Earth Force (Relict Legacy Book 1)

by Shemer Kuznits

  “I’ll try.” She climbed the stairs and disappeared inside the ship.

  Several harsh-looking men came out of the library, carrying a few items with them.

  “Hey, boss,” Lucas said. “Thanks for the save. Here are the things the alien had on him, minus one destroyed pistol.”

  They laid the golden-white armor on the ground and a few items beside it.

  Zaltec light scout armor. Strength, Agility, Awareness +1.

  Shields Rank: F8, Armor: Rank F5

  Stunner, Rank: F5

  Talon, Rank: F9

  piTec: 2,200

  Zaltec scanner

  Fusion Grenade, Rank: E1

  Bulco let out a low whistle. “That grenade could have come in handy when we fought the Broodmother.”

  “Just be glad he didn’t use it when it was him fighting against us,” Nori said grimly.

  “I am. I’ll just hold onto it, for now. It looks like anyone can use it.”

  “No,” Nori said with a tone of finality. “We’ll put it along with the other weapons on the ship. I think we can use the upgrade options and build an armory.”

  Nathan looked from the Navigator to the Engineer and back again with a puzzled expression.

  Bulco grinned at her knowingly. “Fine by me, but you should take that Talon. We can’t have our captain go around equipped with a pitiful Zapper. You can use it, right?”

  Nori nodded slowly. “Just barely. I don’t have the right Path for it, but my level suppression trait picks up the slack.”

  “Go ahead then.”

  Nori scooped up the Talon and held it up to admire its sleek curved lines. She tucked the weapon into her belt. “I wonder how Fle'gak made it just appear out of thin air.”

  “We can ask the friendly alien merchant about it. What about the other stuff?”

  “Lana gets the scanner,” Nori decided. “It makes the most sense.”

  “And the armor?”

  Nori looked at it hesitantly.

  “You should take it,” Bulco pressed.

  “I don’t know, it doesn’t feel right.”

  “Feeling bad is the luxury of those who live in safety. We are in a constant fight for our lives, so it stands to reason that our captain should be well protected. Besides …” he gave her a crooked grin. “It won’t fit me; I checked the Engineering specs. It can only shift to about ten percent of its current size.”

  “You should take it, Nori.” Lana and Nathan emerged out of the scout ship, catching the end of the conversation. “It makes sense. You two are always in the thick of battle, and if Bulco can’t use it …”

  “Alright.” Nori held up the sleek-looking armor and pressed it to her body. Seams opened and gears rotated as the armor plates shifted, hugging the woman’s toned body in a tight fit. Nori held up an arm, marveling at the lightness of the material. She could feel the armor press on her, not hindering her movements - just the opposite, reinforcing them, ready to go at the slightest twitch of her muscles. She felt like she could run a marathon in the armor without breaking a sweat.

  “It needs to be recharged occasionally,” Bulco said. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it as part of my responsibilities as the ship’s main Engineer.”

  Nori turned to the Expert. “Lana, what did you find?”

  “The flight log is pretty slim. The ship belongs to the Inthidlon 3rd merchant fleet. I transmitted all the ship’s data to Unity for deeper analysis later, but from what I can tell now, the ship flew to several space stations, the last of them before coming here was Hammerhead.

  “So, he wasn’t lying about that part?”

  “No.”

  “Everything leads back to that Hammerhead place,” Bulco said. “I guess we know what our next destination is.”

  Lana frowned. “Wait, how are we going to--”

  “Bulco’s going to transfer the null tunnel drive from the scout to Unity,” Nori cut her off. “We’ll stop by Alzigo’s for repairs and pay back our loan, then we’ll head out there.”

  “But we can’t leave,” Lana protested. “We just won an important battle, and the survivors still need us. And what about the rest of the world? There are other shelters and other people who need our help.”

  “We’re not leaving just yet,” Nori said. “We’ll leave the ships here for Bulco to work on. We’ll take the Hummer to meet up with Diamond and Martin. We need to discuss our plans with them, but we can’t stay for long. Somewhere up there, someone is scheming about us and we need to know what they have planned.”

  “She’s right,” Nathan said.

  Nori nodded at him. “Thanks, Nathan.” She turned to Bulco. “Start working on the null drive. We’ll stay for the night, and tomorrow the rest of us will go meet with the shelter leaders.”

  Bulco grinned at her. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

  22 - Voyage

  The Hummer’s giant wheels sprayed gravel as it sped through the broken streets under the light of the new dawn. Nori easily guided the large vehicle, evading most obstacles, occasionally driving over them with a satisfied grunt.

  “It looks quiet,” Lana commented as she looked through the windows. “We haven’t seen a single Warped in the ten minutes we’ve been driving.”

  “Something tells me we got all the ones in this area,” Nori said. “The Broodmother kept them on a tight leash. The lone ones we encountered earlier were probably her scouts.”

  “I hope you’re right. It means people might be able to finally leave the shelters.”

  Nori nodded, turned the wheel sharply, and pressed on the brakes. The wheels screeched as they came to rest in front of a big moving truck. The truck slowed down, stopping just before ramming into the Hummer. A dozen armed guards rode the roof.

  “Goddamn, girl, have you never heard of a speed limit?” Diamond’s voice came over the comms.

  “Sorry.” Nori grinned, not looking sorry at all. “I didn’t expect your guys to figure out how to fix cars so quickly. Is Martin with you?”

  “I’m running a little late,” Martin’s voice came over as well. “We’ll reach the rendezvous in five minutes.

  The truck’s doors opened and Diamond, along with several other guards, came out. Nori, Lana, and Nathan stepped outside to meet them.

  “I’m glad we have a few minutes to ourselves,” the rotund shelter leader said. “I wanted to give you this.” He held up a large crystallized piece of piTec.

  piTec: 25,000

  “It’s your cut from the Warped horde that attacked our shelter,” he added. “With everything that happened, I sorta forgot to give it to you.”

  “Thanks.” Nori pocketed the item. “We should have enough now to pay back our loan and fix the ship.”

  Diamond nodded. “I also wanted to thank you, in private. Without you kids, we’d all have been dead. Maybe not today, or in a week, but eventually the Warped would have gotten us all. Thanks, kid.”

  “You’re welcome,” Lana said lightly.

  “Everything went as planned back at the shelter?” Nori asked.

  Diamond nodded. “With all the piTec we collected from the fort, we’ve managed to level up another two thousand people—more than half our population.” He grinned at her. “And we’ve all joined the Earth Force faction.”

  Nori’s eyes widened in amazement.

  “That’s right, kid, with Martin’s people included, you now have over eight thousand people standing behind you. We now have Machinators, Technicians, Soldiers, and many others who will be critical for rebuilding our civilization.” He patted his truck. “They even got a few cars running, but don’t go asking me how all that techno-mumble works. Point is, the future is starting to look a bit brighter. You guys aren’t alone anymore. We’re all in it together.”

  Nori nodded gratefully. “That’s actually what we wanted to talk to you about.”

  The hum of a large engine broke off their conversation as a military armored vehicle appeared behind a fallen building. A level four

soldier was on the roof, sitting behind a large mounted machine gun.

  “Honey, I’m home!” Martin’s voice came over the comms and the man himself appeared, climbing down from the bulky vehicle. Cattie, the Sharpshooter, came out after him.

  “You’re late,” Diamond grunted.

  “I’m making a fashionable entrance,” he countered with a boyish grin.

  “Nori was just telling me what she had us come over here for.”

  The Navigator nodded. “Have you considered what you’re going to do next?”

  “We did,” Martin said, his expression becoming serious. “We’re going to start building a perimeter between the three shelters and post armed guards in fortified locations along it. Once the area is secured, we’ll start building a proper city and move people out of the shelters. Some of the new Paths come with amazing abilities to build things quickly. Within a week this place will be unrecognizable. But that’ll be on Diamond’s shoulders.”

  Nori looked at him. “You’re stepping down as shelter leader?”

  “We don’t need shelter leaders anymore,” Diamond stepped in. “We’re going to build a city and that calls for proper leadership. For now, I’ll take over coordinating the rebuilding efforts. Martin’s job is going to be a hell of a lot harder.”

  “The army had an outpost nearby before they were overrun by the Warped,” Martin said. “We’ll fix up a bunch more of their vehicles then I’m going to lead a few expeditions to other parts of the country. As a Justicar, I’m ideally suited for the job.” He grinned at her. “You know, bring order to the badlands and all that. We’ll try to look for survivors and bring them back here, or just help them get back on their feet.”

  Nori nodded. “That’s a great idea. And we have something that will help you quite a bit with that.”

  Martin smiled. “Are we talking bullets? I hope we’re talking bullets. We still have a lot of the ammo you’ve brought us, but we’re going to need more eventually.”

  Nori shook her head. “I’ve got something better. We’re going to give you a small ship.”

  Martin and Diamond exchanged incredulous looks. “You have another one of those?”

  “Not exactly. We got our hands on a small and fast scout vessel. It has a mounted weapon that should be even more powerful than Unity’s asteroid cannon.”

  Martin’s eyes lit up. “Sweet!”

  “You’ll need someone to pilot it, though,” the Navigator cautioned.

  “That shouldn’t be a problem. I know some of my people have Paths that let them fly a ship, though probably not as well as you. That mounted weapon could be a real game changer.”

  “That’s not all,” Lana said. “It can carry up to two tons of equipment or about ten fully armed men. With it, you’ll be able to quickly deploy an intervention force, or deliver emergency supplies to people who need it.”

  “You’ll also be able to visit the space station to get more bullets,” Nori said. “We’ll leave you most of our Trinium supply. That should get you by for a long while. Long enough for you to come up with your own solution for dealing with the Warped.”

  Martin frowned. “Wait, are you leaving?”

  Diamond stroked his chin. “The scout ship will be a huge help, but shouldn’t we be worried about some pissed off aliens coming to look for their ride?”

  Nori shook her head. “Don’t think so, but we can’t be entirely sure. That’s part of the reason why we need to leave. More and more aliens will come to Earth, that’s for certain. We need to get ahead of them, figure out what they’re looking for and find out ways to handle them if things go southwards. Despite all the damage the Warped caused, they are just a byproduct of alien interference. It’s something we have to get on top of.”

  Diamond shook his head slowly. “You’re just kids, and you want to mess around with alien politics?”

  “We don’t really have a choice. We need to know what’s going on up there,” Martin objected. “And they can handle themselves. We’re all only still alive thanks to them.” He looked at Diamond and gave the man a mischievous smile. “But it does sound like they could use the help of a certified Diplomat.”

  “Oh, hell no,” Diamond said. “I’m too old for going out into space and making nice with aliens. My black ass is staying right here on this planet, thank you very much.”

  “I was only kidding,” the Justicar said and looked at Nori. “But maybe it’s not a bad idea to take a few more people with you, you know, for security.”

  Nori shook her head. “I don’t think so. The four of us are enough to run the ship. We’re going to try to fit in with the rest of them, not come out with guns blazing. Besides …” her expression became pained. “It’s dangerous, and everyone else is too low level. A small incident, like a console explosion, can be deadly for them.”

  “Well, what about me?” Cattie stepped forward. “I’m level five already. I’m a Sharpshooter, so I’m good with a gun, and I don’t die easily.”

  Nori frowned, but Lana stepped forward. “It might not be a bad idea, Nori. You and Bulco are tough, but you’re not exactly soldiers. It would be good having a specialized fighter backing us up.”

  The Navigator looked like she was about to refuse, then, to everyone’s surprise she turned to Nathan. “What do you think?”

  Nathan looked down, embarrassed from the sudden attention. “I like Cattie.”

  “Then it’s settled.” Nori declared. “Cattie, welcome aboard.”

  The woman grinned and moved to stand next to her new captain.

  “We’ll leave the ship and the Trinium at the old library,” Nori said. “We’ll comm you when it’s ready for pick up.”

  “I guess this is goodbye, for now,” Martin said, offering his hand. “It was a pleasure working with the Earth Force.”

  Nori shook his head and gave him her crooked grin. “It was a pleasure, but don’t you forget - We are all Earth Force now.”

  ***

  They drove back through the deserted streets, leaving Diamond and Martin behind to discuss their future cooperation.

  When they arrived at the old library, they saw a line of men moving between the two grounded vessels carrying loads of equipment and components.

  “You’re back,” Bulco greeted them. He was guiding his people while carrying a piece of bulkhead several times his own weight on his shoulder.

  “Yes,” Lana said happily. “We’ve informed them about everything, and Diamond gave us even more piTec. We’re rich now.”

  “What is she doing here?” Bulco stared at Cattie with a frown.

  The impish woman winked at him.

  “She’s coming with us,” Nori said with a tone that brooked no argument. “How are the repairs going?”

  “It’s not easy,” the Engineer admitted reluctantly, ignoring the Sharpshooter. “We already removed the scout’s drive engine, but it turns out it’s too weak for Unity, so it needs some extra adjustment. It’ll work, in the end, but it won’t be nearly as fast as the original drive.”

  “It’ll have to do. As long as it gets us to where we need to be.”

  “It should. I’ll be finished in a few more hours.”

  “That’s good.” Nathan smiled. “Unity will have one more surprise for us by then.”

  Bulco shrugged. “Sure, kid, whatever you say.”

  “The scout’s thrusters are still functioning?” Nori asked.

  “Yeah, it shouldn’t have any problem flying around, and it's faster than Unity.”

  “Good, I think I’ll borrow it for a little while, there’s something I have to check by myself.”

  Lana frowned. “Where are you going?”

  Nori looked away, not meeting any of her friends’ eyes. “São Paulo.”

  “Oh.” The Expert bit her lip.

  “It shouldn’t take me very long. The rest of you can show Cattie around the ship.” The Navigator walked into the smaller vessel and a moment later it hummed into life and soared into the sky.
<br />   ***

  While Bulco and his men worked, Lana and Nathan passed the time showing their new crew member around the ship and explained how things worked. Cattie was especially fascinated with the modular-folding aspects of the ship. “It’s so cool,” she said. “I want a bed? Wham! I got a bed. Even toilets and chairs. Geesh, those aliens really know their stuff, uh?”

  At nightfall, the scout ship returned. Lana hurried to welcome her friend, eager and hopeful of good news, but as soon as she saw the Navigator’s grim face, she knew.

  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, reaching for the other woman’s hand.

  Nathan stood away from them, his face fell at the news.

  Nori stood rigidly, accepting the comforting touch. “It’s … okay. I knew better than to hope.”

  Lana tightened her grip.

  Nori blinked her mounting tears away and let go of Lana’s hand. “It doesn’t change anything. If anything, it just makes our mission even more crucial, to make sure we never get caught unprepared again.” She took in a steadying breath and looked up at Nathan. “What about you? The rest of us, at least, know what happened to our families, but you don’t. It’s not fair. Would you like me to fly you to Israel? It’ll only take a couple of hours.”

  The Technomancer’s look of surprise was quickly transformed into grief. He lowered his eyes. “My parents were visiting me when the monsters attacked,” he said, barely louder than a whisper. “We … we tried to run back to the car but …” his voice quivered. “They found us. Dad … Dad … and then Mom …” he started shivering and held his face with his hands.

  Lana approached and hugged him tightly.

  Bulco appeared behind the ship, catching the young man’s last words. “They’ll pay for what they did, kid,” he said in a quiet, deadly voice. “I promise you that.”

  “What about the rest of your extended family?” Nori asked gently.

  Nathan sniffed and shook his head. “It was just the three of us.”

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