who had taken interest in the hoard of escaping ships.

As this was going on the shuttles passed unharmed into the carrier docking bay. The Valhalla was a rectangular looking ship with rigid sides unlike the Federation ships which were more curved. The carrier had guns covering the hull but nothing substantial that could fend off more than a corvette which is why it commanded a task group. It's main weapons were of course the many fighters, and bombers housed in it's metallic belly. Ground Marshall Greyman stepped off the landed craft, and helped several injured out and into the hands of the waiting medics who rushed them off to the infirmary.

One of the crew walked over to the tired man and spoke. "Captain Haunton is expecting you on the bridge sir."

Greyman nodded, and walked off towards the nearest elevator leading to the bridge.

The bridge was large and filled with holographic displays on the walls as well as the manned computers. The crew were doing numerous tasks such as driving the carrier and coordinating with the fighter control which was on a different deck. The captain was at that moment at the very front of the bridge, looking out of the shielded glass view screen. The scene outside was one of Order being restored to the chaos of battle.

Both fleets had broken apart, and now while still following orders there was little discipline. Section Echelon was the only one which had remained fully operational and not only served as the vanguard of the retreating Imperial fleet but also collected any stragglers.

An extremely optimistic man would perhaps suggest the battle could be won if the section continued to act as they did. However the captain had his orders and was following them, to make sure all vessels conduct an organised retreat from the planet. As the Ground Marshall approached the Captain he turned around. Haunton was a middle aged man of about 45 years but still very active and experienced. His white hair was covered by the navy cap, and his uniform was that of a standard Imperial Captain. Grey with a white strip going down the arms. He was tall and had a distinctive scar running from his chin to just below his right eye, the result of an explosion on the first frigate he commanded. The captain looked at the Marshall and smiled which was returned.

"Andrew, pretty rough, glad to see you made it."

"It was, over in one day, shows how poorly we were dug in, and it seems it was hell up here."

"Still is my friend, but I'm getting the others in line and holding this corner. Good thing we took out the Federation command ship or we would be finished. As for planet side I can't say much, remember we only took the planet a week ago."

Greyman nodded in thought, "Well the command ship may be out but with our centres planet side taken then they will get back together very fast. How'd you manage to take out that ship."

"Our dreadnought identified it before going down, and then launched all their missiles at it. A few got through and the ship was dead in the water. Won't be for much longer I imagine."

The glass view screen suddenly showed holographic markers on it, marking the ships of the section but also a force of Federation heading towards them.

"Speak of the devil." The Captain turned around and shouted to the 1st officer at one of the terminals "What's the status of the fleet?"

The officer tapped at the terminal then replied, "Last group are leaving now sir, we've been given the all clear to leave."

"Then take us into the warp."

A swirling vortex tore open close to the ships and they were pulled into it as lightning chains ripped out and onto them. The Imperials had retreated from Earth.

Greyman and Hauton went into the war room. This was a large-ish room with a decent sized table equipped with holographic markers, indicating different units and strongholds across the various sectors and colonies. Many other crew members were also in the room working on various terminals and moving reports around. Haunton took position near the command panel at the side of the table. He pressed buttons on the panel and the display vanished to be replaced by a new one which showed the fleet falling back, and the map of the colonies. Haunton pointed to Earth.

"The capital of the human race, Federation has it now. That battle marked a key point in the war. We're losing."

"That bad?"

"Worse." The display zoomed into the nearest large colony to Earth. "This is the turning point my friend. If we can't stop them here then the war is lost, simple as. The colony Midgard, fairly large, poorly defended, the moon in close orbit is a shipyard and the first line of defence for the planet."

"Never been there, how is this, the key point?"

"It's a doorway and can be well defended if under the right command, also the shipyard there is small but key for production. Past this point there are no lines or forces capable of stopping Federation incursions."

"What's going to be holding this point?"

The Captain brought up a list at the side of the display "Stationed there at the moment is 34th colonial defence battalion."

"Militia!"

"Yeah, but the 3rd mechanised and 80th infantry are meeting with their reinforcements planet-side, that should make it a winnable battle at least."

"What about the fleet?"

The list was switched "It seems Echelon is taking the command role, the only other dreadnought is being diverted to the Sol sector. The remains of the fleet will be holding the planet. We might get some support from the fighters based on the moon." The captained paused to bring up the appropriate display. "Ah here we go, the moon base has several cannons to help with defence as does the planet-side capital."