The Flight
A portion of the intruding fleet had broken off and was heading toward the belt. They were metallic spheres of varying diameters, from fifty to five hundred meters thick and they were moving on different vectors through the system at ten thousand kps. Several of the smaller ones were on courses to intercept the belt; at Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Juno.
We took control of the supply ships and raided the station right after spotting them. We made for the Jovian moons at three gravities. By the time we arrived at Europa to refuel the outer system fleets had been wrecked and the centers of civilization in the belt and the Jovian moons were about to be shattered by impacts. Titan was already dead and spheres were headed toward Mars, Luna and Earth.
We were joined by others. The Jovian and Confederation fleets had broken up. Some were pursuing the intruders, whose velocity was so great that it would take a month to accelerate to match speeds. We began broadcasting our intent to flee. Many ships close enough to reach us did. We refueled and took stock of our force. We had three battleships, two carriers, five cruisers, and ten destroyers, plus Hydroponic Supply ships and fuel carries, and we scared the crew of the Sagan, the only Alliance ship to join us, into bringing their science ship with us.
We broadcasted the coordinates we intended to jump to. We were headed to Epsilon Eridani and anyone who could meet us there was welcome to. We watched civilization fall on Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto as we headed away toward our jump point. The big asteroids shattered and we watched through our telescopes. Mars went just before Earth, and the impact made her thin atmosphere look thick and red with dust. The surface of Earth disappeared under clouds as water from evaporated oceans hid what was happening beneath. We jumped.