Deathstalker 02 - Deathstalker Rebellion

No other choices were available. This time, something had found the Empire. And all Silence could do was hope the Dauntless got back to Golgotha in time to give a warning. Before the aliens arrived and started making decisions about humanity.

    *
    The Dauntless dropped out of hyperspace and plunged into orbit around Golgotha, all weapons systems charged and ready, and immediately began broadcasting warnings on all channels. Sensors raked the darkness for signs of the alien ship, and only then discovered that the homeworld's defenses were in a complete shambles. The Dauntless homed in on the main starport, only to find everyone was shouting at everyone else, and no one was listening. Cross ran through all the comm channels, but the chaos had spread even to the most restricted emergency channels.
    "What the hell is going on down there?" said Silence. "Did the alien ship beat us here?"
    "No sign of anything on the sensors," said Frost immediately. "But that's not all that's missing. There are supposed to be six starcruisers constantly on patrol, orbiting Golgotha, as the Empire's last line of defense. I can't find a trace of any of them."
    Silence looked across at the comm station. "Cross, are our warnings getting through?"
    "Impossible to say, Captain. The channels are such a mess that priority's a joke."
    "Let me try," said Stelmach, moving in beside Cross. "I have access to security channels that most people don't know about."
    "Go ahead," said Silence. "Frost, use the long-range sensors. Get me some pictures of what's going on down there."
    Frost grunted something, preoccupied with her instruments, but after a moment the viewscreen suddenly flickered into life. The starport and its landing pads
    had been systematically destroyed. Smoke rose up from blazing buildings, and broken starships lay scattered across the broken pads like so much shattered crockery. The steelglass control tower was cracked like a jigsaw, and everywhere fires blazed out of control. Emergency services were doing what they could, but things had obviously got out of their control long ago. There were bodies everywhere, and Silence had no doubt there were many more he couldn't see.
    "The alien ship got here about six hours ago," said Stelmach. "Launched an attack while the control tower was still trying to identify it. It blew up the ships on the pads and then made dozens of strafing runs, raking the port and the city with energy weapons of an unfamiliar type. Force fields and Screens were no protection. They either failed or the energy weapons blew them aside. Known casualties are in the hundreds of thousands. As yet the Empress is in no danger; she's safe in the Imperial Palace, deep below the surface. We can only hope the aliens don't know she's there."
    "This is insane!" said Silence. "How could one ship have done so much damage unchallenged?"
    "It appears the aliens got a lucky break," said Cross. "As far as I can make out, the rebel underground launched some kind of sabotage attack only a few hours before the alien ship arrived. They then made their escape on a Hadenman ship. The six starcruisers took off after it. Security were busy chasing their own tails trying to sort out the extent of the sabotage, and got caught napping."
    "It wasn't security's fault!" Stelmach said quickly. "The rebels crashed nearly all of the computer defenses. We were helpless."
    "Forget about laying the blame and get me some information I can use," said Silence. "Where's the alien ship now?"

    "On the far side of the planet," said Frost. "It's on its way back here. Two, three minutes tops, depending on whether it stops to blow something else up."
    "What are you going to do, Captain?" said Cross.
    "Blow it to shit," said Silence.
    "No," said Frost immediately. "Normally, I'd agree with you. Captain, but for now we need answers more than revenge. We have to know more about them, where they come from. If this ship really did cross the Darkvoid to find us, who knows what else might be following them? We need prisoners to interrogate and the ship as intact as possible, to study."
    "Any other restrictions you want to lay on me?" said Silence.
    "There's also the case of the missing Base personnel," said Cross stubbornly.
    "If they're being held on the alien ship…"
    "Then they're expendable," said Silence. "I'll save them if I can, but I'm not making any promises. Same to you, Investigator. Stopping the attack comes first.
    Homeworld must be protected. And if it comes