by Lucas Marcum
Elizabeth looked down and shook her head silently. The room was quiet again, save for the bubbling of the teapot and gentle whir of the ventilation fans, hidden in the woodwork.
After a while Admiral Ozawa said gently, “I am very sorry for your loss.” He regarded her for a moment, then added, “Lieutenant Colonel Harris did his duty with honor and skill.”
Elizabeth snapped her eyes up, her gaze narrowing. “First of all, until they find his body, he’s not dead.” She fixed the admiral with a hard glare. “And what do you know about my ‘loss’, sir?” Her tone was sharp.
Ozawa gazed calmly back. “Only that your father is as heartbroken as you are.” He looked down at the papers and said, “I understand a remembrance service for Colonel Harris is going to be held in Philadelphia on the seventeenth. I would be personally honored if you would represent my command at his service.”
Elizabeth looked down and was silent for a long time. She then said in a soft tone, “I’ll go. But not for you. For him.”
Admiral Ozawa nodded. “I can ensure that you have a shuttle to take you…”
Elizabeth interrupted, her tone firm, “No. Not to his service, although I’ll go to that, too. To the Elai home system.” She looked the naval officer in the eyes and said, “I’m going to go because he would have. Because he was curious, and kind, and funny, and he wouldn’t have wanted them wiped out.” She sniffed, sat up straighter in the chair, and said, “Because we have to go on living, and keep the faith?” Not waiting him to respond, she stood, tugged her uniform into place, and said in a strange, soft tone, “To go on living.” She came to attention, saluted precisely, and said, “Right, sir?”
Admiral Ozawa nodded gravely, stood, returned the salute, and replied, “Quite so.” He released the salute and added gravely, “Because Valkyries never die. Do they, Colonel?”
Elizabeth released the salute, opened her mouth to speak, then closed it without a word. She nodded once, then turned and walked out of the office.
Epilogue
The failure of the Earth Alliance military to defend Sol lead to a wave of resignations from both the government and Parliament. Their replacements weren’t merely calling for an end to the war, but for vengeance for a devastated Mars and the millions of dead during the attack on humanity’s home system. As a last, desperate measure to head off what seemed to be the imminent destruction of the Elai homeworlds by the newly elected members of Parliament, the outgoing government directed that a massive occupation and relief force be sent to the Elai home system, in the desperate hope that if there was ongoing peaceful interaction with the Elai, xenocide could be avoided. Operation Avalon had begun.
End of Book Two
PREVIEW
VALKYRIEL ATTRITION
Summer 2020
Tony stood in the entryway of the completed portion of their newly dug bunker system and marveled for a moment at the ingenuity of the Navy construction crews. They had pried up the doors from the now disarmed Elai missile silos in the floor of the crater and flipped them on their sides; converting them into massive doors, making a main airlock big enough for the heavy equipment. The Seabees, as they had been called for hundreds of years, had lived up to their reputation for performing engineering miracles with minimal resources. All around the inside of the rim of the kilometer-wide crater, they had carved a massive tunnel with multiple entrances, forming a giant ring. Towards the inside of the crater, massive offshoot tunnels housed the single squadron of fighters and the lone Valkyrie that had made it down before the fleet had been forced to withdraw. The scavenged silo doors now formed airlock doors. Up towards the rim of the crater, smaller tunnels let the Marines access their bunkers and observation posts without having to go on the surface.
Waiting for a moment for the giant airlock to cycle, Tony entered the main ring. Inside, Sergeant Major Jimenez was waiting for him, clad in his power armor, but with his helmet off. With the sergeant major stood a man with his back towards Tony. Something about the man seemed familiar.
Sliding his helmet faceplate open, Tony said, “Sergeant Agawa?”
Brian turned and nodded calmly at Tony, “Hey, sir. Nice setup you have here. Those Seabees can really dig a tunnel.” He gestured at the massive tunnel stretching off in both directions, packed with equipment, the hulking missile mechs, and dozens of Marines, all busily toiling at various tasks.
Working the helmet off of his armor, Tony ran a hand over his short cropped hair, “Yeah, they’re pretty good at what they do. It’s good to see you. I had no idea you were on the Fury. When did you get aboard?”
With a shrug, the man replied, “Couple hours before the jump. The Valkyrie squadron needed a senior NCO, and I was up for a deployment anyway, so I pulled a few strings. Plus, I told Liz I’d keep an eye on you.” He grinned and reached out and shook Tony’s hand. Tony grinned back and shook firmly in return.
Sergeant Major Jimenez nodded sympathetically, “Babysitting officers, Master Sarn’t? Seems that there isn’t too big of a difference between the Corps and the Army sometimes.” He waved an army at the crowded tunnel bustling with Marines. “Speaking for myself, I’m glad to have you. We can always use more experienced NCO’s, especially ones that know their way around these shark toothed fucks out there. We got a lotta boots here.” Tony shook his head in silent agreement. The vast majority of the Marines that had landed with the First Marines had little or no combat experience; ‘Boots’ in the old Marine slang.
Brian nodded in agreement, “Yeah, well. They aren’t going to be boots when we’re done here.” He looked at Tony, “I guess we’re kicking off the offensive, now we’re dug in?”
Grimly, Tony nodded and replied, “Yeah. Was supposed to be tomorrow. Took longer to get dug in then we originally planned with only half our people getting on the ground. We’re supposed to be pushing patrols north and keep tabs on the Elai for Task Force Hammer as they push south, and theoretically catch them in a pincher.”
Brian’s face flickered with a half-smile, a rare expression for the stoic noncommissioned officer. He said drily, “Theoretically?”
Tony shrugged, “Well. you know the Elai. They have their own plans, regardless of what we do; hence why we’re cut off with less than half our forces and maybe a third of the supplies we need.”
“Shit.” Brian observed.
Sergeant Major Jimenez grinned, “Oh, come on, Sergeant Agawa. No supplies, no reinforcements, no Navy in orbit for either us or the sharkies, and we got a whole mess of pissed off, heavily armed Marines with no adult supervision. If it helps, try to remember we aren’t stuck down here with them. They’re stuck down here with us.”
Brian looked at Tony, who just grinned in reply. Seeing the grin Brian sighed, and remarked, “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you guys were enjoying this.”
With a cheerful slap on the smaller man’s armored shoulder, Jimenez responded cheerfully, “Agawa, you dropped with the Marines this time. We do things a little differently.”
Shaking his head, Brian looked reproachfully at Tony, “And here I thought you were one of the normal ones, sir.”
Laughing, Tony replied, “I'm not the most ‘Marine’ of Marines, but I am still a Marine, Master Sergeant, “Tony paused, “It's good to have you here, Brian."
Brian nodded in return, “Glad to be here, sir.”
While they spoke, two men approached them. One of them was in power armor, with the Valkyrie logo painted on the left shoulder and captain’s bars in the middle of his chest plate. The other was an older man with a silver hair, piercing blue eyes and a commanding face. He was in an unpowered combat armored space suit, with red crosses painted on the shoulder armor. On his chest was the black oak leaf of a lieutenant colonel. Tony nodded respectfully, “Sir.”
The older man nodded in a silent acknowledgement, as the young man said, “Major Harris, I’m Captain Matthews, off of Valkyrie One. This is Colonel Douglas. He’s the lead surgeon off the Phantom Fury.”
The older man offered his hand, and Tony shook it, trying to remember if any medical units had landed. Beating him to it, the surgeon said, “We squeezed a forward surgical team into the Valkyrie as the Fury broke orbit. Didn’t get a lot of equipment down, and the rest of drop resuscitation team didn’t make it down in time. Captain Matthews here,” He indicated the young officer, “Managed to get us some equipment, and got us on board.” He paused, then looked sourly at the young man, “Bumpy ride, my foot.” Matthews grinned unrepentantly as the surgeon continued, “Anyway. The Seabees dug a couple of side tunnels for an operating room and a ward. It’s not exactly a station hospital, but it’ll do. I do have a request from you, however.”
Tony nodded, “Sure, sir. What do you need?”
The older man replied promptly, “Power armor. We need it in case we need to get out of these tunnels. I’d prefer that we go up there in something more substantial than this armored underwear they call a combat suit.”
Tony and Sergeant Major Jimenez traded a look, then Tony said carefully, “Sir, power armor is…usually for the line troops. I don’t know that we have enough to spare…”
The surgeon replied in a dismissive tone, “Bosh. We have fifteen Marines stuffed in stasis pods, waiting for evac. They aren’t using theirs. We only need six sets, and we can repair the least damaged six using the more beat up suits. That way we get armor, and you aren’t tapping into your spares.”
Tony turned to Sergeant Major Jimenez, “Sergeant Major?”
The stocky man frowned, thinking, then shrugged, “If they don’t mind wearing suits Marines got hurt in. Seems like bad juju to me, but if you guys are ok with it, I guess it’s fine with me.”
Tony turned back to the hard-faced surgeon, and replied, “Well, sir. There’s your answer. We’ll get the armorers to give you a hand getting them fitted. That work for you, Colonel?”
Nodding, Colonel Douglas said, “I appreciate it, Major. We’re not trying to be a bother; we just want to be able to keep up if we have to scoot outta this castle of yours.”
Trying to suppress a smile, Tony nodded, “Yes, sir. But if they force us out of here, it’s going to be with something so big power armor won’t help a lot.”
Shrugging, the colonel replied, “Probably. I’d still rather have my team kitted out in it than not. I was in a forward drop surgical team on Solace. We sure as hell could have used it then. That blowing sand ate through our combat armor seals like a hot knife through butter.” He paused, his craggy face somber, then continued, “At least we could breathe there.” He stopped and shook his head, then added sternly, “You send someone to get those suits up and running, Major.”
Tony nodded, “Yes, sir. We will.” The older man nodded, shook Tony’s hand again and turned and walked off into the crowded tunnel, with the young Valkyrie crewman following.
Watching him go, Sergeant Major Jimenez commented thoughtfully, “Doc’s jumpy.”
Brian nodded slowly and responded, “Some people have a nose for trouble, Sergeant Major; and Colonel Douglas has been in the Army for a long time. Let’s talk, you and me. I have some ideas about a few things.”
VALKYRIE: ATTRITION
SUMMER 2020
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