Fallen Empire: A Military Science Fiction Epic Adventure (Born of Ash Book 1)

by Marc Alan Edelheit

  Keira could only imagine the trauma the woman had gone through. Her child would have seen and experienced similar things and not fully understood the why of it all. But that was the world she knew … the harsh world they both knew. It was moments like this one that fairly broke her heart. Surely there was a better way. There had to be. This could not be as good as it got.

  Straightening, Keira glanced back as MK ducked through the doorway, fully moving into the corridor. From those nearest, there were audible gasps at his appearance. Without hesitation, or any apparent concern, the mech started forward after her. People shrank back and away from him as he strode past.

  “Keira,” Vex said from ahead. The marine had stopped and was looking back at her. Through the facemask, Vex’s expression was a grim one, hard and unforgiving. “Keep going. Don’t stop. We need to get to the next set of stairs.”

  Glancing briefly again at the child and mother, Keira obediently started forward again. As she did, her gaze fell on an old man just ahead. He had been sitting on the floor, next to a middle-aged woman, who was holding his right hand tightly. With his left, he was pointing at MK, jabbing his finger repeatedly at the mech. His mouth worked, but no words came out. Like everyone else, he seemed stunned, but there was more to his reaction than that … and it wasn’t terror. It was recognition, and he was excited by what he saw, immensely so.

  “That’s …” He found his voice as Keira stepped by him, following closely after Vex. His voice was raspy with age. “That’s a Mark Five battle mech,” he said to the woman beside him.

  She wore ill-fitting and frayed clothing that had seen better days. Her long gray hair was brushed straight and appeared cleaner than most in the room. Though alarmed, her gaze seemed dull, even distant, as if she had seen more than her fair share of a harsh world and life.

  The old man beside her was the opposite, energized, invigorated. He came alive before Keira’s eyes as he stared at MK. “They were top of the line, the best of the best in my time.”

  “Don’t draw their attention, Grandfather,” the woman said to him in a hissing whisper that Keira could easily hear.

  “Nonsense,” the old man said. “There’s nothing to fear.”

  MK came to a stop before the old man and looked down at him, his eye-light incredibly bright, more so than it had been a moment before. He studied the old man in what Keira could only describe as fascination. Wondering what the mech was thinking, Keira ground to a halt and turned. Vex also stopped.

  “Why do we always have to do things the hard way?” Vex said to herself, then called, “Gunny, things are about to get complicated.”

  “Oh, great,” Chris said. “This is just what we need. MK, what are you doing?”

  The old man stood shakily in what was clearly a painful effort. He took a shambling step up to the mech. His clothes, a simple long-sleeved shirt and pair of pants, were shabby and tattered. His shirt, once blue, had faded to a light gray that almost matched his skin, which had a translucent hue. The old man wore leather sandals.

  Under the clothing, he was clearly stooped by age. He appeared, like the rest, half starved.

  The woman he had been sitting with had not stood but was watching. Despite the distant look to her gaze, Keira read her terror as she stared at the mech. She reached up a hand to pull the old man back.

  “Grandfather, sit down.”

  He shooed her hand away.

  “You are a Mark Five, aren’t you?” He was wholly unafraid and gave an amused cackle before MK could answer. “I know it. I can tell by your eye-light. Mark Fours didn’t have them, and the Threes had blue ones. Yours’s white.”

  “You are correct,” MK said to the old man. “This shell is a Mark Five.”

  “I never thought to see one of your kind again. This is marvelous. Truly marvelous.” He turned to the woman, looking down at her. “I always wanted to work with a Mark Five. But in my day, all we had were Mark Threes. Still, those were incredible machines too. But a Five is … sooo much more. They come with enhanced AIs.”

  MK’s head tilted slightly to the side as he regarded the old man. “According to your identification marker, you served with the Corps for twenty-one years. You achieved the rank of sergeant. Your final posting was with Third Battalion, First Regiment, Fifth Company, Recon Detachment, Fifth Marine Division on the planet of Dacia. You are Sergeant Lau and, by my accounting, aged one hundred thirty-two years. You are also a native of this planet. Do I have that information correct?”

  The man did not immediately reply. His jaw had dropped open a little. The chin quivered ever so slightly. He glanced back over at the woman again. She stood, her fear having passed, and silently reached out a hand to him, which he took. The dull and distant look had given way to emotion. He gave a sniffle and patted her hand. His eyes watered before a solitary tear ran down his craggy and unshaven cheek as he turned back to MK.

  “You are from the empire,” he wheezed.

  Lau took another step forward. He straightened his aged frame as best he could. Next to the height of MK, he appeared small, insignificant, and fragile. He reached out a hand, at first tentative. Then he touched MK’s chest with his palm, right on the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem, almost as if caressing it.

  “I can’t believe it, but you really are from the empire. You’d have to be.” His eyes flicked to Vex, who had drawn nearer, close to Keira, and was looking on warily. “You’re really marines.”

  It was then that Keira realized the corridor had gone mostly silent. A baby cried somewhere. Several people coughed. One was a hacking cough that spoke of a serious illness. All eyes, it seemed, were on the old man and MK, and everyone was likely straining to hear what was being said.

  “I am from the empire,” MK confirmed, in a louder voice, as if he too knew others were listening in.

  “We are from the empire,” Vex said, “and we’re marines, just like you once were.”

  There were suddenly excited whispers from all around.

  The old man turned to his granddaughter. “These are the people I’ve been telling you about. They are marines.”

  “And you are Sergeant Lau,” MK said, apparently looking for confirmation.

  “I was once that person,” Lau said, “strong and healthy, with few concerns. Now, I am feeble with age, a sad shadow of that young man.”

  “MK,” Chris snapped from farther down the corridor. “I know he’s a retired marine, but we need to go.”

  “Just a moment, Gunny.” MK’s head gave a slight twitch as it turned back to Lau. “It is an honor to meet a living awardee of the Imperial Medal of Honor.”

  “That,” Lau said, in no more than a whisper, “was a long time ago.”

  “Nevertheless,” MK said, “some would name you a hero, myself included.”

  “There are no such things as heroes.” Lau’s raspy voice had taken a hard edge.

  “Spoken like a true hero, then.” Fist clenched, MK drew a hand to his chest plate. “Regardless, I salute your bravery, Sergeant. Your actions saved your platoon, including your lieutenant, who was wounded. You also saved a sentient AI, whose shell had taken catastrophic damage. That day, you were a lifesaver.”

  Lau swallowed. Tears rolled down his wrinkled cheeks. His shoulders shook and his chin began to tremble again. “They were all my comrades. I could not leave them to die.”

  “Yes,” MK said and glanced over at Vex and Chris. “As these are mine.”

  “I never thought the empire would return,” Lau said after a moment, his voice barely a whisper.

  “The empire always returns,” MK said. “An old marine like you should know that.”

  “MK,” Vex said in a firm tone. “Time’s up.”

  “I am sorry, Sergeant Lau,” MK said, “I wish we had more time to become acquainted. However, we are under orders and”—he glanced in the direction of Keira—“have a job to do, a mission to complete.”

  “Then do your duty,” Lau said, his voice hardening. For a moment,
Keira had a glimpse of the former sergeant and hard-charging marine. “In your place, I would see to mine. Go.”

  “Perhaps one day we will meet again, Sergeant,” MK said.

  Lau drew himself up straight and gave a nod. “Semper fi.”

  Vex glanced around. There was a worried look to her expression. She grabbed Keira’s arm and pulled her down the corridor. MK turned and followed. The people around them had gone utterly still. Vex released Keira’s arm to push a man who stood in the way firmly but gently aside with her rifle. Keira managed to go three meters before an older woman stepped between her and Vex, blocking her path.

  “Are you really from the empire?” the woman asked, hope plain in her voice. “Take me with you. Please. Don’t leave me here. Any place is better than this planet. We were on vacation here when the Fall happened. I want to go home, to see my kids.”

  Before Keira could answer, or even think of a reply, Vex, with a firm arm, gently moved the woman aside. “I’m sorry, good mother, but we’re not here to pull anyone off Asherho. We have to go.”

  Keira began moving again.

  “Screw the UPG,” someone hollered. “They’ve never done anything for us.”

  “Long live the empire,” Lau shouted behind them. “Long live the emperor. May god bless his soul.”

  Keira glanced back to see him raise his fist into the air.

  “Long live the empire.” The shout was rapidly taken up. It seemed everyone in the corridor was suddenly shouting it, chanting it, as if it were a religion in and of itself. A heartbeat later, from either side of the corridor, those nearest crowded around, pressing in tightly against them. They were shouting, screaming their love for the empire, proclaiming their loyalty for a government that had fallen nearly twenty years before. There was pleading and begging. Through it all, Vex pulled her steadily through the crowd, all of whom were on their feet now.

  “Take me with you.” A man stepped in Vex’s path, shouting over the cacophony. He clutched at her arm. “Don’t leave me here. Don’t leave me here.”

  Vex pushed him firmly aside.

  A teenage girl grabbed at Keira’s arm, and for a moment, Keira was caught between Vex and the girl. With a firm jerk, Keira tugged her arm free, and the girl was gone, swallowed up by the crowd.

  “My baby,” a woman pleaded, waving a screaming infant in Keira’s face. The baby was red-faced, with a solitary tuft of black hair sticking up on the top of its head. “He’s sick. He needs medical care. Take him with you. I want him to live. I beg you.”

  Vex gave Keira a firm tug and then they were past the woman and baby. But there were more people, more begging, more pleading, an entire corridor full, all wanting their help. It was heartrending and threatened to overwhelm her. Keira felt the hot prick of tears. Her vision blurred as her eyes welled up and she gave an agonized sob. Vex, with a single-minded purpose, kept drawing her along, pulling her through the press of people.

  Then, almost abruptly, Keira found herself face to face with Chris. He had kicked open a door, snapping the bar welded in place on the other side. The imprint of his armored boot was on the face of the door, almost dead center, where the bar would have likely been.

  The door led to another stairwell landing. A staircase dropped down into darkness just beyond, identical to the one they had climbed up. There were no lights in the stairwell. Beyond the dim light from the corridor, it was pitch-black. There was an ominous feel to it all, and a chill ran up Keira’s spine.

  Vex handed her off to Chris, and she didn’t have time to think before he forcefully guided her into the stairwell. He abruptly released her, turned, and shoved someone back who tried to follow. Another person took that man’s place, this time a young woman. He shoved her bodily away with his rifle, back into the corridor. Vex moved past Chris next and took up a position just inside the door before turning to look at Keira.

  “Are you all right?” Vex asked.

  “We can’t help them,” Keira said, suppressing a sob. “There’s nothing we can do.”

  “No, there’s nothing we can do for them,” Vex said, “not today anyway. And even if we could, where we’re going, the toxic zone, they can’t follow. They’d die if they tried. Leaving them behind is the best thing we can do for them. Understand?”

  “Yes,” Keira breathed. She hated herself at that moment. They were headed to a safe house, a place where she would be secure. Those out in the corridor had no safe place to go to, no sanctuary. If they managed to avoid the fighting that was surely coming, they’d likely face starvation. The thought of it was tearing her apart. She did not know how much more she could take.

  Chris took a step back as MK came through the door next. The mech had to duck to enter the stairwell.

  “Did you have to make a scene?” Chris asked the machine as MK turned to face the door.

  “I made no scene,” MK replied. “I simply took a moment to greet a former marine, one who—”

  “I know, I know.” Chris held up his hand to forestall the mech. “He won the Medal of Honor. I heard all of it.”

  “I would think that since you also won the Imperial Medal of—”

  “Enough,” Chris snapped, his irritation plain.

  A crumping explosion sounded off in the distance, turning their heads back toward the doorway. Panicked screams and shouts rang from out in the corridor. There was a rush for the stairwell. Vex joined Chris at the door, holding the civilians forcibly back. They pushed and shoved people who were trying with everything they had to get into the stairwell. Even then, it seemed to Keira that the two marines were having difficulty keeping the panicked crowd back as it pressed forward.

  “Wash,” Chris shouted. “Where the fuck are you?”

  “Here.” Wash forced his way through the press, pushing people aside and moved into the stairwell. Keira felt a wave of relief that he had made it. She could well imagine people being crushed to death out in the corridor. The screaming and shouting rose to new levels. It beat at Keira’s ears, to the point where it was painful. She had never seen people so panicked, so frightened.

  Shoving arms and legs back and out of the way, Chris and Vex forced the door closed. On the other side, the people in the corridor began to pound on it. There was another distant bang of an explosion.

  “It seems the militia found the gifts I left them.” Wash grinned like a child who had gotten too much candy. “I rigged one of the grenades on a delayed fuse, so it would go off a short time after the first. It was a motion trigger. I imagine it was rather unexpected.”

  “MK,” Chris snapped, leaning a shoulder into the door to prevent it from being opened, “seal it.”

  The mech stepped up to the door. He pointed a finger at the seam, where the door and frame met. An intense beam of light shot forth. Smoke rose from where the beam came in contact with the door metal. The beam was so hot, the metal composite of the door and doorframe melted and became one. He ran his finger from the top to the bottom, carefully and rapidly sealing the entire frame.

  “Hold the door for another two hundred forty seconds,” MK told Chris, “then the new weld should hold, at least against the civilians.” The mech paused as his head gave another twitch. “At least, I think it should. Those civilians seemed rather panicked. Perhaps, on second thought, you should hold the door for four hundred seconds … just to be on the safe side.” The head gave another twitch. “No pun intended.”

  “Your jokes still suck,” Chris said to the mech as he held the door firmly in place. There were people still pounding on it from the other side.

  Saddened and sickened by what she’d just been through, Keira turned away. She felt like retching. The only lights in the stairwell came from the marines’ armor. Keira switched on her floods and stepped up to the edge of the stairs. She stared downward, contemplating the steps that dropped down before her. They seemed to lead into an unfathomable abyss.

  She had already seen plenty of horror and death this day, more than she had ever thought po
ssible. What still lay ahead? How much more could she take? Did she have the strength to go on? She had to. There was simply no choice.

  As if to make matters worse, Keira could feel the alien presence again. It was watching her, hovering just out of view, studying her, seeing the world through her eyes. It had somehow, for some reason, become fascinated with her, fixated even. She was sure of it. Had it always been there? Had she just not been able to sense it? Or had she simply unlocked an ability to connect with it? Had that been when it had become interested in her? She recalled the shock in the control room and glanced back at MK. Was the presence a machine too, a construct? Or was it something else? Something truly alien? She had so many questions.

  What are you? she asked it.

  Your worst nightmare …

  Chapter Nineteen

  Your worst nightmare … Those words kept repeating themselves in Keira’s head, over and over again. She could not shake it. She was already living her worst nightmare.

  How much worse could it get?

  The alien presence had remained silent since it had spoken those words. She was more than concerned. Keira’s life was changing in ways a day ago she could scarcely have imagined possible. There were moments she felt like she was losing her mind.

  What was happening to her?

  They had been walking and walking. Lost in her thoughts, Keira passed under an overhead light that was particularly bright. Following just behind Chris, she stepped through two large automatic doors, which were frozen half open. A sign on the wall to her right indicated they were entering a train station, Hakagi North Station. Keira had never heard of it, nor had she been here before.