Valiente (60 page)

Geary would never know what
Majestic
started to do, whether the rearmost surviving battleship was trying to turn to engage the enemy or to flee. In charitable moments, he imagined that

Majestic
’s crew and commanding officer had been inspired by
Warrior
’s sacrifice, had finally found their spirit and tried to make up for past failures. Whatever
Majestic
’s intent, her crew finally paid the price for the slow pace of repairs they had made to her weapons and defenses.

The Syndic battleships volleyed their remaining missiles at
Majestic
, aiming to overwhelm her defenses. Three missiles got through and hit aft, wiping out the battleship’s propulsion units.

Then as
Majestic
spun out of control up and over, the Syndic battleships altered course to get within hell-lance range of the helpless target. Grapeshot from the Syndics collapsed
Majestic
’s remaining shields, then the enemy hell lances tore into inadequately repaired armor with too many weak spots.

Geary watched hits flaring repeatedly on
Majestic
, the image of the battleship momentarily vanishing under the flurry of impacts as more Syndic missiles, grapeshot, and an unrelenting storm of hell-lance fire tore the ship apart. Then a much bigger explosion lit space for a few moments as
Majestic
’s power core blew under the stress.

The light faded, leaving a growing field of debris through which a few surviving Syndic missiles quested vainly for a target.

“Damn them,” Desjani muttered. Geary didn’t know if she was referring to the Syndics who had just destroyed
Majestic
or the crew and officers of the Alliance battleship who had doomed themselves.

Conqueror
, still fixed on the same trajectory, was lashing out at any lighter Syndic unit that came within range.
Orion
had drifted upward again while remaining as far forward as
Conqueror
, placing herself in an almost totally useless position as far as defending the auxiliaries went. The Alliance heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers had broken away from
Conqueror
, though, and were slashing through Syndic escorts trying to reach
Titan
and
Goblin
. The two auxiliaries were throwing out as much defensive fire as they could, which unfortunately was very little. A Syndic missile slammed into
Goblin
amidships, staggering the auxiliary. A HuK managed to get close enough to score two hell-lance hits on
Titan
before the Alliance destroyer
Reprise
rolled in from below and took out the HuK with several well-aimed shots.

It took Geary a moment to realize that
Majestic
’s death might not have been in vain. “When those Syndic battleships went for the kill on
Majestic
, it took them off their trajectory and slowed their intercept of
Titan
and
Goblin
.”

Desjani took a moment from maneuvering
Dauntless
to scan her display. “The Fifth Battleship Division might make it in time,” she agreed.

Might make it. He certainly couldn’t count on
Conqueror
or
Orion
being of any use. Geary swung his own gaze to the other side of the Syndic formation. The remaining Syndics were altering course to come around at
Titan
,
Goblin
, and beyond them
Witch
and
Jinn
. As a result, the edges of the box formation whose center had been blown away were folding inward, the four sides of the box collapsing in toward vectors aimed at the four Alliance auxiliaries.

But coming down on the same edges were the Alliance subformations centered on battleships.

Captain Armus in
Colossus
led
Amazon
,
Spartan
, and
Guardian
straight toward one edge of the Syndic formation anchored on three Syndic battleships that had been mostly untouched up to this point. As the huge ships lumbered into contact, the four Alliance battleships volleyed everything they had at the leading Syndic battleship, then hit the second as they flashed past. In their wake, the Alliance battleships left the leading Syndic battleship a pile of junk and the second with significant damage. In exchange
Colossus
and
Spartan
had taken several hits, but none critical.

At the same time, the lighter units on both sides clashed, the now-superior numbers of the Alliance ships telling as Syndic light cruisers and HuKs reeled from repeated blows.

Soon afterward,
Relentless
,
Reprisal
,
Superb
, and
Splendid
wiped out the two Syndic battleships and their escorts holding another edge of the increasingly chaotic Syndic formation, battering the enemy but losing the heavy cruiser
Vambrace
in the exchange.

Titan
took another hit, then a Syndic light cruiser made a firing run on
Goblin
while Alliance destroyers flashed past, trying to knock out the attacker.

A surviving Syndic heavy cruiser led two light cruisers and several HuKs straight for
Titan
.

“Damn,” Geary whispered.

He hadn’t been watching
Furious
and
Implacable
, which had finally completed their long, wide swing through space and instead of aiming for more Syndic capital ships had focused on the closest threat to the auxiliaries. Now the two Alliance battle cruisers tore past, riddling the Syndic heavy cruiser, blowing up one light cruiser and shattering the second, while the battle cruisers’ escorts wiped out the HuKs.

“Not bad,” Desjani praised, her own battle cruiser division still curving up and around. “I told you Cresida would stick with the auxiliaries if she knew you were counting on her.”

In trying to avoid the other attacks,
Orion
found itself directly between
Titan
and
Goblin
and the two Syndic battleships that had annihilated
Majestic
. Having expended all of their remaining missiles on
Majestic
, the Syndic battleships were trying to close within hell-lance reach while

Titan
and
Goblin
poured on all of the acceleration the damaged auxiliaries could manage in an attempt to stay out of range.

Orion
started dropping back out of the line of fire between the Syndic battleships and the auxiliaries as if she had lost propulsion, even though Geary couldn’t see any damage reported to

Orion
’s propulsion units. “That does it. If Commander Yin survives this battle, she’s out as commander of that ship.” His eyes focused on
Conqueror
, still far enough ahead of
Titan
and

Goblin
to be unable to defend them from the two Syndic battleships. “Captain Casia, too. I’ll court-martial both of their worthless asses.”

Desjani stretched her mouth in a humorless smile. “Cowardice before the enemy. You can just have them shot by order of summary execution. No one could complain with the records of this engagement as the official proof.”

At the moment, with the fate of
Titan
and
Goblin
teetering in the balance, that option sounded entirely too good to Geary. If he lost those two ships because of Casia’s and Yin’s avoidance of battle, he knew he might not be able to resist the temptation to follow Desjani’s advice.

Hell lances from the Syndic battleships began reaching out at extreme range, licking at the shields of
Titan
and
Goblin
. Geary knew the shields on the auxiliaries couldn’t long withstand the punishment that a pair of battleships could inflict even at maximum range.

Flanconade
weaved between the Syndic battleships and the Alliance auxiliaries, drawing Syndic fire for the few moments needed to tear apart the Alliance destroyer.

The sacrifices and the maneuvers finally added up to a decisive number as
Fearless
,
Resolution
,

Redoubtable
, and
Warspite
came within weapons range of the two Syndic battleships. The four Alliance battleships split their fire, two hammering one Syndic battleship and the other two hitting the remaining one as the Fifth Battleship Division finally engaged the enemy.

As the Alliance battleships drew away, both Syndic battleships staggered and slowed dramatically because of blows aimed at their propulsion systems.
Titan
and
Goblin
slowly pulled out of range as the hobbled Syndics tried to keep targeting them, then Tulev’s four battle cruisers came in from another angle on their second firing run and smashed the trailing Syndic battleship.

Geary blinked, trying to take in events all through the region of battle. Desjani was leading

Dauntless
,
Daring
, and
Victorious
against a hurt Syndic battleship. Elsewhere,
Vengeance
and

Revenge
were bearing down on the remaining Syndic battleship that had nearly destroyed
Titan
and
Goblin
. The other Syndic battleships still capable of fighting had been stripped of their escorts and were being slammed by repeated firing passes from Geary’s subformations. The Syndic formation had completely fallen apart, replaced by a trail of damaged ships and debris leading back to where the Casualty Flotilla had once existed. The only remaining organized Syndic naval force in Lakota Star System was the guard force, a mere two battleships and two battle cruisers with their escorts, far away and heading for the hypernet gate at a fast clip. “We won.”

Dauntless
’s hell lances tore into the targeted Syndic battleship, then null fields from
Dauntless
,

Daring
, and
Victorious
dug huge holes in the enemy vessel. Desjani let out a long breath as

Dauntless
left her broken enemy behind, then nodded to Geary. “Yes, sir. You did.”

“
We
won,” Geary repeated. “This fleet won this victory, not me.”

“You did help,” Rione pointed out dryly.

Taking a deep breath, Geary called his fleet. “All ships in the Alliance fleet, general pursuit.

Break formation and ensure no Syndic warships escape. Destroyers and light cruisers not engaged with the enemy are to recover escape pods from Alliance ships.”

Space in Lakota Star System was now filled with wreckage and hundreds of Syndic escape pods.

Geary’s warships were pouncing on surviving but damaged Syndic warships, overwhelming them and adding to the quantity of both debris and escape pods as the remnants of the Syndic force were wiped out.

But the victory hadn’t been painless.
Majestic
was gone, along with the heavy cruisers
Utap
,

Vambrace
, and
Fascine
. The defenders of the auxiliaries had taken heavy losses. In addition to

Flanconade
, the light cruisers
Brigandine
,
Carte
, and
Ote
had been destroyed, as well as the destroyers
Armlet
,
Kukri
,
Hastarii
,
Petard
, and
Spiculum
. Most of the other ships in the fleet had taken various degrees of damage and lost crew members. Measured against the Syndic losses the price was insignificant, but Geary had to fight off depression as he thought of his own fleet’s dead.

“Sir,
Warrior
can’t be saved,” Desjani stated somberly.

He couldn’t argue that even though he wanted to debate it.
Warrior
had fought so well, her crew going beyond the call of duty to protect the auxiliaries.
Warrior
deserved to survive, to return proudly to Alliance space. But the already-damaged battleship had been riddled, its propulsion systems destroyed, every weapon knocked out, and life support left spotty throughout the hull.

Looking at the readouts and images of
Warrior
, Geary was forcefully reminded of how the wreck of
Audacious
had looked. “Commander Suram,” he ordered, “you and your crew have performed in a manner that brings all possible honor to your ancestors, but
Warrior
is now beyond repair. Abandon ship.”

Long before a reply could have come, the communications watch called out. “We’re receiving a voice-only emergency circuit call from
Warrior
. It’s very weak, but we’ve enhanced it.”

Geary punched
accept
and listened to the message, the voice of Commander Suram oddly distorted by the electronic enhancements required to make the message understandable. “All systems are out except for emergency controls on the power core. We’re attempting a safe core shutdown.
Warrior
cannot continue the fight. Many escape pods damaged or destroyed in the last engagement. Those members of the crew who can be held in the surviving pods are abandoning ship. To the honor of our ancestors.”

“Continue the fight?” Geary wondered.

“With all systems out they’re blind,” Desjani answered. “They can see some explosions and signs of battle with the naked eye and the minor enhancement gear on their survival suits, but have no idea that’s just us mopping up the Syndics. We need to get some ships there to pull off the rest of
Warrior
’s crew,” she added quickly, “I’d recommend—”

“Sir,” another watch-stander called in an alarmed voice. “We’re picking up indications that

Warrior
’s power core is fluctuating. The emergency control systems must have been damaged, too, and are failing.”

“How long until it blows?” Desjani snapped.

“Impossible to predict, Captain. It could hold until they manage a shutdown, or it could have already blown, and we haven’t seen the light from it.”

Desjani gave Geary a somber look. He nodded, knowing this was his call. Any ship trying to close on
Warrior
to rescue her trapped crew members would risk being caught in a core explosion. “Who were you going to recommend for crew recovery?” he asked Desjani.

“Ships from the Twentieth Destroyer Squadron,” she responded immediately. “They’re still close together and well positioned, but
Warrior
drifted away from the battle after she got knocked out, or rather the battle kept going and
Warrior
stayed about where she was. Our destroyers will require close to half an hour to get there and match speed to the wreck.”