“How convenient,” Magnus said.
“As well as serendipitous, fortuitous, auspicious, providential, and charming,” the bot added.
“Charming?”
Azelon eyed Magnus with a robotic look of suspicion. “Is it not charming, sir?”
Magnus smiled. “I suppose it depends on your definition. And given your cheerful optimism, I’d say charming works just fine.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Additionally, Mr. Ricio will act as a field commander under TO-96, given his familiarity with naval combat. Were he not such an experienced pilot, I would have him relieve TO-96 altogether, but Ricio is far too valuable in the cockpit to retain him on the Spire.”
“Raptor Company is our naval operations unit,” Caldwell said. The bridge and its surrounding deck illuminated. “Azelon will lead this unit, naturally. I’ve designated Command and Fire Support divisions, with your two boys Flow and Cheeks in the latter. As per your request, there are no Jujari in that company.”
“Thank you, Colonel,” Magnus said with a grateful tone. “Appreciated.”
“I might be running the show, but you still gave me the budget, son.”
“Money talks.”
“And always will,” Caldwell said with a wink.
“What about this last unit—Paladia Company?”
“Willowood tells me it has some special meaning to the Luma,” Caldwell said. “This unit organization is all her doing too.” The colonel pulled up a window attached to a section in the Spire’s belly. “The company has forty mystics recovered from the Luma we rescued in the catacombs. They’re broken into three cadres of fourteen, fourteen, and twelve.”
“And Awen didn’t want to join her?” Magnus asked, his voice rising further than he’d intended it to.
Caldwell shook his head. “I put her with Willowood at first, but she insisted on being with you. And might I say that while she looks small, well… she’s a fierce one.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
Azelon’s eyes lit up. “Are you aware of advanced interpolation architecture that governs the outer—”
“It was a rhetorical statement,” Magnus said. It was uncanny how many of TO-96’s mannerisms she’d picked up.
The bot’s shoulders shrugged. “I see.”
Magnus looked back at Caldwell. “What about Sootriman and Saasarr?”
“Well”—Caldwell moved his cigar to the other corner of his mouth—“I figured the mistress of Ki Nar Four might like to lead her people if she recruits any from that mystic’s forsaken back-world. Hell if I’ll know what to do with them.”
“Fair enough. And I’m guessing that includes the Reptalon?”
Caldwell nodded. “Not saying I can’t implement the lizard somewhere, but until I hear back from her, there’s no sense organizing around what I don’t know.”
“Fair enough.” Magnus looked to Azelon. “Any word from them?”
“Not yet, sir. But Awen has only just recently left to create a new quantum tunnel for them and close the existing one over Worru. That said, Geronimo Nine’s transponder is still active. Its latest ping placed it on Ki Nar Four. With the time dilation, it may be another day or two before we hear from them.”
“Understood.” Magnus changed topics. “How are weapons and armor coming along?”
“I’ll let Smarty Pants answer that one,” Caldwell said.
“I have completed manufacturing enough weapons and armor to get the two rifle companies operational,” Azelon said.
“That’s about what I told Forbes already,” Magnus replied.
“Says she’s got a few additional surprises for us too,” the colonel added.
“I like the sound of that.” Magnus turned to Azleon. “What about the NBTI?”
“I will begin adapting your forces when you command.”
“How long will it take to integrate everyone?”
“Barring any additional biologics added by Sootriman, I will be able to update your entire force in 9.2813 days common.”
“Thanks for the specificity, Azie.”
“My pleasure, sir.”
Caldwell removed his cigar. “An NBT—what now?”
“Novia biotech interface. It allows us to take advantage of some additional features on the Novian weapons.”
“As well as the Fangs,” Azelon added. “It also increases the armor’s efficiency and life-support capabilities. Additionally, it allows every gladia to be integrated with the Novia Defense Architecture, or NDA, since TO-96 tells me how you love your acronyms.”
“Don’t tell me that she’s gotta drill into our brains or some such splick,” Caldwell said.
“The NBTI does require minor physical modifications, Colonel,” Azelon replied. “But I can assure you that the invasion is both minimal and reversible.”
“Do I need it to do my job?”
“That depends on how efficiently you would like to interface with your units, Colonel.”
“I think that’s a yes, sir,” Magnus said.
“Mysticsdammit,” the colonel said as he shoved his cigar back in his mouth.
“How about the Fangs?” Magnus asked, changing topics. “Are they in production too?”
“I already have three squadrons in inventory,” Azelon said. “Ricio is checking them out as we speak.”
“How charming.” Magnus noticed Azelon’s eyes warm at the word. The truth was, Magnus felt pretty warm himself. He couldn’t have been happier about how everything was going—and all thanks to having an incredible team. It seemed just a few short months ago that he was alone with Awen, fighting their way through Oorajee. Now, he had a starship, a battalion, and people he could trust. Maybe their efforts to stop Moldark and So-Elku wouldn’t be in vain after all. Granted, there was still plenty of work to be done. But at least now, Magnus thought, we have a chance.
Magnus put a hand on Caldwell’s shoulder and then gestured at the holo display with the Spire’s schematic and the Gladio Umbra’s new roster. “Thank you, colonel. For all of this.”
“You’re welcome.” Caldwell turned to Magnus and shook his hand. “And thank you for giving an old man another chance to kick some ass.”
14
“End simulation,” Magnus said and removed his helmet. The hard-light emitters cycled down, and the streets of Capriana disappeared.
“Nice audible with the left flank idea,” Dutch said to Rohoar as the system lowered her to the ground. She’d been perched in a blown-out fifth-story window in an office building, sniping Paragon troopers holed up in a corner restaurant.
“I smelled fresh meat in my helmet,” Rohoar said, licking his lips. “And I was hungry. So they seemed like a good target.”
“Well, it worked.”
“And what is this audible you speak of?” Rohoar asked.
Dutch wrinkled her forehead at him in disbelief. “You don’t watch spaceball? A play called on the fly?”
“If you are referring to how I gave Abimbola the idea for the flanking maneuver through the use of my voice and his ear, then I understand. Also, there were no flies in this simulation, nor any spaceballs.”
“Good grief,” Dutch said.
“Okay, Granther Company,” Magnus said, trying to get everyone’s attention. “Bring it in.”
Magnus’s platoon of five teams had been running evolutions for the last four days straight. They’d taken breaks for meals and a few hours of sleep each night. But otherwise, they’d been on their deck’s ECSE nonstop. Not that Magnus was complaining. Since Caldwell had restructured Granther Company, Magnus had been keen on getting as much time with his gladias in their new fire team composition as he could. And the work was paying off.
“You looked good out there,” Magnus said. “You worked well as teams and as a platoon.”
“Yeah,” Robillard, Echo Team’s rifleman, said. “And Handley even decided to run a little today.”
“That’s ’cause you kept poking me in the ass wit
h your weapon,” Handley replied. “What were you hoping to find up there?”
“Couldn’t tell ya,” Robillard replied. “Your butt was too fat to see past.”
“And you enjoyed the view, didn’t you?”
“Save it for later,” Magnus said amidst a round of laughter. When everyone quieted down, he asked, “What do you think of the new NBTI addition?”
“Makes it easier to see each other,” Zoll said, standing with Charlie Team. “And gives us a better comm control.”
“Right,” Magnus said, nodding. “What else?”
“Navigation seemed improved,” Dozer offered from Delta Team.
“And targeting,” Silk added, tapping the top of her new sniper rifle.
Azelon had invited Silk to assist in the weapon’s design. She even helped name it, much to Magnus’s surprise. The extended range blaster had been dubbed the CK360. “Confirmed kills all around,” Silk said with a wide grin when she’d handed Magnus the first production model. It was twice the length of the NOV1, but almost half the weight. And while it was considerably slower than the NOV1’s blistering 3,000 round-per-second maximum fire rate, it was twice as powerful. The CK360 delivered a whopping two megajoules of energy to targets up to nine kilometers away with less than 5% energy degradation. That, combined with its NBTI controlled sight and target tracking feature, made it the most formidable long-range infantry weapon on any battlefield in the quadrant.
“You had some excellent confirmed kills out there, Silk,” Magnus said, using the weapon’s namesake on purpose.
“Thank you, sir.”
Dutch raised a hand. “When will Azelon let us use the multi-target fire effect mode?”
“Hell yeah,” Rix echoed. “I wanna see this gimbaled barrel in action.”
“Soon enough,” Magnus answered. “We don’t want anyone getting lazy out here.”
“Tell that to Handley,” Robillard said.
“I swear to mystics,” Handley replied. “I’m gonna pound your damned teeth in so hard you’ll be pooping dental floss for a week.”
Everyone laughed when Magnus noticed the colonel step into the hangar bay along with Ricio. Caldwell waved Magnus over. “Let’s take ten minutes to hydrate and stretch,” Magnus ordered. “And Robillard?”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve got some dental floss hanging out the back of your suit.”
* * *
“Any update from Awen?” Magnus asked the colonel.
“Said she opened the new tunnel for Geronimo. Sootriman’s inbound, and it looks like she’ll be arriving within the hour.”
“And is the warlord of Ki Nar Four saying what she’s bringing with her?”
“Negative,” Caldwell replied. “Communication through the void horizon is limited to her transponder’s beacon.”
Magnus nodded. Subspace communication was hard enough as it was; he guessed inter-universal connectivity was even more temperamental.
“And how are things here?” the colonel asked, pointing to Granther Company.
“We’re getting there,” Magnus said. “Someone decided to change up the fire team composition on me, so…”
“I thought you might like the challenge.”
“Yeah, ’cause that’s just what I need right now.” Magnus laughed and then shook his head. “But it’s gonna be good, Colonel. The special teams structure is letting everyone’s best rise to the surface. Just gotta work on building trust and communication.”
“Like any good marriage,” Ricio added.
“I wouldn’t know,” Magnus replied. “But I’ll take your word for it. How are things with you?”
Ricio gave Magnus a devilish grin. “Excellent, Lieutenant.”
“Really?”
“I thought the Fang was pretty good before, back when I helped rescue your asses on Worru…”
“Here he goes again,” Magnus said, looking at Caldwell.
“Aces,” Caldwell said. “Go figure.”
Ricio smiled, undeterred. “But now with the biotech interface”—he whistled—“there’s no weapons platform that can compete with it.”
“That good, huh?” Magnus turned to Caldwell. “See? Look what happens when you let Azelon drill into your head.”
Caldwell shook his head. “All in due time, son.”
Magnus looked back at Ricio. “And your pilots?”
“They’re doing well. A few have some previous flying experience, but most don’t.”
“That’s gotta be rough,” Magnus offered.
“Actually, you’d be surprised. Flying a Fang with the NBTI isn’t like flying any other platform. So if you’ve never flown before, you have an advantage of sorts.”
“No bad habits to break,” Magnus said.
“Exactly. Azelon and I get to train them from the ground up. Of course, we won’t be fully operational until TO-96 and Ezo get back, but that won’t be long by the sounds of it.”
“Sounds like everything’s coming together, Colonel,” Magnus said.
The old man spun in a cigar in his mouth. “Ee-yuht. Gonna be one hell of a fighting force when all’s said and done. Couple more months to get the kinks worked out, and then a year before its smooth sailing.”
Magnus eyed the colonel. “You do realize that timeline is—”
“A pipe dream, son. Of course, I do. What, do you think I popped out of my old lady’s victory canal yesterday?”
“Victory canal?” Ricio asked, eyes wide.
“Nah,” the colonel said to his point. “I just like to imagine how good it’d be if we did this the right way, not the necessary way. We might not be the most well-oiled machine when all is said and done, but we’ll be ready to spank any limp-dick numbnut who points a gun at us.”
“I’m still stuck on victory canal,” Ricio said, looking at Magnus. “Anyone?”
“You get used to his one-liners,” Magnus said.
“Somehow, I don’t believe you.”
A notification from Azelon interrupted their conversation. Magnus saw it pop up in his bioteknia eyes, so he raised a finger at Caldwell and Ricio. “It’s Azelon.” He accepted the incoming comm request. “Go for Magnus.”
“Lieutenant, I see the Colonel with you,” Azelon said.
“He is.”
“Forgive me using you as a passthrough but—”
“But until he lets you drill a hole in his head”—Magnus glared at Caldwell—“you can’t speak with him directly and need to use me as your dummy.”
Caldwell chewed on his cigar in irritation but said nothing.
“I wasn’t going to put it so harshly, sir,” Azelon replied. “But, essentially, yes.”
“I read you. Whaddya got for us?”
“Sootriman, Ezo, and TO-96 have entered the system on Geronimo Nine.”
Magnus repeated the information to Caldwell and Ricio. “And what about Saasarr?” he asked Azelon.
“He does not appear to be on the vessel, Lieutenant. Sootriman indicated that the Reptalon has been employed on another mission of her bidding.”
“Fair enough.” Magnus hesitated. “Any other ships with her?”
“Negative, sir. That’s something she wishes to tell you about in person.”
“Bad news then.”
“What bad news?” Caldwell asked. But Magnus held up a hand, and then made a motion with his finger like a drill bit going into the colonel’s temple. Caldwell batted it away.
“I don’t believe it is bad news, no,” Azelon said. “Rather, her activity requires additional time to bring about the intended result. I believe you call it delayed gratification, in your parlance.”
“I like it when you talk dirty to me, Azie.”
“Talk dirty, sir?”
“Eh—talk to Awen about that too.”
“Very well, Lieutenant.”
“Also, I want to know the moment Awen gets back from Ithnor Ithelia. I need her training with Alpha Team.”
“Understood.”
“Anyth
ing else?”
“Negative. Azelon out.”
“Magnus out.”
“So, Sootriman’s back,” Caldwell said. “What’d she bring me?”
“Nothing yet,” Magnus said. “But she’s got something coming.”
Caldwell gave an approving nod. “I like a woman who knows how to keep things interesting.”
“If anyone knows how to do that, it’s Sootriman.” Magnus glanced at Ricio. “Time for you to get ready to receive your new company commander and squadron leader.”
15
“Are you comfortable, child?” Moldark asked as he stepped into her quarters. Granted, the space was nothing more than a glorified cargo hold adjacent to his own converted observation deck. But he wanted her kept as close to him as possible while still providing the necessary separation humans seemed to require.
“It smells funny in here,” Piper replied. She seemed to take refuge behind a blanket that she clutched in her hands.
“My apologies. I can have that addressed.”
“And the bed isn’t very comfortable.”
“I will have my—”
“And the lights are too bright when they’re all on, and too dark when they’re all off. A night light would be nice.”
He caught her eye. “Anything else?”
“I’m hungry,” she said, looking away.
How this species tolerated raising their offspring was a mystery to Moldark. He’d just as soon devour the child than suffer her grating list of needs.
“I will have some food brought to you.”
“Good food?”
Moldark’s eyes twitched. “Is not all food meant for nourishment and therefore good?”
“You talk funny.”
“What’s wrong with the way I speak?”
“You use big words.”
Moldark sighed. “Are we finished here?”
“Well, you’re the one who asked to come in, so why are you asking me?”
The child was getting on his nerves, and they hadn’t even been on the Labyrinth an hour. “Come with me.”
Ruins of the Galaxy Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 146
