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Authors: Bennett R. Coles

Virtues of War

BOOK: Virtues of War
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Contents

Cover

Also by Bennett R. Coles

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Dramatis Personae

Glossary

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Also Available from Titan Books

ALSO BY BENNETT R. COLES
AND AVAILABLE FROM TITAN BOOKS

Ghosts of War
(March 2016)

March of War
(January 2017)

Virtues of War
Print edition ISBN: 9781783294206
Electronic edition ISBN: 9781783294220

Published by Titan Books
A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd
144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP

First Titan Books edition: June 2015
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

This is a work of fiction. Names, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead (except for satirical purposes), is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2015 by Bennett R. Coles. All Rights Reserved.

Visit our website:
www.titanbooks.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

TO MY FATHER

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Lieutenant Katja Emmes (operations officer of
Rapier
)

Lieutenant Charity Brisebois (navigation officer of
Rapier
, known as “Breeze”)

Lieutenant Commander Thomas Kane (commanding officer of
Rapier
)

Sublieutenant Jack Mallory (pilot of a Hawk anti-stealth warfare craft)

RAPIER
STRIKE TEAM

Lieutenant Katja Emmes (Alpha-One)

Squad Leader Assad (Alpha-Two)

Trooper Hernandez (Alpha-Three)

Trooper Jackson (Alpha-Four)

Trooper Cohen (Alpha-Five) strike pod pilot

Sergeant Suleiman Chang (Bravo-One)

Squad Leader Lu Chen (Bravo-Two)

Squad Leader McKevitt (Bravo-Three)

Trooper Sakiyama (Bravo-Four)

Trooper Alayan (Bravo-Five) strike pod pilot

KRISTIANSAND
CREW MEMBERS

Commander Kristine Avernell (commanding officer)

Lieutenant Sean Duncan (executive officer)

Lieutenant Dan “Stripes” Trifunov (pilot)

Lieutenant Carmen Hathaway (supply officer)

Lieutenant Makatiani (ASW director)

OTHER TERRAN MILITARY PERSONNEL

Captain Eric Chandler (commanding officer of
Normandy
)

Colonel Alexander Korolev (commander of the Levantine Regiment)

Commander Cassandra Vici (commander of the Saracen troop)

Saracen platoon commanders
 
Lieutenant Scott Lahko
 
 
Sublieutenant Wei Hu
 
 
Lieutenant Serge Wicki
 
 
Lieutenant Sven Pletsers
 
 
First Lieutenant Gopal Sung

Warrant Ali al-Jamil (Astral Intelligence)

Sergeant Rao (Saracens, Fifth Platoon)

GLOSSARY
AAR
 
anti-armor robot
AAW
 
anti-attack warfare
AF
 
Astral Force
AG
 
artificial gravity
APR
 
anti-personnel robot
ASW
 
anti-stealth warfare
AVW
 
anti-vessel warfare
CO
 
commanding officer (or captain)
DR
 
dead reckoning
EF
 
expeditionary force
EF 15
 
Expeditionary Force 15
EM
 
electromagnetic
FAC
 
fast-attack craft
NavO
 
navigating officer (or navigator)
OOW
 
officer of the watch
OpsO
 
operations officer
SOA
 
speed of advance
SF
 
special forces
SupplyO
 
supply officer
TLA
 
three-letter abbreviation
UNREP
 
underway replenishment
VOI
 
vessel of interest
XO
 
executive officer
OFFICER TRADES
Line officer
 
in charge of the general operations of the Astral Force warships, this trade is exclusive to the Fleet
Strike officer
 
commanding AF ground operations, this trade is exclusive to the Corps
Pilot officer
 
operators of the Astral Force small craft, this trade exists in both Fleet and Corps depending on the craft being piloted
Support officer
 
divided into three distinct sub-trades—Supply, Engineering and Intelligence—this trade fulfills the Astral Force non-combat roles for both Fleet and Corps
EXTRA-DIMENSIONAL
Brane
 
a region of spacetime which consists of three spatial dimensions and one time dimension; humans exist in one of several known branes
Bulk
 
an area of spacetime which consists of four spatial dimensions and one time dimension
Ctholian Deep
 
a region of the Bulk more than 16 peets away from the brane in which humans exist
Peet
 
the unit of measurement to describe how far into the fourth dimension something is, in relation to the brane in which humans exist
Tenebral implosion Weakbrane
 
a specific effect inside the Ctholian Deep another three-dimensional region of spacetime displaced from humans within the Bulk
SHIPBOARD
Aft
 
toward the back of the ship
Bow
 
front of the ship
Bridge
 
the command center of the ship
Bulkhead
 
wall
Deck
 
floor
Deckhead
 
ceiling
Forward
 
toward the front of the ship
Flats
 
corridor
Frame
 
an air-tight bulkhead which divides one section of the ship from another
Galley
 
kitchen
Hatch
 
a permanent access point built into a deck (as opposed to a door which is built into a bulkhead)
Hardpoint
 
a small mounting on the outer hull which holds a weapon until the weapon is launched
Heads
 
toilet
Ladder
 
a steep stairway leading from one deck to another
Main cave
 
main cafeteria
Passageway
 
corridor
Port
 
left
Rack
 
bed; also a verb meaning to sleep
Starboard
 
right
Stern
 
back of the ship
Washplace
 
sink, shower
1

S
ize doesn’t matter in zero-g. But if in doubt, carry an automatic weapon.

Lieutenant Katja Emmes reached down her armored spacesuit, suddenly wanting the reassurance of the assault rifle tethered to her waist. The suit bulked out her petite frame, but without gravity she glided unencumbered along the hexagonally shaped central passageway.

Most of
Rapier
’s crew were already in position for the strike, hunkered down in their turrets and damage control stations. Katja confirmed that her troopers were ready in the two strike pods and made her way forward for the descent.

Rapier
was tiny by Terran warship standards, barely thirty meters from stem to stern. In her short time as a strike leader, however, Katja had come to admire the formidable little craft and her crew. Say what she might about the Fleet in general, the fast-attack crews were well chosen.

Alone in the passageway, Katja paused, suddenly feeling the weight of responsibility on her shoulders. Today was the real thing, not a simulation. She was leading nine troopers into a hot zone with no Corps backup. Once they were on the ground, there was no higher authority to help her—she was all the authority they’d have.

She pulled up her helmet and looked at her reflection in the faceplate. Was that a suitable war face? Would it inspire her troopers and intimidate her enemy? She absently ran a gloved hand through her close-cropped blonde hair and stared into her own dark eyes. There could be no hesitation, no uncertainty. She’d always wanted the chance to prove herself.

This was it.

The six-sided passageway ended at a heavy hatch. Katja hooked one foot into a nearby handhold, turned the lock on the hatch, and swung it open. Dazzling light flooded outward. She closed her eyes and continued blind, releasing her foot, swinging through the opening, and then pulling the hatch shut behind her. As she heard it clamp she opened her eyes slowly and spun around.

BOOK: Virtues of War
12.36Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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