The platoon sprayed a few flechettes around, and left. Colden tossed a grenade over her shoulder, triggering a satisfying roar of crumbling concrete.
Gwok was sniffling back sobs. “They look like people. Just like people.”
“They aren’t people. They are Martians. Meat puppets. Muppets.” How many times had Colden gone through this with newbies? It had taken her long enough to accept it herself. “They may have human DNA, but there is nothing in their heads apart from PLAN neuroware.”
That’s what she had been told. And then everything had gone screeching into reverse, and she wasn’t sure what she believed anymore.
And Gwok, a product of the new training curriculum, persisted. “What about the one Drudge found? They told us some of the muppets are friendly. We have to separate the friendlies from the hostiles, and take them prisoner according to the—”
“The Geneva Convention!” Drudge jumped in, like a kid suddenly recalling the answer to a quiz.
All because of a bit of warbling.
All because some linguists and computer scientists back on Earth had gotten excited about the anomalous behavior of about one in one hundred of the PLAN’s muppets, the strategy of turning Mars into a parking lot had been cancelled. And the Star Force brass, also safely back on Earth, who’d wanted a ground invasion from the start, had gotten their way. Complete with the fucking Geneva Convention.
Colden led the platoon into the next silo. Here they found the workshop where the muppets had made their DIY rifle. She vented her feelings by kicking the equipment over. “You heard Captain Hawker,” she said. “If it moves, slag it.”
There were just too many muppets, and 99 out of a hundred of them wanted to kill you. By shooting first, they were violating the rules of engagement jointly ordained by the UN and the Imperial Republic of China. But no one ever called them on it, because the Chinese weren’t following the rules, either. And also because the ethics officers were just as burnt out as everyone else, and hardly ever flagged your helmet vid for violations.
Drudge’s high-quality recording of a snatch of song was certain to get noticed, though.
She almost welcomed the prospect. A way out, even if it led through a court-martial.
“I don’t understand why we’re fighting them,” Gwok muttered on the chat channel.
“We are not fighting them,” Colden said wearily. “We’re fighting an AI. We’re degrading its organic components.”
She wasn’t a soldier. She hadn’t signed up for this. The original mission of the Space Corps—before they got sucked into the war effort—was to help and protect people.
“And now we’re going to do it again.”
KEEP READING
THE MARS SHOCK
BOOK 6 OF THE SOL SYSTEM RENEGADES SERIES!
DISCOVER THE SCI-FI WORLDS OF FELIX R. SAVAGE
An exuberant storyteller with a demented imagination, Felix R. Savage specializes in creating worlds so exciting, you’ll never want to leave.
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THE SOL SYSTEM RENEGADES SERIES
Near-Future Hard Science Fiction
A genocidal AI is devouring our solar system. Can a few brave men and women save humanity?
In the year 2288, humanity stands at a crossroads between space colonization and extinction. Packed with excitement, heartbreak, and unforgettable characters, the Sol System Renegades series tells a sweeping tale of struggle and deliverance.
Keep Off The Grass (short origin story)
Crapkiller (prequel novella, subscriber exclusive)
1. The Venus Assault
2. The Vesta Conspiracy
3. The Mercury Rebellion
A Very Merry Zero-Gravity Christmas (short story)
4. The Luna Deception
5. The Phobos Maneuver
6. The Mars Shock
7. The Callisto Gambit
EXTINCTION PROTOCOL
Hard Science Fiction With a Chilling Twist
Humanity has reached out into the stars - and found a ruthless enemy.
It took us two hundred years to establish fifteen colonies on the closest habitable planets to Earth. It took the Ghosts only 20 years to destroy them. Navy pilot Colm Mackenzie is no stranger to the Ghosts. He has witnessed first-hand the mayhem and tragedy they leave in their wake. No one knows where they came from, or how they travel, or what they want. They know only one thing for sure:
Ghosts leave no survivors.
Save From Wrath (short story, subscriber exclusive)
The Chemical Mage
The Nuclear Druid
A CAULDRON OF STARS
Space Opera Adventure
Far in the future, in the distant Messier 4 cluster, humanity coexists with the legalistic Ekschelatan Empire, a host of lesser alien species ... and an age-old mystery that could shatter the balance of power. The long, uneasy peace is about to boil over into war.
A foiled terrorist incident on a backwater planet lights the fuse ... and drags freighter captain Mike Starrunner and his crew into an intrigue spanning thousands of light years, with all the wealth and power of the Cluster at stake.
Lethal Cargo
Dirty Job
Beast Mode
EARTH’S LAST GAMBIT
A Quartet of Present-Day Science Fiction Technothrillers
Ripped from the headlines: an alien spaceship is orbiting Europa. Relying only on existing technology, a handful of elite astronauts must confront the threat to Earth’s future, on their own, millions of miles from home.
Can the chosen few overcome technological limitations and their own weaknesses and flaws? Will Earth’s Last Gambit win survival for the human race?
Freefall
Lifeboat
Shiplord
Killshot
THE RELUCTANT ADVENTURES OF FLETCHER CONNOLLY ON THE INTERSTELLAR RAILROAD
Near-Future Non-Hard Science Fiction
An Irishman in space. Untold hoards of alien technological relics waiting to be discovered. What could possibly go wrong?
Skint Idjit
Intergalactic Bogtrotter
Banjaxed Ceili
Supermassive Blackguard
VOID DRAGON HUNTERS
Military Sci-Fi with Space Dragons
In 2160, a Void Dragon ate the sun.
In 2322, eight-year-old Jay Scattergood found a Void Dragon egg in his garden.
Humanity survived the death of the sun, but now we're under attack by the Offense. These intelligent, aggressive aliens also lost their sun to a Void Dragon. They lost their home planet, too. Earth, now orbiting Jupiter, is still habitable - though much colder than it once was. The Offense will do whatever it takes to destroy humanity and take Earth for themselves.
Our last hope against the alien aggressors is Jay Scattergood ... and his baby Void Dragon, Tancred.
Guardians of Jupiter
Protectors of Earth
Soldiers of Callisto
Exiles of the Belt
Knights of Saturn
The Phobos Maneuver: A Space Opera Thriller (Sol System Renegades Book 5) Page 35
