The Valhalla Call (Warrior's Wings) (36 page)

“Yes, Master.”

The first of his ships opened fire moments later, plasma bolts crossing space at just under the speed of light. The enemy ships didn’t bother dodging. In fact, they were flying so close in formation that they were all but impossible to miss. The Master of Fleets shook his head at the amateurish flying.
Parath has become overly cautious if he believes these people to be a true threat, let alone real ship handlers.

He choked a moment later, however, when the blasts seemed to strike dead on and yet none of his ship’s instruments registered any damage.

“How?”

“It is their drive system, Master,” came the answer. “It functions much like the magnetic belt that protects many planets from solar radiation. The plasma is redirected and blown away by the thrust of their drives.”

Clever. More than expected, perhaps Parath had a point. Very well, it will take slightly longer, but so be it.

“Surround them,” he ordered.

“Yes, Master.”

The Alliance Fleet spread wider, the ships at the outer edges increasing their acceleration beyond safe limits as they moved to surround their enemy from all sides.

*****

USV Legendary

“The fleet has redeployed…. They’re moving to englobe us, Admiral.”

Brooke nodded absently. She supposed it was inevitable. The first rule of space combat, as learned since encountering the aliens, was “the center cannot hold.” At the center of an englobed position, a ship, or task group, had to deal with exponentially more space than their enemy did. It taxed computers to the point where they slowed down, unable to process the sheer level of data they had to work with, and began to make mistakes.

SOLCOM SOP was to avoid englobement at all costs, as it inevitably mean defeat even by an inferior force. She was about to rewrite that SOP.

“Let them,” she said. “Instruct the captains, reduce acceleration, ten percent. Initiate Last Stand.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The engines of the remaining ships of Task Force Valkyrie gradually reduced output as they approached the jump point. She hoped that their opponents would mistake the move for them preparing to jump, but that wasn’t the intent at all.

It took a few long minutes, but slowly the enemy ships pulled abreast of her own.

Soon…

They couldn’t simply turn and shoot at her; they’d lose their acceleration advantage if they did that. No, they had to get ahead, match speed, and then turn to take their shots. At the speeds they were moving, they’d have to do it from
close
as well, otherwise any fraction of a percentage change in acceleration in any direction would foul their shot.

And I want you close. Closer. Come into my web…

“They’re firing!”

“Point defense!” she ordered, completely unnecessarily. Her people knew their jobs.

The first rail guns, Metalstorm turrets, and other light armaments opened up as the plasma bolts flashed in. The lighter weapons were totally unsuited to ship-to-ship combat, but their rapid fire capacity made them superb at point defense. They intercepted the incoming fire by throwing a curtain of steel and iron into space and let the enemy fire waste itself on that instead of their ships.

“The flank is pulling ahead, they’re completing the englobement maneuver.”

“Weapons free. Hit them with the Hammers.”

“Aye, ma’am! All ships, weapons free! I say again, all ships, weapons free!”

The legendary began to shudder slightly underfoot as she and the other ships of Valkyrie began to pour the last of their Hammers into space.

“Circle the wagons!”

“Aye aye, ma’am!”

The ships of Valkyrie ceased acceleration altogether, turning to bring their primary weapons to bear to cover the full perimeter. It actually weakened their defenses, but it would look like desperation to their enemies, if Brooke were right.

Of course, that was because it
was
desperation.

Just not the sort they were no doubt expecting.

*****

“Alien ships have initiated defensive positions.”

The Master of Fleets smiled very slightly. “I see it. They should have kept running. They may have escaped with some of their vessels. Close ranks, continue firing.”

“Yes, Master!”

The more than fifty heavy class ships of his fleet completed their englobement maneuver, closing in on the now beleaguered ships of the alien squadron with a vengeance. Their fire rate tripled as they closed, and the answer rage of defensive fire from the alien ships lit up local space like the light from a million small suns.

It was an impressive and ferocious display, but a futile one.

*****

“Computers overloading, ma’am! We’re losing defensive coverage!”

“All ships go to manual control!”

“Aye, ma’am! Manual control! I say again, manual control on all defensive systems!”

The point defense perimeter slipped as the weapons moved to manual control, but fewer shots made it through all the same as men and women took individual control of their guns and continued the defense of the ships.

The center cannot hold.

Bullshit. We’ll hold.

Brooke glanced at the map of local space, eyes to the jump point they were gliding into. Valkyrie were almost entirely within now. They could try a jump out, but there was no guessing where they’d arrive. They hadn’t been able to come in at a speed or vector that would allow a safe jump.

If they did, they would only be killed at the far end when the alien ships caught up to them anyway, so it hardly mattered.

“We’ve lost the Odysseus!”

Brooke winced as she looked to the telemetry system in time to see the USV Odysseus break up under heavy, concentrated fire. The Odyssey wasn’t the only one, she was just the first of many. The Befrost was in nearly as bad a shape, as were several others.

On the tactical map, the enemy closed as her ships glided entirely into the jump point.

“Stand by all remaining GPDs! Half power to jump drives!”

“Aye, ma’am! All ships report ready on GPDs, drives powering.”

Brooke closed her eyes, then keyed in a personal comm. “Chief. Launch the drone.”

On the other side, the Navy master chief in engineering responded, “Aye, ma’am. Drone away.”

That’s it then.

Brooke opened her eyes and saw that the enemy had closed to within the jump point.

“Launch all GPDs and blow our jump drives!”

*****

In deep space, there is both eternal light and darkness that exist as one. The stars never go out, yet their light cannot hope to illuminate either. Yet here, in this one place, the light was winning over the darkness. Explosions silently tore space asunder, lights flared between two great fleets of ships as the battle raged.

Then the smaller fleet launched one last attack.

Barely a hundred small devices launched into space, exploding well away from their enemies’ ships. The white light was the birth of a hundred mini suns, but harmless at those ranges and in that environment. Harmless at first, but those weapons were designed not to destroy ships, but space itself. They twisted and folded and warped space and time around the two fleets.

This, alone, would have done little, but then the smaller group of ships blew out their own drives and utterly rewrote the laws of physics in that local area for a split second.

When that fraction of an instant had passed, and the blinding light had begun to die out again, where over seventy-five warships had fought, there were now none.

In the emptiness of deep space, the darkness once more gained ascendency.

*****

With The Secondary Task Group

“Master of Ships!”

Parath twisted from where he was directing a counterattack on the enemy squadron. “What is it?”

“We’ve lost contact with the main fleet!”

Parath paled, turning a pasty blue, and rushed over. “Show me!”

He paled further, if it were possible, as he saw the data for himself. The entire fleet was gone.

Impossible.

Impossible or not, however, every instrument he had linked to the main fleet now registered no signal from them. Even in jump space, there
would
be a signal.

The only answer was that the fleet, the Master of Fleets, was…gone.

Parath was too stunned to even think for a long moment, until a cry from behind him shook him free of it.

“We lost the Victory!”

He forced his attention back, eyes to the battle. Shakily he stepped back to the control and linked to his ships. “All ships. Pull back. Disengage from combat.”

“Master?”

His aide looked shocked, and he didn’t blame her.

“We can’t win now. Even if we eliminate them here, there’s no victory for us. This fight is a waste,” he said. “The Alliance was wasted too much here. It will be a dozen intervals before we can mount another such expedition, and for what? To lose them as well? Not until we know what happened. No, all ships are to break contact.”

“Yes, Master.”

Parath considered for a moment. “Do we have records of the enemy transmission frequencies?”

“Yes…”

“Open a channel on them.”

*****

“Captain…I think you need to hear this.”

Pete Green turned, frowning at his com officer. “What is it?”

“Transmission in the clear, sir. Not one of ours.”

The only thing out here is… We’ve never detected any com link from them. What the…?

“Save it and we’ll analyze it later,” he ordered. They certainly didn’t have time to puzzle over alien chatter just then.

“Captain, it’s in
English
.”

That stopped him short. “Put it on audio!”

There was a moment before it came through, then the speakers crackled and a strange voice came through.

“Alien vessels, I am Master of Ships Parath of the Alliance of Known Worlds. I am ordering my ships to disengage from this battle. If you pursue, we will defend ourselves. I request a cease of firing.”

“The message repeats, Captain.”

Green hit a button. “Admiral…”

“I’ve heard it, Captain. Pull back to the Terra.”

“Sir…”

“Let’s give them a chance. They’re
talking
, Captain.”

Green nodded, mouth dry. This was the first time they had a hint that the aliens even
could
talk. “Withdraw. Cease firing and pull back!”

“Aye aye, Sir!”

*****

“Get down!”

Washington had to tackle the young marine he’d busted out of the makeshift brig, bringing them both tumbling to the deck as a blast scorched the bulkhead above them. He pushed himself back up, patting the marine on the back, “Kid, watch yourself or you’re gonna end yourself.”

The clearly frightened marine nodded shakily as Ton snuck a glance around the corner.

“They’ve got a choke point up ahead, Lieutenant. We’re going to have to bring up some heavier artillery.” He called over his comms.

“Roger that, sir.” Crow answered. “I’ve got some kit on the way.”

“Good man.”

So far the retaking of the USV Terra was going more or less according to plan, which was to say that the plan got tossed out the window pretty much on first contact with the enemy. The Charlies had tried to contain them on the flight deck, but the Terra was a human ship and they just didn’t know all the ins and outs. Breaking out had been a challenge, but not remotely an insurmountable one.

It had been far tougher to break out the prisoners, as they’d been spread around, and honestly Ton didn’t think they’d even gotten half of them yet. They’d gotten lucky, though, and found where most of the Terra’s marines were held.

Alright, lucky may not have been the right word since there were three times more guards on the Marines than anyone else apparently, but they still found them. Breaking them out had bolstered the morale and numbers of the boarding group, and now there was a real fight going on.

“Sir…”

“What is it, son?” Ton asked, turning back to the Marine.

“I think you need to see this, Sir.”

Ton frowned under his helm, but snuck another look around the corner the Marine was looking down. He stiffened when he realized that there was no one there, no shots being fired, nothing but an eerie calm.

“Lieutenant, we may have a problem here.”

“Is your problem that the enemy just decided to cut and run?” Crow asked dryly.

“Shit.” Ton swore.

That couldn’t be good. Nothing that looked this good could
possibly
be good.

He was about to order his own men to regroup so they could try and figure out what the hell was going on when a priority order broke through his filters.

“All hands, cease combat operations. Enemy forces are withdrawing, do
not
… I say again,
not
engage further unless fired upon by order of the Admiral… Message repeats…”

Ton lowered his rifle, looked around as if lost, and spoke out in the clear.

“Could someone please tell me what the
fuck
just happened?”

On the alien ship, Sorilla used her Titan to force open the hatch they’d entered through, marching out to the blown-open section of the hull. Maneuvering the big machine out and onto the hull was a bit of a fun challenge. She stomped across the hull of the alien craft, surveying it like a conquering hero.

The sun was rising over the bow of the ship, a white ball far in the distance, and she paused there to watch it.

The aliens on board had continued to resist shortly after the squadron had left, but without the Golems, they were no match for the Titans, not even with their portable Valve weapons. That there were damn few of them on board helped a lot, she had to admit. Whatever the case, they had the ship under control now, for better or worse.

She evacuated the cockpit of her Titan and popped the hatch, pulling herself out and climbing up on the shoulder of the big war machine. She keyed into the Titan’s comm system, sending out a relay transponder signal, and then just stretched a bit. She’d been locked in the eighty ton machine for too long and it felt simply amazing to move around freely again, even if she was still breathing suit air.