Free When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) by Adam Korenman

in response, and the humans went to war.
                  The Terran Fleet reacted with practiced precision. Anti-missile batteries filled the sky with flechette rounds to disrupt the incoming warheads. Squadrons of fighters and bombers scrambled from the launch hangars on Midway and Normandy and Terra, rushing out to join the battle. The Valley Forge and her escort of destroyers fired salvos of tungsten shell from their main gun s— six foot slugs of solid metal rocketing out of the barrels toward the enemy ships.
                  Two waves of fighters crashed together. Red bolts of energy tore into Terran fighters, scoring the hulls with black pockmarks. The humans returned fire, shooting superheated slag into the Y-shaped craft. Plumes of smoke and flame erupted as ships on all sides fell. Slowly, the Fleet pushed the aggressors back into their own battle line. Silver craft from the other side of the fight joined in, peppering the acorn-shaped cruisers with blistering bolts of plasma and salvos of glowing missiles. One alien destroyer took a hit center of the munition bay and exploded violently, sending a wave of concussive energy outward. The scooped hull split into pieces, each trailing debris.
                  From his position on the moon, Raymond watched what the chaotic frenzy of action. With so many ships moving in so many directions, it was hard to see any order. He recorded every second of the battle. It was the only way he knew to help. Every screen in the building flickered to life, each displaying a different angle.
                  Above him, the fight raged on.
     
    *              *              *              *              *
     
                  “Lock on target . ”
                  “Get him off me ! ”
                  “Stay still, I’ ve got you .” Cameron blinked a droplet of sweat away from his eye. In zero gravity, moisture built up and hung around until it had enough density to move out on its own. At fighting speed, however, it ran like a river from the pilo t’ s nose to the back of his head.
                  “Shit, I’ m hit !” McLan e’ s fighter jerked to the side, spewing smoke and sparks .“ Port side wing is hit . ”
                  Cameron let his speed drop, sliding his Phoenix behind the Y fighter trailing his wingman. When the laser lock found the target, he loosed a single missile. The ten-pound Harpy Medium Range Ship-to-Ship Missile tore through space and pierced the alien craft beneath the engine. The Y fighter burst into three flaming chunks, spewing a nebulae of red fuel. Cameron drove through the debris, pinwheeling to knock loose bits of slag .“ At least they go down easy . ”
                  “Like a Luna girl .” George opened on the fighters with his twin Kraken gauss cannons. Compressed tungsten ripped into a fleeing vessel, rupturing the ammunition beneath the cockpit. Its back blew out and the ship drifted away, gutted and dead. The enemy destroyed, Cameron and George led their crippled wingman toward their own front. McLan e’ s Phoenix was chewed up but still flying. Every few seconds a pinch of fuel would hit the burning wing and flash out, rocking the entire body. George dropped back to watch for more aliens, but they seemed to have turned attention on the larger frigates and destroyers.
                  “How are you holding up ,” George said over the net.
                  McLane checked his instruments .“ I t’ ll keep, I hope. I lost port jets completely, so no right turns until we get back .” He chuckled .“ Chie f’ s gonna take this one out of my ass . ”
                  George scoffed .“ How many birds have you lost ? ”
                  “Lost? None. I’ ve broken three . ”
                  “Pittance