An Empire is Born (Maraukian War Book 3) Read online

  An Empire is Born

  Michael Chatfield

  Dawn Chapman

  Maraukian War Series

  Book 3

  Prologue

  Unknown

  Unknown

  8/3555

  It seemed that finally the humans were advancing how they wanted them to.

  The different heads of the Sharventi race doubled their efforts and continued to run continuous simulations. Even with all of the factors that they had added to the systems, there was a new group that invalidated their previous results.

  The group of people who called themselves mergers had dramatically increased their own powers past what the humans were previously able to handle.

  The Sharventi needed to make the fight between themselves and the humans look legitimate to the point that the Black Guard would be convinced and come to save their race and remove the emotional block placed upon all Sharventi.

  “The plan has moved into the third stage, with the humans being able to reach a level where they can now threaten our race. They have the merger units that are capable of threatening us, but they are too few and weak. We will need to temper them more and get the rest of the human races to turn into mergers as well.” The leading general spoke to those in the room. All of them were planning generals. They had been tested at birth and found to be the best ones for strategies and had trained for this position.

  If they were found to be lacking, they would kill themselves for the betterment of the race.

  “We move ahead with wiping out the weaker systems, getting them to focus on building faster. We attack once every nine of the human months, removing the less useful systems,” another general said.

  “Increase the number of Maraukians so that there is no chance of the planets surviving,” another added.

  “This will lead to the wealthier and knowledgeable people from a race coming together, increasing the rate that the humans will increase in individual strength.” The generals talked after one another, streaming their thoughts together.

  “It is believed that the mergers might know of our command signals,” one said.

  “It is ahead of schedule but it is within our parameters,” the leading general said.

  “The Union has confirmed plans to bomb the different planets that hold Maraukians. We will lose about ten percent of the population base, at least. It will take time to build up our numbers,” another stated.

  “The other human-seeded planets are also unaffected. They will allow us a secondary source if this third human attempt fails,” another drawled.

  “In the last three human groups that we have groomed, they have had less than a sixty-percentile chance of defeating us. With the current groups, it is approaching seventy percent. Statistically, if we have five or more human groups, then our plan will be carried out.”

  “Notes are being made and new initiatives are being started with the other human groups according to what has and hasn’t worked with this set and previous three sets.”

  The room fell into silence, the information shared.

  The Sharventi, hearing nothing for some time, all stood and then filed out of the room, their blank looks identical as they moved along the determined path that they had confirmed and shared with the others.

  Chapter One

  Combat Shuttle 874

  Tricticus, Emarl System

  8/3555

  Moretti looked through the combat shuttle’s sensors, his eyes tracking from the massive Yard as it made its laborious journey to the fourth planet, then to the station that he had departed just hours ago.

  It was growing at a rapid pace, with shuttles moving to and from the surface of Tricticus.

  The Yard had brought a number of ships from Earth with it, many of which were docked with the Yard still. But there were a few that were moving between the Yard and the station or out toward the asteroid belt to go and check out the scans that looked promising.

  The Yard needed supplies and badly. It had been churning out parts for Alcubierre drive systems and feeding their fabbers raw materials to create more fabbers.

  With the Roma technology, the chief engineers thought it was possible to speed up the completion of vessels by three or four times.

  Moretti wasn’t an engineer but he clearly understood what kind of building power this represented. To a corporation, expansion was profit; to the Victor Corporation, expansion was survival.

  Moretti knew that inside the VCF Retribution, there was a secret project underway. The engineers there were all ex-EMF personnel with no family aboard the Yard. Each had been picked by Moretti’s team of intelligence officers and vetted by their members in the EMF.

  They were part of program Knight Guard, Moretti’s approach toward potential hazards that would come with the revelation of the Victor Corporation’s military power.

  There, they were given the information that Moretti had been passed by the Ark: the plans for the Moby, advanced Alcubierre drives, M19A’s blueprints, anti-matter generation plants, orbital and ground based weaponry—there was even plans for the M20s and the mergers’ Pluto armor.

  The secrets of nanites, carbon hendral armor: all of it was given over to the Knight Guard. Although they had a plethora of information at their disposal, their main goal at this time was to make orbital weaponry to defend the Yard and then Tricticus.

  Defending Tricticus was a secondary objective currently.

  The Yard could live without Tricticus, but the potential with linking the two groups couldn’t be underestimated.

  Nearly one point two million people had come with the Yard. Many of them had signed agreements with the Yard, but they were not part of the Yard. Now they were figuring out where they stood in the Tricticus system, wanting to remain independent. Moretti didn’t want to pressure them to become part of Tricticus or the Yard. If there weren’t other people moving in the system, then it would be hard to hide his own operations, and others who thought about potentially trading with them would blacklist them.

  Effectively, there were two hundred, nearly three hundred thousand workers and their families split between the Yard, the mining prospectors, and the station.

  Tricticus had a population of just over nine million people. The two city-states, Crisidium and Gtrul were the largest, but there were still another eleven cities, which were being rebuilt.

  The planet itself was mostly desert. Its different cities and populations lived near the oases dotted across the planet or the various rivers that carved their way through the hot planet.

  It was an unforgiving land and it didn’t have many resources to begin with. When the Maraukians had come out from their hibernation under the planet’s surface, the people of Tricticus, no matter which city-state or country they belonged to, were caught off guard. They had roaming armies and spent most of their time working to improve their hydroponics, fight off the creatures of the desert, or fight one another to gain their land.

  The legion had come, offering them aid and technology that they had never seen before in their lives.

  The catch: if they took equipment or items from the legion, then they would need to pay them back.

  The different cities and countries had discussed and talked to the legion. A few made deals while others disregarded them.

  The ones who made deals survived. Few of those who didn’t survived.

  It was a terrible system but it worked well. The people who bought supplies and created a relationship with the legion and the Roma Union were allowed to live and pay off their debt. Those who died, well, they weren’t connected to the Union.

  The people of Trictic
us might have a basic technology base and their methods were simple, but they weren’t idiots. The political and military sphere of Tricticus was advanced, even if they were still using melee weapons.

  That debt was an axe hanging over their heads. Once the Maraukians were gone, then it was the Union’s time to lower the axe. If they joined the Union, then they would be able to get more items on credit. This they could pay off later, but they would need to supply forces to create auxiliary legions to support the Union. They would need to pay taxes and agree to become a part of the Roma Union. If they didn’t, then they would need to pay up for all of their items within the next decade. If they didn’t, then the Union would start taking items from the planet, tax goods that were leaving, or even take over planets within it.

  They were in a hard position as the different people of Tricticus were feeling the pressure of the Union over them.

  Moretti had been surprised with how receptive they were to his talks and even this meeting.

  King Hael had met with Mark. Chyna had served with him and Ava was under his command. He also had people from across Tricticus who had applied to become mergers. A few had made it through, but the others knew Mark and their impression of him, although not the nicest, showed their leaders he was reliable.

  “Entering atmosphere,” the captain of the combat shuttle said, alert but not panicked.

  Moretti guessed that entering atmosphere wasn’t much special to a combat shuttle pilot who had done it possibly hundreds of times, moving troopers, supplies, and anything else that was needed.

  The combat shuttle shook. The troopers were talking to one another in low voices: some about what had happened in Edani, others about gossip they had heard.

  They hit a rough bit as the shuttle dropped violently before catching itself. They were all thrown against their harnesses but continued talking.

  Compared to most drops, this one was rather tame. At least no one was shooting at them this time.

  Moretti felt as they leveled off. He checked the map. It wouldn’t take them long to reach Crisidium, which was where the meeting would take place.

  King Hael had opened his city-state and hall to the Victor Corporation and the different leaders of Tricticus in hopes of tying them together.

  “Coming up on the landing zone. Five minutes out,” the combat shuttle’s co-pilot said.

  The troopers checked their weapons as the light on Moretti’s HUD turned green, showing that they were ready to open the hatch.

  The troopers unlocked their harnesses and stood. They were all wearing the modified heavy armor from the Harmony War or the newer smaller version.

  “By the numbers! Keep those guns down but ready,” the security detail’s sergeant yelled to the troopers.

  There were mutterings and noises of acknowledgement.

  A timer counted down as the craft flared its wings and started to lower itself toward the ground.

  The rear cargo door opened and started lowering as the shuttle touched down, bouncing slightly. The hatch descended all the way; the troopers walked out, surveying the area, linked into the combat shuttle’s sensors.

  Moretti heard the troopers’ chatter.

  “Lox, move more to your right. Grimm, keep an eye on that bastard up top,” the sergeant called out casually. The troopers seemed to casually move about, giving themselves better arcs to deal with threats.

  “Sarge?” Moretti asked after a few moments.

  “All clear, sir,” the sergeant said.

  “Thank you.” Moretti walked out of the shuttle wearing regular armor plates and a pistol.

  A young man waited for them with his own guard wearing legion-styled armor.

  Moretti easily recognized Julieus, King Hael’s secondborn son.

  The young man stood straight and proud, but without the arrogance of most powerful people. Instead, he made Moretti think of a young lieutenant who had just earned his command. He had the training but was wet behind his ears, in need of some seasoning and experience.

  Walking toward him, Moretti held out his hand. “Good to meet you, Julieus.”

  Julieus shook his hand firmly. “You too, Mister M. My father is waiting for us.” Julieus indicated for Moretti to follow him. They left the cooling combat shuttle. A group of troopers moved around Moretti while another stood with the combat shuttle, checking the surroundings.

  These men and women were hardened veterans. Even though their actions were well practiced, they were alert, ready to react in a moment.

  Moretti wasn’t worried about his security. The pistol on his leg and the armored fatigues also helped.

  It wasn’t long before Moretti stood before a grand building.

  Julieus cleared his throat. “No weapons or security personnel are allowed within the hall,” Julieus said, as a group of royal guards wearing older generation Mars armor greeted them with cold expressions and weapon detectors.

  Moretti looked over to the side where there were other security groups from the other city-states and countries across Tricticus looking at the troopers, judging them and their leader silently.

  “Don’t break anything, troopers,” Moretti said.

  The troopers smiled. The clear violence in those smiles made the other security personnel move their hands closer to their weapons.

  “Yes, sir,” the sergeant in charge of his security said.

  Moretti passed him his pistol, a knife from his boot, another in his belt, extra magazines, and a grenade.

  The others in the room were security personnel for various diplomats and powerful figures on Tricticus. Many of the leaders were crucial to their military structure, but few of them were this prepared to fight.

  Moretti’s weapons were well used and maintained. He didn’t trust anyone but another trooper to look after his gear.

  Weapons put to the side, he was checked over by the royal guards.

  “Thank you, sir.” The guards bowed slightly and moved to the side.

  Julieus stayed where he was. This meeting wasn’t for him.

  Moretti could hear through the door to the meeting room. He’d had different implants and augments added to his body, to enhance his information-gathering abilities.

  He heard the low conversation in the room. Most of the people were muttering to one another, talking about different miscellaneous things. It seemed that they were all nervous.

  Different countries and city-states were grouped together, the political parties talking with the people from their country and talking of different plans they had to make the most of the Yard coming to the Emarl system.

  Moretti had already read the mood of the room. A small smile appeared on his face before it disappeared swiftly. He pushed the door open. All the eyes in the room fell on him as he looked around the auditorium.

  People were broken up into different regions across the auditorium. The people in the room quickly moved to their seats.

  Moretti took his time walking to the stage. He took a sip of water, testing it with his implants before he consumed it. He cleared his throat and looked up, seeing that everyone was in their spot.

  “Thank you all for coming here. I am here on behalf of the Victor Corporation today to talk about the united future of Tricticus and the Victor Corporation.” Moretti paused as people started to break down his words already.

  Moretti let the tension build for a few moments before going on.

  “The Victor Corporation believes that everyone should have an opportunity and the ability to trade with and work with one another. The Victor Corporation doesn’t wish to trade and work with just one group from Tricticus. Instead, we wish to work with the planet of Tricticus. We propose that one representative from each of the countries and city-states create a council to work with the Victor Corporation to our mutual future. There are many opportunities to be held in the future, whether it is the trade of technology, raw materials, even education and defense. The Victor Corporation looks to go through a period of expansion and we hope that y
ou will join us in this future. The Victor Corporation has made a job posting board. This includes things like jobs that people can apply for, as well as materials and items needed. As the Victor Corporation grows, there will be a greater need for educated individuals. We will be setting up a Skill School that will require people to work for a number of years for the corporation unless they buy out their contract to pay for their education. If one fails, then they will be able to apply to other jobs but the debt of time will be applied to them.”

  Moretti’s NIAI sent out the information and highlighted the different items that the people in the room would be interested in.

  People were hastily checking their planners and different tablets. There were only a few people who had NIAIs; after all, they were expensive and items that only people who were part of the Roma Union could supply their citizens.

  “Now, are there any questions?”

  The people in the room were panicked as they were reading the information as fast as possible and trying to make up questions that might not be answered in the large information package. Keeping them off-balance was part of Moretti’s plan.

  If they started talking together and trying to get the best deal from the Victor Corporation, then it would go a long way in uniting them all.

  Even if it was to get a better deal from the Victor Corporation, Moretti wanted to deal with one unified body. It would be much easier to deal with in the future then fractious groups. With the Maraukians coming at the entire planet, the fall of so many other groups on Tricticus, and the fact that the legion was hammering on their door, asking for them to pay back their debt or apply to be part of the Roma Union, the Victor Corporation was giving them another option, one that they could negotiate with and would have a direct impact in their system. Not just promises from a system that was thirty-four light-years away.

  Moretti noticed Hael’s smile as he looked over the room and then to Moretti.

  He tipped a nonexistent hat to Moretti, one political player acknowledging another.