Virtues of War
Authors: Bennett R. Coles
Contents
Also Available from Titan Books
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
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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.
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A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
TO MY FATHER
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)
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
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)
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)
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
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.