Nemesis (The MechaVerse Trilogy Book 2)

by Jeremy Cunkle

  “In that regard, preliminary moves are already being made, such as: the loading of Stridents, which are difficult for the Chimeras to transport, mechanized and heavy artillery pieces, the Marauder tank division, the land based Hunter drones, the armored personnel carriers for the infantry, and other heavy weapons such as mobile missile launchers and anti-missile laser platforms. All of this onto mobile transports aboard what appears to be over one hundred anti-grav trains, standing by within Repentance’ domes. More telling however, are the dozen anti-grav trains waiting to load the infantry and transport them to the front lines. Interestingly enough, the PDF are not hiding their intentions, not that I believe they could if they wanted to, Sir."

  Commander Ultor nodded in silent agreement as he dropped the formal tone. "That leaves us with around forty eight hours until the main attack. What I wouldn’t give to call in a favor to Titan and have them bombard that convoy when it leaves the base with their pair of Cruisers in orbit. Well that’s not about to happen because it would start an inter-galactic war, so we’ll just have to figure out our own solution as always. Good job Drogdyn, your actions today will save a lot of lives. Keep on it. Provide regular, text only, updates directly to my slate. Now patch me through to base security. Have Chief Engineer Thorsten, and Dr. Hesken waiting on standby, and then return to your post."

  Drogdyn’s shoulders moved subtly as his fingers easily completed his commander’s orders. Right before the screen converted to display separate feeds of all three base officers, Drogdyn performed a salute, with an expression of complete determination on his face. The impromptu display of loyalty helped steel Commander Ultor's resolve as he prepared to relay the bad news to the other division Officers one at-a-time. He would have a face-to-face meeting with Colonel Mathias and Captain Cartwright immediately after these briefings, meeting them in the Command and Control Center, as they needed to plan the responses of the forces under their control more directly.

  The fact that the PDF were not attempting to disguise their intentions spoke magnitudes about their level of confidence in the success of the impending attack. Based on how badly the mechanized PDF military had thus far tended to fare in engagements against well-prepared rebel positions-that were commonly located underground in what had once been the planets original mines-the current level of confidence spoke volumes of warning. With the PDF’s recent successful conquest of Kerrak, and the loss of the extreme majority of the outpost’s defenders, that confidence did not appear misplaced.

  The StormCrows had prepared for the eventuality of a direct attack upon Mount Olympus from the very moment their faction was founded; so the level of shock and resignation Commander Ultor felt about the end of an era came as a surprise to him, the strength of the wave of emotions suddenly threatening to inundate him. That feeling hung ominously over his meetings, as he used his slate to link with the secure communication system reserved for only worst-case scenarios, immediately connecting him to the division heads wherever they were.

  As he requested, security was the first division reached. Commander Ultor chose to have the conversation with Jack Lu, head of the internal security division, separate from the other officers. Their exclusion was to avoid prematurely panicking them as much as to relay specific commands which was more efficiently done via a direct link.

  From the beginning, contingencies had been developed to deal with the scenario of the PDF directly attacking the mountain, and then kept updated over the years. The briefing was quick; every single one of the division heads had been expecting this call for some time. The internal security division would dust off their plans and proceed accordingly. Many of their procedures had been implemented, gradually, over the last few days and weeks. Commander Ultor added a few personalized commands before signing off, but otherwise knew that any commands to Jack Lu would be redundant and a waste of time neither of them had.

  Commander Ultor opened the direct channel with Dr. Hesken next, as the sirens throughout the base activated. An automated voice came over the PA system, forcing them to pause before actually speaking with one another. "Code Orange is effective immediately. All personnel are to report to their superiors. Additional instructions will follow in twenty minutes." The automated message would repeat itself three times back-to-back, and then repeat on the minute for the next ten minutes. All data slates, terminals, and viewing screens throughout the base would display the alert until a user acknowledged receiving the warning. As a last resort, the sirens would wail at half power throughout the entire base for two minutes as security personnel combed public and private areas for anyone not responding to the general assembly call, or acknowledging the alert, as all non-essential activities and services were instantly rendered unavailable.

  With the wail of the sirens in the background, Commander Ultor shouted to be heard. “Skip the bullshit Lisa, can Mikkhael pilot a Mech armor?”

  A million thoughts clearly ran through Dr. Hesken’s mind as she analyzed a myriad of details, still adjusting to the base status suddenly upgrading to full alert. “The simple answer is… probably yes. However, I need time to revive him. You know that he is in a deep, medically induced coma, and there is no telling how long it will take to bring him out of it.”

  Commander Ultor nodded in affirmation; the reply was as expected as his response. “Your priority is to revive him as quickly as possible. I fear we will soon need his abilities more than ever. Delegate your other medical responsibilities to your subordinates and have them prepare for the evacuation of all patients and non-essential personnel. Set up teams to receive mass casualties and organize triage centers. All pre-designated casualty collection points are to be checked that they are prepared to receive an influx of wounded. Prepare to abandon Mount Olympus.”

  When no counter argument proved forthcoming, having fully expected one, he pushed the video link to the background, leaving the audio on for the doctor to listen to, and subsequently opened the channel with Chief Thorsten. “Chief, I need a no bullshit assessment of the readiness of Starkindler, as well as the rest of our forces.”

  Chief Thorsten’s reply was as gruff as his appearance, irritation from too many hours spent working, not enough sleep, and too much work still to complete more than present in his tone. “You know we have been working around the clock, finishing the assembly of Starkindler. The longer this call takes, the less time I have to get everything completed.”

  The Commander’s voice dropped to a dangerously quiet volume. The individual words of his next sentence were measured. “You will give me the best estimation you can, now, not only of Starkindler’s state of readiness and how long until it can be battle ready, but also our combat ability. That is an order.”

  Chief Engineer Sir Henry Thorsten flinched at the rebuke, closing and then rubbing his tired eyes. “My teams have finished the units’ internal frame, running the electrical and installing the other internal components. As a machine, Starkindler can nearly fly and fight now, but none of the external layers of armor plating are currently attached. If someone was to take it into battle right now, everyone from both sides would just laugh, and the point of having Starkindler on the field for a boost to morale would completely backfire. I haven’t had an update from Kurtis on the status of Aurora’s code in a few days. This Mech armor is advanced enough that without an AI, even an experienced pilot such as Mikkhael would have difficulty getting anywhere near maximum performance from her, and we haven’t begun the extended process of syncing her to another pilot. With the armor on, maybe we have her at 96% or 97% ready. But, my team has a lot of work ahead of us. I need time to get it all done. Just buy me as much as you can.”

  The tired shrug of his shoulders at the end told the real story, only noticeable because they were speaking through a video link. The hopes of the StormCrows rested on

  Chief Thorsten and his teams of engineers not collapsing from exhaustion every bit as much as on Mikkhael’s combat ability should Dr. Hesken prove capable of waking him from the coma in ti
me. Chief Thorsten was one of the true unsung heroes of the war, without whom their faction would have collapsed long ago.

  “As for the other squadrons, the Omnos squad has been handling the majority of their own maintenance. Their maintenance is being performed under the capable direction of Soren. His last update stated they were prepared. That frees up a lot of manpower, which I reassigned to the regular forces. For the general defense, we should be able to field between seventy and eighty Furies and Justices, depending on a few factors. If you can task base security to run maintenance checks on the defensive turrets and automated weapons throughout the base; that would be even better. As for the R&D division, the Salvatore team has nearly thirty units completed. After the loss of Kerrak, they were re-tasked with the priority of completing final assembly of additional thirty units.” Chief Thorsten stated, swaying a bit as he did so. He was clearly about to fall asleep on his feet, coming dangerously closer to doing so with every second the conversation continued.

  “As of right now, operate under the assumption we have less than twenty four hours to complete the assembly of Starkindler and ready our forces. You will be notified if anything changes. See to it Chief.” Commander Ultor said as he signed off, leaving Dr. Hesken’s face occupying the screen in front of him by herself. “I assume you saw what you needed to…”

  “That man is suffering from clinical exhaustion. At any moment, he will end up no more useful than Mikkhael in his present state. What use will he be to anyone then?” The doctor stated accusingly.

  The Commander ignored her indictment. “We are all pushing ourselves to our limits, and if we fail now, that’s the end of everything. We are officially out of time for indulgences.” Commander Ultor retorted. He was closer to the doctor than anyone else, aside from his daughter Eve. In the stress of the moment, he found himself having difficulty maintaining his professionalism, wanting nothing more than to give in to a moment of weakness and accept the comfort of a friend. Instead, he channeled the warning that desire elicited in him, becoming laser focused on his objectives, tuning out and ignoring his own wishes. His personal needs had become secondary the moment the PDF entered the mine he had once called his home, and destroyed it, slaughtering everyone they found inside, including his wife. “How long does he need?” He said, in obvious reference to Mikkhael

  The video feed changed, showing Dr. Hesken walking from her office behind the nurse’s station, proceeding deep in the heart of the mountain presumably towards the solitary ward where Mikkhael rested. “Days, honestly, and that is just too properly get him conscious. Waking him up this quickly-the potential exists that we will permanently damage his mind- his most effective tool I might add. Next, he needs weeks of therapy in order to function normally, and even longer if you want to throw him into that machine as I suspect you do. Before he was placed into an induced coma, his mind was nearly broken. Even under the ministrations of the physical therapy, he is still very likely going to wake up little better than a vegetable from the mental trauma.”

  Commander Ultor clasped his hands in the air in front of him, and then set his chin to rest on them. “Then all of our hope lies with the Omnos squad.”

  * * * * *

  Kurtis forwarded the report summarizing the upcoming attack to the rest of the Omnos squad members, requesting their immediate presence in his quarters. One benefit of having the most potent AI, currently on the planet, working directly for him meant that very little caught him unaware. Another benefit was that his AI Argos, was frequently requested to obtain the most up to date information on their enemies, simultaneously relaying the results both to him and Drogdyn, keeping him abreast of all critical developments as they occurred.

  Such was the inevitably of the upcoming battle that the Omnos squad had already been assigned battle stations, being seamlessly folded into the defense of the mountain. Kurtis’ and Argos’ duties were to oversee the automated base defenses from Nighthawk, monitor and provide SIG-INT in regards to the opposing army, as well as to assist Drogdyn with process of both cyber warfare and cyber intelligence-gathering. The information they gathered would be passed on to the Command and Control Center before being disseminated to the other defenders. Kurtis would be one of the last pilots to physically take part in general melee combat, as he could contribute far more behind the scenes during the first few phases of the upcoming battle.

  Alyona and Vera promptly joined him in his quarters, with Kiryl on his way. He was about to brief them further, as well as answer questions he knew would arise about Aurora’s code and her state of readiness. None of them had any doubt that Commander Ultor would order Mikkhael to be brought out of a coma, if that order had not already been issued. Simply placing his semi-conscious form into a mostly rebuilt Starkindler, and then standing the iconic war-machine somewhere, highly visible to both sides, would raise the StormCrow morale by an incredible amount, as well as serve as a reminder to the PDF of his incredible fighting prowess. Among the entire rebellion, Mikkhael had ascended to mythical status, and now more than ever, they would require the reassurance of his presence very soon.

  He was why the Omnos squad had left Earth, traveling to Mars to fight in his name, and it was for his sake that they were about to engage in what could only be considered as the suicidal defense of the mountain.

  Just then, all of their communicators began chirping urgently. Argos’ self-representation appeared on the far wall that morphed into a view screen. “Something has happened that you should all be aware of,” the AI announced cryptically through speakers set in the wall behind the image.

  Alyona waved him off, “We know about the impending attack. We have all been expecting it for quite some time, thanks Argos.”

  “No.” The AI stated, catching them all off guard, instantly focusing their complete attention on him. “Something else has happened, and it concerns all of you. No matter what happens, for the time being you must not leave this room.”

  Immediately, the tension in the room ratcheted up to an immense level. “Argos, explain,” Kurtis commanded as Kiryl timely entered through the door. Sensing the palatable tension within the room, Kiryl also focused on the image of the AI.

  “Colonel Mathias has been found dead in his quarters,” Argos explained. As the four immediately began planning on how best to combat an assassin in the mountain, as well as a hundred other wild theories their imaginations invented, the AI continued specifying the details, “Commander Ultor contacted the Colonel in order to notify him of the looming attack and plan their reaction. In order to contact the Colonel, the Commander used the emergency alert system that locates the division officers regardless of where they are. Colonel Mathias was the last one contacted because they were supposed to meet in person, not vis-à-vis a video connection as with the other division Officers. The emergency link request went unanswered, triggering the nearest camera, whose feed I accessed. Colonel Mathias was found dead from apparent suicide in his own quarters. I confirmed that scenario by reviewing the logs associated with his room.”

  The image of Argos self-representation on the far wall morphed, showing an image of what the four could only assume was Colonel Mathias room. The image had been cropped, presumably to remove sight of the lifeless body. In the expansive room itself, on an otherwise bare table at the edge of the image, sat a slate whose screen was still lit as if from recent use. From the hard to view angle depicted, what appeared to be a scrawled note presented itself on the slate.

  With a sense of dread, Kurtis was the first to ask, “Argos, what’s the note on the slate say?”

  Instead of answering aloud, Argos instead altered the image on the far wall, revealing what appeared to be an old world letter on the electronic screen, presumably penned by Colonel Mathias. It read:

  My friend, I have failed you. Words cannot ever hope to express the depth of my remorse at having done so; or just how sorry I am.

  We all have in us weakness. Some are able to get by pretending their inherent flaws never exis
ted, others do their best to overcome the unique challenges which cross their path, and some even succeed. I belong to neither assemblage, instead belonging to the infamous collective of those who failed to rectify their faults, and thus cause their friends and loved ones immeasurable pain and sorrow.

  Please remember my diligent years of service and loyalty before judging the single act of my lifetime that I will forever be known for henceforward…

  I was the spy in our ranks, feeding information indirectly to General Akari. It was I, who planted the false information in our data systems in order to draw the Earther, Mikkhael, and his accursed Mech armor out of the mountain in order that they should be destroyed.

  I swear to you, on everything I ever was, that I did not know Eve would be the one to spring the trap and then become the lure with which the trap was baited.

  Just as I was the one who orchestrated the ambush in Hell’s Gate that should have killed the other Earther’s, the four members of the so-called Omnos squad.

  I believe the cause we fight for to be pure, and even as I began to lose my way, I never stopped believing in you or the vision you steadfastly espoused. However, that does not mean that I was incorrect. Accepting the Earther as we did was wrong. His presence tainted the sanctity of our cause, corrupting it with his poisoned touch. Now, with the arrival of his fellow conspirators, your cause is doomed, and they are the ones that destroyed it.

  As with any patient who has become septic; the wound must be excised, lest it infect and destroy the entire host.

  You must reject them, and then General Akari will let you live. The cause we fight for so valiantly will live on to fight another day. It is neither a glorious, nor a welcome solution; but nevertheless, it remains entirely necessary. The role of men like us has never been to choose the easy path. Our job has always been to make the hard decisions, and I realize, for you, there is not one more difficult to fathom.