A squadron of drone ships got their orders and turned to accelerate toward the new ship, breaking away from the current fight. The ship minds, satisfied, turned back to the main battle just in time to be shocked to the core as their quarry blasted right through the center of the fight and annihilated the detailed squadron even as it began to break away.

So sudden was the shift that for a moment the ship minds didn’t quite know how to react.

“Bring us about,” Eric ordered. “Milla, keep firing!”

The Odysseus twisted, lasers still beaming constantly into space as they swept about. Three more enemy shots had holed their armor. Eric knew that the big ship was bleeding air badly, yet he couldn’t help but reflect on the fact that the Odyssey would have long since been destroyed.

Of course, if he’d been in the Odyssey, Eric knew that he would have played hide and seek with the alien armada instead of engaging them head on. The two powerful singularity cores that gave the Odysseus its incredible power also made it effectively impossible for the big ship to hide from any active searchers.

Always a tradeoff, he supposed.

The casualty list had begun to filter in. Some names he knew, most he didn’t. Many were clearly of Priminae origin, but that didn’t matter. They were standing with Earth, bleeding and dying in space to save her. They were his and he felt the loss of every name for that reason.

He couldn’t turn away, however. There was too much at stake, too much to lose.

“Press the assault,” he ordered. “No quarter.”

“Aye sir,” Steph growled, his focus entirely on the fight. “No quarter. No problem.”

The brief distraction proved costly, but the ship minds adjusted quickly. They dispatched new vessels to deal with the newcomer, recognizing the configuration. It was a nuisance, but as it stood . . . alone, and in the open, they had its measure. Ten ships would serve to entangle it, limit its movements, and another ten would ensure the final disposition of it.

It was the larger ship, the new one, that was of the most interest. It smelled of the worlds they knew, but it did not fight like them. Nor was it equipped like them. The mysterious weapons matched those of the newcomer more than the old worlds. That spoke of a new race, with new capabilities, perhaps joining with the old worlds.

That was unacceptable.

The swarm had to locate this new enemy, the source of any possible alliance, and eliminate them entirely from the universe. This system would just be the first. The swarm would annihilate every world around every star in the entirety of the cosmos.

That was their purpose, their duty, and their obsession.

“Here they come, Captain!”

Carrow nodded, eyes on the incoming track. “Thin their ranks. HVMs fire as we bear!”

“Roger sir, high-velocity missiles firing!”