Enemies on All Sides (Maraukian War Book 4)

  Enemies All Sides

  Michael Chatfield

  Dawn Chapman

  Maraukian Wars

  Book 4

  Chapter One

  Brass Jackals’ Complex

  Earth, Sol System

  5/3556

  “I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a…” The words Voras Jakab had been about to finish died in his throat as he looked at the five men in powered armor and the man wearing a business suit.

  “Mister Fai, what brings you here?” Voras jumped up and shot a glare at Yan Dres, his second-in-command, for not alerting him earlier.

  Yan could only stand there sheepishly as Mister Fai, the man in the business suit, sat in one of the chairs facing Voras.

  Even though he was in the guest seat, he ruled the space with his simple actions, waving for Voras to join him.

  Mister Fai was from the Luyten Conglomerate. They might be a massive company with great resources, but like many of the corporations, there were many things that they weren’t able to do themselves but they would get the gangs to do it. The Brass Jackals was one of the gangs that worked for the Luyten Conglomerate.

  “I’ve been given an order from the shareholders,” Mister Fai said lazily.

  Voras gulped, his back covered in sweat.

  “It looks like to us that the Westerly Three Complex Crew has become a blight. We wish to remove them,” Mister Fai said.

  Voras was annoyed with the Westerly Three Complex Crew for their overbearing ways but the fact of the matter was that they brought stability to the slums of Earth.

  They worked with the greenhouses, which were the powerhouses of the slums. Without them, people would simply starve on Earth.

  Their people weren’t weak and they had powerful fighting strength.

  Fai judged Voras’s reaction. Voras, knowing Mister Fai and his tendencies, waited for him to finish talking.

  “We are mobilizing all of our forces from your own Brass Jackals to the Faceless Ones and Pistol Monkeys. We will also be supplying gear. And we don’t want you to destroy all of the Westerly Three Crew—just simply remove this woman.”

  With Mister Fai’s words, Voras’s excitement climbed. He received the picture and opened it, finding the head of the Westerly Three Crew looking back at him.

  He suppressed a shiver as he looked at the cold eyes of a former Regiment Warrant Officer Dominguez.

  She might have been a trooper in the past, but now she’s just a simple woman running a gang. Gang leaders get cut down all the time. I just have to make sure that she is isolated.

  “We will give you one week.” Mister Fai took out a folder and passed it to Voras.

  Voras wanted to argue back, but he knew the truth: this was an order. If he didn’t carry it out, he wouldn’t be useful to the Luyten Conglomerate anymore and they would destroy him and his gang.

  “Understood. It will be done.”

  “Good. Don’t let us down.” Mister Fai stood and shook his suit, as if to rid himself of the dirt that came with talking with Voras. His guards moved around him as they walked out of Voras’s office.

  Voras looked through the folder that had a list of information on Dominguez’s movements in the coming week.

  Chapter Two

  Greenhouse Emasia

  Earth, Sol System

  5/3556

  Dominguez reviewed the shipment information with the greenhouse managers and checked on how the Westerly Three Crew protectors were acting. It was an ongoing process and she would randomly drop in to check on how things were operating.

  Today was no different.

  She rode in an unarmored truck with a machine gun mounted on the roof. The controller was using the screens to check the surroundings as the horn blared, telling people to get out of the way.

  Few people had cars, and even less with mounted machine guns on their roofs. This showed that they weren’t from a simple gang and shouldn’t be fucked with.

  The truck was unmarked so people wouldn’t know which gang they came from.

  Dominguez rocked with the truck as one of the troopers with her nearly bounced out of their seat.

  Another grabbed them and pulled them back down just as another dip in the road made the whole vehicle dip and rise.

  “We’ve got a dust storm coming in. Looks like it’ll be a bad one,” the co-driver and the leader of Dominguez’s security detail said.

  “Afraid of getting a bit of red dust down your crack, Phillips?” Dominguez asked.

  “Urgh, don’t remind me,” Phillips complained.

  Dominguez grinned as she kept reviewing the information on her tablet. The others with her laughed. They might be her security detail but they had become close over the past years and it was hard for them to be serious all of the time.

  “Coming up on the greenhouse in fifteen,” the driver, a wild woman by the name of Fish, said as they hit another dip in the “road,” which was nothing more than barely passable alleys and broken cermite and asphalt from times past.

  A trail of dust followed them as they rushed between houses.

  Part of the reason Dominguez chose to look at her screen instead of out the front window was seeing Fish’s driving was enough to turn her into a backseat driver—and a terrible one at that.

  The truck rolled through the slums and the wind started to pick up. It looked as though Phillips was right.

  They exited the slums and arrived in front of a building. Like most in the slums, it had been slapped together from the materials that the owners could find.

  The main difference was the size of the building and the fact that one could see greenery and plants inside the building. There were multiple levels all growing different items.

  Weapon emplacements occupied the highest points, their weapons looking over the area as people wearing Westerly Three Complex patches moved in roving patrols.

  Weapons didn’t track on the truck as they knew of Dominguez’s arrival.

  The truck came to a halt. Its rear door faced the front door of the greenhouse, which opened to reveal people wearing face masks and clothes meant to keep the red dust out.

  Dominguez’s protection detail moved out of the truck, looking for threats. All of them wore what was the trooper basic armor and space suit, which protected them from the elements and regulated their temperature.

  “Clear,” Phillips said after a few moments.

  Dominguez put away her pad, grabbed her rifle, and stepped out of the truck, wearing her armor as well.

  She moved to the representatives; they exchanged bows before indicating to return to the greenhouse. The wind was already reaching the stage where the red dust was getting stirred up and conversation was becoming impossible.

  They entered the main doors of the greenhouse. The doors closed behind them, acting like an air lock, closing off the outside world and letting them into the calmer world of the greenhouse.

  They moved through a few more doors and guards before they were actually inside the gardens. People moved through the different fields, checking on the different plants and vegetation.

  These plants were incomparable to the ones that had been grown in the greenhouse before the Victors returned from Sacremon and made a contract with them over the use of the new seeds they’d found and information on gardening.

  There were multiple different areas, all of them working together to increase the rate at which crops grew and the size that they could reach.

  There were a few animals here and there, but meat was mostly grown. It cost too many resources to raise livestock, but to grow them was much more feasible.

&nbs
p; They talked about new numbers, how they could increase the rate at which they grew food, expansion plans and defensive problems if any had come up.

  ***

  Voras looked over the information display mounted on his arm. The powered armor had taken some time to work with but its abilities were incredible. Voras felt as if he were some kind of god when inside the powered armor.

  All of the gangs under the Luyten Conglomerate had moved through the slums, having to hide themselves in different ways so as to not cause people to be suspicious.

  Now they were moving through the buildings around the greenhouse. They moved through the sewers, the powered armor keeping out the smell. They walked through ditches, all moving to encircle the area.

  Voras couldn’t help but smile as the storm passing overhead picked up.

  It would decrease the Westerly Three Complex Crew’s visibility.

  He had heard rumors that they had some kind of air support. In these conditions, it would be impossible for them to bring in more reinforcements or support Dominguez and the limited forces located in the greenhouse.

  The Brass Jackals was the largest gang, which allowed them to suppress the Faceless Ones and Pistol Monkeys.

  The Pistol Monkeys loved to wear tattoos and as many pistols as possible. They looked ridiculous to Voras, but they were damn good shots and in close quarters combat, they were some scary mother fuckers.

  The Faceless Ones were something strange. They all wore masks, and never took them off. Their masks looked the same and their clothes were all uniform.

  Even with the powered armor, they had affixed their masks to their helmets so no one could see their faces. They all praised their leader and the reality was that their gang was closer to a cult in many ways.

  If it was his choice, he wouldn’t work with such crazies but there was nothing to do other than use them as cannon fodder.

  All of the gangs were moving to surround the greenhouse from all sides.

  Nothing could go wrong or else they would draw the ire of the Luyten Conglomerate down on their heads.

  Chapter Three

  Freighter O-41 (Wind Snapper)

  In Transit from Emarl to the Hellenic System

  5/3556

  Moretti woke up to an alarm ringing beside his ear. In moments, he had his NIAI upload the information that his subordinates had said was of the highest importance.

  “Shit!” Moretti leapt out of bed. His hands started to move, using his NIAI interface as he accessed the long-range communication system.

  “M?” Dominguez’s voice sounded. She didn’t sound pleased but if Moretti was flashing her an important message, she knew it was in her best interest to pick up.

  “They’ve got you surrounded! The Luyten Conglomerate got orders from someone to remove you. They’re putting the Brass Jackals, Faceless Ones, and Pistol Monkeys against you. They’ve got heavy weaponry and I think armor,” Moretti said, quickly scanning through the information.

  The order had been passed from the Luyten Conglomerate to the people on the ground a week ago, but it had been quiet as the conglomerate shareholders had directly contacted the informants, making it slower for Moretti to find out what was happening.

  Now that he knew what was going on, the information was coming in and he was able to unravel who was behind these actions.

  Senator Rimateus, he silently cursed in his mind. But it didn’t matter in this circumstance. After all, it wasn’t information that was particularly useful for those on the ground as it wouldn’t give them any advantage cursing people who weren’t there.

  “Shit. Got it,” Dominguez said.

  She cut the channel as Moretti kicked himself inside. This was his job. If he only knew about these things as they were happening or afterward, then what use was there in having him around?

  If they were relying on him, then it would make them all the worse.

  Chapter Four

  Greenhouse Emasia

  Earth, Sol System

  5/3556

  “Defensive positions, we’re in the middle of an ambush!” Dominguez’s voice was heard by the protection detail as well as the Westerly Three Complex Crew guards.

  With her words, they rushed to their ready stations.

  “They’re after me, so we’ll lead them on a chase out of here,” Dominguez told Phillips.

  “I’m here to protect, not put you in danger,” Phillips said.

  “Warrant,” Dominguez said in a dangerous voice.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He grit his teeth. He didn’t like the choice but there was nothing that he could do.

  Dominguez looked to the manager and his subordinates who couldn’t hear her talking.

  “Is something wrong?” He looked alarmed as Dominguez checked her rifle was loaded.

  “There are three gangs moving in on this area and they have heavy weapons and armor,” Dominguez said.

  The manager looked stunned. The greenhouses hadn’t been attacked in decades; it had given them a false sense of security.

  It lasted for only a minute before the manager turned to their subordinates. “Get everyone secure in the defensive bunkers! Secure our data and the hybrids we’re working on.”

  “Vehicle is good and ready to go,” Fish said.

  “Moving to you.” Dominguez turned and ran for the main doors.

  ***

  Voras knew something was up as the greenhouse started to show more activity and people moved to the different weapon systems mounted across the greenhouse’s walls.

  The up-armored truck moved closer to the main door, its turret tracking across the area.

  Voras was covered by the storm that had blanketed the area with swirling red dust. One couldn’t even see fifteen feet if they were using their own eyes.

  Voras, knowing how the red dust storms came and went, had used small robots to move closer to the greenhouse so that they wouldn’t lose sight of the building or what was going on.

  “Looks like all our preparations weren’t for shit.” The Pistol Monkeys leader laughed. He had wanted to just rush in and overpower Dominguez and her people with the powered armor, feeling as if he were invincible.

  “We will have to lead the charge or we will all suffer,” the Faceless Ones leader said in a voice that was neither a woman’s or a man’s.

  Voras knew that he couldn’t hold his people back anymore. “Hit the truck and open fire on them!” Voras yelled.

  Yan stepped sideways, moving to the side of a building with a screamer missile launcher on his shoulder.

  The truck’s heavy machine gun opened up. Its deep bassy noise filled the air as the buildings surrounding the greenhouse were left with fist-sized holes.

  The armored gang members opened fire as they could, a few of them cut down by the gun.

  Yan fired his missile as the truck’s gun tracked over to him. It could be heard even over the wind of the storm as it tore through the red dust and slammed into the truck.

  The truck’s armor panels exploded and the side of the truck was dented inward. The truck shifted over a few feet as well.

  Another gang member with a screamer. Its hellish noise filled Voras with hope as it hit the side of the truck. Armored panels were blown outward by the force of the explosion as the truck was turned into nothing more than burning wreckage.

  The heavy weapons fire from the truck paused for a second with the destruction of the truck before continuing.

  Gang members rushed the defensive position. If they could get inside and kill Dominguez first, then they’d get great merits.

  Mines that had been buried around the greenhouse were activated. The gang members didn’t even know what was going on as the ground exploded underneath them as they tried to find some kind of cover from the machine guns firing down on them.

  Rounds hit the walls of the greenhouse, cutting through and damaging the plants inside and hitting people who were trying to get to the safety of the greenhouse bunkers.

  The howling stor
m made it inside the holes made from the destruction.

  Screamers hit the walls, or shot off into the sky as machine gun emplacements were destroyed or they fought onward.

  The simple fact was that there were too few of the defenders and their weapon systems compared to the three gangs that were attacking them.

  ***

  Dominguez ducked into cover as rounds ripped through the thin wall that separated the greenhouse plants from the exterior world.

  People were yelling and screaming as their peaceful life was turned into chaos in seconds. These people might be working in the greenhouses but they were still people from the slums.

  Many of them grabbed weapons that they kept and started to fire back. This was their home—they weren’t going to give it up without a fight.

  “Trina, what are we looking like for support?” Dominguez peeked over the planter she was behind and fired back at the gangs that were hosing the building with rounds and missiles.

  “Air support is out. Long-range weaponry won’t make it. I’ve got a group getting suited up in Defender Armor and they’re going to be moving by truck till they’re close and they can move on foot to assist. I’ve got a company strength ready. They’re going to take nearly an hour to get to you, though.” Trina didn’t try to hide her frustration.

  “Shit. Well, there’s nothing to do, Trina. We’ll do our best.” Dominguez ducked back down and ran to a new place as the Westerly Three Crew and gardeners fired and moved.

  The Westerly Three Crew might look like nothing more than an extremely large gang on the outside, but all of them had been trained up with the standards of the troopers in mind.

  Many of them chose to stay with the gang instead of going to the EMF now, the reason being that there were more opportunities and those who stayed were offered an advancement where if they passed the testing then they would become an official member of the Victor Corporation fighting force or go on to join the Victor Corporation.