The Dark Star War (Codex Regius Book 3)

by Chris Kennedy

  The Jotnar went rigid as the electricity coursed through its body, and steam began to pour from the giant’s closest eye. Master Chief withdrew the wire, and the creature slumped, falling to the deck outside the hatch although one arm remained across the hatch coaming. Master Chief kicked the offending hand out of the way and tried to slam the hatch, but the giant’s gun had fallen into the corner of the opening, and the hatch wouldn’t shut.

  Agejew saw the problem, bent down and yanked the massive weapon into Engineering. He stood up, his burly form blocking the hatchway, as the grenades exploded.

  Task Force O’Leary, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Jotunheimr System, December 23, 2021

  “Now!” Lieutenant O’Leary commed as two explosions rocked the passageway. He rolled into the passageway and fired his rifle at the mass of Jotunn outside of Engineering. Several were already down, and the rest had turned away from him. The volume of fire picked up as Valkyrie and Skank came around the corner.

  O’Leary immediately saw a problem; the giants weren’t dying fast enough.

  Body shots didn’t cut it. He didn’t know whether it was because the Jotunn suits and armor could absorb more of the Terrans’ laser fire or because it took more damage to put one of the giants down, but he knew his force was in trouble as the rear ranks of the Jotunn spun around and aimed their weapons.

  “Back!” he yelled as he shot the one in front of him in the helmet. The long laser blast burned through the facemask and into the giant’s head.

  O’Leary risked a glance and saw that Skank and Valkyrie were still standing next to him, firing calmly down the passage. Dropping his rifle, he pushed off the bulkhead and crashed into the two troopers, tackling them out of the corridor as the giant’s weapon roared.

  Fire ignited in his leg, and he looked down and saw a two-foot-long flechette through his right thigh. It missed the bone, but protruded from both the front and back of his leg.

  “Damn it,” O’Leary said, rolling off the troopers and coming awkwardly to his feet. “I told you to move.”

  Both troopers looked like pin cushions. They had caught the brunt of the flechette cannon blast and were covered in the slivers of metal from head to toe. Neither was moving, and he brought up their vital signs in his display. They were both low and fading fast.

  “Medic!” he commed.

  “Already on it,” the squad’s medic, Corporal Anaru Ngata, said as he pushed Lieutenant O’Leary out of the way. “Move, please.”

  O’Leary moved and turned back to the cross passage. “Wraith, we’re going to need some anti-matter down the hall; the lasers aren’t enough.”

  “On it, sir,” she said, setting her rifle to the side and pulling the trident from where it was strapped across her back.

  “Don’t go long,” O’Leary added, wincing as he drew the flechette through the back of his leg; “there are friendlies on the other side of them.”

  Task Force Contreras, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Jotunheimr System, December 23, 2021

  “Fuck!” Gunnery Sergeant Jerry ‘Wolf’ Stasik yelled as he jumped back from the cross-passage leading to the bridge. A storm of laser bolts raged down the corridor behind him, followed by a massive explosion.

  “Sir, we’re pretty screwed,” Wolf said. “There’s a long stretch of passageway and two giants at the end. They are sitting on some sort of vehicles that have mounted lasers, and at least one has a grenade launcher or some sort of explosives projector. They will be difficult to assault.”

  “Solomon, is there any other way to get to the bridge?” Contreras asked.

  “No, there is not. If one of the escape pods launch, then you could go outside the ship and re-enter from where the pod launched to assault the other side of the bridge; however, there is another pair of Jotunn waiting there. That pair is probably armed similarly to the ones currently facing you.”

  “Sir, my fire team will take the hatch for you,” Staff Sergeant Brian ‘Huge’ Mchugh offered. “There are four of us and only two of them, and I have my trident to even the score.”

  “They’ve got their own grenade launcher,” Contreras noted, “and that will make the odds very much against you. Not only that, it will leave us shorthanded against the ones on the bridge. No, I forbid it.” He paused for a moment, and a big smile came over his face.

  “I have an idea,” Contreras said. “Huge, if you really want to assault the bridge, I think I have a way for you to do it, and hopefully, some of us will still be alive afterward. Zoromski, you and Phil stay here and guard the passageway. Everyone else, come with me. We have to go aft to go forward.”

  Task Force Dantone, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Jotunheimr System, December 23, 2021

  “What’s wrong, Gunny?” Fox asked.

  “There are two Jotunn at the hatch into Weapons Control. Both are alert and both have weapons that look like cannons.”

  “Yeah, that’s some serious shit, all right,” Bad Twin agreed. “So what are we going to do about it?”

  “Stand by.” The Wall pulled up the ship’s schematics. If he could have frowned, he would have. The facility was constructed to be defensible—there was only one way in and out. Unless…

  “Stay here,” he ordered, “and do not let them get past you. Keep them occupied with your lasers until I’m ready.” He removed his trident and handed it to Bad Twin. “When I tell you, hit the ones in the hatch with this. Whatever else happens, though, you cannot let them get past you and out of here with any of the weapon jump modules. Use the trident if you have to, but stop them at all costs. Got it?”

  “Sure thing, Gunny,” Bad Twin replied, “but I thought you said the indiscriminate use of high explosives was a bad thing.”

  “Yeah, it is,” The Wall agreed. “That’s why I only want you to do it when I say to.”

  Engineering, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Jotunheimr System, December 23, 2021

  Master Chief Agejew fell backward in slow motion. Although the Jotunn absorbed most of the explosions, Staff Sergeant Loftis had seen a piece of shrapnel blow out the back of Agejew’s head; the senior enlisted man was dead before he hit the floor.

  Which left everything up to her.

  Shaking off the overpressure of the grenade blasts, she struggled to her feet and staggered to the door. Grabbing her last grenade, she pulled the pin and tossed it out the hatch—right into the face of an oncoming giant. The Jotnar was riding some kind of sled, and it couldn’t catch the grenade, which fell to the deck. As the giant bent down to pick it up, she slammed the hatch shut and pulled down on the dogging lever.

  Canary felt the concussion of the grenade through the mangled door as the weapon exploded. Several pieces of shrapnel pinged off the other side.

  She slumped against the hatch but was flung to the side as one of the giants crashed into it, shattering the last pin and launching the hatch through the air. Stunned, she hit the floor and rolled to a stop as the hatch flew past her. She lifted herself enough to look back toward the hatchway, just in time to see the first of the giants stick his head through. Her hands reached for her pistols, but both had been separated from her when she hit the deck. All she had was her knife, which wasn’t going to do much more than annoy the giant. She knew she was doomed.

  Drawing her knife, she climbed to her feet as the giant entered the space, passing the pipe next to the hatchway. The pipe!

  “Steam on!” she yelled, hoping Matthews was still manning the valve.

  3,000 PSI steam jetted from the pipe, cutting into the Jotnar like an invisible giant sword. His left arm was severed; the stump flash-fried in the 700 degree steam, but not enough to cauterize the wound. Green blood sprayed from the severed artery as the giant spun away from the pipe and fell to the floor.

  Within seconds, the temperature in the space went from ‘pleasant’ to ‘hot’ to ‘stifling,’ and Canary found it hard to breathe in the steamy air.

  “Steam off!” she cried, gasping for breath.

  The steam ceased, and Canary realized the master
chief had been right; another few seconds and she would have started cooking. The way the steam displaced the air also made it hard to breathe. Turning the steam back on immediately would be suicide.

  It was enough, though. The giant was down in a small lake of blood and had stilled. The sounds of battle drew her eyes to the passageway through the hatch. Although a number of the Jotunn were down, at least four more were still firing down the passageway in the opposite direction. One looked back and saw her staring at him through the open hatch; he immediately turned his anti-gravity vehicle around and sped toward her.

  She spun around frantically, looking for her pistols, as explosives detonated in the passageway. She saw one of the weapons as she dove away from the blast. The pistol was up against the opposite wall in two pieces. The hatch must have hit her where the pistol was holstered when it separated from the frame; that would explain the blinding pain in her hip as she limped to fetch the other pistol that was still near the hatch.

  With a roar, the giant entered the space on his hands and knees. The visual image might have been amusing, were it not for the hatchet he carried. Green blood speckled his light blue combat suit in a number of places. Giant-sized, the hatchet he carried was as big as a Terran axe, and Canary had to jump back as the giant took a wild swing at her.

  She looked longingly at the pistol, out of reach beyond the arc of the hatchet. Without the pistol, she was down to her knife and the last grenade. She dove back and right to avoid another swing of the hatchet as she looked for an opportunity.

  There wasn’t one.

  Weapons Control Facility, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Jotunheimr System, December 23, 2021

  “Everything still okay?” The Wall asked.

  “Sure is, Gunny…now,” Fox replied. “We were starting to get worried about you.”

  “When this is over, we’ll see how long it takes you to go outside, climb back in through an anti-ship missile tube and then squeeze yourself through the loading tube to get back to Weapons Control.”

  “Holy shit, Gunny,” Bad Twin said. “You did all that?”

  “Yeah, I did, and I’m ready to hit the bastards from behind. I’m on the other side of an access hatch from the facility, and I can hear the Jotunn on the other side. It sounds like they’re disassembling missiles to find jump modules they can steal. When I give you the word, light them up with everything you’ve got, including a couple of grenades from the trident. Got it?”

  “Yes, Gunny, we’re ready.”

  “Solomon, do you have any idea what I’m going to find on the other side of the access hatch?”

  “They have destroyed the cameras I had in that space, but by using the room’s heat sensors, I can predict with a good deal of certainty there are nine Jotunn inside. Two are near the door, and seven are scattered throughout the room. It is likely they have acquired at least one jump module at this point.”

  Damn. Seven by himself? That was more than he really wanted to bite off. Especially with the possibility of it becoming all nine if the two Jotunn at the door turned around. What the hell, Medical could always rebuild him, assuming he didn’t take one to the head. Of course, if he did, he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. Being a cyborg came with a certain sense of fatalism.

  “Well, we can’t have them getting their hands on any of the jump modules,” Dantone replied. “Can you remotely open the access hatch in front of me when my troops begin firing?”

  “Yes, I can. Shall I do so?”

  “I would like you to open it after the second grenade detonates.” No sense getting fragged by your own troops. “All right, everyone, here we go. 3…2…1…attack!”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Task Force Contreras, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Jotunheimr System, December 23, 2021

  “That’s your good idea?” Wolf asked as Lieutenant Contreras walked onto the transporter platform. “I didn’t think we were allowed to use the transporter since we haven’t been scanned yet.”

  “This is the perfect way to get onto the bridge without having to battle the Jotunn to do so,” Contreras replied. “And, as I understand it, the danger of using it internal to the ship will be minimal since Solomon has the ship mapped out to the micrometer level. Can you confirm that, Solomon?”

  “That is only partially true,” Solomon replied. “I have an excellent scan of the ship, and normally I would be able to transport anyone to anywhere within the ship. If you desire it, I am currently able to do so with you. The danger will be more than minimal, however, as I do not have firm positions for where the Jotunn are on the bridge. Without my sensors, there is a very real chance you could reappear on the bridge in the same space as one of the giants. If that happens, it will likely cause a very painful death for both of you.”

  “When you say, ‘small,’ what do you mean?” Contreras asked.

  “I mean there is a 3.2% chance for each of you. Cumulatively, there is a 28.8% chance for the group that at least one of you will be transposed.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” Huge said. “I’m in.”

  “Us, too,” added the other members of his fire team, Corporals Sam Ward and Joshua King.

  “The Jotunn attack is not honorable,” Yokaze said; “if this will put me in contact with them, I am in.” He slung his rifle and drew his katana and wakizashi. “Hai! I am ready.”

  “Always loved big game huntin’ back home,” Staff Sergeant Chris Upton said. “Don’t get much bigger than this. I’m in.”

  Lieutenant Rrower nodded. “It will be the biggest prey I have hunted too,” he said. “I’m with you.”

  “Well, if all of you idiots are in, I am, too,” the Ground Force medic, Sergeant Brandi ‘Doc’ Walker, added.

  Wolf sighed and stepped onto the transporter platform. “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but you’re not going without me,” he said. “Before we go, though, I’ve got some words of advice. I’m less worried we’ll have problems transporting than I am about what we’ll find once we get there. There are six Jotunn on the bridge. If you haven’t seen one, they’re big, really big. Enormous. I’ve studied all the info we have on them, and I’m here to tell you they take a lot of killing to bring down, and we only have eight folks to do it. There are more of us numerically, but really, we’re the ones who are outnumbered.”

  He paused to scan the faces of his troops then added, “If you’re not scared, you should be. They’re bigger and tougher than we are, even with our suits. Don’t try to meet them strength for strength. If they swing at you, don’t try to block; they will cut you in half. You’re smaller and faster. Use your mobility to evade and kill them as fast as you can. Violently. And don’t stop killing until they are all down and unmoving. Kill them dead. As soon as the one you’re fighting is down, help someone else and be ready for the ones at the door to come in. It’s going to get crowded. Mark your targets and don’t frag each other.”

  His voice got louder. “The winners of this fight are going to be the ones who are the fastest and the meanest. If you’re not the meanest mother fuckers in this system, you better get that way right now. Do you get me?”

  “Yes Gunnery Sergeant!”

  “Good.” He turned to Lieutenant Contreras and assumed a combat pose with his rifle at the ready. “Enough talking. Let’s go take back our bridge.”

  Contreras nodded once, then drew his saber and laser pistol. “Solomon, please beam us to the bridge. On my mark. 3…2…1…Mark!”

  Weapons Control, TSS Vella Gulf, Anti-Jotunheimr System, December 23, 2021

  The access hatch slid open and The Wall got his first look into Weapons Control. The space was one of the largest on the ship—a square nearly 80 feet to a side. Eight of the Jotunn remained; the grenade barrage had killed one of the giants at the hatch. The other was on his knees with green blood running in torrents from a number of wounds. As The Wall pulled himself from the tube, the remaining door guard was hit by at least three laser bolts from his fire team and sprawl
ed on the floor.

  Seven remained. Six were in the center of the room, with one in the corner to the right.

  “Godfried and Jorn, cover the door,” one of the Jotunn in the center of the room said, nodding to the door. “We will leave momentarily; go down the hall and kill them.”

  “Aye, Jarl, we’ll teach them to be good slaves,” one of the Jotunn said as two of them went to the hatch.

  Dantone dropped to the floor, his knees bent to absorb the impact and land as silently as was possible for a cyborg. He had neglected to take into account all of the junk the Jotunn had disassembled and strewn around the space, though, and he landed on a circuit board. The delicate electronics shattered under the impact, and the sound echoed throughout the space.

  “What?” the Jarl asked, looking up. “Kill the Terran!”

  Unlike the other Terran soldiers, The Wall was equipped to deal with the Jotunn, and his Hooolong pulse rifles began firing, starting with the four Jotunn in the center of the space. The pulse rifles were devastating to smaller targets as they fired the Mrowry equivalent of explosive 20mm shells; the rifles were nearly as effective against the massive Jotunn. Even better, his cyborg frame was strong enough to hold a rifle in each hand. He had practiced doing it with a rifle in one hand and a trident in the other…but setting off antimatter grenades in the middle of this many anti-ship warheads was contraindicated, so he had settled on two pulse rifles. One eye provided targeting for each, and he fired bursts of five shells into each of the giant’s chests, then three-round bursts into each of their heads. Distance vision was slightly off with only one eye on each of the targets, but it didn’t really matter at this range.