Everyone rushed to obey. An excited electricity filled the bridge. Wang and Ketrick ran for the armory. Vet and Deborah focused on their duties, and the best pilot in the Marines went to work.
Rizzo took them through the thick of the fight, dodging fire from both factions. He maneuvered the ship like a pro, avoiding all of the smaller boarding Karnayer ships and taking only the hits he had to. Their shields held.
“We’re being hailed.” Doctor Miller looked over from her station, a controlled panic in her eyes as she looked for instruction from Riot. “Send it to your holographic display?”
“Do it,” Riot answered.
The next moment, a small screen rose from the armrest on Riot’s left and folded out in an angle to an open screen in front of her. A second later, the same dwarf-looking admiral who’d sent the initial message appeared. He sat in a low-backed chair. A swarm of activity was taking place behind him as other Grovothe ran back and forth. He was yelling at someone off screen at the moment.
“Deploy the Warwings and tell them to target the Karnayer destroyer, don’t bother with the smaller enemy Scarab ships. Have Shock teams one through five dispatched to every floor. Karnayer Scarabs will be sure to get through our hull. It’s only a matter of time.”
Riot felt a sense of respect already grow in her chest for the alien admiral, even though they had yet to officially meet. His orders came blunt and fast. There was no room in his tone for argument or questions. He expected to be obeyed immediately.
His hard gaze fell on Riot. “You’re the Earth ship we were supposed to rendezvous with. The Karnayers ambushed us when we exited FTL. If you’re with us, then stand with us.”
The decision for Riot was easy. She had no love for the Karnayers after they had tried to kill her and her crew during their first run-in with one another.
“We’re with you.” Riot glanced to her right, where the Karnayer destroyer headed for the giant Grovothe flagship. “Looks like that big Karnayer son of a gun is giving you some trouble. Leave it to us.”
8
“The Karnayer destroyer class craft has more weapons on it than some planets,” the admiral said, raising thick eyebrows up to his bald head. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“Ask me in ten minutes, if I’m still alive,” Riot said to the admiral. “My name’s Warrant Officer Riot of the Valkyrie, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Admiral Tricon of the Dreadnaught. It’s a pleasure. We can clear the way for you if you think you can take out their destroyer,” Admiral Tricon barked with a twinkle in his eye. “Get behind us.”
“Roger that,” Riot said, ending the transmission. She looked up at the back of Rizzo’s head. “Rizzo, you heard the conversation. Get behind the Dreadnaught. We’re taking out that Karnayer destroyer.”
Rizzo threw a fist into the air, wagging an outstretched pinky and thumb. He never broke his concentration on the window in front of him as he dodged a burst of green fire from a Karnayer Scarab that screamed right past them.
“Uh, Riot?” Doctor Miller asked from her seat on the left of the bridge. “It’s great that we made new friends and all, but how do you plan on taking that out?”
Doctor Miller pointed to the massive black ship that bore down on their location. The ship looked more like a floating fortress than a battleship made for space. It was roughly in the shape of a diamond with thick spikes that protruded from a flat base. If there was any specific design in place for the harsh protrusions from the ship, Riot couldn’t tell. It was as long as a city block, with four massive engines that pushed it forward.
As opposed to the much smaller Scarabs, the Karnayer destroyer moved slow and sluggish. Giant cannons rested on the surface, splattering the Grovothe Dreadnaught with green laser blasts as it approached.
“I don’t know. I’m still coming up with that part,” Riot said, studying the enemy ship that was more than ten times the size of her much smaller cruiser.
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Vet said under his breath.
Rizzo maneuvered the Valkyrie behind the Dreadnaught as instructed, staying in its wake.
Come on, Riot thought to herself. You’ve got something up your sleeve. They’re stronger, but not necessarily faster.
A light bulb exploded in Riot’s mind. Her eyes never left the battle in front of her. The smaller, faster Scarab ships with three prongs protruding from their sterns were everywhere. They raced through the sky, harassing the Grovothe with their attacks when they could, slamming into their hulls and attaching when they couldn’t.
The Grovothe held their own, with dark grey fighter ships Riot guessed were the Warwings. The Grovothe fighters looked like single pilot compartments with two wings sloping down and blasters connected to the end of each wing. A single engine in the back propelled them forward.
It was clear the Grovothe were outnumbered from the beginning. They had not been expecting a fight.
Orders?
Rizzo asked, with big letters popping up over the window.
“This is what we’re going to do,” Riot said as Wang and Ketrick ran back onto the bridge. The former dressed in his double layer of body armor, the black dragon skin underneath the crimson red liquid armor; the latter wearing nothing more than a pair of iron greaves with a black Kevlar vest over his bare torso.
Wang dropped a suit of armor and duffel bag of gear next to Riot. Ketrick did the same for Vet.
“I thought you’d want Vet ready, just in case,” Ketrick said, nodding to Riot. “We’re ready if they board. I say if they want a fight, then let them come.”
“Good, because that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Riot grabbed on to either side of her captain’s chair as the ship shuddered from the impact of Karnayer fire.
“Say what?” Wang looked up from checking the sights on his Villain Pulse Rifle, the equivalent of a M16A4 that the Syndicate had left them. The weapon was painted black with a heavy mag that never needed to be reloaded, and a thick barrel. “For the record, I’m always down for a fight, but we’re just letting them attach to us like last time?”
“When the Dreadnaught breaks off its run, we’re going to get as many of those Scarabs to follow us as we can. Hopefully, when they see us making a run on their destroyer, they’ll flock to try and intercept us. When we have as many of those buggers following us as we can, we increase the speed right at the destroyer and pull up at the last minute.”
“Sending all those Scarabs that aren’t able to make the tight turn straight into their own ship,” Vet said, finishing the thought.
“Rizzo, you need to be on top of that destroyer before your turn. We have to be hugging that mother freighter. We’ll need those Scarabs right on our tail at top speed if this is going to work,” Riot said, asking and already knowing, what the answer would be. “Can you do it?”
I can do it. The War Wolves ride again!
Rizzo’s response had come over the screen in large, red lettering once more.
“Let’s rock and roll,” Riot said, motioning to Vet, who was still changing into his armor. “I’ll take the guns. Vet, you’re the XO. You take point with Wang and Ketrick. Be ready. We’ll do our best to keep those Scarabs from attaching to the ship, but if one or two gets through, you’ll be our line of defense.”
“Oohrah!” Vet said.
“Oohrah!” Wang echoed.
Ketrick looked unsure if he was allowed to echo the words. Instead, he brought his weapon, a long staff blaster with an axe on one side of the barrel and a sledgehammer on the other, hard onto the floor twice.
“I love the energy,” Riot said with a laugh. “But let’s not put any holes in the floor.”
Ketrick just smiled, wide and slung his weapon over his shoulder.
“Let’s go,” Vet said, grabbing his weapons and armor. He headed for the door with Wang and Ketrick in his wake.
Riot gave her full attention to the gun controls that appeared at the captain’s chair in front of her.
She commanded the holographic interface to allow the two triggers to appear at the edges of her chair’s armrest. On command, two joysticks with triggers set into the handles and buttons near her thumbs appeared in the air.
The ship shuddered as a trio of Scarab fighters screamed past their front window, en route to chasing a Grovothe ship.
“Still holding strong,” Doctor Miller reported in. “Shields at ninety percent. If I remember, the Scarab ships’ blasters aren’t particularly strong. It’s them crashing into our hull we have to worry about.”
“Agreed,” Riot said, remembering their last run in with the Karnayers. Doctor Miller was right. The real threat the Scarabs possessed wasn’t their long-range weapons at all; rather, it was their ability to latch on and unload a squad of Karnayer soldiers onto the ship.
The Dreadnaught providing cover in front of them shuddered under the onslaught of the larger Karnayer destroyer. The Dreadnaught let out one last salvo of fire before breaking off its run at the Karnayer ship and turning right.
The two massive crafts passed one another like wooden ships on the ocean sea. They exchanged a broadside of weaponsfire with one another. The Dreadnaught’s shields finally failed. The Karnayer ship scored multiple shots across the Grovothe battleship’s left side. Explosions and fires rippled across the Dreadnaught.
“That’s our cue.” Riot grabbed the firing controls in front of her. Immediately, a heads-up display popped to life in front of her seat. A red, circular targeting system tracked with her movements as she tested out the controls. “We can’t let them take much more of a beating.”
Rizzo was the best pilot Riot had ever known during her time in the Corps. After the accident that had cost him his voice at the hands of the Syndicate, Rizzo had become even better. It was as if the loss of his voice was channeled into other parts of his body. His eyesight and reflexes were extraordinary.
The Valkyrie weaved in and out of the hundreds of Scarab ships that lay in between them and the Karnayer destroyer. Rizzo moved the ship like it was an extension of his body, adding more and more acceleration with each passing second.
The Karnayer destroyer took its attention off the Dreadnaught to meet the new threat the Valkyrie presented. Green laser beams raced through the air, headed for Riot and her crew.
“Get some!” Riot roared as the first wave of green fire splattered against her shields. Riot returned the favor by targeting two Scarabs who raced toward them. Riot tracked them on her targeting display like the trained professional she was. The trigger fingers on each of her hands pressed down hard on the joysticks. Red blaster fire erupted from the cannons set on either wing of the Valkyrie.
Red fire blasted from the Valkyrie’s guns. The two Scarabs heading for them exploded in balls of yellow fire.
Riot kept her trigger fingers pressed down hard as Rizzo took them below the Karnayer destroyer. She ripped a line of fire in the underbelly of the ship. The enemy destroyer’s shields held strong. Riot’s fire stopped a few yards short of the actual ship. They disappeared, striking a blue force field that showed for a moment, then vanished a moment after the blast hit it.
Scarabs raced after them from all sides.
It seemed from its underbelly the Karnayer destroyer was forced to rely on the smaller Scarab ships for offense and their shields for defense.
“Shields at seventy percent,” Doctor Miller reported in. “The guns on that destroyer are hella strong.”
“Don’t ever say the word ‘hella’ again,” Riot said, not taking her eyes off the screen in front of her. “Evonne, I need to hear what I’m doing here. Pressing triggers with no noise is weird. I want to hear the booms.”
“Understood, Captain,” Evonne said at once. “Redirecting audio to your chair.”
Riot checked a square window in the bottom right of her heads-up display. The smaller screen was like looking into a rearview mirror. More than a dozen Scarabs raced after them.
“One more pass, then let’s take them out,” Riot yelled to Rizzo as she targeted a Scarab coming in from their right.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Riot unleashed a barrage of fire from the ship’s guns and was rewarded with an explosion.
BAM!
“Yeah!” Riot yelled. “That’s more like it!”
9
They passed from under the Karnayer destroyer. Rizzo brought them in a tight turn, pointing them up toward the sky. Their ship shuddered as they were once again in the destroyer’s range. They had the full attention of the destroyer now as all the ship’s guns zeroed in on them. Another wave of green fire struck them.
Riot shook in her seat. A tremor ripped through the ship. Warning lights blinked off and on. A shower of sparks sprinkled the bridge from a control panel against the wall.
Sparks, Riot thought. Why are there always sparks inside spaceships when they get hit?
“Shields at fifty percent and dropping.” Doctor Miller grabbed on to her station with both hands as the ship was hit with another tremendous force from their left. “Two Scarab ships have attached to the Valkyrie! Med bay and cargo hold.”
Processing these thoughts, Riot gave into the adrenaline pumping through her body. Rizzo brought them up past the enemy destroyer’s rear side. They headed higher and higher, away from the massive Karnayer destroyer.
Riot looked in the corner screen showing a swarm of Scarabs chasing them. There were too many to count.
“Evonne, connect me to Vet.” Riot stared out into a target-free screen for the time being. They were heading up and away from the fight. Every enemy ship was trailing them for the moment.
“Done,” Evonne said. “You know, if I had a body, I could carry a weapon and help—”
“Not now,” Riot growled. “Vet, you have company. One ship attached to the med bay, the other to the cargo hold. And brace yourself. Rizzo’s about to let loose up here.”
“We’re on it,” Vet responded back through the comm.
READY? Rizzo asked, sending his message to the smaller screen Riot was using to target the enemy from her chair.
“Do it!” Riot yelled back to her pilot. “Let’s show these Karnayers, Earth isn’t going to take it lying down.”
Rizzo stopped his forward momentum. For a moment, the ship was weightless as it redirected angles and pointed down.
“Oh, God,” Doctor Miller gasped. “I’m going to be sick again.”
Rizzo spun the Valkyrie around, pointing the ship down directly over the Karnayer destroyer. Between them and their target was a swarm of Scarab ships still heading for them.
“AHHHHHH!” Riot screamed as she let loose on the enemies headed straight for them. “Come on!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Riot let the red blaster fire hammer over a dozen Scarab fighters, exploding three and striking a dozen more. Green return fire from the enemy struck the Valkyrie’s shields and dissipated before it could do harm. Rizzo weaved around the Scarabs trying to slam their ships into the Valkyrie. Riot took out another headed straight for them.
BAM!
Riot hit a Scarab dead center, right in the pilot section of the ship, in between the trio of protruding talons.
Rizzo increased the speed. The thrusters went to full power. A line of Scarabs pulled their same maneuver now and pursued at breakneck speed. A moment later, they were through the dozens of Scarab ships and heading straight for the Karnayer destroyer.
Over her comm, Riot could hear the sound of weaponsfire discharging from the fight taking place on her own ship. Right now, she had to deal with what was in front of her. She would have to trust that Vet, Wang, and Ketrick could take care of themselves.
Green fire spewed from the Karnayer destroyer. As the Valkyrie streaked toward their ship, the Karnayers evidently believed they were going to pull a kamikaze move of their own. Little did they suspect, Riot and her team had no desire to die.
Riot fought the G-force pushing her back into her seat as Rizzo embraced the dive and sent ev
ery ounce of power to the engines. The Scarabs chasing them were forced to do the same if they were going to have any chance of catching up with them and saving their destroyer.
Green laser fire coated the Valkyrie’s front screen. Riot kept her trigger fingers locked on tight, sending a constant stream of red fire at the ship.
Let’s see what you think of this. Riot’s right thumb pressed down hard on a button on the top of her control stick. A bright red beam shot a constant stream of energy at the destroyer. It looks like a freaking Christmas light show.
The Valkyrie shook again.
“They’re sending everything they have at us,” Doctor Miller screamed as another shower of sparks erupted over the bridge. “Shields at twenty—no, ten percent!”
They were so close to the enemy ship now, Riot could make out more details of the monstrosity. The black ship was made up of numerous thick spike-looking structures protruding from the base. The closer she got, the more she could see there was a method behind the construction.
What looked like spikes before were actually a combination of cannon barrels and towers. Riot hosed the ship with her weaponfire, but still the shields of the much larger destroyer held.
A warning light began to blink off and on, informing Riot her guns were in danger of overheating.
“Warrant Officer Riot,” Evonne’s voice came over the sounds of fire and explosions.
“Not now,” Riot yelled back.
The Valkyrie was so close to the destroyer, Riot thought for sure Rizzo had miscalculated how much room he would need to pull back.
“Pull up!” Doctor Miller implored. “Rizzo, pull up! Pull up!”
I’m going to freaking die in space. A smile turned the corners of Riot’s lips. Well, I guess there are worse ways to go.
Then the impossible.
Rizzo cut power to the thrusters, turned up hard, and hit the ship’s engines again, full power. The belly of the Valkyrie scraped one of the protruding Karnayer towers.
Click Click Boom (War Wolves Book 2) Page 6
