The Vanguard Emerges (Maraukian War Book 2)

by Michael Chatfield

  Mark got to his feet. He was still wearing his armor. Supplied with enough nanites and power, it was better than a medical vat for the mergers.

  His M20s had been removed but he was no less deadly.

  Jess stepped back as Mark moved for the door, sending the information on Charles becoming a merger to the others.

  Jess didn’t need to tell him directions; Sarah was already leading him there.

  The mergers down on Indalia started to take in the information that he had given them. Their emotions were varied and unstable. Their losses were too recent and they were still trying to process it all.

  Mark opened the door to the lab where Charles sat with a pale face while Gomez looked him over.

  “Mark... I—” Charles said.

  “When you were merged, all of your thoughts and emotions bled over to him,” Sarah said.

  “Why, Charles? Why?” Mark yelled, pulling off his helmet to show his anger.

  “I, I wanted to figure something out,” Charles said.

  “What would be so important to betray the trust we put in you? I told you our secrets and when we were dying down there, you chose to stab us in the back and become a merger!” Mark’s anger wasn’t fueled by Charles turning into a merger; it was due to the losses, the betrayal from the legion and Admiral Hesra. It was the deep emptiness where the other sixty-three had been. He remembered every single one as their lives ended, as they protected one another and Edani.

  Mark let out an angered yell and punched a monitor. The others backed up as Mark destroyed the screen and continued breaking it apart into pieces. Bits of the screen hit Mark in the face, leaving silver lines where his nanites worked to repair him.

  Faintly he could hear Sarah calling out to him as she reduced the strength of his limbs.

  “Mark! Mark! Get a hold of yourself!”

  Mark looked at the broken screen in front of him and started to calm down, one breath at a time.

  His emotions were in chaos as he dropped to his knees, shaking the room as he looked at those screens.

  Is this all I’m good for? Destruction?

  The others in the room all looked panicked but Charles worked up the courage to step forward.

  “I wanted to find out the truth of this.” Charles held out a tablet.

  Mark glanced over to it. The information flooded into his mind as Sarah pulled out everything inside.

  Mark looked up to Charles, his body shaking as he got to his feet.

  “That signal? Doesn’t that mean…?” Mark lapsed into silence.

  “Someone’s controlling the Maraukians, giving them information to upgrade their ships and telling them which planets to attack. Probably the same person who had the humans kidnapped from Earth and placed on planets all across the stars,” Charles confirmed.

  Chapter 79

  The Yard

  Tricticus, Emarl System

  8/3555

  With the new processing systems, the Yard, which had been on the move for months, was able to reach its destination.

  People across the bridge and the yard let out cheers as the yard finally entered the system.

  Moretti received a communication from King Hael, as well as an encoded information packet from inside the Union.

  Moretti opened up the message from Hael first.

  “Welcome to the Emarl system! I hope that you will all be able to visit Tricticus and Crisidium in the near future and we can celebrate your arrival. As our new neighbors, I hope that Tricticus will become your home as it has become mine.” With that, Hael’s face disappeared.

  Moretti had been talking with the king while in transit, having different negotiations about labor, jobs, and possibilities that might arise in the future.

  Hael had been excited. The Yard might not be as advanced as some of the yards in the Union, but it was massive and the number of people who had come with the yard could be all potential workers to help rebuild Crisidium. Although Crisidium was a strong city-state on Tricticus, it was only a city-state and one that had just barely got the assistance of the legion and had to pay out of pocket for all of the supplies, both weapons, armor, and otherwise.

  Hael didn’t want to be stuck to the Union and the Yard gave him a new opportunity.

  Moretti’s AI flashed a bunch of information past his eye.

  “Identity confirmed. Moretti, intelligence officer of the Victor Corporation. Access granted to the ark.” An electronic sounding voice could be heard by Moretti. Just as he was about to ask his NIAI what was going on, he was flooded with information.

  His eyes turned to the fourth planet in the system.

  It really looks like Mark is always thinking of backup plans. With this, we’ll be able to defend the system much easier!

  Moretti could see the writing on the wall. Having so many military personnel and weapons, the Victor Corporation was sure to gain more attention from the rest of the Union, as well as Earth and Her Colonies.

  “Sir, we’ve got an update from VCF Fernix. The upgrades have been completed and they are ramping up their systems. They will be moving to the Osdal system after trial runs of their Alcubierre drive,” the communications officer said.

  “Good.” Moretti nodded. As soon as the Salisa Corporation had left the Yard, they had moved to put the processing centers they’d gained into one of their inter-system freighters that had already gotten its Alcubierre drive.

  It had left for VCF Fernix and the three other freighters that were moving through Earth and Her Colonies. If they were able to give these ships Alcubierre drives, they would be able to drop off their supplies, get the already bought other items and bring them to the Yard.

  Then it was time to really get to work, linking the Emarl system to Earth—where the Westerly Three Complex was taking over—then Osdal, where the people had taken control back from the corporations and Eliesa and Alan had formed a new company. From there, they would have supplies and people coming to help to rebuild Tricticus and build up the Victor Corporation and all of its subsidiaries in the system.

  “Good work. What about the prospector crews?” Moretti asked.

  “They’re doing final checks before moving to the asteroid belt where we had readings of large metal deposits,” the communications officer replied.

  “Planetary station?” Moretti asked.

  “It is prepared with fabbers. It should be ready to move out in a few hours. The ships that will be moving it into position are all ready to go.”

  “Seems that everything is ready to go!” Moretti laughed. Already there were some ships moving away from the Yard, starting to drift off in search of new asteroids to mine in the asteroid belts around the fourth planet and the three rings of them in-system. Three inter-system freighters were getting ready to move the large station, which wasn’t much more than a metal plate with a living area and open areas that crates and items could be magnetically locked to.

  There were also fabbers and automated systems working to increase the size of the station. This would be Tricticus’s link to the rest of the system. From here, ships could link up with shuttles going to the ground or vice versa. The fabbers, once completed with the station, could make other fabbers or supplies needed by the people on Tricticus in the different systems.

  In total, there were thirteen city-states on Tricticus that were still surviving. All of them were in need of supplies.

  Moretti made it clear that they would not sell to any one person over the other. He’d also signed agreements with all of the different governments, linking them together through trade.

  As more time went on, the communications officers spent most of their time figuring out flight plans as engineering crews went to look over the three ships that were still being built in the yard. There had been a few million people on the ship and people were still picking whether they wanted to take employment with the Yard or go off toward Tricticus.

  For the EMF personnel and their families, this was truly a new start: they had jobs, they
had a planet they could go to, and no one was going to tell them how to live.

  The planet wasn’t hostile, nor was it covered in humanity’s junk.

  Moretti had big hopes for the system.

  He looked to his files once again, seeing the information file he had received when entering the system and the file that had come from the Union.

  He paused and frowned. He’d forgotten the file in all of the excitement. Knowing he wouldn’t get away from it, he opened it up.

  The file was a data dump from the contacts that he had made and the ones that Nerva had sent him information on. Moretti was quickly integrating Nerva’s sources into his own information network, which was making it much faster for him to gain information on what was happening in the Union.

  He opened the file that combined the information from the different sources that had some information that was related to Admiral Hesra and what had gone on with the fleet not resupplying the mergers.

  The more he read, the greater his unease became.

  Unknown messages that had been cleared from Hesra’s logs. Information that his father had been seen talking to Senator Rimateus. The talks behind closed doors about senators trying to pull the mergers under their control. Talking about if they were destroyed what the consequences would be. Even a plan if the mergers were to die and they could take control of the technology to make the suits and the people.

  The tests and scenarios that they had run.

  Moretti had lived inside corporations for most of his life, gathering information and becoming a prominent figure in them.

  He might not have all of the information but to him it was clear what had happened.

  “Rimateus pulled Hesra’s strings, got him to hinder the mergers, make them look as if they couldn’t do the job by keeping them from their ammunition and supplies. It was all well done—clever, really. It would be hard as hell to pin this on him if it was in a court.” Moretti sent out a message to his sources. If he couldn’t get Hesra or Rimateus for this, he could find a way to catch them. If he was able to show evidence of Hesra putting politics ahead of his people, the same with Rimateus, it couldn’t be used in a court of law as Moretti didn’t want to reveal his people. If it was leaked to the legion, what would the people think?

  “What if they were to vote Hesra out as their admiral? Then he would be a useless pawn. With no one willing to follow him, he would only be an admiral in name.”

  Moretti sat back with a sigh. The mergers were beset on all sides by wolves, wolves that didn’t play by the rules of fighting. They played with politics and looked for more power to boost their reputation.

  It wasn’t a realm they had dealt with ever before; to them, it was the next battle, the next opponent.

  “Well, let’s see what I can do.” Moretti started to send messages with his NIAI and started to go through all of the loopholes and smaller problems that might be connecting the mergers to the legion.

  He had to look out for every possibility and try to give his people enough options so that they could find a solution that worked for them.

  Chapter 80

  SLS Moby (docked to VCF Osdal)

  Indalia Orbit, Otarvi System

  8/3555

  The drop-ship landed on the flight deck. All eyes moved to it as it was locked into place by mag clamps. The rear door opened, showing nine figures. Their very movements looked tired as they met with Evan and Mark, who led them into the living areas of the Moby.

  They pulled off their helmets as they entered the air lock. They didn’t need air to survive and could work in vacuum without a suit, but old habits died hard.

  “Welcome home.” Mark looked to them all. They were tired—mentally, physically, and emotionally.

  They didn’t say anything, just nodded, and then followed him as he took them through the ship.

  “We’ve got a briefing in five hours. Get some food into you and take a shower.” He stood next to a door as it showed a large open room with their armor crates lined up.

  They moved inside and hooked their armor up before stepping out.

  Some of them tapped the empty crates or bunks that marked where one of the sixty-three had lived, where they’d joked and played cards or talked about their favorite meals and argued over whose team was better.

  Mark turned down his hearing as he heard these strong and powerful men and women numbly going about washing up or getting food. Others broke down now that they were safe from it all. Remembering the sixty-three who didn’t make it.

  He went to his own area that was cut off by a door.

  Mark sat heavily on his bed, contemplating many things, when there was a knock.

  He unlocked it and started to stand when he saw Ava in his doorway.

  Mark couldn’t miss the pain in her eyes, that lost look. With just a glance, he could see everything she was feeling.

  The tears she had hidden for days flowed down her cheeks. The door closed behind her and she wrapped her arms around him.

  Mark unconsciously wrapped his arms around her before tightening them consciously, not wanting to let her go. Ever. Knowing a part of the pain she was going through as the two of them finally let out their agony.

  Without knowing it, they merged. The two of them sensed the emotions of the other, supporting each other and knowing the pain they felt.

  Even when it seemed as though they would be drowned out in all of that sorrow, their clear love for each other shone bright.

  The barriers, the excuses, all of it came apart as they slowly crumbled, sitting on the floor, holding each other.

  It all came out, leaving them in heart-breaking pain, but also sheer relief from not having to hide it anymore.

  Chapter 81

  VCF Osdal

  Indalia Orbit, Otarvi System

  8/3555

  The command crew of the Moby and the Osdal, as well as the different heads from all of the departments, were all in the large bay. It was the only place that had enough room for them all.

  Mark still hadn’t seen Ortiz, Jerome, Pullo, and Nerva. They were all on Indalia still.

  “Thank you all for coming. This message was sent to us by one of our intelligence officers. Please watch until the end.” Hall stood off to the side as a video started to play with subtitles underneath.

  Mark didn’t have to guess who this intelligence officer was. As he watched the information scrolling by, he got more and more agitated. Ava held his hand, the two of them with blank faces as they hid their rising fury.

  There were gasps and angry noises coming from the others.

  The EMF people didn’t seem to think about it too much, they were used to betrayal, but to the people from the legion, their leaders showing that they didn’t care for them, going so far as to try to make it harder for them to survive by cutting off their supplies?

  This went beyond what they believed and thought in their entire military careers.

  Even if they wanted to argue against it, there was linked information or missing information that showed to Admiral Hesra’s guilt and Senator Rimateus pulling his strings.

  “Today, we offer you two options. As you are part of an auxiliary force, there is a way for you to leave the service of the legion with a clean and honorable discharge. After that, you can do as you wish. You can even join the Victor Corporation if you want to keep fighting for what you believe in and not be stabbed in the back.

  “If you don’t want to do that, then you can remain in the legion.” Admiral Hall shrugged.

  “If I stay in the legion, I’m going to be buried in a court-martial that was made up so that Hesra could try to kill off the mergers. Sign me up for the corporation,” Chen said.

  If not for the mergers, then he would be dead and the evidence was clear. Admiral Hesra played to the tune of the senators, not to help the legionnaires. If Hesra was one of the senators’ pawns as an admiral, then mustn’t there be other high up people in the legion who looked out for their gains, rather than their
people?

  Different people agreed, or wanted more time with the information. It was granted to them, but they made the restriction to talk to other people in the legion. If they decided they wanted to stay part of the legion, they would be dropped at Edani.

  “What about the forces on the ground?” one of the people from the Moby asked.

  “The troopers will stay until Indalia is stabilized, which should be when the rest of the reaction force shows up tomorrow,” Admiral Hall said.

  The room fell silent. They could all feel this was something that would drastically change things in the future. They looked to one another; they talked in hushed whispers.

  The mergers all looked at Mark, but he knew their thoughts and feelings. Mark squeezed Ava’s hand gently.

  “Time we worked for ourselves instead of people with their own secret agendas,” Mark said.

  They all nodded and looked back to Hall.

  “Welcome back, Major Victor,” Admiral Hall said, unable to smile in this situation.

  Thank you for reading! If you like the book, please rate and review! It really does help get the word out there and allow other readers to find this book!

  From the Authors

  You can check out my other books, what I’m working on, and upcoming releases through the following means:

  Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00WCAOQME

  Website: http://michaelchatfield.com/

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  Thanks again for reading! 

  Dawn Chapman

  Dawn Chapman has been creating sci-fi and fantasy stories for thirty years. Until 2005 when her life and attention turned to scripts, and she started work on The Secret King, a 13-episode Sci-Fi TV series, with a great passion for this medium.