Black Legion - The First Trilogy

by Michael G. Thomas

  “Strategos, we cannot move against firepower of that magnitude. We need to flank their guns,” said the battered but excitable Komes Artemis. His armour showed signs of scorch marks, and at least one of the cannon rounds had dented parts of the armour around his flank.

  “Kleandridas, where are you?” he whispered, speaking to his deputy through the communications node. A streak of energy slammed into the front of the line and knocked three Laconian warriors down, creating a gap in the line. Clearchus was pushed back but was able to regain his footing only to see the weapons mount swivel to face him.

  Gods, this is it, he thought.

  A flicker of movement came from behind the machines, and two dozen heavily armoured spatharii, led by Kleandridas, surged from the darkness. They were unshielded and instead carried two Asgeirr-Carbines, one fitted to each arm. A great hail of gunfire hit the rear of the machines, and two were brought down by the explosive power of the pulse round. The warriors charged in and stabbed and blasted the other two at close range. Sensing victory was near; Clearchus lifted his arm and roared. The pinned Laconians jumped forward and joined their brothers in a brief melee that reduced the last two to smashed junk in seconds. In the middle of the heap of wrecked machines, Clearchus extended his hands to Kleandridas and to Komes Artemis.

  “Good work, my brothers, now on to Menon and that back stabbing bitch Ariaeus. I want this station shut down and stripped of anything we can use in less than one hour, understood?”

  The two men nodded in agreement, but both found it hard to conceal their pleasure at the use of the feminine insult to the Medes commander. The Medes were long regarded as soft and effeminate, especially when compared to the physically strong people of Laconia. Komes Artemis brushed the dirt from his armour, and after directing a small group of the newly arrived spatharii to treat the wounded, he signalled for the rest of the warriors to assemble. Clearchus turned to Kleandridas.

  “What is your status?”

  “We breached the support pylon between the primary and secondary structures. Assault dromons are in position around the secondary section, and two teams of spatharii are moving through the shield generator and living quarter sections.”

  Clearchus nodded in satisfaction. The rest of the men were already moving out through the large door and towards the support pylon. The large transparent metals used in its construction allowed a limited view out into space, but the shape of the Laconian assault dromon was obvious. Sparks and flashes continued from where the vessel had landed on the right side of the pylon. As they approached it, another group of four warriors dropped out of the hole and into the station. Clearchus tapped Kleandridas on the shoulder.

  “Excellent work, my friend, how soon can you seal up your breach?”

  “Engineers will start work in the next few minutes. It will not take long once a containment field is established.”

  “Good, come with me, I think it is time to have a chat with Menon and Ariaeus.”

  Kleandridas followed Clearchus and the large group of spatharii inside the secondary structure. The light was off in most places, and they were reliant upon their helmets built-in thermal imaging or shoulder mounted lamps.

  “Switch to thermal imaging, people,” called out the Komes over the communication node. Two of the warriors switched off their lamps; there was no sense in giving away their position in the dark by using powerful lamps. The equipment changed their vision into shades of colour to indicate the temperature or the area around them. The Terrans showed up quite clearly, especially against the coldness of the mainly deactivated station.

  “Komes, how will we see the machines if they don’t let off heat?” asked one of the younger warriors.

  “Don’t worry, kid, all of these battle drones are powered by small plasma power plants. At this distance, they will show up like small nuclear power stations.”

  The group fanned out with the spatharii checking for any signs of the deadly machines. Komes Artemis remembered one of the last encounters he had faced with the machines. As they moved through the darkness, he recalled the industrial machine that had been modified by the workers on Laconia. It had been just the one machine, but over thirty warriors had been killed trying to bring it to the ground. That wasn’t the worst part though. His mind was brought back into focus as one of the dreaded machines appeared, and one of the Terrans was gripped in its iron fist. With a sickening scream, it tore the man in half, hurling his remains to the floor.

  “Kill it!” shouted one of the Dekarchos, and the open space filled with hundreds of pulse rounds. An autocannon projectile glanced from one of the Terran’s shields and clipped his shoulder, almost knocking him back. In anger, he regained his balance and aimed carefully.

  Just like back home, he thought bitterly.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Vendetta, Su’bartu Maelstrom

  Artemas and Xenophon waited patiently as the two guards, presumably men loyal to Andronicus, walked passed them. Their hiding place was well chosen as it was a cramped storage area for empty storage containers. Inside, the small area stank of refuse, old oil and burning. It was hardly a place anybody would choose to visit. The small glass viewport in the door was barely wide enough for Xenophon to peer through. Artemas pushed her face up close to him, and he had to make a conscious effort to concentrate on the corridor and not her.

  “What?” she asked, noticing him looking at her.

  “Huh, nothing, why?” he replied nervously.

  What is it with her? She’s attractive, sure, but there’s something else.

  He shook his head. He had more important things to do than spend his time looking at an unusual, if highly attractive, alien operative. He looked back through the glass and saw the two guards finally move out of sight. The command deck and the rooms being used to hold the prisoners were in the next section, but from the number of guards moving about, he calculated there must be at least half a dozen more inside.

  “Okay, it’s clear for about twenty seconds, are they ready?” he asked.

  She nodded and placed the small metal spheres on the ground. Moving as carefully as he could, he slid open the door to create a gap of just a few centimetres. As it moved, there was an ever so quiet creak that sent a shudder up his spine. Luckily, nobody seemed to hear it. Not yet, anyway.

  “Do it,” he whispered.

  Artemas tapped a button, and the small group of metal bugs activated. The sound their tiny monofilament wings made was almost impossible to discern. The first lifted up and moved to the gap, and the others did the same. As they quickly moved out into the corridor, Artemas lifted a small metal flap fitted into the close fitting clothing on her left arm. It revealed a touch based control unit and small screen. They both watched as the devices moved to the doorway of the command deck. A large group of armed men stood nearby, each carrying a carbine or a Doru Mk II Rifle. Xenophon sighed as he watched.

  “I don’t like this. We’d need a powerful force to reach even the door, and that assumes they have no more inside.”

  Artemas looked up and smiled.

  “Trust me, they will have more, watch.”

  The bugs split up, with one moving up to the darkness of the ceiling and watching from high. Another headed for the door, leaving two to explore the rest of the corridor. They both watched in fascination as the entire area was carefully mapped and recorded. What really interested Xenophon was the small room being used for the prisoners. As the bug made its way forward, he noticed a series of short corridors on the right hand side.

  “Can you take a right?” he asked.

  “Where?”

  “There!” he said, for a moment forgetting to keep his voice low.

  They both waited, expecting trouble but nothing happened. Xenophon exhaled slowly, thankful that their hiding place had yet to be discovered. He looked back to the screen as the bug moved into one of the corridors. A single guard was leaning against the wall. He looked bored, almost asleep. The bug continued forward until reach
ing the door that was sealed, but there was no easy way to look inside.

  “Dammit, we can’t see through to the other side.”

  Artemas shook her head.

  “No, but if it’s being guarded, we can assume there is something on the other side. Put this on.”

  She handed him a single earpiece unit that pushed inside his eardrum. It was similar to the more low-tech gear used by some combat units, but the difference was that this one was connected directly to the bug waiting near the door. He could make out voices inside. The volume was too low to hear, but he instantly recognised the low tones of his friend Glaucon, quickly followed by what sounded like the higher pitched complaints of a woman, quite possibly Tamara.

  “Yes, they sound familiar.”

  “Your friends?” asked Artemas.

  Xenophon nodded but said nothing else. Artemas sat back and relaxed slightly, but she continued to watch the video feed. After another minute, she looked up with a serious expression on her face.

  “The way I see it, we will need one hell of a diversion to free them.”

  “Free? What’s the point though with all those guards? They’ll be cut to ribbons if we break them out.”

  She nodded in wholehearted agreement.

  “True, so how do we retake the ship without losing half the crew?”

  The two sat in silence for almost a minute until Xenophon had an epiphany. At least that is how it seemed to him. He simply reversed the order of what he needed to do to find the trigger. It started with controlling the ship, for that he needed experienced officers and commanders. To get them he would need soldiers, and these would have to be honest, trustworthy warriors from ranks other than those of the turncoat Komes. To spring these people, he would need a small core of people with the skills to move about the ship and free more like them. That left just two things; firstly, a way to get the initial members of the team. The second was some kind of diversion that could last long enough to get the important crew onto the command deck and to re-control the ship.

  “Right, I have it. First we go back and recruit a small group of stratiotes, ones that weren’t in Andronicus’ unit. We don’t need many, just a handful. Then we steal some of the engineering gear, specifically the anti-grav suits and harness gear. We get close to the command deck and get the team to shut down the internal power and gravity systems. With the rest of them floating about, we storm the brigs, free the prisoners and lead a coup.”

  He looked at her with a whimsical expression, waiting patiently for her thoughts. She said nothing.

  “Well, what do you think?” he asked, now growing impatient.

  She looked back at her small display device and checked the video streams coming from each of the bugs positioned near the rooms or the corridors. Nothing had changed; other than two guards had moved from inside the command deck to the corridor. Both were busy talking and appeared completely disinterested in anything else other than their conversation. She looked up at him.

  “Well, as I might expect from a Terran, your plan is reckless, risky and downright dangerous.”

  She waited before continuing, and Xenophon was forced to turn away for a moment to hide his frustration.

  “But, it is probably our only opportunity, right now. The trick will be to overwhelm them quickly and effectively. Once we have control, we will still be outnumbered. What are your plans for dealing with friends of Andronicus?”

  Xenophon smiled at her in a way that sent a shiver up her spine.

  “Don’t worry about him. I have the perfect way of ensuring none of his followers even thinks about carrying on with this little insurrection.”

  Artemas considered pushing him further, but time was a luxury none of them now had on this ship. From what she had seen in the last few hours, the traitors had been busy securing the key parts of the ship around the command deck.

  “They already have the main deck and weapons control. They’ll be heading to engineering and the power plants next.”

  “Then we’d better hurry,” added Xenophon.

  * * *

  Aronton Automated Station, Aronton Sector

  The Terran spatharii were stuck inside the main lobby area in the secondary structure of the station. For more than fifteen minutes, they had tried and failed to fight their way up to the executive office placed high above their current position. There were only two connected corridors, and both were protected by a dozen heavy combat drones. Though no more of the elite bodyguard had been killed, the number of wounded was steadily increasing. Kleandridas had taken his forces in a separate group to attack the one access point near the far side of the station. Clearchus, on the other hand, retained most of the ground troops and was stuck in a stand-off with the machines.

  “They’ve adapted already,” said Komes Artemis.

  “Yes, but I think you’ll find this is the doing of Menon. He is skilled in their use and won’t risk them in close quarter combat with Laconian troops again.”

  He looked back at the small group of warriors, all of them waiting patiently, and every one keen to continue the battle. They were spread out in the dark, and with each of the warriors taking cover from the sporadic heavy gunfire emitting from the defensive positions the drones had adopted. They had changed shape, and as best as Clearchus could tell, the drones had tipped their bodies over to reduce their size and place the maximum armour to the front. They seemed unable to move, and yet presented a thickly armoured porcupine of gun barrels and rockets.

  “Kleandridas, what is your status?” he asked using his communications node.

  “We’re stuck, Strategos. They have locked down the drones, but we have to take them out before we can get inside.”

  Dammit, thought Clearchus. How can we get inside without losing more men?

  He looked around the lobby area, but there was nothing of use, just a few light tables and chairs plus non-functioning computer systems. The gunfire from the drones was now a mixture of pulse rounds and automatic cannon projectiles. The latter were archaic, even by combat drone standards, and now rarely used by any of the modern forces. The spatharii fired back at the drones, and the sparks and flashes in the darkness indicated the scores of hits they made on the great metal machines.

  “Can we get more forces at access points in the station?” he asked.

  “No, Strategos, we already have ample forces at my point and yours. I have requested heavy weapon support, but they will not be here for forty minutes.”

  Clearchus shook his head.

  “No, that’s too long. We’ve already seen what these two are capable when given the chance. We need to finish this and fast.”

  “Understood,” replied Kleandridas but without anything useful to contribute.

  Clearchus looked to the rest of the warriors near him and called to them.

  “We need options, I’m open to suggestions?” he asked, now unsure as to what they could do.

  A pair of warriors tried to get closer, but the massed firepower forced them to the ground. One found his shield literally torn from his arm, leaving him completely exposed. Only the quick actions of his dekarchos saved him from a bloody death at the hands of the drones. The two skidded across the floor and took shelter behind three more warriors who pushed their shields out to protect them.

  “Wait, did you hear about the overloading technique used by one of the Night Blades back on Cilicia? I bet we could do something similar here,” said Komes Artemis.

  Clearchus shook his head.

  “No, I don’t need to, though. If you think it might work, just get it done. You can explain the details to me later over a drink.”

  The Komes nodded in agreement, doing his best to hide a smile and moved off to the rest of the men. A single autocannon round glanced off his shielded side and slammed into the metal bulkheads around them. Once he reached his men, it took seconds before they formed up into a dismal force of seven, each hunkered down behind their shields and moving towards the entrenched machines.

/>   Clearchus could see they were trying to close the distance but was still unsure as to what the younger officer was planning. Either way, he needed to give the Komes the best possible chance.

  “Covering fire, keep them busy!” he cried.

  The rest of the spatharii leaned around their shields and fired short bursts at the drones that had already turned their attention on the approaching Terran soldiers. It was a close run thing, but in less than thirty seconds the men had made it to within twenty metres. One man stood to throw an object but was cut down by a dozen pulse rounds. A second grabbed the shape that appeared to be a detached shield generator unit and held it high above his head in both hands. With a single mighty push, the object pushed forward and struck the ground, rolling the short distance to the combat drones.

  Surely they won’t just stand there while that rolls around them? Clearchus thought.

  Nothing happened, as the combat drones had adopted their static defensive posture. From where he stood, it was like looking at a titanium barricade bristling with thickened armour and weapons.

  “Get down!” shouted Komes Artemis.

  A low hum changed in pitch until it was almost too high to hear, and the shield generator exploded with the force of a demolition charge. A good number of the Terrans were blown back by the shockwave, but not before Clearchus had the satisfaction of seeing two of the drones smashed apart and a gap created in their line. He lifted his weapon in the air and shouted out to the rest of the unit.

  “Epilektoi, smash them!”