Earth (Harmony War Book 5)

by Michael Chatfield

  It’s come down to that once or twice, he thought with a smirk, the Powered Armor responding to his movement as he pulled a helmet onto his head, and it sealed.

  He wanted to be out in the world, pushing the Maraukians back aggressively with offensive operations. Sitting cooped up in defensive positions made him feel that he was losing his edge, that he was becoming dull to thinking of new ways to bleed the Maraukians.

  He knew it was foolish, but he’d been the tip of the spear for so long that it grated on his nerves.

  “Some things never change,” he said, his HUD coming alight with information as he moved out of his office.

  Chapter 7

  EMFC Fearless

  In Transit to Sol System

  5/3321

  Jerome stepped out of his cryo-pod, and looked up and down the ranks. They had all done this before. His people were getting out of the cryo-pods along EMFC Fearless’s spine. Catwalks above and below showed the racks that held over one hundred thousand Troopers and twenty thousand support personnel, from medics to Combat Shuttle crews, maintenance crews or carrier engineers, techs or armorers.

  It was one hell of a sight, seeing just a few Troopers pulled out of cryo.

  There’s a reason people piss themselves when a Carrier arrives in orbit, Jerome thought to himself.

  They had travelled decades but they were fresh, combat ready, and capable. They were hardened veterans of the past, woken from their slumber to tear a new enemy apart. It seemed almost fantastical; instead it was cold, hard, merciless science.

  Jerome made his way out of the spine. People were getting into sections and moving out, but Jerome didn’t have any of that to deal with.

  His implants pinged as new orders told him what he would be doing to help Fearless become combat capable, and the training he would be watching and undergoing to make sure that he was ready when he woke up next. By then he would be on Earth.

  Other information and reports came in.

  These were detailed and roughed-out plans for defending and attacking Earth, including the best data that had been collected as Jerome woke up.

  He started looking through different ideas and scenarios as he wandered into an elevator, heading for his quarters.

  He paid the reports some attention, glancing through them instead of giving them any in-depth attention. He would later, but the cocktail that had pulled him out of cryo was giving him a headache that was threatening to grow to epic proportions.

  His augments worked away to clear his system of cryo-stasis drugs and get him at a hundred percent.

  A shower, and then he was at his office table reading his orders.

  “Space welding, awesome,” he sighed.

  He’d get a few weeks of training and then he’d be in space or around Fearless tacking on the new systems.

  A noise alerted him to someone at his door. He opened it and Tyler strode in.

  “You had time to look at your orders?” Tyler asked dropping onto Jerome’s couch and tossing him a meal replacement squeeze bottle.

  Jerome was starving, but the Slums and fighting through meal times meant that he was used to the pangs.

  “Thanks and yeah. I’m getting trained to weld things in space,” Jerome said, squeezing the smoothie into his mouth.

  “Well they’ve been working hard; they’ve stepped all of the reactors up. The weapons have been checked and worked over so that they are approaching our own normal cannons’ abilities. We’re going to be finishing the installation of guns, and shifting some of the larger cannons over to the new side.

  Once that’s done we’re putting armor on. Mark’s Division and the other Divisions getting woken up after us will finish off installing the armor,” Tyler said.

  “Good, sounds like we have quite a bit of work in our nine months.”

  “Enough time to start working with people to make them good scouts. I’ve been looking at the plans. I woke up last week,” Tyler said, answering Jerome’s questioning glance. “Anyway, looking at the plans, we will only need the Powered Armor if we come under heavy combat, otherwise we have to pin them into place and hit them from everywhere and anywhere. We know Earth; the red dust gets into everything and those metal particles are bound to screw up the Powered Armor.”

  “So, we go in with our normal equipment, use our knowledge of the place, and hit the Chosen hard and fast. Let them worry about their Powered Armor getting fouled by Earth’s atmosphere. Though, if they get into Mega City, that plan will go to shit,” Jerome said.

  “Yes, though I’ve been looking at Mega City’s defenses, as have the rest of the leadership. That city is better defended than most systems. Little is getting through the air, though a lot more can get through the ground. Which is where we’re going to be, out and around, ready to react and move to wherever the Chosen go,” Tyler said.

  “What if they go to another planet first?” Jerome asked. “Mars is still damn powerful and they have a ton of resources.”

  “Yes, but we’ve got flight simulations. At the time that the Harmony fleet reaches Sol, they’re going to bypass, Saturn, Venus, skim the sun, and then hit Earth. Saturn has mining prospects galore and Venus has their floating cities, yes. Though Harmony can’t win their war with Venus or Saturn. This is their final play, they need to hit Mega City in order to, if not win, then to throw the EHC into chaos,” Tyler said.

  “Sometimes I just love hearing ultimatums. Just makes me want to roll my eyes and go back to sleep. If they think it’s going to be that easy I guess we should educate the idiots good and proper,” Jerome said.

  “You know it, brother. I’ve called a meeting in the mess in an hour, I’ll let everyone know what’s going on, get some food in and then start going about getting this Carrier ready to fight and our people ready to stick a blade into the Chosen’s backs.”

  “After you, sir,” Jerome said, indicating the door.

  “Jackass.”

  Jerome grinned, following his brother out. It was the first time ever that he had been woken up in the EMF and he wasn’t going to be sent on a combat operation.

  Feels weird, he admitted as Tyler started talking about different proposed plans of how to deal with Harmony on Earth.

  Chapter 8

  Tower

  Earth, Sol System

  8/3347

  Dalia knocked and then barely entered Nivad’s office; he was entertaining a corporate head, smoking a cigar and talking business, and both of them were drinking from his finest liquor.

  “Sir, ma’am,” Dalia said, nodding her head to Nivad and his guest. “The Earth’s Military Forces Fleet has returned from Fernix. They are moving through the Oort cloud.”

  “Thank you, Dalia, let me know if anything else happens,” Nivad said, looking at her but seeing the corners of the corporate head’s lips twist upwards in amusement for barely a moment.

  He could have had the information sent to him through his implants, but having Dalia report it to him personally with Miss Evers von Toff in the room, showed his close supporter that he trusted her, and it would give her something to talk about for the coming weeks.

  It was a rare treat in the corporate circles that paid a high price for the latest information to hold over their competition. Getting it for free, or easily, would only tie Miss Evers to him.

  “Yes, sir. I am sorry for the interruption,” Dalia said bowing her head and closing the door behind her.

  “Shall we go and get a bite to eat? I find that I am quite hungry,” Evers von Toff said.

  “I do think that will be interesting,” Nivad said with a smile.

  “You will have to bring those delicious Victor brothers to one of my parties,” she said, sipping on her drink.

  “I will see what I can do,” Nivad said, his smile growing. How little you know, Miss Evers von Toff, he thought.

  Many people had already forgotten how he had climbed to power. He had not been a corporation head’s son; he had been a bodyguard, an enforcer.


  He could kill easily and get rid of people’s problems. He had started recording the information in his mind and had gained his position by trading information and secrets for blackmail, in exchange for power.

  The Slums were a tool, but he knew what they were: they were a war zone. It was why he made sure that there were always a number of well-trained Troopers-turned-enforcers that made sure no gangs got the idea of trying to extend their reach beyond the Slums in any sort of violent way.

  The Victors, Mark, Tyler, Alexis, and Jerome, weren’t dinner guests, they were enforcers. Nivad felt a likeness with them. They were wolves in human form. He might have to force them into a few things to demonstrate his power, but he would need to be careful how he did it.

  He would also need to keep them on a tight leash.

  They might have made Nivad the most popular man in the EHC, but they could easily bring him tumbling down. The more he thought about it, the more he knew he needed to get them in line somehow.

  If he had been capable of feeling emotion he would have smiled with amusement. Instead, he was thinking of how to manipulate the foursome; they could make capable and powerful allies if handled right. If not, then he would have to get rid of them in a hurry.

  They are amusing, he admitted, a rare thought for him. For decades they had intrigued him, something that was hard to do. If he could, he would keep them around just to see what they would do.

  Chapter 9

  The Yard

  Sol System

  8/3347

  Jane looked at the message on her screens again, then she leaned back, stretching her arms.

  She was the only one that knew the secret of the Victor Corporation. Damien had died six short years ago in a mining incident, leaving behind his daughter, on whom he had doted. Esamai. She was a good and studious girl.

  Smarter than me by far! Jane thought as she opened her implants, tracking her granddaughter down.

  She was out working on the solar farms. A Costa didn’t rest, especially if they had shown an interest in trying to run The Yard.

  Jane sent her a message to finish off her work when she could and then head to her offices.

  She sent a short message to the Victors. A part of her, a part that had been told the stories of the Victor brothers, of how they had become the managers of The Yard, was excited and exhilarated to possibly meet the famous family. Another part of her was scared about what might happen with them back in the system. It had been one hundred and forty years since they had last been in Sol.

  They were Troopers, they had fought across the stars and they had been Earth and Her Colonies’ iron fist.

  They had become war heroes, bloodied by battles which had been censored for gore, something that had rarely happened in Jane’s age.

  She sat there watching the EMF Fleet as it moved further into Sol; it would take a few months for them to reach Earth as they slowed their speed with their massive solar sails.

  Jane had been building ships all of her life, and she could see the extra armor, the points that must have been weapon systems. The patches that covered battle damage. The Carriers were large, but no longer massive in Jane’s eyes.

  The Yard was building freighters that could carry five EMFCs inside it comfortably.

  These ships were clearly warships, they were battle tested and scarred. The modifications weren’t pretty but the Carriers now had weapons on all sides and extra armor.

  They looked like the warships of old, where nations had competed inside Sol for Mars, Uranus, Saturn, Venus, asteroid belts, and resources.

  Esamai walked into Jane’s office, her helmet, with her gloves stuffed inside, clipped to her chest. She was sweaty and tired, but her eyes were curious and alert.

  Jane looked at her granddaughter, wondering what Earth’s coming war would mean to her. She was pretty and her poise indicated someone that was ready to get stuck in, and she was used to people listening to her. She had a spacer’s paler skin, but the tan that the Costa’s got through their genes rather than from the sun kept her from being pasty.

  Jane felt a lot older as she waved Esamai forward.

  “What’s up?” Esamai asked.

  Jane pressed a button, locking the door and activating a noise canceler. Esmai looked even more curious.

  Jane pulled out a cigarette, offering Esamai one. She shook her head and Jane lit one up.

  “It’s about time I told you about the owners of The Yard and the Victor Corporation,” Jane started, remembering when Damien had sat in that very seat and she had told him the same story.

  It’s time that she knew, soon they might all know, Jane thought, new questions forming in her mind for Jerome and Mark.

  Chapter 10

  EMFC Fearless

  Oort cloud, Sol system

  8/3347

  Mark stepped out of his cryo-pod. His augments were working with the drugs that had brought him back to get him fully functional. He had only woken up once before to work on welding armor paneling to the carrier. He’d slept for nearly fifty-one years, with a nine-month period of work in between.

  He looked around. He, like the majority of other officers, had decided to go into cryo in the spine. These were their Troopers and they wanted to be right next to them if they were woken up in the middle of battle. Mark moved towards his room and office combo. He rolled his shoulders, moving the armor he was wearing and shifting his E-12 out of the way.

  All of the Troopers were wearing their armor and weapons, a precaution just in case the numbers had been off and they were arriving in-system with Harmony right on top of them.

  His checks showed that the Harmony Fleet wasn’t supposed to arrive for another fourteen months.

  Ortiz had called a meeting that all of the officers, majors and above, were supposed to attend in four hours. Plenty of time for Mark to drop off his armor, take a shower, talk to his officers and make sure everyone was good.

  His inbox pinged with a new message.

  Welcome Home.

  -JC

  It made Mark frown for a moment. Earth was where he had been born, and where he had lived for most of his life. But it wasn’t his home anymore. The EMF had become his home.

  He thought about the promise he had made to himself about leaving the EMF as soon as Harmony was defeated. No more going into cryo, no more waking up to fight for his life.

  He deleted the message, knowing that he would have to deal with a lot more than just Harmony if he wanted to leave the EMF, and he still needed to talk to his people to see what they wanted to do. They were all tired of war, but could they leave the EMF behind? It was all they had known since becoming adults.

  A problem to deal with later, he sighed, once again moving for the elevator.

  “Something on your mind?” Dominguez asked.

  “Lots of somethings, and not a lot of answers,” Mark said.

  “Well, there is a lot of room in there,” Dominguez said smiling.

  Mark snorted, letting out a laugh.

  ***

  Ortiz waited for everyone to pile into the room. Moretti was standing off to the side; they’d both been woken up a few weeks ago to make sure that they were up-to-date with the situation in Sol.

  “Morning ladies and gents, good to see you out of cryo,” Ortiz said, facing them from the podium of the lecture hall. “Alright, Harmony are still coming on their predicted course, they’re braking now and we’ve got a pretty good idea of where they’re going. We’re still going to go on the assumption that they can hit anywhere in the system. Our job is to defend Earth. If Harmony hits any other planets or moons, those are secondary targets. Harmony won’t be arriving for another year, so we have plenty of time to get ready. First of all, we need to secure the ground.” The screen behind Ortiz showed Earth as a map. It looked odd, with actual continents being shown instead of the red-dust covering that Slum-dwellers knew.

  “We all know the Slums, though it has changed since we were last in the neighborhood. Some gangs have
fallen, others have risen and taken their position. None of them are going to like it when we walk in and piss on the lines they’ve drawn up. So we’re going to be vigilant. You and your officers will be going out there and talking to gangs; we want them on our side. Make it clear that if they kill Harmony, we will pay them for the armor and weapons. Either they’re with us or against us. They start trying to fuck us over or pushing back, we show them why Troopers are feared.”

  There was a rumble of agreement throughout the room. All of the officers had been in the EMF for a number of years, and the Slums weren’t even recognizable to them.

  “What will we be operating in?” Mark asked.

  “We’re going to have Combat Shuttles, and positions in Mega City with our Powered Armor. Out in the Slums it’ll get screwed up with the dust, so we’ll be using our armor plates out there. Once we are engaged with Harmony, we’ll have scouts and gangs report on Harmony, and we’ll hammer them with our Powered Armor Troopers. There will always be a strong presence in Mega City. We will be based out of the citadel and will be patrolling in Combat Shuttles and Powered Armor sections,” Ortiz said.

  “What are the conditions like on the ground?” Lieutenant Colonel Shultz asked. Ortiz had been the man’s direct commanding officer a number of times, and he was a good officer and field commander.

  “It’s SNAFU as balls,” Moretti said. Ortiz and a few others grinned and laughed at the ex-middle CEO’s tone and words. Situation Normal, All Fucked Up, Ortiz thought, mentally translating the acronym. “The Greenhouses are still the controllers. A gang called the Westerly Three Complex now provides security for all of the Greenhouses. It has held for nearly a hundred years. Now the gangs are pushing back. They want more control and the money that the Greenhouses make. The Westerly Three Complex have seceded rights to some of the Greenhouses, but they aren’t gangsters any more. They’ve become weak. A war is brewing, and alliances are being made for and against the Westerlies.”

  “Why does that matter to us?” a major asked.