Starkindler (MechaVerse Series Book 1)

by Jeremy Cunkle

  Eve paled slightly at the indirect threat and clear public reprimand that she had told a half-truth out of her frustration with being turned into an errand runner. “Who said that?”

  Aurora activated her hologram feature on Mikkhael’s wrist communicator. A five-inch tall green pixelated replica of her physical representation appeared, shimmering in the reflected light. “I am Aurora. Mikkhael’s artificial AI, and the one currently in control of this base, and I will not let anyone or anything harm him, in even the slightest way. You would all do well to recognize that as fact. I am quickly losing patience with you Eve; the next time we are tested there will be repercussions.”

  As Aurora’s miniature form spoke, she turned to Captain Leon and stared directly into his eyes, hands planted on her figurative hips. Both of the chastened pilots swallowed hard, at a complete loss for words. The parasites continued to eat every up every juicy moment. Eve harrumphed loudly, turned, and walked away with a muttered “whatever” cast behind her. Her actions fooled no one; she had been shaken to her core.

  For his part Captain Leon remained deadly quiet, his eyes taking in everything, demeanor remaining cool and calculating. He reminded Mikkhael of a caged wolf, never losing its feral side, waiting, biding his time to escape or attack depending on which became more necessary.

  Not knowing what else to do, Mikkhael remained silent as well. It was clear to him that Aurora was intentionally fixating attention on herself. It was also clear to him that she was deliberately stoking negative attention, driving a wedge between him and the base occupants. And then there was the fact that she had transmitted a live broadcast of his battles to the StormCrows as well as public broadcast channels for all of Mars to see the capabilities of Starkindler; negating his efforts to remain anonymous for as long as possible. After the last fight where he had gone toe to toe with the Reaper and won, he had to assume that Starkindler would become an extremely high priority of the PDF, but now there was absolutely no chance of continuing to fly under the radar.

  The only reasonable theory that he could use to interpret the situation was that anyone who challenged his leadership in any way was going to be sorely disappointed. The fact that Aurora had an audience to make her point only reinforced his theory. He had never seen her act the way she had before, she was clearly performing for the available audience and not directly for him. He wondered if he would have to step in and confront her, but for the time being decided to watch instead. He understood her reasoning even if he did not agree with her methods and did not have a better idea in the meantime.

  Remaining silent, he cleared his tray, dropping the trash into the incinerator near the exit, too tired to circumvent Aurora’s meddling. Hundreds of eyeballs followed his every move. The amount of hostility directed his way at that moment felt like a physical blow continuously hammering into his back. He retreated from the mess hall, silent shadow in tow. Briefly, he wondered what his guard would have done should he have come to blows with the strange pilot. He pushed the thought away assuming he would never find out.

  * * * * *

  “Enter.”

  Mikkhael entered Commander Ultor’s office by himself, guard remaining outside. Already assembled inside were the Rebel officers that he had met previously. He was given the impression that they had been waiting on him for some time. No one stood to greet him, the atmosphere of the room was chilly, the assembled officers treating him like the outsider he was. Mikkhael sighed inwardly. He resigned himself to the fact that whatever was about to happen, he would not be allowed to win friends, or better yet allies, similar to what had just happened in the mess hall.

  Commander Ultor motioned for him to sit, addressing the others as much as Mikkhael. “You have nothing to worry about. Consider this a debriefing, something that would normally be done the moment you return to base from a mission. Given the circumstances of what took place, certain extraordinary measures have been accounted for. You would do well however, to remember this in the future.”

  The unspoken threat hung in the air; the Commander paused to allow his words time to sink in, crossing his hands just under his chin, elbows on the desk for dramatic effect. “You recovered your additional aircraft, I take it. Everything went well, then?” He said, purposefully leaving out that Aurora passed along the video of Mikhael fighting and just how close a call the battle had been.

  Mikkhael ignored the threat. He felt certain that if previous behavior was any indication, Aurora would perk up and start offending everyone in the room at any moment. Giving her no room for unwanted interjection, he nodded in the affirmative. “I was able to accomplish what I needed, yes. I retrieved the supply pod and brought it back with me.”

  One of the men who had remained silent in their previous meeting spoke. “The purpose of retrieving the pod was that it holds equipment you need to be able to perform repair and maintenance functions as well as manufacture additional munitions for Starkindler, is that correct?”

  Aurora whispered in Mikkhael’s ear through an implant so that only he could hear. “Captain Mathias, commander of the expeditionary forces. He is responsible for conducting patrols and raids against the PDF and basically any combat that happens outside of Mount Olympus, Cartwright’s boss.”

  Mikkhael blinked twice, the only sign that he heard her. None of the assembled were aware that she surreptitiously passed along information that had been intentionally withheld. “Yes, I can use the equipment on board to perform all but major repairs to Starkindler,” Mikkhael gave a half-answer. He was duty-bound to humor them for the sake of politics, performing the motions of honoring them, but his patience already wearing thin. The meeting had all the pomp of being grilled by a school headmaster, not a de-briefing, and he was already well aware of how everything was going to end. He was also entirely out of ideas on how to prevent the inevitable conclusion.

  Captain Mathias continued. “Then I am ready to fold you into my command structure and you will assist with reconnaissance and combat patrols.”

  Before Mikkhael could speak, Aurora activated her hologram program, commanding the attention of all present. Mikkhael groaned audibly, temped to walk out of the room and let her handle the ego measuring contest, knowing of course she was going to win. “Mikkhael is to remain independent for the time being. Some of the missions he will perform will require your assistance; and will be dealt with at such times. Our goal for now is to take the fight to the PDF and we will do exactly that. We will not be content to simply wait and see what happens; also, you will be informed of our missions on a need-to-know basis only. That is for both our protection and your own as outside communications will soon be reinstated.

  “It would be wise to assume that as Mikkhael successfully concludes each additional mission, his profile amongst the PDF will increase dramatically. We believe that we have a short window of time to operate with absolute effectiveness before the PDF begin to target Mikkhael directly, and we plan to capitalize on that. It is in your best interests for him and Starkindler to remain the center of enemy attention for as long as possible. At the present time, our intention to utilize your resources revolves entirely around your ability to provide shelter, maintenance, and repair capabilities of Starkindler as well as a habitable space for Mikkhael, nothing more. You neither have control over him and the missions he needs to perform, or him as a person. He is here simply as a favor to you because you requested his presence.”

  The reaction to her words went about as well as could be expected. Captain Mathias went red in the face, an obscenity-laced tirade forming on his lips. The response of the other Officers was equally hostile. As one, they stood, entirely losing their composure as they stood and began yelling accusations and obscenities at her; the meeting threatened to break down altogether when the man who had so far remained silent laughed quietly, the out of place sound bringing everyone to a halt.

  The man stood slowly, pointedly adjusting his perfect uniform to ensure he had everyone’s attention before walking to the
center of the room, having the natural effect of drawing all attention to himself by sheer gravitas. He was tall, with white hair showing underneath his Officer’s cap, dressed in a black but otherwise plain military cut uniform. Old-world narrow-framed glasses perched precariously upon his nose, an unnecessary vanity in an age where a medical issue that simple could be fixed in five minutes; combined with his austere black uniform to radiate a stern and unrelenting temperament. He was the type of man for whom the idea of humor seemed an intangible foreign concept, making his laugh all the more remarkable and out of place.

  He gave a shallow bow in Mikkhael’s direction as Aurora spoke to Mikkhael through the earpiece so that no one else could hear, “His name is Jack Lu, be careful.”

  “I am not sure who to address, yourself or Mikkhael, so allow me to speak generally and whomever chooses to answer then so be it. As Mikkhael’s profile increases in the eyes of the PDF, so too will the host force, in other words the StormCrow Brigade and the Rebels living in Mount Olympus. What you are asking for is not simply resupply and refit capabilities; you are asking us to eventually shoulder the burden of defending Mount Olympus from a full PDF assault. As head of security, I will be damned if I allow you to jeopardize the lives of everyone within the mountain.” Mr. Lu stood solemnly, radiating authority belied by his soft-spoken, cultured manner. He was not someone to be taken lightly or brushed aside; the type of person who people went out of their way to appease in order to avoid naming him an enemy.

  Because of those strong non-verbal cues, it was even more shocking when Aurora showed no hesitation in placing him on the defensive, interjecting before Mikkhael could. “Are your morals so easily compromised then that you would live here in fear of action? Are the repercussions of pursuing your dreams so terrible that you instead cower in fear, waiting to die of old age in a war for your very freedom? In the end, your hollow words and baseless deeds are all for naught. You shame the very memory of your dead by refusing to recognize that Mikkhael is here to bring about the very revolution you have stated you desire. What is required now are actions, not words.”

  The room erupted in shouts and curses as her words shamed them. Commander Ultor’s stoic presence was the calm in the storm, evaluating every spoken word and action. Mikkhael stood and walked towards the door without a word. One of the men called out to him, he was not sure which, angrily asking where he was going. Mikkhael ignored him, returning to his room. Aurora was right; actions were needed now, not words. The fact that his AI program controlled the entire base and could kill everyone in it within minutes helped minimize the repercussions of walking out at the start of a high-level confab after barely speaking.

  In his room, Mikkhael queried Chief Engineer Thorsten through a data slate. The gruff engineer appeared impatiently on the slate, frustrated by the interruption. When he realized that Mikkhael was not wasting his time, they went over the status of repairs on Starkindler together. Large chunks of Aerogels had burned away and needed replaced, a tricky process because Aurora locked them out of removing any armor unless absolutely necessary. The engineer was wary at first of giving anything more than basic answers, but quickly recognized that Mikkhael had a genuine knowledge of how his machine operated. They agreed on a repair schedule of two days before powering down the slate, then turning over in his bed, and he immediately fell back to sleep.

  He was still exhausted from his recent mission to recover the resupply pod. He had two days to recover and plan his next operation. The time would pass quickly; it always did.

  Chapter 11 – Know Thyself

  “Everyone who has ever built anywhere a new heaven first found the power thereto in his own hell.”

  -Friedrich Nietzsche

  Mikkhael looked down scope of the oversized electromagnet rail gun. A targeting reticle appeared on the inner eyelid of his head mounted display, locked onto a Slayer drifting distantly through the hazy dust. Starkindler crouched in a kneeling position, hidden in one of the unending series of knolls that dotted the rough crater marked landscape surrounding the Tharsis Bulge. Phobos, whose name meant fear, drifted overhead, one of the two Martian moons barely visible in the shimmering blue rays of a new sunrise. Active camouflage masked them as one of the nearby rocks, while IFR dampeners blacked out heat exhaust from the idling reactor, entirely masking their presence from the slowly approaching PDF patrol.

  He had lain in wait for the better part of eight hours now; waiting to ambush an over-strength combat patrol along with supporting drones based out of Outpost Redemption. This patrol had pushed farther afield from the outpost then typical, clearly searching for combat as they struggled to traverse the difficult terrain that covered the plain around the Tharsis Montes, unaware of his presence, proceeding along a route Aurora predicted with uncanny accuracy. After factoring in terrain and human nature, there were not many options open to the PDF operating within the Cerberus Region, simplifying the process of ambushing their combat patrols. Mikkhael sighed impatiently as he acquired the targets for the hundredth time, keying the rifles laser rangefinder, willing the patrol to close the distance to his killzone faster.

  The last two weeks had passed rapidly as together with Aurora’s help they located, tracked, and then ambushed similar patrols, utterly destroying them one after the other. With each new success, Aurora became increasingly adept at compromising communication networks and individual commlines as her machine learning algorithms gained real world experience. She continuously found new ways to dig into the networks, and then put the information gleaned to work against their common enemy.

  Together, they used the information to ambush the local PDF, creating an impenetrable buffer zone around Mount Olympus. With that task completed, Mikkhael moved to his next objective, whittling down the combat capability and forces of Outpost Redemption, the PDF base guarding entrance to the Mariner Valley and tasked with suppressing rebel activity in the region. Under the command of General Akari, one of the most capable commanders they had, forces from OP Redemption consisting of mixed patrols of Mech armor, drones, and heavily armored tanks suppressed rebel activity for hundreds of square miles, and its elimination was crucial before he could move on to larger objectives.

  In order to achieve their overall goal, Aurora tracked patrol patterns using her growing network of hacked satellites. Once she located a patrol, she determined their approximate route before alerting Mikkhael, who then set out in Starkindler to eliminate the targets. Acting on his own with complete impunity only enraged Captain Mathias as his authority was usurped. The Rebel MARS units did not possess stealth capabilities, and their accompanying him would only serve to give away his position, leaving him to shoulder the burden of the wet work alone. All of that combined with the fact that he was proving highly effective in his operations, only serving to rub salt in the very raw wound.

  The operational tempo set during the last two weeks had been hectic to say the least as this was the fourth patrol in that timeframe they were preparing to ambush. The stress on the engineering team servicing Starkindler, as well as on Mikkhael personally showed in the growing list of repairs that remained uncompleted between attack runs. Chief Engineer Thorsten allocated an additional team of technicians supplementing the squad of overworked maintenance technicians already dedicated to the giant Mech armor. One team alone in a traditional role would normally be capable of servicing an entire squad of MARS units, but now two teams were entirely dedicated to servicing Starkindler and still having to operate around the clock. Even with updates from Aurora on what would need to be ready upon their return to base, they were unable to keep pace with repairs and refits. The materials and equipment Mikkhael recovered in the supply pod proved invaluable to their efforts, significantly reducing fabrication times of repair materials and munitions that he exhausted at a spectacular rate.

  Back in the halls of Mount Olympus after returning from a patrol, the discontent threatened to break into outright mutiny when he overtook Captain Cartwright’s confirmed kill
count after eliminating the second patrol. He was quickly approaching doubling the total, earning a combination of adoration and numerous jealous grudges in the process. They stored satellite and killcam footage of each battle as proof of his accomplishments, edited to show he now had a combined total of thirty two kills to Cartwright’s twenty five. The rage present in the pilot’s eyes when he had been informed of his record being broken still haunted Mikkhael, as well as the lives he had taken.

  Only Chief Thorsten and Commander Ultor were aware that in reality his actual kill count approached closer to double the publicly stated amount. They kept the real count quiet because the numbers were unbelievable even when cut in half, and their rapid growth would only alienate the StormCrows more. Each time he pulled the trigger, he felt that he lost a little of what was left of his humanity. Physically, the killing kept getting easier, however; mentally, the nightmares of the dead had begun to haunt even his waking moments. Sleep without chemical assistance had now become an impossible feat.

  Aurora’s short-term strategy lacked any subtlety; they were clearly broadcasting their objective to their enemies, systematically reducing the number of their forces while limiting their patrol areas. For their part, the PDF had already reacted to the repeated threat against O.P. Redemption. They doubled the number of patrols from the outpost in response to the ambushes, as well as systematically increasing the size of each patrol as they continued to be wiped out. At the current rate of progression, it was only a matter of time until he came up against a challenge that would get the better of him.

  Proximity warnings interrupted his reverie, announcing that the patrol was approaching the kill zone. A standard PDF patrol was comprised of a pair of Stalkers escorted by a trio of Slayers. Because of the constant attacks, this particular patrol consisted of three Stalkers, one at point and one ranging wide out to either side, serving as a picket line for the formation following them. They blasted the surrounding area with active radar, IFR, and other sensors all operating at full output. On top of that, the main column of the patrol contained six Slayers, double the average amount. On top of the extra numbers though, the rear of their column was brought up by a pair of hulking Strident’s, a unit rarely seen accompanying a patrol due to its slow speed. In addition, Aurora also detected five support drones of mixed types among the Mech armor, with two more gunship types flying above them. This particular patrol was searching for a fight; they were looking for Starkindler.