CHAPTER ONE
The 4th Heavy Strike Group was the newest formation created prior to the Orion incident and played a major part in operations for the next generation. Comprising the latest ships, fighters, and equipment it was the finest force in the Alliance Navy and built to tackle a massive variety of missions. Too late to take part in the incident at Helios, it would prove its worth in subsequent actions. The brand new Conqueror class ships were a modification of the successful Crusader class, substantially wider, and capable of carrying even more fighters and landing craft, albeit with reduced offensive armament. The twelve ships, including a single Conqueror heavy cruiser, would set the standard for Heavy Strike Groups for years to come.
Ships of the Alliance
The Hammerhead assault fighter shook from the impact of a dozen large caliber rounds. The thick frontal armor easily brushed the impacts aside, and it continued forward at high speed. Behind it followed another two fighters in a wide V formation. Four powerful thrusters powered the angry looking craft; two mounted next to one other on each side of the craft's stubby wings. The fighters bristled with turrets, but it was the massive pair of chin-mounted railguns that marked them out as something different. These barrels were large enough to be fitted to gunships or even small frigates and looked completely out of scale on the small craft. Another burst struck the port wingtip and managed to cause minor damage to one of the engines. The fighter shook, but it wasn't enough to hold it back from its purpose.
"Hold on!" called Sergeant Stone.
The grim faced Sergeant looked at the small group of marines with a cold, dispassionate expression. Of all the marines in the craft, he was clearly the veteran, a man of many years their senior and with untold campaigns under his belt. The other marines of the squad wore brand new and completely unblemished armor, whereas his was scratched and marked from unknown warzones. Opposite him in the rear cargo area sat Private Jack Morato, son of Spartan, the famed Alliance commander and entrepreneur who had now been missing for more than half the year. Not that Jack had the time to worry about his father though. Since free-passage had been negotiated with the Helions, space traffic had quadrupled throughout T'Karan space. This had resulted in a commensurate increase in illegal activities of raiders, smugglers, and traffickers. Jack and the others, plus the entire Alliance Navy had been very busy. He gazed at the Sergeant's armor plating with interest. There weren't just scorch marks from extreme heat but also bullet indentations, as well as scratches from the claws of biomechanical enemies, the bane of the Alliance.
"Sergeant Stone, where did the ship come from?"
The Sergeant looked at him but said nothing. He'd already briefed them on the way down. The rest of the mission was of no interest to him, or them.
"Don't worry about it. We know it's a stolen Alliance transport, and it has private security escorts, combat drones in fact. Concentrate on your job, Private."
Jack kept his mouth shut for a change and lowered his eyes to look at the battle damage on the marine's armor. It was a matter of pride for the more experienced marines to repair their gear but to never change the appearance. Bullet impacts and burn marks would be retained long after the battles were forgotten. Jack remembered how similar it was to the gear he'd worn for his short time in APS Corporation, though back then he'd been involved in some clandestine operations with the largest private military contractor in the Alliance.
This is something else, he thought.
The fighter vibrated as the guns fitted to the upper side of the hull turned on their attackers. The turrets shook the structure, but it was the large caliber guns fitted in the chin of the fighter that were most obvious. Each time the guns fired the fighter lost a little of its forward momentum as if reverse thrusters were being fired. Sergeant Stone examined the camera feeds from inside his armored suit and smiled at the progress they were making.
"You know the drill, people. This is a clean and simple rescue operation. We clear out the escort fighter drones and then board her."
The main guns fired again, and each of the marines shook at the powerful vibrations that rumbled from nose to tail of the heavily armored fighter. Jack imagined the dogfight and wished he could actually see what was going on.
"We're on the clock, don't forget. In forty minutes this ship will enter the debris cluster, and then she'll be gone. We've lost two ships in the last month in this sector and it's getting worse. Until we send in Kill Teams, we'll just have to stop ships before they get here."
The Kill Teams were a rumored detachment of the best marines in the fleet. Once operational, they would operate from frigate-sized warships and conduct guerilla battles against pirates and organized crime. Their creation had only just been announced, and most of those Jack knew had put their names down to sign up. After his brawling incident, he'd decided to keep his head down and avoid drawing attention to himself.
They'll just have to wait, for now.
Jack selected a file from within his suit and projected the data directly onto the inside of his visor. It drew a detailed image of the debris cluster running in a massive disc around the T'Karan sun. According to the figures, the belt was thin and sparsely filled with rock and dust, apart from three key locations. These regions were filled with rock from the size of a man's fist up to a large moon. Worse though was the density of the debris fields. The statistics showed a large number of probes, drones, and even small spacecraft had been damaged or even lost trying to navigate through the region. It had been marked as a navigational hazard, and marker buoys had been deployed at key locations as a warning to other travelers.
A destroyed planet, I wonder what caused that? Knowing our luck, it won't have been something natural.
As he considered the possibilities, the image of the Biomechs and their monstrous war machines and spacecraft returned. Even though it should be impossible, he had no problem whatsoever in visualizing their technology being utilized to destroy something as large as a moon, perhaps even a planet. He turned his attention back to the imagery and the trade routes to the Helion Spacebridge, or Rift as they were commonly called.
Yeah, that's it.
He looked at the point of space on the route his ship had been following that took it directly into the wake of a long ruined husk of a planet. It was this area that had been identified as the site from which the Biomech Guardian ship had been hiding for months, perhaps years for the chance to break out and make a run to the Helios Rift.
"This is no T'Kari vessel. This is an Alliance flagged heavy freighter. Check your schematics for the design. The habitation section is on the nose, and everything else is storage. Last count shows a dozen hijackers and the same number of civilian crew."
A voice took the Sergeant’s attention away for a moment. He spoke to an unseen crewmember via his helmet-mounted communication. Jack took it as an opportunity to glance at the other marines on board. There were a dozen of them in the cramped interior of the Hammerhead. They were armed and equipped in the usual Marine Corps fashion. Their latest model PDS armor fitted close to the skin and provided a completely sealed environment from heat, weapons, and the void of space. Their faces were covered with improved MK II tactical helmets that incorporated additional armor around the face and a narrow but stronger vision slit. An armored collar extended up from the chest to help protect the neck. The shoulders were larger than previous models, to house thicker plated of armor as well the more complex arrangement of electronics and redundant circuits. Across their bodies, in a special harness were the L52 MK II assault carbines. A super advanced coilgun with triple barrels and state-of-the-art small caliber ammunition.
This mission makes no sense. Why seize this ship out here?
He looked at them and then turned his attention to the approaching ship. The schematic showed the massive shape, something so big it made the Alliance Crusader class warships look like escorts in comparison.
What are Alliance citizens doing taking a ship like this and hiding it out here?
The fighter shook again as the turrets opened fire. Jack tried to understand what was happening, but his imagination simply ran riot with thoughts of a massive space battle rather than the one sided fight between three Alliance heavy fighters and a pair of heavily modified combat drones. There were no windows inside the Hammerhead for the passengers to make use of, and the external video feeds were only available to the unit commander, in this case Sergeant Stone, and he'd elected to keep the information to himself.
"Okay, the fighters are down. Get ready, we're moving in," said Sergeant Stone.
He noticed Jack's lack of attention and leaned over to smash his armored fist onto the Private's helmet. The sound could be heard throughout the small craft and caught the attention of every single marine there.
"Get your head together, son. This is combat, not some prissy simulation."
"I don't get it, Sergeant."
The Sergeant almost ignored him but something inside, either intrigue or more likely a sense of irritation, turned him around.
"Get it? Who gives a damn? There are raiders, pirates, and criminals in every part of space that we've ever visited."
He then pointed to Jack's weapon.
"Now, check your gear for the last time. You've got thirty seconds before we land this bird."
"Yes, Sergeant."
The group of three heavy fighters split apart, each moving to their preselected landing positions. With such as massive civilian ship as their target, the fighters were easily able to move away from the known windows or camera systems. Next to the size of the ship, they were more like fleas on a dog and barely discernible. Jack's craft moved into position along to the spine of the vessel where a series of maintenance hatches gave access to the third storage area. With the small shape of the distant star in the background, the fighter lowered into position and activated its landing clamps. The devices were incorporated into the retractable undercarriage and allowed the craft to create a permanent bond with the target.
"Okay, ladies, this is it," said Sergeant Stone firmly.
Beneath the floor of the Hammerhead, the boarding collar fitted securely to the outer door and created an airtight bond. The entire locking system was automatic, and in seconds, the robotic system had opened the external door while maintaining pressure within the ship.
Jack expected something bad to happen, and his stomach muscles tensed at the possibilities. In theory, they should have arrived safely, but there was no way to be completely sure. The hijackers had only gained control of the ship a few days before but could easily have positioned camera monitors anywhere on the ship. Even worse, they might have booby-trapped the hatches on the exterior of the vessel.
Sergeant Stone showed no such concerns and moved through the hole headfirst, pulling himself down into the interior of the ship. Two more marines followed him before it was Jack's turn to enter the blackness.
Okay, be cool, this is it, he thought nervously.
It was silly of course; he'd already experienced significant combat and had even played a major part in destroying an entire enemy vessel. This was different though, and he'd only managed that by activating the autodestruct facility on an already crippled vessel. The operation aboard this ship was a military one and not of necessity or desperation. It wasn't even like the jobs he'd been involved in when he'd been helping the Jötnar on various operations throughout the Alliance. Those had been somewhat illegal and kept as discrete as possible. This was a hostage rescue and mistakes could leave many innocents dead. The tunnel leading inside was pitch black, with just a subtle hint of yellow coming from the small landing lights beneath the Hammerhead fighter. The light cast hard-edged shadows inside before vanishing without warning. The lowlight warning indicator came on inside his PDS armor, and the system tried to adjust for ambient light. It took no more than a second for it to detect an error and brought up a number of options on his visual display. The unit was built into the visor and operated much like a Heads Up Display. Jack hesitated, but the voice of the Sergeant appeared like a whispering demon.
"Switch to combined infrared and thermal."
Jack nodded even though the man couldn't see him at that very moment. He selected the option, with nothing more than using his retina to choose the correct mode. His visor changed in an instant to show the new combined overlay mode. It utilized a low intensity emitter on his shoulder, bathing the interior of the tunnel with infrared light that could be visualized on the overlay. It was colorless and showed the world in a dull monochromatic layer of gray. The thermal imaging layer, on the other hand, was set to only show heat bloom that would then be overlaid with the infrared data. The combined series of information was the next best thing to daylight, and he immediately felt more comfortable. He pulled on the rails, and he was now halfway inside the tunnel. In front of him, he could see the heat bloom given off by the marines. It was lower than expected but still obvious to the advanced sensors on his suit. The stealth and subtlety of this part of the mission reminded him of the last, and very violent, training scenario where he and his fire team had been forced to take a position in hand-to-hand combat.
Just as well Wictred and Hunn aren't here.
The thought of his two friends made him smile. They were a rarity in that both were Jötnar juveniles and had managed to pass selection and training in the Marine Corps, just like him. Like the rest of their kin though, they were massive, strong, and partial to excessive violence in situations like this one.
Yeah, maybe hostage rescue isn't ideal for Jötnar!
Jack used the grab rails on the walls of the tunnel that led from the outer door deep inside the ship. The only sound he could hear was the voice of the marine officers as they directed the teams of marines inside the ship. He finally reached the bottom and lowered himself to the walkway below before activating his magboots. It was an odd feeling as his body became anchored to what they had now determined was the floor, though in reality there were places to put his feet on any of the four sides. Walkway was probably the wrong term, and the surface he was standing on contained a dense pattern of metal extending out like a grid. The holes were wide enough for a couple of fingers to hold onto but not too big that a mag boot would slip through. Sergeant Stone waited until the entire squad was inside before moving.
"Stay alert, we're two hundred meters from the habitation section."
He looked directly at Corporal Harvey.
"Stay here with your fire team. If we need to fall back, you'll need to provide cover."
"Sarge!" replied the man firmly.
"Let's go."
He moved away with each foot lifting and dropping into position like a robot moving through treacle. Although the other marines had trained for this kind of mission, not one of them moved with the speed or precision of the Sergeant. He covered the ground quickly, and they struggled to catch up.
Hey, slow down! Jack thought angrily.
As they moved through the ship, Jack became aware of sounds being amplified through his armor's speaker system. It was a minor detail but did tell him there was air in that part of the ship. It made sense of course; it was after all a pressurized section like all the inhabited parts of the ship.
"Watch your sectors, marines. I don't want nothing to surprise us."
Jack smiled at the odd double negative but said nothing. The Sergeant already seemed to have enough reasons to dislike him without adding more. Mentioning points like that had earned him a reputation for not keeping his mouth shut, and after many months, it seemed that he might even be learning something. The walkway was narrow, barely wide enough to stand side-by-side. The eight marines advanced in a long staggered column, each keeping their L52 MK II carbines in position and ready for trouble. Jack looked back and saw the blackened visors of his comrades right behind him. Their dark armor and tiger stripe pattern made them almost invisible in the blackness of the walkway. Inside the suit, Jack could smell the oil from the mechanical segments as well as the sealant used prior to operations to patch weakness in the joints and seal units. He took a series of deep breaths and continued forward. Sergeant Stone maintained an impressive rate of movement but stopped just before reaching the end of the walkway. He lifted his left arm in a clenched fist, and as one the marines halted and found whatever cover they could in the lifeless corridor.
"Remember the briefing. Use low velocity rounds, protect the civilians, and avoid damaging the ship, for God's sake!"
Jack glanced down at his L52, checking the barrel was correctly twisted for what must have been the tenth time. It was a quick and easy setting and forced the weapon to reduce the velocity of the magnetic projectiles. It was normally a mode used for silent operations, but in this case it was to do with avoiding damage to the ship. With another signal, the tech specialist they'd brought stepped up to the door and attached a breached unit to the wall. A small articulated arm extended out, and he placed it on both the circular door and another on the control pad. A rubber-coated cable ran directly from the device to a unit on the marine's back.
"Twenty seconds," he whispered on the unit’s secure channel.
Each of the marines heard this and tensed ready for what was to come. It was only then Jack noticed the bars on the right of his suit that indicted air pressure and temperature. All the levels suggested the ship contained breathable air and a fully sealed environment. He'd already heard the sounds as he moved, yet it hadn't occurred to him this meant the interior of the ship was now perfectly suited for human habitation, just without the benefit of a system of artificial gravity. Jack thought of the design of the ship, and its antiquity amused him.
Old school, Spartan would love it.
The comments from the Sergeant came right back though, and he remembered some of the videos they had watched demonstrating what happened doing depressurization. It wasn't pretty for those without protection, and even those in armor would be taking a major risk. The statistics for finding lost crew in a ship blowout still shocked him.
Another good reason not to blow holes in the side of the ship!
The possibility of an external breach was always a concern, even when wearing a suit such as his. Rapid or explosive decompression could kill those that were unprotected, as well as sucking out the unwary marines into space. Their orders were clear; they were to avoid damaging the ship, its cargo, or passengers.
Jack watched the circular door with great care as the tech specialist accessed the computer system. He could see the screen and knew exactly what the young man was doing. He even noticed the man make a minor but obvious mistake, as he navigated through the ship’s systems. He wanted to move forward to help, but it wasn't his place and he knew it. The tech might not be perfect, but he'd done nothing that would harm the operation; it had just taken him two seconds longer than Jack knew it would have taken him. A magnetic seal unwound and clunked open, revealing a bright white light. Without the suit’s protection, Jack would have been blinded for critical seconds. Luckily, the visor was designed to protect against the power of something like an unexpected solar flare. It adjusted its reflective and abort capabilities while deactivating the infrared mode.
"Go!" Sergeant Stone called out.
They were through the door and into a communal area of the ship. The floor was slightly rounded, and Jack could feel himself moved to the side. He hit the moving floor and then found himself planted as if on the ground.
Artificial gravity, he mused, forgetting for a few seconds that many ships made use of rotating sections to produce useful levels of gravity on long journeys. The other marines joined him, and soon the entire unit was taking advantage of the gravity being offered.
"Stay frosty and keep your magboots active. It won't be like this for long."
They moved past the tables that were built into the walls and extended out just a few meters. Cupboards and lockers covered the outer surface, and bright strip boards bathed the area in a white light. On first glance, the place seemed untouched, but already Jack had spotted marks on the walls and scorch marks on the units.
There's been a fight here already.
They reached the end of the room and another of the circular doorways. This time it was already open and led out into a small open area, with doors leading to other sections in the ship. Sergeant Stone stepped out and continued on. Jack glanced at his schematic overlay of this Ontario class freighter. The next section was one of the habitation segments, including a recreational area and access to sleeping quarters, then came the engineering, and finally the bridge.
"Okay, third team has reached the motor control units. They will deactivate the system on my mark. Be ready people," the Sergeant said without pausing.
They passed through the small square space and the next door into the recreational area. Computer displays were fitted into plinths along the walls, as well as a holographic projector unit in the center of the room. There were large burn marks on the walls in this section as well as black colored stains.
Blood.
Jack shook his head at the sight; he knew full well that if they'd taken lives, the hostage takers would be prepared to go further. He could only hope there were no explosives on board. The rest of the unit moved into position, all of them stationary like armored sentinels.
"Now!" cried Sergeant Stone.
A sick feeling spread through Jack's body as the artificial gravity cut inside the ship. Two seconds later, the circular door blew open to reveal the large habitation area. Directly in front was a man in brown trousers, a dull shirt and flak jacket that was open to the waist. He hung onto the grab rail on the wall while his legs flailed about in the air. In his right hand was a heavily modified pistol.
"Watch out!" he cried, but it was too late.
A powerful flash erupted from its muzzle, and the first marine at the door was knocked backward from the impact. Jack didn't have time to check the injuries but pushed himself through the gap and deactivated his boots. The rest of the marines pulled inside and reattached their boots to the ground. Jack, however, sailed through the interior of the ship in total silence, spinning slightly as he went. Everything appeared to him as though it was a slow motion dream. Sergeant Stone had already killed the armed man with a double tap to his head and chest. More armed men tried to find cover, but it was too little, too late. Jack took aim at a man reaching for a thermal shotgun and fired a single round, striking the man in the stomach. The impact blew him back, and he spun out of control. Jack grabbed the closest wall and pulled himself down and directly behind the targets. He scanned quickly with his eyes, and the visor flagged the potential hostiles as his retinas darted about.
Seven hostiles, two down.
He lifted his carbine and took aim. The impact from the butt of the carbine was normally modest, but in this zero gravity environment, it worked like a small thruster and pushed him toward the wall. Jack was already positioned to counter the effect and loosed off three more rounds. The other marines fired precision shots, taking care to only strike the hostage takers. As the rounds struck home, Jack spotted the first of the civilians further ahead inside the habitation area. It was a woman, possibly in her early thirties. She wore tan colored pants and a loose top, nothing more, and her face was discolored and bruised.
"Sarge, front sector," he called out.
Sergeant Stone propelled himself through the melee without shooting and moved toward the next door and the entrance to the bridge. Two marines were struck by thermal shotguns, but although hit, neither seemed seriously wounded by the civilian weapons. The marines cut them down with ease and then chased after the Sergeant. Jack was closest to the door and pulled himself through to find Sergeant Stone's feet clamped firmly to the ground, and his weapon raised and pointed at a group of five people. Jack automatically lifted his carbine and pointed the weapon in the same direction.
"Take it easy," whispered Sergeant Stone in a stern and calm tone.
The woman and an older man were tied to their seats in the bridge and behind them were the five men. Each was firmly anchored to the ground or wall, using their feet or hands on the grab rails. Three pointed pistols at the Sergeant while the other two threatened their prisoners. Sergeant Stone deactivated the visor on his helmet, and it slid open, revealing his grim looking face.
"This is over. Give up the prisoners and you'll get a fair trial."
Each of the men smirked or grinned at his comments. Jack knew the lopsided smiles as more than just smirks though; they were the look of contempt. It sent a shiver through his body.
They are serious.
He glanced to his left and right, immediately suspecting trouble, and was rewarded by movement in the shadows. A robed man spun out with blades that glistened, embedding one in the armored flank of Sergeant Stone. The man grunted in pain before twisting left to strike his assailant. The man was fast though and used the low-gravity to his advantage as he maneuvered around the armored marine. Jack moved right and kept his weapon trained on the men. Not one of them moved.
"Trouble on the bridge, I think we have Neo Bábists here!"
Even as Jack said the words, he couldn't believe what he was saying. The Alliance was filled with hundreds of religious groups and philosophical movements, but since the discovery of the Biomechs, a number of them had grown in prominence. Those religions that placed an emphasis on an end of life scenario or an apocalyptical event had found much to associate with. The Neo Bábists were one of those groups and shared the belief of the End Times and the manifestation of God. Since the first ships arrived in the Orion Nebula, it had spread like wildfire amongst those that feared the return of the Biomechs. By encountering sentient and violent life on these new worlds, the Neo Bábists had used this as a demonstration of the coming danger. Most adherents were harmless, but a militant faction had collaborated with others to try and halt exploration and expansion to hold off the eventual Judgment Day.
The marines tried to move in to help, but as with Sergeant Stone, they were halted by the hidden enemy. From behind consoles, computer units, and storage lockers emerged the enemy. They were poorly equipped and armed, but they moved and attacked with purpose and ferocity.
"Put them down!" shouted Stone.
Gunfire rippled through the bridge and habitation sector. Magnetic projectiles thumped into flesh while thermal shotguns melted through body armor. It was a bloody mess, and yet the group near the two prisoners still stood their ground. Jack moved closer and then spotted the cables running from their bodies to the seats. Small metallic devices were fitted at the base as well as around their waists. Jack looked into their eyes and knew immediately what the origin of the contempt had been.
Bastards, they're going to blow this ship up.
"It's a trap!" he shouted, but it was already much too late.
The man to the left lowered his weapon and then reached into a pocket. His expression had already changed to one of apparent pleasure. Jack didn't wait and aimed his rifle at the center of the man. He pulled the trigger, and three small holes appeared in the captive woman's chest. The magnetic projectiles ripped through her and then slammed into the man's stomach. The impact forced him backward, and the device spun from his hand.
The remaining four lifted their guns and opened fire on Jack. Dozens of rounds struck his armor. He felt pain in his leg, and then the bridge spun about. He made out the shapes of the marines, gunfire, and Sergeant Stone before spotting the approaching bulkhead. Then came the blackness.
CHAPTER TWO
Where were the tanks or heavy artillery of the Marine Corps? It was a question often asked during the Great Uprising and a question still asked today. From its inception back in the Confederacy, the Marine Corps had always been an amphibious assault force. Marine armor and overwhelming firepower was the key to success. Vehicles were simply transports; something required to get the men and women of the Marine Corps into battle. Artillery and armor implied a loss of initiative and was avoided at the loss of many marines’ lives. Finally, the introduction of Vanguards as official armored units in every battalion gave the Corps something to fill the gap. The new question was were the Vanguards there to support the lighter armed marines, or was it the other way around?
History of the Marine Corps
The door of the Alliance landing craft opened with a dull groan before striking the firm ground. Bright yellow light bathed the interior of the craft and almost blinded the small group of marines. First out was Commander Gun, the Jötnar leader of the 17th Battalion. Technically, he was actually a Colonel, but the honorific title of Commander had stuck with him since the Uprising two decades earlier. He was now both the leader of his Biomech people and a high-ranking officer in the Alliance Marine Corps. The Commander Gun's armor had been patched up and repaired, and his face was open to the elements. His massive form made him look twice the size of his second-in-command, Major Teresa Morato. She followed in her combat armor that looked equally as battered and worn as the Commander's. Teresa stopped as soon as her feet touched the ground, and she looked ahead to the lines of soldiers who stood smartly to attention. Gun continued forward and made it ten meters before stopping and looking back.
"I think the General wants to see us, soon," he said with a wicked grin.
Teresa nodded but her mind was elsewhere. After hours of bloody battle, they'd been granted less than three months rest where she'd actually spent the bulk of it chasing around to check on her marines. Following that, the small Alliance expedition had been split up with all of the warships returning, with the exception of the damaged ANS Victory. Memories of some of the minor borders fights flooded back to her, especially those that had worn down her battle fatigued fighters. She knew they needed to be sent back, but with all the changes that had occurred recently, the Helions would only trust warriors from aboard the renowned ship.
This isn't right. We need a break, before my men do.
She looked up and noted the large number of Alliance fighters moving at a discrete distance. They were not taking chances with this posting, and it was just as well. The last group of Alliance civilians had been granted only a short audience with Helion officials before being escorted to the Rift. This time they'd returned with a more sizable contingent as well as those involved in the fighting to secure Helios.
They can't turn us away this time.
"You ready to make an impression?" asked Gun.
"Always," she replied in a quiet yet firm voice.
More ships had arrived since to replace them, as well as civilian ships bringing Alliance officials, yet it seemed that pain and sacrifice were something only the 17th would have to endure. She'd already lost count of the number of messages she'd sent manually to each of the bereaved families. The assault conducted by the men and women of the Battalion to secure Helios from the ravages of a rogue enemy Guardian ship had cost them dearly, and it was always difficult to explain to citizens so far away, why their sons and daughters had died fighting in a place where they weren't even wanted.
She closed her eyes for a moment and let the memories slide away. They were not gone, of course, just temporarily moved from her conscious thoughts.
Concentrate on the task at hand. You have people to meet and deals to make. Then you can go back to thinking about the dead and the missing.
An image of Spartan flashed into her eyes for a second, but she dismissed it just as quickly. She was well aware that finding him was going to be very difficult. That was when she spotted a delegation at the end of the procession and moved one foot in front of the other. Gun waited for her to reach his side before they moved on.
"Have you heard the news on the ship we took?" he asked.
"The Guardian ship?" she replied with suspicion.
Gun nodded in reply. Teresa was one of those that had fought on the vessel, along with Gun. It was massive, and easily capable of taking on multiple Alliance ships. It had arrived in the middle of a vicious battle between the Alliance ships and the Helion station that guarded the entrance to the star system. Only by the sacrifice of Alliance marines had the ship been stopped, and they had even captured its commander alive, the first to be caught.
"So, what news?"
"The Helions want it for their own research."
"What?" she snapped back, "No way are we handing it over. We paid in blood for that lump of junk."
Gun grinned to himself.
"Don't worry; I don't think Anderson is going for it. It cost us a lot to take it in the first place. Plus, we have the commander."
He yawned and scratched his jaw, probably even less interested in the pomp and ceremony than Teresa was.
"The Senate sent an official out here for this
event. I wonder who they sent?"
His tone suggested a rhetorical question, and Teresa found herself curious at the suggestion it might be someone they knew. The two continued moving through the procession, and Teresa's attention now turned to the soldiers. There were many skin colors and heights, but not one of them reached her relatively average height. She noticed their pale skin was taut, and their limbs appeared thinner and relatively insubstantial compared to hers. Their uniforms were equally odd with a strange orange hue, a color that seemed far from suitable as a color of war. Stranger though, was that none appeared to be wearing armor. Even their weapons looked primitive, but it was hard to tell from a glance.
Maybe their weapons render armor useless. Or maybe they are just useless. The T'Kari are hardly the best warriors we've ever seen.
They continued on until reaching another group of soldiers. They were armed in a similar fashion, yet these people were taller and better built than the first. Even so, they were still no stronger than she was. This group had rougher features to their faces and a more pronounced bone structure around the jaws, almost feral in nature. She tried to imagine what her husband Spartan would look like next to any of them and had to stop herself from grinning. Gun though marched past them like a giant; his arms each as thick as their torsos. Teresa could see the look in their eyes, a universal indication of what they felt. The involuntary gesture told her they were truly shocked at seeing him there, a monster covered in burned and battered armor and the markings and colors of the Alliance Marine Corps. Her eyes located the civilians a short distance away.
There they are.
Teresa spotted the small group of Alliance personnel waiting at the end of the long lines of soldiers. They waited patiently, though were chatting with several of the citizens of Helios. It was only then that she raised her eyes to look at the world around her. The planet seemed to be one giant city, with massive buildings, spires, and raised roads in every direction. Even the place where she walked appeared to be up in the sky and lifted well above the planet's surface. Spacecraft rushed past as though involved in a never-ending race through the clouds. Further up, she could make out the silhouettes of massive transports moving slowly or lifting up into the atmosphere.
How high are we? she wondered, looking to Gun.
"Have you ever seen such a place?"
Gun shook his head.
"This must be what Old Earth was like," he said in almost hushed tones.
Teresa was surprised at his choice of worlds to consider. Not that she had ever visited the birthplace of humanity, but the idea that Gun would hold it in such esteem was very unexpected. She thought back to the video streams of Earth in the past, the days before space travel was common. Back then citizens had travelled using land vehicles and aircraft, but she couldn't remember seeing anything like the vast structures around her.
"No, I don't think even Earth at its peak was like this."
The images of the overharvested backwater of Earth returned to her thoughts, and she felt saddened at the idea that alien worlds could achieve such greatness whereas the jewel of humanity had been stripped of its resources and irradiated by industry and war.
There is time for us to change.
"May I introduce Commander Gun and Major Morato, the leaders of the unit that halted the enemy ship," explained the Marine Corps General in a calm and sincere tone.
Alongside him was the armored form of T'Kron, the leader of the T'Kari Exiles and now the interpreter for the Alliance task force. As the General spoke, so T'Kron translated into the alien tongue of the Helions. A pair of the pale skinned Helions stood alongside General Daniels and the scarred shape of Admiral Anderson, the two leaders of the combined naval and marine force in that part of space. The two Helions were dressed in a multi-colored garb, covering them from their throats to their ankles in a feather light material that floated and moved with the gentle air current. Teresa smelled the warm air and noted a subtle fragrance, one that reminded her of the open fields of Kerberos. The atmosphere was slightly dry but far from uncomfortable. She looked at them both and nodded, but Gun spoke first.
"Hello, I am Gun, commander of the 17th Battalion and leader of the Jötnar."
Teresa looked at him; surprised he'd mentioned his role outside of the Marine Corps. It hardly seemed relevant, as he was there as a military commander. His position among his own people was as contentious as the fact that as an ex-Biomech, he now led a large unit of warriors. She suspected he had other reasons for bringing it up at such a delicate moment, perhaps trying to cement the fact that his people were both part of the Alliance and also something different. She could hardly blame him. The Jötnar were still distrusted by a large percentage of the older population. It would be generations before the stigma of being the sires of the Biomech monsters would start to fade. At least she hoped that would be the case.
"Major Teresa Morato. I am second-in-command of the 17th Battalion of the Alliance Marine Corps."
She looked to Gun and then to the alien delegates.
Oh, screw this, why not?
"I am from Carthago, one of our older colonies in the Alliance. A world famed for politicians and
warriors."
It was some time since she'd been back on her homeworld. Carthago had been the most troubled planet in the Alliance, going right back to the first colonization of Alpha Centauri. Even now there was fighting and trouble, with many of the poor citizens joining religious groups, trade unions, and on some occasions militant factions. It was a rough, violent world but perfect for recruiting tough, uncompromising warriors.
Just like me, she considered ruefully.
Both Helions remained impassive, and only the taller of the two said anything. Its voice was dull and quiet, but it didn't matter as both were forced to wait while T'Kron translated. Teresa looked at them and tried to avoid showing her true feelings. They seemed weak and feeble in comparison to her own kind, and it was starting to intrigue her. The gravity was almost identical to that of Terra Nova, and the atmospheric makeup was perfectly breathable and safe for her to use. They were advanced both technologically and politically, and appeared healthy. The only thing she could think of was that their race rejected the physical form, though why she couldn't fathom. She had always assumed that if they had come across alien races, they would be stronger and more powerful. This was the exact opposite.
"Harlan, Minister for this district welcomes you, and all of your people to Helios."
So, Harlan is the one that spoke.
The Helions spoke to each other and then again to T'Kron. By the time his translators started to work, a number of seconds had passed by, and the situation had become less comfortable. Teresa was sure she'd read somewhere that a silence longer than four seconds was the threshold for it becoming uncomfortable. This one seemed much longer.
"You have been invited to join your comrades in our Council session. It is a way of welcoming you to their world and to your seat."
Harlan indicated toward General Daniels and Admiral Anderson.
""You will be introduced to the representatives of the remaining five."
Five, thought Teresa in surprise.
The last she'd heard there were seven, including the T'Kari plus of course the eighth race, the ones behind the Biomechs, the Raiders, the Echidna Union and pretty much every other trouble she could think of. T'Kron seemed as surprised at the Helion's words and spoke in an agitated tone to Harlan. This went on for almost a complete minute while the Alliance officers watched on in confusion. They finally finished, and T'Kron looked to Admiral Anderson.
"There has been trouble here, serious trouble. We will know more in the Council."
Gun turned and leaned closer to her.
"Trouble. Are you surprised?"
Teresa grinned.
Admiral Anderson motioned for them to follow, and in seconds the entire group was leaving the landing area and walking on the flat and completely exposed path. It felt like metal beneath her feet yet grippy and quiet. It was at least fifteen meters wide, completely straight, and led away from their spacecraft. Anderson moved to Teresa and spoke in a hushed tone.
"The next few minutes might surprise you, just go with it."
Teresa wasn't quite sure what to make of that and decided to concentrate on the area where they were. They had already passed the small group in front to see nothing but emptiness leading to a wide opening in the closest building. The structure was massive, easily as big as the state buildings on Terra Nova. The shape was of a great dome sitting upon a sculpted form of something similar to a great crater. As they moved nearer, Teresa could see shapes carved into the exterior of the building. It was outlines of continents, rivers, and oceans.
A model of Helios, perhaps?
Finally, they reached the entrance and a group of the orange clothed guards. They stood at each side and looked directly at each other, completely ignoring eye contact with any of the visitors to their world. Even this far from the interior, Teresa could see how it was shaped with nearly two-dozen spaces cut directly into the structure. They ran around the perimeter with a separate raised platform in the middle that extended up almost three meters. In some of the open spaces hung a gaudy symbol with odd colors and representations on them, though not one looked the same as the next. Small groups of two or three armed guards patrolled a raised gallery looking down into the Council itself. Teresa instantly saw how vulnerable it would make them all to the ravages of a sniper.
Great, one more thing to worry about.
Harlan stopped once inside and turned to face them. Ayndir stood beside him like a heroic champion in comparison. Teresa had never considered the T'Kari to be much when it came to physical combat, but it was becoming clearer to her that of all the races known to this world, the T'Kari were the exception to the norm.
We are the strong ones, she thought with amusement.
Ayndir nodded to the small party of Alliance commanders before speaking. She must have rehearsed her words as she spoke in clear, though heavily accentuated English rather than using her suit’s inbuilt translator.
"This is the great Council, the meeting place for our comrades in the stars. Here we discuss and debate the great questions of the galaxy. It is the public face of trade, politics, and even war between our many worlds."
She then turned and raised her hands to the interior of the building. All of them moved inside and stopped to gaze at the grandeur of the place. Teresa counted scores of sculptures, and her eyes were drawn away to pieces of art that were over ten meters tall. Everything from spaceships and cities to great battles and natural disasters were modeled in exquisite detail. She looked at each of the designated areas that formed the circle and could now see the colors and shapes more clearly. Seating for forty to fifty people was positioned in a number of them, though only seven flew the great standards that hung on the walls behind them.
"These are for your nations?" she asked.
Ayndir shook her head and resorted to her translator. The artificial sounds it created sounded louder and higher pitched than before. She looked at the designated areas as she spoke.
"Each of these is reserved for the delegations of the five remaining Powers."
"Powers? As in empires?" asked Anderson, stepping closer.
Ayndir looked hopefully around the chamber. Her eyes betrayed a well-concealed emotion. Teresa knew immediately it was clearly a place that meant a great deal to her. She had already forgotten how long it had been since the T'Kari had been on this world. Since then their society had been almost completely destroyed. Ayndir regained her composure and continued.
"Yes, the term is not strictly correct of course, but in the past there were the seventeen Powers, including us and the Helions. Each of these spaces is for one of those Powers. Over time, societies have changed and empires merged. Some were even completely lost to disease or war. One, an ancient society we called the Trusska committed mass suicide and destroyed their Rift from within. Nobody knows why. You can see the standard of Helios over there."
Anderson, Gun, and Teresa all looked in the direction of the furthest of the areas. It was hexagonal in shape and filled with two-dozen carved chairs, each constructed from a dull, metallic material. On the wall behind stood six statues and a great orange flag with a burning sun at its core.
"Our own standard flies next to them; you will see it has been covered for some time."
A number of Helion officials were busy unfurling an ancient and badly faded standard from a long copper color tube. As they raised it, several small sections fell away, and marks covered it like an ancient battle standard. Unlike the colorful design of the Helions, the T'Kari standard was faded gray with a dark mechanical shape in the center.
"We will have to replace it," said Ayndir with a sheepish smile.
Ayndir then looked back at the open space and pointed towards the most unusual of them all. There was no seating, just a plinth of roughly four square meters and almost a meter high. The top was badly damaged and blackened with age and fire.
"That one used to be used by the Eighth of the remaining Powers. They used a projector machine and virtual presence long before our last war. We have images of this plinth back on Hades. It is used as a reminder of the old machines and what remains of them on Helios."
Anderson turned to Gun and Teresa.
"Interesting. So this is the place where the future of billions was determined."
Gun nodded.
"Yes, and where the creators spoke with them."
He turned and looked toward the shattered plinth with a look of anger forming on his brow. Anderson hadn't noticed, but Teresa knew him extremely well, and it was a look she'd often seen prior to him losing his temper. She reached out and placed her hand on his arm.
"Gun?" she asked quietly.
He turned his head just a few centimeters.
"Yeah, I know."
Teresa knew she didn't need to say anything more to him. Instead, Gun looked back at the space and let out a slow, long breath. She tried to imagine what it must be like to see where the people that created him had once been, acting as the equals of the others. Finally, he turned and interrupted the conversation going on between Harlan, Ayndir, and Anderson.
"What happened to them, and the other Powers?"
Teresa had spotted something else, and it drew her away from the group. A space had been left, and it looked as if no one had ever sat there in the past. The floor was spotless, almost mirrored. The wall behind it was featureless and lacked a standard, sculptures, or any kind of artworks. Ayndir started to speak, but Harlan lifted his hand and stopped her. He stepped toward Teresa and gazed upon the open space with her. Ayndir stood alongside, letting her equipment translate his words directly.
"This space is one of the ten that are reserved for the lost people."
Teresa lifted her head back slightly, but deep down she had a strong suspicion of what was coming next.
"As our peoples came together, here, on this very planet, we understood how life originated in different parts of space at the same time. First there was just us, and then we found others, like our friends the T'Kari. These ten spaces are reserved for new discoveries. There were thirteen spaces only six hundred years ago."
He then stepped down and placed his hand on the ground in the untouched space.
"This place is now for your own people, the Centauri Alliance. You will be introduced to the others, and if they agree, you shall be formally accepted as one of the sentient Powers."
Teresa was stunned at the news and turned on the spot to look at Gun and Anderson.
"Uh, did you know about this?"
Anderson smiled back.
"Ayndir told us this might happen. Why do you think we have civilian Alliance officials landing at this very moment?"
"We've only just met them though. Why would they just accept us into this, well, whatever it is?"
Anderson nodded in agreement.
"I know. Ayndir has explained this place is not a place of power. This chamber is a meeting place, no more. The Helions want us here so they can learn and keep tabs on us. We will do the same. Think of it as a massive embassy used by all nations, in one place."
Teresa wasn't convinced, but the decision had evidently been made back on Terra Nova. She looked back at the space and tried to imagine the standard of the Centauri Alliance hanging from the wall. As nice as the idea was, she simply couldn't picture the human designs in such an alien place. Gun had no such problems and strode past her to step into the space. He stood in the middle, looked about, and then reached for the ever-present blade on his thigh. In a single swift movement, he pulled out the blade and cut it across his palm. Harlan and the other Helions in the great building watched in horror as his red blood dripped to the floor, leaving dark patches on the ground. One rushed forward with a dressing, but Gun shook his head and simply tore part of his uniform fabric away and wrapped it around his wound.
"Yes," he stated, "this is Alliance territory now."
Teresa stepped down and joined him. She held out her hand for him to do the same while Anderson watched, shaking his head in annoyance. As her blood joined Gun's on the ground, he started to laugh.
"You're both as bad as Spartan."
 *
The sight of the human visitors was as much of a surprise to Harlan as it was to the visitors themselves. He walked away from them and joined Ayndir who was also busy watching them. They looked on in confusion as the three aliens stood in their sacred space and committed their first act in the peaceful great chamber, the spilling of their own blood. Gun stood out the most, but Anderson and Major Morato looked equally barbaric in their military uniforms and carrying primitive weapons.
"They are animals, Ayndir. Why have you brought them to us?" asked Harlan.
Ayndir watched the three standing in their reserved placed for a few more seconds, finally turning back to the feeble looking Helion leader.
"It is good to see our loyal friends of Helios still protecting what is important."
The venom in her voice was clear, but Harlan chose to ignore it. Ayndir nodded toward the visitors.
"I have seen them in battle, and they are as ferocious and resourceful as the Great Enemy. They defeated them in their sector and turned their technology against them."
Harlan shook his head.
"This makes no sense."
"They are our only chance against the Enemy. You know the prophecy."
Harlan lowered his head slightly as he spoke.
"The warrior race will mark the beginning of the end time."
The words were flat, as if he were reciting an old phrase he'd heard so many times that its words had lost almost all of their meaning. He shook his head in frustration.
"Your Rift is the only one that was not reopened. We assumed you had been consumed by some tragedy. Tell me about T'Karan? Every one of our allies was either consumed and destroyed or fought off their agents to make themselves stronger than before. When you closed your Rift, your worlds were defended by millions, and your armed forces more powerful than even ours. Why did you not return?"
Ayndir seemed to flush with anger at these words.
"The Great Enemy had already infiltrated our sector when we sealed the Rift. Our numbers are now in the thousands. They raped our worlds and slaughtered our people. Our advanced technology has been stripped from us and used against us. Even when we lost our last world, when our citizens begged for us to open the Rift to ask for help, we refused. That was the measure of our resolve."
Harlan took a half step back.
"Then why are you here? Why did you not die and leave us in safety?"
Ayndir recoiled in disgust at the lack of compassion in Harlan's tone.
"Don't look at me like that," he snapped back, "This is simple mathematics, and emotions do not come into it. If your people were so lost, then you should never have come. You threaten us with your own fate. If you are here, then the Great Enemy has entered the holy space of Helios, and we are unprepared for them."
He moved closer to Ayndir.
"You should never have come. You have brought the war to all of us!"
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, the pain quickly spread through the Helion's body, and he winced in pain. Ayndir noticed movement and turned her head slightly to see the three humans looking at her, confusion showing on their eyes. Not one of them could understand the conversation between the T'Kari and the Helion, but the tones and body language was a universal sign. A confrontation looked the same, whether it was between humans, aliens, or any other creatures. She leaned closer to Harlan, a furious expression now showing on her face, and gripped her comrade’s arm even tighter.
"The Enemy is coming, and we need to be ready. Stop cowering and prepare your people! These primitives defeated them on their own and destroyed the soldier leading the conquest of our worlds."
Ayndir extended her left arm and pointed to Admiral Anderson.
"They saved us from the machines. It is time to end this, once and for all!"
Harlan shook his head, a look of fear showing on his face.
"No, we cannot. The Rifts are sealed, and our people are safe. We have had no need of warriors and ships for generations. We have spent this time expanding our knowledge and understanding."
Ayndir spat on the ground; a gesture Harlan had never seen before. He looked at her face, and the expression still hadn't changed from disgust.
"You've grown fat and lazy. You've done nothing to stop the danger, and it is out there, trust me. The Enemy is there, and it wants to come back in. Is Helios ready for war?"
Harlan said nothing, and his lack of a response seemed to create even greater anger inside Ayndir.
"I said is Helios ready for war!" she shouted, this time so loud that it caught the attention of every single individual inside the building. Gun and the others looked directly at them both, and Harlan quickly turned away to avoid their gaze. Ayndir just shook her head in dismay. Her pale face finally showing an emotion the human visitors had not seen before.
"What's that?" asked Gun loudly.
His voice was followed by a dull horn type sound, as though somebody was standing outside the building blowing hard on a trumpet. The sound of dozens, then hundreds of people rumbled.
Harlan and Ayndir moved away from each other, Harlan heading for the door while Ayndir joined Teresa and the others. By the time she reached them, the first of the officials had arrived. They were speaking in a dozen alien tongues, pointing and chatting excitedly upon spotting Teresa and her comrades. More and more arrived, and every one of them looked more unusual than the last. Once the first group had moved inside, another delegation approached, this time in conventional clothing. Teresa raised an eyebrow as she spotted Broby Ramir, one of the Alliance's most prominent senators. He moved with a group of a dozen men and women, each dressed in dark suits, and heading directly for Admiral Anderson.
"I take it this is our civilian delegation?" asked Teresa.
Anderson glanced at her and nodded.
"Yes, the Senator has just been promoted."
He turned back to find the man just a few meters away. He moved in front of Anderson and extended his right arm. They both shook hands in an excessively formal gesture.
"Admiral, interesting place we have here."
Anderson raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting?" he answered sarcastically, "It's only the epicenter of a number of alien empires. This makes the discovery of T'Karan seem like small fry."
Broby Ramir nodded in partial agreement.
"Yes, T'Karan was an important first step, but this is something completely new to us. On this world, we are just one of many people, and I've been sent here with one mission only."
Anderson waited, but he said nothing.
"Well, Senator, the mission is?"
"To protect Alliance interests, at all costs. Our citizens and our worlds are the only consideration for me and my delegation."
Anderson hadn't expected anything different from his politicians. Not that he could blame them, of course. The first contact they ever made with something out of the ordinary had been the Biomechs. War had started that way, and millions had paid the price.
What will be the price be if things go wrong now?"
The Senator stepped to the left of Anderson and handed him a secpad, a small rubberized electronic device that functioned as a computerized multi-tool and communication device. Anderson looked at the display and the image of the Rift that joined T'Karan and Helion space.
"The T'Kari have left ships at the Rift, along with a permanent escort of three warships on rotation. If anything happens that we don't like, they shut it all down and nothing gets through."
Anderson looked surprised at the information.
"We're now trusting the T'Kari with this level of security."
Broby Ramir grinned.
"Hardly. The ships are crewed with a mixture of their and our personnel. Don't forget, Admiral, T'Karan territory ceded to our authority in exchange for our protection."
Anderson was well aware of the situation but was still surprised he had not heard of this beforehand.
"Why wasn't I informed of this?"
Broby Ramir shook his head as though having no idea.
"Not my responsibility, Admiral. As I understand it, each of the colonies is operating just the same as territory back home. Hell, the first of the T'Kari diplomats have even voted in the regional elections back on Terra Nova. T'Karan is under civilian, not military control anymore."
Again Admiral Anderson looked unimpressed at the news. It had only been a short time since the Alliance had traveled from Alpha Centauri out into the Orion Nebula. It had been his own research team that had built the Rift Spacebridges through the Alliance, and eventually from Prometheus directly to T'Karan. He moved aside as a group of Helions went past, followed by another group of Alliance personnel, this time including General Rivers, now Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
"General!" he called out in a mixture of pleasure and surprise.
The Senator was now completely ignored as General Rivers approached. Two marines, both in ceremonial uniforms and carrying sidearms only, flanked him.
"Admiral, good to see you."
He then looked around at the others.
Major Morato and Commander Gun, I see your new unit has been doing what it does best. Making the galaxy bleed."
Gun grinned at that, but Teresa seemed less impressed. Rivers looked to Teresa.
"I know about Spartan, and I'm sorry. If this plays the way it should, we will get access to parts of this network."
He then moved to the Admiral. He beckoned for the man to move away from the others so he could speak briefly. The two men had worked together for a long time, both having been involved in the last battles of the Uprising.
"What is it?" asked Anderson.
"The President has confirmed your recommendation for T'Karan."
"The base?"
Rivers nodded.
"She agreed with me that a permanent base would be needed that could respond to problems in T'Karan or directly inside Helion space."
He reached down and pulled out his secpad. A quick gesture and a tap sent a series of files to Anderson's own unit.
"The specs are there for your approval, but I think you'll find it all in order. Your temporary supply site will be supplied with components within three months. Based on your plans, that means the main structure will be ready for the end of the year."
Excellent," said Anderson, "and the transfer of my teams from the Prometheus facilities?"
"Most are staying in Prometheus, but I have arranged for three ships to bring equipment and engineers to your new site. Manufacture and shipyards are best suited at Prometheus. This new site will be ideal for research, development, and
"
"As a potential staging post?"
Rivers shrugged, but it was obvious that was the main reason for the site.
“Your area of command is still the entire T'Karan sector, and this base will be where the T'Karan main fleet will operate from.”
Anderson seemed pleased with the news but not particularly surprised.
"There's just one thing left to decide," Rivers added.
Anderson tightened his forehead.
"Which is?"
"A name. The base will need a name."
CHAPTER THREE
Universal warships such as the venerable Crusader class cruiser are the backbone of the fleet. By utilizing operation components that can be retrofitted in less than a month, a universal warship can become a ship of the line, assault carrier, or even a fully-fledged command carrier. This new level of flexibility allows a smaller number of hulls to fulfill a much greater number of roles. This modularization would become the hallmarks of the Alliance Navy, even as newer, larger, and more powerful improvements of the Crusader class were commissioned into the fleet.
Naval Cadet's Handbook
Jack could hear the sounds of his comrades speak before he could see them. Their voices were dulled as though they were speaking behind layers of material. He concentrated as hard as he could, but there was too much chatter. His eyes started to focus, and the scenery around him changed from blackness to a number of gray rotating shapes. His shoulder sent a surge of pain through his body, and like a jolt of electricity, a flow of adrenalin pumped through his body. Although partially down to him, the bulk of the adrenalin was sent out from the PDS suit as part of a reactivation mode for such trauma. He opened his eyes and looked into the face of Sergeant Stone.
"Marine, shoulder your weapon!" he growled, thrusting an L52 Mk II carbine into Jack's hands.
Jack shook his head and then went into automatic mode. He'd had his basic training drilled into him from day one. Even with his eyes closed, he could check the weapon and magazine. By the time the adrenalin had kick-started his system, his eyes were open and the weapon was up at his shoulder.
What the hell happened? he wondered, expecting the worst.
"Marine, we have the bridge but two escaped. They’re making their way to the port escape pod. You're the fastest in the unit with zero gravity movement, so get there and stop them!"
Jack nodded and then shook his head for the briefest of moments. Data showed on both sides of the visor with information on his own team members as well as the hijackers. Sergeant Stone had already preselected the route for him to follow. That was when he spotted the damage on the Sergeant's leg and torso armor. A number of gashes had cut inside, and dark blood stained the outer layers. Around the wound was a layer of white foam, one of the suits many inbuilt safety features to maintain a seal in a vacuum.
Okay, let's do this.
Jack lowered his head and pushed away. The boots disconnected at the same time, and as before, he drifted through the ship. He passed a number of wounded marines as well as far more dead or captured hijackers. Then he was away from the bridge and moving back inside the ship. The passageway to the port side was long and narrow and still open. His training told him to slow his pace and check for trouble, but he knew time was against him. If he waited, the two could reach the pod and escape out into space. He had to stop them.
The passageway was substantially more difficult to move through than the one they had arrived on. The first set of ribbed sections made it almost too narrow to navigate, and he was forced to bash his way through. His face struck the wall a dozen times as he moved on, using his arms to grab and pull at the handles fitted throughout. As he reached the end of a forty-meter long section, he spotted the light from a man's torch. He kept gliding towards them and chose to ignore the sight of the man. It was a mistake that almost cost his life, as three flashes of light indicated the man was firing a sidearm at him.
Hell!
He grabbed at the wall, but there was no cover to be had. Miraculously, two bullets embedded in the metal of the ship, but the third and final round glanced off his left arm and hit his upper leg. Alarms announced the breach, but his suit could manage it, at least he hoped it could. Then he was amongst the last two of the hijackers. Both carried pistols, but neither had a pressure suit or any discernible armor that he could tell. He struck at the first with his carbine stock and then tumbled on past them. He continued for three more meters before grabbing the wall. Another round whistled past him, but Jack forced himself to ignore it.
Prisoners are what we need. My armor will protect me.
One more bullet struck him, and this time the suit was unable to repair the seal in his left knee. Incredibly, the armor had avoided letting the bullet penetrate any further. Even so, the fact the breach alarms had been triggered reminded Jack that even inside a state-of-the-art suit of armor, he was still vulnerable. He checked the twist on the barrel of his weapon to ensure it was on the low power, subsonic mode and then took aim. The two hijackers stumbled toward him, uncertain and evidently uncomfortable in the low gravity. He squeezed the trigger, but a hand grabbed his armor and spun him around. The carbine floated away, and in an instant was on his own and surrounded by three hijackers.
Where the hell did he come from?
A dark skinned thug, with a scarred face and a crude cudgel in his right hand, swung the weapon. Jack lifted his free left arm up and deflected most of the energy. Unlike the others he'd seen, this man was definitely not of their extremist movement. As he dodged a second blow, he recalled the shape of the tattoo on the man's neck. He was a ganger from Carthago, probably from one of the hundreds of decrepit cities where crime was rampant. Though without finesse, the man was strong and stabbed multiple times at the armor before putting his arm around Jack's neck and putting him in a headlock. Jack reached down and pulled out his sidearm in time for the other two to move closer. This time he didn't hesitate, putting three rounds into the chest of the first. The second ignored the gunfire and struck the weapon from his hand with a snapping action from his own firearm. Again the dark skinned man stabbed down at Jack's armor, desperately trying to find a chink he could take advantage of.
"Alliance dog!" growled the man.
The blade was sharp, very sharp and scored his armor as it ran along the outside. The robed figure in front raised his pistol and pointed it at Jack's visor. He could see inside the barrel and the fingers of the man in a dark leather glove. As the finger squeezed gently on the trigger, Jack tried to struggle.
"It will be over soon. We have to stop this madness!" he muttered.
The man flew widely across the narrow passageway and struck the wall before a dark shape moved in front of Jack, pinning the man to the metal structure. The figure was fully armored and taller and stronger built than Jack. It twisted its head toward Jack, showing its armored head and crudely modified visor.
"Wictred?" spluttered Jack in surprise.
His Jötnar friend slammed a metal clad knee into the man's stomach and then held him like a vice to the wall. The man looked back at him with a mixture of anger and fear. Jack still couldn't move, and his attacker jammed his head in tighter.
"You? Biomechs animals!"
He leapt away from Jack, his rage taking hold of him. Wictred easily bat him aside, and the man flew weightlessly back to Jack who then locked his arm and took a pair of security cuffs from his leg armor. In seconds the man was secured, and the passageway violence was over.
"Where the hell were you?"
Wictred opened his visor to reveal a muscled, oversized head. Jack could see where the artificers had been forced to cut away at the armor to modify a section, enabling the suit to be heavily altered in every direction. He guessed it must be at least fifty percent larger than before, and perhaps a good bit more again.
"This is your first mission. I thought I'd give you a chance to see what you were made of."
More marines arrived from the hatch in the passageway that Jack hadn't even spotted. Hunn, another Jötnar and close friend of his and Wictred moved out, and two more marines fanned out behind him.
"Jack, see you needed our help again," laughed Hunn.
Jack did his best to smile, but it was one more of relief than amusement. The image of the men in the corridor with their pistols pointed right at him had reminded him of how close he'd come to being killed. Hunn moved closer so that their faces were no more than a meter away.
"I know your father has a reputation for getting into trouble, but this?"
He was obviously amused at Jack's discomfort.
"Private Morato, what's your status?" asked Sergeant Stone.
Jack could hear the pain in the man's voice. His injuries must have been hurting the man severely by now. Jack inhaled and then spoke.
"Sergeant, the passageway is secure. 3rd Squad is here and have assisted in the operation."
He paused before remembering the most important bit.
"One more thing, we have two prisoners."
Jack was convinced he could hear the sound of his tough sergeant almost relaxing at the news, but it took two, perhaps three seconds before he responded.
"Good work. The ship is secure. Stay with 3rd Squad and bring the prisoners to our entry point. I'll meet you back on the boat."
"Yes, Sergeant."
Jack looked to his two friends and noticed both were grinning.
"What?"
 *
The Alliance delegation took their place in the official space given to them just an hour before. Seating had now been installed, and a temporary banner from one of the Marine units had been hung from the wall, trying to make the place appear less desolate than it actually was. At key positions in the structure sat scores of people, from what must have been hundreds of different worlds. Teresa looked on in astonishment at the people of all shapes and colors. What truly surprised her was how all of them were no bigger built than the T'Kari.
"Did you expect they would be, well, you know, a little more…"
"Alien?" finished Anderson with a wry smile.
"Yes. After all this time, I thought we would see walking lizards or something. Instead, the Helions and the T'Kari look about as alien as they get."
Admiral Anderson spoke with General Rivers for a few seconds before moving back to her. More and more representatives filed into the great structure, and the chattering from them increased as they spotted the primitive looking humans.
"The real question you want to be asking is, why? Is it just a coincidence that intelligent, sentient life has become established on hundreds of planets and yet appears very similar? Or did this happen because of some design or intervention?"
Teresa smiled at him.
"Admiral, are you suggesting some kind of god?"
He laughed at her suggestion. Though in the military, he had spent as much time commanding warships as he had operating advanced laboratories and research facilities throughout the Alliance. Anderson was a man of science and war. She'd never heard him mention anything to do with religion.
"Not at all. The thing I find most interesting is that perhaps our model of an air breathing, warm blooded mammal just happens to be the most efficient design to live and dominate planets such as the ones we currently occupy."
Teresa was unconvinced. Her knowledge of science was limited, but she did know that some animals were better suited to certain climates than others. Why would it be different for intelligent life to do the same? She imagined the world of Prometheus where Spartan had been held prisoner with General Rivers back in the War. There was no sentient life on that lump of burning hot rock. But if there had been, she would have thought an animal suited to the high temperatures would manage without hair and easily burned skin. She wanted to ask more, but the door to the vast chamber was drawing shut. As the great metal slab slid into position, so did the volume in the chamber decrease. Harlan appeared at the raised platform in the center of the great room. He started to speak in his native language, much to Teresa's confusion. Gun nodded to the bank of earpieces in front of them. She grabbed one and let it hang on her ear. It was unfathomable and evidently not designed specifically for humans.
"
the representatives of the Centauri Alliance, a system of more than twenty worlds and billions of citizens."
Teresa touched the shoulder of Admiral Anderson.
"Do we really want to share this kind of information with them?"
He tilted his head in the direction of Ambassador Broby Ramir.
"Terra Nova has given us red lines we cannot cross. This isn't one of them."
Teresa turned back to Harlan.
"
first of us to defeat the Great Enemy in open battle. In their system they are in complete control."
A hush of surprise, perhaps even reverence spread around the chamber. Teresa and the others looked about them at the hundreds of officials from the other Powers, as they were known. She recognized the Helion and T'Kari delegation from the people but also the standards and insignia being used. The other four had not yet been introduced, and she was extremely interested in seeing them speak.
"As is our tradition, any sentient race we encounter is offered a place at our table. This place is where we can meet and speak in safety."
He then looked directly at the Alliance delegation.
"This is not a place that has any military or political power of its own. I will now let each of our people introduce themselves, starting with my own."
Another Helion, this time a slightly taller man with dull yellow clothes and a very closefitting skull cap. A device was attached to the side of his head that ran down beneath his clothing like a tube on a gas mask.
"Welcome to Helios. I am Baja Agar, Proconsul of Helios, and it is with great pleasure I welcome our long lost friends of T'Karan, as well as our new friends, the Centauri Alliance to our world."
The assembled dignitaries made positive sounds at this announcement. There was no clapping, though a large number banged hands down on whatever they could find nearby. This continued for almost thirty seconds before the Proconsul could continue.
“As is our custom, I will leave it to the leader of each Power to introduce their own people."
He moved away from the raised podium to be replaced by a group of three. All were female looking, at least in their form and narrow faces. They were tall, easily two meters, and slender. Their skin was pale, and they moved with silent elegance, almost like dancers. The one in the center looked around the chamber before concentrating on the Alliance delegation.
"Welcome to Helios," she started but in heavily accented English.
Teresa and the others looked at each other in surprise. This was the first person they had heard speak English since their arrival, and it was most unexpected.
"I am the Ambassador of the Klithi. We are a people of thirty-three worlds and seven stars."
Teresa looked confused.
"How is she doing that?"
Gun had no answers, but Anderson looked less shocked. He moved forward slightly from his position in the middle of the group.
"Ayndir has already given us a short brief on each of these people. According to her, the Klithi is a mildly telepathic race. They can read body language and minds like we hear language."
"What? They can understand what I think from how I move?"
"Yes, your body movements betray you, and your mind and those near to you give them even greater details."
Gun raised an eyebrow at the information. The three Klithi were the exact opposite of him. Whereas he was wide, strong, and muscular, they were thin, weak, and poorly built. Even so, he was impressed with how they moved.
"I would be happy to discuss political relations and economics with your ambassador."
That was all she said before nodding to the T'Kari. This time she spoke in their tongue, and the Alliance delegates were forced to rely upon the translator equipment. Teresa looked at the other groups, noticing only a few of them seemed to need the technology. It left Teresa feeling like a primitive in comparison.
"Ayndir, of the T'Kari. It is good to see our old friends and allies in Helion space. We welcome all of your people back as one of us."
That was it, and as quickly as she had arrived and she was gone. The next up was a gruff looking man with dark gray clothing and body armor covering the right-hand side of his body. A band like a metallic visor ran around his head and hid both the man's eyes and ears from view. Of all them there, he was the most like Teresa's own people.
"Greetings from the Khreenk Federation to both of you."
Teresa could see the man's face was scarred, even from that far away. As he tilted his head, a glint of metal revealed where sections of his skull must have been replace or augmented with machine parts.
"Our ambassador will meet with you shortly."
He then stepped back.
"That was
short," said Gun in a louder tone than he anticipated.
A number of the Khreenk delegates turned and looked at them. It took a few seconds before Gun realized the translators must have been two-way. He smiled at them unapologetically and then looked back to Anderson.
"Well, am I wrong?"
Anderson shook his head in irritation.
"Gun, this is a delicate moment."
"Then perhaps they can be a little more accommodating."
The next of the ambassadors approached the raised platform, and Teresa started to feel a pang of boredom. Much that these different people were something extraordinary, these public affairs were dull beyond belief. She turned her thoughts from them and instead to what she had seen outside. The platform leading to the vast chamber had been just one of the hundreds, perhaps thousands of massive buildings, and the skies had been filled. Thoughts of the sky turned to the space around the planet, and then as before, her mind wandered to Spartan.
He's been away so long now, I’m beginning to wonder if he might ever return.
She felt something prodding her and looked to find Anderson tapping her. He pointed to the podium and whispered quietly, ensuring the translator unit was out of reach.
"It looks like you might get your wish after all."
Stood on the raised platform was a single person, but unlike anything she had ever seen before. Barely larger than a human child, the tan color creature wore no clothing other its thick hide. It head was near human, buts its eyes were red and almost reptilian in design. A ridge ran from the top of its head and disappeared down its back.
"Okay, that is definitely not mammalian!"
 *
The quarters put aside for the Alliance personnel were impressive. An entire floor of the substantial Foreign Affairs building had been allocated just for the Alliance. Teresa had already examined each of the dozen rooms, as well as the largest one that looked like a cross between a boardroom and a military briefing room. Though the place was furnished, there were no decorations of any kind. Ambassador Broby Ramir and General Rivers had already been called away for one of a dozen meetings with the many disparate groups in the building. Only Anderson, Gun, and Teresa remained, and all three were sitting and tired. Between them was a small crystalline table, on top of which sat a beautifully intricate decanter filled with a fluid.
"Yours?" asked Teresa.
Admiral Anderson smiled.
"This place might be interesting, but you can't beat a good vintage Kerberon bottle of port."
He handed the decanter to Teresa who poured herself a glass before giving it to Gun. He almost poured the contents directly down his throat but seemed to release it the last moment, pouring himself a glass filled to the brim.
"So, what did you think of our new alien friends, the Byotai?"
Teresa took another sip before answering.
"Interesting, I thought they might be a match for Gun until they started to speak. It would seem looks aren't everything."
Gun laughed gently in amusement.
"Ayndir says they are a passive people, tough but not interested in the others."
Teresa brushed her hair with her hand and considered the events of the day. In just a few hours they had all seen things no human had probably ever even dreamt of.
"Six empires, all of them very different. It's incredible."
"True," replied Anderson, "but don't think for a moment that it is ever that simple. Looking outside, I see people from all six of those racial groups. I suspect there are even Klithi living here on Helios."
He stood up and walked to a leather case that lay near the table. From within its battered shape, he pulled a device the size of his head. It was unfamiliar to Gun, but Teresa recognized it as part of the equipment used on board Alliance warships. Anderson placed it in the center of the table and tapped a button on the side. Rings of blue and green lit up the sides as the device activated, and a heavily detailed three-dimensional model appeared above it.
"Only your battalion is present in Helios, and there's a reason for that."
He took another small sip of his port.
"This is a tricky and delicate situation, and I need commanders I can completely rely upon. You've seen what happens when loyalties are confused. It leads to arguments, strife, and sometimes trouble."
Teresa didn't look convinced.
"Okay, that's not the whole story. I spoke with Rivers about the operation before we traveled here. The big problem we have is lack of leadership in the Corps. With the culls after the War, it has been a lot harder to keep experienced commanders. You two are the only ones left in the Corps from the old days that saw combat."
He tilted his head slightly as though telling a joke, "Well, on the right side anyway."
Teresa moved her eyes in agreement at his sentiment.
"Don't forget, most of the units in Alpha Centauri never saw combat, that was left to us in Proxima."
He pointed at Gun.
"You, my friend, are a rare commodity; a man with political and combat experience, and who is still physically able to lead from the front. If Spartan were here, I'd have all three of you doing this!"
He wagged his finger though as if he was disagreeing with himself.
"But there is something else. I want Spartan and Khan brought back, and I want to know where the hell they went. We have reports of at least one Raider ship traveling through an uncharted series of Rifts. High Command has flagged this potential backdoor as the single greatest threat after the Biomechs themselves."
Teresa looked unimpressed.
"And Spartan?"
"Khan!" muttered Gun, adding his old friend to the missing people.
"Trust me; this is the best way of getting them back. Finding them is linked inextricably to finding the ship and any other signs of the Enemy. That is the reason we are all here in Helios."
Anderson stepped to the side and pointed at the structure.
"Our techs have combined all the information given to us so far from each of the six groups that we've met. I don't doubt for a moment this is the entire picture, but it should give you a better understanding of where we are."
The model showed the Helios system with a ring of Rifts around it; a small number of those Rifts were connected by fine lines to others systems. Some of which were at the heart of the six factions they'd just met.
"It would appear the Helions are the de facto masters of Helios, and the stars and worlds within about ten light years. That is as far as we can tell. The Rift to T'Karan is one of the longer ones. Ayndir says their fastest ship can make it to Helios in just over three hundred years without the Rift. That would explain why the Biomechs have been trying so hard to get to Helios. Do you know how far away their worlds are without access to their own Rift?"
Teresa and Gun both shook their heads.
"Ayndir has shown me the last maps from their war with them. They say a ship would take even longer to travel to their world than to T'Karan."
"So the Biomechs we've fought against are the ones that were left in T'Karan?" asked Gun.
"That would make sense. They had the skills and technology to fight a war but not to bring in reinforcements. That's why they force us to fight amongst ourselves."
"Indeed," said Anderson with a slow nod. "Now, the question is, how many more Biomech ships and their allies are out there, and where are they? We have to stop them ever getting near Helios, even more importantly, stop any soul from trying to breach the Black Rift."
He changed the image to show just Helios and its collection of Rifts. The Black Rift was marked by a different icon and color compared to the rest.
"You saw what the Helions had to offer when the Biomechs arrived. One Guardian ship was easily able to brush past their defenses. Do you think they could stop it getting through the Rift?"
Gun snorted while Teresa attempted to be a little more politic.
"It's not surprising. They've been in a period of peace for a long time."
"Peace, you can only have peace if you're ready to defend it," growled Gun.
Anderson nodded in agreement though to who wasn't obvious.
"We have something that none of these people seem to have, military capacity. Since my team built the Rift out to this part of space, we've ramped our military production. The improvements in our ship designs and manufacturing capacity on five separate worlds means we are able to start expanding the fleet."
He flicked the image off and sat down to face his two old comrades.
"The original plan two decades ago was for a fleet of about thirty capital ships, a much smaller force than was expected for our new Alliance, with the ability to travel further and faster that has changed. We've found new planets and other sentient race and that means we need to be ready."
He slid his secpad across the table to the two of them. Teresa lifted it up and looked at the diagram showing a formation of ships.
"Have you seen this?"
They both shook their heads.
"This is the first of our Heavy Strike Groups, a twelve ship combined unit based around one of the new Conqueror class battlecruisers. The plan is to have the first three groups for use in Alliance territory, with another two for expeditionary purposes. They'll be ready within six months, and another three groups starting construction after that."
Gun raised his eyebrows at the news.
"Sixty ships in six months? Impressive. So what?"
Anderson smiled at his directness, but Teresa seemed to have already grasped the purpose of the discussion.
"We have the warships and the warriors while they have the information we want. Right?"
Anderson nodded twice and reached for the decanter of port. The pale brownish fluid ran out into the small glass. He passed it to them and said nothing more until the crystal unit was back in the middle of the table and sat upon its wooden cradle.
"We will offer a single Heavy Strike Group to work under the command of whoever they see fit in this sector. We will also offer the carcass of the Guardian ship and the Biomech prisoner for mutual study on our new station being constructed in T'Karan."
Teresa wiped an imaginary hair from her face.
"Base? I thought it was a supply base for the fleet."
"It was. I requested and have been granted the resources to upgrade the facility to a full Naval Station. Most of my research staff will be moving there over the year
"
He took a sip as though he had something important to announce.
"As will I."
"You're returning to the R&D division?" asked Gun in surprise.
"Yes and no. I will be returning to the Naval Station, and I will be responsible for security throughout T'Karan. I won't be commanding any naval task forces in the short term, however. My work will keep me on Helios I suspect, perhaps more than I will be on my own station."
Teresa looked to Gun who seemed to be more interested in the decanter of port than of the actual discussion. Anderson stood up and groaned slightly as he straightened his back. He walked to the side of the room and tapped a pad on the wall. The entire side of the room vanished and was replaced with a completely transparent window out onto the city. Teresa moved up to join him. Gun stayed in his chair and lifted the decanter to drink directly from its spout.
"Look at this place. This is unlike anything we've seen before. The information we could learn from these people. This could be the greatest leap for humanity since we left Earth."
Gun coughed, and they both turned to see the fortified wine dripping down his front. Anderson didn't seem amused at the sight, but as usual, Gun seemed unperturbed.
"Great. All we have to do is keep them from letting the Biomechs open the Black Rift. If they do let them, then this won't be the greatest leap, it will be the greatest fall."
Anderson nodded in agreement.
"Very true. That's why we are offering such a carrot to them."
"What do we get, other than a warm, fuzzy feeling inside?" asked Teresa.
Anderson looked back out to the great buildings, spires, and raised road systems that were visible in every direction.
"In exchange, we will get access to technical cooperation and full mapping to the Rift system. Once we have that, we will be sending long distance probes to scan the entire system. If our friends are in there, we'll find them."
Teresa watched his gaze as they both followed a massive ship moving down from low altitude. It followed a smaller craft as it angled down and approached a large landing platform. The entire procedure took less than a minute, and before the engines could have begun to cool, a whole array of machines and vehicles moved around it. Pipes connected to its flanks, and the great doors opened to allow its cargo to be unloaded. Anderson smiled inwardly, impressed by the sophistication and efficiency being demonstrated. He turned his head and looked at Teresa. They'd met two decades earlier in the War, but she still seemed as young and passionate as she always had. Modern science and diet could only get you so far, yet she looked like a woman in her early thirties.
"We can use this, all of it to our advantage. The advances in science, technology, and engineering will accelerate our progress."
"We shall see," she replied in a strangely ominous tone.
He looked back at the window and watched more vessels moving through the sky like ships sailing across a vast ocean. The planet seemed calm; something he'd not experienced for a long time. He thought of Spartan and that instantly reminded him.
"Your children, Teresa, how are they?"
She sighed at the question.
"Matius and Ingo are doing well. They are on their second posting now."
"And Jack?"
She smiled at him.
"You know Jack. He's a marine, and he is just like his father."
Anderson said no more. He knew just what she meant; resourceful, strong willed, and as ever at the center of trouble. Even so, he hoped Jack would become even half the man Spartan was.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Orion Nebula was so far from Alliance territory that none considered it remotely realistic for exploration. Only the Rift technology on Hyperion gave Alliance engineers and scientists the information needed to bridge the gap. Orion would come to mean many things to humanity. Some saw it as the future, others as a way of escaping the bloody past of the Alliance. A small group saw it as the greatest threat since the Biomechs, a region of space occupied by unfamiliar people that could turn upon humanity at any moment. As ties between the many factions strengthened, so did these feelings, and with them the seeds of sedition.
Orion – The future?
Spartan struck his aching fist to the wall once more. It was a half-hearted gesture and one born more from frustration than any attempt to try and break out. He leaned toward the wall and looked up at the ceiling, the low intensity lamps sending an eerie shimmer of light back into the cell. He wiped his brow and then limped back to Khan. Their cell hadn't changed since their arrival, with the exception being the number of prisoners had reduced to almost half, and the increasingly bad smell. He slumped down on the floor and looked at his equally weary companion.
"So then Khan, what's the plan?"
Khan shrugged with disinterest. Marks and scars marked his body, but how many were from the current crisis wasn't clear. Spartan had fought alongside the warrior so many times and seen him cut and shot, he suspected there wasn't a single part of his body that was unharmed from a battle at some point in his life.
"There is one door, and the machines come in groups to take us away. I don't know. Hit them?"
Khan was one of the least subtle of the Jötnar. Even so, Spartan was seriously tempted to take the easy route and attack them once more. The only thing swaying his hand was the fact they'd already tried it three times before.
"Yeah, if only it was that easy."
He looked to his sides, checking every possible weakness, but he knew it was pointless. They had both done this a hundred times and found nothing of use. The space was sealed and strongly guarded. He looked back at Khan.
"How long have we been here?"
Khan raised his shoulder.
"No idea. A month, it could be six though."
Spartan breathed slowly, doing his best to get rid of the rank stench in the large cell area they'd all been forced to use. Around them the pitiful group of other prisoners simply waited for their fate. In the weeks or months they'd been captive, Spartan had tried to communicate with them over and over. So far, he'd heard nothing but moaning and sighing from them. They had been broken long ago, and yet the machines were letting them live; even the threats of physical violence eliciting nothing but cringing terror from each of them.
What do they want with such useless prisoners?
He thought of Prometheus and the terrible production lines that had created the mutated Biomechs used in the War. The early models had been created from salvaged human parts, including tissue, organs, and even complete nervous systems. He'd seen the body parts and smelt the blood; it had been horrific. The thought sent a chill through his body, and he turned his attention back to Khan. Like those dreadful creatures, he was also the product of the terrifying experiments. Where the first models were bloody monsters, his generation was purely synthetic though few people recognized the distinction.
He looked down at the clothes he wore. They weren't his, just plain pieces of grey cloth thrown into the cells by their guards. Spartan had fashioned his into a rough tunic and pants while Khan simply tied his around his waist. Spartan's legs had healed, but he still found it painful to walk. The bones had set, but without aid from their captors, his left arm had been crudely fused with heat and served as a constant reminder of their predicament.
"Khan, I'm not staying like this. I went through the same on Prometheus. We need to try again, and this time we need to use everything we have left."
Khan clenched his fists, and a grim smile formed on his face. He was never one to back down. All Spartan needed to do was to find him something that he could do where their efforts might have some effect.
"Well, what do you think we should do?"
Spartan looked toward the entrance to their cells and nodded his head in the same direction. It was the only point of interest there, apart from the small lights far above them.
"The red machine. It keeps demanding the same thing over and over."
"Helios?"
Spartan nodded.
"Yeah, that piece of metal garbage wants me to give the place up. You remember what the thing said to me last time."
Khan smiled, recalling Spartan's description of the dialogue and the bloody fight that had nearly destroyed one of the machines.
"They want you to persuade the Helions and the T'Kari that the machines don't need the Black Rift because they are already able to access the Helion system."
"Exactly. They will send every ship they have left, including probably this one. They will strike Helios as a diversion to weaken the defenses around the Black rift. Then they will strike and secure the Rift. Once they control it, they can take their time before returning to finish what they started."
Khan looked confused.
"So what though? How does that help us?"
Spartan smiled.
"I think they're scared. The machines, you know, these leadership soldiers like the red one. I think they are the real power, and they want to get home. Think about it. They've been trapped out here for centuries. No matter how well they succeed, their numbers are always falling. Their race is ancient and decaying."
Khan shook his head. He clearly disagreed.
"How do you know that?"
"When they interrogate us, when they reach into their minds, I can get glimpses of their own. I've seen their world. It is a shell. Stripped of resources and inhabited by an aged race of these things. Do you know what I think?"
Khan roared with laughter and shook uncontrollably for a while.
"Know what you think? I doubt even you know that!"
Spartan could see his point. The torture had certainly done its work both physically and mentally. He knew they had extracted information from him on Alliance tactics, equipment, and ship disposition. Even so, he'd fought them hard and long, and he lied and fed disinformation as often as he could. The images they'd shown him either deliberately or by accident were now merging with his own memories to a degree that made it almost impossible for him to tell one from the other. He leaned in close as though he expected somebody to be eavesdropping.
"Khan, I say we make a deal. It won't be easy, and I'll need to let them twist the knife in a bit deeper before I break."
Khan looked confused and glanced at the door before looking back.
"You'll give them Helios?"
Spartan clenched his fist and then rammed his hand, striking at Khan. The Jötnar might have been tired, but his strength and reactions were not in doubt. He stopped the fist with an open hand and gripped his fingers around Spartan's fist.
"What do you think?"
Khan nodded with barely concealed joy.
"Now, they come each day. Make sure you're ready. We'll make them pay, Khan. They'll pay for every day they've spent torturing us."
They think they'll get Helios. Instead, I'll leave their own world in ruin!
 *
The large screen glowed with a hint of light blue that filled the dark chamber. Inside stood three of the Biomech machines and a single human. Unlike the Biomechs that had fought in the Great Uprising, these were more machine than creature. Their exteriors were completely artificial and protected like the shell of a beetle. Overlapping plates of plastic and rare metals gave thick-layered protection to the vulnerable parts inside. Each was different, but all three were bipedal, strong, and big. The man stood with his long flowing robes gathered about his body and an Echidna brooch on his chest, a design that embodied a perfect merger of man, alien, and machine. The actual shape was made in the image of a mechanical serpent merged with the torso of a woman and made from a single piece of gleaming silver metal. On the display was a ceiling mounted feed of the prison chamber where Spartan and Khan were speaking.
"Typhon, this will work?" asked the machine.
The man nodded so slowly it was barely noticeable before he turned to look at the nearest of the machines. He was old, yet his body moved with the agility of a man a quarter his age. His eyes glowed with thoughts flashing behind them.
"Yes, a few more weeks of punishment and you will have your weapon. A man with so much rage that he will stop at nothing to destroy you."
"I grow tired of your clones, Typhon. We have invested in your talents for fifty years now. This is your final chance. Give us what we want or…"
The man looked back at the machine. His face showed no signs of fear or contempt.
"Kill me if you wish," he interrupted.
The machine raised its arm slightly and then stopped as if a signal had just been transmitted directly to its servomotors.
"It will not open the Black Rift for you. The only chance for opening it was wasted when you rushed your ship with the captured T'Kari tech to try and open it. You must plan carefully for an operation like this, as I have explained to you already."
He looked back at the screen and the image of Spartan.
"It took decades to split the Confederacy, and yet this man managed to foil my plan. It will not matter though. As he rises, so does his ability to cause the most damage."
He pointed at Spartan.
"That man is the greatest risk to all of their races since your last war. His rage and his terrible anger will bring him to the Rift."
He then turned and looked at the red machine.
"The question is, are you and your survivors out here in the wilderness prepared for the final stage?"
The machine didn't flinch, although Typhon wondered if that was even a possibility with a machine.
"We lost one of our brothers, and the valuable captured technology from the T'Kari slaves trying to open the Rift. We will sacrifice whatever we have to for victory. So long one of us remains, it will be a victory."
Typhon looked unimpressed at the words. The machines were massive compared to his frail looking body, but he sensed an arrogance about them that bordered on recklessness. He had no memories other than of the most recent years, no doubt part of the cloning process. He'd given up asking which version he was or even what he had done in the past. His only real question was why they valued him as an advisor over any of the other prisoners he'd seen from so many worlds and races?
"You do your part. We will do ours. Spartan will have his victory, but the price will be to unleash hell upon all their worlds."
The display changed to a video feed of a planet. It spun slowly, and a red haze ran off into the peripheries. The machine extended its right arm and pointed to the world with its sharpened claws.
"My brothers and I out in the wilderness are ready. We have been ready for a long time. When the signal is given, we will return to Helios and make our sacrifice. That will be the signal for the rise of Spartan…"
He turned his metal head to the cloned man.
"…and the scouring of every planet they call home. Our brothers have been waiting, and their vengeance will be terrible. The planets of the enemy will burn, and we will have our revenge."
Typhon looked at the machine. It had no face save for the metal helm, but he was sure he could see the anger and bitterness within. The glowing eyes were artificial, like every part of the machine's exterior. He moved his eyes just a small amount so that he could examine the other two. All were focused on the screen and the talk between the prisoners.
Then what will happen to me?
 *
Jack stood to attention deep inside the throng of marines. Every one of them remained completely silent in the training hall, waiting as they had been for almost fifteen minutes. Jack's leg still ached from the combat aboard the hijacked freighter. He was tempted to reach down to scratch at his leg, but he knew the penalty and had been in enough trouble already. He tried to take his attention off the waiting, instead moving his eyes just a fraction to take in the detail and grandeur of the almost brand new ship. It was Jack's first time on board, and he was still amazed his newly activated unit had been placed aboard.
ANS Conqueror was the first of her class and one of only four similar ships currently in the Alliance arsenal. All four had been assembled simultaneously at eight different locations. Jack recalled the stories he'd seen in the news about sections of the vessels being manufactured and then sent to a number of shipyards to be combined with other components. He could still smell the fresh coats of paint, and the distant sound of workmen and engineers was audible even that far inside the ship. The interior was much bigger than a standard Crusader class, but the design was roughly the same in terms of basic layout. At almost forty percent larger, the class had almost as much firepower but with the ability to carry an entire battalion when configured for troop transport. This particular model was set up for fleet command and carried the standard complement of four companies of marines plus an entire air wing.
A noise from one of the entry bays caught Jack's attention. He thought for a second it might be the officers, but then he spotted four men carrying a generator between them. They moved off to the side and then vanished into one of the many passageways in the ship.
Come on, this is ridiculous, he thought angrily.
In his position in the second rank of his unit, he had now almost reached his boredom threshold. Wictred and Hunn were nearby, but anytime his eyes shifted, he could see the figure of Sergeant Stone watching him. The veteran marine wore his sling and bandages like badges of honor and ignored them as he moved back and forth in front of the entire company of marines. Jack turned his attention back to the ship and tried to remain positive.
Nice ship, he thought. It was the best he could manage.
The acrid smell of the paint seemed to burn through his skull and, he was starting to feel dazed from a mixture of the heat, boredom, and the waiting. Finally, the sound of boots announced the entry of somebody. He couldn't quite see from where he stood, but at least it was a change from the monotony of trying to avoid the gaze of Sergeant Stone. Thai Qiu-Li stood in front of him, and for a second his attention lingered on her more than he intended. The oriental lady had trained alongside him, but so far he'd not actually seen her in combat.
"Marines!" boomed a loud voice through the ship.
Jack instantly recognized the sound as the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Diego Koerner. The man was only in his forties, and rumor had it he had fought against the rebels as a young officer in the Great Uprising. It was no great shock, of course. Many had fought on both sides, and some didn't even realize they were fighting for the Echidna Union, and those that sought to manipulate them. Many records had been lost from that event, and Jack had no doubt such a topic would be best kept to himself.
"This unit has been blooded over the last three months, with detachments involved in everything from anti-pirate operations to the successful capture of hijacked vessels."
He walked along the line of marines with his hand firmly behind his back. He kept moving until reaching the middle and then stopped. Jack now had a perfect view of the man.
I wonder if some twenty-two years or so ago he saw my father.
There was a chance the two could have met in the middle of the bloodbath on Terra Nova or one of another dozen worlds. The man looked tough, though hardly different to any marine of his age.
"In the last twenty hours, this Strike Group has been on the move. Some of you may have guessed, but I will confirm it right now. In less than seven hours, this fleet will move through the T'Karan-Helios Rift and into Helion space. We are joining a fleet that will include representatives from all six powers. The fleet will take part in a joint exercise to determine if the Alliance military is ready to assist in keeping the borders secure."
There was no sound from the marines, as was to be expected. He looked out at them and nodded slowly.
"I cannot overestimate how important this operation will be. They will be watching us for efficiency, discipline, and tactics. We will be watching them for their capabilities under stress conditions."
There was still no sound to be heard throughout the ship.
"Our unit is part of the first Heavy Strike Group to ever be posted outside of Alliance territory. Your platoon commanders will explain the details, but rest assured, you will be pushed and tested to the limits of your endurance. Do us proud!"
The commander turned and walked out of the hall, leaving his junior officers and NCOs to continue. With a curt signal from their unit captains, the marines were finally able to stand at ease. Jack watched as the commander of his own platoon, Lieutenant Kathra Rossen stepped in front of the unit. She was one of the new generation of young officers, ones with little experience and a lot to prove. At least, that was what Jack had heard the others saying in the mess. She was a willowy woman of average height, with short blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Her pleasant looks were completely eliminated by her permanently dour expression, as if she had just swallowed a bug and was trying to swallow it. The other officers started speaking to their marines, but Lieutenant Rossen's voice quickly drowned them out.
"Our platoon has been selected for its recent successes to join the T'Kari in providing a guard of honor for the Helion ambassador who will be observing our part in the training. Each of the squads will operate in rotation to provide twenty-four hour coverage."
Jack noticed Wictred and Hunn speaking to each other excitedly. He wanted to say something, but for some reason those two always seemed to be able to get away with things he never could. He had first suspected it was because they were Jötnar, but now he was beginning to think it was something to do with him. She coughed to clear her voice, and the two quickly stopped.
"In seven hours we will be through the Rift and on our way to join the fleet assembled in orbit around Helios' third moon. We will rendezvous with the Helion ambassador in orbit over Helion itself in fifteen hours. I want every one of you ready and waiting on the main deck in exactly fourteen hours. In the meantime, you will conduct additional security drills with me."
Security drills? Haven't we done enough of those already?
The Lieutenant looked right at him as if she had read his thoughts. As her pale blue eyes burned into his skull, he truly started to wonder if it was actually possible.
"First drill is a simple escort run. Grab your gear and get back here in twenty minutes for the briefing."
The unit saluted and left as quickly as they had arrived. Jack moved to follow them but was grabbed by the Lieutenant and held back. She waited until the platoon had left before speaking.
"Private Morato. I've read the mission debrief on the freighter. You took risks, big risks, and it could have gone badly wrong. As it is, you opened fire on civilians."
"To save the
" he started, but she lifted her hand to stop him.
"It doesn't matter. You are a wildcard, and I'm this far away from putting you on latrine duty."
Jack shook his head, not knowing what to say.
"I know your parents are some kind of hotshots, but that means nothing to me out here, Private. Your father is, well, he's been gone a long time, and your mother, she has her own worries right now."
She leaned in close to him, so close he could smell her almost non-existent perfume. For the briefest of moments, he nearly leaned in and kissed her. He had no idea why. It was almost a natural reaction for him. Luckily, he managed to stop himself at the last moment and kept still.
"This post is a major one, for you, and for me. I don't want any heroics or going off book. Do you understand?"
Jack nodded but once more kept his mouth shut.
"Good. If it were up to me, I wouldn't risk the unit having you in it. Luckily for you, there are those higher up that think having a Morato in the unit will bring us good favor. Do not prove them wrong."
With that, she left him wondering once more who was his real enemy. His father had spoken to him occasionally about scenarios like this happening to him on one of his few visits when not on duty. As he thought about Spartan, he finally realized there was so much he didn't know about him. Half the marine officers he ran into had more experience of the man than he did.
Wherever you are, you had better have a dammed good excuse for Mother when you get back!
It was really just humor to occupy him, but deep down he knew his mother would be worrying about him every day. They had seen so much trouble in the last few years, and with the collapse of their own company, it couldn't be easy for them. He sighed and walked for the passageway that led back to his quarters, and that was when he spotted Hunn, Wictred, and Thai Qiu-Li waiting for him.
"Well?" asked Hunn impatiently.
Jack put his arms around the waist of Thai Qiu-Li and partially around Wictred who was the nearest of the two Jötnar.
"We, my friends, are going to show our leaders why we are the best!"
Hunn and Wictred looked at each other with knowing looks while Thai Qiu-Li burst out laughing. Jack released her, and she took a step back before speaking.
"Try not to shoot any friendlies this time, okay?"
"Yeah," Wictred added in a more serious tone, "do that, and you'll start another war."
"Hey!" responded Jack with feigned indignation, "I didn't start the last one, you know. Hell, I wasn't even alive when it all kicked off."
 *
The journey through the sweeping metropolis seemed to take forever. They had started at a high level, and very soon the land train had dropped over fifty stories to the darker sections of the city. Teresa watched the buildings flash by as the long, narrow train sped through one city block after another. There were vehicles and people at every level, and few showed any interest whatsoever in the movement of the train. The massive civic buildings including the vast chamber they had first met in were long gone, replaced by the equally impressive looking towers and spires.
"What the hell is that?" she asked, spotting an odd shape to their right.
Gun leaned over from his position on the other side of the car and looked through the curved glass. A number of multi-leveled platforms stretched out with dozens of small craft in stages of loading or unloading. The object that caught her eye was a large black vessel that looked unlike anything else there. The central section reminded her of an insect with three large sections joined together. Engine pods hung down low on its flanks, and ultrafine wings lay angled downward and touching the ground. The wings were easily wider than the craft was long, and the material looked like a thin green plastic membrane, almost completely transparent.
"It looks like a dragonfly or something?"
"The ship?" asked Ayndir through her translator. She had decided to come along with the group on their visit.
Teresa nodded, "Yes, the black one."
"Ah, yes, it is a Byotai merchant ship. All their vessels are black and modeled to look just like the living creatures of their worlds."
All three of them watched with interest as they continued on past the landing platforms and even deeper into the great city. The atmosphere changed considerably as they carried on, and Teresa became more agitated.
"Uh, is this really the route to the Helion Military Academy?"
Ayndir nodded.
"Yes, the military facilities are deep underground for security reasons. This is the
uh, the scenic route I think you would call it."
Ayndir stood up and walked to the bulbous observation window to the left of the craft. No sounds entered the land train, yet Teresa felt a chill as they moved deeper into the darker parts of the city.
"You will see the damage from the war on these levels," said Ayndir, pointing at the sides of multiple buildings. At first there were just odd stains and marks, nothing really of note. Then they passed a half destroyed tower surrounded by a wide-open space.
"What is that?" asked Gun.
"This was one of the last buildings to be destroyed in the war. The machines had been defeated, but as they withdrew, they sent a last surprise for us; a reprisal that cost the lives of nearly half a million citizens."
Gun seemed to perk up at this news and turned from the glass to look at her.
"War? Which one?"
Ayndir nodded at his question, realizing that for them the last war had been the Uprising. For the T'Kari, they had been at war for hundreds of years. Even so, this particular conflict made the others pale to insignificance.
"This was the end of the Desperation War, as some of us have come to call it. It marked the defeat of the machines and their exile to their homeworlds. The seal of the Black Rift is the official end of the war."
She turned back to the glass and pointed at a massive black streak that ran down the side of the structure and then expanded before reaching a pile of debris the size of a starship.
"From the atmosphere came thousands of burrowing charges. We'd come across these earlier in the war, but usually most were shot down."
She paused and took a breath.
"With the Enemy beaten, they caught us by surprise and managed to strike the surface with over three hundred charges. Each tore down buildings and killed indiscriminately."
"That was it?" asked Gun in surprise.
"Gun!" replied Teresa, embarrassed at his words.
"Well, after hundreds of years, that was it? A final bombardment, and then they left?"
Ayndir sighed.
"The Commander is of course correct. The burrowing charges were much more than just bombs."
Teresa twisted her head slightly.
"Traps?"
"Much worse, have you heard of nano-machines?"
Teresa shook her head. Gun said nothing but was clearly intrigued to hear about a new weapon.
"The nano-machines were outlawed long ago through our worlds. Not even the technologically advanced Klithi would use them. They are miniature machines, so small they cannot be easily seen with the eye."
That part seemed to trigger a memory of something she had heard Spartan talking about months ago. Perhaps it had been years ago.
"Nano-machines, like nanobots?"
"Perhaps. These miniature machines work in swarms and were able to reduce buildings and destroy machines with ease. It took thirty-one years to fully eradicate them."
The land train dimmed for a moment before the interior lighting compensated for the lack of daylight. The effect was as though nighttime had just arrived on Helios, though it was still late morning. From the windows, she could see dull streaks of light from powerful lamps that tried to illuminate those parts now obscured from the sun.
"This part of the surface used to be the richest in people and buildings. Most is now rubble and reused for the foundations of new buildings. We are nearly there."
The view vanished completely and was replaced by total blackness. Even though the land train was fully sealed and pressurized, Teresa could feel the change as they plowed through the tunnel complex deep underground. The journey took only a few more minutes, and the land train rolled to a gentle stop. The door hissed open and cool air washed inside. Teresa moved from her seat, pulled on her uniform to ensure it wasn't creased, and then stepped out of the land train and onto firm ground for the first time in over an hour. Beside her was Gun plus their two marines guards, both of whom wore smart black dress uniforms. They looked unarmed, though she knew only too well that both wore tactical armor underneath their clothing and were armed with submachine guns. In front of them stood a Helion civilian in bright clothing. Teresa assumed the figure was female from her slender shape, but it wasn't easy on this planet.
"Major Morato, I have been expecting you."
Teresa looked to Gun who looked equally surprised to hear his voice.
"Thank you, you must be Praetor Darius?"
He nodded and beckoned for her to follow him away from the land train. Ayndir stood on the platform next to the land train. Teresa noticed she wasn't following and stopped to look back.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," replied the leader of the T'Kari.
"You're not coming with us?"
Ayndir shook her head and took a step back to the land train.
"No, we are already represented in terms of military forces."
Teresa looked confused, and her surprise was compounded when Gun explained for her.
"Didn't you hear? Anderson said the T'Kari ships are now operating under Alliance command."
Ayndir was by now stepping back onto the train, and Teresa was beginning to feel a little lost. The T'Kari looked at her with an expressionless face.
"My people are no longer powerful enough on our own. We will still guard our borders, but our warships will fly the Alliance flag."
The door slid shut, and the land train pulled away slowly. It quickly built up speed and then vanished into the night. Teresa shook her head slowly, turning back to Gun. She hadn't noticed them at first, but that was when saw the shape of General Rivers, now Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and by law, the highest-ranking military officer in the Alliance military. He was busy speaking with several other Alliance officials but recognized Gun as the giant ducked to enter the building.
"Commander, Major," he announced, instantly ending his current conversation.
"General," They both replied in unison, much to the amusement of the others there.
The entry point for the Helion Academy was far from salubrious. Teresa looked about the place and noted how dampness seemed to pervade every part of it. She noticed stains on the walls and cracks near the frames of the large metal doors.
"Uh, this is it?" asked Gun, without thinking for a moment of sparing the Helion's feelings.
General Rivers smiled awkwardly.
"Quite."
With both hands, he beckoned for them to move closer so that he might speak more discreetly to them.
"This is just one of the escape shafts, or so they say. The main site is much deeper underground. Now, they have requested a demonstration of our techniques in combat. So far the Helions have been positive, but the others are treating us with, well, disdain is probably the correct word."
"They think we're primitives?" asked Gun angrily.
Rivers shook his head and started to walk back inside but making sure they followed him. The modest entrance opened out into a large L shaped room with ultra smooth walls. Four Helion officers stood in a line blocking their path.
"The politicians are doing their bit, but trust me, they need us a lot more than we need them. Rumors are spreading about these Biomechs, and it seems they are expecting something bad, and soon."
Gun moved closer to the four soldiers and reached out to touch one. The warrior to the immediate right tried to block his hand with his feeble right arm. Gun barely noticed the interruption before he was making contact with the man's shoulder. Gun looked back while keeping his hand on the Helion.
"These are the soldiers that beat the machines in battle?" he laughed with such violence that he caught the attention of every soul in the room.
"Apparently. Perhaps we'll learn more inside?"
General Rivers moved off quickly, possibly embarrassed by the comments of Gun, or more likely that he wanted to see quite what these disparate aliens had to offer. As they moved through the end door, the room opened up in a vast underground complex. He'd expected tunnels and rooms, but the interior was almost like the surface of Helios. Great towers rose from the ground, and buildings could be seen as far as his eyes would let him.
"Very impressive," said Teresa, reaching his side.
Praetor Darius, who until now had been silent, stepped behind them and pointed at the darkest building of them all. It was round and erupted out of the ground like half a cannonball. All around the structure were shattered buildings, ruins, and rubble.
"This is where we train for the Dark Days."
Neither General Rivers nor the other Alliance representatives quite understood what she meant by this.
"The Dark Days, Praetor?
He turned and looked intently at Teresa.
"Yes, the Dark Days. It is a name we have for the eventual return of the Great Enemy. Though we are glad to meet your people, you have also announced the start of this period in our history. It will end with the Dark Days and billions will die."
Teresa said nothing, now unsure as to what she could possibly add.
"If you come with me, I will introduce you to the contingents from each of the great Powers."
He made to move and then looked back.
"I am a little confused. I know most of your officials are in discussion with our leadership. We did request that our group would send a military contingent for a demonstration and contest of arms. Where is yours?"
Teresa looked to Gun and Rivers, also looking for the answer.
General Rivers gave them all an amused smile.
"They are here, the two commanders of the 17th Battalion."
Praetor Darius did not look impressed.
"Two warriors?"
Gun started to laugh and quickly stopped himself when he saw the expression on Teresa's face. He moved up to the Praetor and placed his great paw on his shoulder. It was easily the size of his head, and the look of fear was obvious on his face.
"Two is all we need."
Praetor Darius turned and walked away, muttering something under his breath. Gun followed, but Teresa approached the General before joining the others.
"General, are you serious?"
He nodded but this time far more solemnly.
"Look, Teresa, we need to get involved with these people and fast. It's clear they are weak and vulnerable. Unless we can influence them militarily, the Enemy could have the Black Rift and be on us in just a few years, maybe earlier. We have to fast track this to weeks or months, not decades."
Teresa sighed.
"So we do this by sending in two old warriors to face the best they have to offer?"
Rivers nodded, and Teresa shook her head. She hurried her pace to catch up with Gun. Once there, he threw her a sideways glance.
"If Spartan were here, he'd do this all on his own!"
"I know," she replied quietly, her thoughts now returning to her missing husband.
CHAPTER FIVE
Many resisted the use of autonomous fighters in the Alliance Navy. With the introduction of the Hammerhead fighter, the Alliance found itself with three manned spacecraft able to operate in space and most atmospheres. Each model was strong, reliable, and capable of an array of missions. The Lightning MK II was the fastest and most agile fighter ever used whereas the Thunderbolt MK I was a first generation space superiority bomber. The Hammerhead finally added heavier weapons and a marine transport capability to give the Alliance navy a fighter suitable for all scenarios. It took the development of the X57 Avenger to finally prove that an unmanned fighter could match and finally surpass the achievements of the Lighting and Thunderbolt.
Robots in Space
Teresa was confused. The training arena was nothing like she had expected on Helios. Her initial impression had been the same as the rest of the Alliance delegation, one mixed with excitement and awe at the size, grandeur, and complexity of the urban sprawl that was Helion. From the great chamber where they had met, through to the land train stations and city spires, the entire world seemed to be an urban paradise. Teresa had seen no graffiti, crime, or problems of any kind. Just a fully functioning and efficient city of the like never seen on a human world. The descent to the lower levels that had been so badly scarred in the fighting with the machines had shown a very different part of the planet; one showing the suffering and destruction wrought in the last violent struggle.
It had taken almost twenty minutes to walk from the land train to the debris and rubble that surrounded the Helion barracks. There were a number of narrow maglev rail systems running through that part of the underground city, but the Helions seemed to want to take them on the scenic route that would show them a different part to their society. Teresa wasn't quite sure if the impression they wanted to give was working though. All she saw was a place that looked as if it hadn't changed in generations, perhaps much longer. This might have been out of respect for the past, but she suspected it was more likely to be a complete ambivalence to the needs of the military.
"They call this place the Helion Military Academy?" grumbled Gun.
Teresa agreed but was well aware the Helions were able to understand her, and that offending them was probably not the ideal move for her. She and Gun already had something of a reputation amongst the Alliance representatives there. In fact, she'd heard rumors of complaints they'd even been sent there. Without General Rivers, there would be little chance they would have even been allowed to stay in the star system itself.
I wonder why that might be, she thought with a hidden smile.
Their arrival at the training arena was worse, much worse. Gun actually laughed at seeing what waited for them. Instead of large groups of fighters, there were actually just a dozen warriors from each of the other Powers. Further away in the distance were several groups of about fifty warriors, each clad in dull orange, and so dark it almost became scarlet in color. Behind them hung black cloaks that were attached at the shoulders. Their robes fitted closely, and their heads were completely covered, save for their eyes. On top of their heads were helmets that covered the entire head except the face below the eyes. All of these warriors were armed with either what looked like shields and maces or short rifles, and were practicing firing drill. What surprised Teresa the most was that one group was practicing unit based volley drills while the others engaged in vicious melee combat. It wasn't so much the drill; it was the complete lack of noise. She looked over to Gun who seemed equally confused.
"Strange, I thought the Helions were not a military people.”
"If they aren't military, then who are these?"
They pushed on the last short distance to where the groups of warriors stood. They were already waiting, each upright and silent as they watched the small Alliance delegation approach. Teresa counted the five separate contingents and noticed the T'Kari were absent. The Helion Praetor nodded in a minimal fashion before speaking. The sounds made Teresa uncomfortable. She didn't like it that an alien race had such an advantage over them in such a short time.
"These warriors have been selected by lot from our Narau Army."
"Narau?" asked Teresa.
The Praetor nodded again.
"Yes, they are known as the Narau which means five' in the old tongue. This is the name also used for our fleet, the Narau Armada. We have no individual forces. We work together at the Narau for the common good," he explained.
There was more than a hint of arrogance to his voice. He turned to face the groups, but Gun had questions. Instead of waiting, he walked to the side of the assembled warriors and pointed at the dull orange shapes in the distance.
"What about them? In your perfect Narau, why do you train your own army?"
None of the others could understand the great giant, but Teresa heard him well enough and cringed at his question. Praetor Darius seemed aghast, as though he had just inflicted a great insult upon them.
"They are the Animosh. They are for maintaining order through Helios and our colonies. They are not soldiers."
The Praetor then turned back to the assembled soldiers and pointed at each of the groups, allowing just a short pause between them as he explained who each of them was. Gun was unimpressed, and as he spoke, he continued to glance at the strange Animosh warriors who continued to practice. Teresa noticed what he was doing and stepped alongside him to maintain the interest of the Preator. She whispered to him angrily.
"Gun, listen to him. We don't want trouble
not yet."
He listened, but Teresa was sure he was still keeping one eye on the Animosh. Teresa looked at the new soldiers and for the first time was able to gaze upon this mixture of alien races without feeling she was being rude. All wore armor, but the size, thickness, and quality varied considerably. The Khreenk were the ones that stuck out the most to her, with their mixture of armor. Some wore just helmets while one was armored from head to toe. The Byotai wore nothing but a small breastplate that fitted closely to their reptilian skin. Teresa could only assume their hides would help protect them in times of struggle. The Helions group stood in identical orange uniforms, and the shape of their armor could just be glimpsed underneath long flowing robes. Each wore a golden helm that looked almost plastic and which had nose and cheek guards to protect it. They finally stopped, and the Preator turned to speak to the Alliance delegation.
"As you can see, the Narau Army is varied, flexible, and reliable. In an emergency, we can draw upon the warriors of a hundred worlds to help us in any struggle. With the Black Rift so close, it is the duty of the Narau to be ever ready to rise up and defend this sector. If Helios were ever to fall, then every system, including yours, would be turned to ash."
Gun looked at each of them and smiled crookedly.
"Why not place all of your forces at the Rift?"
The Praetor seemed to like that question.
"You do not know much of this enemy do you?"
Gun burst into laughter. Praetor Darius looked to General Rivers in confusion while Gun walked away and moved up to inspect the lines of warriors. He gazed over them while they looked at him. The humans were certainly strong and sturdy in comparison, and he found it amusing to look at their faces as he walked about. It made him feel superior.
"I do not understand," said the Praetor.
"Commander Gun here was the first of the enemy's Biomechs to turn on his creators and join us in resistance. There is nobody that has as much experience of them as him."
The Praetor explained his words to the others who made noises of shock and horror as they realized quite what the monster before them actually was. One of the Khreenk jumped out from ranks and alongside Major Morato. She turned, thinking he wanted to shake her hand, but he withdrew a small weapon the size of a pistol in his hand. He aimed it squarely at Gun's chest and pulled the trigger, but Teresa was on him. She slammed her elbow into his face and then stepped closer. With a deft pull, she dragged him over her bent leg and down to the floor.
"Stop!" cried the Praetor.
Teresa ignored him and kept on. She dropped down to the floor with her leg and knee jammed over the Khreenk warrior's neck. The pistol fell to the ground, and with a quick move, she scooped it up and tossed it to Gun. He caught it, laughed, and then dropped it to the floor. In a move that shocked them all, he stamped down with his metal boot, smashing it like a piece of pottery. Every one of them stood in silence until Teresa stood up and waited for the Khreenk to do the same. Once on his feet, he moved closer to her and muttered something before returning to his comrades, clutching his throat. The entire group of warriors from the five Powers broke out into shouting and arguing. It gave Teresa time to turn and speak with her comrades.
"Interesting approach," said Gun as quietly as he could manage.
Even General Rivers couldn't detect the tone of thanks in his voice, but Teresa could make it out yet did nothing to acknowledge it other than a very discrete nod. He was tough, and his body capable of sustaining terrible injuries. Even so, they had all seen Jötnar brought low by nothing more than a single pistol. He was not invulnerable, and the older he got, the more he was beginning to understand it. The General turned his head away from their guest so they wouldn't guess his thoughts.
"I know I said we needed to make an impression…but really?"
Gun chuckled and noticed Teresa nodding in the direction of the Khreenk group. One of the warriors stepped from the line and began speaking to the Praetor. This went on for some time before he stepped back and waited. Praetor Darius turned and stepped back so that he could see all of the five groups plus the Alliance contingent
"What was that about?" demanded Gun before the Praetor could speak.
The interruption of Gun sent discord through the other sixty warriors. Teresa didn't seem too concerned, though the expression on General Rivers' face suggested he was less than impressed. Praetor Darius bowed politely before replying.
"Honored guests, my comrade wished to convey his disappointment that you brought so few warriors."
Great, you've done it now, Teresa thought with a degree of amusement.
"Really?" snapped back Gun, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Commander!" called out General Rivers.
Gun looked over his shoulder and then took a few steps back. Teresa was impressed. There were few that Gun would listen to, and even less that he would actually obey. The fact that he gave ground at the General's insistence reminded her of how close their small group actually was.
"Yes," continued Praetor Darius, "we have selected twelve soldiers from each group, all of whom are fully trained in combat for this demonstration. You have brought three commanders and just two bodyguards who are able to fight. Is that correct?"
Teresa was confused. She looked at her group before realizing the warriors the Helion referred to were their guards. She wasn't old, hell, she hadn't even reached forty-eight yet. Even so, all of them were wearing dress uniforms, and even Gun while the others that were waiting ever so impatiently seemed ready for combat.
The fools, they think Gun, Rivers, and I are just commanders.
Teresa looked over to General Rivers who looked more amused than annoyed.
"What is he talking about, General? What demonstration?"
The old Marine Corps commander raised one eyebrow but instead of answering, simply faced the Praetor.
"Tell me, Praetor Darius. How many years have these warriors spent in their militaries?"
"Years," he replied, "Our warriors are all citizen soldiers. We have no need for a standing army. The very idea is," he paused, as if thinking his next words might offend. He appeared to change his mind though and continued, "The idea is anathema to us. Warriors are a necessity but one that we want to avoid as much as we can."
"What about your war with the machines? Did you have an army then?"
Praetor Darius nodded.
"Of course, but that was hundreds of your years ago. Today we live in more civilized times. Our technology keeps us safe, and the seals of the Rifts are our guarantor of peace. A standing army is more of a risk than a benefit to us."
"Bullshit!" snapped Gun, still bitter from the earlier comments.
One of the Khreenk warriors stepped out from his group. He was slightly shorter than General Rivers and looked quite young. Like the rest of his people, he wore scruffy, non-descript clothing that gave him the impression of a thug or barbarian. Teresa had already spotted the replacement sections on his neck, left collar, and left arm.
They are more than they seem, she thought, now feeling suspicious of them.
It was nothing in particular other than the fact she had fought in so many battles; she had a knack for sizing up an enemy. While the other races there seemed uninterested in violence, the Khreenk were an exception. She looked at the warrior and watched how he moved. He was reasonably balanced, but it was the look in his eye and his aggressive stance that truly caught her attention.
He is angry, really angry.
That made her think. Was it because a race, potentially stronger than theirs had appeared out of nowhere? Perhaps it was because their arrival singled potential war with their old enemies, or there was another option. She considered it for a little longer; finally deciding the most likely explanation was one of suspicion. The humans were new to them all, yet they were similar to the Khreenk. Competition and fear were problems that had turned brother against brother back in the old Confederacy. The warrior spoke in angry tones and then moved out into the middle of the circular area. He paced about like a caged animal, waiting for something.
"My comrade from the Khreenk Federation says his people are unimpressed at your delegation. They fought alongside us in the war and suffered badly for it. If you are unable to match their military commitment, they will not stand alongside you."
General Rivers tapped both Teresa and Gun and stepped out in front of them. He looked at Teresa as he passed and spoke quietly, for her ears only.
"Get ready, this could backfire. I didn't want to say earlier, but this thing is supposed to be a meeting of military units to show our tactics, skills, and flexibility in combat."
He stopped once further ahead, leaving Teresa confused.
"Who is supposed to do that exactly?"
Rivers smiled, pointing at both her and Gun. She shook her head, though in truth she was already working out what he was going to suggest to them.
We are expected to put on a military demonstration, with no marines, just us? Typical!
She knew the General well, but this really was taking it far. She'd not been in major combat for some time, and although she knew she was fit and ready, she was hardly able to do the work of an entire marine squad. A quick glance at Gun showed something very different; his face positively glowed with excitement.
You crazy old fool; you can't wait, can you?
Rivers did have a tendency to speak his mind. It was one of many things he shared with her husband, and one of the reasons why they got on so well. All she could do now was wait and see what trouble the General got the two of them in.
"Praetor, we have just fought a war against these machines, a war that we fought on our own, and we won. All of our warriors are professionals, each one offering the state a lifetime of service. Can you say the same?"
Praetor Darius looked surprised at his words, and for a moment it looked like the General might have gone a little too far. None of the warriors present understood what he had said, but the expression on the Praetor's face was obvious. Teresa looked at the contingents and wondered what any of them could really add to a battle. The sleepy looking Klithi appeared completely non-threatening while the Byotai looked tough and impressive on the exterior and showed almost no interest in what was happening. It made her feel odd, perhaps slightly superior in one way, and yet vulgar and barbaric in another. She had always assumed that after meeting the T'Kari, any other race would be larger and stronger. There was no particular reason why that would be, it was just her gut feeling, and one influenced probably more by popular culture and her experience in the Uprising than anything else.
"I understand," said Praetor Darius, "Even so, each of these warriors is here to show the skills and techniques that their militaries have mastered over millennia. If your people are so wise in the ways of war, why are you not prepared for one now?"
Teresa bit her lip and did her best to not say something she might regret.
"What did you have in mind?" asked General Rivers.
A bugle answered them all as precisely as though it had been timed to the second. From the highest position behind them emerged a group of black clothed warriors. It was a full marine squad from the 17th Battalion, their honors flying high on a tattered standard. What confused her was that the unit was only raised in the last year, and she hadn't heard of their colors being carried into battle. She moved her eyes and noted General Rivers watching them with a glint in his eye.
He planned this, all of it, impressive stage management.
The unit came closer still and every single one of the alien warriors watched in silence as the group of black clothed marines entered the training ground. None were armored but all wore the black uniforms of the Corps. They moved with cold precision, and their footwork and marching was as good as it ever had been. The crump sound from their thick boots echoed through the open space until they reached a position in front of General Rivers. It was only then that Teresa could see the face of their leader, Sergeant Jimmy Reeders. The man was only in his early twenties and had been promoted several times over the last six months.
"Interesting," interjected Gun.
Teresa nodded to the Sergeant, doing her best to forget the images of his predecessor, the beautiful and courageous Arina Nova. The young woman had thrown herself in front of the Major in the battle to secure Helios and had paid the price with her own life. Sergeant Reeders she only knew by reputation. Following the substantial casualties months earlier, he'd been transferred from 3rd Company. They had met only a handful of times, and so far she had not seen him under pressure. He had an unusual crop of red hair, obscured by his beret that covered all but a few small tufts. The man's eyes were pale grey though; a rare enough color as it was, without the red hair to go with it. As expected, he turned to face General Rivers and her. He then delivered a snappy salute.
"General, Major
"
He then turned to his actual battalion commander.
"Commander
1st Squad ready for combat drill, Sir!"
General Rivers returned the formality before motioning for them to array themselves into two ranks to their side. The marines moved efficiently into position; the Alliance delegation now almost matched the size of the others. General Rivers looked at Gun who was also returning the salute to the young man. He still found it odd to call Gun by his old title. Back in the War, the Jötnar leader had been known as the Ko'mandor of his unit, though he was now actually a full colonel.
"It is good to see you all. We have been asked to take part in a demonstration of military skills. Do you want to participate?" asked General Rivers.
The squad cheered in agreement in a display that must have been practiced a dozen times. The impression they gave was of supreme confidence, and Teresa suspected that was exactly the point. Praetor Darius seemed not amused at the late arrival, and some of the other warriors from the Khreenk Federation muttered and complained amongst themselves. General Rivers saw this as the perfect opportunity for decisive action, and he did just that. He stepped away from his own marines and nearby to the Praetor where he could then speak to them all. Teresa moved to stand alongside him but said nothing, staying there merely to add gravitas to his words.
"Honored warriors, I have a proposal to you all."
The Praetor translated just a couple of seconds behind.
"Among my people we have a training routine called Last man standing'. It is a way of pitting groups of warriors together to prove their worth, without the risk of major injuries."
He waved with his left arm, and one of the marines from 1st Squad, 1st Platoon moved out of the line and ran out into the empty area. The space was wide yet stopped before reaching the middle. From his jacket, he removed a marker device and pointed it at the gravel-covered ground. It flashed red, leaving a faint line. Without waiting, he then ran off in a wide circle of nearly a hundred meters in diameter before returning to his start position. Everybody, including the Khreenk looked at the red circle with a mixture of pleasure or confusion. The marine returned to his unit, and General Rivers continued.
"Each group sends in six warriors to the circle. The group with warriors still in the circle at the end wins."
Praetor Darius explained the suggestion with quick, high-pitched words. Most of those watching seemed unimpressed, yet the Khreenk were almost apoplectic at the translation when Praetor Darius reached the last part, presumably about the physical violence. The leader of the group walked away and toward General Rivers. He stopped in front and looked at him carefully before speaking in his harsh, guttural language. The Helion commander looked uncomfortable as members from each of the groups spoke. Finally, he turned around to reply to the General.
"General Rivers, it was our intention for each of our people to put on a public demonstration, one of marksmanship, fighting ability, fitness, and endurance. What you propose is something we never do, a barbaric physical contest where we would compete against each other?"
He seemed confused at the very idea. Teresa was appalled and for a moment forgot her place.
"Praetor, are you saying you do not compete?"
"That is correct. It is critical that the ground forces of the Narau see each other as equals under our unified command. If any one group were to gain a measure of…"
"Superiority?" answered Teresa with a bitter tone.
"Why, yes."
Teresa looked back to General Rivers with barely concealed surprise.
"How did they ever beat the machines?"
He shrugged before turning his attention on the Khreenk.
"He doesn't seem bothered at our proposal."
Praetor Darius nodded.
"Yes, he is…well, they are not like the rest of us. The Khreenk have an…unusual history. The others are uncertain as to the point of this exercise."
A pair of the reptilian Byotai stepped out from their unit and indicated toward General Rivers. One of them spoke in a very slow, almost monotone voice before falling silent. More of the other warriors started to voice their feelings and called out to the Praetor. He may have been an important figure to the Helions, but there seemed to be little respect or discipline when the disparate people were thrown together.
"Silence!" roared Gun in a voice that boomed through the training ground.
Gun then twisted his head and grinned at General Rivers before continuing.
"We are the masters of war, and we are undefeated. We challenge all of you to this contest to prove whose warriors are the best, and to prove
"
He turned around and looked directly at the Helion soldiers, "who is the weakest of our warriors."
His voice was loud and aggressive, so different to any voice heard so far on Helion. Praetor Darius looked on in horror at the words coming from the mouth of the warlike monster standing before him. Teresa watched all of this unfold with a mixture of surprise and amusement.
So, the General wants us to make a statement, does he?
She unbuttoned her long black trench coat and tossed it to one of the two bodyguards that had been with them since their arrival. The nearest man caught it as though he'd been expecting it from the start. Four more of the marines stepped out from the ranks to join her. Gun moved forward, but the General shook his head.
"No, let's keep this fair."
The Khreenk spotted this and shouted out insults at the General while the Praetor did his best to calm them down. No matter what he said, they seemed to become angrier. Eventually, he turned back to them to explain. At the same time, the soldiers from the other groups walked out and into the circle.
"The Khreenk feel your monster is unwilling to fight them. They say they refuse to fight unless he takes part," he explained, his hand extended towards Gun.
Gun roared with a loud, booming voice that caught the attention of all of them. Even Teresa was taken aback at the sound. It was a noise she rarely heard outside of the battlefield. He then stomped off toward her and her comrades. As he approached, he gave her the largest grin she'd seen in months.
"This will be fun!"
They moved a little further in the circle and stood in a line. Around the rest of the circle came the contingents from the Helions, Khreenk, Klithi and Byotai. Each group provided six warriors so that there were now thirty of them in the circle. Praetor Darius stood in the middle, and those not taking part moved to the outside of the circle as a small crowd.
"What weapons will you use?" he asked.
From the side of the circle, General Rivers replied in a loud voice.
"No weapons, this is martial combat in its rawest form. Who will win without fancy weapons, armor, or assistance?"
Praetor Darius explained his words and a mixture of excitement and concern spread through the group. He walked away until almost back at General Rivers and then looked at the competitors. All of them stood waiting, each warrior a man or woman of some experience, but few of them had ever seen actual combat.
"What do you think?" asked Teresa to her little band of marines.
"They look green to me, every one of them," said Sergeant Reeders.
"Yeah," agreed Gun, "only the Khreenk seem interested. Those lizard things could be a problem. The rest will be a walkover."
Teresa looked at the bizarre selection of aliens before noticing one was missing.
"Praetor! There are only four groups, where is the fifth?"
He lifted his hand to his face. It wasn't clear if he was coughing or hiding his mouth.
"The Anicinŕbe people provide additional forces to the fleet. They do not participate in ground combat. They are, well
unsuited for the rigors of planetary battle."
Teresa was not impressed. She moved her eyes toward Gun.
"Who the hell are these Anicinŕbe people?"
Gun raised his shoulders in indifference.
"Who cares? If they don't fight, they are of no use to us. Come on, let's do this!"
Praetor Darius lifted his arms and called out something in his own tongue. He looked up to what would have been the sky if they were not underground. As soon as he reached the final and highest pitched word, the four groups of aliens rushed out from their position at the perimeter of the ring and moved toward the marines.
"Now!" roared Gun, and with that he was off and heading right for the middle of the group. Teresa jogged off to his right; the other four massed on his left.
What the hell are you doing, you old fool? Teresa thought as she covered the ground.
The Klithi and Khreenk reached the marines first, crashing together like something from an ancient barbaric battle. Where the Khreenk were vicious and strong, the Klithi were fast but lacking in technique or strength. Gun swung his fists into the first two Klithi and sent them sprawling to the ground, both either stunned or knocked unconscious. A Khreenk warrior and his female companion launched themselves at Teresa with barely concealed semi-transparent blades. Each was almost the length of her forearm and serrated along one edge. She avoided the first strike, but the second cut from the woman left a gash on her arm the size of four fingers.
"Bastard!" she cried out.
With deftness and substantial skill, she jammed her knee into the man's stomach and then snapped his arm down to throw him to the floor. As he fell, she grabbed the blade and stabbed it into the woman's shoulder. The Khreenk female screamed in pain, but that wasn't the end. Teresa then struck her with an open palmed strike to her face, breaking her nose in a spray of blood. Finally, Sergeant Reeders rushed over and barged the wounded female to the floor and smashed into the next two.
"You okay?" he called out, dodging more strikes and kicking or punching the Khreenk as they tried to reach Teresa.
One Klithi managed to reached Teresa's flank and punched her hard in the ribs. She groaned, but it was nothing that would stop her. She grabbed the arm and yanked the lithe female toward her before using a hammer blow to her head and knocking yet another of the enemy to the floor.
"Gun!" shouted one of the marines, but he was too far away for the old warrior to hear. A Khreenk and two Helions were on him in a flash, yet he tossed them aside like a bear being assaulted by dogs. In less than two minutes, the circle was half empty. The non-participants carried the wounded away, until just three Helions, two Byotai, and a single Khreenk warrior remained. They stopped and regrouped as a single group of six and faced off against the Alliance marines.
"Is that it?" bellowed Gun as the bloodied foe stood panting. Not even the Khreenk seemed keen to continue the melee. General Rivers could see what was happening and decided that now was the perfect time for him to intervene. He stepped into the ring and marched toward the center of the fight. As he came closer, he could see the blood on two of his marines. Teresa clutched a cut arm, and blood ran from Gun's mouth. The six facing them looked no better, but they also refused to leave the field.
"That is enough!" he cried out.
Praetor Darius translated, and to the relief of the Khreenk, Byotai, and Helions it was over. General Rivers looked over to Teresa and lifted a questioning eyebrow. Her clothing was torn, and the fabric of her tunic was ripped about the waist. Even so, she looked happy, but nowhere as pleased as Gun who stood there, undefeated, bruised, and bloody.
"I love this!" he roared to the pleasure of his comrades and the dismay of Praetor Darius.
CHAPTER SIX
By 358CC the world of Private Military Contractors had shifted once more. The seven remaining companies found contracts increasing as Alliance military forces were needed to patrol the enlarged borders that now included T'Karan space via the Prometheus-Orion Rift. The days of contractors operating on frontlines were well and truly over, but the work of protecting civilian ships and installations was now even harder than ever. Just one year on, and the wealthy Carthago Trade Consortium bought their stocks. The timing was perfect and resulted in the creation of the CTC Security Corporation. This massive Corporation employed over fifty thousand people at the time of the Helios Expedition.
Private Security Directory
Private Morato and the rest of his squad waited calmly at the grand entrance to the primary hangar. The unit of a dozen marines had split up so that six flanked both sides of the impressive arched opening. As flagship of the battlegroup and the lead ship in the Conqueror class, she was well equipped for long-range expeditions, as well as entertaining dignitaries, such as those coming from Helios. They'd already moved away from the escorting ships and into a lower orbit over Helios while they waited. Jack, Wictred, Hunn, and Thai Qiu-Li stood on the one side in their smart dress uniforms. On their shoulders were gleaming L52 Mark II carbines and from their belts hung pistols and other gear. Even the two Jötnar wore a variation of the black uniform with their modified black jackets hanging over their pants. It was a bizarre collection of warriors, but the Alliance commanders had been given little choice; they wanted only those involved in the fighting for their system, and the Jötnar had played a very important role.
"Marines!" said Lieutenant Kathra Rossen in her dour tone, "Here they come."
Jack tensed as he heard the footsteps of the approaching group of people. He'd heard rumors of the Helions, yet another group of people the Alliance had come across in such a short space of time. The footsteps became louder, and then he spotted the Helion man, along with two others in dull orange garb. Their clothing was light and flowed as they walked, but it was their faces that surprised him the most. Their skin was tight and yet almost translucent around the bone structure. The color was pale as if they had never seen the sun. If he hadn't already been briefed, he would have assumed the two were juveniles and certainly not the respected staff of the Ambassador. Directly behind them walked another, this time in darker orange and with a sash tied around his waist. On his head sat an ornate cap encrusted with jewels around a golden bowl.
Weird, Jack thought.
They moved past the marines and to the high-ranking Marine Corps and Alliance Navy officers. Jack kept his eyes on the Helions. He couldn't but help notice the way they moved; it was graceful and quick, almost like the movement of a dancer. He was so busy watching that he didn't see the two other Helions following up the group. These two were even more diminutive than the others and wore clothing that mixed many colors, even though the emphasis was still on yellows and orange. As they moved alongside the marines, one looked at them. Jack couldn't tell if the glance was to him or more likely, to his giant Jötnar comrades. Either way, he was able to see the young Helion's face. It was a woman. There was no doubt about it. Her figure was little different to the human or T'Kari, but she moved with a grace that even the T'Kari could not match. Her dark blue eyes almost glowed as she watched them, smiled and continued on.
A low sigh, almost a whistle, came from Hunn, and Jack twisted his head just a fraction to look at both him and Wictred when a cough caught his attention.
"Private, eyes front," whispered Lieutenant Rossen in her icy voice.
The snigger of Hunn was probably too quiet for the Lieutenant to hear, but Jack had no problem at such a short distance. He considered kicking his friend but decided against it.
Sort yourself out, you idiot, he thought, realizing how childish he was being.
The last of the delegation continued away to the right, and the marines were forced to stand in silence and wait for their orders. The officers spoke for what must have been three or four minutes before they moved away. Lieutenant Rossen gave her marines the nod, and the entire squad fell in behind the Helions. The group of two-dozen individuals walked away from the landing deck of the warship and into the main passageway that ran along the spine of the ship. It was the most lavish part and had been designed specifically for this kind of task. Electronic window devices at key points along the wall and ceiling gave the impression they were moving through a glass tunnel running along the ship. Outside, a number of other Alliance ships waited in formation as well as many more alien vessels. The planet of Helios glowed like a hot sun below, and a bright flare from its star was only partially blocked by the electronic filters.
"Wictred," Jack said under his breath.
"Yeah?" replied his friend, with less effort to hide his voice.
Lieutenant Rossen looked at them but couldn't identify who might have been speaking. She gave Jack a hard stare and turned back to the Helions in front of them. Wictred grinned at her annoyance.
"Did you see her?" he asked.
Hunn chortled at the question, but Wictred replied.
"How could I not? She looks just like the last five you've bedded."
Thai Qiu-Li heard both the question and Wictred's answer. She shook her head with mocked irritation. She was well used to Jack and his interest in the ladies. It was one of those things that made him a likable rogue and also a bit of a jerk. Since she'd known him, he'd had relationships with a number of the marines, and they always seemed to ends in a matter of days, sometimes weeks. If the rumors were true, there was also a nurse, but she wondered if that was mere exaggeration on the part of his two oversized friends.
"Jack, you should try thinking with your brain for a change," she said quietly.
Jack laughed involuntarily and was forced to hide it with a cough. It was mainly surprise rather than embarrassment but still enough to draw the ire of the Lieutenant. He threw a look at Thai Qiu-Li, but she ignored him, and he quickly turned his eyes to the front. Unseen to him, she looked away with disappointment on her face. Wictred spotted her expression, and she scowled as he watched her before turning his eyes back to the front.
"What?" he muttered under his breath. Thai Qiu-Li sighed in exasperation.
The group now reached the halfway point, and the passageway had expanded into a dome type shape with a number of rooms off to the left. Two guards marked the entrance to the CIC, the Combat Information Centre that was the tactical heart of both the ship and the Alliance task force. The guests entered, and the marines moved in right behind them, leaving half of the squad to stay with the guards at the door. They continued on inside and into the bustle of a major warship. Jack had been on plenty of ships in his limited time in the Corps and also when working for his parents' now defunct company. This ship was the most advanced he'd ever seen, and for a brief moment, his attention was diverted from the alien guests to the banks of screens and dozens of people moving about. The Captain and his senior commander were introducing themselves to the guests, but Jack was far too busy to watch, giving them no more than a glance via his peripheral vision. The three-dimensional mapping projector in the middle of the CIC was certainly impressive and was viewed by many of the officers as they managed the vessel. As well as a five-meter long model of the ship, it showed the surrounded planet and its satellites. Jack spotted movement and recognized the form of his tormentor. Lieutenant Rossen moved in front of the marines and looked at each of them before coming to Jack.
"Private Morato, have you seen something more interesting to you?"
He looked into her eyes but saw nothing but hostility in them. He returned his attention back to the front.
"Sir, no."
He was tempted to explain that he'd never seen a ship like this one, but he knew the Lieutenant well enough to know that was likely to antagonize her even more. No, it was better for him to simply take it on the chin and keep his mouth shut. That was when he spotted a dozen shapes moving toward the model of their own ship. Until now the ships in orbit had been following a trajectory that kept them all well apart.
What's going on? Are those our fighters?
Lieutenant Rossen noticed Jack's eyes had moved elsewhere, but instead of checking, she took a step closer to him and then stumbled. Jack reached out and steadied her, as the great ship vibrated in what he could only assume was some kind of emergency maneuver. A loud thump shook the vessel, and a number of the internal displays went black, as internal camera feeds were lost. What happened next stunned them all. The lighting dropped to red, and emergency sirens started their song through the ship. Jack spotted the XO grab an intercom from the nearest console.
"Battlestations, this is not a drill. All crew to your stations. This is an Alpha Three priority alert! We're under attack!"
Lieutenant Rossen pushed away from Jack's hands and balanced herself. The crew, meanwhile, moved into action with great speed and fluidity. More impacts ripped through the ship as something substantial continued striking it like a strong hailstorm. With each impact came further alerts and warnings from the computer systems.
"What's happening?" asked Wictred, more out of curiosity than concern.
Nobody answered him, but the model of the ship in relation to the planet of Helios made it very clear. They were changing course and moving up into a higher altitude.
"Weapons active, defensive pattern only!" added the XO.
The floor plates of the CIC rattled as the scores of weapon systems opened fire, and the small group of marines could only watch in shocked silence as their ship defended itself. Many of the larger displays showed feeds from the exterior cameras, and cries of surprise came from those watching dark shapes moving around the rear. Lines of projectiles from the point-defense turrets raced out to greet them, but substantial damage had already been caused.
"This is insane. We're in Helion space," said Lieutenant Rossen.
Jack shook his head and looked to his friends.
"Somebody should have explained that to them."
Everybody else was busy watching either their own screens or the massive three-dimensional tactical display, but one thing they all knew, ANS Conqueror was under attack, and it looked like the newest and most powerful ship in the fleet was in serious trouble.
 *
The sound of the alarm shook Teresa out of her deep sleep and upright on her bed. For the briefest of moments, she'd completely forgotten where she was. Thoughts of a bewildering number of planets, moons, and ships raced through her mind. It was the dull yellow glow coming from the shielded windows that instantly reminded her she was no longer on her ship and in fact on another alien world.
Helios, she thought.
In one swift motion, Teresa slid from the bed and dropped her feet to the floor. The granite type surface felt warm to the touch, nothing at all like what she was used to. There was a faint smell in the air, a dull smell like that of burning ozone, yet she couldn't place the source. Her uniform was hung up smartly on the wall, and her side arm and belt hung lazily on a chair. To the side of her bed, a small metal box flickered pink and then yellow while emitted a low buzz.
"Okay, what's going on?"
Teresa moved more weight onto her feet and felt and instant surge of discomfort, almost pain through the arches of her feet. She'd already seen her ship's medical officer, and he'd identified it as plantar fasciitis, a painful inflammatory condition of the connective tissue on the sole of the foot. It was a problem she'd come across in the last year, and though not an issue, it did take a few seconds of stretching her muscles before she could relax her feet. Her body felt old, not that you could tell by looking at her. There were narrow lines on her face, but they were more from being woken in the middle of sleep than for any other reason. She was fit, perhaps fitter than at any other time in her life. Her muscles were taut, and her figure slight, yet strong.
I need more sleep.
The device on the wall flashed again, and she turned and tapped it. The unit flashed a final time and then expanded to the size of almost a meter in both height and width. It was an optical illusion, of course, but it took a few seconds for her mind to comprehend that simple fact; and then she saw the face of General Rivers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
"Major Morato, uh, perhaps you might get dressed?"
Teresa looked down, realizing she was completely naked in front of the screen. She might have blushed, but the expression on the General's face was one she'd seen before, and it was never good. Her thoughts scattered as she tried to imagine what terrible event had made him contact her. Teresa leaned over, grabbed her blouse, and pulled it over her head. Her long black hair tangled and ruffled, and she moved it into position. It didn't matter though; she just wanted to know what the General had to say.
"Have you heard the news?" he asked.
Spartan! It was her first thought, but she hated to hope. Instead, she shook her head.
"No, General, what's going on?"
He nodded quickly as though in a rush to go.
"I see. I heard just a few minutes ago. ANS Conqueror has been attacked by hostile forces."
"What?"
"It's true. Check your secpad."
Teresa jumped from the bed and grabbed the small electronic device from her jacket. Just a few swipes connected her to the military data feed and the public access information. It was all there before her, the ship, the damage, and the distress signals.
"How could this happen? We're on a mission of peace in Helios. Where was our fighter cover?"
General Rivers turned from the camera, and it took several seconds before he returned. Teresa used that brief moment to grab the rest of her clothes to start getting dressed. A loud bang at the door almost stopped her until she heard the voice.
"Teresa, it's Gun."
"Come in!" she called out, dropping back on the bed and pulling her dark color pants up to her waist. Gun ignored her partially clothed state. He'd seen her in more bizarre situations in the past and moved so that he could also be seen on the communication unit. Almost at the same time, General Rivers turned to look back at them.
"Commander, good to see you."
He then moved in closer so that his head enlarged. It was as if he wanted to share a secret between the three of them. Teresa almost jerked back as a reaction.
"You won't believe this, actually, maybe you will. Apparently, the Helions decided to keep valuable intelligence to themselves about their political situation."
"What?" Gun growled.
"Have you heard of the Zathee rebels?"
Gun and Teresa both looked surprised.
"I'll take that as no, then."
General Rivers looked over his shoulder before speaking again.
"There are three main ethnic groups and then another known as the Zathee. It seems they've been actively supporting a movement to overthrow their government."
Teresa nodded as if the news somehow made sense.
"So they are the attackers?"
General Rivers shrugged.
"Who knows? A year ago we'd never met a Helion, now we take their word for it. I'm sending a team to meet you. Get your marines ready, and follow them to the Ministry of Justice."
"Understood," said Teresa smartly.
She leaned out to switch off the screen when the realization of who was on the ship came to her.
"Jack," she whispered.
Rivers nodded.
"Yes, his unit is on board. They were conducting a security operation to protect the Ambassador's delegation aboard the ship. Now they're losing altitude. We immediately lost contact with them, and our ship higher in orbit confirms they will break the atmosphere in less than ten minutes. We need to be ready."
"For what?" Gun asked.
"They are coming down fast, and there is nowhere for a ship of her size to land. She's going to crash, and the casualties will be catastrophic. We need to look after our people and stop this turning against us. Be ready and watch your backs, trust no one."
With that, the image finally closed, and a series of emergency messages appeared one after the other on her secpad. Gun was already fully dressed, and this time he was carrying his modified L52 Mark II carbine. He reached down to his thigh and pulled on a hardened pouch. From within came a skeletal stock thermal shotgun that he tossed over to Teresa.
"You might need this."
She checked the ammunition status and cocked the weapon ready. Her boots were already on her feet, and all that remained was her long black overcoat. She grabbed it and lurched for the door.
"Get them all together. I smell a double-cross."
Gun grinned, an expression she'd seen so many times. Even so, having her old friend alongside once more filled her with confidence. There was nothing they couldn't do.
"If they want a fight, they've come to the right people."
 *
The massive warship shuddered once more as it dropped from its holding orbit and toward the planet. Emergency harnesses had activated throughout the CIC, and for those standing, a number of grab handles and straps were all that stood between them and a spinning journey throughout the ship. The Captain and his officers were all busy, and only the XO seemed to have any time for the marines.
"Get our guests to the dorsal evacuation deck," he said to Lieutenant Rossen.
Without hesitation, she acknowledged his order and marched to the door, grabbing another set of handles as the ship rocked. Jack watched her as she moved. He could see the fear on her face but also in the stiffness of her body language. Jack heard the Captain shouting orders, but most of it was too far away from him to understand. What he did spot though was the situation on the massive three-dimensional model. They were going down, and there were a number of other vessels nearby that seemed to be attacking them. The loud hailer system activated, instantly stopping Lieutenant Rossen in her tracks.
"This is the Captain. We're under attack by unknown Helion vessels. Primary engines have been disabled, and we're losing height. Prepare for emergency landing."
Lieutenant Rossen was out of the door and signaling for the rest of the armored marines to follow. Jack's squad didn't hesitate, and as quickly as they had arrived, they were back in the main passageway. The tiny Helion delegation awaited their arrival, and as soon as Wictred was out, the group moved back along the length of the ship. The Helions talked amongst themselves, apart from the two younger females at the rear of the group. As they moved at a fast walk, Jack approached them.
"Hey, what's going on?"
The one ignored him, but the other, the prettier of the two that had smiled at him upon their arrival, answered in almost perfect English.
"It must be the rebels. I
I don't know why
"
Hunn heard her words and reached to grab her, but she nimbly avoided his reach and continued walking. He tried again, but Jack grabbed his fist and shook his head.
"Hunn, they're our guests."
"Yeah?" he argued indignantly, "Then why are we about to hit the ground?"
Jack tipped his head sideways slightly as he considered his friend's words.
"You have a point."
The small group followed the floor lighting up a raised ramp to the next level. Lieutenant Rossen led them from the front with four marines, and Jack's group of four covering the rear. From his position so far back, Jack couldn't tell if it was brave leadership or simply her desperation to escape the danger. Either way, they were making fast progress. They moved into an oval shaped chamber around which a dozen small circular doorways extended outward. The Lieutenant stopped and loomed back at them all.
"This is the dorsal evacuation deck. We will use it to escape, if we are able."
Jack noticed the Helions were moving nervously, perhaps now realizing what danger they were in; all of them, apart from the Ambassador at any rate.
"What?" asked one of the Helions. It was the unfriendly girl that kept ignoring him.
"The Lieutenant is correct," added Jack before the exasperated Lieutenant could speak.
Jack moved closer, leaving one hand on the wall for grip.
"The trouble is, ships of this design are not supposed to spend time in the atmosphere. They are deep space ships. If we crash through the atmosphere, there will be no safe way to escape."
He looked at them, a serious expression forming on his tightening forehead.
"We'll have to ride it out all the way down."
The Helions became agitated at this news as if they suspected they were being lied to. One of the older members of the group even turned back to return to the core of the ship but was blocked by Wictred. The massive form of the Jötnar demanded both fear and respect from the diminutive Helions. Thai Qiu-Li could see what was happening and stepped nearer to them to help.
"They are right. If we eject during descent, the escape pods will burn up. We need to wait until we have decelerated enough to escape safely, or we can just wait till we land. We have to be patient."
She nodded furiously as she spoke, doing her best to be understood. At the same time, Lieutenant Rossen activated one of the wall displays so they could see what was happening outside. A wide image appeared on the wall like a slit window, showing a view from the lower rear of the ship. They each watched in stunned silence as a dozen vessels from the size of small fighters up to heavy transports tried to move out of the way. Another group of vessels, this time much smaller were in a scattered formation and releasing volleys of fire into the rear of the vessel. There were black stripes on the wings of the craft.
"Who are they?" snapped Jack.
Again none of the Helions responded other than the young female. She examined the video feed closely.
"If this information is correct, then those are troops transports of the Helion military. I've seen them used before. They are very common."
She hesitated before adding, "The markings are those of the Zathee rebels. Strange, how would they get access to this kind of equipment?"
Wictred coughed at the news.
"Who, in all of hell are the Zathee, and why attack us?"
The young Helion shook her head.
"I do not know. Perhaps they feel you are here to help us eradicate their last bands of warriors. You do seem to have more warriors than all of the five Powers combined."
"Five? I thought with the T'Kari there were six?" asked Thai Qiu-Li.
One of the older Helions finally spoke.
"The T'Kari are a broken people. There is a reason we left them."
Even Jack was surprised at the outburst, and also the revelation that the Helions had so little respect remaining for their allies and brothers. Hunn and Wictred looked even angrier at the news. Wictred moved to the Helion and sniffed him before looking to his comrade, Hunn.
"So, this is the worth of Helion friendship. When you are down, they abandon you."
He turned and positioned his face just an arm's length from the Helion's unflinching face.
"I'll remember that when the time comes."
The warship shuddered once more, rattling and shaking along its entire length. The external feed had now shifted from one of dark space to that of fire and smoke as the mighty vessel dropped through the atmosphere. Their speed and the friction with the thin air covered the ship in flames as if they were descending to the core of a fiery planet like Prometheus.
"I don't get it. Why have we dropped out of orbit so quickly?" asked Lieutenant Rossen. It appeared the question was rhetorical. Once again the voice of the XO blasted through the ship.
"This is the XO. Hostile forces are waiting in the lower atmosphere; this is a well-planned ambush by Helion forces. Gun crews to your stations. Abort evacuation procedures, and move into emergency descent secure locations. We're going down. XO out."
"No way, you're kidding me!" laughed one of the other marines in an almost hysterical tone.
"Cut it out!" snapped Hunn.
The warrior was in no mood to listen to whining and ill discipline of frightened marines. Jack ignored them and pulled his personal secpad from his utility belt. After bypassing the locked security screen, he moved to the internal plan of the ship. It wasn't complete and only showed him the emergency locations and those necessary for a marine to know when on duty. A few taps, and he'd accessed the three routes to safety. Lifting the device, he showed it to the Lieutenant. At the same time, the ship shuddered as it deployed its descent vanes and activated retro engines. One of the Helions staggered and lifted up only to crash into the wall. The rest managed to hold on as their speed dropped substantially.
"Look!" said Thai Qiu-Li.
The young woman pointed at the screen showing the external feeds. Gone were space and the burning streaks of flame from their descent, only to be replaced with the vast and detailed vista of the bustling surface of Helion.
"The Captain thinks he can land in the middle of this?"
The ship shook, but this time it was a heavy jolt as if being struck by something metal. Jack tapped the screen, and the image changed to the view from their left. A vessel about the size of a small cargo ship had moved alongside them and was firing into their hull. Jack shook his head angrily.
"Great, so if we eject now, we'll be shot down."
In answer to his question, a great stream of projectiles from the point-defense turrets opened fire in a devastating cloud of projectiles. Thousands of tiny but incredibly dense rounds ripped the vessel apart until it arced away wreathed in flames. Lifepods ejected from it as its crew tried to save themselves.
"Yeah, more like it," said Wictred with a grin.
The ship twisted and rolled but not before sending a final blast, striking ANS Conqueror with such force that Jack and Lieutenant Rossen were thrown to the wall. The internal lights on the lifepods flashed with safety warnings, settling back down to green.
Lieutenant Rossen pointed at the screen and called over to the Ambassador.
"Ambassador, what's going to happen? Where can we land safely?"
The Helions said nothing and stood there, speaking just among themselves. This time Wictred grabbed the most senior of the group and dragged him to the Lieutenant. She looked like she might reprimand him but decided against it, for now at the very least.
"Answer my question," she said in a slow but firm voice.
"You will crash and probably kill thousands."
Wictred placed his large fingers around his throat and squeezed just a little.
"Wrong answer. Where can we land?"
The Helion coughed and groaned. It took Jack to finally get something out of the alien leader.
"Just tell us the least populated area."
He pointed off to the right on the screen at an area covered in thick fog.
"Under here is the nearest Zathee district. It is only two levels high in most places."
Jack was sure he could detect disdain in the man's tone.
"Zathee. Aren't they the ones you said were attacking us?" asked Jack, this time directing his question at the young female Helion. The Ambassador threw her a stern glance before she could reply.
Lieutenant Rossen had heard enough and nodded to Thai Qiu-Li.
"It will do. Get me the XO, and fast!"
Thai Qiu-Li worked quickly and connected in seconds. The image of the man appeared to the left of the video feeds coming from outside the ship.
"Good, you're still there. Why aren't you heading for the emergency areas?"
Before the Lieutenant could answer, Jack had already moved in front of the screen.
"Sir, the Helions have intel on the best landing place."
The XO looked surprised.
"Landing? We aren't landing, son. This is a controlled crash."
Jack nodded firmly, but Lieutenant Rossen pulled him to the side to speak.
"Sir, this area is over forty stories in height, and the casualties will be catastrophic."
"So? Maybe they should have thought of that before they hit us."
From the observation ports built into the lifepods around them, a streak of orange tore past the outside of the ship. A shredded lifepod vanished off into space, either torn apart by enemy fire, or more likely by the fact they were descending into the atmosphere. The young Lieutenant wiped her face and shook her head.
"No, apparently, these are not Helion ships. They are rebels. The Ambassador has a safer location here. It is far less populated."
She tapped the communication unit to pass on the location. The XO looked at it but appeared unimpressed. He was able to give only a percentage of his time to the conversation as he had a dozen other things to do right then.
"Put him on, now!" he snapped, taking Rossen and the other marines by surprise. She turned and indicated towards their guests.
"You!" she growled, the venom clear for all to hear.
Hunn pushed the Helion from behind and toward the screen.
"Is this true?" demanded the XO.
The Helion Ambassador nodded, saying nothing. The XO watched his movement with annoyance, and then walked away for a few seconds. The Ambassador tried to move back but was blocked by Jack.
"No, you stay there," he said with a wry smile.
The XO returned, his left hand rubbing his chin as he thought about what he'd heard.
"Right, we're targeting this new area. Lieutenant, keep our guests safe."
He turned to leave them but looked back, staring directly at the Ambassador.
"We have things to discuss when we land. This crash is going to cause a lot of damage, and we will hold those accountable."
The image turned black, and once again the marines and their Helion visitors were on their own.
"Any of you been in a planetary forced landing before?"
Wictred, Hunn, and Jack all laughed at the question.
"You name it, we've crashed in it."
The ship started to shudder uncomfortably, and a howling sound rushed up from deep inside its cavernous interior. A pair of navy enlisted men ran into the oval room with looks of sheer terror on their faces. Both ignored the rest and went directly for the escape pod hatches. The marines blocked their path while the five Helions simply stood and watched.
"Hey, wait your turn," said Hunn.
The look of fear turned to one of anger on the taller of the two men. He wore a blood stained tunic, and a tear the size of his hand showed just below his neck. Dirt and oil ran down his left arm, and a number of small cuts dripped blood from his chin.
"I'm not staying on this ship to die!"
Hunn blocked his path, and as soon as he stepped closer was greeted with a punch from his oversized fist. The crewman staggered back before straightening himself. The man reached down to his belt and pulled out a navy issue sidearm. Lieutenant Rossen saw this as the final straw, and with speed that took them all by surprise, she lurched forward and delivered a powerful snap kick that struck the man in the chin. Without so much as a sound, he dropped to the ground and slid back two meters. The second of the crewmen came to his senses and stopped trying to reach the pods. Instead, he waited next to his comrade, saying nothing that might encourage another violent response from the marines.
"What happened to you?" asked Lieutenant Rossen.
"The engine room was hit. The whole compartment was blasted out. Only two of us made it out before the bulkheads sheared.
Rossen took a long, deep breath.
"Well, you'd better stay with us; we'll be on the ground soon."
The man nodded and seemed to be calming down. What none of them could tell though was whether it was because he felt safe with them, or was it simply that he was now resigned to his fate? Either way, the great ship, the largest and most powerful universal warship in the fleet, was falling like a meteor toward the surface of the planet of Helios. A dull thud shook the floor, and a blast of air gushed in from three broken seals before the internal units could patch them with vaporized resin.
"That isn't good," said Hunn, his arm outstretched.
Jack followed his arm until he spotted the warning light on the life pod. It was flickering green and then finally showed red. One by one, the others followed until just a single door remained with the green light still showing. It flashed once and then stabilized. Jack approached the remaining sealed door and checked the panel.
"Well?" asked Lieutenant Rossen.
Jack looked back at her and shook his head.
"They are all showing as faulty. They must have been damaged by that ship in the attack, and only this last one is showing as fully functional."
"And it takes only two crew?"
Jack nodded.
On the wide ribbon-line display they watched their own descent via external camera feeds. Every few seconds, a swarm of small shapes would detach and vanish into the sky as more lifepods and lifepods left the ship. The image of the XO appeared completely unannounced.
"The Chief says you've sustained damaged in the evacuation deck. Casualties?"
Lieutenant Rossen stiffened at the sight of the senior officer.
"No, sir. We were just about to leave, but all the pods are damaged, except one."
He nodded as he listed.
"Look, we're down to a skeleton crew of just fifteen. Automated systems are running the rest. You can try and reach the next level down, or ride the crash out like us."
He moved closer to the screen.
"And protect the Ambassador and his assistant
at all costs!"
The image vanished and was replaced by the external feeds and the rapidly approaching ground. Lieutenant Rossen turned around and faced her small group of marines.
"Well, you heard the XO. Ride it out, or go for the next level down."
The ship shook as though hit by a heavy object, but this time all of them were carefully braced. Wictred started to laugh at their predicament, much to the amusement of Jack and Hunn. The Helions watched them aghast, unable to fathom what could be amusing them.
"LT, there is no chance we'll reach the next level down. We are on the top of this ship, the safest place," said Jack.
The young officer nodded at him but said nothing. None of the others argued and simply checked around them for the safest place. The crewman with the bloodied nose staggered over to the right of the deck and slammed his fist down onto a panel. A board with several buttons popped out which he then tapped. Small metal rods flicked out like spikes around the deck, along with mag-seals and straps.
"For rough landings," he said with a grim smile.
Lieutenant Rossen smiled for the first time in what felt an eternity.
"Good, everybody strap in."
They moved to the small metal devices and pulled the straps out and round their bodies. The harnesses were simple but should be enough to keep them from being hurt in the landing. Jack lowered himself onto the crude seat and pulled the straps around his chest. He looked at the interior of the compartment as it shook and shuddered.
She'd better hold together.
He then looked over to his three comrades, and the look between them said it all. Jack closed his eyes and slowed his breathing to calm down.
This is going to hurt.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Alliance survived the generation of strife that followed the Great Uprising and on until the present day. Those early years were marked by minor insurrections and even the violent coup instigated by the corporations. Many worlds united by a love of peace and commerce and a mutual hatred of the violence of the past. Even the fires of the Apocalypse to come could not break the will of the Alliance.
The Unforeseen Consequences
Teresa and Gun stormed inside the Ministry of Justice building to find General Rivers, as well as another dozen marines watching a massive circular display. It showed an orbital view of a Helion satellite that was tracking ANS Conqueror. Though they were all armed, not a single one of the Alliance personnel looked in the slightest aggressive. All but two focused their eyes on the unfolding disaster.
"General," Teresa called out, moving to the middle of the room.
The old man turned his head and grimaced as he saw her and Gun.
"This isn't good, look."
He pointed to the screen. The shape of the ship was almost impossible to make out, due to the haze, smoke, and flames engulfing it.
"We have been unable to contact her. Something or someone is interfering with our signals."
"Yeah, amazing how that always happens, isn't it?" she answered.
Gun looked about, noting the number of Alliance and also Helion officials present.
"Who are these rebels, and why are they attacking us?"
A figure approached, nodded to General Rivers, and looked to Teresa and Gun. It was a male Helion, almost as tall as the General and wearing a long black coat. The collar was raised around the neck, merely emphasizing the pale face.
"I am Vigilis, Watchman of the City of Helios. I will coordinate the rescue of your people."
Teresa looked confused.
"City?"
"Yes, it is the name we give to the urban layers of our world. Our entire planet is one urban site. Is it not the same on your worlds?"
Teresa didn't seem impressed with this, however.
"Forget that, how is our ship?"
Vigilis nodded in agreement and turned to face the massive screen. He gestured at the unit with his arms, and the displayed altered to show a more zoomed in view. At this range, the feed started to jump, and the quality of the video dropped off considerably. Even so, it did show the rapidly moving object.
"We are tracking your ship. It appears they have changed direction from our designated landing zones. Do you know why that is?"
General Rivers heard the question and intervened before Teresa could answer.
"How the hell would they know? All we know is our ship was attacked, and they are heading low and fast into that area of your city. Would they even be able to land in those areas you suggested?"
Vigilis said nothing in reply. Teresa was already pointing at the vast dark area off to the right. Unlike the rest of the city, it was shrouded to the level that only a few spires could be seen and looked very different to any other parts of the planet any of them had seen so far.
"What the hell is that?"
Vigilis seemed unwilling to reply, but Teresa repeated the question, and Gun tensed the muscles in his arms, expecting trouble.
"That is the Zathee district, one of the less
"
Of all of them, Gun seemed to be the one with the least patience. He grimaced as he spoke.
"Less what?"
"Well, the Zathee district is the least well established on our world. The population is much smaller as it has only a few levels."
A bright flash almost made it look like the ship had exploded, but it was no more than a visual artifact from the great distance being tracked. The shape of the burned and damaged ship had now moved well away from the tall spires of the massive city and to vanish into the fog laden skies of the targeted landing site. A great black trail followed the damaged warship, and streaks of flame continued to burn along her flanks.
"What are they?" asked Teresa.
"Yes, they are three of our rescue craft. They will follow at a safe distance and provide immediate visual feedback and assessment of the…er…landing."
General Rivers indicated for Gun and Teresa to approach. They moved a short distance from Vigilis before he spoke.
"All of this sounds like bull to me. I've received intel from the T'Kari. They say the Zathee are the largest ethnic group here and are heavily discriminated against."
The Helion official made to speak, but General Rivers continued.
"The information I have says you used these people as foot soldiers in the last war with the Biomechs. They died by the million, and now they are in revolt. Do you think it might have been helpful to let us know this before we brought in a ship so close to your world?"
"Why would they attack us?" asked Gun.
Rivers nodded firmly.
"Good question, and right now, I don't trust a single one of them."
Another flash from the ship was the last sight they had as it completely vanished into the fog. The three rescue craft stayed well away and were now all that remained of the falling ship. Vigilis said something, and the displayed flickered as a red overlay appeared. He turned and started to speak, but Rivers stopped him.
"Yes, I know, thermal imaging; we have the same."
Vigilis lowered his head politely and turned back to the large screen. The thermal overlay showed the outline of ANS Conqueror as it dropped further and further.
"What about the citizens there? Have you evacuated?" asked Teresa.
Vigilis shook his head.
"No, we do not have the time or the ability to reach those in the Zathee district. They will have to manage, as they always do."
Teresa looked at him suspiciously. Although the alien's accent was thick, she was convinced she could detect a degree of scorn in his tone. She knew almost nothing of the political situation on Helios, but it was clear the Zathee were considered an underclass even though they were the most numerous.
No matter how advanced they are; there always seems to be an oppressed group at the bottom.
Teresa might have even felt a degree of sympathy toward them if it wasn't for the ship falling to the surface. It reminded her of the many ships that had crashed down to the surface of Terra Nova during the battle for that world at the end of the Uprising. She'd been a prisoner back then, but she had seen the many vessels hurtling down from space to disgorge their hordes of warriors. Gun and Spartan had landed this way, and the last bloody battle had marked the start of the Alliance.
Spartan, Teresa shook her head as she thought of her husband, how in the Gods are we going to find you when these idiots are as likely to kill us as the Biomechs?
Her heart felt heavy, but yet another flash from the descending ship turned her attention back to the imminent crash. General Rivers must have received important information because he looked up from his secpad and nodded slowly.
"They have leveled off and are decelerating. They have a good chance."
The ship finally made contact with the ground, in what must have been a horrific crash landing. In part, Teresa was glad the thermal imaging showed little detail, for the crash would have been terrible to see. She was well aware that Jack was on board, and the thought of him being hurt or even killed was more than she could bear. Incredibly, the ship appeared to have remained in one piece as it ripped through metal, masonry, and probably people. Teresa estimated it must have hit the ground at something close to three hundred kilometres an hour. Any other craft would have been destroyed, but the Conqueror class was something special. The wreckage covered a long distance on the ground, leaving a trail of burning destruction behind it as it smashed through raised levels, buildings, and other structures; finally coming to rest.
"Right, let's go," Teresa announced in a firm voice.
Gun and General Rivers nodded in agreement but were stopped by a pair of uniformed Helion guards. They were dressed in a similar fashion to Vigilis, but their long faded yellow cloaks marked them out as some form of security unit. Both men wore helmets but no other obvious armor.
"No, I am sorry, but this is an internal matter. I cannot allow foreign soldiers access to our districts."
General Rivers looked livid at his comments.
"No foreign soldiers? You are aware that a warship with over a thousand crew and hundreds of my marines has just been brought down. Wars have started over less."
Vigilis actually seemed to pay attention to this last part.
"In our past, the betrayal and destruction of a warship has started conflicts that have killed thousands. Do you think we would treat you any differently?"
Vigilis looked at him and then to Gun who stood with a look of bemused interest.
"Of course you are welcome to monitor and provide assistance. I merely wanted to remind you that we cannot allow further warships into the area. After all, we need to locate and eliminate these terrorists before they can cause more harm to either of our peoples."
Yeah, why do I think he's not so bothered about these Zathee? Teresa thought bitterly.
She'd seen the crash footage, and it was clear that a large number of innocents would have died in the impact. Rivers took in a deep breath, a sign Teresa instantly recognized. She braced herself for what was coming.
"If I want ships in the area, I will have them. If you even think of interfering, I will report to the Alliance that you are actively assisting in this plot."
Vigilis shook his head furiously.
"No, no, we are happy for your observers."
Rivers cooled in an instant, a skill Teresa wished she could apply herself.
"Gun, you will prepare our marines for rescue and recovery operations."
He then looked back at Vigilis.
"In the meantime, we need a representative to go along, to assist, and to observe. We can then direct our own recovery operations."
Vigilis made to protest, so Rivers added one last clause.
"Just as you have been doing aboard our ships."
Vigilis looked unimpressed and opened his mouth to speak. Gun, however, had straightened his back and looked directly into the Helion's eyes. He had said nothing, but the intent was clear; compared to the giant, the Helion guards looked like unarmed children.
"Very well, one of you may come along. The rest of you are welcome to stay here, or my guards will escort you back to the capital where you can make preparations to recover your ship."
"And our people," Gun added.
With that, Vigilis turned from them and marched back inside the building. Rivers moved after him, but Gun grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"General, what are you doing?"
He grinned in reply, "You know what, observing. I need to see first hand what's going on."
"Gun's right," said Teresa, "You need to stand back to manage this situation. There's something going on around here, and it isn't good. Let me go instead. You and Gun can monitor what is happening here and get our forces ready."
She then leaned in close.
"Just make sure you have a platoon on standby and ready to assist. A platoon of marines, not a recovery team."
She pulled down to her belt and withdrew her military issue secpad as well as a small metal cylinder.
"I will stay in touch."
Then she was gone, without even waiting for the agreement from Gun or the General. She reached Vigilis as he exited through a pair of small black doors at the rear of the cavernous room. Gun looked back at Rivers after she had gone and noticed the metal cylinder was now in the General's palm.
"What's that?"
Rivers grimaced slightly as he looked at it.
"Teresa's emergency tracker."
Gun smiled at his explanation.
"Smart woman, no wonder Spartan likes her."
General Rivers looked back to the large screen that showed the crashed ship. A large number of fires burned nearby, but it was then he noticed the number of tall structures littering the crash site. From the satellite view their height hadn't been clear, but as the device moved further and further from the scene, the angle changed to give a better idea of the height. Gun shook his head in irritation.
"Yeah, and I thought he said this area was only two stories high. Do these people have anything to say that is true?"
Rivers sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Gun watched him, remembering the many battles he'd been involved in over the last two decades where they had stood shoulder to shoulder. But was different. They were on foreign soil with few warriors and even fewer friends.
"I'll leave a fireteam with you for security. The rest I'll take back to our holding area near the landing pads."
Rivers was still tense but clearly seemed to like the sound of that.
"Good, but don't make it too obvious. Get cutting gear and medical kits in position. Make sure you have combat teams ready to go, just don't look too ready."
Gun laughed and performed the sloppiest and most over the top salute the General thought he'd ever seen.
"Sir!"
Gun left, and the rest of the Alliance military personnel went with him. Only a single fireteam of four marines stayed behind at a discrete distance from the General. They all wore ceremonial uniforms and carried L52 Mark II carbines across their chests in three-point slings. General Rivers flanked them, and quickly spotted the dozens of Helion security personnel busy going about their business. They might have been busy but all of them seem intrigued and a little uncomfortable at the sight of both him and his marines.
Tough, they can deal with it, he thought.
He looked back at the display and then pulled out his secpad. Every marine carried one, and it provided him with a powerful tool to communicate with those on the ground, as well as the small number of ships in orbit. He just hoped he could reach one of their cruisers still up there. A schematic of the vessels nearby showed two cruisers in high orbit, and both were able to accept secure communication. He selected the nearest, ANS Savage, Teresa's own ship.
We need to get ready.
As he waited for the connection to verify, he watched the Helions, and for the first time started to wonder what it would be like if he and his Alliance forces were forced into battle with them, face to face. He knew the Alliance was massively outnumbered, and there was no way they could hope to win in a stand up fight unless they brought the full weight of the entire Alliance military to bear. Even so, the Helions looked weak and soft.
If it comes to war, we'll show them something they haven't seen since their fight with the Biomechs.
 *
The crash site was more like the after-effect of a meteorite impact. A scar almost twenty meters deep ran behind the ship and through scores of buildings. Two massive concrete towers had been torn in half, and hundreds of other buildings lay in ruin. From the ground level, the brown fog appeared much thinner, but the fires and smoke caused by the crash had once more reduced visibility to less than a hundred meters. Emergency airlocks had opened at key points through the ship, as well as throughout the evacuation decks on the dorsal level along the spine on the vessel. From one of the small doors emerged the coughing shape of Jack Morato, closely followed by his three marine comrades, five Helion guests, and the two crewmen that joined them just prior to the crash.
"This is insane!" said Thai Qiu-Li as she climbed out onto the surface of the ship.
Hunn moved through the door and stopped, bending down to touch the metal plating on the exterior of the powerful warship.
"Can you feel the heat? Is she burning inside?"
The form of Lieutenant Rossen emerged, the last to leave the evacuation deck where they had been waiting. She heard Hunn's question and moved on past him and to the others along the curved upper level.
"No, the heat is from the re-entry. Look at her. I'd say she survived the landing pretty well."
Wictred laughed at her words.
"Landing! What would you call a crash?"
The Ambassador moved along the side of the ship, examining the burn marks and damage. Some of it must have been from the descent, but there were other areas that showed obvious impacts and weapon damage. He stopped at one the worst and reached out to touch the fused material. Jack spotted him and grabbed his hand before he could touch it.
"Are you serious? You'll burn your hand off touching that."
The smoke and dust started to clear a little more, and they could now see large groups of Alliance personnel leaving from scores of exit points. The ship was clearly in a bad way but was still intact. Emergency vents dumped excess gases and heat from ruptured internal sections, and yet there was still power to large parts of her hull. Jack watched in surprise as the descent vanes withdrew back into the hull just a short distance from where they stood. The group continued their downward progress along the curved hull and to one of the large ribs that ran out and touched the ground. Along three sides were grab rails, designed for use in zero-g situations. Shapes in the dust and fog moved about, but from that distance it was hard to tell who they might be.
"Lieutenant Rossen, are there evacuation craft on the way?"
She pulled out her datapad to find the communication section showing as blank.
"Weird."
She shook the device and then tossed it to Thai Qiu-Li.
"What do you make of that?"
Thai Qiu-Li examined the screen and made several adjustments before throwing it back. She withdrew her own unit and shook her head in surprise.
"Nothing, Sir. The secpads are working, but something is nullifying the signal completely. There's nothing, not even static."
The two extra crewmen started to push to the front of the group. One of them bumped into Thai Qiu-Li, almost sending her off the ribbed section and out into the fog.
"Hey! Watch yourself," growled Wictred, his patience now started to wane.
The man Lieutenant Rossen had kicked seemed to have forgotten their little disagreement and instead continued onward. Hunn grabbed his arm, and in a flash, the marine was trying to duck under him to push on. Hunn struck him with the back of his forearm, and the man instantly lost his grip. Luckily for him, Wictred grabbed the falling marine just as he slipped off the side of the rib.
"You heard him the first time. Now wait your turn, or take the express route."
He looked over the edge and toward the ground that was still covered with a layer of dust filled fog.
"Okay, okay. I just don't wanna…"
"Cut it out!" barked Lieutenant Rossen, "We'll all get off this ship, now keep moving."
The group moved on as before, and with each passing second, the fog cleared until finally the shape of a large group of scruffily dressed people could be seen. From this distance, they could easily have been survivors, but they were all coming from the fog itself, not the ship.
"Who are they?" asked Jack.
The Ambassador nodded to Jack, doing nothing but confuse him and then walked closer to Lieutenant Rossen. He reached out to touch her arm. The other Helions watched him expectantly as he started to speak, though not one of them stopped.
"This is not as it seems."
Rossen looked at him and rubbed at a spec of dust that had just blown into her eye.
"What do you mean?"
"The damage to your ship. It was not caused by the Zathee rebels."
At the same time, he turned and pointed to the rear of the ship.
"It was by mining missiles. You can see the screw pattern on the hull."
"So?"
The Ambassador sighed at having to explain.
"These weapons are only found on Helion vessels. Whatever attacked you was not a weapon of the Zathee."
"How do you know that?"
The Ambassador now looked uncomfortable. His facial muscles seemed to move in ways that would have been impossible for a human. The cheekbones almost vanished before he composed himself and replied.
"I cannot say. All I can tell you is that the Zathee resistance have access
to other equipment."
Lieutenant Rossen stopped and looked at him carefully.
"Are you saying what I think you are?"
The alien's expressions were not always easy to comprehend, but he was evidently nervous. Even so, none of the marines appeared particular concerned as they reached the next level down from the ship. Wictred spotted the flickers of light first, but even his reactions were not enough for him to save the life of the Ambassador. The sound of gunfire came, but only after the Ambassador and all but two of his entourage were killed. The shooting stopped as soon as it had started. Jack rushed to the fallen Helion while the other marines moved to any cover they couldn't find on the outer structure of the ship. Unlike the burst of initial fire, the continuing fire was far more sporadic and simply forced them to keep their heads down.
"Return fire!" called out Lieutenant Rossen.
Two round struck the Lieutenant directly in the chest. She staggered back and was pulled out of the line of fire. Jack leaned over her, pulling her tunic away to find the multi-layered armor had done its job.
"Sir, you have my father's company to thank for the armor improvements!"
She smirked at his comment, pulling on him to lift herself up into a crouched position. The marines were not fully armored as they were wearing their dress uniforms for purposes of the important visit. Each did have the smaller regulation breastplate and shoulder armor more commonly used by scouting units and Special Forces. Their dark clothing hung over the plating like a medieval tabard and hid most of the armor. Short, highly accurate bursts tore down from their high position, and as quickly as the attackers had arrived, they were gone. Lieutenant Rossen stepped up, keeping close to the metal ribbed section of the ship.
"Everybody to the surface, now!"
"Sir, the bodies?"
She looked back at the shattered bodies of the Helions and the one Alliance crewman who must have been caught in the crossfire. The blood stains on their torsos and their grotesque positions told her all she needed. Even so, Thai Qiu-Li checked each of them before leaving. Just the young female Helion was breathing, but she was wounded in the arm. Thai Qiu-Li pulled an emergency sealant bandage from Jack's backpack. They all carried the small unit fitted to the back plate of the marine armor. As well as additional communications gear, they included auxiliary power and a basic medical pack. She pulled it tight, and the young woman groaned with the pain. Fresh red blood dripped down and onto Thai Qiu-Li's arm. For a second she jumped, but her training kicked in, and she ignored it and quickly finished her job.
"Okay, she's clear for now."
She threw a final glance at the bodies, "The rest are down, Sir."
"We should hide back inside the ship. There could be more of them!" cried the now terrified crewman. Unlike his more boisterous comrade who had succumbed to the gunfire, this man was evidently shaken up by the close ranged violence. Jack had seen it before, as had the others. While sympathetic, the Lieutenant was well aware of the dangers of letting this kind of panic continue. She grabbed him by the scruff of his bloodied overalls.
"Crewman, what's your name?"
"Uh
Midshipman Harvey O'Donnell," he muttered, his voice almost unintelligible.
She pulled him even closer.
"Midshipman O'Donnell, I've had enough of you. Now, get off your ass and follow us. There is only one way for us to go, and it's down!"
Hunn and Wictred stormed off ahead of the others, both keeping their carbines in the ready position. More fog started to drift back onto the ship, and they only saw the ground when they were just ten meters from reaching it. Hunn was first and moved to the body of one of the Helions that had opened fire. There were three more around him, and a single round had hit each. Wictred moved another five meters past him to give him cover.
"Let's see what we have," said Hunn, pulling the robe away from the fallen warrior's face. Beneath was the pale skin of the Helions and no discernible uniform or armor. On the floor next to the body was a short rifle of no more than a meter in length. He reached out to hold it, but as soon as his fingers touched the grip, the rib section turned red and burned his fingers. The device emitted a low level beep that continued every two seconds.
"What the!" he snapped in surprise.
"What is it?" asked Wictred.
Hunn shook his head in annoyance.
"Looks like they booby trapped their weapons."
Lieutenant Rossen was now there along with Jack, Thai Qiu-Li, and the wounded Helion female who immediately walked up to the weapon and pointed at it. Wictred stared at the gun as she spoke.
"That's not a rebel weapon," she stated firmly.
"What do you mean?" asked Jack, "Who are you, and what do you know?"
"Helion soldiers use those. I've seen them before."
Rossen and Thai Qiu-Li moved closer to examine the body. The sound caught Thai Qiu-Li's ears, and she turned to the Helion female.
"What's your name?"
"Salene."
Thai Qiu-Li looked back at the weapon.
"You say you know this weapon? Why couldn't the rebels have just stolen them?"
There was no time for her to answer as the sound from it had changed. Thai Qiu-Li stepped closer to it, but the young Helion woman stopped her.
"No, you mustn't."
"What is that noise?" asked Hunn as he approached it. Without waiting for an answer, he extended his foot and kicked it. The weapon tipped over, and the sound became even clearer, increasing in tone though not volume.
"Uh, is it me, or does that sound bad?" he said like a guilty child.
"Bad?" asked Jack.
The words had already left his mouth before he realized what he was saying.
It's another God dammed trap! He jumped up and turned his head to his comrades.
"It's gonna explode, move!"
All six of them ran with just Salene standing right next to the body. Jack surged past her and grabbed her about the waist. Her light weight made it easy for him to keep going without having to brace himself. He made it almost ten meters when the weapon exploded. The blast was a high-pitched scream that sent a super-hot wave of energy in all directions. He was blasted to the ground, along with the rest of his comrades, apart from Wictred who somehow took the blast and stayed on his feet.
This is insanity!
Jack was on his back and shaking his head when he realized Salene had been knocked right on top of him. He was about to speak, but Thai Qiu-Li beat him to it and extended an arm to help her up.
"That didn't take you long, did it?" she said with surprising bitterness to her tone.
"Hey, this time it wasn't me!" he replied with feigned hurt.
Jack then pushed himself from the ground, wiping the dirt from his face. If he'd been wearing his full PDS armor, none of this would have mattered. As it was, part of his dark gray tunic was burned, and he noticed black marks on Hunn and Lieutenant Rossen.
"Everybody okay?" asked the Lieutenant.
"Yeah, no problems here," said Jack.
Hunn and Wictred seemed completely unfazed by the entire thing and just nodded.
"No problem here, apart from being shot at," said Thai Qiu-Li sarcastically.
"Wait, where is the crewman?" asked Lieutenant Rossen.
They each turned to try and find him, but there was no sign of him, just the shadows of more and more people clambering down from the crashed ship. This time it was Jack that spotted the tiny yellow lights in the distance. He jumped to the side in time to avoid another burst of gunfire. More rounds struck nearby, but they all took cover in the smashed masonry.
"This is Lieutenant Rossen, commander of 3rd Platoon, 2nd Company. We're under fire, can anybody read me?"
The marines all checked their zones of fire, looking for any more of the attackers while the Lieutenant tried to reach anybody else. She continued speaking, but the roar of a vessel above them drowned out the sound. Jack looked up and watched as the bird-like outline of a yellow ship moved down through the fog. It looked a similar size to an Alliance gunboat, but he didn't recognize the design. What he did spot though were the cupola mounts on the flanks of the craft. Pairs of long gray barrels moved until they pointed down directly at the marines.
"Go, go, go!" he screamed, and ran out from the cover.
Wictred grabbed Salene, and the small group jumped out as well, chasing Jack from the rubble and into the fog-covered street. In seconds, they were away from the wrecked city block and in a scruffy highway that seemed to be filled with abandoned land vehicles and trash. People wandered about aimlessly, and others watched from the low level buildings.
"There!" shouted Wictred.
He pointed his arm up high and toward the largest building in close proximity. It was nothing like the great towers and spires they had seen throughout Helios, but it must still have been six or seven stories high. Somebody leaned out of a small window and waved to them. A man's voice called out, but the words meant nothing to any of them, except Salene.
"He is a local worker, and he says to get inside quickly!"
None of the marines moved. They had been trained to make their own decisions, and at that moment, the word of either Salene or this stranger meant little to them. The sound of the Helion vessel became louder, which only served to make the man shout even more. The door on the ground floor opened, and a pair of Helions with fabric wrapped around their faces stepped out. Both were armed with short firearms of a type none of the marines had ever seen. Jack and Wictred immediately lifted their carbines, but Salene stepped out in front of them and raised her pale hands.
"No, they are Zathee. They will not
"
A streak of smoke whistled past and struck the building a few meters from the structure. One of the Zathee rebels disintegrated from the explosion, and the second was knocked back inside the doorway.
"Well, they want to kill them as much as us!" laughed Wictred.
"Get inside and keep your heads down!" shouted Lieutenant Rossen.
CHAPTER EIGHT
General Shears is a figure shrouded in controversy, due to his conduct in the Great Uprising. His antagonism towards Confederate forces over local troops was one of the reasons so many systems fell into enemy hands. As the commander of ground forces, he was responsible for the massive and bloody battles that raged for months. It was in these battles on Proxima Prime where the enemy troops were finally broken and routed. Though capable of rallying the shattered remnants of the Confederate army, it was the assistance of the Marine Corps that made victory possible. New Carlos was saved but at great cost to both him and its people.
Heroes of the Great Uprising
Another Helion transport moved over the crash site and lowered itself a short distance away. The massive fans extending out from the vessel kicked up a great cloud of dust, providing the perfect cover for the cloak clad figures of Helion soldiers. Salene and the marines kept quiet as Jack watched from a crack in the broken wall of the building. The dark figures spread out with speed and efficiency, instantly betraying them as some form of military elite.
"That's the third aircraft now," he whispered.
Lieutenant Rossen started to move, but Jack shook his head. She stopped, and though frustrated, stayed low to the ground. The building they were sheltering inside was the first they had seen in any great detail in this part of the Helion city. Its surface was clad in something resembling obsidian; it was hard, smooth, and very tough. There were few decorations added anywhere and nothing on the walls or ceiling. What did make the place stand out as completely different to anything seen before was the vast amount of relief detailing on the walls themselves. Though only indenting by a centimeter at the most, they showed everything from animals and people through to cities, spaceships, and odd geometric designs.
"Yeah, they're definitely unfriendly looking," explained Jack.
The small group, including Salene, was halfway up the building and only a hundred or so meters from the crash site. They were close enough to be able to see part of the crashed ANS Conqueror, but not too close that they could be easily seen. They hoped so, anyway. Lieutenant Rossen pulled out her secpad once again but this time could not even get a connection to the scattered Alliance personnel around the site, let alone a direct link to the ships above, assuming they were still there.
"What about the soldiers?"
Jack watched into the distance, cursing to himself that he wasn't wearing his full combat PDS armor that he normally would. The visor and computer system he usually used contained visual modes, thermal imaging, and optical enhancers that would have been perfect right then. There were even basic parabolic microphone functions in the latest models. Now he had to rely on just his eyesight, and it wasn't easy.
"Why didn't they chase us, I thought they had found us?" asked Thai Qiu-Li.
Jack shook his head but stayed at his post. He was just as interested in the equipment being carried by these new figures, as he was in what they were doing.
"It makes sense. You saw that last volley of rockets they fired. They are shooting at anybody coming near the site. They must have assumed we were locals moving around this position."
As if in response to his question, the vessel took off and sent a blast of dust and fog around it. Jack was forced to pull away from the crack for the amount of dust that blasted inside. In seconds it calmed down, and he looked back to find the craft had vanished, to be replaced by a wheeled vehicle that mounted a number of large turrets.
"Oh great, that's just what we need."
One of the turrets at the rear swiveled and opened fire with a quadruple weapon mount of some kind. Streaks of yellow flashed between the guns and a building on the other side of the street. Part of the black obsidian type material cracked and crumbled, sliding down to crash into the street. A group of six cloaked figures threw a device inside. It instantly flashed and lit up an entire level before they entered the structure.
"They're going building to building," he said, looking back at the others.
"Why would the Zath…what are they called?" asked the Lieutenant.
"Zathee," explained Salene.
"Yes, why would the Zathee be looking for us?"
The young lieutenant checked her carbine and fidgeted with the safety as she contemplated their position. Being stuck inside a partially demolished tower, with nothing but lightly armed marines, was starting to unnerve her. Footsteps came from the next level down, and she immediately lifted her weapon, perhaps too quickly as Thai Qiu-Li moved to the right in case she was hit by accidental fire.
"I don't think it's them that are shooting. How would civilians have access to that kind of hardware?" Wictred said in a bored voice.
He nodded to Salene.
"What is happening then?" continued Lieutenant Rossen.
Wictred sighed before answering.
"I don't know. They are probably Helion security forces. They must be here to retrieve bodies and evidence before our ship is recovered."
"Yeah…" said Jack with obvious sarcasm, "Very nice of them. What I want to know is who is trying to kill us? These Zathee or your own security forces?"
Thai Qiu-Li wiped her brow.
"The shots that killed the Ambassador…they came from the ground, not far from that small lander."
Jack nodded.
"Yeah, but why shoot us?"
All of their eyes were suddenly on the young Salene. Before she had seemed quite calm, but with this much attention, her composure was starting to fail her. Her eyes were wide and her facial muscles taut, presumably from the stress. Wictred checked his carbine and then pointed his hand at her.
"Why kill the Ambassador? Who would want him dead? Do the Zathee want him dead?"
Salene stood up, for a second forgetting where they were, and marched over to Wictred. The warrior stood his ground, as the lithe but small female stood within a meter of him, and then struck his chest with her bare hands.
"He was trying to help the Zathee!"
Wictred took the strike while Hunn pulled her back. She wasn't able to hurt him, yet she continued to try.
"Help? How?"
Salene looked at the creature stood before her. The two couldn't have been more different. One was a small female Helion, the culmination of millennia of evolution. The second was a synthetic monster almost three times her height, strong, muscular, and built specifically for violence and war. Thai Qiu-Li grabbed her arm and turned her around to face her.
"Who are you?"
Salene's face changed again, but this time she looked angry rather than the confusion or worry they'd all seen previously. Jack watched them all with interest.
"Yeah, and how can you speak our language but these Zathee can't?"
"The Ambassador, he is
he was my father."
Thai Qiu-Li's expression softened slightly, but it didn't stop her questioning.
"You're not telling us something, are you? These soldiers are here because of your father. What did he do? What are they afraid of?"
A loud crack came from outside the building as if a rocket had struck something. A small volley of gunfire followed it, along with shouting and screaming. The sound dropped until it was back as before and was replaced by a small group of people rushing up the staircase. Hunn leaned over the edge, looking down at the figures heading up.
"Wait, I've got something," said Jack from his position at the side of the room.
"Yeah, we've got Zathee falling back this way too. What have you got?" asked Wictred.
The two Jötnar moved aside, as the group of Helions climbed past them and then moved on upward. They wore a mixture of dull colored clothes, and one held a small pistol sized weapon in his hand. The group gave only the briefest of glances as they passed by the doorframe and were gone. Jack looked at Wictred briefly and turned back to the crack in the wall to keep a close eye on what was happening outside.
"I can see the Captain and about a dozen of our Alliance crew; they must have just reached the ground."
Lieutenant Rossen stood up at this news, a look of relief forming on her brow. Her entire body language transformed at this piece of information.
"That's it then. We have our people on the ground and safe, and Helion reinforcements are here. We'll get this sorted out, and then find out what your Zathee friends have been up to."
Jack shook his head.
"No, that's not it at all. You saw the Helion transports when they came in. Their guns were tracking us. I don't trust them," he turned to look at Salene, "any of them."
The Lieutenant was having none of it. She walked to the stairwell and reached the first step when Jack called out to them in a quiet yet firm tone.
"Uh, guys. This doesn't look good. Stay down!"
Lieutenant Rossen took three more steps and then stopped.
"Well, what is it now?"
She was impatient, and although she had stopped, it wasn't enough to make her keep her head down.
"There are groups of new soldiers. These guys look like trouble."
Thai Qiu-Li crept over to him, pushing him so that he moved to give her a chance to look. Jack lifted his head slightly, so both could get a better view down below into the street and the crash site. It took a couple of seconds before she spotted them. The soldiers wore a dull orange with cloaks and covered heads. In their arms, they carried a mixture of mauls, shields, and short firearms. One of them wore plumes on his helm and was engaged in an argument with the Alliance captain. Thai Qiu-Li jumped back in horror, but Jack stayed where he was. As she sprawled out on the floor, a dozen dull thumps sounded out from where the soldiers had been standing.
"No!" she cried out.
Wictred and Hunn reacted instantly, taking cover in the stairwell with their carbines aimed down in case anybody approached. Jack looked back at them with a pained expression on his face.
"The bastards, they just shot them in cold blood."
"What? Who?" said Lieutenant Rossen, much louder than she intended.
Shouting forced him to look again through the crack, and to his horror, the commander of the new unit of soldiers was looking at their building and pointing. A dozen of the cloaked soldiers were already jogging away from their position and toward them. Jack lurched back, scrambling to grab his carbine.
"The soldiers
they killed our people. They're coming
NOW!"
He looked back at the crack and noticed a pair of Helions, not dissimilar to the ones that had just run past in the stairwell. One of the soldiers struck the closest, and without warning opened fire on the pair. Both were smashed to the ground by the impact.
"They are after her, and they'll kill us or anybody else that gets in the way!" he said angrily.
Thai Qiu-Li pulled out her pistol and placed it under Salene's throat. She looked scared but still said nothing.
"Either you talk, or we hand you over to them."
She sighed, took a long, deep breath, and looked intently into Thai Qiu-Li's eyes.
"They know my father is dead, but they don't know what he told you. The Animosh will not stop until all of us are dead, including me."
"And then?" asked Jack, nodding at the crack in the wall.
"Anybody getting in their way will suffer the same."
Wictred heard something and looked out through the doorframe and up to the next level. The staircase was wide and smooth, yet chunks had worn away and damage to the wall implied there had been some kind of violence at some point in the past. The ceiling mounted lights were all non-functioning, and most was shattered with tubes and cables hanging down and covered in dust. He waited for a few seconds and then looked back at them.
"Someone's coming."
"Get ready," said Lieutenant Rossen.
All five of the marines drew their weapons, training them on the open doorway. The Helion man that had encouraged them to come inside appeared. He yelled at Salene in his own tongue, waving his arms back in the direction he had arrived from. She said just one word and then reached out to Jack whose expression was a mixture of surprise and anger.
"He says to come to the top of this tower; we can cross to the next building. They are coming for us."
"And then what?" asked Lieutenant Rossen.
Wictred guffawed.
"Like it matters. If we stay, we'll be trapped. I like a good fight, but dying in this place isn't the way I plan on going out."
He stepped out further into the stairwell. From that position, he could see right down to the ground level. A number of dark shapes flashed by, along with the shouts and screams of locals.
"They on their way up," he said.
He leaned over the side and pointed his carbine down. One of them must have spotted movement because a burst of thermal energy ripped up through the stairwell and fused a section of the wall. Wictred ignored the shot and pulled a small proximity grenade from his thigh. All it took was a twist, and he dropped it down to them.
"What was that?" said the Lieutenant, but Wictred just gave her a wicked grin.
The blast was more muted than might have been expected, but it did send a cloud of dust up the stairwell and was followed by shouts and screams. Lieutenant Rossen looked at each of them, but no one needed to speak. They might all be experienced marines but not one of them was stupid. Waiting in that broken room would mean a bloody battle and almost certainly their deaths.
"I see," she finally said.
She didn't take much longer before she nodded at them.
"Good, let's do this," replied the Jötnar in an almost excited tone.
He took the first step out, and Hunn moved to follow him. In a matter of seconds, the entire group was with him. They moved up the wide steps two at a time, or in the case of Wictred and Hunn, three at a time. Jack moved last, continually checking behind him for signs of trouble. Salene was a few meters ahead and moved with surprising speed and agility. It took almost a minute to reach the highest level, but they burst out onto the flat rooftop in time to hear gunfire further down in the building. A number of blasts shook the foundations, but no damage seemed to have been caused. Once out of the door, they were greeted by a wide walkway that ran all around the square rooftop. In the center was another level, almost like a luxury penthouse that was faced with smoked glass. Most of it was cracked or shattered, and the interior was empty. Lieutenant Rossen ran up to Wictred who was trying to get some sense out of the Helion.
"What now?" she asked.
The Helion kept saying the same words over and over, but it took the arrival of Salene for it to make any sense. As she spoke with him, they were at last able to get a look at the man. Like all the Helions, he was far lighter built than humans. His skin was pale, his limbs thin, and yet there was something about his face, a harshness that was unlike any of the Helions they had seen so far.
"He says the Animosh are hunting us all for the killing of the Ambassador. His people will help."
Jack didn't like this at all.
"What are you talking about? They shot at us when the Ambassador was still alive."
Rossen looked at him with a confused look on her face.
"What are you saying?"
Jack nodded and turned his attention to Salene.
"The Ambassador was up to something, wasn't he?"
Salene looked as if she might speak, but the Helion man grabbed her and pointed out into the fog. He said just a few words. She nodded and glanced back to the weary looking marines.
"We don't have long. He can take us to the Zathee habitation block there."
She pointed out to her right at a series of structures that formed a pyramid out in the distance. It looked about twenty city blocks away and showed as nothing more than a silhouette at that distance. The thick fog obscured the highest parts, looking as though they'd vanished into the very sky itself.
"They'll never find us in there. Then we can get help and return you to your ship."
"And you?" asked Jack.
Salene's expression softened slightly.
"Just get to the block."
She looked at her Helion comrade and nodded. The man didn't wait for the others and ran around the top of the building, disappearing to the other side of the top-level structure. Salene ran with him, and soon she was gone.
"Well?" suggested Jack, "Maybe we should go?"
Wictred laughed and pushed away to give chase. Jack moved in behind him and rounded the corner in time to see the two Helions leap from the side of the building and down to the next structure. It was about four meters away and a level lower. Wictred didn't hesitate and ran to the edge, pushed down, and leapt. The Jötnar's muscles propelled him further than Jack could ever have managed, and he landed with a crash, vanishing through a partially damaged window.
Great, here goes nothing.
Jack sprang up to the ledge running along the side of the building and jumped out with as much power as he could manage. Then he was flying, or actually more like falling, as he flailed about. Unlike Wictred, he lacked the power and made it to the other side with just centimeters to spare. His impact was heavy, and it knocked the air out of his chest. He rolled over three times and stopped flat on his stomach. He spotted a shape to his right and looked for his weapon but saw Wictred's face. His friend smiled at his predicament, stooping down to help him up.
"Thanks."
They both looked back to see Hunn, Lieutenant Rossen, and Thai Qiu-Li all waiting on the building opposite them. Hunn evidently wanted to jump over, but the Lieutenant refused to take the chance.
"It's too far!" she shouted out, "I'll need to find another way."
Jack saw the look on Salene's face and heard the sound of ducted fans. His eyes followed hers until he found the three black objects moving from the right. Briefly, he thought his eyes were deceiving him.
"Bikes?" he said under his breath.
Salene continued to watch them, moving back a few steps and away from the ledge.
"They are the Riders of the Animosh. They are the hunters, and they do not take prisoners."
"Lieutenant!" he called out, pointing at the shapes.
The Riders were now taking form and they all, with the exception of the two Helions, watched on in surprise. The vehicles were small, not much larger than a motorcycle but with a flat ducted fan at the front and the rear. Jack focused on one of them and could see sitting between the fans the shape of a man dressed in dark orange armor and a black cloak fluttering behind him. The motorized pod slung underneath the craft instantly told Jack it wasn't friendly, and his automatic reaction was to raise his carbine. Luckily, it was still attached to its special sling. He lifted the stock to his shoulder, flicking the trigger mode to full power. A gentle hum was the only signal that the weapon was charging up its triple coils as the built-in capacitor core charged to maximum. Jack took aim through the sight, placing the light red reticule slightly ahead of the first bike.
"Are you sure they're hostile?" he asked without removing his eye.
"Animosh Riders are feared by all cultures on Helios," Salene explained.
Even with that information, Jack hesitated. The dark shapes were growing in size, yet there was a good possibility they were nothing to do with what was happening. They could be police, emergency rescue, military, or even civilians. Jack was no politician but was acutely aware of the problem caused by opening fire on another, potential powerful race of people.
I won't start a war.
The nearest of the bikes was close enough that he could see the air distortion around the front ducted fan. It wasn't new technology, but Jack had never seen or heard of it being used in such a way. For a brief moment, he imagined what it must be like to fly through the skies on such a maneuverable machine, and then he spotted the flicker of yellow light.
Gunfire!
It was the only signal he needed, and with one pull sent three magnetized projectiles are high-speed toward the bike. The powerful weapon sent all three on the same trajectory, and two struck right through the side of the forward duct. There was no explosion, only a minor puff of metal as the engine tore itself apart, and the bike tumbled down out of the sky.
"Fire!" he shouted.
Jack realized he had opened fire without saying a word. A small hole appeared around their position as rounds from the bikes clattered about them. Unlike them however, the bikes were mobile and less stationary platforms from which to shoot from. They all ducked down and returned fire with their L52 Mark II carbines. The volley of fire was impressive, and the streaks from the hot projectiles left a dull wake behind in the dust filled soup around the building. One more bike was struck, and they moved away and sheltered in the cover offered by the buildings.
"Lieutenant, there are more of them, over there!" said Thai Qiu-Li.
The young marine was correct, and they could see the danger. Another of the bird-like vessels hovered over a building three hundred meters away. Underneath its hull came a dozen metal wires, from which descended dozens of Animosh, all in their cloaks and half helms. Even more ominous was the cloud of Riders approaching from street level. Lieutenant Rossen checked her secpad again, but it was still unable to connect to anything more than twenty or thirty meters away.
"Damn it!" she snapped to herself, "We're on our own. We have to survive and report back to command. This is insanity."
She looked to her left and at the gulf dividing her from Jack and the others. For a second she thought she might make the leap, but it was pointless. A group of a dozen Animosh had taken up position directly beneath the buildings and were aiming their weapons up. Even as she looked at them, they opened fire.
"Watch your head, Lieutenant!" Hunn said calmly.
She twisted her head and looked at the great warrior. He wasn't just a marine, he also happened to be the Champion of Hyperion, an honorific that meant little outside of his own people. The reality was that this juvenile Jötnar was perhaps the best warrior amongst them, perhaps even the best on this entire planet. A round shattered the stone and metalwork near where she had placed her head a moment earlier. She nodded, said nothing, looking back to Jack and the others.
"Get Salene to the block and dig in. We'll find another way."
Jack and Wictred shouted something, but a burst of fire from two more of the Animosh Riders drowned out the sound. Hunn blasted the nearest and was rewarded by the two diving down and out of the line of fire, at least temporarily. The sound from the fighting on the lower level had subsided, and that could mean only one thing.
"Just jump!" shouted Wictred.
Hunn leaned over the side of the building and prepared to leap but was rewarded by being struck by a searing hot projectile. It ripped through his right shoulder and burned through to his back. He roared in anger and pain but didn't step back. He merely moved his bodyweight back and out of the gunfire.
"It's too late. Get going!" shouted Lieutenant Rossen.
Jack looked at her and then to Hunn, who growled again before nodding in agreement. Thai Qiu-Li had already moved back a short distance and almost completely from view, watching for the arrival of the rest of the Animosh.
"Yes, Sir," he called out.
Salene moved as close to the edge as she dared.
"Find Makwa. He will know what to do!"
Lieutenant Rossen placed her hand on her ear and leaned slightly closer.
"Who?"
Jack grabbed Salene and pulled her away from the edge. She shouted the name one last time. In seconds, the two marines and two Helions had disappeared inside the dull gray structure. Hunn and Thai Qiu-Li looked to her for suggestions, but something about their Lieutenant had changed; the indecision and fear that had plagued her for the last hour, had been replaced by grim determination.
"Well, what do we do?" asked Thai Qiu-Li.
The officer reached to the side of her tunic and pulled out a jagged looking bayonet. It was the standard issue M11 tactical bayonet, a piece of equipment that was issued to every single marine in the Corps. Though technically a bayonet, it looked just like a traditional fighting knife and was fitted with a standard grip, hardened tip, and serrated edge on the one side.
"I say with fix bayonets, and show these primitives what a marine with a bayonet can do!"
Hunn looked surprised. Much that he liked her words; he didn't understand the sudden change in her demeanor. Even so, he attached his own bayonet, and Thai Qiu-Li did the same.
"Sir, you want to fight them all?"
The Lieutenant lifted her carbine to her shoulder and looked back to the stairwell entrance on the other side of the level.
"No. I mean to break through and work our way via the smaller buildings to the habitation block. You've seen these Helions, what have you noticed about them?"
She was already walking toward the stairwell, the other two following. She indicated to Thai Qiu-Li to move opposite her, and then they were ready. They waited with their weapons raised and pointed down into the darkness. The carbines were shorter than the old L48 rifles previously used by the marines, but with the M11 bayonet fitted, they transformed from a conventional firearm to an assault weapon, one that was perfectly designed for such an environment. Thai Qiu-Li and the Lieutenant took up positions on either side of the stairwell entrance. Hunn stayed further back to face it.
"Let them come through, then we hit them. We smash them hard, and then rush the stairwell, understood?"
Both nodded to the Lieutenant and then waited. The sound of the approaching Animosh was much louder than expected. Doors were kicked open, and the shouting from inside reminded them that the building was still occupied. Then came a dull light. At first it sent nothing more than a modest tone through the stairwell, but very soon was joined by others. Hunn faced them, lifting his weapon as though surrendering. Two emerged from the darkness and stepped out onto the rooftop. Thai Qiu-Li and Lieutenant Rossen pulled themselves as far back into the shadows as they could as yet more Animosh emerged. In seconds, there were eight quickly moving in around Hunn.
This is it, thought Lieutenant Rossen.
She watched them, taking in the details of this new foe. They were still smaller than her, even in their elaborate and excessively detailed clothing. Helms covered their heads. Although their lower faces were open, she couldn't see them from this position. She looked down at her carbine and its dulled steel bayonet. The fingers of her right hand moved to the trigger selector where she checked for the fourth time that she'd selected the correct option. The catch was in the right place for rapid-fire mode. Each coil would fire separately and then reload while the next shot. This increased the rate of fire to well over a thousand rounds a minute with little recoil.
They are feeble and soft. We can do this.
She looked to Thai Qiu-Li who seemed equally nervous. All it took was a simple nod, and the two lifted their weapons. The Animosh were now just two meters from Hunn, and they stopped as quickly as they had arrived. Hunn started to laugh.
"Now!" cried Lieutenant Rossen.
The flanking fire from the two marines slammed into the four nearest Helions. Normally, the magnetized projectiles would slam their way through armor, but in this case, they ripped holes into the unprotected torsos of the enemy. A dozen rounds each pulverized the four before they hit the ground. Hunn threw his carbine at the first of the Helions who caught it as if merely as a reaction. The great warrior jumped at them, and they panicked. A Biomech was a terrifying foe to face, but Hunn was more than that, he was one of the greatest and more aggressive Jötnar. His left fist smashed the face of the first while the second vanished off the edge of the building from nothing more than a powerful shove.
"Stop!" cried one of the last two.
Thai Qiu-Li thrust her bayoneted carbine into his back, and he fell down onto his stomach, calling out in his own tongue. Now there was just one, and he dropped his weapon, facing the three marines with nothing but confusion showing on his face.
"You are to surrender to us," he said firmly.
Rossen moved in front of him, lifting her carbine as if to stab him.
"Stop
"
With that, she slammed the butt of her carbine right into his chest. He staggered back a step, desperately trying to stay upright. This incensed her even more, and with another blow hit him under the chin. This time he slipped and fell to the ground unconscious.
"
using our language!"
The first group was out of action, but the flickering lights from inside showed more were coming up, and now they knew exactly where the marines were. Lieutenant Rossen wiped the sweat from her face and moved to the entrance.
"You ready?"
Thai Qiu-Li and Hunn both nodded quickly. Finally, the Lieutenant had found what she needed from deep inside. She took a short but deep breath and took her first step forward.
"Don't stop till we hit the bottom."
Her voice was calm and collected, as if on parade. She was the first to move. Hunn and Thai Qiu-Li were right behind her, all carrying their carbines low and in front of them. As the light rushed up, they were met with the screams of the marines and the stabbing of steel against flesh. It was the first time the Helions had fought the Alliance in battle, and the result was a resounding defeat for them. As the humans burst through their assailants, they continued onward and down into the building, chasing the fleeing and terrified Helions as they went.
CHAPTER NINE
The shape of the Alliance was something few could ever have guessed just a century ago. There were some in the twenty-first century that surmised Titan or perhaps Mars might be our final destination. Who could have even dreamt that humanity would explode from the exhausted worlds of the Solar System to Alpha Centauri, Epsilon Eridani, Gliese 876, and Procyon? The great prize of Helion and a billion worlds out in the far reaches of the Orion Nebula would shape the thoughts and dreams of humanity for millennia to come.
Musings on the Alliance
Jack waited at the open door on the lowest level and looked out into the street. The fog and dust had returned, leaving a thick and confused layer drifting at different heights around their building. Although it was located next to the one they'd started in, the lowest level covered an entire block, and the doorway was on the side furthest from that structure. He looked to his right and back in the direction of the crashed Alliance ship. At least he thought that was where it was because the mist had blocked off that part of the street. Only a few of the buildings to the right showed through the mist. He could see no further than a hundred meters, and it surprised him that he couldn't see the ground but could spot the tops of tall buildings in just a few directions.
Which way did she say? he asked himself, forgetting Salene was behind him.
The trip down from the top floor had disorientated them all, and it wasn't helped by the fact the debris and damaged buildings looked the same in every direction. Wictred sniffed the air and pointed off to their left.
"That way."
Jack made to move as suggested by Wictred, but Salene stopped and touched his arm. He wanted to move, but her arm held him back.
"What?"
"How does he know?"
Wictred grinned, his large teeth gleaming at her. He pointed behind her. Jack said nothing and looked where he was pointing.
"That way smells of burned ship. We go in the opposite direction."
The sound of more vehicles caught their attention as two eight-wheeled vehicles rushed past and toward where Lieutenant Rossen and the others were presumably still trapped. A third moved past the building and stopped between them both, blocking off any chance they might have to reach them. The motorized turrets moved left and right as the occupants searched for their quarry.
"What about the others?"
A burst of heavy weapons fire tore into the wall and continued until striking their open doorway. Jack and Salene threw themselves to the floor. Wictred ducked back inside to avoid the projectiles. Behind it came another group of the Animosh rushing down both sides of the street. The screech of Riders came from above them, and yet another of the heavy aircraft landed half a kilometer away to disgorge further warriors.
"They have us on the three sides. If we don't break out to that habitation block, and fast, we'll be trapped here."
Wictred nodded in agreement from the shadows of the doorway.
"I agree. Hunn can look after them for now. If we turn back, we'll be surrounded as well, and then we'll be screwed. We can come back for them later."
Wictred leaned out to look at the dark buildings in the distance. He scratched his head for the briefest of moments.
"Remember what the Lieutenant said, we have to get Salene to the habitation area. But why? Who is there?"
Salene might have kept quiet, but the stern looks from the two of them seemed to dissuade her from staying silent. She glanced and spoke quietly.
"The Zathee resistance is mobilizing for an assault on the capital. This information is needed by their leader."
She held the small unit that had more in common with a chunk of Onyx than an electronic device. It was about the size of a chicken egg and could easily have been mistaken for a stone, if it were not the disc of glowing blue beads running around its widest point. They flickered, instantly betraying some form of power source from within.
"What is it?" asked Wictred. The light reflected in his eyes and caught the attention of Salene. Jack grabbed her, shaking her to get attention.
"We don't have time for this. Another minute, and we'll become a permanent part of this place."
He leaned out and glanced to the left and then to the right.
"Okay, follow me and keep low!"
Jack didn't even check they were with him but crept out of the doorway and rushed along the side street to the next building. This one was much smaller and looked almost intact. It was made from the same black stone material, and its windows appeared undamaged. He moved right past it and then turned left, toward the cover offered by some kind of engineering works. Gantries and metal walkways ran like a maze in every direction, and the site reached nearly five stories in height. Only then did he look over his shoulder to see the others right behind him.
Good, we might even make this!
He jumped over a metal fence and landed within the industrial site. In seconds, Jack was in amongst the rusted metal, covered in every direction with barriers and metal plating. Wictred's steps were loud enough for him to hear, and he could only hope Salene was behind him. He moved on as fast as he could without crashing into the many obstructions in his way. As he pushed his way through, he began to notice the dark shapes of people moving through the cover.
Keep going!
He broke out into an opening just as a pair of Animosh Riders whooshed overhead. The ducted fans sent dust and grit in all directions. The sound at that distance was of a loud roar, created by the powerful powerplant located immediately beneath the Riders. Jack ignored them and leapt ahead to make it to the next section of the site. A gantry hung down low and he ran for it. A hand reached out and pulled him into the shadows. He tried to cry out, but the cold hand covered his mouth. His automatic reaction was to grab for his bayonet but another figure held his hands firmly.
"Keep still!" said Salene from a short distance behind him.
Jack exhaled through his teeth in frustration. He could hear Wictred snarling, but Salene was whispering to him, her voice quiet enough that he couldn't hear her. The Riders remained above the opening and hovering nearly thirty meters off the ground. A yellow beam of light extended from below and stabbed into the shadows, revealing the cowering forms of Helions. The beam darted about before finally switching off. The first Rider powered up his engine and the second followed suit. They lifted up and above the clearing, accelerating away and back toward the crashed Alliance ship.
"Let me go," Jack snapped. With a push, he forced himself away from whoever was holding him. He was surprised to see the dirt-covered face of two female Helions, both wrapped in worn and roughly patched clothing. Salene spoke with them gently, and they answered with even quieter voices. Another person moved out of the darkness. This time it was definitely a man, and he wore a tattered tunic with a gray bandolier running across his chest. Jack spotted the weapon in his arms, immediately grabbed his carbine, and aimed it directly at his chest.
"Back off!"
Salene stepped between them, interrupting both their lines of sight.
"Out of the way!" he snarled, but she refused to move.
Now Wictred stepped out toward Jack, lifting his left hand with the palm facing him. It was a simple gesture and easily understood.
"Stand down," he said calmly.
Jack didn't like it and lowered his carbine's sight slowly and carefully. He made sure the weapon was ready to be used in case his friend was wrong.
I don't trust any of them, he thought angrily.
Salene said a few more words and cast a knowing look at Jack.
"They are Zathee. News is spreading of our arrival."
That caught him by surprise, and he finally lowered his weapon and stepped closer to the Helions.
"Our arrival? What do you mean?"
Salene pointed up to the sky.
"The state media has announced our deaths already. Zathee rebels killed us, and your people are helping hunt down those responsible. The Zathee resistance is going to ground."
Wictred grabbed Jack's arm.
"We have to get somewhere safe, or we're dead."
Salene nodded furiously.
"He's right. The habitation block looks strong from here, and we might even be able to get a signal to command."
The man with the weapon moved away from them and to the edge of the cover. He pulled out a device from his jacket, lifted it to his eyes, and scanned the horizon. It took nearly ten seconds before he stopped and called over to Salene. She spoke to Jack and Wictred.
"It's clear. His name is Crussk, and he'll take us to the block."
Jack leaned back slightly.
"Who is he? Why do you think you can trust him?"
The Zathee obviously couldn't understand what they were saying, but he did understand their concerns. He pulled his tunic down to show his neckline. There was a tattoo emblazoned on the side of his throat. Jack examined it and shrugged.
"So what?"
Salene spoke three words to him and then explained.
"This is the mark of the political prison deep under the capital buildings. No Helion should ever be seen outside of the prison with this mark. He is a rebel, and he can be trusted."
Jack looked to Wictred who had nothing useful to add.
"Great," said Jack.
He resigned himself to moving out of the shadows and looked in the direction they needed to go.
"Tell him to lead, and we'll follow. If there's any funny business
well."
He lifted his carbine and tapped his left hand on the muzzle.
"You know what happens."
 *
Lieutenant Rossen slipped in another magazine and altered the shooting mode to full power. The vibration was slight but detectible through the polymer housing before it settled down. Now ready, she looked around their current position and for anything that could be used to their advantage. The ground floor of the building the marines had first entered was shattered in every conceivable way. Windows were gone and gashes visible on every wall. The open foyer led to a large hole where the entrance had once been. The staircase was the least damaged, but it still showed signs of the battle the marines had fought to reach this point. Bodies from two dozen Animosh lay broken about them, yet still they stood and controlled the lower levels.
"Right, that didn't work now, did it?" said Lieutenant Rossen.
Thai Qiu-Li slipped in another magazine, checked her carbine, and moved to the wall on the right. She took aim with her weapon and waited patiently for the next phase of their fight. Hunn stood in the middle of the floor, just in front of the staircase where he had the best view of the entire level.
"Well, we've broken out of the building, but more of them will come. We can't get out now," he said with almost no emotion in his voice.
"Yes, I'm aware of that little revelation."
Lieutenant Rossen kept low and moved to the hole where the entrance had once been. As soon as she reached the frame, a burst of thermal rounds slammed into the stone with a fearsome hissing sound. She jerked back to the safety inside.
"We need a new plan."
"The General, we need to get a message to him somehow. We have to stop this fighting. The Helions can't want a war with us? You've seen their warriors!" Thai Qiu-Li suggested, throwing a disparaging look at the fallen Animosh.
The Lieutenant sighed with frustration.
"If I could, I would."
She threw the device over to Thai Qiu-Li. She only just caught if before it might have struck the far wall. The display showed a dozen objects in the sky that represented the Alliance dispositions prior to them dropping out of orbit. The small icon for each shipped showed up as a red error circle.
"See," Lieutenant Rossen continued, "My signal has been completely jammed. All we have left is the line-of-sight laser system for reaching them in orbit. That will only work if we know exactly where our ships are, and I don't. Hell, the Helions might have driven them all away by now, not that we can tell from down here."
She pointed out to the brown colored haze covering the site.
"We can't even see the sky from here."
The three stayed silent, but Hunn spoke up.
"What about General Rivers, isn't he on the surface with the commanders of the 17th for military demonstrations?"
Lieutenant Rossen smiled grimly.
"Yes, I know. The local and wide-band transceiver is completely blocked. All I can tell is that there is one hell of a major power source where those Animosh aircraft and vehicles are positioned."
Thai Qiu-Li thought about it but only for a few seconds.
"So they brought jamming equipment here specifically to keep this area blocked off. You know what that means?"
Hunn laughed, "That we're screwed?"
"Well, that," replied Thai Qiu-Li, "Plus, don't forget that even the Helions can't block out all our communications. I bet General Rivers and the others are in contact with our ships. If we can reach them, they could contact our forces down here and do something to help. Maybe get them to pull back?"
Hunn actually seemed interested in this last part.
"Commander Gun is with him. When he learns of what's going on, he'll sack the entire city to find us. You haven't seen him when he's angry. Trust me, they will back down if they piss him off, unless they want to see Helios burn."
Lieutenant Rossen seemed less than enthralled at the prospect of some kind of total war, however. Though far less experienced in violent situations than Hunn, she knew well what the implications would be between Helios and the Alliance. They'd only just met, and it was the possibility of a resurgent Biomech enemy that was forcing them to create a rushed military pact of sorts.
Risk of violence! What exactly have we been doing for the last fifteen minutes? she laughed inwardly.
Thai Qiu-Li tossed the secpad back to the Lieutenant and checked outside from her position for signs of the enemy. With just three of them in there, it would be relatively easy to be surprised or overwhelmed if they were not completely ready for what was to come. As she looked out, she spotted something she hadn't noticed before.
"LT, do you remember seeing those lights?"
Hunn moved ever so slowly from his position, leaned around the side of the wall and out of the shattered entrance towards the lights.
"Could be ships coming down low."
Thai Qiu-Li shook her head.
"No, I don't think so. Look at them."
She was right. The red lights were completely stationary and only flickered and disappeared when sufficient dust, smoke, cloud, or fog got in the way. They continued watching until finally a dark shape could just about be made out. It was a tall structure, perhaps thirty or more stories high, and certainly the tallest building around them.
"Okay, it's a building," said Lieutenant Rossen.
"Yes, but not just a building. It's the tallest thing around here, and look how close it is to the clouds. I bet if we could reach it and move to the higher levels above the cloud, we could get a burst transmission to the fleet."
Lieutenant Rossen put her forehead into the palm of her right hand and closed her eyes. The stress and confusion of their situation was starting to wear her down. Hunn could see that and decided to continue on Thai Qiu-Li's line of thought.
"Okay. How do we do that? More importantly, what if there are no ships in orbit?"
Thai Qiu-Li smiled. It was of course very true that without knowing if or where the ships were, they would have no chance of reaching a ship. But Thai Qiu-Li was no ordinary marine. Like Jack, she was experienced in electronics, as well as computer communication and cryptology.
"Just get me high enough, and if there is a ship up, there I'll be able to contact them."
Hunn had already moved close to his own wall and was looking outside at the various buildings. He could see the shape of the one she'd mentioned and waited for a few seconds until the fog drifted away. It certainly seemed the tallest for hundreds of meters and at least thirty or more stories.
All the buildings are short around here, yeah, right! He thought, remembering the words from the Ambassador when they had been planning their crash landing. It made him think.
Thai Qiu-Li and the Lieutenant moved over to his position and looked at the tower. It lacked the refinement and beauty of the buildings elsewhere on the planet, yet it was tall and looked sturdy, a long black needle pointing up into the clouds. Rossen turned back around.
"Does this supposedly flat Zathee district seem much taller and heavily inhabited than the Ambassador was letting on?" asked Hunn.
Thai Qiu-Li and Lieutenant Rossen looked at each other. Both considered what had happened, but it was Thai Qiu-Li who spoke first.
"The Ambassador's part in this is suspicious to say the least. Nothing he said has made much sense, not least the fact that the Helion security forces supposedly killed him. What about these rebels?"
Lieutenant Rossen pointed at the bodies around them.
"Well, at least they aren't actively trying to kills us, like these ones."
A squeal came from outside at a distance of about fifty meters away. A skidding sound and then large numbers of boots followed it. Thai Qiu-Li looked out through the breaches on the wall and watched the arrival.
"Yeah, more soldiers. These guys are different though, dark yellow uniforms, caps, and firearms; no armor, helmets, or cloaks. I'd say these are local soldiers. They look second-rate to me."
The Lieutenant watched them spilling out from the vehicles. Where the previous warriors had moved silently and precisely, these soldiers were the exact opposite. They were noisy, and there was much chattering between them. One of them wore a darker uniform with a thick braided cloak and shouted at them as they moved into neat lines.
"Okay, that must be the leader."
Hunn took aim with his carbine, but Thai Qiu-Li reached out and pushed the barrel upward.
"Are you mad? Look at them."
He did, but he couldn't see quite what she was referring to. Almost thirty of these poorly trained solders now stood in lines listening to the words of their leader. More wheeled transports moved at the end of the ruined street and deposited similar warriors at other key points. Now Hunn understood.
"Okay, I see. Either we stall them, and hope Jack can save the day
or
we rush that tower."
Thai Qiu-Li pointed at the shrouded tower far away, "We don't have a choice; it has to be the tower."
Rossen and Hunn both agreed.
"Okay then, let's do it!" said Lieutenant Rossen.
To their surprise, she rushed out through the door and vanished into the brownish fog. They both tensed, each expecting a terrible barrage of gunfire to cut her down, but the soldiers continued listening to orders from their officer.
"Hell, let's go before they actually do something!" laughed Hunn, and then all three of them were in the street and running to the other side as fast as their legs could carry them. All three expected the sounds of Helion voices to blast out through the ruins of the district, but instead, they successfully crossed the street, directly into a deserted bazaar. The buildings were no more than two stories high there, and tables and goods were scattered in front of them. There were no bodies, not even injured Helions. Lieutenant Rossen spotted an animal about the size of a small dog picking its way through a broken case. It was the first alien creature she'd seen so far and almost stopped as Thai Qiu-Li crashed into her back and sent them both sprawling.
"Stay down!" barked Hunn, throwing himself against the doorway of the nearest abandoned shop.
One of the larger aircraft swooped low overhead and moved off toward the building they had just vacated. Yellow flames flickered from underneath as a dozen gun barrels targeted the structure, peppering it with heated thermal rounds.
"They're busy. Let's go!" shouted Rossen.
They needed no further encouragement and sprinted down the bazaar, slipping and leaping to avoid the myriad of objects lying in their path. Every few minutes another aircraft rushed overhead, depositing more soldiers or firing upon an unseen enemy. With each step, the three seemed to move further away from the sound of violence until after nearly thirty minutes of continuous movement, they reached the outer suburbs of a rundown shantytown. People of a dozen races occupied the buildings. They were badly dressed, and many looked at the three marines with suspicion. A burned out six-wheeled military vehicle lay on its side in the main street, and around it three Hellions had erected a store selling food.
"Slow down," said Lieutenant Rossen, "We're getting a little too much attention."
It was easier said than done, however, as Hunn was taller and more massive than any creature or person they had seen on the entire world. Even so, the locals appeared less than angry toward them, and a number of the sellers even handed out food as they walked on past. Hunn cleared his throat, only now realizing how parched he was.
"Is it me, or is this place stranger than we were told?"
Thai Qiu-Li looked to the left at a female Helion, dressed in nothing but a single layer of dull gray cloth wrapped around her body. She was skinning some kind of small animal on a worktop. The citizen lowered her head in recognition and then carried on with her work.
"Yeah, they seem reluctant to speak with us. There's no hostility though."
"You were saying," said the Lieutenant in a sarcastic tone.
They all stopped, looking ahead at a sight that shocked them all. Three Helion males, presumably warriors, stood blocking their path. They carried weapons on their shoulders they had just pulled down and placed so that one end touched the ground. They wore a dark, hand spun fabric that covered them from neck to knee. They carried bandoliers hung loosely across their bodies, and their feet were covered with rough leather boots with metallic plates facing the sides. But wasn't them that surprised the marines. It was the large mechanical beast waiting behind them. The shape was like that of a beetle, but lifted up on its front legs to make it taller. The legs functioned as arms or legs, and where a hand should be was wicked looking spikes.
"Biomechs," hissed Hunn, reaching for his carbine.
Lieutenant Rossen stepped sideways and dropped to one knee, simultaneously raising her carbine. Only Thai Qiu-Li remained as she was, and instead of lifting her weapon, she pointed at the machine.
"It's safe," she said, but her tone wasn't convincing.
The three Helions laughed to each other but did nothing that might suggest violence. Even the machine stayed completely still. Hunn stepped closer and noticed the corrosions on its frame. One of the Helions moved aside so that he could approach the thing from just a meter away, which was when he spotted the holes burned in its tiny torso. The metal was old, much older than would be reasonable for a currently functioning machine.
"What is this?" she asked.
The Helion looked at her and then continued talking in their peculiar tongue.
"What is it doing here?" asked Thai Qiu-Li.
Hunn walked around, examining it from behind. He tapped it with his carbine as if half expecting the thing to come to life. Then he spotted the welding work on its feet that fused the machine to a large metal block in the ground.
"It's a trophy of some kind."
Thai Qiu-Li reached out and touched the metal. It was warmer than she expected, probably because of the higher temperature on this part of the planet than she was used to.
"Perhaps."
Lieutenant Rossen looked past the machine and at the row after row of poorly made housing running into the distance. About half a kilometer away stood the tall obelisk, the largest building in sight.
"It must be a trophy or something. We need to get to that building and fast."
Another of the aircraft hissed toward them, but then something unexpected happened. As it reached the poor suburbs of the Zathee, it lifted up, banked to the left, and then moved away. A number of those in the streets waved their arms at it, and several spat on the ground. A female wearing heavy cloth rushed out and lifted a large shoulder mounted device into position. She aimed it in the rough direction of the aircraft, but it was already well out of the way. The younger Zathee hooted with pleasure.
"Yeah, this place is definitely not what we were told," she finally answered Hunn's question.
"Keep moving. I want to be at that building within the hour. We have to let the fleet know what's going on down here before we get stuck here
permanently."
They followed a rough road that disappeared under a massive pipeline covered in thick scorch marks and corrosion. Once underneath the road, they continued on until vanishing somewhere near to their objective. More Zathee went about their business, as well as other people the marines didn't recognize from the very basic intelligence reports they'd been briefed on prior to their arrival. Some of them looked like extreme examples of Helions, but others were certainly different races or some peculiar offshoot. The number of people increased, as did the amount of dilapidated looking vehicles on the poorly maintained roads. Then, as they emerged out of the underpass, they arrived at the base of the black tower. They stood in front of it and looked up at the gaunt open framework. From a distance, it had looked like an occupied building of some sort, but that was now clearly not the case.
"What now?" Hunn asked.
Lieutenant Rossen looked to her left and right until spotting an entry point. There were no Helions, or anybody else for that matter, near the tower, and large parts of the base were covered in unrecognizable graffiti.
"Look," said Hunn.
They followed his stare and saw a number of corroded turrets halfway up the structure. Gantries ran about the place, but it had clearly not been used in a very long time.
"It must be an anti-aircraft tower," said the Lieutenant.
"Maybe," he replied.
The Lieutenant walked away toward the boarded up passageway on the left-hand side. She noticed the others weren't following and pointed at it without stopping.
"It doesn't matter what it's for."
She held up her secpad.
"I'm getting signal errors and a possible match in orbit already. We need to get higher."
"Signal errors?" asked Thai Qiu-Li, "That means ships are detected, but there are too many parity errors for useful communication."
Rossen tore away the loose panels of metal and stepped onto the creaking gantry running around the outside of the structure. It had a steep incline of nearly thirty degrees.
"Come on then. The quicker we get a signal, the quicker we can land some marines down here."
 *
The habitation block was unlike anything Jack had seen before. Apart from its colossal size, the exterior was built more like a fortress than somewhere to live. The Zathee that had helped them in their escape moved inside without a moment's hesitation and then vanished into the darkness. Jack watched them go and tried to chase after them, but they were nowhere to be seen. A vast door, lifted in front of them, revealing a rectangular doorway wide enough to fly a marine troop transport inside.
"What is this place?" he asked.
Salene walked past him and to the open doorway.
"We are at Habitation Block 73. This is allocated housing for the Zathee."
Jack looked inside, but it took a few seconds for his eyes to start to adjust. There were scores of people moving about, and no one showed them the single bit of interest. He walked after her but kept his hand low and near his carbine. Not even Wictred seemed to get their attention.
"Allocated?"
"Yes, the Zathee depend on the Helion state for housing and employment. These blocks are where they live. Each day transports take them to the labor sites."
There was no sense of shame in her voice; in fact, Jack sensed she was actually quite proud of what they could see. She carried on, the other two moved right behind her, and into the entrance of the block. Inside they walked into what looked like a vast plaza. Unlike the opulence of the tall spires and towers in the civilized' parts of Helios, this place was barren, consisting of little more than bare walls and floors. Multiple elevators running up into higher levels serviced the corners of the block. Salene looked out to their right with barely concealed interest. Jack followed her eyes and then saw a pair of the Animosh. He grabbed her and spun her around.
"What are you doing? We need to avoid them!" he said quietly but edged with anger.
She looked at him nervously, nodding toward the elevator off to their left.
"We need to go up to the higher levels."
She pulled away, but Jack held onto her.
"Why?"
She leaned in close to his face so that he could smell her skin and feel every imperfection on her face.
"Because that's where it says to go."
She held up the small device. The ring of lights had stopped, and on the flat underside a series of unfamiliar letters glowed in a faint bluish light.
"What is there?" asked Wictred.
Salene smiled with a grin that was unlike anything they had seen from her before.
"V’Caani."
She moved away from them and to the elevator. Jack looked at Wictred, but he did nothing other than shrug. Jack could see the two Animosh moving in their direction and chased after Salene.
"Move it, Wictred. We've got company."
CHAPTER TEN
Prometheus was a changed world following the establishment of the Interstellar Network. In the past, ships were forced to navigate the storms that would increase their journey time to months, sometimes even up to a year. With three more Rift generators operating by the time of the Orion Expedition, it was possible to travel to Prime, Hyperion, or Terra Nova in a matter of hours. The fiery industrial world became an even more important location for the Alliance, as it developed into the transport nexus of the Centauri Alliance's holdings in Alpha and Proxima Centauri.
Birth of Prometheus
Teresa watched from her standing position aboard the aircraft. She'd only been able to give the vessel the briefest of looks before being trundled inside. It was larger than an Alliance Hammerhead but smaller than the old heavy landers used by the Confederate Army in the past. There were four massive ducted fan engines fitted to each corner, and the center contained nearly thirty heavily armed paramilitary forces. Attached to rails on each of its sides were three small bike type devices.
"Who are these?" she asked.
"They are the watchers of the city," Vigilis answered.
Teresa recalled how he had styled himself as the Watchman of the City of Helios. It was an interesting title and unlike anything she had come across before. The implication was that he operated a form of planet-wide police force, yet the watchers he referred to looked more like paramilitaries to her.
This isn't right.
She reached for her secpad, managing to grab it before the vessel banked heavily to the left. The magnetic straps held her firmly in position, and she almost dropped the device before pulling it closer to her body. Vigilis watched her and then looked away to speak with the others on the craft. A message had just arrived from General Rivers, and she was keen to check for news. It was short and cryptic.
Communication with Conqueror lost, Alpha One preparing. Watch back. R.
She looked at the message, and her mind rushed off in a dozen directions. It was a very short message to begin with, and contained little information that could be used by a third party. Alpha One was a code used to indicate a rapid response unit, though it didn't distinguish between rescue and assault. Her first thoughts were for the crew on the ship, but then moved on to the strangeness of losing communications with those on the ground. The ship was equipped with powerful multi-band communications equipment, and the only reason the signal would be blocked would be if something else were deliberately jamming it. She looked at Vigilis, who twisted his head slightly, his eyes on his own people.
Was he just watching me?
Teresa was now starting to get that feeling in her gut, the kind of feeling she had when on patrol with her marines in a jungle or on board a ship without power and expecting trouble. That moment when you were convinced you were being watched, but in her case, it was usually being watched down the sights of a rifle. Instinctively, she hit the lock icon on the secpad. The device locked itself from use, as well as wiping the last message from its memory. Even though the Helions didn't have the same technology, there was no reason why they wouldn't be able to access the device.
"Vigilis, how far are they?" she called out.
The Helion ignored her, continuing to speak with his own people, finally turning to look at her. His face was expressionless, but his eyes seemed to gleam, as though he had just been privy to some great secret to which now only he knew.
"Major, we will be landing in a moment," he paused and mumbled something before adding, "I'm afraid there has been some bad news."
Teresa felt a pulse of adrenalin kick through her body like a strong injection. The ship carried well over a thousand people when fully crewed, and Jack was supposed to be there as well. The vessel shook again, and she could see buildings whooshing past them from the small observation slits.
"What is it?" she called out, unable to wait any longer.
This time the Helion completely ignored her. She even shouted over to him, but he acted as though he couldn't hear a thing. Even as the vessel settled onto the ground, there was no reply. Doors slid sideways on both side sections of its hull, and a strong gust of fog and dust blew inside. The clamps released around Teresa just in time for her to lift her hands and cover her face. She could feel the warm dust moving past and then it was clear. She lowered them to see four of the watchers waiting and looking at her. Vigilis was outside on a masonry platform with more of the same people. The two nearest watchers beckoned for her to approach. She stepped close, and they moved to follow her.
"Tell me, what is going on?"
They said nothing, however, and she walked out and into the open street. Vigilis had walked away, and the watchers were spreading out in small groups. That was when she realized they had landed directly opposite the great Alliance warship. Hovering fire tenders moved about and blew liquids over the hull while a number of heavy built engineer vehicles maneuvered about it. There were many small fires but none apparently from the ship.
It looks intact.
Then Teresa came to a sudden realization.
Where the hell is the crew?
Near the fires were dark shapes, and as she drew closer, she instantly recognized Alliance naval uniforms. Vigilis had stopped near a line of shapes, and she broke out into a run, stopping alongside him. Arranged in a neat row were the bodies of a dozen crew, including a senior officer. She knelt down and rolled the body over so she could see the man's face.
"No!" she cried upon spotting the insignia of the ship's Captain. As an automatic reaction, she reached down for her sidearm, but Vigilis had already stepped away and was pointing at another body, this time a Helion in robes. He finally spoke to her.
"These are the bodies of Zathee rebels. I think we understand what is going on here."
Teresa, on the other hand, looked at them with barely concealed anger. It was incredible that a heavy alliance starship, one capable of transporting a battalion of marines, and over a thousand crew, could have been brought so low. Even worse though was that the survivors had been murdered where they stood. She pictured Jack and was tempted to rush about looking for his body.
Calm down, either he's here or he isn't.
One of the watchers moved from another group and spoke with Vigilis. The Helion's voice was low-pitched and almost impossible to hear even from just a few meters away. She looked at his clothing, helmet, and weapons and wondered quite why an internal police unit would be created like this. Vigilis nodded and sent him away before walking to Teresa. He turned and pointed out into the distance and at a large dark structure.
"My watchers say a group of prisoners from your ship has been taken to a rebel stronghold."
A flight of a dozen ducted fan bikes flew overhead in a loose formation. All were flown by one of the watchers, apart from a slightly larger model. This one was easily triple the size and fitted with four bigger fans and a large open topped crew section. This particular craft was filled with at least five more of the watchers. Vigilis shouted over to another of the squads moving around the crashed ship. Teresa picked up just one word, but it was used often.
"What is Animosh?" she called out.
Vigilis looked at her as if he was going to ignore her. She raised her eyebrows in anticipation, and he quickly gave in.
"Animosh, it is the Helion word for our watchers."
"They are in pursuit of the rebels?"
Vigilis nodded.
"Yes. I suggest you stay here and assist my people with recovery. Apparently, there are signs of life near the rear of the ship. It might be Zathee. It might also be your own people."
Teresa was tempted, but only for a second.
What is he hiding?
A sound from near one of the damaged landing legs caught her ear. She spun about to see a small group of scruffily dressed people. They were definitely not Animosh, but they also looked very different to the Helions she had seen back in the more prosperous parts of the city. They moved closer and appeared non-threatening. One of them noticed Teresa and pointed directly at her. Vigilis called out to his guards, and they move in closely around him, each with their weapons raised.
"Wait!" she called out, lifting her hands as a warning.
The nearest of the new group pulled open his robe and held up secpad so that she could see it. Whether they wanted to trade it or give it to her, she had no idea. Either way it didn't matter because the next words from the mouth of Vigilis resulted in its destruction. The Animosh opened fire with their firearms as a single unit. In just a single second, all of them had unleashed thermal rounds that burst against the Helions' flesh, instantly melting whatever they touched. The entire group was dead and scattered before the secpad hit the ground.
"Stop this!" she cried, but none of them were interested in the words of an Alliance officer. She tried to move closer to the bodies, but a pair of Animosh were among them and shooting again at those they thought might still live. She was finally there and looked down to see the device had taken a thermal round to its center. She lifted it up and dropped it when the heat sent pangs of pain through her body. Vigilis kicked over the bodies with no respect for who they were, or even the fact that they were his kin.
"These Zathee wanted to trade your people for weapons, explosives, and prisoners. I suspect they are the ones responsible for shooting your crew."
And now we can't interrogate them, can we? she thought bitterly.
While Vigils continued to issue orders to his people, Teresa turned away and pulled out her secpad. The connection to General Rivers was still active but was starting to experience signal degradation, presumably for the same reasons the ship itself had lost contact. The old General's face appeared, and she was surprised to see he was no longer where she'd left him. Instead, he was on board a ship of some kind.
"General?"
"Major Morato," he replied sternly, "have you heard the news about the rebels?"
She shook her head.
"No, General, what is it?"
"According to the security officials here, there has been an attempted coup. The capitol is on lockdown, and ships are unable to land."
Teresa looked at him but wasn't convinced at the news. She moved her face closer to the device so that nobody nearby would hear her.
"I don't trust them, General. There are no survivors from the ship, just bodies of those that stayed on board. They are blaming the rebels."
"You don't agree?"
Teresa moved the device discreetly so that he could see the ground through its built-in cameras. She walked a few meters but held it down low over the bodies of the obliterated Zathee. She didn't stop and moved past and then toward a wrecked escape pod that was still sealed from the inside and empty. It must have ejected when they hit the ground. Her interest was not in the smashed piece of equipment; it was more to block the line of sight between her and the Animosh. She looked at the secpad and the face of the General.
"I don't trust them. According to Vigilis, a group of rebels have taken our people prisoners. There are no survivors here."
He nodded at this and appeared to not be particularly surprised.
"Reports from the escape pods show most have concentrated in one of the urban districts. Gun is coordinating their recovery."
"Gun?"
General Rivers smiled.
"Not even the Helions will refuse his demands. He's taken half the Hammerheads and shuttles to assist. If you need him, just call."
Teresa knew exactly what he meant it, and it reminded her of quite how vulnerable she was out in this part of Helios. She glanced about, watching the Animosh watchers as they dragged bodies away from the damaged buildings or continued searching.
What if they turn on me?
It was as if Vigilis had read her mind. He finished whatever it was that he was doing and started back toward her. Four of his watchers marched at his flanks with their weapons ready but lowered. She moved her hand down and alongside her holster.
"Major, the rest of your people are being cared for in our city barracks. I understand your Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is helping arrange their safe return."
He then pointed at the large structured in the distance. The fog and smoke were continuing to clear, and the damage to the Zathee district was even more obvious to see.
"I have word that your prisoners are in the heart of rebel territory, right there. My watchers have tracked them and await my order."
As if to emphasis the point, he lifted a hand, as though all it would take would be for him to make a simple gesture and it would all be over.
"I have my best extraction team on standby and ready to move in. Would you like to join us?"
Teresa had expected a gunfight, and this request was something of a surprise.
"Join you for what?"
"Well, these situations can be very delicate. It might be useful to have you there."
More like if it goes wrong, I can be accidentally eliminated.
One of the larger four ducted fan aircraft swept down low and hovered a half meter from the ground and to the side of Vigilis. He jumped up with surprising speed and dexterity. As he moved, Teresa spotted the flash of a carbine length weapon under his flowing robes. It instantly reminded her of what was at stake, and also that she had to be careful.
"Well?" he asked.
There was no time to hesitate, and she lifted herself up to the machine. One of the Animosh reached out with a black-gloved hand to assist, but she ignored it and stepped on board. There were no seats, just a series of vertical pillars with clamps fitted on their fronts. Teresa stepped toward it, and a pair of mag clamps locked her in place. Then they were in the air and climbing rapidly. A cloud of the smaller one-manned vehicles closed around them like a small swarm, and they were off. The speed was well over a hundred kilometers an hour, and she could feel the wind blasting her. Only the thinly armored cowl on the front deflected the air as they pushed on. She looked past the cowl and to their target, a line of tall structures that were coming closer and closer to her. Only then did she allow herself hope that if there were survivors, Jack would be among them.
 *
The view from the twenty-fifth floor was impressive, and for the briefest of moments, Jack looked out feeling nothing but awe. The Zathee district was far less impressive in terms of architecture when compared to the rest of the planet, but it more than made up for it with the volume of buildings and their industrial style. It was like they were on another world. The smaller buildings and towers appeared more like military fortifications and storage sites than habitable areas. He wasn't looking out from a window. On this level there were a small number of balconies built out of the same hard material as the rest of the building. He waited outside for a few more seconds before Wictred called over to him.
"Jack, come on, three more levels."
He looked back one last time at the alien world and the thousands of Zathee he could see moving about like gray ants. Land cars, transports, and other vehicles made their way along dust-covered roads, and aircraft flew overhead, but never directly over the Zathee district itself. Jack stepped back inside and onto the wide staircase that was substantial enough they could move up with all three in a line. The levels were widely spaced apart, and it took another two minutes to reach the level Salene had indicated. Unlike every other level, this one seemed deserted. There were two completely open shafts leading down to the ground level so that the passages on this floor looked like a massive H' shape. Doorways filled the passages, and there must have been room for at least thirty large apartments on this one floor alone. The two shapes were very wide, and as Jack examined them, he suspected an aircraft could probably descend through them.
"Well?" he asked impatiently.
Salene moved into the middle of the larger central passageway that was almost ten meters wide and ran the full length of the structure. To the right were six doorways, each sealed and big enough for a vehicle to drive through, assuming it was on that level already. She looked at her small device and walked to the second doorway. Unlike the others, this was in the poorest condition, and the marks of rot around the corners suggested it was uninhabited. She reached within two meters, it hissed open, and a cloud of gray emptied out and filled the passageway. By the time it had cleared, a dozen Helion men were stood there, each wearing dull gray tunics and clothes to cover their faces. The shortest of them, an overweight Helion with a crossed pair of bandoliers, approached Salene and said a single word before spitting on her feet.
"Watch it!" snapped Jack, and in one action both he and Wictred raised their carbines, taking aim at the group.
"V’Caani!" called out Salene, raising the object to show them all.
It was strange for Jack and Wictred. The Helions were evidently doing their best to be threatening, but there was something about them that just didn't work. Jack looked lean and quick, while the Helions looked soft, almost nervous. He looked to his friend and noticed a similar confused expression on his face. The shorter man walked over to Salene and examined the object. It didn't take long, just enough for him to hold it and roll it about in his hand. He then returned it and walked back through the doorway and into the cloud. Salene threw Jack a smile and walked in after him.
"Go," he called out to his friend. In seconds, they were inside and with her.
The interior of the level looked tiny to start with, but as the cloud started to dissipate, it moved aside to reveal a half dozen sparsely decorated rooms. There was no art to speak of; just functional storage units and a half dozen people lounging around on a strange collection of seats. At the end of the room were two Helions who looked slightly different to the rest. They waited as if protecting the wall behind them. Neither appeared to carry weapons, but they stood completely still and watched Salene, Jack, and Wictred with emotionless eyes. The shorter Helion moved up to them and spoke quietly. Neither looked at him, but one lifted a device to his mouth and spoke.
"Where are we?" asked Jack.
Salene threw her head back to him and leaned close to his ear. She looked almost excited at the prospect of where they were.
"We're close to V’Caani," she said, her mouth almost trembling with the words.
Jack watched her but couldn't hide the feeling she was hiding something from them. Her father was dead, yet she had been single-minded in her pursuit of this person. He looked to the others there, noticing every single one of them was watching the three with suspicion clearly showing on their partially covered faces.
"Yeah, I heard you before. Who is this V’Caani?"
Salene smiled.
"You'll see."
A gentle hiss came from the two men, and then a section of the wall lifted up almost a meter. Part of the floor dropped down to reveal a narrow series of steps. One of the guards nodded for them to enter. Salene went first, not even questioning the Helion and as before, Jack followed right behind. Unlike Salene, he was armed and had his carbine lifted and ready for trouble. Wictred moved into the doorframe area and then stopped. He turned around and looked about the room. Dozens of eyes studied the overgrown marine with barely concealed interest.
"Yeah?"
None replied, and he simply laughed at them, and moved after Jack. The door hissed behind them, shutting with a thud. It was much darker in this part of the building and no bigger than a normal sized apartment. It was empty other than for a long table that ran through the middle.
"What now?" Wictred asked.
The room shook, and Jack lost his footing and stumbled into Wictred. He held his friend steady until he regained his position. This continued for nearly twenty seconds before the shaking slowed and then stopped. The table squeaked gently and then moved aside, revealing another doorway that led underneath. All of them looked at this opening with surprise.
"Uh, I'm not going down there until you tell us something. Where the hell are we, and who is V’Caani?"
Salene considered moving forward, but Wictred blocked her path.
"Something else as well. Why don't these Zathee understand us?"
Jack nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you're not telling us something."
She tried to move past them, but Wictred's grip was too firm.
"Okay, listen. V’Caani is the name we have on Helios for the leadership of the Underground."
"What the hell is the Underground, and why do you want to see him?"
She closed her eyes and then lifted the small circular device to her face.
"In here are the codes and access information for our entire defense grid."
Wictred leaned back with a confused look about him.
"You would give this to rebels? Why?"
She depressed the unit, and its lights faded before she returned it to inside her clothing.
"My father has worked for equality with the Zathee for years, but it has never come about. This is the only way it will be resolved."
Wictred moved closer to the passageway and looked down. Salene thought it was a signal, but this time Jack grabbed her. She tried to struggle but was no match for either Jack or Wictred.
"That was your father. What does this all mean for you?"
Her face became flat, almost featureless. She answered, but her tone was devoid of emotion.
"I will finish what my father started. The Zathee won the last war for us on Helios. They deserve their reward."
She wriggled free and moved past Jack and to the passageway. Jack chased after her, but she was too quick and moved into the blackness with the two marines hot on her heels. They would have crashed into her if it were not for the pair of large Helions pulling them away. Wictred moved to strike the one but froze upon seeing the face of an oversized Helion warrior. Like him, it was taller, stronger build, and the epitome of a synthetic warrior. A little further inside the pitch-black room was a figure bathed in hard light and shadows. He was a scrawny old Helion, with loose clothing and a robe tied about his neck. He lacked his left eye, yet appeared inquisitive, even aggressive as they approached.
"My friends from Earth. Welcome."
"Earth?" answered Jack in surprise.
"Of course. You thought we learned your language in a few of your months?"
The Helion smiled with a crooked expression. Jack and Wictred looked at each other in a mixture of surprise and confusion. The Helion's accent was thick and betrayed lack of practice with their language. Even so, his voice was clear enough for both to understand without repetition. Wictred spoke first, pointing at the guards.
"Who are they?"
He nodded slowly.
"Yes, I thought they would interest you.'
He said no more for a moment and simply looked at them both. It wasn't easy to tell exactly what he was thinking, due to the muscular differences in the faces of Helions and humans.
"The science of biomechanics has been outlawed on Helios since our first war with them over a thousand years ago."
He walked toward the two of them who both watched with stony-faced expressions.
"There is a Rift here that leads directly to one of your moons that you call Titan. Before we warred with the machines, we explored thousands of Rifts together and left research machines behind to study the millions of worlds that sustain life."
He took another step closer.
"Yours is one of many, yet you are one of the few to have also experienced the synthetic warriors of the enemy."
He nodded at his two comrades and then looked back at Jack and Wictred.
"There are few left now. My people hunt and persecute any synthetics or their descendants, just the same as they hunt us Zathee for being impure."
Wictred didn't appear to be listening and was busy examining the two synthetics. They were similar but had as many differences as Jack had from the Helions. They appeared to show as much interest in him as he had in them.
"Why the hatred for the Zathee?" asked Jack.
The Helion smiled.
"That is the right question, my young friend, but first I need to see this information."
He beckoned for Salene to approach. She reached inside her jacket and withdrew the small circular device. He looked at it curiously as if he expected it to do something of note. She squeezed it gently and it clicked. Jack felt a shiver through his body and for a second suspected treachery. A blue haze grew about it and then expanded to show a slowly rotating three-dimensional model of the most developed parts of Helios. It was remarkably detailed and included walkways, landing platforms, and structures of all shapes and sizes. As they examined it, an additional series of red and green layers appeared over the top to mark something else. The Helion man nodded.
"Yes, this is good," he said so that Jack and the others might understand him.
He extended out his hand, and Salene placed the device into his hand. With a gentle tap, it switched off, and the colored lights disappeared, leaving it no more than an inanimate sphere. He turned and placed the unit into the wall behind him.
"With this, we can paralyze state control and execute a surgical strike to remove the leadership. Finally, we shall have equality with our kin."
Jack scratched his cheek, "None of this makes sense."
The Helion walked back to the rear wall and tapped it. It transformed into a detailed computer display. He moved his hands in front of it but never actually made contact. In seconds, a series of video footage appeared showing aliens worlds. The first was of a place similar to Helios but far more primitive. A battle had evidently just been won, as there was much damage all around them. There were Helion soldiers moving about, alongside Biomech machines the size of buildings.
"This was one and a half millennia ago, when we worked together with the other Powers to bring order to a thousand worlds and more than fifty races."
The video shifted to show medals being awarded by a Helion commander.
"This is where the slavers were finally defeated and incorporated into the realm of the T'Kari. You can see Helions being awarded commendations, as well as T'Kari. Note that none of the Zathee are present."
"How can you tell the difference?"
He nodded, realizing how difficult it was to tell.
"Zathee are not racially different to the Helions. We are simply those that interbred between the races of the Helions. They all wear the yellow or orange colors of Helios, the colors of nobility. By law, we are not permitted to do so, on pain of death."
He looked at the footage of thousands of soldiers' bodies being carried away on some forgotten world.
"For centuries we have supplied the soldiers for the Helions and their allies. Yet we are still slaves. The last war was won with our blood. Helions provide the officers. We provide the bodies. Every time we have demanded equality, we have been crushed."
He extended his arms outward.
"The domain of the Zathee used to be the size and equal of the rest of this world. Now we live in squalor and decay."
With his left hand, he pointed at the sphere.
"This information will let us breach their security systems and start our revolution."
Jack did not look impressed.
"What does this have to do with us, and why was our ship brought down with your ambassador on board?"
"Yes, I have been wondering about this also."
He nodded to Salene.
"We have been communicating with the Ambassador for over a year now. Together we have worked to bring this affair to a peaceful and bloodless conclusion. He was to bring me this information direct from our supporters in the Defense Department. I suspect that
"
Wictred interrupted him.
"They knew he was helping you and did this to get us to help bring you down."
The Helion looked confused, as though it was an option he had never considered. He walked to the computer unit and extracted a small rectangular dongle. It was made of a smooth black material and pulsed gently with blue light.
"This is an automated breacher. We have been developing it for fifteen years now. Once it is placed inside the Helion security grid, the revolution will begin."
He held it next to the sphere that Salene had brought. Both glowed and started to pulse blue in perfect synchronization. It took almost ten seconds, but finally it finished. He placed both of the items on a small semi-transparent shelf that extended out from the wall behind him. He seemed to relax; seemingly some great chore was now over.
"I am V’Caani, the last survivor from the great war with the machines. We all know the prophecy of the Black Rift, that one day it will open and a final great war will have to be fought. By helping us today, you have guaranteed our support in the war to come."
"I don't think so," Salene said bitterly.
All three turned to find her holding two devices, one in each hand. In her left was an electronic device the size of a finger. It was cylindrical and decorated with raised ridges at one end. In the other hand was a pistol. It was beautifully made from a chrome-colored metal, and a blue glow ran down one side. The muzzle flashed and V’Caani stumbled backward to the wall.
"No!" screamed Jack.
He threw himself toward the falling leader. Wictred lurched forward to tackle Salene. She fired again, and this time striking Wictred in the arm. He crashed into her and cast her against the wall. She struck it with such force that her back and neck broke. Her body slid lifelessly to the ground, and the two objects rolled out of her hands. The synthetic guards had seen it all, but neither had been fast enough to help. One joined Jack while the other ran for the door to pass on the word. Jack bent down over the fallen V’Caani who was coughing up blood. He spoke incoherently until he spotted Jack's face.
"What can we do?" asked Jack.
V’Caani spat another mouthful of dark blood to the floor and tried to lift himself up from the ground. Jack held him down, trying to calm him.
"There's no time. They are coming. Join your friends at the communications spire."
He leaned to his side and nodded at the two objects now lying on the floor.
"Take the breacher. Install it inside the network computer. Help the Zathee, and they will help fight your war
"
He tried to say more, but with one last gasp he slumped back, the life draining from his body. Jack looked down at his clothing and pulled open his tunic. It revealed a hideous wound that had been seared open by the powerful firearm. Wictred was now there, along with the other synthetic. The alien bent down and placed his hand on V’Caani's forehead. He looked at Wictred and said something unintelligible.
"What?" Wictred asked.
The creature moved for the doorway, gesturing for them to follow. Wictred looked to Jack who was still bent down over the body of V’Caani.
"I think he wants us to go."
The sound of powerful engines and the low rumble of gunfire had reached even as far as into V’Caani's secretive lair. The whooshing sound of powerful ducted fans announced the arrival of more Helion security forces, and by the sound of it, there was a major battle going on. The creature reappeared and glared at them both. He pointed at the object now in V’Caani's dead fingers.
"Come!" he said in almost impossible to understand tones.
Jack grabbed the unit and chased after him.
"He's right. We need to move fast!"
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Edged weapons found their renaissance in the Great Uprising and yet continued in their importance for generations after. Marine forces on Helios made use of carbines, pistols, knives and bayonets even when engaged in combat with combat drones. The flexibility offered by the fitting of hardened steel to a firearm never lost its appeal to those that advocated close combat.
Edged weapons in the Emergency
The approach to the habitation block seemed to take forever. The wind buffeted them, and without the headsets worn by the others on board, she had no way of telling what was happening. The flight over the Zathee district was highly enlightening. For a start, it was clear this was a part of Helios few would want to show off. It was poorly developed, and many of the city blocks were derelict, damaged, or unoccupied. Even more surprising was that they had been fired upon at least three times on their journey from the ground.
What's going on down there?
That reminded her, the General. They were now flying much higher than before, and it gave her an idea. She pulled out her secpad, all the time ensuring she didn't drop it. It was hard to see, but she was certain the flashing symbol meant she had connected via a local area ad-hoc network. It meant there was an Alliance unit within twenty kilometers, perhaps much closer. From the side, she removed a small rubber looking nodule and pushed it into her ear canal. It fitted tightly and beeped to confirm it was slaved correctly to the secpad.
Okay, here goes nothing.
She tapped the connection button and waited, hoping beyond hope it would work. The earpiece stopped beeping immediately, and for a short time nothing else happened. Then came a crackling sound and a heavily distorted voice.
"This is Major Morato, Alliance Marine Corps. Please respond."
She waited, but again there was nothing. Teresa repeated the message, but only a few words came through, each unintelligible. Then for a brief moment the signal cleared up, and she could understand the sound.
"
Rossen, we are moving to the top of the Helion command spire
will attempt to reach fleet in orbit
we came under
"
The signal faded out and then returned to static and noise. She looked down and watched the level indicator, moving it first to the left and then to the right. The signal degradation was minimal when she pointed it to the right. Straining her eyes, she looked past the buildings nearby and spotted a dark spire far into the distance.
That's where they are.
The craft shuddered slightly as they jinxed to avoid ground fire, and then they were dropping down between two larger buildings. The fog and dust made visibility difficult, but the Animosh pilot exhibited impressive skill as he brought the craft down at high speed. As they slowed down, the team deactivated their harnesses and jumped down to the ground. Teresa watched them join the assault of the Animosh security forces with a degree of both amusement and apprehension. Though they appeared well equipped and trained, they lacked the speed and organization of the Alliance Marines Corps. All of their forces had landed around the massive Zathee habitation block and were advancing in combat teams of no more than four. Screaming Zathee citizens ran from them as they moved in through the massive doorway leading into the city-sized structure.
Rossen commands a marine squad, so they must be survivors from the crash.
"Major, please come with me," said Vigilis, as he leapt from the small craft.
Teresa was forced to turn her attention from the missing group of marines for a moment and back to the Helion that she trusted less and less. They were now hovering almost a meter from the ground, and as Teresa dropped down; she felt a searing pain rip through her legs.
Damn it!
It was nothing serious, just a mixture of cramp from being stuck on the craft in a fixed position, and her body landing on the hard surface with no shock absorption of any kind. Vigilis was already running inside, flanked by nearly a dozen guards. Teresa fell in, but as she moved, she spotted movement in the shadows. She almost raised the alarm, but the first was a Zathee male who placed a hand over his mouth as if asking her to be silent. Another nodded off to the side of the structure, appearing to beckon in a particular direction. A blast forced her to find cover a few meters away behind an upturned trade stand.
What the hell are you doing here?
She looked about and could see Vigilis also in cover and directing his Animosh. A group had moved to the first wide staircase, but volleys of thermal rounds thudded about them and forced them back.
"Vigilis, I'm not here for this. Where are my people?"
The signal from the spire was important, but there was no way she was going to let on about her newfound knowledge. For all she knew, they were on the run from the Animosh, and just one word could find every single one of them dead. Even so, it seemed incredible that the Helions would even contemplate betraying a people they had only just met. That was when she saw the look on his face. Before he had shown at least a presence of being interested, but now she could see a look of cruel pleasure as he whispered to his warriors.
He's not on our side, dammit. Why did I come out here, and on my own? You idiot!
In an instant, a trio turned back and pointed their weapons at her. Teresa's instincts kicked in, and she rolled to the side, without even considering if they were targeting her or perhaps aiming at another person that could be threatening her. She landed at the left part of the stand before a dozen rounds crashed about her. Each round hissed as it melted metal, plastic, and stone with ease.
Bastards!
Teresa grabbed her sidearm and took aim. Her accuracy was poor in this position on the ground, but that wasn't going to stop her. She looked down the sight and placed the tiny red reticle onto the chest of the nearest Animosh. The first round was on target, but she didn't have the time to take careful aim at the rest. Rapid squeezes quickly emptied the first magazine in less than two seconds, sending round after round at the Animosh. She saw at least one struck in the chest and two more in the arms, and then ducked back to load in another magazine. The sound of Vigilis barking more orders came from outside, but she could no longer see his face. It was just as well. The fact he had turned on her and her people had started to turn her calm manner to one of rage, and she knew exactly what happened when she got angry.
Stay calm, get out, and find the others, she said to herself.
As she glanced about from her position of modest cover, she spotted the Zathee off in the shadows waving to her. At least she assumed they were Zathee. Unlike the Helions, they wore brown and gray clothing that looked more like homespun material. Most had scarves or other material wrapped around their heads, but the most obvious difference was that they all looked poor and out of place next to the richness of the Helions.
What do they want?
Her second magazine slipped in easily. It was a movement she could perform without looking after years of practice and experience. She then lifted the weapon, holding it with both hands for a stable platform, and saw Vigilis and the others running across the opening from their cover back to a line of newly arrived wheeled vehicles. In the distance, a number of the small flyers were moving about, their objective far from obvious. The defenders of the habitation block were doing well, at least for now, in protecting their area.
"Okay, then, what now?" she said, as if expecting somebody to answer.
Then she remembered her secpad. She had been able to reach the spire and the marines not that long ago. Perhaps now that she was away from the Helion vehicles, she would be able to reestablish communications with them. In a single fluid movement, it was out and in front of her face. As expected, the signal was completely jammed, but it didn't stop her activating the recording mode. It would continue running like this for over an hour, recording full area video and sound. The Zathee was still trying to get her attention, and as more thermal rounds struck the fallen trade stand, she burst from cover.
"Stop!" cried a Helion officer.
For just a second, Teresa thought it was the same Helion that had turned on her, but his face was even gaunter than Vigilis. Unlike the commander, he carried a long rifle in his arms, much like the other Animosh.
Must be a junior officer. He will do for starters.
He was dressed the same as Vigilis in every other respect and was flanked by a single Animosh warrior carrying the same kind of weapon. He was in the perfect position to shoot at her. She squeezed the trigger, but before she could fire, a hole the size of her fist appeared in his chest. He staggered back, revealing a pair of Zathee who were shooting from a kneeling position. Several oversized figures moved in the shadows, and then she saw Wictred trying to move as discreetly as possible into a large foyer area and to a massive staircase that went below ground level.
Wictred? Jack might be with him.
That was all the signal she needed to keep moving. Her marine training and natural agility helped her rush across the open ground in full view of the Helion security forces. Some tried to shoot at her, but she ignored them and surged forward, relying on her speed and the defensive fire from the Zathee. By the time she'd reached the first of the steps, Wictred was long gone. Teresa slid along the ground and knelt down behind a black stone pillar that marked the corner of the immense staircase. Shouts from above heralded yet more Zathee. They ran down and directly into the gun line of the Animosh
Brave, but they don't have clue, she thought.
Teresa closed her eyes for just a moment as she tried to take it all in. It was clear to her now that the Helions were far from their friends. They must have been behind the crashing of ANS Conqueror, whereas the Zathee inhabitants of this city block had done nothing but avoid her or even help.
"Major Morato?" a familiar voice called out from the bottom of the staircase.
She glanced around the column and saw Wictred and a dozen other people heading in the darkness. There were others of a similar height to him, but she only recognized the young warrior and friend of her son's. He looked away, and for a second she thought he hadn't seen her, but then another marine appeared and looked up at her.
"Jack?" she said both to herself and those on the stairs.
Her son immediately recognized her and started to go back but was halted by Wictred. They spoke for a short time, and then Jack shouted up to her.
"Get down here. We're heading for the shuttle!"
The group continued downward with only Jack remaining and waiting for her. She didn't pause and moved out to follow him. She only made it two steps when a searing pain burned through her shoulder. She tried to steady herself, but it was too little, too late. With a howl of pain, she slipped and fell onto the hard steps. Teresa didn't move far before sliding to a stop. She lay on her back, trying to move, but the burning sensation completely paralyzed the upper part of her body. Teresa shook her head and found Jack looking down at her. He grabbed her left arm and lifted her up to his shoulder. The pain was excruciating, but he was strong enough to move her. They made it another ten steps before he was forced to stop and try to alter his grip. As he moved his hands, she cried out.
"What happened?" she asked in a brief moment of calm before it kicked in again.
"Salene screwed us. The Ambassador's daughter killed the leader of the rebels."
They stumbled on a step, and Jack leaned to his right, swinging his carbine up with one hand to fire a burst. It shook violently, and only his firm grip and the strong sling kept it from hitting the sidewall. A thermal round melted into the stonework behind them, but Jack's return fire seemed to keep them at bay, at least for a few more seconds.
"Right, keep going."
They moved on down the wide steps, as Jack tried to explain as quickly as he could.
"She turned on them and us. This was never about helping the rebels. The Helions are using us to join them in a final war against the rebels."
"War?" said Teresa, her voice now becoming weaker.
"Yes," answered Wictred, "they have done it before against their own people. They plan to use us to assist in genocide, all because we will believe the Zathee murdered our people."
Wictred pulled the device they had taken from the rebel leader and waved it in front of her. The blue ring pulsed with concealed energy and caught her attention, but she closed her eyes. Jack shook her, and they opened, though much more slowly this time.
"Hang in there. We're going with the rebels to use this."
Teresa looked at the object but had no idea what it was.
"To do what?"
Wictred grinned.
"This will bring down their security system and send out a signal to the rebels that the uprising has begun."
Teresa shook her head, trying to absorb this new information.
"You want to help them in a war?"
Jack leaned closer to her.
"They know a war with the Biomechs is coming. If we help them, they will join us. They have billions of people
including synthetics like Wictred."
Teresa looked at Wictred and laughed.
"Like Wictred? What, you mean they have Jötnar?"
A surge of pain shook her body, and she passed out once more. Teresa tried to understand exactly what he was saying, but the pangs of agony from the wound continued to wrack her body. It was unlike any injury she'd ever faced before, and the pain seemed to increase over time. Jack shifted her bodyweight, but Wictred leaned in and took most of her weight. Between them, they were easily able to continue further underground and into a wide open landing bay. The ceiling was nearly ten meters above them, but the entire floor was given over to over a dozen vehicles. Half were ground transports, but there were also four streamlined aircraft. Each was the size of an Alliance heavy bomber yet shaped more like a bird of prey. The group of rebels ran for the nearest where a pair of Zathee were busy disconnecting cables and pipes. The synthetic grunted and beckoned for them to follow him.
"I think that means come with me'!" laughed Wictred.
"You don't say," replied Jack laconically.
They covered the ground quickly, and more Zathee moved from hidden places to hold off the Animosh from reaching the underground level. Teresa tried to stand, but whatever the weapon they had used was, it had a debilitating effect on her system. It took all her effort to open her eyes, let alone speak. She gripped Jack tightly.
"We have people at the spire. They are trying to reach the fleet."
Jack looked at her, and fear reached his eyes as he watched his mother suffering.
"Jack, listen to me. Lieutenant Rossen and her team are there. Help them
"
That was all she could manage before finally passing out completely. Jack wanted to stop, but Wictred pulled Teresa and therefore him along to the craft. The side door opened, and the synthetics helped drag them in. An older looking Helion smiled as they dropped down inside. He wore the uniform of the Animosh, yet carried a bandolier across his body.
"What now?"
The Helion tapped a device on his arm and held it to his mouth. As he spoke, it translated into a machinelike voice, very much like the technology used by the T'Kari.
"We need to place the breacher into the communications grid."
Wictred listened intently, but Jack was more interested in checking the wound his mother had received. She wore a basic armored gorget under her tunic, but her torso and upper arms were unprotected. With a slash from his issue bayonet, he ripped open the fabric at her shoulder to reveal a hideous looking wound. The impact area was no bigger than his thumb, but a blue web expanded around it like diseased veins. The Helion saw it also and leaned in. His robotic voice explained in a poor but simple translation.
"Animosh thermal weapon, always fatal."
Jack shook his head angrily.
"No, we will fix this. Now, what about this spire she spoke of?"
The Helion seemed less interested, and instead, spoke to the pilot further inside the craft. The floor shook, and they were airborne and rushing out from their underground hiding place and into the fog ridden sky of Helios. No sooner had they left, and a half dozen Animosh Watchers chased after them on their ducted fan bikes. Wictred could see the fear in Jack's face and reached out to grab the Helion about the throat. The two synthetics on board watched him but did nothing to intervene, as if they somehow understood what it was he was doing.
"The spire, where is it?"
The Helion spluttered but couldn't speak without the device. One of the synthetics moved closer, moving his fist close to Wictred. For a second it looked like there might be a fight, but he grabbed the translator and held it up to the Helion.
"The spire
yes, it is that way."
He pointed while shaking from the pain. Wictred used his left hand to pull open the side door. A gust of warm air rushed inside and blew dust in their faces. He pulled on the Helion until he was near the edge.
"You can worry about your device later. First, take us to the spire."
The Helion hesitated, so Wictred pushed his head out of the side.
"Or you go out of the door. Decide now!"
"Wait, wait
" spluttered the man, though the robotic translator took much of the emotion from his voice, "The spire can be used. It is part of our communication network."
"Good," said Wictred, pushing the Helion back into his place, "take us there, now!"
He looked to the pilot and spoke quickly in his own language. The pilot seemed to argue for a moment but finally gave in. The craft banked hard to the left and accelerated with a roar. With the change of direction, the two of them could see the approaching Animosh from the left windows.
"Dammit, they're close," muttered Wictred.
It was almost as though the watchers had been listening. Flashes rippled around them as the lead riders opened fire on the shuttle. A dozen thermal rounds struck the metal framing of the craft, and it buffeted and shook from the impact. A stream of black smoke ran from one of the angular wings, and they dropped into a dive.
"Faster!" shouted Wictred.
More rounds blasted the craft, and they were quickly forced down to a height of just over a hundred meters from the ground. At that height, they needed to dodge in and out of the buildings that littered the surface of the Zathee district. The two synthetics moved to the right of the craft and pulled a series of levers. A metal layer slid to the right, revealing a cupola mount. Once done, the first moved to the other side of the craft and stumbled until finally reaching it. A quick tug on the matching lever revealed an identical cupola on the left. He looked at Jack and grunted. Wictred looked at him and then to the cupola.
"Jack, get on the guns. I'll watch Teresa."
Jack was loath to leave her, but the rounds continued to strike around their craft, and every few seconds another struck the metalwork. He nodded to his friend and lurched over to the left cupola. He squeezed into the side of the unit and examined the equipment. Handles and a trigger extended inside with a pair of stubby barrels extended out and facing backward. He held the handles and moved the barrels toward the Animosh. One short pull released a stream of pellets, each no larger than a fingernail. His shots were much too high, and they vanished off into the fog.
Right, try again!
This time he remembered the first thing he'd learned as a marine when he was on the range.
Aim low!
The burst struck the front of a large craft that featured four ducted fans. As the front two fans disintegrated under his gunfire, the squad stood on top fell to their deaths. Jack felt nothing for them and simply moved his weapon to fire at the next target. He glanced to his left at Wictred.
"How is she?"
Wictred had already placed an emergency sealant pack on the wound, and it had stopped the bleeding. He looked at him and shook his head.
"No idea. This blue stuff is new. I think she's going into shock!"
This filled Jack with even greater determination. He swung the gun around to face forward and checked to ensure they were heading for the spire. Luckily for the crew they were, Jack didn't want to think about how far he was prepared to go if they didn't do as agreed. He then pivoted back and returned fire on the Animosh. One more of the bike type vehicles crashed to the ground before they broke off and moved to a safer distance away from the shuttle. Shouting from the other side caught Jack's attention, but it was just the two Zathee synthetics arguing while trying to operate the right-hand gun. Neither could fit inside the cupola mount, but between them they could aim and control it, even if their fire was erratic and wild.
"Jack?" Teresa called out in a weak, almost impossible to hear voice over the sound of their escape. Jack heard her and immediately abandoned his sponson to move to her. Teresa's face was pale, and her voice quieter than he'd ever heard it.
"Use my
" she reached into her tunic and fiddled about, trying to grab something. She couldn't stay conscious and once more slipped away. Jack grabbed inside and found the secpad. He pulled it out and held the battered looking device in front of him. It was locked, but he entered his Marine Corps access code and it activated. The last message had been auto analyzed and converted to text. He read it and instantly worked out what had happened.
So, the LT and the others made it to the spire. They must be heading for the high ground to reach the fleet. If we meet them there, we can kill two birds with one stone.
He nearly smiled, but their situation and the prone shape of his badly wounded mother shook him instantly back to reality.
The gun!
He hauled himself back to the cupola in time to see two of the watchers flash past and rake the side of the craft with thermal gunfire. This time they must have hit something important, as they lost height and dropped twenty meters before leveling off. Jack looked around and saw the spire was now no more than a kilometer away. He fired another burst at them, lifted the secpad to his face, and hit the reconnect option. It took a few seconds, but at this range it could burn through the jamming. The face of Thai Qiu-Li appeared, much to his surprise.
"Jack, where are you?" she asked.
Another blast struck the shuttle, and it lurched to the right, dropping down below the top levels of the nearest buildings. The secpad flew from Jack's hands, clattering across he floor and landing near Teresa. He was forced to grab one of the many emergency straps to stop him being thrown to the wall.
"We're going down," Wictred said in his usual laconic tone.
Jack looked out through the tiny slit on the cupola and immediately knew his friend spoke the truth. They were trailing smoke from a dozen holes, and the ground was getting closer and closer.
"Throw it over," he called out.
Wictred looked down, grabbed the device, and hurled it to Jack who caught it between two fingers. The face of his friend still showed though the top corner had decayed.
"Still there?" he asked.
"Yes, what's happening?"
"We're coming to you, and we have company."
She shook her head in a knowing way, as if it was exactly what she would have expected from Jack. From his position, Jack could see her face, but the background was continually moving.
"Well, we're going inside on the twenty-fifth floor. There is a walkway that goes up to the top. We should be able to reach the fleet from there."
Jack nodded.
"Good, we need to let them know what's happening. It's a lot bigger than you think."
She smiled.
"Isn't that what you tell all the girls, Jack?"
He almost blushed at that.
"Nice. We'll see you there. I have Wictred and my mother with me."
Thai Qiu-Li's face vanished. For a second, Jack felt a burst of an adrenalin rush through his body, imagining something must have happened to her. But the face of Hunn and then Lieutenant Rossen appeared as she grabbed the device from the marine.
"Private, get here fast. You can explain when you arrive. Watch your backs!"
The image cut, and Jack looked back at his friend who was now helping to load the right-hand gun mount. The Helion defector, who until now had been silent, pulled himself toward the front of the craft and spoke with the pilot before slumping down. He grabbed at the straps, pulling them around him. Jack looked at him before realizing what he was doing.
He's getting ready for a crash landing!
"Wictred! Get ready!"
The front of the craft lifted up, and the pilot managed to increase height by using what energy was left in their engines and also the forward momentum they had built up. Even so, it was already slowing down and probably not far from a stall. It suddenly seemed to float in the air, neither moving up nor down. The pilot shouted something, and the Helion unfastened his straps and moved for the door. Only when he reached it did he look back and shout into his translator.
"Get out, now!"
 *
Hunn spotted the shuttle first, reaching out with his left arm to identify it. From the position so far up the spire, they had an excellent view of the surrounding area, but the fog and periodic clouds of pollution had masked its approach until it was barely a hundred meters away.
"I see them," said Lieutenant Rossen, finding the black trails.
"How did they make it that far?" asked Thai Qiu-Li.
"Easy," explained Hunn, "Jack and Wictred are on board. It takes more than a few natives on bikes to stop them."
Lieutenant Rossen looked back at him.
"Bikes?"
"Yeah, like those."
A flight of five ducted fan riders powered overhead and performed a steep bank to target the shuttle. Even as they moved in, it was clear people were trying to get out onto the platform five levels below them.
"They won't make it," said Rossen bitterly.
It was obvious to all three of them, yet only the Lieutenant had wanted to say anything. Streaks from the heated rounds slammed into the shuttle, and chunks of melted metal ripped off from its hull.
"Maybe, maybe not," muttered Hunn, lifting his carbine.
In the brief moment before he pulled the trigger, he altered the firing mode and chose the most powerful triple-round blast. It kicked into his shoulder and sent a super-velocity round. The other two did the same, each taking careful aim and firing at any of the Animosh watchers if they strayed too close. Two of them were quickly downed before they realized there were shooters actually inside the spire. Hunn spotted a small group leap from the shuttle as it tipped over and tumbled down toward the ground. A yellow flash ripped apart the nose of the craft, and an armored section rocketed into the sky before a series of retro rockets activated.
"Nice shooting!" came a familiar voice from five floors down.
Hunn moved to the edge and leaned over to get a better look. He could see Jack and Wictred carrying a wounded marine between them. There was also a Helion and two more figures that he couldn't identify.
"Get your asses up here!" he bellowed, watching the synthetic Zathee following the others to the passageway in front of the wide set of stairs. He turned around to face his comrades.
"Right, who are they?"
Lieutenant Rossen shrugged.
"Who, the two giants at the back?"
Hunn nodded quickly.
"Who cares? Right now, we have a signal to make, and now they know we're here. Look!"
She pointed as three of the larger ducted fan aircraft moved down and landed in the street. Small groups of Animosh fanned out into the structure. Thai Qiu-Li pulled out her secpad and held it up, trying to get a signal. The interference was already substantially less, but her view of the sky was still obstructed by the rest of the spire.
"I have to get to the top to finish this."
Thai Qiu-Li didn't wait for confirmation and simply ran off to the nearest steps, continuing the last few levels to the top. Hunn checked his carbine and moved to the ramp that led back down to the next floor. He threw the Lieutenant a sideways glance.
"I take it we're going to keep them busy?'
She nodded.
"Yes, they'll pick us off on the roof. We'll watch each of the four sides, and give Thai Qiu-Li the time she needs. Are you ready?"
"Always."
They split up, each moving to a different side of the building. This far up it was much narrower, and the central core was solid with apartments and derelict control rooms littering the place. The design reminded Lieutenant Rossen of the Eiffel Tower back in France on Earth. The difference was that the ancient tower in France was simply a metal tower. This spire on Helios was a black framework that supported an internal tower of black stone. It meant they would not easily be able to see each other when spaced out.
Jack and the others finally arrived and fanned out on the same floor. He moved up to her and saluted.
"Sir, we have this."
He handed her the breacher unit.
"What is it, Private?"
The Helion that had gone with them approached with his two synthetic comrades right behind him. He spoke, and his translator did its usual job of reducing any sense of compassion or emotion to that of a pitiless machine.
"It is what our leader was killed for, and why your ship was crashed. With it, we can bring down this regime."
"What?"
She turned to Jack with a bitter expression on her face, paying no further attention to the device.
"You want to get us involved in a Helion civil war? You fool!"
CHAPTER TWELVE
How many would have thought that visitors from the Orion Nebula might have visited the moon of humanity millennia earlier? The Helios Expedition opened up research into the fields of genetics, physics, and cosmology in ways nobody could heave dreamt a generation earlier. Life on other worlds had long been considered likely, but the discovery of so many races came as a shock. Archaeological teams soon made discoveries under the surface of Titan that would finally prove the links between the races of Earth and Orion went back to before the ancient Biomech War.
The Lost World
General Rivers waited inside the Great Council along with Admiral Anderson. They had been waiting there for almost ten minutes while the representatives from the other Powers arrived. Ambassador Broby Ramir entered with several Helion officials. He smiled and shook their hands before walking toward the two military men.
"Well, that went well," he said with a smile on his face.
Anderson looked to the General and back to the Ambassador.
"What went well? We haven't started yet."
"My meeting with the Helions. We have come to a number of agreements."
General Rivers' face seemed to almost instantly change color at this information. Although not a politician, he was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and any matter relating to security was his area of importance. Any decisions made regarding the military situation should have included him. He didn't have time to speak though before Ayndir and T'Kron of the T'Kari arrived and moved to him. T'Kron in particular looked worried and spoke so quickly his translator could barely keep up.
"What the hell is going on?" demanded the Senator when he realized they had completely ignored him.
Ayndir continued walking toward them until reaching the allocated place for the Alliance. The Senator almost exploded with impatience as he waited for her translator to start.
"We have news that terrorists have struck your ship's survivors. Major Morato is missing, possibly dead. The Helions are about to make an announcement."
"I know!" snapped the Ambassador. "I have already spoken with the Helion officials, and I have also contacted Terra Nova for orders."
"What?" growled General Rivers.
Admiral Anderson's attention slipped though, and he looked out to his right where a small group of marines were doing their best to look as inconspicuous as possible. They were in the doorway and carefully positioned so that they could be inside in seconds. He looked to General Rivers who saw his look and nodded slowly.
"You expecting trouble?" asked the Admiral.
"We've got a ship down and terrorists on the loose. They are keeping something from us."
He then looked at the Ambassador.
"And for some reason you have been making decisions without involving the rest of us."
The man shrugged, turning away to speak with the two T'Kari. General Rivers pulled out his secpad, turning away from the arriving dignitaries. Senator Broby Ramir continued to speak with the two T'Kari. The General stepped nearer to the Admiral.
"I've been keeping a close eye on the fleet and on Major Morato. I cannot reach her, but infrequent bursts from her locator show her to be in this district, far outside of the crash site."
Admiral Anderson looked at the map carefully.
"What is she doing there?"
"Last time we spoke, she was assisting Vigilis, the Watcher of the City. Commander Gun is on standby should she need help. Something is about to happen here, and the Ambassador has fallen hook line and sinker for it. We need to be ready."
They both checked for their firearms before looking back at the others in the vast chamber. It was now almost a third full, and more were arriving when an alarm sounded, and five hidden blast doors instantly shut. Anderson looked to the General and nodded.
Yes, here is comes, Rivers thought.
The door sealed shut, locking everybody inside, and blocking out the marine security detail that had been standing in the main doorway. Cloaked and half-helmed Helion security staff moved around the perimeter with their firearms resting on their shoulders. Harlan appeared at the raised platform in the center. None of them had seen him enter the chamber. He lifted his hands, and the sound of panic and confusion abated a little, though not completely. He started speaking, and most of those present reached for the translator units. General Rivers grabbed one but managed to miss the first few words. He listened for a few seconds and then turned to Admiral Anderson.
"They are declaring a State of Emergency. Zathee terrorists are attacking state buildings, and the army is being deployed. They're expecting suicide attacks."
A light in his secpad lit up, and it started to beep. General Rivers couldn't remember the last time such an override message had arrived. Only the most important messages could do that, and it sent a pulse through his body as he imagined what it might be. He lifted the unit so that both he and the Admiral could read it. It was short, and left the two of them speechless. Senator Broby noticed their expressions, turning from the two T'Kari in mid-sentence.
"What is it?"
Anderson looked at General Rivers and just nodded. The Senator looked angry that the two men wouldn't simply just give him the information on command. He took a step toward them and lifted is right hand to point.
"Well?"
Harlan was still talking, and many of those in the chamber continued to speak in the background. Anderson waited until the Ambassador was closer before explaining.
"We've just received a signal from the fleet. Major Morato and the others are trapped in a structure in the Zathee district."
"The Zathee?"
He started to turn around, but Anderson placed his hand on the man's shoulder.
"No, it is more serious. Helion state security forces are complicit in this attack. Commander Gun is waiting for our signal."
The Senator looked at them both in a disbelieving manner. He had experienced conspiracy and betrayal back home on several occasions, but this all seemed absurd to him. He looked at Harlan and shook his head, muttering to himself. The two military men knew too well however what a risky situation they were in.
"Is that secure?" asked Anderson, glancing toward the secpad.
General Rivers smiled but so faintly it was barely discernible.
"We're alive, that should tell us all we need to know."
Harlan had finished, and a number of delegates from the other factions were either clapping or shouting. Senator Broby lifted a hand, and Harlan noticed him. He nodded, indicating for two of the Helion security personnel to escort him to the raised platform. General Rivers tried to step forward to block him, but Anderson held him back.
"No, watch what happens. If the message was correct, they will want our support in this revolt."
General Rivers agreed but still wanted to intercept the Ambassador.
"The fool. If we help them, we'll be complicit in the genocide of the Zathee."
He'd lived through the attempted purges of the Jötnar back in Alliance territory after the War. If they hadn't been stopped early on, the Jötnar may have revolted and thrown them back into a bloody civil war. The thought of being involved in a similar situation with a people they'd known for less than a year appalled him.
"The Helions know a war is coming, and we need every warrior we can find, including the Zathee if we're going to survive it."
There was a short lull, and he was forced to stay quiet until Harlan continued his speech. A few others spoke, and the background noise increased in volume. He looked back at the Admiral.
"Don't forget they've already betrayed our own people. How many are they prepared to kill among us and the Zathee to achieve their ends?"
Senator Broby Ramir, now the Alliance Ambassador stood still in the center of the podium and lifted his hands to get the attention of those watching. Some stopped talking, but just as many continued to speak.
"I would like to offer my condolences to the Helions and to anyone else that has suffered at the hands of the terrorists. Many of my own citizens have been saved by the hard work of your people, and we will do whatever we must to protect ourselves from these terrorists."
General Rivers shook his head as the Ambassador spoke. He hadn't been privy to any of this discussion, and it was in direct contravention to their plan prior to landing on Helios.
"My own people are no strangers to these acts, and they must be dealt with quickly and decisively. I have already spoken with Harlan concerning the growing troubles here and have contacted my government to explain the local situation. I am pleased to announce we are in the final stages of offering assistance to Helios to maintain stability."
It took almost two seconds before there was any response from the audience. Most stayed silent, but the Helion contingent clapped with great enthusiasm, and Harlan himself seemed impressed with the words.
"We have to stop this," said General Rivers, "He's going to commit us to this cause when we need to be getting ready to fight the real enemy. This will just sap the strength of all Helions, and put blood on our hands."
Anderson nodded grimly.
"Yes, and that message from Major Morato indicated the Helions have murdered dozens, perhaps hundreds of our own people. There will have to be a reckoning for today. If we aren't careful, this could turn to a full-scale war between our people and them."
"What do you suggest?"
Rivers felt cold metal against his flank and turned his head to see a man with an edged weapon placed against his body. Three more moved around him and the Admiral, each aiming a weapon at them. Though they were Helions, they were wearing similar clothing to the humans, and it was only at this range that he even realized they were not of his own contingent. The nearest leaned in close and spoke with a thick accent that sounded rehearsed. He could see the Helion's pale skin and thin limbs.
"Say nothing, this will be over soon."
General Rivers looked into the alien's eyes and knew instantly what was going to happen. His coloring and body shape reminded him of the many Helion citizens he'd seen over the last few days, but he had no idea what racial group or position he might have. He looked down and was sure he could see a box-shaped device under the Helion's tunic.
A bomb, they are going to kill us.
One of the group cast off his tunic, revealing the brown hues of the Zathee underneath. It had been a poor attempt at a disguise, and if the marine guards had still been inside, they would have picked up on it right away. Around the man's body were six flashing devices, and in his left hand was a control-unit with a toggle switch on the top. One of the others called out in his own tongue, the nearest shouted in English, something that was as much a surprise to General Rivers as was the intrusion.
"Freedom! Freedom for the Zathee!"
General Rivers could take no more and twisted around to slam his fist into the Helion's face. Instinctively, the alien thrust his blade into the General's flank, but he ignored the pain and crashed his fist into the man. He dropped back and fell to the ground, knocked out cold by the hammer blow. Anderson jumped into the fray, and in seconds, two more lay on the ground. Harlan watched with a bitter expression on his face. He turned to his guards and screamed something. For the briefest of moments, General Rivers thought the Helion leader was about to help them, even if it was just to save face. He was wrong though, and in an instant, the Helion security forces broke ranks and fanned out through the Council Chambers.
"Get down!" he barked.
Ambassador Ramir was the first to be killed when a hidden assailant pushed a blade through his back. He fell from the podium to the screams of those assembled. Gunshots erupted, and the place turned to a bloodbath as citizens, ambassadors, and security forces fought in a confused battle. Anderson and Rivers threw themselves down, a reaction that had been honed by years of battle experience. Ayndir was too slow, and she was cut down by stray gunfire before T'Kron could pull her down to safety. Anderson grabbed his sidearm and took cover behind the nearest of the low seats.
"Rivers, what the hell is going on here?"
Both took aim with their pistols, using them to pin down the nearest of the Helion guard; one of them managed a perfect headshot before ducking back down. The General grabbed his secpad and tapped it furiously.
"An assassination attempt on us. It's pretty simple. They kill us here, and the Alliance will have to support the Helions against the rebels."
Anderson moved to the right and past a fallen Helion. He used the cover to mask himself and took aim at another group of four guards. He fired a single shot and then examined the fallen enemy. It was one of the group that had attacked them. When he pulled his tunic away, it revealed bare skin underneath. What caught his attention was a detailed black mark, much like a tattoo on his neck.
"Animosh," said T'Kron. He'd moved over to him, looking for signs of their aggressors. Like the Alliance officers, he also carried a sidearm and was prepared to use it.
"You're sure?" asked Anderson.
T'Kron nodded, "That is the mark of the Animosh security forces. This was supposed to look like the Zathee."
"Bastards!"
Anderson turned around to face General Rivers. He had seen and heard it all.
"Can you reach the fleet still?"
The General pointed the secpad to the Admiral and showed him a split screen. At the top was the angry face of the task force commander and at the bottom the face of Commander Gun.
"Do it," said General Rivers and then rolled back into cover.
"What's happening?" asked Anderson.
General Rivers moved another short distance until he could use the base of the raised plinth in the middle of the room. Several of the bodyguards from the other Powers had managed to overpower three of the Helion guards and had taken their weapons. Harlan, in the meantime, was moving back toward the main entrance with two-dozen guards, each shooting anybody that approached. Rivers turned from them and looked at Anderson.
"I'll tell you what's happening. Gun has been looking for a fight for months, and he's going to make them regret the day they ever turned on us!"
 *
Jack and Wictred reached the rest of the marines first and quickly moved the fallen Teresa into the nearest security room. The door was locked and windows sealed, but a quick strike from Wictred's boot forced it open. They went inside and placed her on the table. Lieutenant Rossen ran in to see the three of them, completely ignoring the Helion and the two synthetics waiting at the doorway.
"What's going on?" she demanded, wasting no time on pleasantries.
"We escaped with help from the Zathee underground," explained Jack, stripping the clothing from around his mother's wound.
"And her?"
The blue spider's web of around the wound had expanded further, and Teresa was now completely unconscious.
"She was hit by Animosh security forces when we escaped."
The Helion man approached and looked down at her. He placed a hand on her arm and then looked to Jack.
"I can stabilize her for a few hours, that is all."
From inside his long coat, he pulled out a small pack about the size of his hand, placing it on the table.
"What's in there?" asked Jack suspiciously.
The Helion smiled crookedly at him.
"The Animosh often use these weapons against us. Even a wound will kill over time. We have medicines that can help."
He opened the pack, revealing a dozen metal cylinders and vials of blue and green fluids. Jack stepped back to let him work and turned to the others.
"These are Helion synthetics, like Hunn and Wictred. They helped us escape, but there are more coming."
Lieutenant Rossen nodded.
"Yes, we saw. Thai Qiu-Li is on the roof trying to make contact with the fleet. We need help down here and fast."
Several bursts of gunfire from outside caught their attention, and her secpad crackled to life. She tapped it and transferred the audio feed to her earpiece. Jack did the same and was surprised to find he could speak with them all.
Finally, something actually works!
Of course it was down to the fact they were high and well above the jamming equipment of the Animosh, as well as in close proximity to each other. It was an open channel between the squad, and Jack could barely contain his smile at the sound of Hunn, his old friend, as he spoke.
"Thirty plus targets on the steps, more on the way."
Rossen looked at them in the room and moved back to the doorway.
"Look, there are only two wide staircases heading up here to the roof. Either they come up on foot or they land by aircraft. Wictred, Jack, and those brutes out there, you hold the staircase. Hunn and I will move up to the top level and look after Thai Qiu-Li."
Jack almost seemed to wince at the mention of her name, as if he had done her some great disservice.
"Lieutenant, I've reached the fleet!" said the young marine over the communications network.
"General Darcy is sending Hammerheads to our position. ETA, fifteen minutes."
Lieutenant Rossen smiled at Jack before replying.
"Good work, Private. Are you still in contact?"
"Better than that, Sir, I've got a relay configured up here. I can come back down now."
"Excellent work, get back here. We need all the help we can get."
She changed to the repeater signal and was immediately connected to the marine liaison officer on board one of the major warships in orbit.
"Major Sherman here. We have seven Hammerheads en route. I have also made contact with Commander Gun planeside. He is coordinating ground actions in the capital."
She wasn't quite sure what that was all about, but right now they had more pressing concerns. She looked to her right. Jack and the two synthetics were dragging metal containers to barricade the open space facing the staircase. Wictred, meanwhile, defended the steps alone as they made the preparations.
"Lieutenant, we have a problem. The Helion defense grid is active. We've just lost a Hammerhead to automated ground fire. We can't get anything below ten kilometers."
The signal crackled, vanishing for a moment before returning.
"
for Commander Gun. We cannot get anything in the air for either of you without being shot down."
Jack heard the conversation as it was being broadcast to all of them on their open channel. He felt momentarily sick at the prospect of failing after they had made it so far, when he remembered the breacher. He reached inside his jacket and held it up to show the Lieutenant for the second time. Jack smiled, realizing what he carried.
"The rebels gave it to us. It will override the Helion defense system and shut it down."
Rossen looked shocked at this information.
"What? Are you serious? Use it!"
She reached for the unit, but Jack moved it aside, now starting to doubt whether it should be used.
"It is to be activated to start the Zathee uprising. If we use it, this world will tear itself apart."
Lieutenant Rossen considered his words but only for a few seconds.
"How do we use it?"
Jack now looked confused as he examined the outer shell for a sign of how it should be connected.
"Uh, uh
"
The Helion busy working to help Teresa stepped to the doorway and called out to them. He was nearly twenty meters away but must have been listening to their conversation.
"That is a military-grade breacher unit. You need to plug it in directly to a communication node, like that one," he said, pointing to a gantry one floor up and extended out to the side of the building.
Jack looked at it carefully but could only see a metal box on the framing. It was completely exposed to the elements, and almost certainly the gunfire from the enemy. He then looked back down to the unit itself.
"You're kidding, that thing up there?"
The Helion nodded.
"Yes, open the panel and replace the unit with your one. The rest is automatic, assuming your information is legitimate."
He walked back inside, and the Lieutenant looked back to Jack. She looked worried, and Jack sensed her indecision.
"Sir, the man that gave this to us said it would bring down all the Helion defenses and leave them open to a short coup. The Ambassador was taking it to them when they were attacked on our ship. Once the rebels take control, they promise to support us against the Biomechs."
"If it works. It could just start a war, one we will be responsible for. We
I can't be held responsible for a decision like that."
Jack shook his head.
"No, the Helions started this when they attacked our ship and murdered our crew. Do you know how many Zathee have died in the last three hundred years at their hands? How many have died helping us to get here? We owe it to them," he said, pointing out in the distance.
Lieutenant Rossen sighed, the weight of the decision playing firmly on her, but even now she couldn't make the call; that one choice that could save them, or burn the world around them, potentially leaving them as the greatest criminals the Helions had encountered since their war with the Biomechs over a thousand years before.
"Jack!" Teresa called in a weak voice from inside the security room.
They both turned to see the haggard and partially dressed form of Teresa. She leaned against the doorframe with the Helion standing behind her in the shadows. There was open space in front of her, yet something caught her eye. Jack followed it, but he was too slow to spot the two Animosh warriors pulling themselves over the gantry on the left side of the structure and drop down onto the level. One moved behind a wide pillar, but Teresa cut the other to pieces. She had whipped out her sidearm and hit him twice in the head before losing her balance.
"No!" shouted Jack, but she hit the ground, only just protecting her face with her hands. Jack started toward her, but she waved him off.
"Help the rebels, Jack. We don't need these animals on our side."
Jack knew that voice, and he also knew deep down that he was going to do it. He had known the minute he'd seen the synthetics and heard of their persecution. He stepped away and threw a short glance to the Lieutenant.
"I'm doing it, to hell with them all."
She watched him go but was lost for words as he rounded the corner, moving to the steps that lead to the next level. At the same time, the first wave of Animosh reached the top of the wide steps and fanned out onto their level. Wictred and the two synthetics opened fire at close range. Wictred had selected the rapid-fire mode on his carbine and cut down the first four before they even saw him. The synthetics used captured thermal weapons and between them brought down three more.
"Aircraft!" shouted somebody on the network.
Jack rolled to the side of the steps, and a burst of a dozen rounds burned into the metal around him. One reached just half a meter from his head, but he regained his balance and pushed on. As he reached the top, he glanced back and could see the marines blazing away at the Animosh trying to break out from the two staircases. Rossen and Hunn added their own fire to the cloud of ducted fan flyers whooshing like insects around the top of the tower. One spun down with black smoke belching from its engine, but another quickly replaced it.
Come on, Jack, get it over with!
He pushed out from the cover and sprinted over the open ground, passing by three pillars before spotting the moving shadow.
Something is coming down!
He rolled across the ground and slid against the fourth column, his carbine raised and ready for whoever or whatever it might be. The footsteps became louder, and then the form of Thai Qiu-Li appeared. She staggered but kept moving. He jumped out to grab her and pull her from the stray rounds striking the building. There was blood on her chest and arm.
"Thai Qiu-Li, are you hurt?" he asked stupidly.
She looked at him with amused eyes and then slumped forward. Jack held her weight but could see the dark red blood dripping from her back. He looked at her face, but it was deathly white. There were three burn marks from thermal rounds in her chest and another on her shoulder. As he examined her, he knew it was a miracle she'd got so far. There were more noises from above, and two Animosh appeared on the steps, looking down. Jack lifted his carbine and put a shot between the eyes of the first, but the second ducked back out of sight.
"Thai Qiu-Li, I'll be back for you," he said, lowering her still form to the ground.
The start of the gantry was only a short distance away, but if there were Animosh above him, they'd kill him the minute he stepped out.
I need to get rid of them first.
Jack activated the rapid-fire mode on his carbine and sprinted up the steps to the next level.
"This is Jack. Thai Qiu-Li is down, and there are Animosh on the rooftop."
"Understood," replied Lieutenant Rossen, "be quick and get that unit activated!"
Jack had hoped they might be able to send somebody to help, but the whoosh from gunship firing rockets reminded him how hard the others were being hit. A four-engine ducted fan flyer moved past and hovered to the side of the floor he was approaching and dropped off another four Animosh, as well as something else, something much larger. He ducked back and watched from the last few steps.
"Uh, Lieutenant, did you know they have infantry combat drones?"
The machine was slightly larger than a Helion and bipedal, but armored in a similar fashion to the T'Kari. In its arms, it carried a larger thermal rifle that looked more like a cannon.
Well, here we go.
Jack clipped his bayonet to the muzzle of his carbine and took aim at the nearest Animosh. Again he scored a perfect shot to the head and then moved out from his cover. There were three more of them, plus the missing one that had gone into hiding. The machine instantly spotted him and swiveled about nosily to aim its weapon. Jack sprinted as fast as he could, sliding to a stop behind a column. The gun flashed, and a streak of blue energy pulsed out to strike the column, but not before vaporizing one of the other warriors that had managed to get in the way.
"Nice, two left plus that thing."
He reached into his webbing gear but could find no grenades. It was an automatic reaction, but he'd completely forgotten how lightly equipped they all were. More rockets continued to strike the building, and large chunks of black masonry ripped off to fall onto the lower levels.
"Jack, we need that signal!"
He looked to the three targets, but the voice of the Lieutenant kept ringing in his ears. He inhaled a deep, long breath and ran from the cover and toward the edge of the building. All three of them opened fire, but only the machine was accurate to strike near enough. As he reached the railing, a round blew a hole the size of his head in the metal framing. Without hesitating, he jumped up, throwing himself off the edge and into open air. Shot after shot flashed past him as he fell an entire level, crashing halfway along the gantry. His carbine clattered away and tumbled from the edge, and he slipped from the rusted walkway.
You idiot, get to your feet.
He knew he didn't have long, and so with all the strength he had left, yanked himself to the metal flooring and limped to the control box. It wasn't particularly big and was surrounded on all sides by a thin acrylic type protective shell. Jack kicked at it twice, and it cracked and fell apart, revealing the unit. He expected it to be stiff, but the door opened to reveal a complex series of circuits and cylinders.
"Sir, I'm at the unit."
He looked at each piece, finally reaching a sphere identical to the one he was currently holding. It took a firm tug to dislodge it, yet nothing happened.
Weird.
Jack had expected something to happen, even if just a noise. Somebody shouted from behind, and the two surviving Animosh on the floor above spotted him. One lifted his rifle, but Jack knew he couldn't waste time. With a quick movement, he forced the breacher into the unit and slammed the door shut. The first shots from the Animosh struck the metal framing and another came even closer. More concerning was the head of the mechanical beast that was moving slowly to the edge.
Move it, now!
Ignoring the gunfire, he clambered back across the gantry and hurled himself to the safety of the floor. A powerful shot ripped apart a large chunk of the metal structure, and part of it fell away, including a section of the communication relay.
 *
"Well?" demanded Commander Gun for the tenth time.
The three Hammerheads sat on the landing platform with their engines running and each packed with marines. Gun waited outside while a squad kept their carbines trained on a group of battered and bruised looking Helions. Gun looked out at the smoke almost two kilometres away, where the fourth of the Hammerheads had crashed with the loss of everybody on board. He wanted to hit something, and the longer he waited, the more likely it was that he would turn on their prisoners. Luckily for them, the young communications specialist in the lead craft leaned out from the side.
"Commander, the grid is down! They did it."
Gun nodded grimly.
"Good, let's go. You know the target!"
As soon as one of his feet touched the floor of his personal Hammerhead, it started to lift. In seconds, they were airborne and accelerating quickly over the heavily polluted surface of Helios. Gun tapped his communications unit to speak with all marine units within range.
"This is Commander Gun. Commence the attack. You're are authorized to use lethal force."
The words seemed to excite him more than anybody else in the craft. It had been sometime since he'd been able to flex his muscles, and as usual, it was being left to the last minute before he could help.
Looks like it's Gun to the rescue, he thought, and unsurprisingly it made him feel good.
 *
Jack had managed to get the lower levels in less than a minute, but the gantry and the communications unit was completely destroyed. Even as he ran, the combat drone gave pursuit and was moving almost as fast as him. By the time he reached the others, it was only one floor above him. The sight that greeted him almost stopped him in his tracks. One of the synthetics lay dead on the steps, and Wictred was wrapping a thick bandage around his waist.
"My mother?" he asked.
Wictred nodded at the pillar to his left. Teresa lay at the base, as well as the shattered body of the Helion who had helped them. Jack ran to her and was relieved to find she was conscious, though incredibly weak. More rounds hit nearby, and Lieutenant Rossen popped her head from behind one of the improvised barricades to call to him.
"Get down, the next wave is coming."
He knelt down beside his mother, and that was when he spotted the body of Hunn lying face down on the ground, a dark pool of blood around his head. Jack shook his head angrily and made to move to him, but Teresa grabbed his arm.
"No, take my weapon, stop them!"
She was weak, but he could see the fire in her eyes, the same fire he saw in his father when he was committed to action. Jack took the pistol from her and moved to the barricade alongside the Lieutenant and Wictred.
"Where is the other synthetic?"
Wictred angled his head to the other staircase.
"He's held it for three minutes now, not bad for one of them."
Lieutenant Rossen checked her carbine and lifted it to place the barrel on the top of the cover. She aimed carefully and waited for the next wave. Instead of Animosh, a small object flew through the air and landed amongst them. Jack dived to the side, but the young officer threw herself onto the weapon moments before it exploded with a flash. It wasn't a powerful weapon, but it killed her instantly, and the blast sent Jack and Wictred tumbling to the floor. Jack's vision blurred, but his first thought was to get up. It was hard, almost impossible, but with great effort he sat up and aimed his pistol at the staircase. Two Animosh appeared, but both were cut down by gunfire from behind him. He turned around to see two Hammerheads, hovering and blazing away with their gun turrets. One shattered the attack of the Animosh, and the second tore the combat drone apart as though it had been constructed from rotten wooden timbers. Another moved closer, and marines jumped down and spread out to secure the level.
We did it, he thought, though the victory felt hollow.
He looked back at the bloodbath around them and shook his head angrily. Hunn was gone; Thai Qiu-Li had been cut down by the Animosh, and now so to was the Lieutenant. He forced himself up and staggered over to Teresa, dropping down to his knees next to her. She smiled at him as he appeared.
"You reenlisted for this?" he said, shaking his head.
Teresa smiled back.
"The Marine Corps? The best days of my life."
Jack laughed, and the two of them sat there, watching the smoke rising in the distance as the revolution began.
 *
Over thirty bodies lay strewn about the chamber, and the cries of the wounded became louder than the fighting. T'Kron had managed to pull Ayndir to the safety of a shattered Helion sculpture, but bullets continued to pass by overhead. Harlan and his guards, however, had secured the main doorway area and looked like they were trying to get out. Anderson stood up to take a shot, but the return fire from the Helion guards forced him down. Their accuracy surprised even him.
"Who the hell are they?"
T'Kron nodded in their direction.
"More Animosh, the internal security forces. They are the Helions' best. Indoctrinated from birth to
"
Anderson turned away, shaking his head for T'Kron to stop. General Rivers heard the description of the enemy and crawled over to the sculpture.
"Animosh you said? Like the suicide attackers in here? Those are the same forces that are attacking Lieutenant Rossen and the others. She said they'd murdered our crew and were hunting them down."
He shook his head angrily.
"If they get out, they'll burn this place down and then blame the Zathee, and nobody will ever know of this betrayal. We'll be sucked into a decade long war here."
The main door opened and revealed a great yellow gleam of light. From the dark interior of the chamber, it looked like the sun itself was burning down through the entrance.
"Come on!" snapped the General, lifting himself to his feet.
Anderson was with him, along with T'Kron and two other T'Kari that had managed to avoid gunfire until now. Rivers looked at their little band, and deep down, he knew they had no chance. They were exposed and now facing off against the dozen Animosh that were standing as Harlan's rearguard. The first of the group were already out.
This is it. We have to stop them.
He lifted his pistol, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. The blast at the doorway knocked them all to the ground and filled the place with dust. The bright yellow opening turned brown and then black, as the Animosh were blown apart by the impact. Body parts flew back into the chamber, and Rivers spotted the shattered remains of an Animosh guard crash to the ground in a bloody pile. Two of the other Animosh ran for cover, but Anderson and General Rivers shot them down before they could reach the nearest safety.
"What the hell?" said Admiral Anderson in a dumbfounded tone.
Both of the senior officers aimed their pistols at the breach, but the shape that emerged transformed their expression to that of pleasure, mixed with relief. Like a massive metal beast, the form of Commander Gun entered. He didn't stop until he was deep inside, and a full platoon of Alliance marines had fanned out in the chamber. In his left hand, he held the shaking form of Harlan.
"Gun!" called out a relieved General Rivers.
With a quick push, he cast the man across the floor where he landed just a meter in front of T'Kron. The normally placid T'Kari leader kicked the Helion as he lay writhing on the ground, shouting at him in one of their languages. Gun stomped forward and stopped in front of General Rivers. He delivered a mock salute and then lifted his left boot to rest it on the chest of the terrified Harlan.
"General, Admiral, good to see you both."
He turned and started to move back as more marines streamed inside. Right behind them came Alliance medical teams moving to the many wounded littering the chamber.
"You need to see this."
He was at the door and outside before any of them could speak. General Rivers helped Anderson, who seemed to be having difficulty with his left leg. They staggered to the door past the bodies and blood. Gun seemed completely unaware as to what had happened, and simply waited a few meters outside for them to reach him. Once there, they could look out at the great expanse of the city. Gun's arm extended out, and he pointed off toward a series of massive towers and spires to the south. Great columns of black smoke rose up into the sky, and vapor trails indicated the location of a myriad of tiny aerial battles.
"What's happened?" asked Anderson.
"Teresa and her marines, they did something to bring down the military network. That's how we were able to bring reinforcements from the fleet."
"Is she safe?" asked the General.
Gun nodded, trying to hide his excessively wide smile.
"Oh, yes. Hammerheads secured the site, and she's on her way here now, along with the survivors."
Anderson nodded but concentrated his focus on the black columns of smoke coming form the city.
"What about those?"
Gun grinned at that last part.
"Ah, that's the rebels. Teresa said the Zathee and the synthetics were coming this way. Looks like her people started a revolution."
Anderson and Rivers looked at each other, but neither seemed particularly surprised.
"I see," said General Rivers finally, "It looks like we have a war whether we like it or not."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The story of Spartan took a drastic turn over the course of the exploration of the Orion Nebula. Most in the Alliance assumed he was dead, or at the very least captured by the enemy following the mysterious Rift Incident in T'Kari space. There were some though that waited and prayed for his return and for his inevitable vengeance, small groups that knew that if the legendary warrior were ever to return, the face of the entire sector would be changed forever.
The Rise of Spartan
Spartan opened his eyes and saw that once more he was in the interrogation room. This time, however, there was a man present. He tilted his head to the right. It couldn't go far, but he could see the shape of Khan tied down on the flat panel beside him. As he moved, he could feel the metal strap on his right arm wobbled slightly. It wasn't much, but it was a degree of movement he hadn't expected. The man approached and leaned in close to his face.
"Spartan, hero of the Alliance. Are you ready?"
Spartan recognized the man's face instantly.
"Typhon, you bastard!"
He tensed his muscles slightly and felt the metal move.
This is a chance. You have to take it!
The man looked at him with merciless eyes, the face of a man he knew he had seen die already in the flames of Terra Nova in the last days of the Uprising. At a short distance away in the background was one of the machines. This was the smaller yellow one, a model he only recalled seeing twice before. It was thickly armored and like the others appeared to have no weapons.
"We have no more time for your games, Spartan. This is your last chance. Our forces are poised to strike at the heart of your worlds from a thousand hiding places. Give us what we want, and your planets will be spared."
He summoned as much saliva as he could manage and spat into the man's face.
"You're no man. You're just another of these machines' creations."
He pulled with his right arm and felt the metal break.
"When I make it home, I will bring destruction to every one of your allies. Their worlds will be turned to ash, and I will place your head on a pike!"
With a single firm wrench, he snapped his arm out from the manacle and found it completely free. Typhon was caught completely off guard when Spartan leaned forward and smashed his fist into the man's cheek. He staggered back while Spartan tore at the straps and metal fittings. His damaged limbs and injuries sent pangs of pain through his body, but adrenalin mixed with desperation kept him going. Before he even realized it, he was up and on his weak legs. The yellow machine lumbered toward him, evidently expecting an easy fight.
"Khan!" he called out to his friend who still lying prone and not moving.
There was no response, so he looked about for something he could use.
I'll have to take care of this myself.
Spartan felt strong though and grabbed at the tools and equipment until finding a metal fitting. It was nothing fancy, but it was almost a meter long and heavier at one end. He ducked past the machine's first strike and brought it down on the back of the arm. It clanged with a dull thud but did no immediate damage. Spartan was nothing if persistent and lifted it again to bring it down another four times, shattering the joints. He had the satisfaction of seeing the arm clatter down to the ground. The machine floundered about and called out in some strange machine language. Spartan took the opportunity to limp to Khan and smash away at his manacles. Nothing happened, and for a second, Spartan experienced an unfamiliar feeling of desperation, then he realized they were simple lock straps as used in fighters and transports for the crew.
Where the hell did they get those?
He pulled on the quick release buttons, and they popped off with a clicking sound. The straps must have been pulled down tight because Khan seemed to grow nearly twenty-five percent at the release of pressure. Spartan had no time for pleasantries. He could feel the air moving and ducked down to avoid the second arm of the machine. It struck hard at him. The metal limb crashed into the wall behind and tore a chunk out that dropped to the ground. Spartan turned about and faced off against the machine. It was larger, metal, and more powerful, yet the two were mismatched in all the wrong ways. Though the machine was strong, the mind behind it seemed completely inept in the art of violence. Spartan, on the other hand, was a monster, consumed by desperation and rage. He reached down; lifted up the shattered limb he had broken off earlier, and raised it above his head.
"I
have had
enough of you!" he roared.
The wounded, broken, and aged figure of Spartan seemed transformed at the single chance of freedom. He charged at the stupefied machine with every remaining ounce of speed and power he could muster. The robotic foe even managed to strike Spartan, yet with all the man's anger, it appeared to have no effect. Even as blood sprayed from a new wound to his chest, he continued to rain down blow after blow until the yellow machine lay smashed on the ground.
"Spartan?"
Khan stumbled onto his feet and looked about dazed. He was in much better condition than Spartan, but his mind seemed elsewhere.
"Yeah, I'm here, old friend."
Khan looked down at the machine and started to laugh.
"That didn't take you long, did it?"
Spartan grinned, trying to ignore the searing pains now starting to spread through his body as the adrenalin surge began to subside.
"We don't have long. Do you remember the way to this room?"
Khan nodded happily and reached out to rest his hand on Spartan's shoulder.
"Spartan, I can remember more than that. Through that door, we can reach the landing pad and their transports."
Spartan didn't look particularly impressed.
"Think we can do it?"
Khan looked about the room. After finding nothing, simply bent down and tore a metal leg from one of the tables to use as a simple club. He swung it once and caught the light fitting by accident. It exploded and sent fragments of hot plastic around them. Spartan shook his head as he watched. Khan stopped and then rested it on his shoulder.
"Who cares? I've had it with this place. Today we either make it, or we die. Agreed?"
Spartan nodded, and for the first time in weeks, perhaps months, he felt alive. His blood was pumping, and the memories of Teresa and his son Jack flooded back to give him even the smallest glimmer of hope.
"Let's do this."
 *
The three machines watched the screen with emotionless glances. The red machine with rusted, heavily worn features around its feet and joints tilted its thick helm toward the other two.
"Didn't I tell you? He is magnificent."
The others said nothing for a few seconds. Finally, the dull red model nodded toward the shape of their smashed yellow companion. Spartan and Khan had left the room, but not before Spartan had finished off the wounded Typhon.
"I thought he was supposed to take him as a prisoner?"
The red machine tilted its head, though with no eyes or face, it was unable to demonstrate amusement or emotion of any kind.
"We can make another. It does not matter. Spartan is the one."
As if on cue, the two broke out into a wide passageway where several Biomech servants were caught by surprise. These were wholly biological, yet weak, smaller, and even less substantial than the races of the T'Kari or the Helions. They tried to stop the prisoners, but a few simple yet brutal hacks sent them to the ground. Even a single Biomech warrior was torn apart by Khan. Nothing would stop them now. The red machine nodded with obvious satisfaction.
"Excellent, the first phase of the plan is complete. Make sure their route is clear. I want them back with their people within the month."
It then turned from the screen as if it showed no interest anymore. Instead, he looked at his two comrades.
"Our time is nearly at an end. Return to your fleets and move them into position. We strike at the opposition of Helios."
It was a simple time measurement and would occur when the two largest planets in the star system of Helios aligned with their star. They already knew this. It had been planned now for many years, and none of the three could quite believe that their time had finally come. They touched their torsos with their mechanical arms and turned to leave. One machine stopped and looked back at his leader.
"We have waited too long for this. Goodbye, brother."
With those final words, they left the control room, with its myriad of displays and computer equipment. Only the red machine stayed in the room, alone, and without guards or company of any kind. He moved back to the display to watch the escape of Khan and Spartan.
Soon I will be dead, and you, Spartan, yes, you will be the Hero of Helios.
He thought for a moment, imagining the future he had dreamed of now for millennia. He imagined the burning of enemy worlds and the opening of the great seal, the Black Rift in space that imprisoned his dying race. On the screen, the two prisoners had already made it to the landing deck where a variety of captured fighters and machines waited. He smiled to himself as they made for one of the battered looking Confederate bombers. He accessed the memory store in his armored suit that showed him the footage of the raid on a human convoy in the middle of their war over two decades earlier. He had personally supervised the destruction of four capital ships and thousands of humans. It was the bomber that amused him the most though. Its last mission had been a bombing run on this very ship that he now occupied. Now its crew were long dead, and it would serve a greater purpose, though this time it would be for him, not the Confederacy or even the Alliance.
Yes, Spartan, after all of this bloodshed, you alone will be the savior of my people. As your Alliance burns to ashes, my people will be reborn.