Like hell I knew who the Syndicate was from the beginning. I made those rules so I wouldn’t get killed! I wanted to say but my training of how to deal with the media took over.
“Since the beginning.” Well, it was a half-truth; in the beginning, I had wanted to do anything to get out of the situation I was in. Those thoughts had been swayed by the fact I wanted to take Mecha Tail with me; that had turned into keeping Earth safe and, hell, I got a real Mecha.
Though, if I was going to stay in command instead of getting stabbed in the back or having someone else who didn’t care as much taking over from me, having people think that I was some kind of far-sighted wizard of war, well, it couldn’t hurt, could it?
She studied me closely as I put my helmet on, leaving the visor open, my face a mask. Apparently satisfied, she continued putting on her Mecha.
“Why do you hate me so much?” I asked. There was a good chance that I was going to die in the next few hours, kill switch disablers or not, so what the hell.
She finished doing her last latches up and collected her thoughts. She looked at me, studying my face as I stood there, leaning back with my arms crossed.
“I don’t hate you, most of the time.” She looked up as if trying to find the words for something she didn’t know. “You’re a skilled warrior; many people follow you and trust you...” She paused, looking around the armory for guidance.
“Hah, good one. Go on,” I said.
Her eyes flashed. “Though you’re arrogant, annoying, think too little of yourself, you don’t fulfill the role of a husband, and you don’t care for my ways.”
“I don’t know how to fulfill the role of a husband and I think too little of myself?”
She sighed, exasperated by my seeming blindness. “You distrust nearly everyone, yet they trust you. You don’t believe in the power you wield and, yes, you certainly do have it.” She waved at the entire ship and the ships around us.
“They believe in Salchar; they believe in the man who helped us to find ourselves then gave us purpose instead of letting us become tools. The man who searched for the truth when others didn’t believe it. They believe in the man who was the real force behind the invasion of a planet. Do you know how many people have looked up your record on the gaming circuit?”
“Uh...” She’s complimenting me!
“All of them. It has become a necessary reading material for every single commando. Hell, you’re the one who gave them a name, breaking us off from those who wish to enslave us.” Her servos whined as her Mecha clanked with every step.
She struck my chest plate with a clang. “Get your head out of your ass and look around. These people believe in you and are going to go into hell because you told them to. Forget your trust issues and your paranoia—trust them now. They need it as much as you do.” She stomped toward the armory doors.
“What about the husband part?”
She turned, her face dark. “On the eve of battle and you want to know how you’ve screwed up marriage?” She let an angry rush of air out as she walked out of the armory.
I couldn’t help but grin.
After a few seconds, I calmed down as I powered up my HUD. Communications channels appeared on it. She was right. I need to trust them. I opened up a channel to Rick’s Mecha, finding he, too, was already suited up.
“So, we’re finally doing it, eh boss?”
“Yeah, that we are. Are all of your technical people ready?” Rick, with his background in the Air Force, was better suited to dealing with the people who would have to take up positions in all of the ships and control them. He and Henry made up my right and left: one commanding my commandos, the other working the hardware of the ships and station to ease the transition of the first, with the hidden assistance of Resilient.
“Yes, sir. They’re annoyed that they won’t be on the front lines.”
“I know, but they are vital where they will be, and they will not be seeing any less action than the commandos will be.”
“I know, sir; though if you require assistance, don’t hesitate to ask. We will be there.”
“Thank you, Rick, and let your people know that I know they’ll be frustrated having to stay on the ships. Yet, their jobs are as important as my own, if not more so. Without them, we will not succeed.”
“I’ll let them know, boss. We’ve come pretty far, haven’t we?”
“Farther than I thought we would have been able to at this point,” I admitted.
“Don’t go dying on me, Salchar; we still need you after this. You have a fleet to command.”
I laughed, my nerves showing.
“I’m serious! I have no idea what I would do with all of that responsibility!” he said, a small grin on his face.
“Well, what should we name this fleet?” I shook my head at his antics.
“I think you already did.”
My pause made him fill me in.
“The Fleet of the Free.”
“How about the Free Fleet?” I accidentally muttered.
“That does sound a lot better,” he said.
Apparently, in my nervousness, I’d spoken my thoughts.
“The Free Fleet,” he said. I could hear the grin in his voice. “As you command, Salchar. I’ll pass it on. I have to see to my people.”
“Me too.” I looked at my timer in my HUD. “Waiting’s a bitch.”
“That it is, boss. Rick out.”
The line went dead. I got focused on the mission at hand as I walked into the shuttle bay. “Eddie, are you sure you’ve got everything covered?”
“Yes, it’s all good. A tad difficult, I’m told.” Eddie had taken over the video and audio surveillance across all of the ship in our fleet as well as the external sensors, which was quite a feat. He didn’t know how long it would last, but for now it was holding.
I walked into the gunnery deck where two platoons of AMCs, instead of the five squads previously planned, waited. I checked my kill switch disabler on my neck, making sure it was secure. This part was the worst; if anyone found out what was happening now, then our entire plan would fail.
“All right, Eddie. We’re in your hands.”
“We’ll keep you hidden, Commander.”
I changed to the dual platoon commander’s channel.
“Let me guess—Henry.”
“He just thought it would be a better placement of Mechas here, sir,” the company commander said, looking a few inches above my eyes as I snorted.
“Suure,” I said, grinning as Yasu joined me. She found herself swarmed by her students as she smiled and talked to them while I stood there waiting.
The Mechas happily accepted her. While I’d been sweating over plans, gaining information, and trying to make sure all of the cogs were turning in the right direction to get the end result we needed, she’d been training everyone in hand-to-hand.
She’d even taught other trainers with the view screens, which was the real reason that Felix had wanted to hook the maintenance hub’s view screen to the communications relay.
His wife, being one of Yasu’s close supporters and friends, was most definitely behind the man’s logic. Yasu had given me the best trained fighters that I could get in such a short period, skills that would be pushed to the limit today.
I watched as different counters turned green and others continued to slowly tick down.
“We’re docked,” Min Hae said over the commander’s channel, with individual ships calling in when they’d done the same.
The ship’s engines wound down and I could hear as the station’s arms connected with the hull of the imperial dreadnought and as air locks extended, clamping to our own.
“Our captain’s on the move as well as the crew; he’s engaged the lockouts,” Min Hae kept us informed as a list of checkpoints ticked off.
Through the Kuruvians, we’d gained control of the sensors that showed us where everyone was located on the ship.
My heart pounded in my chest as I felt the distinct u
rge to go to the washroom but chided myself at the fear and nervousness.
“Captain and a quarter of the crew are aboard the station,” Min Hae reported.
“All right, cut communication and go into lockdown.” I stepped in the elevator and pressed the button for the command center. It went orange, instead of the normal green, as I found a squad swarm around me. The same squad that I’d attacked the Chaleelians with, I noticed, as I saw the familiar sets of armor.
They swarmed out of the lift, ready as they quickly advanced through the hallway toward the command center. The double armored doors were open, making it easier for crew to move around, but also making it a massive security flaw.
“Half command center, half rooms!” I yelled as the group with me split in two.
“Activate the kill switches!” I heard one of the crew say as my disabler fitzed. There was a cracking noise, accompanied with kill switches exploding outward as they failed to properly activate. It bounced harmlessly off another commando and a wall.
There was another half-squad already out of the lift as I moved toward the quarters. Three teams stayed with me.
I dived into the first room I came across, coming up as the owners of the room shot at my visor with a flechette pistol. I raised my left arm to stop them from shattering the visor as I swung my other fist, ending in a wet crunch as the servo-assisted power of the Mecha sent them flying across the room, where they landed with another wet crunch. I turned, looking at the other three chained occupants of the room who looked up at me in abject fear.
“Shit. Cover yourselves.” I threw them the blanket from the bed in the room as they quickly did so.
I picked up the flechette pistol, passing it back as I found a plasma rifle on the wall. I pulled it down, inserting a power pack near it and clamping the extras to me as I walked into the corridor.
“They locked themselves in! Can’t open it without breaching charges.”
I found the location of the speaker two doors ahead, the rooms before it clear as I rushed to the position.
“I think I have the answer to your troubles,” I said. “Be ready to follow me in.” I leveled the plasma rifle with the door at point-blank range as I grinned.
“Honey! I’m home!” I said in a singsong voice as I quickly hit the bolts and drove my foot into the door, knocking it down as a man was bringing up a rail gun. I didn’t think as my plasma rifle bucked and plasma burnt through the shooter. I noticed a sharp pain in my right shoulder as it showed limited mobility.
Training kicked in as I rolled forward. A commando followed me, checking the left as I checked right. There was no one as I stood, looking at the silhouette burned into the bulkhead where the occupant had stood. Now just a pool of material and melted metal on the floor.
“Clear!” the commando checking the left announced as we left the room.
I walked out as the last room was being taken. I walked up to the bridge of the command center, muttering dark things about Mechas prone to limited mobility as I rotated my shoulder, feeling a pulling pain.
“Now at least we know why it’s called Golden Refuge,” I said sourly at the rare metals that decorated the bridge and the command center around it. The opulence was even more than what we’d seen in the communication between the captain and the Chaleelians.
“All right, get the technical support into place,” I said to Felix and Min Hae.
The captain’s chair was actually a lounger, so I sat in one of the two chairs beneath and to the side of it. It was wide enough to fit my Mecha nicely and with a full array of command modules on the armrests. Instead, I looked up at the dual deck of the command center. There was the bottom floor deck with its own stations, and then another upper deck on top and forward of the first. Stations also lined the walls.
“Damn, it certainly takes a lot of people to control you, Resilient.”
“Sixty-five command staff if I wasn’t aboard,” she replied.
“Damn.” I got out of my daydream. I needed to focus on the here and now, not just figure out how truly massive the Resilient was. “Good. Now can you turn that big ole brain of yours toward helping us taking over this station?”
“Certainly. Though you’re going to need to get those wireless hubs up on those secured and isolated systems,” she said as she was able to activate all her systems without caring whether anyone would notice her presence.
“Yeah, lots to do.”
“Sir, that’s the captain’s chair—your chair as commander of the fleet.” Felix pointed to the lounger.
Always the tactful one, aren’t you, Felix.
“I was just checking out things on this station. We’re going to need to get that lounger replaced as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, Commander.” Felix went over to look at it as his people were already getting acquainted with the ship’s systems.
I used the chair to access inter-ship communications to armory three. “Shrift, opening armory doors,” I said, doing just that as I saw all of the weapons racks open on one of the armrest’s screens.
“Thanks, James. Damned plasma torches were having a tough time cutting through that stuff and, seeing as I’m talking to you, I guess the disablers worked.”
“Got that right. Get ready for company.”
“Right. Time to get back to work.”
I quickly checked on the Sarenmenti who were still locked in their rooms.
“All right, it’s Christmas and the armory’s hosting,” I said to those who had taken the command center and bridge with me. All but two squads started for the lifts to the armory. I saw Yasu going with them as I turned on the two squads left.
“Anyone left alive?”
“Not from the crew, but there are what seems like twelve or so creatures the crew used for entertainment,” the commander of the forces said.
I clenched my fist. “All right, get them transported to the Mecha quarters, one per room, and get them a meal. They look to be half starved, the ones I saw, and post a guard on them. The rest of you, I want two teams on the lifts in case; another two on both sides of the bridge’s armored doors. For love of all things holy, please shut the damned things as well. You will be the reserves. I’ll have weapons brought up to all of you as soon as possible.” They were already moving before I’d finished, still in my chair.
“Felix, looks like you have everything in hand. I’m leaving you in charge of her while I’m away.”
“Yes, sir. I’m going to have my people run through their systems to work through any kinks.”
“Good thought. I’m going to say hello to the establishment.”
“Yes, sir.”
I hoisted my plasma rifle as I walked out of the door. Six followers spread around me as I waited for the lift like everyone else. My shoulder still felt a little strange, but I put it down to the lack of movement I was getting from the suit. Instead of turning for the armories, I moved to the nearest air lock, checking my plasma rifle as the others in my group checked their pistols. Interesting how they’d all gotten one of the very limited pistols we’d taken from Chaleel and were all following me like my shadow.
Piles of weapons were put on gravity carts, with each squad having double the weapons they needed with them, as we waited at the air locks into the station. Those without weapons were quickly armed as we waited.
Someone brought me my sword and pistol, which I slapped into place.
“This is Rick; we’ve taken our ship.”
“Tomaki.”
“Monk.”
“Cheerleader.”
“Jun Mo, corvette two.”
“Corvette three, Chris.”
“Four, hayato-free.”
“Second battle cruiser, Julie, captured.”
They sounded off as they took their ships and were in place to assault the station.
“Okay, this is it. Now let’s go and take this damned station!” I hit the air lock release, opening up to a flexible tube around a catwalk with bars extending all around.
I ran and dove.
There was no gravity in the umbilicals that connected the station to the ship. I floated through the middle, catching the flip bar with my free hand, and turned so I landed on my feet.
Resilient had given us the element of surprise with the worms she’d had us download into the ships we were on. Not one communications system was working to warn Parnmal.
“What the!” The guard jumped up from where he’d been looking at his data pad as I put a servo-assisted fist through his chest, my six protectors behind me as I dived through the hatch beyond him. If anyone had heard him, we didn’t have time for the rest of the AMCs on our ship to catch up before they sounded the alarm.
Someone was moving toward a purple button. I raised my rifle. It belched repeatedly as he and the control panel turned into a smoldering mess. I heard my protection detail’s rail guns fire twice, followed by the thumps of bodies hitting the deck.
“Right clear!” I yelled, scanning but keeping an eye on the open hatch to beyond.
“Left clear!”
“All right, advanced parties make entry.” I moved into the room more. My protection detail rushed the next door before I could make it there.
I could hear the powerful thumps and whines of Mechas as the rest of the AMCs had caught up with us and moved to secure our beachhead, giving us a clear path into the station.
“As we planned, clear everything and listen to your chain of command. As soon as you’re ready, get moving.”
The first group of six moved out, more moving out quickly after them as weapons fire could be heard. I opened my map on my HUD, checking the situation with the other ships and how far they’d gotten.
“Make sure they’re on target, Henry.”
“We are, sir. Just watching you from beside my air lock.”
“Understood. You are clear to proceed.”
“Yes, sir. Being out here isn’t as fun as it first sounded, sir.”
I laughed. “Why do you think I didn’t volunteer for it?” I cut the channel as Min Hae rushed up beside me.
Free Fleet Box Set 1 Page 29
