First Strike (Hammer's War Book 3)

by James McEwan

  He waved his hand again and the image was replaced by one of Ruby sitting in the cafeteria eating. “This is a live feed of your granddaughter right now. Now by the look on your face I can see that you recognize where she is.”

  She nodded, feeling too defeated to speak.

  “Good, now do as I say and she’ll be spared. If you please me you’ll even get to raise her,” he said as he felt like a chess master telling his opponent check mate.

  Amanda mustered herself one last time, “Okay, for the sake of argument I submit to you,”

  He interrupted her, “You mean after you have submitted to me.”

  “Yes after I have submitted to you, my first question as your military adviser is what about the Terrain Empire? They’re the only ones left in the Galaxy that have the resources and the will to fight back. How do you deal with them?” She asked.

  “Simple really,” he waved his hands over the desk again and Ruby was replaced by the image of The Terrain Emperor and Sasha huddled together in a small room. Sasha was lying on a bed, not large enough for the two of them, while Connell was sitting against the side of the bed with his knees drawn up and his head in his hands. He looked tremendously stressed, but the two looked otherwise unharmed. Two large guards stood just outside the room. “Connell, nice lad, but way too idealistic. Your first job is to meet with him and explain that it’s in his best interest to have the Terrain Empire join the NGE.”

  “And what if he doesn’t? Killing him will just make him a martyr and make the Terrains fight that much harder,” Amanda said wondering when the other shoe would fall.

  “I never said anything about killing him,” he paused long enough for her to understand what he was saying. “If you can’t talk him into relinquishing power then you will prove yourself by killing Sasha and his unborn child.”

  Amanda was no longer stunned by what came out of his mouth, “I see,” was all she could muster.

  He could see her displeasure on her face, “Don’t worry, we have a plan B if all else fails.”

  “Plan B?” She was now playing for information. He had a little too much to drink and was already starting to trust her.

  “Yes, plan B,” he said as he waved his hand over the controls again. The image changed again, to what looked like a scene from an old science fiction horror film. Rows and rows of dead bodies, men, women, even children appeared before her. She watched as one by one they were being processed. Fluids drained and something else pumped in before parts were fitted into their heads. Then after the machine parts where installed, the bodies were somehow animated and walked off the line toward another area where their clothing was cut off and they were handed uniforms.

  “Oh my God, Necromorph troops? But, their use has been banned by the Federation and most other governments as well. Not to mention the fact that they don’t last long before decay becomes a problem,” Amanda said horrified at what she was watching.

  “Yes Necromorphs offer advantages over regular troops, they have need of food, sleep, entertainment, pay, and they don’t lose it in combat and run away. They’re cheaper than robots and can be replaced easily. Plus, there’s never a problem recruiting after a battle,” Drake said taking another sip from his glass. He was enjoying his victory and it was going just as he had imagined.

  “Yes those are all valid points, but Necromorphs don’t last more than a week or two. Even less in combat operations,” Amanda said finding it weird that she was even discussing the points of Necromorphs.

  “Very true, however, our Lord Emperor has discovered a process to preserve the bodies and stop the decay. Our Necromorphs have no shelf life or expiration date,” Drake said as he poured another drink after emptying his glass.

  “I see. So where is all this taking place?” She asked.

  He waved his hand again and the image changed again to an outside image of the Lord Emperor’s ship, “On the Mephistopeles. She’s the Lord Emperor’s flagship. She’s in orbit right now processing the dead.”

  “Why the Necromorphs, why now? If he has control over all the peoples in the galaxy, what does he need them for?” She asked pushing for more information.

  “Oh this is just the beginning. All living except for a select few ruling classes and the best of the breeder classes will be turned into Necromorphs. You need to understand that he has greater plans. All life in the universe is at risk from an enemy that lives outside of time. This enemy is so evil it makes our Lord Emperor look like a damn priest. The fact is that most people of all species in the galaxy are just too stupid to live. They take and they take and they take, but what do they really give back to society? They’re a scourge on the rest of us. So will I sacrifice their lives to save the rest of us? Hell yes I will and I won’t shed a tear for them,” Drake droned on.

  “Who is this enemy and why haven’t we ever heard of them until now?” Amanda asked.

  “Ah, good question,” he said with a slight slur to his words. “You haven’t heard of the enemy because there’s no need to create panic in the populous. It’s better to keep it quiet and prepare for the oncoming storm. There will be enough panic when people learn what lies in store for them,” Drake said draining his glass once more.

  “How do you plan to implement the Necromorph conversion plan?” She asked as she held out her glass for him to refill.

  Finally somewhere deep inside his alcohol soaked brain alarm bells went off. “Ah you’re good aren’t you?”

  “Not sure what you mean?” She said trying to be coy.

  “I’ve said far too much already. If you really see the vision and please me, then and only then will I read you in on the full plan. Until then you’ll have to be satisfied with the information you’ve been able to wrangle out of me,” he said as he stood up and pointed his open hand to the door. “I think I’ve waited long enough for you come to my bed.”

  “Can I at least see Ruby before?” She asked.

  “No, not tonight anyway, if you’re good then you can see her tomorrow. She’ll be treated well, I promise,” he said.

  She stood up and straightened the black static uniform, as was her habit after years of wearing a uniform, “Well then, if I am to submit myself I’ll need a lot more of this.” Amanda picked up the half-empty bottle of Eli White Lighting and carried it with her as they left the room. Her last thought as she left the room was if she had to lie down with a monster, at least he was not a bad looking monster.

  Chapter 29

  Most of the combat had died down as the planet of Isis was one of most heavy defended planet in the universe. At least heavy defended from space the government never thought that any one would ever get passed their planetary defenses. No one ever thought that the mighty Republic of Commerce would fall in a single day yet it did.

  The streets were empty for the first time. Thad chose to risk ground transport to make better time. They found an abandoned hover truck that delivered freight. They tossed out enough packages to make room for the rest of them. Thad drove because he could see using his thermal vision and they could travel without lights.

  St. Claire road shotgun, while the rest stood in the back with the door open and their guns pointing outward. The slide through the quite streets with little notice. Still using the enemy’s comms they were able to avoid patrols.

  Having transportation sped up their trip back to the apartment building by hours. Which everyone seemed grateful for due to the fact most of them had not slept in over twenty-four hours. Hungry and exhausted the group was happy to see the entrance to the parking garage, of course the delivery truck was far too tall to enter, so Thad parked it and everyone bailed out.

  With Thad on point they walked slowly down the darkened ramp. There were a few lights on inside the garage. Thad stopped the group with a fist hand signal. He then moved ahead by himself. He had seen the remains of the battle between Archie and the LPM-48s. Thad’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed the smashed remains on the ground were those of Archie. He did a quick sweep
of the area to insure it wasn’t a trap. Thad didn’t know that the enemy was not looking for him because they believed he was already dead.

  “What’s taking him so long? I think we should just move on,” Rod said as he pushed forward.

  He didn’t move than two steps before he was stopped cold. A hand landed on his shoulder and spun him around. He came nose to nose with St. Claire, “Hey buddy, you have a death wish or something?”

  “No, but I know what I’m doing. It’s just like in my adventure ‘Battle on Upland 3’.”

  St. Claire stopped him again, “Hold it right there Ace, this is no holo adventure, and you’re no solider. So if you want to stay with this group and stay alive you’d best keep your mouth shut and do as you’re told or I swear I’ll kill you myself.”

  “Mr. St. Claire I don’t believe there’s any need for threats. I’m sure Mr. Masters just forgot his place,” Fiona said trying to defuse things.

  “All due respect ma’am, he needs to learn it fast. If he keeps doing stupid shit like that he’ll get us all killed,” St. Claire said still eyeballing Rod Masters.

  “Never going to happen,” Thad’s voice made Fiona jump and St. Claire raise his weapon. “Come on its clear, but there’s a problem.”

  “Problem?” Fiona asked.

  “It’s Archie,” Thad replied.

  “Oh no,” Fiona said as she took off at a run. Thad didn’t expect her reaction and nearly fell over as she pushed passed him.

  Thad regained his footing and the rest of the group followed him down the ramp. At the bottom they found Fiona on her knees the DDSD out rendering up repair tools. They joined her and Freya dropped down next to her sister. “He looks beyond repair sis.”

  “I know, but we need to pull his core. It’s like the brain. Hopefully it’s intact because we need answers, so here help me,” Fiona said as she handed Freya a power tool. Together they unbolted and removed all of the parts and covers that were in the way.

  St. Claire stood next to Thad, “Who’s Archie?”

  “Archie is our robotic helper and was in charge of safeguarding my daughter,” Thad said as he stood and watched his wives working away. He was having a hard time with his emotions at the moment and was worried to death at what they would find in the penthouse apartment yet at the same time his heart burned with pride seeing his wives and just how far their skills had come. In the year he was gone they had learned many new things including robotic engineering.

  “Wait, you have a daughter? Why didn’t you tell me that before?” St. Claire asked.

  “I didn’t know until after we had parted ways,” Thad said trying to stay calm.

  “So what other little tidbits of information should I know?”

  “Probably a shit load. I’ll you what, you can read the book when it comes out,” Thad snipped at him. Then he realized his answer had been a bit sharp, “Sorry man, I’m just really on edge. Besides before I can write a book about my life I still have to remember more than half of it.”

  St. Claire laughed and patted his friend on the back, “I bet.”

  “Got it,” Fiona said as she held up Archie’s core processor.

  “Okay it looks like the building has its own backup power. Who wants to chance the lift or should we take the stairs?” Thad asked.

  “Excuse me,” it was the deep voice of Mortlock, “But how far up is this apartment?”

  “It’s the penthouse all the way at the top,” Thad replied.

  “The lift,” everyone answered in unison.

  “The lift it is then. This way,” Thad said as he led them to the lift. They had no idea what was awaiting them at the top so the braced. The twins each got down on one knee while Kára stood behind them flanked by Thad and St. Claire. There was not enough room in the lift opening for Mortlock and Masters too so they stood on the sides of the lift and out of the line of fire.

  The ride up was short, but not for Thad and the twins, as it seemed to take forever for each floor to pass by. Fiona and Freya worried about Amanda, but they had bonded closely with Ruby given the loss of the trio’s first unborn child. They couldn’t bear the thought of losing her now.

  The lift slowed and came to a stop at the penthouse. The lift door chimed announcing their arrival. Everyone was ready, fingers on triggers. The doors slid open revealing not an ambush, but a dark apartment. They quickly rushed in, each person taking a prearranged quarter of the room.

  “Clear,” each one said in turn, as they cleared their area of any threats. After they had secured the front room. Mortlock and Masters entered.

  Master’s took one look at the deceased love bot butler Charles and screamed, “What the Hell is that?”

  “That is what’s left of poor Charles. My mother’s butler,” Thad said.

  Masters turned green and looked like he was going to vomit. St. Claire took him by the arm, “What’s wrong there buddy? Never seen a dead love bot before?” He led him to the kitchen where he promptly ran to the sink and retched up a nights worth of gourmet appetizers and expensive Champaign.

  The twins and Thad checked the rest of the apartment and found nothing. They were alone. While they were busy clearing the apartment, and St. Claire was busy helping the action hero clean up, Kára looked around and found Charles’s service bag. She brought it over to Mortlock who gently picked up the body of the bot and slid it into the bag. Kára and Mortlock then picked up the biggest pieces of the back of his head and placed them in the bag.

  Thad came back to the front room and saw what they were doing, “Ah guys you don’t have to do that. I would have cleaned it up.”

  Kára looked up at him and gave him a little smile, “We know, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.”

  “Thank you,” Thad said.

  “Think nothing of it my dear boy,” Mortlock said. “Now where are the maid bot controls? I can have them clean the rest of this up in a jiffy.”

  Thad showed Mortlock to the main control panel for the apartment. Then he called everyone back to the front room. “Okay it’s clear that my mother and daughter aren’t here. Given the state of Archie downstairs and Charles here we can assume that they’ve been captured. I’m holding onto the hope that they’re still alive, but there’s nothing else we can do tonight. We all need food and rest. Once we’ve had some down time we can figure out our next move. Kára and St. Claire please take my mother’s room. The twins and I are already settled in the guest room. Mr. Masters you can use my daughters room. Mortlock I’m sorry we don’t have a bed that will accommodate your size.”

  “Not to worry that love seat looks like it will do just fine and there are plenty of cushions I can use,” Mortlock replied.

  “I will see that you have all the bedding you need,” Freya said as she left the room to get bedding from the replicator, as she needed to make it custom for his size.

  “I think I’ll start hooking up Archie to the main frame,” Fiona said.

  “Do it in the morning dear. I know you want answers just as much as I do, however the data is too important to lose to a tired mistake,” Thad said.

  She wrinkled up her brow, “I guess you’re right, I hate it when you’re right.” Thad smiled at her. “I guess I’ll go warm up the shower then.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” he replied.

  “Oh God a shower, that would be great,” Masters said.

  “There’s a full bath in Ruby’s room. I’m sure you can find what you need, and there’s a replicator in the room to make what you can’t find,” Thad said.

  “Thank you Mr. Hammer,” Masters said humbly for the first time that night.

  “Thad, just call me Thad.”

  “Okay Thad, and please, call me Rod.”

  “I think a shower sounds absolutely marvelous,” Kára said as she grabbed St. Claire by the arm and dragged him from the room.

  “I’ll see to a meal while you’re all cleaning up,” Mortlock said.

  Surprised Thad turned to the Orillia, “Oh, I didn
’t know cooking was among your skill set.”

  “It isn’t, but I am a demon with a food replicator. Any requests?” Mortlock asked.

  “Nope surprise me,” Thad said as Freya returned overloaded with bedding.

  Thad helped her put together a make shift bed using the love seat and two coffee tables. They pushed them altogether and piled up couch cushions that had not been hit by Charles’ internal fluids. All around them the maid bots flew about the room cleaning and scrubbing up what was left of Charles. In less than a half hour there was no trace of the earlier violence.

  Kára dragged St. Claire into the master bedroom and helped him strip out of his armor. He in turn helped her remove hers. The only time she ever took it off was to bathe and to make love, and in as much as she had just fought a battle and won she was in the mood to do both. St. Claire on the other hand was beat and just wanted to get clean, and maybe have a bite to eat before he crashed. However, once he got Kára out of her armor and his eyes feasted upon her beauty, he found a renewed source of energy.

  Thad found Fiona already in the shower. She invited him in. He stripped off his armor and joined her. The steam from the shower quickly filled the room and fogged the glass. Freya waited for them to finish. It was one of the only things she didn’t like about having to share her husband with her sister, having to wait and take turns to be with him. Thad satisfied Fiona and she slipped from the shower and Freya disrobed and took her turn. Luckily for her Thad was perfect in his genetic design. Even as tired as he was he had no problem preforming and she found herself well pleased.

  After everyone had an opportunity to clean up and rejuvenate, one by one they returned to the dining room, with the exception of Rod. Mortlock had been true to his word and laid out a mighty feast. There were many dishes that Thad recognized, but the twins had no idea what they were. “Oh what is that,” Freya asked as she pointed to a large bowl of what looked like multicolored pasta.

  “I wasn’t sure what you all would like to eat so I programmed up a selection of Orillia dishes for you to try,” Mortlock answered with a look of pride on his face.