The Vanguard Emerges (Maraukian War Book 2) Read online

  All of the people in the room glanced or looked over to Ortiz as he sat there, unaffected by their stares.

  “Have all of our forces on high alert. Right now, our big focus should be on modifying vessels to have that faster-than-light flight drive. Ramp production right up. I know we’ve been doing it in secret, but now we don’t need to worry about doing it out in the open. Everyone’s going to be reeling from this shit and if someone wants to challenge us, then we’ll blow the fuckers away,” Ortiz said, looking to Yu and Hall.

  “We’ll get patrols going and ready the Yard’s defenses,” Hall said. Yu nodded in agreement.

  “We need to get those kits to the big ships that are already in transit. The ones that are empty—cut the contracts to ship gear. We’ll bring them back here and start moving people to this Emarl system. Sol is going to turn into a shit fest soon enough. I want us to have all of the gear we need already set up before someone starts gunning for us,” Ortiz said.

  “What about the people we have agreements with in other systems?” Jerome asked.

  “We’re going to set up a shuttle service. We get those massive ships, and we ship people from whatever system to Emarl. Jerome, with that NIAI, you can access information about Roma and the alliance—see if we can’t get some contracts selling weapons and armor to the people on the planets. These Maraukians are apparently coming from everywhere—they’re going to need to defend themselves,” Ortiz said.

  “In goes the weapons, out come the people,” Dominguez said.

  “Seems that your retirement hasn’t dulled your mind too badly.” Ortiz grinned before spitting into a bottle, a thick wad of chew in his front lip.

  Jerome looked off into space, his eyes glazing over. He broke out into laughter as he moved to a console and pushed a few buttons.

  The screen in front of them changed. A face filled it.

  “Well, hello, troopers.” Major Nerva looked to them all. Now he was wearing a different uniform and there actually looked to be a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

  “Nerva?” Ortiz said before laughing uproariously. “So you did make it out alive. I remember you telling me all about a way to get out of all this! Seems that you were pulled into it again!”

  “There was a lot that I wasn’t able to tell you all,” Nerva admitted, looking at them all before clearing his throat. “I know that Mark has probably given you all a bunch of plans for faster-than-light space drives. I was able to get the plans from Charles, the guy in charge of the chop shop he’s running over there. I have a few people I know who work on building different things. I got them to make you up a present. There’s a freighter filled with parts now entering the Sol system; I’ll have it meet up with you and drop off the materials.”

  “How did you know?” Dominguez asked. She hadn’t known Nerva all that well in her service.

  “I’ve always been watching. I wasn’t able to do anything and could only help those who were badly wounded or had agreed to join the legion or become an auxiliary beforehand,” Nerva said.

  The room fell into silence, everyone with their own thoughts.

  “Well, you’ve got a lot of work to get through. I won’t keep you. Hopefully we’ll be able to get together soon enough.”

  Ortiz saw the signs of sadness in Nerva. He knew how much the old major cared about the people under his command. He could only imagine how seeing them die from afar, not even able to say that he was alive, would pull at his heart.

  “We’ll see you soon enough,” Ortiz said, hoping that Nerva would see that he didn’t hold him accountable for what had happened.

  Nerva nodded and cut the channel.

  “Who the hell else is going to rise from the grave?” Dominguez laughed faintly, but Ortiz didn’t miss the hopeful look in her eyes.

  Chapter 12

  Mega City

  Earth, Sol System

  7/3354

  “How did this happen?” Senator Florence barked, losing his composure as he read over the events of the last day. His information was much more accurate than what the news networks of Earth and Her Colonies were reporting.

  Clearly a group had attacked the powerful pillars of the EHC. The implications were far-reaching and hard to compute.

  “We’ve got forces moving into the tower, heavily armed, private security,” Jarek reported to the mergers net.

  “Senators, it looks like we’re going to have company,” Mark said out loud.

  “What do you mean?” Weng asked.

  “This is Earth. People don’t know nor care about Roma’s power. Here you’re two people they can use as bargaining chips to gain more power. Now that the big players are out of the way, other forces are going to look to increase their power base. I’m calling the Moby for extraction,” Mark said.

  “They wouldn’t dare,” Weng said.

  “They would.” Lines appeared on Florence’s forehead.

  “Security contractors have powered armor. There’s three different companies working together. Seems that they’ve bribed the group looking after us. All of the security around our floor is disappearing,” Jarek said.

  “What are our options?” Florence asked.

  “I think it’s time we left. Earth and Her Colonies are going to change. This might be the opportunity that Roma and the alliance need to lend aid to the colonists and those in the slums—create stronger ties, bringing them closer to the alliance,” Mark said.

  “They’re here,” Jarek said over the net, sounding almost bored.

  “Senators Weng and Florence, we are here at the behest of the president of Earth and Her Colonies. We’re to take you to a secure location for your safekeeping.” A woman’s voice was projected from the security contractor’s armor, filling the apartments that the Phantoms and senators had been staying in.

  “Thank you for your aid. With the current conditions, we will be moving back to our vessels for safety,” Florence said. Weng, next to him, nodded.

  “Senator, we can’t really condone that right now. It is in your best interests,” the leader of the security contractors said as the powered armor fanned out around the apartments, blocking off any escape.

  “Senators, now would be the time to get into your armor,” Mark said over a private net.

  Florence and Weng moved to where their armor was resting and stepped into it.

  “Ready?” Mark looked at the eight-person contuberniums that were spread out, covering the different entry points into the apartments.

  Green lights flashed in his vision.

  “We will be taking our leave. Once things have calmed down, we’ll return to continue talks,” Mark said.

  “If you don’t come with us, we will be forced to secure you. With the events going on, we must bring all people in for questioning,” the security contractor continued.

  Mark saw that both Florence and Weng were secured in their armor. He checked the status of the combat shuttle and Ares fighters that were screaming through Earth’s atmosphere. It was time to move.

  “Chyna, take the door. Only fire if they fire.” Mark’s words were passed on to all of the mergers as they readied themselves.

  The door opened, showing a hallway filled with private contractors.

  “We don’t want to use force,” the woman said.

  Mark easily identified her. Her finger was already inside her trigger guard, ready to raise her rifle and fire at a moment’s notice.

  “Bite me.” Mark laughed.

  This seemed to finally set everything off.

  The security contractors picked up their rifles, and a cold shiver ran through Mark’s body as the world exploded with details around him. Mergers linked to one another, breaking down their arcs and targets. Their M20s unfolded, slamming into position and locking into place.

  The contractors fired. Their rounds tore apart the walls and sparked off the Phantom Lords’ armor.

  Their armor was rated to stop rail gun rounds traveling multiple times faster than an anti-
material rifle’s round could fire.

  The Phantom Lords’ arms moved and the M20s barked. It looked as if they were just spraying everything but every single one of their rounds had already been spoken for. The worst thing to do was give a merger time to think. They were completely in tune with their armor and weapons.

  The contractors’ armor couldn’t hold up to the rounds that were meant to pierce Maraukian hide.

  The forces involved sent the contractors flying backward as tracers and rounds sparked and pinged off the mergers’ armor, leaving just a few scuff marks where they’d struck.

  M20 rounds pierced walls. The Phantom Lords had coated the area around them in nanite sensors, allowing them to effectively see through walls.

  The sounds of fighting died down as Mark lowered his arms, twin M20s sticking out from under his forearm.

  “Move!” Mark yelled. His words galvanized the mergers as they rushed forward. They had just killed the leading group of security contractors. There were still dozens more working their way up to them.

  People were ducking and running for cover as the massive Phantom Lords ran through the tower.

  “Targets!” Chyna called out. The Phantom Lords nearby turned. Rounds sparked off the walls around them, the walls being holed and people around them being cut down.

  They opened fire. The M20s hummed as rounds smashed into the armored contractors, who were like puppets with their strings cut.

  Mark stayed near Florence and Weng as fighting erupted all around.

  “Ready!” Mark fired at a reinforced window pane that looked down the center of the tower. Below, skyways crisscrossed one another and different spaces also suspended in the middle of the tower.

  The window came apart as Phantom Lords jumped through without pause.

  Mark hooked cables from his belt to Florence and Weng. He grabbed their waists, not leaving them any time to react as he smashed through the glass, the two of them in tow.

  The Phantom Lords activated their anti-gravity drives, slowing their pace and guiding them past the other levels. People going about their day looked at them in shock.

  Security contractors opened fire on them in passing.

  The Phantom Lords returned fire as their NIAIs computed firing angles and guided them through space with their anti-gravity drives.

  Rachel was in the lead as her contubernium smashed through the enclosed roof of a corridor. They landed on the bridge in a crouch; they split into two groups, covering either side as the rest of the Phantom Lords dropped down.

  Mark landed, releasing Weng and Florence and detaching his cable from their waists with a mental command.

  “Shuttle coming in!” Captain Chen said to the merger net.

  Mark rushed forward, dragging the still stunned Florence and Weng with him.

  People, seeing the Phantom Lords, disappeared back into their offices.

  “We’ve got security contractors coming in on air vehicles,” Sarah reported as the map updated.

  They broke through offices and into maintenance areas, entering a hangar where people were working on ships and robots were loading and unloading parts, tools, and materials.

  “Get out of here!” Evan yelled. His voice cut through the hangar. Seeing the armed and armored Phantom Lords, the people in the hangar quickly ran away.

  Chyna’s contubernium was in the lead as they crossed the large hangar, aiming for the landing pads that lay outside of the tower.

  Rounds started impacting around them all, striking a few of the Phantom Lords. They were thrown backward and left with internal injuries from the forces. A loud brrrrvp noise filled the air as six contractor air vehicles with mounted weaponry appeared.

  “Flak rounds!” Ava yelled.

  The Phantom Lords took a knee, their M20s humming as rounds shot up into the sky before exploding into flying shrapnel.

  Three of the contractors’ airships were hit head on, turning into wreckage. Another received flak through its engines, making whining noises as it spun, faster and faster as it shot off into the sky.

  The others dove and broke off, trying to get distance from the Phantom Lords.

  Their original assessment that the Phantom Lords wouldn’t be able to do anything to them was an oversight.

  They didn’t have time to have regrets as a combat shuttle and twelve Ares fighters came out of the sky.

  Half of the Ares fighters broke off, hunting down the airships. Their Ares fighters were purpose-built war vehicles; the airships had been modified civilian airships.

  The shuttle came in to land. Six Ares fighters came into a hover around the craft. They might be just drones but the pilots using them had flown hundreds of missions; they could use the fighters on par if not better than if they were in the cockpit themselves.

  The shuttle came down. The rear ramp opened as half of the Phantom Lords piled in. Mark dragged the two senators with him as the rest of the century covered them. The rest were pulled in by contubernium until they were all onboard.

  The movement was smooth and quick.

  “Good to go!” Jarek yelled as he boarded last. The ramp started to close as the shuttle’s engines flared and once again started to shoot off into the sky.

  Mark looked through the hatch, looking out over Mega City. In the distance, he could see the sword-shaped citadel. His emotions became complex as he cut his connection to the other mergers. It was there at the citadel they had fought to the end with the Harmony Forces. It was the site where thousands of troopers had died, including Tyler and Alexis.

  The ramp sealed closed. The Ares fighters that had hunted down the airships joined back up with those in the air as they shot off into the sky and toward the Moby.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Florence asked, recovering from all they’d just gone through.

  “Might have something to do with the fact I killed Nivad and General Jones, and my people killed off all the little fuckers who have been in our way for years or had betrayed the people of the EMF,” Mark said.

  “What?” Weng asked. “Do you know what kind of catastrophe this will be?”

  “As I said, Earth and Her Colonies will fall apart—me and mine will help with it. This gives the Legion and Roma the ability to do away with the corporations and let the people gain their freedom,” Mark said.

  “You murdered two people in high places of the Earth and Her Colonies government!” Weng said.

  Mark laughed coldly as he pulled off his helmet. The look in his eyes made Weng recoil.

  “They purposely assassinated my brother and sister-in-law. They nearly killed me. Anyone who touches mine better be ready for a bullet in the head.”

  “This was meant to open communication between our two groups and you went on a killing spree.” Weng shook his head.

  Mark snorted and pulled out a tin of chew from inside his chest. “On Earth, that’s how we open communication between groups. Don’t worry. You’re going to be getting millions of new auxiliaries in the near future.” Mark packed a lip and sat back in his chair.

  Weng didn’t say anything else, clearly sensing that Mark was not a man to piss off.

  Florence had a thoughtful look on his face before he used his NIAI to start communicating back to Roma, alerting them to what had happened.

  Chapter 13

  Sensor Control Station 34R

  Roma Union, J 10 Sector

  7/3354

  Legate Tuvio sipped coffee from his squeeze bottle as he looked over the reports from the night watch.

  He watched his crew periodically. Since his coming in to command after reporting the first Maraukian jump into Gilese system, he’d been made legate. With the new rank came changes. The station was no longer as relaxed or laid-back. It was constantly busy; new training had been introduced, meaning they had to be on alert at all times. Especially for the legate’s infamous drills. There was, of course, the few who bickered about the changes but most of them on the station accepted them. They knew they’d bee
n slow to respond to the incident.

  In their position, time meant lives. They’d all seen the feeds from Gilese; minutes meant everything.

  Tuvio finished the reports that were no longer filled with the fluff that covered the fact that the night watch hadn’t done anything but summary notes hitting the high points of every hour. He checked the main board, which was a star map of the known human and Maraukian space. White dots symbolized Union planets, purple was possible untouched planets holding human life, blue was the EHC, green was stations that hadn’t found anything strange in their sector, orange would symbolize curious activity. Red meant that Maraukian or something bad had happened in the sensor station’s vicinity.

  Tuvio thought this as he looked at the board. Red. His eyes and his brain made the connection as he looked at the deceptively softly glowing light.

  Adrenaline shot into his system. “Sound stations! Scan sectors! Get me a report from sensor station 549H NOW!” His voice thundered through the room. A klaxon and flashing red lights went off before he was finished speaking.

  He thanked the gods he’d drilled his people as they rushed to their stations, nervous and scared but going through the motions as their training took over as they scanned sensor pods.

  “Emergence in Andromeda sector!” a sensor watcher said.

  “CASTILLO!”

  “On it!” The man who’d been the first to find the emergence of Maraukians in the Gilese system had become Tuvio’s friend and partner in the days that they watched the Maraukians move toward Gilese, constantly updating command.

  When Tuvio had been promoted, he’d brought Castillo with him. The gangly man leaped over workstations and around sensor hubs, jumping into the one the sensor watcher jumped out of.

  “It’s them.” Castillo’s voice was devoid of emotion. The room became silent as people looked to one another.

  “Keep working, people. Clear your sectors,” Tuvio barked as his NIAI was already connecting him to high command. He was very happy now that he’d retained the contact info from them from his last encounter. As they came online, he waited until all of them accepted his call.