“Hold,” Bobbie said, using the small winch on the Combat Shuttle to drop the artillery the last few meters and then release them.
“Clear,” Bobbie said, wheeling the winch back in. Yu powered away slowly, diving to get more speed.
“We’ve got units in the North Sector needing a lift,” Young said, as a flight plan appeared.
“Well let’s get to it,” Yu said. They hadn’t slept in days as the Chosen decided to make their push. There were a few air-cars moving around; the rich didn’t like being cooped up. Some were even having ‘war parties’, watching the videos of the Troopers fighting and dying, as they laughed, got drunk, and ate their fill.
The Troopers on the line hadn’t had a fresh meal in weeks, as the metal and other contagions got in their food. They were on drinkable slop, fighting these people’s war.
And the people don’t give a fuck. It’s just another form of rich person’s entertainment.
He flew over the air-cars, probably being reported every second as they were pushed away in the wake of his Combat Shuttle’s speed.
“Enjoying pissing off the local population?” Young asked.
“These rich fuckers are sitting out here living it up, laughing and joking about our friends dying. To them, war is a sport. They enjoy wealth and money. They’re numb to anything that happens outside their sphere of influence. I can’t think what’s going to happen when they’re stuck under the citadel while we’re fighting to save their lives,” Yu said.
“To them we’re not even really human; we don’t have the goods they do. Every month they get new tech, new clothes, redo their homes. It’s how their society works. Every day they must have the better thing. If they don’t, then they’re behind the curve, they’re old. It’s vain people believing in vain things. That’s capitalism gone rampant. To them this is the in thing, even if some of them might understand what’s happening in Central Sector on some level. Though, to stay relevant in this time, they need to have the best bunker, the best agreements with the Troopers. They’re paying more not because they want better protection, but simply because they can and to show others how rich and powerful they are,” Young said.
“That’s fucked up. There are people in the Slums that could live off those credits for years. Here they are spending it to look good in front of their friends.” Yu shook his head.
“Different kinds of surviving, people in the Slums need those credits to survive. Here in Mega City, not spending those credits make you look like some weakling. Different scales and while it might look wasteful to us, it makes them look better to potential contracts – and for getting even richer,” Bobbie explained.
“But we’re talking billions of credits,” Yu said.
“Economy of scale. No one said capitalism was fair, it’s convoluted and weirder the higher you get up in stature. The rich and the poor might be in the same system, but they could be different species.”
“Just give me a Combat Shuttle to fly in and a target to shoot. The rest of this I can do without,” Yu said.
“Doesn’t it fuck you up that we’re doing the corporations’ bidding, but we aren’t part of their system? We’re the slaves working to keep the other slaves in order.” Young shook her head.
“I try not to think about it, but at least with Harmony we know that we’re fighting something that won’t improve the system, their system is even worse than we’ve got. I think the reason we fight is a lot simpler than the corporations, the Slums, capitalism, and all that crap,” Yu said.
“How so?” Bobbie asked.
“We fight to survive. This is the only opportunity that we’ve got to improve our lives. We’re all bound together by that single desire. We care about the person to our right and left. I’d lay my life down for you two, and I know you’d do the same for me. That’s all there is to it. We’re fighting to survive, and we’ll kill the other bastards to do that. With Harmony we’re actually fighting an enemy that is screwed up. I didn’t take any pleasure in killing people on the colonies, but fighting Harmony feels cleaner than those fights. With those, I just wanted to survive and leave. I didn’t really want to kill people, but I had to because if I hadn’t they’d have killed me.”
No one responded, all of them were lost in their own thoughts.
Yu knew them well enough to know that they agreed, but they weren’t good people. They might be fighting the good fight against Harmony, but they had killed people that wanted nothing but a better life. They’d watched as Fernix was seeded with toxins, killing the population, no matter their beliefs or alliances.
I’m no hero. I’m not a good man, but I’m not going to just lie down and die, no matter my sins.
They sped through the electrostatic barrier that kept Earth’s dust storms out of Mega City.
Chapter 49
Tower
Earth, Sol System
3/3349
Dalia burst into Nivad’s office. “We know who’s leading them!”
She locked the door as Nivad turned on the sound canceler.
“Who?” Nivad asked, noting how his heartbeat had increased slightly.
“Peter Quinn, middling corporation officer from Housapel. Good orator and good at reaching agreements with various parties. The partnership expected good things from him. Seems that he didn’t want to wait the time it would take to get back to Earth with their recommendation. While the Housapel partnership thought of him as a great resource, the higher-ups were not interested in the idea of a fresh corporation officer upsetting their balance.”
“So he went to Housapel, kicked off Earth because they wanted to use his skills but not have their own personal power base affected by his dealings and rising stature.” Nivad nodded, Quinn was not the first corporation officer to have had this happen to him.
“He started spreading his influence to his people, got them to think that he wanted to build a utopia of people working together to push the human race ahead without the corporations reigning over them,” Dalia said.
“Did he believe it?” Nivad asked.
“Of course not, he just wanted to take power. He wants to make Earth unstable with the war, to put the blade to everyone that pushed him off to Housapel. Then he will take over as CEO of various large companies. His closest advisers, like General Fusaro, Admiral Hawking, and the leaders on Osdal and Fernix, are all capitalists. We have copies of some of the contracts that he sent to them.”
“How did we get the information?” Nivad asked.
“Someone in his personal circle. They haven’t told us anything, just given us information. They’re covering their back. If we want more information, we have to give them amnesty.”
“If they win they get power from Mister Quinn, if not then they are safe and free of our clutches,” Nivad said. “Write up a contract and agree to their terms. I want to know what Quinn is doing at Mars.”
“Yes, sir.” Dalia put a data cube on Nivad’s desk and left. Nivad accessed the cube and started going through the reams of information.
Smart boy, make a religious cult turned government to cover your actions. Put yourself at the head of it and ride it to Earth.
In the game of corporations, Peter Quinn was Nivad’s greatest contender to date. It had taken a considerable amount of Nivad’s resources and more than a little luck to stop many of Quinn’s plans.
Even now at the end it is a close battle.
Nivad looked at the screens that showed him the battles between the Chosen and Troopers happening just a few hundred kilometers away. If he changed the screens to see out of Mega City, he could see several artillery batteries firing day and night to try and stop the Chosen advance.
Chapter 50
Legate Nerva’s Estate
Orbiting Gardens of Ageia, Hellenic System
3/3349
Nerva looked around his estate. His apartments and living quarters were odd for someone of his standing: they were the same as any other apartments in the orbiting gardens he owned. T
he ones around it were the residences of his bodyguards.
The orbiting gardens were great rings that spun to maintain gravity. They had been built before artificial gravity was created.
With the creation of artificial gravity, a central sphere was placed in the middle of the rotating ring. This was what Nerva called his home.
The sphere was cut up into levels. Each one supported the one below, turning it into an entire eco-system. Apartments for those that worked the gardens ran through the center of the massive sphere. More gardens, and the small city that Nerva supported, rested in the center of the sphere. The ring comprised of automated gardens, with a few living quarters here and there.
The Hellenic system was one of the few systems that hadn’t been under Maraukian threat in centuries. They had massive defense networks and a sensor net that told them if anything was heading towards them.
The number one thing that the planets needed while fighting Maraukians was food; you could make ammunition from raw materials, but food took time.
Nerva had worked his estate since he had been given just a small plot on Roma Prime. He’d sold it when it had become valuable, and put all of his money into the ring gardens that were built around the world Ageia.
It was his sanctuary, his place to rest. He had no children, and hadn’t taken a wife after the Maraukians landed on Roma.
Upon his death, the council that ruled in his stead would take over his responsibilities.
“Nerva,” NIDenise sounded tense.
“We have a new mission?” Nerva thought-spoke.
“Nivad just okayed an assassination mission on the Victors.”
Nerva took a deep breath, the unnerving calm he felt before battle settling over him as he looked at the gardens without seeing them.
“Is there an extraction team on route?” Nerva asked.
“There are four teams on Earth recruiting Troopers. There are others in orbit, and personnel on Earth are working to secure the Troopers in need of aid.”
“Get me a ship going to Earth. Now.” Nerva started walking to his quarters to grab his belongings.
“This is Nivad, he always gets his targets,” NIDenise said.
“Then we’re going to have to make the cover-up really good. If he doesn’t kill them all, then they’ll hunt him down. They could destabilize Earth.” Nerva’s face had lost all traces of emotion.
“Nerva, they are just Troopers! What you’re talking about is them overthrowing Nivad, the most powerful and manipulative human on Earth!” Even NIDenise didn’t want to tangle with the man.
“The Victors command the respect of the Troopers, and General Ortiz would go to war for them. Nivad will cover his tracks well, but it takes one word, one screw up, and the Troopers will turn against the EHC. They’re at a crucial point and this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.” Images and thoughts passed through Nerva’s mind. NIDenise read it all, understanding the image that was coming together.
Nivad might know how to manipulate and read people, but he had been dealing with corporations and their officers all his life. He understood the Troopers to some degree, but he thought that money was their motivation, sometimes the occasional relationship.
He didn’t understand how the EMF had become a home for the Troopers.
Having the man that commanded the EMF killing Troopers would break any connection the Troopers held with the EMF.
NIDenise booked Nerva on the fastest ship. It would take five months to reach Earth.
Chapter 51
Central Sector
Earth, Sol System
4/3349
“We’re breaking through the flanks more and more, but there are these scouts like the ones on Fernix making it impossible to push through without larger forces,” Baashir walked into Fusaro’s latest command center.
“Counter them, get them to come out, and then ambush them. We need to get around their flanks. If we can force ourselves between their units, we’ll break them and get a line to Mega City.” Fusaro drew a line on his map from their position to Mega City.
“Every time we get through a gap, the Troopers pull back and establish a new line right in front of our new line of advance,” Baashir said.
“If we can take out these scouts, then they won’t have any warning of us coming past their flanks,” Fusaro said.
“With a few more units we might be able to start ambushing them, or group our people together, and flush them out. They aren’t heavily armored, but they’re using those AMRs which can pierce our armor,” Baashir said.
“Take two of our best companies, and try to force a route through the scouts. Kill any that are in your way. The more we kill now, the faster our advance will be.”
“It will be done, General. For the Sake of Harmony.” Baashir saluted.
“For the sake of Harmony,” Fusaro repeated.
Every day they were moving forward faster.
Fusaro was bleeding Chosen, but they still outnumbered the enemy three times.
Their armor was becoming a hindrance, already some PACs were having to leave their armor behind. They were too damaged by the dust getting into their systems. It didn’t function properly any more. Companies were working to try and maintain the armor, but it took time to pull units off the line, clean the armor, and throw them back in.
The Chosen hadn’t brought the tools they needed to clean their armor. It was an oversight. But then they had thought that they would be landing right in Mega City. No one thought that the Troopers might be fighting them through the Slums, switching out their Troopers and cleaning up their armor.
As we move forward, more and more PACs are going to shed their armor to fight. The faster we get into Mega City, the faster we can get our armor sorted. We need to get out of this dust. If Baashir can kill off those scouts and force the Troopers to retreat faster, then we might get into Mega City before we’ve got too many Chosen in their undergarments.
***
Dominguez was in the command center when Tyler got the call.
“I repeat, Captain Dashtund is down, we need fire support! The Chosen are coming in on all sides!” a Trooper yelled.
“Get me fire support on that location,” Tyler looked at Jerome, who was talking into his headset. “Lieutenant Mackarov, move your Powered Armor to open up a route for the scouts to escape through. Whyte, Ko, be prepared to move your companies back, and push them out to cover your sides. Scouts, keep an eye out for ambushes and watch for Chosen trying to flank.”
“No,” Dominguez’s breath escaped her as she looked at the units moving across the table’s dust-covered surface. “He can’t be.”
She opened up her implants, looking at Dashtund’s marker that showed him as a black dot.
The implants have to be lying, they have to!
She turned, finding Mark behind her, and she tried to run past, but his muscular arms held her steady.
She swore and yelled, trying to free herself. Mark winced as she hit and even bit him.
Eventually, she collapsed on the ground, tired, so damned tired of the fighting.
“Come on,” Mark said, helping her to her feet. She cried, tears leaving trails through the dust on her face.
All she could think of was Dashtund’s smile, the kiss he’d given her as he’d set out on his last shift, just hours ago.
Mark guided her into a room, and she slumped onto the bed as Mark took a seat.
She cried like she had as a little girl when her dad had been killed.
She’d never said it, but she’d loved Dashtund. They’d dated for years. Mark and Tyler had kept them separate, so that their relationship would never be a problem. Wen and Haas had done the same.
She cried and cried at the loss of her lover and her friend.
She didn’t see Mark as he leaned forward in his chair, rubbing his face as if weary of life.
Tears darkened the dust that lay between his feet.
***
Ortiz ate his food with
the other Troopers. Few of them were talking and there wasn’t a smile to be seen. They ate food simply because they had to.
They had gone from people to machines, shutting down their emotions and feelings so that they could carry out their duties. Here and there, the facade failed, and tears rolled down someone’s face or they looked into nothing, living through memories of all of the people they had lost.
Ortiz ate his food quickly, not tasting it. In his mind’s eye he saw people around his table, laughing and joking. Some of them he couldn’t remember clearly, time and other ghosts had washed them out.
Though they were still there, the silent legions of people that had lived and died. He was one of the few people that remembered them. Like the Troopers around him, he wondered who was going to remember him if he died. Would there be anyone left to remember him?
Don’t you dare think like that, he scolded himself. Those are your boys and girls out there fighting right now. They haven’t given up the fight and you sure as shit aren’t going to give up!
He finished his food and pushed the ghosts from his mind. He put chew into his lip and went to the command center.
The Chosen were pushing hard and they had units working to find ways around the Troopers. So far, the scouts had been able to deal with them.
The skirmishers were smart, and they spread out, making it harder to find them. They didn’t seem to care about their losses as long as they got through. Their latest tactic was to entice the scouts in and ambush them as they tried to gather information on the Chosen, or kill skirmishers looking for a new route past the Troopers.
When the Chosen got through, the Troopers had to pull back.
They were losing ground faster and faster.
We don’t have long until I have to start pulling units back to Mega City.
Chapter 52
Combat Shuttle Four-Two-Seven
Earth, Sol System
5/3349
The order had been given: all equipment and Troopers, other than those specifically tasked, were to pull back to Mega City. The Chosen were pushing harder than anyone had thought possible.
Earth (Harmony War Book 5) Page 14
