Eric nodded, looking to the rest as he raised his voice. “We have two mission objectives from this point forward. First, we have to delay the enemy as long as possible using any means we can. Every minute they’re not in Earth’s orbit is another minute longer the Earth can build munitions to destroy these things wherever they may be. Second, we have to savage the swarm as much as humanly possible. They cannot be allowed to return to Earth’s orbit in anything even vaguely resembling their current strength.”

He looked around. “Am I quite clear?”

No one spoke, but the nods and looks of determination were enough for him.

“Very well,” he said, smiling peacefully. “Miss Lamont, if you would be so kind as to sound general quarters?”

“Sir?” Susan blinked, distracted and unfocused for a moment.

“Beat the drums, Susan,” Eric said. “Call us to war.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

There was no confusion in her voice this time.

“Sir?”

On the Achilles’ bridge there was enough noise that Roberts missed the call initially.

“Sir.”

Roberts turned around as his comms officer caught his attention. “What is it, Janice?”

“Flash traffic on the high-priority channels, all across the Confederacy, sir,” she answered.

That wrenched his attention from the deep-space track and back to the present location. “I didn’t know we were patched into that.”

“Officially?” She had the decency to blush.

Roberts shook his head, holding a hand up. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

“Do you not want to know what it’s all about either?”

“Let’s not go that far.” He smiled, white teeth flashing briefly as he walked over. “I assume it’s Drasin connected?”

“Yes sir, but more than that . . . Sir . . .” She hesitated. “Are you aware of Operation Shiva?”

Roberts grimaced, but nodded, “Yes. I was flashed into that before they dropped the first bomb. The President didn’t want anyone panicking.”

Susan nodded. “This is related. They’re shifting stance. People are a little panicked now.”

“Why?”

“Apparently the drone population in the cities was a decoy,” she said. “They’ve located over a dozen mass nests, all in mines rich in rare earth minerals.”

Roberts was quiet for a moment, eyes flicking to the space track. He wanted nothing more than to be dealing with the aliens out there, but it seemed that the ones here on Earth were more immediately dangerous after all. Slowly he nodded. “Give me a dispatch comm to all Heroics.”

Janice just had to tap a single key to make that happen. “You’re on, Captain.”

“This is Roberts,” he said simply. “I want all Heroics to shift to ground support and intel gathering as of this moment. Flash traffic from the surface indicates that the alien drones have created multiple large nests in areas rich in rare earth materials. Scan those areas, find the enemy, and destroy them where they sit. Roberts out.”