Date: 2018-09-23 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction; Military Fiction
Description: Monsters, saviours and weapons the Vanguard don’t care what they’re called. All that matters is that they answer the call when people cry out in need. The core worlds of the Roma Union are in the line of fire. Untouched by war for hundreds of years they’ve become used to peace. The Maurakians, bearing new technology, can go wherever they want with little warning, the blanket of safety that humanity has created is ripped away. Once again the Vanguard are called upon to act. To give their lives for others and hold out no matter the circumstances, their target, Indalia. What does it matter if you

An Empire is Born

Michael Chatfield

Dawn Chapman

Maraukian War Series

Book 3

Prologue

Unknown

Unknown

8/3555

It seemed that finally the humans were advancing how they wanted them to.

The different heads of the Sharventi race doubled their efforts and continued to run continuous simulations. Even with all of the factors that they had added to the systems, there was a new group that invalidated their previous results.

The group of people who called themselves mergers had dramatically increased their own powers past what the humans were previously able to handle.

The Sharventi needed to make the fight between themselves and the humans look legitimate to the point that the Black Guard would be convinced and come to save their race and remove the emotional block placed upon all Sharventi.

“The plan has moved into the third stage, with the humans being able to reach a level where they can now threaten our race. They have the merger units that are capable of threatening us, but they are too few and weak. We will need to temper them more and get the rest of the human races to turn into mergers as well.” The leading general spoke to those in the room. All of them were planning generals. They had been tested at birth and found to be the best ones for strategies and had trained for this position.

If they were found to be lacking, they would kill themselves for the betterment of the race.

“We move ahead with wiping out the weaker systems, getting them to focus on building faster. We attack once every nine of the human months, removing the less useful systems,” another general said.

“Increase the number of Maraukians so that there is no chance of the planets surviving,” another added.

“This will lead to the wealthier and knowledgeable people from a race coming together, increasing the rate that the humans will increase in individual strength.” The generals talked after one another, streaming their thoughts together.

“It is believed that the mergers might know of our command signals,” one said.

“It is ahead of schedule but it is within our parameters,” the leading general said.

“The Union has confirmed plans to bomb the different planets that hold Maraukians. We will lose about ten percent of the population base, at least. It will take time to build up our numbers,” another stated.

“The other human-seeded planets are also unaffected. They will allow us a secondary source if this third human attempt fails,” another drawled.

“In the last three human groups that we have groomed, they have had less than a sixty-percentile chance of defeating us. With the current groups, it is approaching seventy percent. Statistically, if we have five or more human groups, then our plan will be carried out.”

“Notes are being made and new initiatives are being started with the other human groups according to what has and hasn’t worked with this set and previous three sets.”

The room fell into silence, the information shared.

The Sharventi, hearing nothing for some time, all stood and then filed out of the room, their blank looks identical as they moved along the determined path that they had confirmed and shared with the others.

Chapter One

Combat Shuttle 874

Tricticus, Emarl System

8/3555

Moretti looked through the combat shuttle’s sensors, his eyes tracking from the massive Yard as it made its laborious journey to the fourth planet, then to the station that he had departed just hours ago.

It was growing at a rapid pace, with shuttles moving to and from the surface of Tricticus.

The Yard had brought a number of ships from Earth with it, many of which were docked with the Yard still. But there were a few that were moving between the Yard and the station or out toward the asteroid belt to go and check out the scans that looked promising.

The Yard needed supplies and badly. It had been churning out parts for Alcubierre drive systems and feeding their fabbers raw materials to create more fabbers.

With the Roma technology, the chief engineers thought it was possible to speed up the completion of vessels by three or four times.

Moretti wasn’t an engineer but he clearly understood what kind of building power this represented. To a corporation, expansion was profit; to the Victor Corporation, expansion was survival.

Moretti knew that inside the VCF Retribution, there was a secret project underway. The engineers there were all ex-EMF personnel with no family aboard the Yard. Each had been picked by Moretti’s team of intelligence officers and vetted by their members in the EMF.

They were part of program Knight Guard, Moretti’s approach toward potential hazards that would come with the revelation of the Victor Corporation’s military power.

There, they were given the information that Moretti had been passed by the Ark: the plans for the Moby, advanced Alcubierre drives, M19A’s blueprints, anti-matter generation plants, orbital and ground based weaponry—there was even plans for the M20s and the mergers’ Pluto armor.

The secrets of nanites, carbon hendral armor: all of it was given over to the Knight Guard. Although they had a plethora of information at their disposal, their main goal at this time was to make orbital weaponry to defend the Yard and then Tricticus.

Defending Tricticus was a secondary objective currently.

The Yard could live without Tricticus, but the potential with linking the two groups couldn’t be underestimated.

Nearly one point two million people had come with the Yard. Many of them had signed agreements with the Yard, but they were not part of the Yard. Now they were figuring out where they stood in the Tricticus system, wanting to remain independent. Moretti didn’t want to pressure them to become part of Tricticus or the Yard. If there weren’t other people moving in the system, then it would be hard to hide his own operations, and others who thought about potentially trading with them would blacklist them.

Effectively, there were two hundred, nearly three hundred thousand workers and their families split between the Yard, the mining prospectors, and the station.

Tricticus had a population of just over nine million people. The two city-states, Crisidium and Gtrul were the largest, but there were still another eleven cities, which were being rebuilt.

The planet itself was mostly desert. Its different cities and populations lived near the oases dotted across the planet or the various rivers that carved their way through the hot planet.

It was an unforgiving land and it didn’t have many resources to begin with. When the Maraukians had come out from their hibernation under the planet’s surface, the people of Tricticus, no matter which city-state or country they belonged to, were caught off guard. They had roaming armies and spent most of their time working to improve their hydroponics, fight off the creatures of the desert, or fight one another to gain their land.

The legion had come, offering them aid and technology that they had never seen before in their lives.

The catch: if they took equipment or items from the legion, then they would need to pay them back.

The different cities and countries had discussed and talked to the legion. A few made deals while others disregarded them.

The ones who made deals survived. Few of those who didn’t survived.

It was a terrible system but it worked well. The people who bought supplies and created a relationship with the legion and the Roma Union were allowed to live and pay off their debt. Those who died, well, they weren’t connected to the Union.

The people of Tricticus might have a basic technology base and their methods were simple, but they weren’t idiots. The political and military sphere of Tricticus was advanced, even if they were still using melee weapons.

That debt was an axe hanging over their heads. Once the Maraukians were gone, then it was the Union’s time to lower the axe. If they joined the Union, then they would be able to get more items on credit. This they could pay off later, but they would need to supply forces to create auxiliary legions to support the Union. They would need to pay taxes and agree to become a part of the Roma Union. If they didn’t, then they would need to pay up for all of their items within the next decade. If they didn’t, then the Union would start taking items from the planet, tax goods that were leaving, or even take over planets within it.

They were in a hard position as the different people of Tricticus were feeling the pressure of the Union over them.

Moretti had been surprised with how receptive they were to his talks and even this meeting.

King Hael had met with Mark. Chyna had served with him and Ava was under his command. He also had people from across Tricticus who had applied to become mergers. A few had made it through, but the others knew Mark and their impression of him, although not the nicest, showed their leaders he was reliable.

“Entering atmosphere,” the captain of the combat shuttle said, alert but not panicked.

Moretti guessed that entering atmosphere wasn’t much special to a combat shuttle pilot who had done it possibly hundreds of times, moving troopers, supplies, and anything else that was needed.

The combat shuttle shook. The troopers were talking to one another in low voices: some about what had happened in Edani, others about gossip they had heard.

They hit a rough bit as the shuttle dropped violently before catching itself. They were all thrown against their harnesses but continued talking.

Compared to most drops, this one was rather tame. At least no one was shooting at them this time.

Moretti felt as they leveled off. He checked the map. It wouldn’t take them long to reach Crisidium, which was where the meeting would take place.

King Hael had opened his city-state and hall to the Victor Corporation and the different leaders of Tricticus in hopes of tying them together.

“Coming up on the landing zone. Five minutes out,” the combat shuttle’s co-pilot said.

The troopers checked their weapons as the light on Moretti’s HUD turned green, showing that they were ready to open the hatch.

The troopers unlocked their harnesses and stood. They were all wearing the modified heavy armor from the Harmony War or the newer smaller version.

“By the numbers! Keep those guns down but ready,” the security detail’s sergeant yelled to the troopers.

There were mutterings and noises of acknowledgement.

A timer counted down as the craft flared its wings and started to lower itself toward the ground.

The rear cargo door opened and started lowering as the shuttle touched down, bouncing slightly. The hatch descended all the way; the troopers walked out, surveying the area, linked into the combat shuttle’s sensors.

Moretti heard the troopers’ chatter.

“Lox, move more to your right. Grimm, keep an eye on that bastard up top,” the sergeant called out casually. The troopers seemed to casually move about, giving themselves better arcs to deal with threats.

“Sarge?” Moretti asked after a few moments.

“All clear, sir,” the sergeant said.

“Thank you.” Moretti walked out of the shuttle wearing regular armor plates and a pistol.

A young man waited for them with his own guard wearing legion-styled armor.

Moretti easily recognized Julieus, King Hael’s secondborn son.

The young man stood straight and proud, but without the arrogance of most powerful people. Instead, he made Moretti think of a young lieutenant who had just earned his command. He had the training but was wet behind his ears, in need of some seasoning and experience.

Walking toward him, Moretti held out his hand. “Good to meet you, Julieus.”

Julieus shook his hand firmly. “You too, Mister M. My father is waiting for us.” Julieus indicated for Moretti to follow him. They left the cooling combat shuttle. A group of troopers moved around Moretti while another stood with the combat shuttle, checking the surroundings.

These men and women were hardened veterans. Even though their actions were well practiced, they were alert, ready to react in a moment.

Moretti wasn’t worried about his security. The pistol on his leg and the armored fatigues also helped.

It wasn’t long before Moretti stood before a grand building.

Julieus cleared his throat. “No weapons or security personnel are allowed within the hall,” Julieus said, as a group of royal guards wearing older generation Mars armor greeted them with cold expressions and weapon detectors.

Moretti looked over to the side where there were other security groups from the other city-states and countries across Tricticus looking at the troopers, judging them and their leader silently.

“Don’t break anything, troopers,” Moretti said.

The troopers smiled. The clear violence in those smiles made the other security personnel move their hands closer to their weapons.

“Yes, sir,” the sergeant in charge of his security said.

Moretti passed him his pistol, a knife from his boot, another in his belt, extra magazines, and a grenade.

The others in the room were security personnel for various diplomats and powerful figures on Tricticus. Many of the leaders were crucial to their military structure, but few of them were this prepared to fight.

Moretti’s weapons were well used and maintained. He didn’t trust anyone but another trooper to look after his gear.

Weapons put to the side, he was checked over by the royal guards.

“Thank you, sir.” The guards bowed slightly and moved to the side.

Julieus stayed where he was. This meeting wasn’t for him.

Moretti could hear through the door to the meeting room. He’d had different implants and augments added to his body, to enhance his information-gathering abilities.

He heard the low conversation in the room. Most of the people were muttering to one another, talking about different miscellaneous things. It seemed that they were all nervous.

Different countries and city-states were grouped together, the political parties talking with the people from their country and talking of different plans they had to make the most of the Yard coming to the Emarl system.

Moretti had already read the mood of the room. A small smile appeared on his face before it disappeared swiftly. He pushed the door open. All the eyes in the room fell on him as he looked around the auditorium.

People were broken up into different regions across the auditorium. The people in the room quickly moved to their seats.

Moretti took his time walking to the stage. He took a sip of water, testing it with his implants before he consumed it. He cleared his throat and looked up, seeing that everyone was in their spot.

“Thank you all for coming here. I am here on behalf of the Victor Corporation today to talk about the united future of Tricticus and the Victor Corporation.” Moretti paused as people started to break down his words already.

Moretti let the tension build for a few moments before going on.

“The Victor Corporation believes that everyone should have an opportunity and the ability to trade with and work with one another. The Victor Corporation doesn’t wish to trade and work with just one group from Tricticus. Instead, we wish to work with the planet of Tricticus. We propose that one representative from each of the countries and city-states create a council to work with the Victor Corporation to our mutual future. There are many opportunities to be held in the future, whether it is the trade of technology, raw materials, even education and defense. The Victor Corporation looks to go through a period of expansion and we hope that you will join us in this future. The Victor Corporation has made a job posting board. This includes things like jobs that people can apply for, as well as materials and items needed. As the Victor Corporation grows, there will be a greater need for educated individuals. We will be setting up a Skill School that will require people to work for a number of years for the corporation unless they buy out their contract to pay for their education. If one fails, then they will be able to apply to other jobs but the debt of time will be applied to them.”

Moretti’s NIAI sent out the information and highlighted the different items that the people in the room would be interested in.

People were hastily checking their planners and different tablets. There were only a few people who had NIAIs; after all, they were expensive and items that only people who were part of the Roma Union could supply their citizens.

“Now, are there any questions?”

The people in the room were panicked as they were reading the information as fast as possible and trying to make up questions that might not be answered in the large information package. Keeping them off-balance was part of Moretti’s plan.

If they started talking together and trying to get the best deal from the Victor Corporation, then it would go a long way in uniting them all.

Even if it was to get a better deal from the Victor Corporation, Moretti wanted to deal with one unified body. It would be much easier to deal with in the future then fractious groups. With the Maraukians coming at the entire planet, the fall of so many other groups on Tricticus, and the fact that the legion was hammering on their door, asking for them to pay back their debt or apply to be part of the Roma Union, the Victor Corporation was giving them another option, one that they could negotiate with and would have a direct impact in their system. Not just promises from a system that was thirty-four light-years away.

Moretti noticed Hael’s smile as he looked over the room and then to Moretti.

He tipped a nonexistent hat to Moretti, one political player acknowledging another.

Chapter Two

The Yard, Ark Orbit

Tricticus, Emarl System

8/3555

Moretti waited in his office. Everything seemed to be coming together well enough. But there was some back chatter he was catching from Tricticus that he was unsure about. High King Desialias had indeed given him all the right places to watch and listen in, but it was his oldest son, Cronus, who passed him a few names that he didn’t have. They were proving more useful.

Pulling up a screen, he listened in to a conversation between the two remaining cities, Crisidium and Gtrul. They weren’t very agreeable on their sides to the negotiation; it seemed, however, that a few members from Camp Epsilon were stepping in to sort it out. The conversation seemed to grow in anger and then Moretti heard a voice he recognized. Hael’s younger son, Julieus. He was arguing against this? No, surely not. After all, he’d seen inside the Yard. But the more he listened in, the more he was sure. Julieus didn’t want this; he didn’t like the mergers and he didn’t like his sister being one. It was obvious now, and Moretti decided straightaway to get someone else on the inside to keep a very close eye on Julieus.

Usually recording all conversations he listened in on, Moretti deleted this one and sat, thinking over the eye-opening revelations. The smaller cities that had been devastated by the Maraukians were being rebuilt. But their progress was immensely slow. Forty-two cities reduced to thirteen. Moretti wondered whether Tricticus would ever recover fully. Of course, they would; with the Yard sitting on its doorstep, he shouldn’t ever doubt it. Tricticus was going to be a place they would have to defend heavily. The next load of ships to be built would need to be heavily weaponized. Something his designers were also working out now. If they could get more manpower and more equipment, the Yard would expand so much more.

Chapter Three

The Ark

Tricticus, Emarl System

8/3555

Moretti waited with a few of his trusted men while High King Desialias’s shuttle docked. There was something that shook him on the inside, seeing something dock with their entirely functional mini world. They’d thought of everything, right down to fresh produce and other supplies that weren’t so easy to fabricate. The sheer amount of people involved something more than most planets had.

Now it was time to bring together some of the other planetary governments and resources. There was no better way than doing this with a tour.

Moretti had spoken to the lead at Mining City Twenty-One. It was, after all, the largest of the cities on Osdal and most productive and he’d brokered a meeting. For the most part, the EMF still had a stiff grip on her. He needed to make sure that he could get in underneath them and sway not only their pockets but their loyalty.

It had been Mark’s NIAI Sarah who had put this idea in his head. Here he wanted to get to know Hael some more, to see what made Ava’s father tick. Once he had started his first negotiations, and secured the movement of Alcubierre drives between them all, he knew his plans would mean a very long travel to Hellenica. Within the next few months, he hoped ships from Tricticus to Osdal would be a regular and very fruitful operation for the VC.

The waiting around, in orbit, wasn’t something Moretti was used to.

Hael and his men were escorted through and toward him, General Orbel proud at his side and of course, Julieus. Moretti’s instinct about this young man told him everything: he needed to be wary. It was the way that he held himself and seemed to hold him with contempt.

High King Desialias smiled and held out a hand for him to take.

Moretti shook it firmly. “It’s good to have you aboard. We’ll take a tour, show you the best parts of our facilities and then we’ll discuss the Skill School.”

Hael smiled to Orbel and Julieus. “See—a man who doesn’t waste his words. I like that.”

Orbel looked around the bay areas. “From the outside, this place looks nothing more than some rusted old materials and largely space junk. You’re already impressing me with what you’ve got going on inside.”

“I agree.” Hael waved a hand around their area. The crisp, clean air they breathed and the shiny surfaces abounded.

“It might not seem like much, but the people who live here are very proud of what they have.” Moretti motioned for them to follow him.

The entourage moved with him and they made their way to a small corridor with a rail track. “Fastest way to get around. If you please.”

There were only enough seats for four, so Moretti asked the guards of his to follow on the next one. They didn’t seem that keen, but knew their place.

Hael joined Moretti up front while the small cart then made its way off and into the space of the Yard itself. “To see her from outside, you wouldn’t get all this.” Moretti waved to the walls as they sped up. The walls then seemed to shimmer and become opaque.

Now able to see the outside of the corridor, Hael gasped. “The sheer size of it never computed.”

Julieus and Orbel seemed to agree from behind him, but Moretti wasn’t as interested in their responses as their leader’s.

“To your right is the very first ship we’re pushing out. She’ll be ready in less than twenty-four hours now we’ve settled back into creation rather than flight.”

The VCF logo was clearly visible from their spot running alongside the ship. But so was her name. Maritime.

“This is the ship you want to send out with one of my sons on?” Hael said in slightly hushed tones.

Moretti eyed him carefully. Julieus sat right behind him, but he’d not heard. “Yes. You would sooner it not be Julieus, though?”

Hael didn’t need to answer this one. “Your Skill School will be around here?”

“The opposite side of the Yard. We’ll go there now.” Taking a left tunnel up ahead, they made their way across and over the top of the Maritime.

Hael’s eyes widened even more and he brought out a reading device for Moretti to look over. “There are certain conditions I would like from you, if you will please take a look through them.”

Moretti took the device, reading over the pages that King Hael had introduced. He knew that Hael watched him as he read but he stayed non-emotional. There was nothing too extreme, but then he spotted it.

Code within code, almost an old school hack.

“I see.” Moretti nodded at the king. “Let us see the Skill School and then we’ll discuss this while Julieus and Orbel are shown some of the more meaningful training rooms.”

With a nod, Hael looked back out to the Maritime. “One big ship. Will all of them be this size?”

Moretti hoped not. The sheer amount of resources used for the three freighters now almost finished was a gamble. The ships he’d slated next were sleeker, more refined and hopefully with a few hidden tricks. He had hoped to be on one out of Tricticus, heading for the new trading routes of Osdal and Fernix. But he realized he would be heading to Hellenica instead.

Finally reaching his real destination, Moretti moved to step out of the tram and watched the king and his son off. Two guards were at a wide entrance to part of the station, protection he knew for some of the equipment inside.

What Moretti wanted them all to see now was in full flow. The men and women being trained inside the shop were going through the motions that Mark and Jerome had instilled upon them: sciences, hand-to-hand combat, weaponry simulations.

He hoped that this would sway Hael and that they’d see together, with the tech and manpower from Tricticus, that they were stronger.

Tricticus still needed a lot of building up, but again, they’d be much better working together.

The guards stepped aside and Moretti showed them into the main open arenas. “Here—you can’t see what they do without these.”

Moretti passed them all eyepieces so that they could witness the simulations the others did. What always surprised Moretti was the sound that seemed to suddenly engulf him, alongside the glasses.

He watched on as Hael glanced around the area, now able to see what was transpiring inside. The large room had around three hundred men and women training in various forms of combat. This excited Julieus and he stepped forward. “General, I think we should observe some of this, while my father and Mr. Moretti talk.”

Orbel seemed to agree and Moretti allowed them to wander away, skirting the training men and women.

“You wanted that to happen,” Hael said.

“Of course. No better time for us to talk than while they’re being distracted properly.”

“Do you have somewhere in mind?”

Moretti moved to a secure room at the back of the main lobby. There he checked it over quickly and then motioned for Hael to take a seat.

Moretti placed Hael’s reading device near his computer system. Here he was able to copy and effectively rout out the code hidden inside it.

Hael smiled. “You’re everything that my investigators have informed me of.”

“I hope you see that in good light?” Moretti asked.

“I’m going to be honest here.” Hael glanced to the door.

“No one will disturb us, don’t worry,” Moretti assured him. “The cities were disturbed by the offers the Victor Corp has made them. They think a too-good-to-be-true offer means that there will be something down the line that they don’t like. They’re still thinking about their allegiances.”

“On the whole, yes. I can only persuade them with the truth, the facts that Mark and you have given us, the Maraukians themselves, and the true sciences. There’s no hiding these things, and they know they are the truth. They’re scared that they’ll be betrayed, and that you’re no better than any other corporation or military.”

Moretti nodded. “The Skill School and its trade are supposed to be both ways for that reason alone. Here we need those skilled workers, and we’ve teachers to help train them. To get your citizens interested, we must assign them a debt; to pay off that debt, you work. It’s not a bad thing. We’re not assigning them to war, just to help prepare for that war.”

“There are interested parties for that effort, you know.”

Moretti’s eyes glanced back to the document. “To protect your own planet, you want to train with the best, learn everything you can in defense.”

“And offense. We do not want to be left in the dark. I know for certain there are also men who are willing to offer themselves up for merging.”

Moretti raised an eyebrow. “Mark and the mergers were lucky to escape Edani city.”

“Please, I have only seen reports on losses… not who.”

“You’ve not spoken to Ava?”

“No. I fear the worst, though.” Moretti saw the High King deflate, and then shake it off. In a split second Hael turned the subject on its heels. “Do we have an agreement for the Skill School, even with the changes?”

Moretti moved back to the reader. “Without the extras hidden, yes, the ten percent lower offer is acceptable and I believe your locations for the Skill School on Tricticus are good. We’ll be able to mix our teaching staff so that we’re training in both locations with the best possible outcomes. I believe we have a deal.” With that, he moved to place his thumbprint over it, and assigned his own personal codes.

Chapter Four

The Yard

Ark Orbit, Emarl System

8/3555

Esamai didn’t know why Moretti insisted on calling the planet the Ark, when its name had been Erotus, and she wasn’t sure why they were here at the fourth planet in the Emarl system instead of closer to the asteroid belts or Tricticus.

She knew he had his reasons for it and that he liked to keep his secrets, so she let it be.

Although they weren’t at the asteroid belt or in Tricticus’s orbit, they had regular freighters to connect them to both locations, turning them into a sort of midway point at least some of the time in the nearly eight hundred days it took for them to orbit Emarl system’s sun.

Many of the people who worked in the Yard had been part of the EMF or related to people from the EMF. Others were descendants who had come with their grandparents and settled on the Yard.

Although people were uncertain of the future that lay ahead of them, they were excited and relieved.

Technology and ideas were flowing through the Yard like they had never done in the past. Those who had joined from the EMF might have put on their uniforms again, but the Yard’s workers were pushing themselves harder than before. Here they had a chance to not only have a life but to build up an entire system.

They knew that a fight was coming and instead of shirking away from it, they threw themselves into their projects. Those who had gone to pull back Mark and support the legion were made up of the fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters of those on the Yard.

It was their people out there fighting. They might not be on the front lines but they sure as hell were going to make sure that they had the best gear when they were fighting for their lives.

The Yard’s production had nearly stopped altogether as they were in transit. But now as the Yard was opening up, once again the engineering teams were combining together, making up for the losses and getting into work.

Esamai checked Tyler, who was asleep in the protective sling. Thanks to medical aid, it hadn’t taken her long to recover and get back on her feet. Even when the doctors and nurses wanted to keep her back, she wasn’t having any of it.

It was her husband and brother-in-law out there.

She knew Moretti was a capable man, but he was an intelligence officer—he could manage the Yard for some time but he wasn’t able to run it as it was supposed to be run. He didn’t know the crews, their habits, which ones worked best together, where they were best suited. Right now he was holding on but later on, issues would start to appear.

Esamai and her family had run the Yard for four generations. Now Mark had named her as head of the Yard. It was time that she got back into office.

She looked at the male and female troopers with her. They both wore their body armor and helmets. Their hands rested on their pistols, ready to defend her if needed.

She didn’t like the extra security but she understood it.

She passed through security checks. Even before the Yard had moved, the security checks had been in place. The Yard had many secrets they didn’t want getting out.

To date, none of the Ministry of Intelligence operatives was able to get out with any information the Yard wanted to keep secret.

In fact, all of the Ministry of Intelligence operatives had been secured in the bridge and were now being offered their old jobs as long as they swore not to sell information to anyone and were strictly monitored. In the world of AIs, privacy was a thing of the past.

Troopers and people moved out of her way, nodding and greeting her as she walked past. Seeing the determined look in her eyes, none of them moved to stop her.

All of them sensed that a change was coming. An electric feeling ran through them as Esamai looked to take control of the Yard once again.

She walked to where her office was located to find Moretti standing outside it.

He smiled at her and nodded. “Kept the seat warm for you. Let me know if you’ll need anything. I have compiled all of my reports for you.” He sent her a message; the information uploaded to her NIAI, filling in any blank spots she had.

“Thank you,” Esamai said. “What will you do now?”

“Now? Well, it seems that it’s time we got to know what is happening within the EHC and the Union. There are a lot of people eyeing us now. Best to know who our enemies are and where they are,” Moretti said.

“Good luck.” Esamai didn’t have the patience or the ability to try to deal with all that information gathering, the sabotage and intelligence games. Thankfully, Moretti and his people were there to steer them along and let them know of the hidden dangers that lay ahead.

Moretti looked down at Tyler, who was moving in his sleep. The intelligence officer’s facade left completely as he stroked the little one’s face.

Esamai knew that Jerome and his fellow troopers had seen the worst and lived through situations she couldn’t even understand. Though when seeing Tyler and interacting with him, she got to see a side other than the military personnel that had been groomed by the EMF.

She got to see the soft and caring side that lay at the heart of them, the part that would put their life on the line for the ones on either side of them, that would run into weapons fire yelling and screaming, just to support their friends and keep the people who stood behind them safe.

Moretti left, leaving Esamai looking at her office.

Instead of walking inside, she turned down the corridor and headed to the command center. The doors opened for her.

The command center was broken down into rings, with areas for people to walk in between.

In the center, there was a large, three-dimensional representation of the Emarl system being manipulated by different techs as they talked about different areas where scans showed places that could have asteroids filled with the raw materials they needed.

Outside of them, there were several consoles with different communication personnel talking to one another and coordinating with the people across the Yard and the Emarl system, their information updating the main projection as needed.

After them, there were the different workstations that managed the activities happening in Emarl, broken into the asteroid mining and the Yard.

The station control had been given over to the team that was based on the station currently.

People were moving around, talking to people across the system. The chatter made Esamai feel alive. She felt as though she had stepped into the nerve center of the entire system.

Esamai took a moment to take it in. She nodded and waved to people she knew.

“All right, you slackers! I hope you’ve had a nice vacation. Now it’s time to earn your pay!” Her voice carried through the room as she moved to the central console.

People moved out of her way as they all focused on her.

“James, how are we looking for the mining situation?” She got to the main console, taking command of the room in a moment.

“Ma’am, we have different prospectors out from the Yard surveying and looking for a good plot to set up,” James reported.

“Going to take too long to survey the entire system. Pick the closest area with the highest density of materials that we need and get started on it. I am told that we will be getting some help on the mining side of things in the near future. I’m forwarding you our initial plan to build a stage-by-stage refinery situation. Right now, we’re relying on our miners, but the aim is to have multiple miners, not only ours but other people. They mine out everything, bring it to a refinery and sorting station that they can also buy supplies from. And then from there, they’re transported by freighter back to the Yard or where they’re needed. I want your mining heads to go over the plans for the refinery station. We pulled plans from Osdal. Don’t finalize anything yet as we will probably have those experts ready for you in about a month or so,” Esamai said.

“Yes, ma’am. Question,” James said.

“Shoot.”

“As we don’t have the stations now, could we supplement them for freighters? The freighters take out supplies that the miners need, gather all the material and ship it back, leaving the miners to return to the belts and mine.”

“Good plan. Coordinate with shipping to see if they can make it so.” Esamai looked to Natalie, who coordinated the freighters and shipping in-system.

Natalie gave her a nod and shared a look with James.

Going out and mining everything themselves would be a logistical pain in the ass. If they instead owned the refining stations, then they could process the materials as they wanted there, then ship them back to the fabbers in the yard and build as they needed. It would be much faster than having the miners mine everything, then carry it back to the yard and then get it refined. The yard was already crowded; with the new plan, some of the refinery facilities could be detached and used as the basis for the refinery stations.

Esamai’s gaze fell on the yard management, who perked up as they sensed her eyes on them.

“Here are the reassignments.” Esamai sent a package to them. When she had been laid up in bed, she hadn’t been just relaxing. She’d put her NIAI to good use and organized the yard.

“From now on, we will be aiming for eighty percent military manufacturing and twenty percent civilian needs. I have broken down tasks according to need. Also, the crews are going to need retraining and to get NIAIs! Everyone who is part of the yard will be getting one.

“We will be working in five teams. Team one will be managing and building new fabbers. Team two, you will be building, testing, and teaching troopers how to use the new Defender Armor, E14, and repulsor weapon systems.

“Team three, you will be in charge of making Gorgon tanks and artillery packs. Both will use the same acceleration tubes.

“Team four, you’re on fighter vessels. I’m looking at upgrade and refit for the combat shuttles and a production line of the new rapid support drones. Team leaders and teams have been already set up and are listed in the briefing. If you want to move people between teams, check with the other team leader and the personnel in question.

“Team five, you will be working on the three large-scale freighters left in the yard, managing the container assembly line, NIAI production line, and outer-system freighters’ docks. I aim to have level-three fabbers moved to assist you in increasing building time for the freighters and other large vessels.

“All teams, if you have the cycles or can work it into your fabbers, work to create more fabber parts. I don’t want those machines to stop for anything. Team one makes sure that you collect all parts so that it’s not added to the other team’s payload.

“Davin, you’re in charge of the Skill Schools, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Davin said.

“Right. You’ve got the new locations all selected?”

“That’s right, ma’am.”

“Instead of having to build the whole facility by ourselves, each new student will be given a NIAI and part of their training will be to help in building the new Skill Schools. We might as well give them some practical experience! I want you to get with Linda from hydroponics. We’re in need of food so I want to add farming to the Skill School’s rota.

“The cities are locations where people could grow things—best to put them to work. For money, we will be turning to the platinum system completely,” Esamai said.

She knew that the problem with money and getting paid would come up, so she intended to stop it before it even became an issue.

The Victor Corporation, across all of its different parts, had taken up the practice of using platinum to pay their people. Platinum was based on actual platinum that was held by the Victor Corporation banking system, which was separate from the Victor Corporation management. It was run by computer software. People could change their platinum for EHC credits if they wanted to, and it was a simple process. Now that they were cut off from the EHC and credits didn’t seem to have much value, the platinum system had become a saving grace.

The different people agreed as Esamai could feel some of the tension in the room draining away. No one wanted to work for free.

“The Victor Corporation won’t be making many goods that people will want to buy on the consumer side, but I am told with the upcoming trade routes there should be plenty of goods coming from other systems that are part of the EMF. Also, one can trade with the people on Tricticus if they wish.” Esamai looked around the room.

“Natalie, I have a new work rota for the inter-system freighters as well as work orders. For now, they won’t have much to do. If the ships aren’t being used, I want them to be moored at the Yard or the station to supply power and render help to the people at those locations. Coordinate with team five for outfitting the vessels with Alcubierre drives. If we can get the trade agreements, then those inter-system freighters will quickly turn into outer-system capable ones.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Natalie acknowledged.

The Victor Corporation made the largest shipping vessels in all the EHC and the Union. Their inter-system freighters were what most of the EHC companies had as mid-sized long-range freighters that moved between systems.

“Teams three and four, as the plans for your different projects have not been confirmed at this time, you will assemble orbital cannons to defend the Yard, the Ark, and the station. Teams one and two will support you, and any person you have free, I want to help out in creating orbital cannons. If the Maraukians, Union, or EHC come at us, it is Mark Victor’s intention to give them a big thank-you. This is our system and the Victor Corporation will defend it.” Esamai’s words weren’t to be contested. Silence fell over the room as they all felt that their world had changed.

“We’ve all got work to do! Let’s get to it! Team five, I want those NIAI factories up and running as soon as possible!”

The silent command center turned into a hive of activity as everyone moved to complete their new tasks.

Esamai looked at it all as Tyler started to move in his sling, waking up with a cute frown on his face. Esamai wiped away the spit as she rubbed his cheek. The fifth team leader moved over to her to discuss plans even as Esamai comforted the waking Tyler.

She might be a mother, but she had a job to do for his future and to keep his father safe.

Chapter Five

The Yard

Ark Orbit, Emarl System

8/3555

With Moretti now able to leave the running of the Yard to Esamai, he had some tasks to catch up on. It took him a couple of days to work through them. He’d been closely monitoring the transfer rate of people and supplies and finally he was able to return to just the intelligence and listening in.

Hael’s eldest son, Cronus, had spent a lot of time off and on the Yard, giving him constant updates. Moretti wasn’t sure whether he liked the young man or not yet.

Cronus and Hael stood with him to watch as work was carried on, on the freighters.

“At this rate,” Moretti said to Cronus, “we’ll need more personnel working for us than we have.”

“All senior officers can be promoted. They can, in turn, help train and recruit.”

“You already have people in mind for key tasks, don’t you?”

Hael nodded. “This is expanding much quicker than any of us anticipated and I think it will continue to do so.”

Moretti stared at the young man. “The Skill School will be up and running soon. I think that’s a good move.”

“I like that.”

Moretti thought more and more about the package Nerva had sent him, alongside the instructions to start preparations for his closest retired colleagues to make their move. The fact of the matter was they needed to move on that now, just as much as organize the materials gathering.

Moretti turned away from Cronus slightly and sighed. Off on another adventure once more. The idea of getting off the stationary Yard excited him. “I need to leave you to work closer with Esamai, while I take a trip to manage something else.”

Moretti led them back toward his office. There Cronus left him to work through some other bits of paperwork with Esamai. Hael waited for Moretti to take a seat and then he followed his example.

“You never said why you were leaving,” Hael said. “I’d like you to take Cronus with you, have him on comms duty, anything.”

Moretti shifted slightly to eye the high king. He looked desperate. Moretti knew the body language. “Why do you want me to take him with me?”

“There are warriors who pick up a sword, and then there are people like you, who fight some of the hardest battles behind the scenes.”

Moretti knew this; he did fight some of the hardest battles.

Hael pushed a file across their internal systems. Moretti opened it and read.

“Where did this come from?” It was a death threat for both his sons.

“They’ve always been there, ever since Ava became a merger. But it’s the frequency that has me worried. Julieus can mostly look after himself. But Cronus, no—he wanders around circles I’d sooner he didn’t.”

Moretti knew that already. The contact information he’d given to him was really good, but it was dangerous.

“It’s the politics that’s always drawn him in,” Hael said. “Julieus is the fighter. Cronus likes to go into a room knowing they are determined to get a million credits, to walk out only giving them half.”

Moretti laughed. “Reminds me of myself at a much younger age.”

Hael held his gaze. “You and Mark have all of my respect, for what you’ve done in the universe. Cronus needs someone else I trust to watch out for him, but also for him to learn from.”

Moretti thought about this for a while. His trusted circle of people was on the low scale, most of them in the EMF. But having someone’s son tag along—he didn’t know whether it would work. “I’ve never kept anyone around for long. Do you think he’ll be safer with me, the places and people I am going to?”

Hael swallowed and sweat visibly appeared on his brow. Reaching into his tunic, he pulled out a chain. Moretti looked at the chain. On it was a little symbol of an animal. “This is a lynaux. They’re native to Tricticus.”

Moretti stared at the predator-like creature.

Hael carried on. “The lynaux is usually a lone animal, bar one other.” Hael’s eyes met with his. “No, not a mate—a sibling.”

Easing back slightly, Moretti let the high king explain more.

“Usually they’re born at similar times, not twins but almost. They’re kicked out of their pride as soon as possible, and there they must form their own or they won’t survive. Together they’re stronger. The necklace is one half.”

Now Moretti was even more confused.

“Ava gave this to me, asked me to protect him because she couldn’t. She might be able to replicate the necklace, but this is the real deal. I can’t protect him here on Tricticus anymore. But him being with you would mean those who do want to kill him can’t.”

Moretti pulled up a file quickly and studied it on his computer. Everything he had learned about the two sons was in here. Cronus was skilled in many things. He could use him how he wanted to for this trip.

“I’ll take him with me. But I can’t guarantee his safety.”

Hael nodded and slipped the pendant back inside his clothes. “I fully understand that. I think he’ll be an asset to you, if you’ll let him.”

Hael rose from his seat and took hold of Moretti’s hand firmly. “I’ll send him a message and get him to report directly to you now.”

“All right. If you want to see him before you leave, now would be the time. I don’t know when I’ll be departing.”

Hael nodded, and left him to his thoughts.

Moretti weighed on his decision to take Cronus with him and away from his family for quite some time.

The sheer amount of inside knowledge and dirt he had on almost every head or lead in the known universe was enough that most would just sell it off to the highest bidder. He had better ideas, bigger plans and hope for his species and his friends—unlike some of the horrendous people he’d encountered over the years.

Politics came with many faces, mostly greedy ones. They were easy to play off one another because of that, but Moretti played on them well. With the right handling, even the greediest man could be swayed to do something he hadn’t thought of. That was Moretti’s game: to make the big decisions come to play, but also to let the leads think they were the ones who made them. When in all honesty, without him… He shook his head. The galaxy would be a much sadder place.

Chapter Six

SLS Moby

Indalia Orbit, Otarvi System

9/3555

Charles had been working around the clock ever since he had become a merger. He realized how obnoxious his actions were once he had talked to Mark and connected to the others through the net. He couldn’t merge, but he was able to understand their feelings.

They were angry with him, not because he had become a merger, but because he had done it without any thought of asking them. He had felt that it was better for him to become one and would be naturally accepted.

He also realized that if he had just asked, they would have helped him. This hurt more than anything. If he had just been more patient, there wouldn’t have been a problem. It had been a big emotional blow to Charles, who admired these men and women.

The only way he knew how to use this frustration was to work. So, without needing sleep or as much food, he had spent his days working through the different systems of the Moby. He had been looking to improve the supply delivery systems for the mergers, upgrades to the drop-ships and the combat shuttles, changes to the troopers’ weapons and armor.

He had come up with a plan to upgrade all of the troopers’ gear with the aid of his engineering team, as well as a refit plan to bring them what he was calling Defender Armor. He went through the feedback he’d received from Captain Yu and his crew, as well as the information he had been leaked by Thomas McDougall, the Bellona tank commander, and Legatus Pullo.

He was working on tweaking the design for the Alcubierre drive for the Victor Corporation freighters when he felt Dodger approaching him.

The net was an odd thing. It allowed people to merge with one another in small or large groups; it acted like a sixth sense, allowing one to find out where other mergers were and who they were.

It was also their access to greater information.

Charles was allowed to access more information but he was denied merging. This was like cutting off his limbs, but Charles accepted and understood it. If the mergers never allowed him to merge, he wouldn’t blame them, but he still hoped one day he would be able to.

His brain was sped up because of becoming a merger, so the few minutes felt like hours to him before Dodger walked into the engineering area.

The people in the room quieted down as they saw Dodger. His large size and athletic build commanded people’s attention.

“Come with me.” Dodger used the net to talk to Charles. He turned and moved to one of the meeting rooms. People watched him as Charles quickly followed.

Charles was nervous. Even though he could stop his hands from sweating, the unconscious habit of wringing his hands didn’t stop.

Dodger stood at the front of the meeting room, looking at the screen that displayed different projects.

Charles stood there, waiting as the door closed behind him. He didn’t dare to say anything.

Dodger picked up a marker and wrote something new on the board before putting it down with a sigh.

Charles tensed up. That one sigh made Charles fall into guilt. It was worse than his father’s violent anger. Instead, there was disappointment in Dodger’s actions as he turned to face Charles.

“You broke one of the biggest rules of the mergers. You became one of us, for personal gain, and tried to hide it from us for some time. By now you must understand that we linked the merger net to the information net that spans all of the Roma Union and Earth and Her Colonies, acting as a watchdog for anyone who tries to become a merger. It was only because we were in battle and we had already given you most of the information on being a merger that when you accessed it, alarms didn’t go off. You betrayed the trust that we placed in you and is now the reason we’re monitoring everything that you and the engineering people did. We removed sections of information that would help one to become a merger. From the outside, it looks like it’s the complete method to merge, but once someone does it, they would be caught in a coma that only we can let them out of.” Dodger’s words were official and curt as he stared at the fidgeting Charles.

He had been able to see these things and noticed how there was a program made to watch him constantly.

“We have looked into the information on merging more and it has made us come up with a lot more security measures in case someone becomes a merger without our okay. This technology, in the wrong hands, could lead to the end of humanity instead of its salvation. If only you had asked, there would have been no need for all of this. There are a lot of us who are annoyed with you, but we know that while you did it without much forethought, you didn’t do it for malicious reasons. For this, we are willing to give you another chance. You will be allowed to merge and we will allow you access to certain projects. But there will always be someone watching you and your projects. If you merge, then you are not allowed to involve others and recordings will be made of all you access. With time, our trust can be verified, but until that time this is all we can give you. Do you accept these terms?” Dodger asked.

Charles didn’t need to ask what would happen if he went against these rules. The mergers were powerful. If he abused this gift again, then even if he was their friend, they had made a promise when becoming mergers that they would hold one another accountable for their actions.

“I accept,” Charles said.

Dodger nodded and moved to Charles. He put his hand on Charles’s shoulder and nanites moved into his system. Charles stopped his nanites from interfering as Dodger’s package entered the structure of his brain to make sure that it was hooked to the net all the time and recording. These were the watchdog nanites that would keep Charles honest.

Charles knew that this was a gift and a curse. He wished that he had got here through different means but now that he had this ability, he would do everything in his power to regain the trust lost.

Dodger seemed to pick up on these emotions and patted Charles on the shoulder.

***

There was a lot going on around the Moby, but that didn’t help Ava fight her sink into depression. After her initial merging with Mark, where they’d supported each other and Ava had pulled Mark from going on a rampage, their emotions had been stirred up.

Ava had wanted to pursue a relationship more than just commander and subordinate, but she understood the loss Mark had gone through and the belief he held that those he cared for died.

He’d buried himself in work and hadn’t brought it up as Ava worked to try to open him up. She, too, became guarded, not sure of how to act around him anymore.

When Chyna died, she’d left herself open and Mark had merged with her, this time supporting her.

She had seen through it all—the way he cared for her and wanted to be with her. But his own conscience, not wanting to mess with the chain of command or to see her die, held him back.

At that time, he didn’t hide his feelings and pushed that away— no rank, just a man and a woman dealing with loss together and leaving their thoughts, hearts, and souls bare for the other.

When Ava had returned to the Moby docked within the VCF Osdal, Mark had once again created distance, pushing himself to work as much as possible.

She understood the pressures he was under, but at the same time, she saw how he was trying to avoid her and addressing what was going on between them.

Ava, feeling unsure of herself with lingering doubts and the fresh loss of Chyna on her mind, had isolated herself from the rest of the mergers.

Ava wanted to move on, knowing that the pain would get better with time. At the same time, she knew that this loss hit her hard. At random times, the emotions would just pile up and she couldn’t resist them anymore.

She was stuck in the quagmire of recent loss and the knowledge that with time it would get easier. But at this moment in time she wasn’t dealing with her emotions or able to move on. She was just existing.

Sitting at the end of her bed, she had come to a decision. She had done so for the last couple of days but had been unable to take the final step. This time she had ordered Kela to make the call, even if she told him to stop.

She sat there, waiting, wringing her hands as she didn’t know what to do.

With the mergers and the people who were on Indalia, she could talk to them; they could understand what Indalia had entailed. They were some of the few who could relate.

Her family, although they had served in the military and went through loss, hadn’t been on the front lines. There was a gap there to try to translate her experiences with them.

Her emotions were in chaos. She didn’t want their pity, nor did she want them to sympathize with her. She just wanted to talk to them but she knew that no matter what, it would stir up her emotions. She didn’t want them to think that she was depressed, angry or sad, any of those. And it would make her feel weak. She was a fucking merger, tip of the fucking spear. She didn’t need pity. She was dead the moment she became a merger. Already she was mentally gearing up her defenses, thinking of what she would say.

Even as these thoughts went through her mind and she started to make mental defenses a part of her, a hidden away part craved for their kind words and being told it would be okay.

Her father appeared in front of her. Kela used his connection to her optic nerves to link her through the communications net to the meeting room that Hael was in on the station orbiting Tricticus.

“Ava!” He seemed excited and relieved, but sensing the atmosphere and the way she stood, his words cut off abruptly.

Ava gritted her teeth, her body tensing up to attention. She forced herself to keep it together. She was glad to see him. But she saw that sliver of fear that was growing as he took in her appearance. He’d seen the main report on losses no doubts. He’d have known something had drastically changed in just her eyes; that she couldn’t get the words out then had said everything. Today was to finally confirm his fears.

Her face was on his screen, but there’d been no other contact in days. Chyna hadn’t messaged him and that would have been his first port of call. Had her father guessed?

“Chyna died a few days ago,” she said. Those six words were harder to say than anything else, as if she were admitting to herself that Chyna wasn’t coming back.

She had to get them out lest they be caught in her throat.

Hael’s face crumbled. His excitement from before turned to loss.

It was some time until he steeled himself and looked at Ava. “How?”

“We were evacuating through a shuttle accelerator tower when the Maraukians came up behind us. We were in a fighting retreat and Chyna was hit multiple times. Upon our retreat, his armor carried out orders that he had added, igniting his anti-matter core and bringing the city down on the Maraukians, killing thousands and giving the Ducharev line time it needed to gain strength. He died protecting the civilians and legionnaires, allowing them to escape. He died protecting his fellow mergers.” Ava’s words were robotic even as she replayed the scenes over and over in her mind. With her changed body, her recall was perfect, letting her relive the moment again and again.

“With the mergers’ will, his crate will be added to the Hall of the Fallen, which will be erected on the fourth planet in the Emarl system and has been gifted to the Vanguard fighting force by Mark Victor,” Ava said.

Hael looked as if he had aged ten years as he rubbed his face. One hand pinched his temples as he tried to come to grips with the loss of one of his best friends. “I’ll tell his family and let the others know,” Hael said.

“Radis Kallo, Joreen Weloi, and Hedar Osori also fell in battle. Only Hedar’s body is recoverable. They all wanted their crates to be added to the Hall of the Fallen if they were to not make it,” Ava said.

Hael was rocked back again. “How many made it?” He winced at his own words, looking as if he wanted to take them back as soon as they were out in the world.

“Eleven.” Ava’s voice held a slight tremor as she tried to force the word out.

Hael, who hadn’t been expecting an answer, was left in shock. “Ava, I…” He looked as if he wanted to say more but didn’t know how to express it. His voice halted as he fell silent, looking at her.

He might be a powerful king who ruled over Crisidium, but before Ava, he was a concerned father, unable to know what was happening with her and also unable to take that pain away.

Chyna was someone who he viewed as a brother, even if they weren’t blood related. Chyna had taken it on to follow Ava into the legion and to support her. His loss hit them hard in different ways.

Ava tried to force herself to say something else, to do anything. But she couldn’t. The mergers who had survived each used their own ways of coping: working on their armor, helping to upgrade Moby, or work over plans for different systems in Emarl.

Some let their pain out, cutting themselves from the net to deal with their issues. None of them wanted to appear weak in front of the others.

Others, like Mark, internalized the pain and continued forward, blaming themselves and working to do everything to increase their strength and somehow be better. So that another one of their numbers wouldn’t be cut down.

The truth of it was that all of the eleven survivors had suffered in more ways than they had ever imagined.

“Father,” she finally choked out, knowing the truth of Hesra and Senator Rimateus’s involvement made it all the harder to deal with the loss of Chyna and the sixty-two others. She couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened if they had been able to get the supplies or support that they needed.

“As your daughter and the once queen-to-be of Crisidium, don’t sign with the legion. We’ll forge our own path forward, without backstabbing greedy bastards.” Ava’s loss turned to anger as she felt combat chemicals moving through her body, urging her to lash out, to fight against these bastards who had led to the deaths of her brothers and sisters.

Hael’s eyes met hers with his emotion clear, but he wouldn’t allow it to show just as much as Ava’s hadn’t. Placing his palm to the screen, he said simply, “I promise you, never.”

Ava cut her communication with him and flung herself back on her bed, allowing the tears to come to her once more. This was it, though, she vowed to herself and silently to the others. She would be back in training with them tomorrow; they would return to Tricticus and their future would be better. Even if she had to die for her cause, she wouldn’t allow Roma and its corrupted legions to stand on Tricticus.

Chapter Seven

Ark Orbit, Emarl System

9/3555

Moretti looked over the freighter. It was utterly unremarkable, which made it perfect for what he wanted.

With him were some of the people from the secret projects group. All of them had been vetted so Moretti knew that he could trust them with this project.

This unremarkable freighter was going to be altered to become Moretti’s mobile command post.

Moretti had a substantial information network already, but it had been created by Nerva and was largely linked to the legion. Moretti needed people who were across different positions in the Roma Union.

He had a good foothold in the EHC, but his contacts and information-gathering ability within the Roma Union needed to be developed.

The freighter was a great cover to move through the Roma Union, moving from planet to planet, station to station.

With the military strength of the Victor Corporation revealed, Moretti wanted to know whether the Roma Union was planning anything and tell the people in Emarl system before it happened.

He recalled the plans that were on his NIAI.

The freighter would be anything but simple, with powered armor, weapons and hidden armaments.

It would have engines many times more powerful than what a normal freighter would, though they would be regulated at a lower threshold.

Their processing centers and power systems were much more powerful and they had hidden power banks that would allow them to travel farther and recharge faster.

“Looks good to me,” Moretti said to the woman beside him.

“It shouldn’t take us too long to get everything modified. After all, most of the extra capabilities are hidden within the storage crates instead of the freighter itself.”

Moretti nodded. He wanted to get moving as soon as possible. Although it was much quicker to move through the Roma Union with an Alcubierre drive, it also meant that things changed a lot quicker.

Information got old fast and people could move around faster.

Chapter Eight

Legionnaire Tower

Roma, Hellenic System

9/3555

Damus Versanti looked out on the powerful legion that he commanded. The proud edifice that was the legionnaire tower and the barren land around it. Shuttles and ships moved constantly between the tower and the other stations and ships that orbited Roma.

Training areas were filled with people who had been called out of retirement and others who were just earning their badges as legionnaires.

“Emperor Cassius is calling for you.” The female voice of his NIAI disturbed him from his thoughts.

Damus nodded, quickly moving to his desk and adjusting his uniform quickly.

Emperor Cassius had strong features, so when he was frowning Damus felt a pit open in his stomach.

“Senator Rimateus is using Admiral Hesra on Indalia in a political ploy.”

“The mergers?” Damus asked.

The emperor simply nodded. The gesture made Damus let out a cold breath as he found it hard to hide his anger. Admiral Hesra’s backing wasn’t small and Senator Rimateus was a great politician. Even if this was brought to light, it would be hard to destabilize him and remove his strength.

“The worst part is that they were smart about it. It will be hard to get them to bow in the face of the law,” Cassius said.

“What do we do?” Damus wasn’t one for politics. It was one of the reasons that he had been picked as the commander of the legion.

“Start a rumor and leak the information to the legionnaires. Also, show off the power and push out the stories of the mergers helping out our people. We might not win in a head-to-head confrontation, but weakening their people’s beliefs will be enough. Admiral Hesra’s people will stop listening to him in all but name. They might even vote to remove him by lack of faith.”

Damus nodded. Such a vote had to be agreed by sixty percent of the people under a person’s command. If their people voted against them, then they were removed from command and had to undergo a review by the legion. It was a rare thing. If it was carried out, it would be a great blow to a person’s standing and few would choose to follow them again.

Cassius stared straight at him. “I’ve secured this channel and I speak freely here because no matter my beliefs, I know there is not much that I can do about it. Admiral Hesra’s father pulls a lot of strings within the legion and unfortunately, if I pull apart his only son with a string of treasonous intentions, Roma and her efforts against the Maraukians will fail.”

Damus took in his words carefully. “What does this mean for the mergers and the people on the planet right now?”

“They’re on their own. There isn’t anything that we can do for them right now.” Cassius let out a suffering sigh, looking down at his hands.

“Nerva is there right now. He’s a great leader but he doesn’t care for politics. We both know that he has been unhappy since he returned, calling the senators a bunch of grabbing hyenas, and I agree with him. Mark is like his son. I can’t predict what will happen.”

Damus and Cassius looked to each other. Tension once again returned to Damus’s body.

When Nerva did something, he did it totally. Seeing his adopted son getting pushed to death by political maneuverings, if this was to get out, then Nerva might cut ties to Roma altogether. If he did, with the father of the legion leaving, Damus felt his anger growing toward Rimateus and that useless Admiral Hesra.

“We need to be united and those useless senators are thinking about nothing but political positioning.” Cassius’s anger was clear. “If we can call a state of war, then we’ll push those senators to the side and we can deal with them quietly instead of fighting them directly in the senate.”

“What if the mergers die?” Damus asked.

“Then we’ll have to remake them. The mergers are key to winning this war, I think.” Cassius looked to Damus, who agreed.

“Their combat abilities are unlike any of our other forces and their ability to get into hard to hold positions and control the flow of the Maraukians is a powerful ability.”

“I’ll trust you to make a plan if they are killed—or if they survive, to pull them to our side,” Cassius said.

Damus’s lips moved but he seemed unable to say anything.

“Speak freely.”

“Emperor, they’ve just been stabbed in the back and from the information my NIAI is supplying, it’s Nerva and the people from Earth who are coming to save them, not our people. I don’t know if they survive if they would come to our side.”

“Where would they go? To Earth? The corporations there don’t care about troopers,” Cassius said.

“I don’t know, but they do own the Victor Corporation and the Yard is moving through space to some unknown location,” Damus pointed out.

“Other than the legion and the EMF, there is no military for them to join other than the small auxiliary forces based on the rural planets,” Cassius said.

“Also, the mergers are an auxiliary unit. They’ve used their own resources for the most part. We even had to gift the Moby over to them. As an auxiliary unit, as long as they pay any fees between us and them, then those who want to separate can. Those who want to become a legionnaire can join one of the other auxiliary legions.” Damus had an uneasy feeling rising in his chest.

“So, they could just separate from the legion?” Cassius said, shocked by this turn of events. “If they did, then how would they support themselves?”

“Well, they do have the largest shipyard in human space. They’ve also got the engineering crew on the Moby, and the technology in each of their suits is generations ahead of ours,” Damus said.

Cassius rubbed his temples as he started to realize just how big this problem had become.

“The mergers work well as they’re trained to attack, unlike legionnaires, so it is better for the mergers to get troopers and turn them into mergers, or people from the rural systems who are in constant combat with those on the same planet as them.”

“What the hell did Rimateus and Hesra do?” Cassius looked five years older.

Damus could only sit there silently, numb to it. He wanted to help the mergers in the future and punch Rimateus, but there was no easy way to tie the mergers to the legion.

Hesra’s actions had led to sixty-three mergers dying.

They had gone silent, as did the entire SLS Moby, making Hesra call to board the freighter. Only on Legate Nerva and Legate Yousef’s orders was Hesra stopped.

Now the quick reaction force surrounded the ship, and the carriers that were inside the freighter were undocked and moving on their own. Their reinforcements were moving toward the planet while retired troopers were heading for the freighter once again.

Damus had an uneasy feeling. He could see the power that was the mergers, the abilities they had and allowing them to strike the Maraukians head on instead of just relying on defenses. If not for them, the retreating legion and people in Edani wouldn’t have survived. If they hadn’t reinforced the defense wall, legionnaires would have died in droves. This was the same in Gilese.

In just these two actions, they had saved possibly hundreds of thousands.

“Why?” Damus Versanti asked his empty office. He wasn’t blind to what happened with the different family members of powerful people in the senate, the easier jobs that they got. There needed to be someone there and it didn’t matter as long as they didn’t mess up.

Did I let them have too much power? Gain too much confidence? He felt a headache coming along. If he was to try to clear out the legion from these political movers, he’d be removing those rear echelon jobs. They might not be front line but they dealt with resupply and keeping his forces active.

If he was to attack these political forces in his legion, then it would disable him. The cancer seemed to have gone too deep.

Chapter Nine

Ducharev

Indalia, Otarvi System

9/3555

When Mark stepped off the combat shuttle, every eye was focused on him.

The legends and the stories about the mergers had been spread far and wide among the people who were at Ducharev.

The people of Edani had taken them on to be their guardian angels, knowing the losses that they had suffered trying to protect them.

The legionnaires respectfully cleared a path as he walked through the masses. He passed two trooper sections as they were about to board the shuttle he had stepped off.

The warrant officer with the group snapped to attention and saluted Mark while the others with him went silent, snapping to attention.

“At ease,” Mark said to them. The simple action made him feel kinship with his fellow troopers.

They came from all over Earth, all different gangs and credos, but here they were all just troopers. With them, Mark felt at home and relaxed.

He moved on through the different supplies that were being carted away to the front lines and the shuttle pads that had been erected; shuttles and drop-ships moved to and from the carriers and other ships in orbit, or even other cities, to move personnel and equipment. In the distance, Mark could hear the artillery barrages from the artillery parks raining hell down on the Maraukians that were still harassing what was being called the Ducharev line.

Once the reaction force had reached the planet’s orbit, they had been moving legionnaires down to the planet’s surface in droves.

As legionnaires came in, they relieved the troopers. With their better gear, the legionnaires were able to compensate for the troopers without much difficulty.

Add in the fact that troopers were trained to take objectives and pressure the enemy through constant advances, they weren’t as well suited for this defend-and-hold combat that the legionnaires had been trained for.

Sarah guided Mark through all of the ad hoc camp that had been erected to support the Ducharev line and stretched all along its rear.

He entered a modern-looking workspace that instead of being filled with workers was filled with armored legionnaires and troopers passing orders or checking out the different information boards that were contained within.

“Construction has been completed on the R-13 section, allowing us to free up some of our personnel and artillery. A new watch has been put into place, with the legionnaires from the surrounding sections being pulled back to their original areas instead of acting in support,” an aide said in a large open room that was dominated with information screens and processing centers that had been hauled in and pulled together to create this command center.

“Good. With that, we hold the high ground in the Yurev valley. Let’s move more artillery into that area. It’ll increase their strike range and allow them to strike up and down the line with greater precision.”

Mark stopped as he heard that no-nonsense tone that was oh so familiar, but different at the same time.

Images flashed through his mind when he saw Nerva’s symbol being wiped off his mini-map just as the Harmony War was starting. Mark was just about to become an officer, still a young man in the EMF.

It felt like a lifetime ago, as if he were seeing it all through the eyes of a different person. Mark closed his eyes as he remembered Alexis and Tyler getting married, with Nerva officiating.

Mark wanted to be angry with Nerva, but he knew Nerva wouldn’t intentionally hurt them, and with the information from Sarah, he was able to figure out what Nerva was doing.

While Mark had been sleeping from one battle to the next, Nerva had been fighting again and again across tens of planets, trying to save the people there, trying to keep his legionnaires and the EMF personnel alive.

He even took a demotion to auxiliary legionnaire commander so that he could work with the EMF personnel he knew and keep himself updated on what was happening with the EMF within Earth and Her Colonies.

Time to buck up or shut up. Mark cleared his head and opened his eyes.

Two legionnaire guards moved to intercept Mark but seemed to get some kind of message as they moved away, letting him through.

Mark walked into the command center and pulled off his helmet.

The people in the command center looked to him. Nerva, seeing their gazes, looked with them, to see Mark as he held his helmet to his side.

Mark and Nerva locked eyes.

Seeing the familiar face, both of them felt as if they were seeing someone from an old life. Neither of them knew what to say.

Nerva nodded as he looked to Pullo. “Take over for me.”

“Yes, sir.” Pullo cleared his throat and got people working again.

Nerva walked over to Mark, who didn’t know what to say.

“It’s good to see you, Mark.” Nerva held out his arm.

Mark recognized the familiar gesture that many called the trooper salute. A feeling of nostalgia ran through him as he bumped his forearm against Nerva’s. It had been the way that he and Tyler had greeted each other on the battlefield so that they didn’t have to take their hands off their weapons.

“I’m sorry that we’re only meeting now,” Nerva continued.

“I know about how you went to Earth, trying to help us, and I know that you were pulled into the reactionary force right as I was going back to Earth,” Mark said.

Nerva nodded. They stood there silent for some time, both of them happy to see the other but not sure how to express it. Being in the military didn’t give them a way to express their happiness at seeing the other well, but also knowing that behind them there lay a pile of bodies of the people who they cared for and hadn’t made it.

“Come with me.” Nerva guided Mark away from the command center and toward a conference room. Mark walked inside, with Nerva locking the door behind him.

“Can you make sure no one is recording?” Nerva’s voice sounded surer. The old Nerva seemed to be resurfacing as Mark felt himself relax.

Mark only needed to do a simple scan to check the room and make sure there were no recording devices or anything else in the place.

“It’s secure, sir.” Mark fell back into his familiar address with Nerva.

“Been a long time since I heard you say that.” Nerva laughed. “You were a major, too, when you left the EMF.”

“Well, you got there first.” Mark shrugged.

Nerva didn’t seem to have anything to say before he cleared his throat. “All right, what’s your plan and what the fuck is going on here? I had Admiral Hall telling me that there is something seriously fucked up but he wouldn’t tell me over a line no matter how well it was encoded but instead entrusted it to you?” Nerva looked to Mark with a serious gaze.

Mark needed a few moments to compose himself before leaning on the table with balled fists. “When we were fighting in Edani to protect the civilians and the legion that were pulling back, we were running low on supplies. The Moby was requesting supplies again and again from the different supply vessels located in orbit but they weren’t able to get any.

“Hesra was holding them back. Yeah, he might just be an anal pencil pusher looking to abide by the rules but Moretti did some digging under Admiral Hall’s request. By the way, Moretti sends his thanks in you allowing him access to your information network.”

Nerva waved this off as if it was only a natural thing to do.

“Anyway, he was able to pull together information that shows Senator Rimateus, who was pursuing control over the mergers through a senate oversight, seemed to have said something or done something to get Hesra to stick his neck in.” Rage circulated Mark’s body as the veins along his neck popped out.

Nerva’s face didn’t show any emotion as he looked at the table in the meeting room. “Do we have any concrete evidence on him for this?”

“No.” Mark let out an angry breath before continuing. “Moretti had another plan. He’s gathered information on other things that Hesra has done in the past that put people at risk. As well as the political deals that he made to shield people with powerful political ties. He wasn’t so good at covering up his tracks in the past. With this information, we can spread it to the people under his command.”

“That’s a good plan. If his people are forewarned and they remove him from power themselves, then you can strike. It could be related to any one of the people he screwed over.” Nerva didn’t even blink as he talked about the murder of an admiral in the space legion.

He knew that with Mark, there would be nothing else; he even agreed with it. To put your political alliances above the people under your command and putting their lives in danger deserved death.

“Does Moretti have a plan for the senator?” Nerva asked.

“He does. Attack his political base, as well as remove the backing of his people by exposing what he has done. Let all that they’ve made burn around them and then have the people they stepped on turn on them, then strike,” Mark said.

“It will be hard. Rimateus might be a snake, but he is a very good planner. He’s not as good as Nivad, but Nivad won’t be causing anyone issues in this life,” Nerva said.

Mark nodded. Clearly Nerva knew that Mark had killed the former director of the Ministry of Intelligence.

“With the number of troopers in the ranks of the Victor Corporation exposed, what are you thinking of doing? The EHC and the Union will be looking at you with wariness. Both of them have the power to stand up to one another, for a bit anyway, and it would cost more resources than they would gain to try to overtake the other. But to eliminate the Victor Corporation and bring the troopers under your command into some kind of penal battalion—it has happened before,” Nerva warned.

“That is a little bit more complicated.” Mark didn’t say anything more but sent a secured file to Nerva with complete plans for what they had figured out for the future of the Victor Corporation.

Nerva went through the files and information snippets organized by his NIAI. “Looks like you weren’t just fighting against the Harmony Forces but building something there. You brought Osdal and the greenhouses of Earth in as well? You’ve got balls, Mark.” Nerva nodded, looking through all of the information.

After some time, he closed the information packet and looked at the table. “I need to finish off my final posting, then I’ll join you.” Nerva looked up, his face set as he looked at Mark.

Mark wanted Nerva to join them but now that he said the words, Mark knew the stress that was riding on Nerva’s shoulders. He was no longer that kid who had just become an officer. He was a veteran with wars under his belt and people who had been under his command and died listening to his orders.

Doing something like changing militaries felt as if he were leaving a part of himself behind.

Mark made to say something to give some comforting words, but he closed his mouth instead, seeing Nerva’s expression. It was clear to him that this was Nerva’s decision and nothing could dissuade him from this plan of action.

It was a big decision and one would need to make it for themselves.

“I have given the legion most of my life that wasn’t served being frozen for the EMF or fighting wars across the Colonies. The legion I left was a powerful machine that looked after its people, the civilians and the legionnaires. There were people from the political sphere who were part of the legion but they were proud to serve their people and Roma. Now—” Nerva’s eyes sharpened as his jaw flexed.

“Now I don’t know if there is anything left for me to salvage. It looks like there are all of these political parties that are toeing the line, saying that they will give all for the Union but then on the other hand are using their positions in the legion to gain favor. It’s become corrupted from the inside. I don’t know if the same won’t be said for what you’re building, but I’ll do my damn best to make sure that it isn’t the case,” Nerva said.

“So will I,” Mark said. The two men looked at each other.

“I’ll send word to my contacts and the legions that I can vouch for, pass them on this information. Once Ducharev is secure, any who are willing to join me will head toward Emarl. We’ll need transport as well as supplies. With this in mind, you’ve got about six months to be ready for any forces I bring over,” Nerva said.

Mark nodded. For the first time in a long time, he would be able to build something. If it worked, then it would mean that there weren’t just two major powers, but three. It was on him to make sure that the system didn’t collapse as the Union and EHC had.

He had an idea, and a goal, but it wouldn’t be simple or easy to carry out.

Chapter Ten

VCF Osdal

In Transit from Otarvi System to the Emarl System

9/3555

Admiral Hall looked over the information coming from the different troopers and their commanders. As well as the crew of the Moby.

He then glanced over to the side of the command deck, where Mark, Jerome, and Ortiz stood.

“We sure about this?” Hall asked.

“Nope, but this sure isn’t right. It’s time that we looked after ourselves instead of being told what to do,” Jerome said.

Ortiz and Mark agreed with him.

“All right.” Hall knew that the future was uncertain and there was no knowing what might come out of the decisions they’d made today. He was nervous and anxious, but more than anything, he was excited. With this, they would be able to control their own future, not be led around by the corrupt, or the people who had been used to power and getting others to do their bidding.

“Guy, ready the message and files,” Hall said.

Everyone in the bridge was freshly shaved, washed, and wearing their old uniforms. The one change was that they no longer wore the emblem of the EMF on their shoulder. Instead, they wore a patch of the Victor Corporation.

All of them sat a bit taller as they now knew their purpose and they had a direction to go in.

“Understood, Admiral. Message is ready,” Guy reported.

“Good. Mister Yeltsin, are those engines ready?”

“Yes, sir. Exit plot planned and Alcubierre drive is primed, ready to get out of here at the earliest convenience. Exit point is dialed in,” Yeltsin snapped off.

“Good. Rasalov, Celik—how are we looking on your side?”

“Legion fleet is a fair bit away from us. Reaction force is blocking them still. We’ve got a clear window,” Rasalov reported.

“Weapon systems are ready to be deployed if necessary, all loaded and ready. The Moby is secured within the freighter, Captain Chen has confirmed.” Celik checked one more screen. “Ready to release vessels with the crew who don’t wish to join us,” he reported.

“Release those shuttles and send them over to the reaction force. Yeltsin, move us out as soon as they clear our doors and aren’t in our flight path,” Hall said.

With his words, the large doors of the VCF Osdal opened.

Hall hit the all-hands button. “All hands. All hands, this is Admiral Hall. Secure all loose items and strap in! Prepare for high gravity maneuvers in ten!” Hall let go of the all-hands button and looped the message.

“Well, looks like I best go and get on my own shuttle,” Ortiz said.

“Good luck.” Jerome tossed Ortiz a tin of chew.

“I’ll do my best.” Ortiz laughed and clasped arms with Jerome.

“Be good to have all of our fellow troopers awake. Bring them back safe.” Mark clasped arms with Ortiz.

“You got it,” Ortiz said. With that, he turned and left the command center as the last of the shuttles cleared the hangars.

“Firing the drives. Ready on the solar sails!” Yeltsin yelled.

The massive doors across the ship were closing as the engines of the VCF flared to life.

The freighter was in high orbit over Indalia, with Hesra positioning his fleet so that they would run right into them if they turned away from the planet and accelerated away on the least time plot.

Yeltsin was pushing them toward the planet. Using the gravity of the planet, they would be able to gather more momentum; then, using their greater speed, they would be able to come off at an angle from the planet, a technique called slingshotting.

Once they were slingshot away from the planet, then Hesra’s people would need to do the same maneuver or slowly come around the planet themselves. Time would then be on their side.

Their freighter was made to enter the low orbit of a planet, but it should be going much slower. Now they were moving at higher speeds, there was a little concern from all the crew, but their freighters had been built with durability in mind.

The Osdal moved from high orbit, to their needed lower orbit. Hall watched on as warning lights lit up all over the place.

“Plot route is looking good. Coming up on angle change. Slight variation from port side. Correction forwarded,” Rasalov said.

“Hah!” Guy yelled, then checked himself as Hall glanced in his direction. “Looks like Hesra is sending us all kind of cease and desist orders, Admiral.”

Mark and Jerome looked to each other. Both of them grabbed onto a handle bar and activated the grav clamps on their boots.

The shaking of their freighter was becoming more pronounced, and rattled them all even while speaking.

“Send out another warning to be sure,” Hall said.

“Sir!” Guy hit the all-hands button that connected them to the speakers across the ship.

“All hands, make sure all items are stowed and get to a secure location and tie-in point! Be ready for high g maneuvers. This is not a drill!”

Aware of everything, Hall watched as their speed climbed. Stress warnings lit bright red across many of their screens, but they had to push it.

Rasalov and Yeltsin kept up a running commentary between each other, altering the plot and adjusting for unknowns as the others watched on, keeping silent.

“Hesra’s sending his ships around the planet. They might be able to catch our tail end,” Rasalov reported.

“Celik, if necessary, be ready to defend the freighter, only as a last resort. Nothing offensive, only defensive if we can.” Hall sounded calm and collected even as his mind was working through multiple different scenarios. Becoming a merger sounds pretty damn good right about now.

“Reached escape velocity, altering course!” Yeltsin yelled as he adjusted thrusters.

The thrusters fired, fighting the gravity of the planet. As the freighter kissed low orbit and shot forward, its acceleration decreased as it passed the planet before it climbed once again to escape the gravitational pull of the planet.

The VCF Osdal showed off its chops as it fought the planet’s gravity. The high gravity was like a punch in the chest as Jerome grunted, nearly collapsing. Mark grabbed him, his body able to handle the high gravity changes relatively easy as he put Jerome into a crash seat.

“Come on!” Yeltsin hissed through gritted teeth. The behemoth surged forward and away from the planet, toward the darkness of the outer system.

The pressure didn’t let up as the drives kept firing at full blast, increasing the velocity of the freighter.

They escaped high orbit, and the shaking and warning lights calmed down.

“Deploying solar sails!” Yeltsin punched a command. Across the freighter, sections opened up and solar sails deployed, covering the freighter. With every second, they grew in size as more and more sails ran down runners and added themselves to the massive sail.

Their acceleration increased once again as Rasalov started talking. “We’ve got Ares fighters coming around the planet. They’re going to get at least one pass on us before we exit their system.”

“Before they get into weapons range, send out the information package as well as the declaration of the Moby leaving the legion and becoming a part of the Victor Corporation, including the crew who remain aboard it,” Hall said.

“An aggressive act against the VCF Osdal will be seen as an act of war against the Victor Corporation,” Mark said.

The command staff all looked to Mark. This kind of declaration wasn’t something to be taken lightly. They also knew that Mark wouldn’t waste his words.

He was putting it all on the line. His actions made them all sit a bit straighter and harden their expressions.

Hall was shocked at first, but it was quickly replaced with understanding. The Victor Corporation wasn’t just another corporation; it was a family.

They were largely all from the EMF’s different branches, and Mark was publicly making a promise to his people, the Victor Corporation’s people, and the people who might look at them with bad intentions: Attack one of us, you attack us all. We don’t care who you are—we’ll take you on.

“Yes, sir,” Guy said.

Yeltsin was doing all he could to try to make the Osdal go faster and reach a point where they could escape the system. It wasn’t as quick as they’d like.

“Ares fighters are sending a broadcast,” Guy said.

“Broadcast our intentions as well as the information packet,” Hall said. “Celik?”

“Weapons are ready. Panels are ready to open.”

“Admiral, the Ares fighters are under orders to detain us for potentially harboring weapons of war and other items belonging to the legion or the Union. Basically, saying we’re weapons dealers. If we do not cut our engines, then we will be blacklisted and labelled as weapon runners pending a full investigation.”

Hall looked over to Mark.

“Well, looks like they’ve got us on that. We are running with a shitload of guns. Fuck ’em. Maybe save us from having to pay that corporation for the fabbers, Alcubierre drives, and parts.”

“They just fired over the ship,” Rasalov said.

“I’ve got a transit point. We’re fourteen minutes out!” Yeltsin said.

“They’re hailing us again,” Guy said.

“Put it through,” Hall said, getting pissed with this bullshit.

“Admiral Hall, this is Captain Schmidt. Turn off your engines and await inspection or else be prepared to be fired upon,” Captain Schmidt said, clearly disregarding Hall’s rank.

“Captain Schmidt, the Victor Corporation is not a part of your Union nor does it agree to the rules that you have put down or this clearly illegal maneuver to attack a civilian vessel that aided your legion in supporting the Ducharev line!” Hall said, disregarding Schmidt’s passive-aggressive manner.

“Sir, if you do not cut your engines, we will disable your ship,” Schmidt said.

Mark stepped up next to Hall. “He’s one of Hesra’s lackeys. Looks like he has never been on a true fire mission. Looks like Mommy fucked the right man, a nephew of someone in a senator’s household.”

Hall had dealt with people from the corporations most of his life; it didn’t seem like these political types from the Union were any different.

“Any hostile action taken by the Union will be seen as an act of war against the Victor Corporation and all subsidiaries,” Hall said. There was no way to get through to this man. He could only hope that this got through his thick skull.

Hall cut the channel from his command seat.

“Fucking jumped-up little shit, relying on his dad’s position,” Jerome said.

“The Ares fighters have locked on to us,” Rasalov said.

Celik looked to Hall, ready to activate the freighter’s weapon systems if needed.

“If they launch, open up on them,” Hall said.

“We’ve got a broadcast coming from the surface of the planet!” Guy put it through the speakers right away.

“This is Legate Nerva. Admiral Hesra has gone rogue in his actions, putting personal gain ahead of the code of the legion. Anyone who takes aggressive action on the vessel known as the Victor Corporation Freighter Osdal will be in blatant disregard of the legions rules and regulations.”

Hall didn’t know whether Nerva’s words were the truth or he was just buying them time. It didn’t matter much to him.

“Dismantling sail, four minutes,” Yeltsin said.

Power requirements were based on the size of the craft, so with less sail then it would be more energy-efficient to use the Alcubierre drive.

“The Ares fighters are no longer locked in and are making to pass around us,” Rasalov said.

“Powering up drive!” Yeltsin said.

The power from the Osdal fed into the two large rings on either end of the freighter. Red and blue colored stars appeared before the ship itself appeared in another location.

The tension aboard the ship disappeared as they were no longer in the Otarvi system, but instead in a location between star systems.

“Twenty minutes till rendezvous,” Guy said a few moments later.

“Nicely done,” Mark said.

“Once we’ve met up with the linking freighter, we’ll head for the Emarl system directly,” Hall said.

“Sounds good to me. If you need me, I’ll be in the command center or working with the fabbers.” Mark excused himself, turning and moving for the door.

“Every time I’m up here, fucking pucker right up. And they say troopers are adrenaline junkies,” Jerome said, commiserating with Mark as the two meatheads left the room.

Hall grinned and turned back to the others.

“All right, I want a full read out. Yeltsin, get me a plot back to Emarl. I want to be back as soon as possible. Guy, how is the Moby looking?”

“Moby is green across the board. Their systems are checking out. Actually might be possible to link our power systems together, reduce our charge time and increase the distance we can travel.”

“If it can be done, do it. We need to get back to base as soon as possible,” Hall said.

With that, they all started to work on their different systems.

The ship’s massive sails were deployed once again. The solar sails that had been added to them would allow them to recharge their battery banks faster.

“Emergence,” Rasalov said. Space started to distort before a ship appeared close to the freighter.

The previous inter-system freighter had been rigged up with all it would need to travel from system to system; Alcubierre drive and solar panels had been tacked on.

The relatively “small” freighter was filled with parts that had been made by the fabbers of the Yard or bought.

“We’re being hailed by Freighter B-17,” Guy said.

“Connect us and give them a meet-up plot,” Hall said.

“Connecting,” Guy said.

The main screen changed from the tactical layout to show the crew of four who manned the freighter.

“Captain Depah, good to see you,” Hall said, greeting the other captain.

“You, too, Admiral. Is there a time estimate on the package?” Depah was a thin man, almost a twig, but he had a solid, reliable attitude that Hall appreciated.

“Should be on its way momentarily.” Hall’s NIAI fed him a feed of a hatch opening as a combat shuttle sped out of VCF Osdal, heading for Freighter B-17.

“We’ve got them on sensors,” Depah confirmed.

“Good luck with your mission. Update me when you’re about to head out,” Hall said.

“Yes, sir.” Depah closed the channel as Hall waited. The shuttle went over, dropping off the personnel aboard and then heading back to the freighter.

A few minutes later, the freighter left the meet-up point and headed off on its mission.

Waking up the EMF—shit gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. Hall watched the screen as it returned to the tactical layout.

“Solar sails are stored, batteries are ready, and coordinates are good,” Yeltsin said.

“Very well. Let’s go home,” Hall said. The freighter once again disappeared from real space.

Chapter Eleven

SLS Edilon

Indalia Orbit, Otarvi System

9/3555

Hesra had watched the Ares fighters going for the VCF Osdal. They were enough to deter anyone, even at the size that the freighter Osdal was. Growing angrier, though, he listened into the communications between them and then heard Nerva.

“Will be in blatant disregard of the legion’s rules and regulations.”

By the time he saw the Ares pulling away, his blood boiled. Nerva had lied to them; he was sure of it. The fact was, though, they’d believed him. They’d believed Nerva over his orders. He squeezed his fists so hard he winced, opening one to reveal blood pricks from where his nails had dug in.

Turning to his comms officer, he spat out, “Get the names of every single one of those pilots. They disobeyed direct orders—I will have their licenses for this!”

Hesra waited till the information came across to him and then he turned. “I’ll be speaking with Senator Rimateus.” Wiping the blood away, he stormed off to his office, hoping that Rimateus would have some answers for him as well as an option or other plan of attack. Without the mergers, Rimateus would be fuming. He’d done the one thing he hoped he wouldn’t: he’d failed. Once secure inside his office, he looked for something to smash—anything. Of course, there was nothing.

He never even got to sit down when Rimateus’s face exploded on his screen, alongside another image. He knew without really looking what and who it was. “You see this!” Rimateus pointed at the moving image. “This is everything I asked of you flitting out the window.”

Silence spread between them.

“If we don’t pull this back, and regain favor, we’re done. Do you understand?”

Hesra knew it. He’d already been fighting to keep his standing within the legion. This act alone might tip him over the edge. His hands shook, but he forced them to stop. He kept eye contact with the senator. “I do, and do not worry. This will all but be a blip in our plans.”

Chapter Twelve

Earth

Westerly Three Complex

9/3555

Dominguez checked the information coming from Emarl and the different pieces that were moving across space. Fourteen modified inter-system freighters were hopping from location to location toward their targets.

Two of the massive VCFs other than Osdal and Fernix had been upgraded with Alcubierre drives now.

Just the VCF Hope, Promise, and Novum were being upgraded or were waiting for the Alcubierre parts. In another week, they would all be rigged up and ready to use the Alcubierre drives.

Although the Yard wasn’t in Sol anymore, the Victor Corporation’s roots were deep. The greenhouses of Earth as well as the Westerly Three Complex gang had come under their control.

While the others were heading off to move the Yard, Dominguez was left behind to manage everything on Earth. So far, things had been anything but easy.

The corporate infighting had only increased. Once they had found out that there was another group of humans in the universe, the corporations had split into three different groups: one that wanted to see whether they could trade with them, others that wanted to shut down the borders, and the third that wanted to take them over.

Originally all of these ideas and thoughts would be indicated by Nivad Selvra. He was the leader of the EHC in everything but name.

Now that he was dead, the corporations had tested their boundaries again and again. Different people had tried to increase their control.

The main contenders were in an all out fight for the position, many had already been killed off or silenced with the infighting.

The corporations weren’t just using the conference room to try to increase their power; all methods were usable now—including assassinations and bombings.

For once, the corporations were doing the fighting and Dominguez was happy to let them do it.

Dominguez rolled her shoulders as the elevator came to the end of its descent. She exited into a hallway that was built like a bunker. Formed of cermite and buried deep underneath the slums, it was one of the locations that the EMF had built in preparation of the Harmony War invasion, and that hadn’t made it into the records held by the Ministry of Intelligence.

Now it was controlled by the Westerly Three Crew.

“General.” A man wearing full armor saluted as Dominguez approached.

“How are things, Sergeant?” she asked.

“Nice and quiet.” The sergeant pressed the command to open the thick reinforced doors that separated the elevator from the rest of the base.

“That’s what I like to hear!” She stepped through the reinforced doors. Scanners and sensors checked her from head to toe as the outer door closed. A beep sounded and the inner doors opened.

She exited into another tunnel with a repulsor at the end. She passed right in front of it and through another armored door before she was greeted with the sound of heavy machinery and people calling out to one another as they worked.

“General.” A woman wearing fatigues saluted Dominguez.

“Sun, you know how much I hate that crap.” Dominguez returned the salute.

“Why do you think I do it so much?” Sun grinned.

Dominguez rolled her eyes and let out a long-suffering sigh. “All right, update me.” Dominguez moved to the walkways that ringed the multi-leveled working zone. This was the heart of the Westerly Complex Crew and the basis of their strength.

“The fabber that Mark left behind is working like a treat. As you ordered, we’ve been using it to make larger fabbers only. We’re up to five level-two fabbers. We’ve moved them to separate work sites, with three making more level-two fabbers, with one producing level-one fabbers and the other making the modified Defender Armor. We have some fifty sets so far. All of them have been okayed by testing and are currently being run through physical tests.”

“How many level-one fabbers do we have?” Dominguez asked as they passed a hangar filled with combat shuttles that waited in the dark, their sleek lines reflecting the light of the main fabrication plant.

“We have twelve so far, with them pushed out over different sites as well. They are all manufacturing the new E14.”

The E14 was technically the M19A but Mark had made it and given the rights to them to produce as many of the rifles as they wanted to.

“Good. Once we reach twenty level-one fabbers, I want the next five to be making the new repulsors,” Dominguez said.

“Yes, ma’am.” Sun made a note.

“How are we looking combat wise?” Dominguez glanced at artillery pieces that were also hidden in the darkness of their storage area.

“There are currently eight hundred thousand Westerly Three Complex crew members, two hundred thousand troopers, four hundred thousand support personnel. Fifty thousand of the Westerly Three Complex crew are undergoing training to become troopers.

“We have armaments for five and a half carrier groups’ worth. We’ll have to use the old Harmony War armor and the revamped Victor Corp armor. It takes about six hours to make a new set of the Defender Armor, so it’s going to take a long damn time until we can step up a company strength unit. With the increased level-two fabbers, it will get easier. As you advised, we’re focusing on making a platoon strength unit of forty-two people first and then moving them to the key locations, giving the different bases greater mobility to react to circumstances.

“We’ve got eight thousand shuttles, so we can move one hundred and sixty thousand troopers at any one time,” Sun finished off, checking her notes to make sure that she didn’t forget anything.

Dominguez knew that it sounded like a lot of fighting power, but there were billions of people on Earth. With those kinds of numbers, there was no way that they could try to control the planet.

Dominguez didn’t want to control Earth, at least not all of it. She just wanted a small section of it to act as a base for the Victor Corporation. “How have the suckers been working?” Dominguez asked.

“Really well. The dust that covers Earth has a lot of metals and other items in it. With it being captured by the different funnels and fed into the processing machines, it’s having a pretty big effect in reducing our material needs.”

“Never thought that we would be using the red dust from Earth to build something.” Dominguez laughed as they passed a gunsmithing area where E13s were being assembled. The modified rifle improved on the E13555 that Dominguez was familiar with.

“How are things on the surface?” Sun spent most of her time dealing with the technical issues of the troopers who were stationed on Earth still and the building projects that were underway.

They had increased their strength underground in case the corporations ever came knocking or the other gangs started attacking them. With the information from Mark, the Union coming out of nowhere, and the Maraukians appearing, they’d gone into full overdrive to be ready for what was coming—whatever it was.

“Everyone is looking to the different corporation cities to see what happens. The slums are quiet. It seems that everyone knows that something big is happening. The gangs seem to have sensed this and most of them that are allied with us in some way are making sure we know of their support.

“There are some who are looking at us with plots or making moves to try to push us back. We’ve dealt with it quietly enough that the corporations haven’t noticed. We’ve consolidated our control over our territory. Clean water, sanitation, and proper buildings—even if it’s all simple—helps out a lot.

“Word is spreading and the Skill Schools that were created before the Victor Corporation left are churning out their first batch of techs and specialists. There should be a good number of them. I just hope that things get worse with the corporations. The more they tear into one another, the weaker they’ll be and the greater freedom we’ll get.” Dominguez had no love for the corporations of Earth that only looked at other people’s lives as if they were numbers on a sheet, a commodity and a workforce—nothing more and definitely nothing like humans who might have feelings, worries, or fears.

Sun was about to say something when both of their tablets went off. Dominguez grabbed the pad and looked at it. Her face turned grave.

Four Maraukian insertion barges had been detected entering the Ramesh system. They were growing planets. Food stores for many. This was devastating news for some.

With that, three systems were now under attack by the Maraukians. There was no knowing when or where they would strike or how many ships and Maraukians they might have with them.

All Dominguez could do was grit her teeth and move forward, hoping that the preparations she was making would be enough for the uncertain future ahead of them.

Chapter Thirteen

VCF Osdal

In Transit from Otarvi System to Emarl System

9/3555

Mark entered the command center. His spare time had been taken up with working with the fabbers aboard the Moby and the Osdal to make orbital defensive platforms.

Inside, there was Admiral Hall, Jerome, Captain Chen, and Captain Yu. On the screens, there was Esamai, Dominguez, and Ortiz. Mark knew that Moretti was overlooking this meeting but he hadn’t revealed himself.

When they had left Earth, Moretti had laid down communication buoys, allowing them to create a network that connected all of the Victor Corporation. As Ortiz was heading out to meet the EMFCs that were hiding in deep space, the freighter he was in was also leaving a path of communication buoys.

In fact, all of the moving ships of the Victor Corporation were laying down buoys whenever they re-entered real space.

Mark trusted that it wouldn’t be long until they had their own secure network running across the known universe.

All eyes looked at Mark as he moved to the command table in the middle of the room.

He quickly merged and took in all the information that was available to him, understanding all the parameters of the Victor Corporation. He understood that, with his words, the corporation would start moving.

“All right, well, let’s start.” Mark looked to the people in the room.

“We need to increase our defensive stance in the Emarl system and be ready for attacks from anyone. We’re working to bring all of our freighters that are currently moving through the EHC up to date with Alcubierre parts.

“We’ve got forces moving to meet up with the EMFCs that are currently on standby with all of their crews in cryo.

“In the Emarl system, to meet our needs, we need to expand our mining efforts. With many of the workers in the Yard becoming military personnel, we’re in dire need of some trained personnel.

“The people aboard the EMFCs will be given the option to retrain and join any of the industries or jobs that we are working on. We’ve also got personnel on Earth who are training up and if they’re willing to, we can move them to Emarl and bolster our numbers. I have hopes for the people of Tricticus, but from the numbers, it looks like most of them want to become troopers instead of people to work on the civilian side of the Victor Corporation.

“The freighters will allow us to set up a trade route through the EHC to supplement our needs but it is my aim to try to recruit people to form these different systems to bolster our numbers in Emarl.

“Eighty percent of our capacity will be turned over to create the different weapons, ammunition, and vehicles that we will need to defend and support different planets. The remaining twenty percent will be turned over to create civilian freighters as well as trade goods.

“Admiral Hall will be in charge of the fleet, whether they are civilian freighters or warships. General Ortiz will command the trooper forces. I will be in command of the Vanguard force made up of mergers. Dominguez will be in charge of all Earth operations. Charles will be in charge of development. Esamai Victor will be in charge of the Yard, station, and asteroid mining efforts.

“It will be up to you all to break down how you want to command and control these different items.” Mark looked across all of their faces.

“With all of this, we’re going to need a better system of governing it all, and one that won’t lead to corruption down the line. As humans have shown that we’re not the best at making our own systems, I have been working with the other mergers and we created what we call the gauntlet. It is an AI that will analyze everyone based on their knowledge, as well as their management and personal skills, to pick the best person for different areas. The areas selected are science and development, manufacturing, foodstuffs, military, general law and governing, trade, and information. A person will be selected by the AI to fulfill these roles. They will be paid higher than most and they will get greater access to pursue advancing their knowledge in their given realm. The terms are not determined; it will only be when a better representative is found that they will be replaced.

“This way, if they’re out of touch with their field, they will be let go and they can once again come into it and possibly regain their position or stay to support the system. Without a human there to pick the leader, we can be sure that it will not be an emotional call. It is possible that among us we will not hold onto our positions for very long once this AI comes online.

“Only in very strict circumstances can someone not be removed from office. This has been programmed into the AI so, again, it will not be a decision made by emotional or political means.”

The others in the room seemed to agree with this. Mark saw that there was some nervousness hiding in their expressions. Losing one’s position because they were deemed to not be the best person for it was a hard pill to swallow but he knew that they were strong characters and even if there was someone above them they would be able to continue forward. It might even lessen the load on some of their shoulders.

Mark sent Sarah an order as everyone received an information packet.

“I have sent you all information packets with all that you will need to know per your job. It’s time that we started building.”

Chapter Fourteen

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

9/3555

The transit time from Otarvi to Emarl would take forty weeks in total, some ten months. The troopers could have used the cryopods that lay in the freighter, but instead of doing that, the troopers were still awake and working.

Most of them had training in the yard as one profession or another so Jerome, Mark, and Hall had figured out a rota to train the troopers and keep their skills up to date, while also driving them to work with the fabbers located in the freighter.

The freighter was filled with materials and they had three level-one fabbers and one level-two fabber.

Right now, the level-one fabbers were working around the clock to make NIAIs for all of the troopers and personnel on the freighter. The level-two fabber was working on making another level-two fabber.

The Moby, which was moored inside the freighter, had its own fabbers as well, greatly increasing their ability to make items.

If they had ten months, they didn’t want to waste it. They needed weapons, ammunition, and Defender Armor.

“I have the numbers in,” Jerome said as he walked into Mark’s office on the Moby. He sent the information from his NIAI to Mark.

Mark merged, assimilating the information quickly. “I thought more of them would want to be part of the Yard.”

The numbers that Jerome was talking about was a list of people who wanted to remain as troopers or work in the Yard or Emarl system. They needed people in both roles.

It didn’t make sense to resume training with those who were going to work at the Yard as soon as they got back to Emarl. Instead of adding them to the training rota, they would be added on the manufacturing side of things.

Although the fabbers were great at making new items, there was still a need for people to design items, to build them in the machine shops aboard the freighter, and upgrade the system that they already had or make new ones.

Charles and the engineering team weren’t wasting any time as they worked to upgrade the Moby launch systems that could also drop supplies, new reactors, and an anti-matter generator so that they could travel faster and farther while also supporting any needs of the Vanguard.

The ship was getting new weapons, better armor plating and engines. When completed, the Moby wouldn’t be comparable to the ship it was before.

“Most of them miss being troopers. It always looks better on the other side,” Jerome said.

Mark grunted in agreement before his eyes moved to Jerome. “I see that you’re on the undecided rota.”

Jerome scratched his head and moved the seat out in front of Mark’s table and sat down. “I don’t know, Mark. Thinking of Esamai on the Yard, dealing with everything there—I want to help her out. I also want to be with you guys on the front line. I feel that if I’m not there, then I’ll be letting you down.”

There weren’t many people he could talk to about his doubts but with Mark there were no barriers. They were brothers through blood and sweat.

“I can’t make that decision for you—that’s all yours. You have to decide for yourself what works for you.

“You have a kid and a wife now, man. Not many of us were able to get to that stage. That’s a whole new thing that I sure as hell can’t give you advice on. Also, the Yard is not simple. With the mining going on, the station, and the Skill Schools, there’s going to be a big influx of people joining.

“You’ve been a trooper for half of your life and managing the Yard for the other half. Don’t think that because you’re working on either you’re letting the other down. Do what’s best for you,” Mark said. This decision was big. Also, Mark didn’t doubt that they would be thrown into the deep end. Whatever Jerome decided on, he’d have to commit himself to.

“Thanks, Mom,” Jerome said, dissipating the tension in the room with his offhand joke.

Mark smiled, but even with his merger-capable body, he looked tired and drawn-out. His body might be in peak condition but his eyes seemed aged.

“So, how is prep for training going on your end?” Jerome asked.

“We’ve got about ten thousand people who have applied to take the merging selection. The option has been given to the people in the Emarl system and it seems that a lot of people there are interested in becoming mergers.” Mark sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Jerome could easily tell Mark’s mood just through his gestures.

“All of these people are applying, but they don’t know what they will lose if they get through it.

“By the time the choice comes, they’ll know finally, but too many are willing to sacrifice their humanity. It scares me, Jerome.” Mark held up his hand and examined it. It turned from tanned to silver, transforming into different tools and items.

“Purpose-built war machines, stronger, faster, more connected, but at what cost? The cost of our humanity, perfect recollection of when your buddy died so you can live with it every moment and replay it thousands of times in a minute, never erasing it or being able to numb it? I crave merging now, the way it allows you to sink into the whole, to leave your worries behind and just become a cog in the machine. It’s so much easier than trying to deal with everything.”

The duo sunk into silence, thinking on their lives and the bodies they had left in their wake. They had served with some of the greatest people they knew, yet out of them, there were too few survivors.

They both knew that all the training didn’t matter to a random rocket or a coil gun round at just the right angle.

That guilt that they had survived but others hadn’t left them pushing forward with everything they had. They didn’t know when the end would come but they would do everything that they could to make sure that when it did, the people they cared for were protected.

“With more mergers, we’ll be able to increase our manufacturing efforts, though,” Mark said on a lighter note, trying to distract them both from the depression they felt themselves spiraling into.

“Yeah, by the time we reach the Emarl system, we should have at least enough weapons and armor for a carrier group’s worth of troopers,” Jerome said.

“Hopefully it’ll be enough.”

“We’ve got a long way to go but it’s a start. At least now we’ll be fighting for our people, not some corporation or twisted politicians,” Jerome said. “I heard that Charles found something out about the Maraukian signals?” Jerome had a frown on his face as he remembered the rumors he had been hearing.

“Yeah.” A grave look appeared on Mark’s face. “It seems that the Maraukians are being directed by someone. There is a signal that appears occasionally to the insertion barges. This signal is passed to the herd commanders, who are nothing more than signal repeaters. When the Maraukians lose them, then the herd goes wild as they lose all direction and go feral. We don’t know where the signal is coming from but Charles has recognized it, so he is trying to make something to trace where the signal is coming from. Then we can hit the root of the problem.”

“Why would someone send the Maraukians to attack us?”

“Who knows how an alien thinks?” Mark shook his head. “It’s clear that they’ve put centuries of work in to carry out this plan, taking people from Earth and planting them on different planets, then leaving hibernating Maraukians on the planets until the planet’s technology reaches a certain point and the Maraukians wake up.

“Then, after the planet recovers a bit, they’re hit by another wave of Maraukians. If this wasn’t a war, I would think that they’re trying to train us up, keep hitting us so that we get stronger or we fail.”

“Why the hell would they want to train us up? Also, what changed so that they’re now using Alcubierre drives to move instead of just their sub-light engines?” Jerome asked.

The two of them had complicated expressions on their faces as they tried to answer these questions or figure out who was behind the Maraukians.

“We know that before, it looked like they wanted us to survive, making it easier for us to fight one another. It’s clear that they had this ability before.” Mark shook his head, giving up on trying to figure out aliens.

“Join the EMF, go to exotic new places, and kill the bastards trying to kill you,” Jerome said, repeating the old phrase used by many troopers.

Mark snorted. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Chapter Fifteen

Desialias Residence

Tricticus, Emarl System

10/3555

Hael watched the funeral procession. It had been a rare sight when so many people were dying. When they had been fighting the Maraukians, there had been no time to hold a funeral.

As such, a new custom had started: the dead were laid to rest while the family, who many times weren’t allowed to see the body due to its state, went to the Wall of Remembrance.

Today, once again, military and civilian members entered this holy ground, a section of wall that was covered in the shields of the fallen. The wall, cast with the melted-down metal, was rough and unkept.

His wife gripped his hand, sensing the emotions that stirred in Hael’s heart. He gave her a smile as he ascended the stairs to the podium that had been set up today for this sad event.

Silence fell over the people as they stopped. Some people fought back tears; others gripped their fists tight to hold back their emotions.

These were people who had served with the fallen, or grown up with them. So many of Crisidium’s youth were now part of the military, serving on the front lines every day to bring a new future for their people.

“Chyna Taleel, Radis Kallo, Joreen Weloi, and Hedar Osori. Today these names will be put to rest on this wall, but they are not just names. They are not just an engraving. They are people of Crisidium who made the ultimate sacrifice for their friends, brothers and sisters, for us.” Hael let out a shaky breath.

“Nothing I say will remove the pain. Our losses have been too great over the past years and our hearts are already scarred from those we have lost. More might be asked of us in the future. I wish that we could just become farmers, go back to the times when we could enjoy the setting sun with a drink in our hands and think of the beauty of the day instead of the lost ones that, like the sun, have fallen, leaving our lives in darkness. These brave men and women lost their lives for us. To make them proud, we must live on, to try to live lives that they weren’t able to. I can’t say that this is the end of the fighting. Only that we have entered a new chapter of this war.”

Hael didn’t stand there, proudly declaring their coming victory; he could only tell them the truth. This might just be the beginning.

“Whoever comes, whatever creed, whatever race, if they want to step on us, let them remember the people on this wall. Let them remember that while their shields broke, they created a wall—a wall covered in the blood spent and lives lost.” Hael’s voice became angry, savage even, as he looked at those people in the crowd.

“We do not want war, we do not crave battle, but if our enemies wish to attack us, we will defend. When they wish to retreat, we will surge forward and when they attempt to hold, we will crush them. For the first time in Tricticus’s history, since the beginning, we are united! Thirteen cities standing together! Our skies have been opened by the Victor Corporation and our arms strengthened by their training. We will stand by this wall, and we will push forward, so that maybe one day, one of our younger generations can farm this war-torn land and can look upon this wall filled with pride and strength. That they will not need to carry weapons but instead carry our hopes and pursue a free future!”

The people looked at him, their eyes still wet and a few of them trying to hide the wet streams that fell on their cheeks.

Hael looked away, tears on his own face as he thought of the people he had commanded, the people he had known who had fallen.

There were just too many of them.

The procession continued as three people, two carrying a laser etcher and a woman, stepped up to the wall.

One was Julieus, Hael’s son and Chyna’s nephew; the other Taleel. They placed the engraver against the wall; Taleel’s mother slowly placed her trembling hand on the etcher.

The etcher’s lasers fired up as she let out a sob. Hael’s wife placed her hands on either shoulder.

Chyna’s wife fell into her, crying as the etcher finished.

The group moved away as the next stepped forward. An all-military group stepped up for Radis Kallo. His parents had died but his three brothers and two sisters survived on. All of them had served and now there was just three remaining.

This scene was all too normal across Tricticus.

Hael watched as parties moved up to the wall, leaving their mark and their close one’s names.

I wonder how many more names will be added by the end of it. Hael gritted his teeth against the surge of pain that came from deep within. He glanced at the wall filled with names already, and the extra space left for those who might join their fallen brothers and sisters.

Chapter Sixteen

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

10/3555

Charles glanced up from his work to see Gomez and Jess staring at him. “What?” he asked.

Jess’s eyes seemed to widen, but it was Gomez who broke the awkward silence that fell between them.

“We need to talk.”

Charles looked at the files spread out on his three monitors. His mind worked so fast he had to force himself to slow down to their level. “I’ve just got to finish…”

Jess put her hand on him and he raised an eyebrow at her. “Seriously, Charles. Please.”

He glanced from her to Gomez, not knowing why the serious attitude. “Is this some kind of intervention?”

“Actually,” Gomez sat before him, letting out a big puff of breath, “I know things have changed since you merged. But there’s some things that we need to sort out. Jess and I’ve been talking with Maxine. You’re working yourself to the bone to try to make it up to Mark and the others for what we did.”

Charles noticed Maxine working away in the background. She saw him and nodded his way. “I’m with them,” she said.

“I don’t need to sleep more than a few hours a week or eat all that much anymore. You guys can’t try to keep up with me,” Charles said.

Jess frowned. Before, Charles had been the type to get wrapped up so deep in his work that he would forget to eat and drink some days. Now with his merger body, forgetting to do these things or even sleeping was fine.

She knew that guilt fueled him and made him push past his limits. In the last two months, he had produced more things than he had done in the last five years. With his ability to instantly integrate knowledge his NIAI had acquired, if he had a problem he could find a solution to it or at least find a direction to go in to find a solution with enough time.

His ability to use nanites meant that he had hooked himself up to a nanite vat every waking hour, acting like another fabber to produce more items.

With him pushing himself, he had forgotten the others who worked around him. To try to capitalize on everything he came up with, they had been working long hours and meals were being sent to their desks as they didn’t have the time to leave.

Some of them had even been put on medical leave by medical staff.

Charles blinked a few times as he actually focused on them.

Gomez’s eyes were gaunt, his face pale; gray hairs sprouted through a now scraggly beard. Jess looked as though she’d not showered or changed clothes in a week, and had also lost about ten pounds.

“Oh.” It dawned on him then what he’d done. Although it had been fine for him to work consistently with no sleep, with no real food, it wasn’t fine for them. He knew he’d been overdoing it, but he’d also been pushing them. Without them by his side to bounce things off to finalize plans, even from his own much faster mind, he’d worried. So, they’d stuck by him almost…

“Twenty hours a day,” his NIAI informed him.

“I’m sorry. You’re trying to keep up with me, and it isn’t working, is it?”

“Charles, we love you. We love working with you, but…” Jess rested a hand on the back of Gomez’s shoulder. “No,” she stated. “We’re exhausted. Everything you’re doing work-wise, science-wise is amazing. You’re breaking concepts apart we’d never even thought of. But we can’t keep up with you.”

“Don’t worry. You guys need to rest and that’s fine. It might be a bit slower but having you guys burn out would be even worse. I’ve been so focused I forgot about your limits.” Charles scratched his head awkwardly.

Gomez cleared his throat and the others looked at him.

“I talked to the mergers. It’s clear the advantages of becoming a merger. I’ve been a bachelor most of my life. I spend more time in a lab than seeing other people to have a relationship. I’m nearly eighty years old. I don’t want children either, so taking the next step isn’t all that hard for me.”

“What are you talking about?” Charles asked.

“I talked to them and they said that they’ll make me a merger if I really want it. I’ll have to go through some basic fighting training to defend myself but you won’t be the only person tearing it up in here.” Gomez grinned.

“I talked to them as well. They said that it would be okay,” Maxine said in a small voice.

Jess looked at them both with wide eyes. Charles was also stunned by what they said.

“If you’re doing this because of me…” Charles said, feeling guilty.

“I’m not doing it because of you, Charles. I’m doing it because I think it’s the right thing to do. Seeing what you’re able to do—if we were to merge and then work together, wouldn’t our efforts be multiplied?” Maxine asked.

Charles couldn’t argue against that position. But… “Then you wouldn’t be able to have children, or change back. You’d be a merger blend of machine and person for the rest of your life—heck for all eternity possibly!”

“Well, at least we’ll have good company,” Gomez said.

Jess looked awkward as they talked to one another. “I, I can’t.” Jess shook her head. “I might be an engineer; I might spend my time in a lab, but I want to have a family sometime. If I became one, then I would lose that. I wouldn’t be able to have a family or kids or any of it.”

“It’s fine,” Gomez said.

“It’s not! If I don’t and you all are, then how will I be able to help you? I won’t be able to merge, or be a part of the team anymore!” Jess said.

“You will always be a part of our team,” Charles said.

“I…I just need some time.” With that, Jess turned and left the lab quickly.

Maxine, Gomez, and Charles watched her leave.

Becoming a merger wasn’t for everyone and they had made their decisions. It looked as though Jess had made hers as well.

Charles just hoped that it wouldn’t tear their team apart.

Chapter Seventeen

Senator Rimateus’s Estate

Roma, Hellenic System

10/3555

The hologram closed as Rimateus’s easy smile turned into a snarl and he threw a glass at the wall.

“Talking to me about my lost voting points! Fucking piece of shit, who do you think you are!” Rimateus’s veins popped out while he fought to control himself. He wanted nothing more than to punch Senator Fehin.

Rimateus already knew it: he had been slowly but steadily losing voting points over the last couple of months. The worst part was he knew why and he couldn’t do anything.

Someone was passing information to the different ex-legionnaire people who supported them.

He didn’t know who the person was but it seemed that they had quite the reputation from the effect it was having.

If he lost enough points, then his position, which had been stable for so long, would start to weaken. And then the enemies that he had made across the Union might be able to use this to push him down further.

He couldn’t let this happen but he didn’t know who the source was. Although he could get the information that showed him meddling in the affairs of Otarvi system, the information made it clear that this was not all that Rimateus had done.

More than anything, Rimateus needed to silence this person.

If they were to have real information on him and then release it to the public, he might truly lose his position.

His thoughts turned to the people in Otarvi who he had an issue with, primarily the people of the Victor Corporation.

Before they had even left the system, he had been talking with his fellow senators.

If there was another power out there with military capabilities and an Alcubierre drive, it might destabilize the situation within the alliance.

They could deal with Earth and Her Colonies but this was a wild group that they didn’t understand, with technology that was more advanced than their own.

A plan had started to form. Although they might not be able to directly act, it was possible that they could act through some pawns.

The fighting forces in the Union were a few mercenary bands, private security, and the legion. Few, if any, of the people in these different groups would be willing to go up against an entire solar system.

Though there was now a new strength and group of pawns that they could deal with: the corporations of Earth. They had people, resources, and money. They were also the kind to do deals and were much easier to handle.

They had already started to send out some feelers to the different corporations. Primarily the ones in Luyten. Luyten was the closest system to the Hellenic system and it was well developed, second only to Earth.

With a large population base, there was a greater need for forces to suppress the rest of the population.

They also had a high traffic of ships and some shipyards. With a population of three billion, it was possible to raise a fighting force from them, update ships in-system, and form a base of operations for striking out against the Emarl system.

With promises and deals being brokered on both sides, the senators had nearly all of the parts in place. They just needed to get some of their more trusted friends to sell parts to the Luyten corporations, mainly Alcubierre drives.

Although they weren’t military types, they all knew that the longer they left the Emarl system alone, the harder it would be to defeat it.

With the EHC attacking Emarl, the senators could not only make a deal with the Luyten corporations to protect them, they could make the case that the EHC and Emarl system needed the guiding hand of the Union. If they weren’t part of the Union, they might bring trouble to all of humanity.

With this, they could support their chosen corporations to take control over the EHC and bring them under the Union’s control.

It didn’t matter whether there were people rebelling on planets; they’d just be protesters against the survival of humanity.

To the people in the Union who had liberated these people, they wouldn’t care whether these ungrateful systems were left to fend for themselves, or that they had to pay much higher prices in resources as it was harder for ships to reach them, increasing the profits of the merchants and the senators they lobbied.

If he pulled it off, Rimateus would be seen as a paradigm of virtue and the rumors would disappear—along with the one saying them.

Then he could also gain more power than ever before through backhanded dealings, pushing his family to even greater heights.

Already the first delivery of parts was on the way. But Rimateus needed more, many more, if the attack on Emarl was to succeed.

Information had closed down in the couple of months since the Yard had moved into the system.

Rimateus and his people had looked into the system and the numbers of people they were able to gather. His different military advisers told him that it would be nearly impossible for Emarl to defend against their forces.

Still, he pushed for the growing Luyten Military Force to get not only Alcubierre drives, but older weapon system plans and armor.

The Harmony’s chosen had battle armor and the troopers showed that they had improved on it.

He didn’t just want to defeat the people in Emarl—he wanted to destroy them. To make sure it didn’t come back on him, he had added his own operatives to the mission to make sure that there weren’t any major problems and to keep the ships running.

If the Luyten force was defeated, Rimateus was sure that he could hide it after some time and then turn it into a secret ace if he needed it.

The emperor’s position seems less and less stable every year. With these thoughts, Rimateus was able to calm down as he opened up his NIAI and continued to check on his different plans.

The loss of his voter points was only a small lapse, before he made his greatest gain.

Chapter Eighteen

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

10/3555

Mark finished off his run while he took in all the other info from his NIAI and the other mergers. He headed off to the showers though he didn’t need to physically do it; he wanted the feel of something normal. The water ran over him, and he let the nanites take what they wanted from it and discard anything they didn’t.

Thoughts plagued him, not only from his darker past but from more recent events. Sectioning those off from the wider net, Mark allowed himself the time to wallow both in and out of the shower. There was a lot going on around him and new mergers meant a lot more emotional dealings. The theory was great: having more firepower to do the hard tasks they were asked of. But the reality was no matter how much you tried to keep personalities and the other people at bay, they eventually found their way inside the mind and were soon a permanent fixture.

Sarah kept the reports coming in. Though he wasn’t focused on them, it at least kept him a little distracted.

Then his thoughts drifted to Jerome and Esamai. With the love they had, it was hard for him to see his brother in pain every day. Not being with his wife and child.

Without even knowing it, Mark started to think about Ava and what had transpired after they’d been reunited on Osdal. Merging with her at that level was something else entirely, and although the shower was warm, his body shivered, not even needing to—his nanites kept everything regular as clockwork.

While the others trained, ate, and trained all the more, Mark had pushed and pushed himself through all his limits, his body on the verge of collapse once more despite the extra boosting and drugs he kept piling into it.

It was Sarah who had forced him to take this break, to wind down, to actually retire to his room and do what most normal people did: sleep.

So, he let his nanites clear out his systems, and that’s where the emotions returned, the memories. No matter how much he blocked them, he had to deal with it eventually. Now was the time.

Turning the shower off, Mark stepped aside, feeling somewhat refreshed even if shaky. He shook his body and was dry; clothes formed around him as he moved to leave, to finally put his head on his pillow.

He left the showers and returned to his room. He saw the door slightly ajar and his fight instinct quickly returned. Moving in close to see what was going on, he spotted a figure moving around, weapons in hand. Instinct took over and he forced the door open, pushing himself on top of the armed intruder and grappling for the knives.

“Mark, it’s Ava!”

The voice echoed in his mind as they tumbled in a heap to the bed and then to the floor. His strength overpowered hers as the knives clinked to the floor.

The adrenaline that had flooded his systems dissipated slightly as his voice cracked out, “What the fuck did you think you were doing?”

Ava struggled to breathe under his weight, but she shrugged. “Can’t move in without them.” She managed to slip a hand over her head and pull her knife forward, inches from his neck.

It glinted at him. Mark let up slightly so she could move more, and instead of trying to get out from underneath him like he thought she would, she settled there and wrapped her arm around him, knife still in hand.

“You just shower?” she asked. “This might have been much more fun, without the clothes.”

Mark heard her words, knew and felt the meaning deep within his body, but he couldn’t.

He tried to push off her, but she held on tightly. Her legs wrapped around his torso, pulling his face in closer to hers. Then she kissed him, her lips warm and soft. He responded without thought, without any emotion, till he felt her merging thoughts and feelings alongside his.

“Ava. No,” he said firmly and pushed back. Trying to fight everything his body wanted. Her.

She let the knife glint in his vision once more. “You’re saying no with a knife to your throat—good idea?”

Mark tried to move once more but found he couldn’t. Nothing of his body seemed to want to let go of her. His mind forced its will down, but he suddenly felt too weak. There was no fight left for him. He stared into her eyes, recognizing what was going on, but not wanting to accept it still.

“Full body scan tells me you’re in need of rest and recuperation. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard. Sarah tell you to come here?”

Mark nodded, and finally, she let him up enough that he could slip out from her grip. This time kneeling while she stayed still, yet her breathing was quick. Emotional.

“Then I suggest you get in bed and listen to her.”

Mark looked at the bed, felt the need to climb in and let the world melt away around him. So, he did. He watched her finish putting several items in his drawers, unable to say anything else to stop her.

Chapter Nineteen

Luyten Conglomerate Headquarters

Earth, Sol System

10/3555

The Vasilievich Corporation had been founded many years previously, almost alongside two others, Sosa Industries and Hozumi Productions. The two largest companies often went against each other in corporate bids for acquisitions. This time was no different and the young head of Vasilievich Corporation, Kilment Vasilievich, waited on the two opposing heads to tune in for this meeting via extra secured comms.

Kilment had read over many reports coming from the different gangs over by Westerly Three’s complex. Over the last couple of years, they’d been buying up lands, buildings—and people, it seemed—and there was now genuine worry over the sheer amount of properties they’d managed to obtain.

In all, it looked like the VC had just the one complex and garden center, but, looking closer, there were several off-shooting accounts and management companies all buying up local resources. To Kilment, it meant there were some very sneaky and clever minds behind the operation and he’d been watching for some time.

Now there were several other bits of worrying reports coming from the legion. Reports about powered suits changing the user’s minds and bodies. Making weapons most of them would not be able to fight against. Couple that with the growing power behind the VC on Earth itself and it looked very worrying indeed.

Uno Hozumi was the first to show her face through on comms. The petite Japanese woman had not only strong eyes but a stern enough face to go with it. Kilment had met with her in person and what she showed in body language, she matched with her striking intelligence.

Hata Sosa was the youngest at this meeting. He only recently lost his father and had taken over the business. That meant to Kilment that he might well be naive enough to fight the both of them when they needed to make this decision together and back Senator Rimateus for Luyten’s greater good. Their system needed this financial backing, and the probable technology growth that would come with an alliance.

Uno was the first to speak, knowing exactly what she wanted from the meeting. “My proposals to you are clear,” she said. “To bring our forces together with the FTL drives provided by Senator Rimateus, it is my belief that we each offer a decent piece to this contract. My company will provide all the production and facilities to build our ships. Sosa Industries has the technical know-how to put the two together and you,” she looked directly at Kilment, “have the weapons and alignment so that we can move forward and take over our smaller rivals. Obtaining the drives will bring us above the others on many levels. Using all of this to our advantage is paramount to how we three move forward.”

Kilment hadn’t wanted to lead the get-together, so he was glad that Uno had. “It is all but a formality to agree to this. Yes, there will be no more rivalry between the two of you?”

Uno cocked her head to the side to view Hata at a closer level, but Kilment could see the look of pleasure oozing from her. It was, after all, one of the reasons he’d just lost his father. Their arguments and lifelong feud, though, might finally be coming to a halt. “Is this agreeable to you, Sosa?”

Sosa looked from the two of them to something over at his side. “We have been monitoring many communications through space lately. It is of great concern that the Maraukians are coming closer and closer to our systems. I would like a counter-proposal for us to work on while we’re negotiating over the transition.”

Kilment wasn’t sure where this would be going, but when he received the files, he understood and agreed also. “A very wise man indeed to not leave his people undefended. I believe we can work on both projects.”

Uno raised an eyebrow at this information package. “Agreed. We do not want to be left blindsided. I suggest we begin training and tasking all our forces. Senator Rimateus’s freighter will be within ours in a few weeks. Let us be ready. Then all we need to concentrate on is where to strike our negotiations first.”

Kilment liked Uno. Although he was no pushover and she knew it, it was good to let someone else’s ideas and resolve forge on. He smiled. “I think Gilese will be that perfect place to begin inserting ourselves. Don’t you?”

Chapter Twenty

Skill School—Malazar House

Tricticus, Emarl System

10/3555

James Perry didn’t look like your typical teacher. He looked instead like one of those big bastards who get earmarked as a machine gunner as soon as they start training.

He had served on Fernix and Earth with his trooper brothers and sisters before his service was bought out by the Victor Corporation. Like many of the troopers, he had joined the EMF to escape his life in the slums and possibly have a future.

When he was given the opportunity to learn something other than how to fire a repulsor and try not to die, he jumped at the opportunity.

Troopers were a driven group; they didn’t do things by half measures.

So, the big, tanned James Perry had done his all to increase his understanding on any and all mechanical systems. He had worked with the design team for the different massive carriers that were built by the Victor Corporation and had gone on to work with the building crews that assembled them.

He was one of the most knowledgeable people on the freighters that the Victor Corporation made. With his wealth of theoretical and practical knowledge, he had gone from a head engineer leading his own team to the leader of a Skill School based on Tricticus.

He looked around the field that they had set down in. He was wearing battle fatigues and his helmet was sealed as he looked out on what remained of the city.

There were bodies, of both Maraukians and humans, still all over the place. Signs of battle were littered around.

The other cities were still recovering themselves; they didn’t have time to go and clean up another city.

Most of the bodies had been eaten by the animals left in the city, leaving mostly bones.

“Well, looks like the Citadel after the Harmony Chosen got in,” Kee, Perry’s second-in-command for the Skill School and ex-combat shuttle pilot, said.

Behind them, several combat shuttles had people pulling out supplies.

“Well, we best get started. The new trainees will be here in just a few weeks.” Perry accessed his NIAI. He sent orders out to his people, picking the ones who had been troopers. It would be easier for them to deal with the bodies compared to the civvies.

“At least we’ve got plenty of fertilizer for the hydroponics people,” Perry said.

“Maraukian fertilizer—yeah, I don’t think that it will really take off,” Kee said.

Perry moved off with the groups of troopers taking the powered suits with them to move the heavier Maraukians that were littered all over the ground as people carried containers on anti-gravity sleds to an open area on the border of the city.

Construction had started on the first Skill School on Tricticus. From the ashes of the defeated city, they would look to train the next generation of specialists needed to keep the different parts of Emarl running and allow them to push forward as a system.

Chapter Twenty-One

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

10/3555

Charles was working on projects even now. It was hard not to with his connection to the net and being able to access all public information in the Union as well as Earth and Her Colonies.

There weren’t many items that were hidden behind firewalls that he couldn’t access either.

He sent off a new and revised plan to the engineering crew of the Moby that should decrease the build time on the new power banks by a few weeks.

His eyes once again turned to Jess, who nervously looked at the two nanite vats in the other room where Dodger and Ava were standing with their hands in the nanite vats. It didn’t look as though they were doing anything with their eyes closed, but both Charles and Jess knew that major changes were happening in the other room.

Ava and Dodger removed their hands from the nanite vats, looking tired. They looked at Charles and Jess.

“They should be a few more hours before they get out,” Ava said directly to Charles and Jess’s NIAIs instead of using her voice.

“Understood. Thank you,” Charles said.

Dodger and Ava nodded before they left the room. They had changed the key parts of Maxine and Gomez’s bodies; now it would be up to them how they would rebuild themselves.

Charles watched with Jess as the nanites started to move faster and faster as their two friends rebuilt themselves.

A few hours later, as Ava had said, the nanite vats stopped moving and started to dissipate. The nanites returned to their storage tanks and two people wearing fatigues were revealed.

They were much taller than before and their bodies were made from toned and powerful muscles.

Gomez opened his eyes and looked at his arm.

Charles could feel the connection snap into existence with Gomez and Maxine as their systems came online and they started to wake up.

The rest of the mergers could also sense that they had two more fellow mergers.

Charles knew that they were all probably looking through the different cameras in the room to check on them.

“How does it feel?” Charles asked.

“Weird,” Gomez said.

“Information overload,” Maxine said. All of their senses were greatly increased and they even had a network of sensors laid in their body now. If they wanted to analyze something now, they wouldn’t need any extra equipment.

Gomez merged. His eyes shone before flickering back and forth as he started going through reams of information that only he could understand. After a few minutes, Gomez stopped merging and his eyes turned normal again.

“Holy shit, that’s a rush. Damn, that’s incredible!” Gomez said, in shock from the information overload.

“Looks like it’ll help with all of the work we need to do.” Maxine’s wry tone made Charles smile.

Jess rolled her eyes, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

“I just wonder how many nanites we can control now? Might not even need a fabber!” Gomez laughed, an excited look on his face.

The others laughed at his child-like glee as Gomez could only awkwardly look away, his face turning bright red.

Chapter Twenty-Two

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

11/3555

A few of the containers within the VCF Osdal had been turned into messes so that the people of the ships could get together, have a drink, and blow off some steam. If there wasn’t a way to let off steam, then it was likely it would lead to accidents and fights across the ship.

There were a fair amount of altercations within the messes already but it kept it more contained than across the ship or in the middle of someone’s working shift.

The people outside the mess, smoking into the different vent fans, moved out of the way of the eleven people walking through.

All of them had looks of respect on their faces as they nodded to the group. They pointed out different people, but most of the attention was focused on Mark, who led the group into the mess.

The mess was a simple bar along one wall with people lining up and then seating strewn about. In one corner, there was some movie playing as people talked in different groups.

The bar quieted down as people all noticed the mergers entering. It was hard to miss them: they were all tall as hell and built.

The group moved to one of the open booths and dragged a table over. Nanites flowed from their hands, reinforcing the furniture so that they could sit on it.

“I’ll get the first round.” Evan walked off, with Polwell joining him.

“I’ll help him.”

The room was packed with people but they were all subdued.

They didn’t know what was coming in the future and they had learned about the Maraukians just a few months ago. Then the next thing they knew, they were in a fight against these beasts.

They had faster-than-light drives, access to technology that was decades or centuries ahead of their own, and now there were mergers, a nearly mythical race that could fight these genetic monsters one-on-one.

Most of the people in the mess looked at the mergers with respect. But there were a few who sneered and looked away from them, calling them mutts and dogs.

Humans weren’t a smart race; even as they tried to lie to themselves, they were filled with prejudices.

Mark sat back in his chair. The table was silent, ominous almost.

People gave them their room.

The troopers shook their heads, looks of understanding on their faces. They had all lost someone in battle.

Seeing the mergers and knowing the reports, their losses were more severe than most units could deal with.

Mark felt a hand on his, gripping it tightly. He looked over to Ava. Seeing that pain there, he covered her hand with his.

He might be a stubborn bastard but it looked like her perseverance was wearing away his walls as he remembered the different mergers.

Evan and Polwell returned with the drinks soon enough. They passed the drinks around, making sure everyone had one.

Mark held up the beer. He felt the heavy looks from the room, the hollow feeling deep in his chest. There was so much he wanted to say; he wanted to talk of each of the people who had been under his command. Words wouldn’t be able to convey their personalities, the way they’d get caught up in shit, or how they would have one another’s back; even if they were joking around or looked like they were busy with something else, they’d always lend a hand, complaining every step of the way, or with a smile and joke.

As these thoughts passed through Mark’s mind, it passed through the others’ as well. They each thought of different memories, bringing rise to a small laugh here or there, or someone letting out a snort as they remembered the good times.

They hadn’t been together for long but they had done so much together. Through merging, they’d shared their lives and souls with one another.

It mattered not how long or short a period of time; it had a great impact on them as a fighting team.

The mergers exerted control over their bodies, stopping tears from forming even as their faces distorted. These men and women, the strongest in the whole universe on the outside, were wholly broken on the inside.

“To our brothers and sisters,” Mark said finally.

The others tapped their cups together and then to the table before drinking from their beers.

Once again, they settled into silence as they were left with the emotions and memories that had been dredged up in just those few minutes. The waves of emotions made their eyes feel raw and pulled on their very chests, making it hard to think of anything else.

Kumar finally grabbed his glass and threw it against a wall with a yell. The anger growing on his face and felt through their net was a palpable and powerful thing.

“If that fucking little shit gave us our fucking supplies or backed us up—” Kumar couldn’t even say Hesra’s name or finish his sentence as he leaned on the table, filled with anger but not having anywhere to put it.

The others in the room had gone silent at his outburst. Even the mess staff looked at one another.

Mark looked around the bar, as if telling them to continue on, that there was nothing to see.

Quickly, conversations started to spark up as people let them be.

Evan caught the eye of the guard who looked as if they didn’t know what to do. Evan indicated that the situation was under control.

The man relaxed and went back to where he was standing.

“We know,” Dodger uttered. His voice also carried a heat to it.

“He won’t escape, nor will Rimateus,” Mark vowed, not trusting his own voice and using the net instead.

They looked one another in the eyes, without saying anything more. They were all killers. In their eyes, the fates of these two men had already been sealed.

“Tonight is not about revenge, but instead remembering the people who aren’t with us anymore.” Ava pulled them out of the dark and cold place that they were all spiraling into.

“Today we stand here, eleven of seventy-four.” Ava’s voice caught but she pushed on as she held her drink high.

“Sixty-three of the finest people I have ever come to know. Men and women I didn’t know just a few months ago. But today, I engrave their names in my heart, in my soul. Chyna once told me that a soldier is the only occupation that is actively trying to work themselves out of a job. Hoping that later generations will never have to do the same job. Sixty-three paid that price. Their time has ended and they can rest. But we will move on, fighting until there is a day we don’t need to anymore.”

The room quieted down as the troopers listened in. Anyone who had been in combat knew the truth; they didn’t want others to have to do it. Some would chase the high of fighting, the thrill of facing death again and again. Many, even those who enjoyed the fight, would miss out on that high if it meant that their buddies would be alive and they wouldn’t have to don a set of armor. They wouldn’t cry silently and crumble internally as those people who were closer than family disappeared, their lives, their personalities, how they had acted and live, forgotten.

That was the scariest thing: wondering whether one day you would forget, whether the memory wouldn’t be as sharp, and they became just a name, just a number—not Reese, who would spend his time on crossword puzzles and send messages back to his nieces and nephews. Who was always there when you needed help to work on your armor or when you wanted to go get a cheeseburger. Jared, who was always there with a smart-ass comment or a grin distorted by the thick wad of chew under his lip. Always hanging with Dodger and dispensing advice you didn’t know whether was true or he was fucking with you.

Even with his attitude, he would quietly meet with the different members of the Vanguard, talking to them, making sure that they were okay. He was always in for a beer or a one-on-one, or equally in for video games.

Even as there were times they got into arguments or had issues with one another, or they yelled at you and you yelled at them—it all faded away.

There was always a scene, a memory, the way they laughed or they smiled that captured the essence of them.

They might have been warriors and killers, but they were so much more. They were comedians, pranksters, jack of all trades, friends, the guy you’d trust with your deepest secrets and they’d laugh it off to make you feel better.

Mark closed his eyes as he wondered what they might have been able to do if they had grown up, been free from the fighting.

Only the movie in the background could be heard.

Mark raised his glass as well, squeezing Ava’s hand, who knew that if she said anything more, the floodgates would open. “May they smile forever. May we never lose their memories and one day we can stand tall knowing that what we did meant that others like them wouldn’t need to lose their lives in the name of peace, or war or defense.” Mark wasn’t seeing any of those in the room, but flashes of those he had lost over the years, each carved deep into his heart.

“To the fallen!” Mark’s words rang through the room.

“May they never be forgotten!” The troopers yelled back, the old tradition ingrained in their bones. Even the retired troopers followed suit as they hit their drinks against the tables and took a deep drink.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Freighter O-41 (Designation Wind Snapper)

Ark Orbit, Emarl System

11/3555

Esamai wore a space suit, with little Tyler contained in his own special sling that could go into vacuum as well. She spent as much time as possible with Tyler, only leaving him behind with a caretaker when she was going into some of the more dangerous areas of the yard.

She had met with a number of the traders and people from Tricticus. All of the leaders knew of Esamai, the woman who was coordinating the growth of the entire star system while also looking after her son.

Her passion and knowledge were something that couldn’t be underestimated, despite her young face.

She stood next to Moretti. The two of them looked at the freighter that Moretti had picked a few months ago. It had been heavily upgraded but there didn’t seem to be any differences from the outside.

“It’s going to be a long trip to the Hellenic system,” Esamai said.

“Thirteen months or so,” Moretti said. Some of the crew would be sleeping in their cryopods as they moved toward the system. Moretti would need to be awake, managing his information networks and talking to his different people to keep everyone in the loop knowing what was happening in Earth and Her Colonies as well as the Roma Union.

The two of them stood there, knowing that it would be years until they saw each other again.

Esamai hadn’t known Moretti all that much before he jumped onto the Yard before it left Sol system. Since then he had been like a brother-in-law, helping out where he could, trying to take some of the stress off her shoulders, and looking after Tyler at different times.

“Look after yourself,” Esamai said.

“I will.” Moretti then looked to little Tyler. With that, he walked toward the umbilical that attached the ship to the Yard.

It didn’t take him long to board the freighter.

Esamai watched as the air lock sealed behind him and the different magnetic docking clamps released along the length of the ship.

Thrusters fired as the ship pushed out from the Yard.

It moved away on its engines. It wasn’t long until Esamai couldn’t see the ship anymore.

She had a thoughtful look on her face, thinking of all the freighters that were moving through space right now, linking up with the long-range freighters that they had sent out years ago, or meeting up with the EMFCs that were asleep, laying outside or between different systems.

The scope of what was happening across known space—sometimes she needed a minute to just take it all in.

“I just hope that they all come back safe,” Esamai said softly.

Tyler started moving in his sling. It seemed that he was grumpy again or he needed something.

Esamai hurried back inside the Yard. She had plenty more to do. The Yard wasn’t going to run itself!

Chapter Twenty-Four

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

11/3555

The troopers were standing, row upon row, looking at the eleven people in front.

Over the last three months, there had been a total of thirteen thousand troopers who had signed up for selection training that one needed to undergo before they could be mergers.

To facilitate this, they had been broken down into groups and the mergers had been making simulation systems for them all. For the sake of resources and time, they had modified banks of cryopods so that they could train two thousand of them at one time.

They had also redesigned the simulation systems so that they directly interfaced with the user’s brain, allowing them to act at the speed of thought, increasing how fast they perceived time when they were inside the simulation.

No one spoke as they were inside the freighter’s different pods. All of them wore sealed armor, looking at the eleven people who didn’t wear their armor. In fact, all of them were standing in the vacuum without any issue.

No other biological creature could do this.

Each of the troopers knew their training staff. They were heroes and idols. They might have been from another military before; now they were just part of the Vanguard.

Mark stepped forward and looked over them all. They stood straighter seeing him. He had created the Victor Corporation; he was one of the most decorated and revered troopers from the Harmony War and the first merger.

He led the Vanguard from the front and he held the deep respect of every man and woman in that freighter.

Seeing your hero stepping out in front of you, it was hard for many people to take in at once.

Mark didn’t open his mouth, instead using his NIAI to link to their helmets so that they could all hear him.

“Becoming a merger is one of the hardest things that you have ever experienced. You will need to push beyond your limits before you will even get the opportunity to become a merger.

“If you decide to become a merger, you will no longer be human. You will be a creation bred from the memories and reactions you have right now.

“The person you are right now will no longer exist. You will be something different, if you have children it will be through your stored genetic information, you will be unable to forget the loss of your best friend. You will live with your demons every waking moment and when you go to sleep. Once you take that step, there is no going back.”

The troopers all stood there, some gritting their teeth in determination or gripping their fists tighter.

The mergers had impressed on everyone going through this that there was no turning back.

Seeing that none of them looked to have any quit left in them, Mark acknowledged their guts. Not many of them would make it to become mergers and some might even leave when getting to that last step.

Mark had trained and taught many people over the ages. He no longer felt nervous, excited, or anxious about it; it was just another thing. He simply promised that he would push them as hard as possible. The better and harder the training was, the higher the possibility of surviving when it was the real thing.

“Very well. Everyone move to the modified cryopods. Your selection starts now.” Sarah sent them all a message with information detailing which cryopod was theirs.

The different groups filed off and headed into the spine of the freighter to enter the simulation as soon as possible.

Mark looked to the other mergers. He didn’t need to ask or say anything. He could feel their emotions as they saw these troopers moving off.

Some of them would become their new brothers and sisters in the Vanguard. Even if they passed training, the possibility of them dying in battle was also high.

They would be some of the best trained and fighting capable people, but the fact remained that in war there was no guarantee that you would survive.

The sixty-three mergers who hadn’t made it back from their mission attested to this fact.

Gaining the mergers’ acceptance would be hard.

“Let’s see if they’re any good,” Mark said to the mergers through the communication net.

***

Chen’s days had been filled with reports and information briefs.

Charles and his engineering crew were pushing harder than ever before and they seemed to have lit a fire under Chen’s engineering crew’s asses.

They had planned out a number of upgrades for the Moby to bring it up to date, but they would have taken years to complete if not for Gomez, Maxine, and Charles all being mergers now.

Charles, Maxine, and Gomez, who had been working with nanites vats for decades, were like wizards, able to create items faster than even fabbers. As their minds increased their control, they had shared the information with the other mergers, allowing them to all increase the speed at which they could build things with the nanites’ vats.

Charles had even taken it a step further. He programmed the nanites himself and had them moving through different systems in the Moby, breaking down the old components and building new ones.

This greatly increased the speed that systems were upgraded. The engineers, who would have been wasted to remove the old components and put in the new ones, were freed to make more parts and plans with the merger trio.

Chen lent his hand where he could. He was added into their conversations many times, or at least given an information folder that updated him on what they wanted to do and wanted him to okay it if possible.

Before, he wouldn’t have known what he was signing, but now with his ability to integrate information into his memories seamlessly he was able to at least understand the concepts behind the different changes they wanted to make.

There had also been a number of items that he had denied due to them being a waste of manpower.

Sure, it was nice upgrading everything and it would lead to a big jump upward in combat capability. The fact was that there were a number of upgrades which were convenient but they weren’t of an immediate need.

Weapons, armor, engines, Alcubierre drive, and merger delivery systems: these were the key areas that Chen agreed to different upgrades.

At times, there were things like an upgrade that could increase the power output from the fusion reactors. Chen agreed to these kinds of requests as well if they didn’t take up too much time and resources.

When he wasn’t dealing with Charles and the engineers of the Moby, he was talking with Admiral Hall.

Right now, the Moby was the only combat capable ship under the Victor Corporation.

Sure, the freighters had weapons systems on them. Although they could put up a fight, their armor wasn’t all that strong and at the base of it all, they were freighters with military upgrades built in. They didn’t have the power or armor to deal with a stand-up fight.

Admiral Hall had passed over ship development to Chen. With his merging capabilities and knowledge of different ships, it was possible for him to quickly design a ship.

He was going for modular design. Using the fabbers, they could each make sections that could be brought together like a puzzle to make a ship, much faster than moving section by section to create it.

Although it sounded like a dream to make so many ships so fast, the fact of the matter was that with the increased production speed, Chen had to make sure that everything was right before they started.

He had also been given a second part to his task, one that he had only learned about a few days ago. He not only needed to design new ships, but he had to decide whether it was worth upgrading twenty-five EMFCs or choose to scrap them.

He remembered what Admiral Hall had told him when giving him the information packet on the twenty-five different Earth Military Force carriers.

“While I can’t guarantee this, it is highly likely that those twenty-five ships will join us in the Emarl system. If they do, then we need a plan for them. They’ll be rigged up with Alcubierre drives or being pulled out by freighters. We need to decide if we break them down or put them to work.” Admiral Hall watched Chen for his reaction.

He was left in a bit of shock. Each carrier would hold some one hundred thousand troopers and seventy thousand support personnel. That was nearly two hundred thousand people, all of them with prior training. Chen was worried about what might happen with the Union and EHC looking at the Emarl system.

Although the EHC were less of a threat, choosing to fight among one another, he knew that it would be only a matter of time until they gained Alcubierre drives.

If their military was removed from around them, he didn’t know how they’d react.

It also highlighted to him how the fragile EHC would start to crumble.

With no more military personnel to restore order in the Colonies and with the Victor Corporation offering new trade routes through the EHC and even ferrying people back to Emarl, Chen didn’t doubt that Emarl would see massive changes and the EHC might not survive the coming storm.

Chen was still looking over the carriers but first he had a meeting with Admiral Hall. It looked as though he had finished the design on the four main ship designs.

He knocked on Admiral Hall’s office door.

“Come in!” Admiral Hall said. The door opened to reveal the admiral at his desk. His hands moved through the 3-D interface as he used his NIAI and the interface to increase the speed that he could do tasks.

They might be on a freighter hurtling through space toward their base, but Admiral Hall was still at the center of it all, passing orders to the different forces that were across dozens of star systems, checking on reports, and working with the Yard to organize their projects.

Captain Chen snapped out a salute as he came to attention in front of the admiral.

Hall cancelled the screen and returned the salute.

Chen felt awkward whenever he saluted. It took some time to train himself to not hold his fist over his heart instead of the EMF salute that everyone else was using.

He had joined the legion as a wide-eyed teenager wanting to make his mark and become a famous ship captain in the space legion. He had achieved his goals, but he was more infamous than famous at the end of it all.

“Good to see you, Captain Chen. I guess that you’re done with the ship designs?” Hall asked.

“Yes, sir.” Chen sent him the information.

“Please take a seat. I’m not as fast as you merger types.” Hall smiled.

Chen nodded with a small smile and settled down into a chair.

Although Chen might have left the legion behind, he had been hesitant about what he would be doing in the new Victor Corporation. He still didn’t know what his job would be, but it was clear that the people trusted him. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have given him such a large task that would have a massive impact on their future.

“Carrier, troop transport, battleship, and support vessel,” Hall said as he went through the information. “Tell me in your own words a summary of the four types, then required time to build and necessary infrastructure.” Hall’s eyes focused on Chen.

Chen activated the hologram projector in the room as a ship appeared between the two of them. It was a boxy-looking ship, with ports running along its sides and communication hubs dotted across its surface.

Chen gathered himself quickly before indicating to the hologram.

“The carrier is the mainstay of space operations. It has the strongest communication systems and multiple back-ups and has primarily two ship types: the rapid support drones as well as seeders. Its weaponry is focused on the defensive to allow the different ships to exit as well as protect the open acceleration rails.

“It has a specially designed launch system that will allow stored RSD to deploy in just a matter of minutes. The biggest thing with the carrier will be the seeders and the RSDs needing to be added to the ships.

“It will take two months to make one carrier if using ten level-three fabbers continuously and having automated machines to put the different sections together.

“The troop transport is similar to a freighter, optimizing interior space to fit more fighting personnel. It will also have bunkers to store some extra needed materials and fabbers in case they are needed to make more parts.

“Its weaponry will be defense based for space combat and then have weapons to support ground combatants.”

“Much like how the Moby was able to support the mergers on Edani with their rail cannons?” Hall clarified.

“Exactly. It will also have launch rails for the new drop-ships for rapid deployment and a multi-stage system to increase deployment rate. I will be able to carry a company of Gorgons, a carrier group of troopers, and artillery to support. I am now thinking I can modify the EMFCs to become these troop transports.”

Hall nodded in understanding. The EMFCs were large ships and if they could use them instead of having to start over, it would be for the best.

“They will also have medical facilities onboard ready to receive wounded that come up back from the surface.”

“How long?” Hall asked.

“Will need about twenty level-three fabbers running for a month and a half,” Chen said, holding nothing back.

The troop transports would be carrying and supporting the main force on the ground and they would be much larger.

The carrier, on the other hand, had a lot of specialized equipment, with most of its space being taken up with communication systems, RSDs, seeders, and launch rails.

Hall nodded, his eyes looking at the troop transport. “Continue.”

The image changed once again, turning to that of a ship that looked to have its bottom half cut off.

“This is the supply vessel. Its Alcubierre drive can be collapsed, opening up the underside of the vessel, which is a series of cargo doors. It will work like a mobile factory from the rear all the way to the bow. Materials will be taken in near the engines of the support ship, then pass through different fabbers or machine shops to be turned into whatever items are needed, then crated up and carried off by heavy hauler shuttles that can double as small freighters with attached Alcubierre drives. It will have different mining machines to gather materials from asteroids or planetoids based in the system of operations. From there, haulers will take the materials back to the support vessel, feeding its material needs. With these, we can support long-term missions in different systems if needed. I think that they should be built ahead of the other ships,” Chen stated.

“Why?” Hall asked.

“Right now, we’re in a period of expansion. With these mobile factories, it will be much easier to support development on, say Tricticus, or in the asteroid belt. Right now, we’re relying on the Yard and this freighter to create a lot of the different items that we need. If we could have these support ships online, they could help increase the speed at which we increase your capabilities.

“The troop transport, carrier, and battleship will allow us to strike out at the enemy, but they will not provide us with any help in increasing our abilities to sustain ourselves or grow,” Chen said.

“Agreed. How long will it take to build them?”

“Twenty fabbers, three months,” Chen said.

Hall nodded. It was understandable: with a large craft that had so many capabilities, it made sense that it wouldn’t be some short-term sort of project.

“The final one, the battleship?” Hall asked.

Chen frowned slightly before he started talking on the battleship. “This ship is built with space warfare in mind. It will be the fastest moving ship in the fleet, with larger battery banks that will allow it to travel farther on its Alcubierre drive. It will be outfitted with an anti-matter power system to increase the recharge speed.

“It will be using the M30 cannons with multiple fire functions, as well as lancer missile system. It can launch two flights of RSDs from its defined launch system every ten minutes. Its armor is the thickest and will have a nanite repair system built in. The command center will have overlapping carbon hendral plating and the systems will be wirelessly and wired connections. Even if sections are cut off, the batteries within the system will allow it to remain operational and power the nanite repair systems to bring the ship’s main systems online.

“It will have twelve reactors and four fabbers, as well as a supply dump to create new munitions or replacement parts as required. It can survive off a short crew of two hundred people but will have one of eight hundred for day-to-day operations.

“It will take two months and thirteen fabbers to build a carrier. However, the command center will take ten level-two fabbers three months to build. With the carbon hendral plating, it will be much harder to build.”

Chen’s voice was much more clipped and it was clear that he had some issues with the battleship. This battleship wasn’t merely made to attack the Maraukian insertion barges before they entered a planet’s atmosphere: they were the core of the Victor Corporation’s defense against the legion and any other human group that might try to attack them.

Chen didn’t want to have to fight against the people he had served next to in the past. He also knew that it might not be his decision.

He had picked his side and he would stick with it.

If the legion attacked, he would do all in his power to defend the people under his command and those who were part of the Emarl system.

Hall’s own expression was grim. He had been fighting against humans most of his life and he knew that they needed to be ready for whatever came their way.

“I saw that Charles was looking into specified nanite programming. Would it be possible to speed some of these processes up by having specially programmed nanites making certain systems after the ship is completed?” Hall asked.

“Certainly. I have made this plan based upon using fabbers. If we have the capability, it would be much faster if we were to follow this second assembly plan.” Chen sent over a second file. This used a mix of fabber parts for the more complicated systems, panels that could be made on a factory line and assembled via automation and shifts of people. It was a much more complicated system but it would reduce the time needed to create the ships by half in the case of the carrier and troop transport, which were much simpler than the other two ships.

“Looks like you have been talking to the people in the Yard.” Hall looked over the detailed plans.

“Yes, sir. I might know ships and the merging abilities that I gained give me a great edge, but I don’t know the Yard or how to build ships as well as them,” Chen said.

“Good man.” Hall closed down the information and looked at Chen. “Do you know about what Charles found?”

“Something about a signal?” Chen had heard snippets but he had been focused on design and trying to get the engineering team to make something that was workable instead of what was the best that they could possibly produce.

“Our target isn’t the Union, nor is it the EHC, or really the Maraukians. Charles found a signal that is passing orders to the Maraukians.

“If he is right and we can find out where the signal is coming from, we can launch an offensive to take out whoever created the Maraukians,” Hall said.

There were many conspiracies and ideas about the Maraukians but thus far nothing much could be found out about them, other than the planets they lived on and the different manufacturing plants that they built all over space.

Chen, although in shock from the news, wasn’t taken over by emotion. After all, most people accepted that there was more to the Maraukians than what met the eye.

“We need to be ready for whatever they have, if that is space-based ships, forces on the ground, or what have you. We need to stop that signal from transmitting and then we might be able to gain an upper hand in this war,” Hall said.

“Hit them at the root,” Chen said in understanding.

“Exactly. And we’re not going to go in half cocked. We need to consolidate our power, build ourselves up for whatever is coming. We don’t owe anyone else anything. If they want our help, then they need to be in our system. Otherwise, we’re just trading with them,” Hall said.

This was a powerful declaration. The Union was made to defend one another, but the Victor Corporation was looking to defend just one system. Without their strength all over the place, they had a much higher chance of defending the system and planet.

“Humans aren’t the smartest race. If they see that we’re doing well as they’re not, then it’s likely that they’ll blame and attack us. We can’t save all of humanity, but maybe we can save the people we care about. The EHC and Union used us, Chen. Now it’s time we worked for ourselves,” Hall said.

Chen knew he was saying it for his benefit. He felt better hearing those words, but it was still a bitter pill to swallow. “Yes, Admiral. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

“Get the Moby ready for combat. Keep working with the new ship designs to increase their functionality and keep building things with that nanite vat. We’re playing a catch-up game and there’s no telling how long we have until something kicks off,” Hall said.

All they could do was prepare and hope that it was enough to deal with whatever happened in the future.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Malazar School

Tricticus, Emarl System

11/3555

Pela Oina stepped off the shuttle that had brought her and the rest of her fellow students from across Tricticus.

The shuttle port was simply made but it was sturdy and durable.

Ahead of them lay a city that was under construction. Everywhere they looked, they could see different groups of people working to clear the old buildings and build new ones.

Among these groups, there were people wearing uniforms from the Victor Corporation with teacher armbands. They were talking to ad hoc classes, showing how to tack metal together with a welder, how to splice wires together, or explaining why they were building different things.

Other groups with students wearing different colored armbands were working alongside their teachers, doing manual labor or putting the skills they had learned to work as the teachers watched on.

She didn’t have more time to stare at the goings-on of the Skill School as she and her fellow students were herded off for the shuttle pad and into a reception area.

The squat building, thankfully, had a cooling system. Pela let out a content sigh. It seemed that this was one of the first buildings made by the Skill School.

Once they passed through the scanners, they entered a larger hall that had different screens directing them to different tables.

“Engineering Practical—purple line.” Pela followed the directions and the purple line; she joined in on a new line.

It was going by fast as people were issued an identity card and then passed through the checkpoint.

She reached the counter. It wasn’t manned by a person but was rather a computer screen. It took a picture of her and had her give them her fingerprints and DNA sample before issuing her an identification card with her information loaded on it.

She had to use the card to pass through the barriers and then she was in another gathering area. Here people were lined up to enter different rooms. The doors would open and people would enter.

Pela joined the line, gripping her bag tightly. It wasn’t long until she was at the front of the line and entered the room.

A woman waited for her there. “Pela Oina, Engineering Practical track?” the woman asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Pela said, remembering the terms that she had learned from the different elders who had placed their trust in her to test out the Skill School first in her generation.

“I’m Doctor McKay. I will be giving you a Neural Interfacing Artificial Intelligence, frequently known as an NIAI. Do you know what a NIAI is?”

“Yes,” Pela said. Tricticus had been practically under the control of the legion for a long time. There were few who didn’t know about the NIAIs and how many of the powerful figures on Tricticus swore by the devices.

Pela felt excitement and anticipation.

“Good. I will be knocking you out and putting one on you. The reason is that it feels odd when having the system integrate. Is that okay?”

“That is fine.” Pela had heard that she would get a NIAI but she didn’t think that she would be getting it upon her arrival.

“By accepting this NIAI, you are incurring a debt with the Victor Corporation. Do you understand that even if you fail or succeed in becoming a trained professional, it will be necessary for you to repay this debt in the future?”

“I do.” Pela was nervous once again. The debt that one accrued by just going to Skill School wasn’t light. It would be hard for her clan to bear the cost if she wasn’t able to become a full-fledged engineer.

If she did become an engineer, the benefits she would earn were unimaginable.

“These NIAIs are clean, with no software to spy on you. Only if you are suspected of a crime will it be possible to access your NIAI and only then with your consent. Your NIAI will not pass on any information to others that you do not agree to prior.” Doctor McKay stressed this information.

“I understand,” Pela said.

“Good. Tap your card against this interface to agree.” The woman held up a contract and Pela tapped her card against it, taking on the debt of the NIAI.

“Please sit up on the bed.” The woman pulled out what looked like a piece of tape and placed it on Pela’s neck. Then she grabbed a large bracelet from a large crate.

Pela’s eyes closed it felt as if she had just blinked when her eyes opened once again.

She looked to the doctor, who had moved away from her. Did she do anything? It looks like she moved too quickly.

“You are now linked to your NIAI. The interfacing went perfectly well. To activate your NIAI, think NIAI on. It will guide you to where you need to be next,” McKay said.

“Thank you.” Pela stood and went through another door. As she exited, she thought, NIAI on.

“System is fully functional and operating at one hundred percent. I am a Neural Interfacing Artificial Intelligence. I currently do not have a designation. Would you like to give me one? Also, please follow the bouncing ball to retrieve clothing items from stores and then I will take you to your sleeping quarters. It is good to meet you, Pela,” the monotone voice said in her head.

Pela saw a bouncing ball in front of her, guiding her through the large open area where people were talking to thin air, or excitedly to one another. Others were headed out of the doors, following the bouncing balls.

“Uh, Gondi,” Pela thought, thinking of the creature that she had grown up with. He had passed away a few years ago, but she still remembered him.

“Understood. My name is now Gondi.” The NIAI fell silent as Pela was now looking around what was supposed to be the Skill School.

Materials were being dropped off from shuttles that were coming from the station that orbited Tricticus. Others were dropping off new students they had collected or taking items back up to the station.

Around her, Pela saw all kinds of buildings taking shape.

The area was still being cleaned out, with the remaining buildings that were not much more than rubble getting knocked down.

Growing towers stretched up into the sky and different factories were being marked out. Parks and other recreational areas were also being grown out.

There were still very few solid structures. In the middle of the area that had been the city, a multi-leveled tower was growing in stages. It was meant to be the administration building for the Skill School. Then there was the inspection and intake area that Pela had come through.

Everything else seemed as if it were under construction.

She made her way to a covered area that had tarps fluttering in the wind and cloth sheets creating a doorway. She made it inside the building. The fresh air from outside allowed the place to be a bit cooler.

Pela followed the bouncing ball. Inside the tarped-off area, automated bots moved between materials, organizing items that were coming in and making them ready for others to take away.

The new additions grabbed bags that had their names stenciled on them.

Pela grabbed the bag with her name on it, not sure whether she should take it.

“These are now your items. Now that you have received your package, we can head to your quarters.” A new bouncing ball appeared, steering her away.

“You here for Hydroponics Systems as well?” a tanned young man with a bright smile asked with her as he noticed that they were on the same way to their quarters.

“Nope. Engineering Practical,” she said.

His clothes showed that he was from one of the southern tribes. It was normal for the different groups on Tricticus to fight one another to try to gain more resources if they weren’t able to support themselves. Pela couldn’t help but distance herself from this savage who might attack her at any time.

“Oh, I thought that they might make us live together with people from the same job. Didn’t realize it was mixed,” the boy said. He didn’t have the bearing of a noble or the son of someone in power.

“What clan do you come from?”

“I don’t have one. My family was killed when we were trying to escape the Maraukians.” The boy looked away.

“Sorry.” Her clan had told her the need for her to complete this training. She had thought that it would only be the wealthiest or most powerful groups that would send their people out. This boy who didn’t seem to have any backing was right there with her.

The whole concept and idea made her frown.

“Don’t have anything here, so thought that I might as well give this a shot—get warm food, work, and I can learn something from it as well.” The boy smiled. “I’m Ashaeed. What’s your name?” He offered her his hand, a gesture that the people outside of Emarl used.

“Pela,” she said, not wanting to be rude even as she remembered all of the etiquette lessons she had been taught by her clan.

“Nice name. Welcome to the Skill School. I hope that we can both become people of the Victor Corporation,” he said as they reached a large building. It still looked like a worksite that had been halfway finished. The squat four-story building made from cermite, glass, and steel was still impressive to the people of Tricticus.

There were people from all over moving to the place or away from it.

Pela stared at the building as she walked in the front doors. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, as she moved through people and passing cafeterias.

Ashaeed, who was still with her, was in his own world as he took in everything as well.

It wasn’t until they both stopped at a door that opened to reveal a dormitory did they realize that they were living together.

“Who knew I would be so lucky to talk to someone in my room!” Ashaeed laughed and walked in the dormitory.

It was closer to a barracks than a dormitory with basic beds, closet, and then a bathroom at the end.

She moved to an area of the barracks that was separated from the men. It seemed that although they were in the same area, there was still a wall to separate the men and the women.

They also had their own bathrooms and could close a wall to their sleeping area to get some privacy.

She set down her two bags on her bed as she looked around.

“Hey!” A tanned blonde girl jumped up from where she was lying on her bed opposite Pela’s bed.

“Hi!” Pela said. By the person’s features, she should be from the western wastes, which were infamous for fighting among their own cities as the other cities and towns were too far away for them to reach with a powerful fighting force.

“I’m Aileen, Refiner wannabe. What you aiming for?”

“I’m here for anything, Engineering Practical to start,” Pela said.

“Oh, don’t know what area you want to work in yet—good idea, taking a general course.” Aileen nodded, as if she understood Pela’s thought process.

“Umm, yeah,” Pela said.

Aileen seemed to look off in the distance. “Ah, crap. Need to get over to the refinery project. Looks like the person who was supposed to work my shift bailed!” Aileen turned and ran away. “Nice to meet you!”

Aileen disappeared off through the building as Pela was left in confusion.

She started to unpack her things as Gondi put a bunch of information in front of her.

“Your meal times are for the next forty minutes. You have a mandatory meeting with your teacher and the rest of your class tomorrow at fourteen hundred hours. Till then, I can help you in getting to know the campus and help you to study up on different items that will be useful for you. As you are taking Engineering Practical, the campus has given you access to a selection of sleeping modules that you can use when sleeping to increase your knowledge over different areas. Many call this sleep training, as you learn things while sleeping. Would you like me to run the preset sleep training files? This is advised. Or do you want to pick them yourself?”

“Do the preset?” Pela asked, confused.

“Very well,” Gondi said. “Your closet and different storage compartments and items that you were given are similar to the items given to new troopers. I can show you where to put them all and how to use them, if you desire?” Gondi asked as Pela was looking at the brand-new items that filled the bag she had picked up.

“Please.” Pela knew that it would be a sharp learning curve, but she hadn’t expected she wouldn’t know what the different kinds of clothes she had were, or what Gondi meant by fourteen hundred hours.

She felt nervous but seeing that Aileen and Ashaeed had applied for the skill school as well, bolstered her. How could she let down her clan? Their hopes were riding on her. If she was able to succeed, she might be able to escape the future she had before. Marriage was what tied families together and made them stronger; if she had the strength to determine her future, she wouldn’t need to rely on marriage anymore.

She might be able to determine her own future. It was why she had pushed herself so much to prove her abilities to the clan elders and gain this position.

Pela also remembered their hints that if she wasn’t able to pass the tests and become a person of the Victor Corporation, she should charm someone who was able to take her clan’s side.

She would pass the tests she had to without trying to lure a man. Ava Desialias might be from another city-state that her clan had fought with before, but to Pela she was a beacon—an idol of what she wanted to do in the future.

She listened to Gondi and started to ask questions. “What does fourteen hundred mean?”

“It is a unit of time measurement, specifically the twenty-four-hour clock, though this has been modified to meet the longer days of Tricticus…” And so Gondi went on. Pela asked questions and went through information as she wandered through the dormitory, finding out places to work out, cafeterias that left her in surprise with the bounty of food that they had, and learning about the allowance she had from the Victor Corporation to get food. There was enough of an allowance that she didn’t think it would be possible to go hungry.

There were even stores that sold snacks and different supplies like soap and toothpaste. The goods and services she found were the kinds of things that would be seen as a high-class luxury by her clan members. Here it was seen as a norm.

She didn’t know what to expect for her first lesson the next day.

***

Pela woke up late the next day. She hadn’t slept that well, waking up at different points as people had entered and left the barracks. People were constantly moving around.

She even smelled that some of the older people had been drinking. There was even a group of four who stank of alcohol when they entered the room, talking under their breaths about new boots, the whole new universe and so on.

Gondi had informed her that they were ex-troopers and warned her to not antagonize them.

One of the men and women went off to a bunk. The noises coming from there didn’t leave much to the imagination. The other snored on her bunk, not even taking off her clothes.

When she woke up, she didn’t feel as though she had learned something. As she recalled what happened in the night, she remembered the basic safety protocols of working on a job site, as well as health and safety.

It outlined the abilities of her work gear that was vacuum rated, as well as able to deal with different kinds of wounds.

She headed off to the cafeteria that she had learned about the other day. It wasn’t hard for her to get used to the NIAI as she spent most of her time interacting with it so that she could try to understand the place she was living in and what would be needed from her.

She quickly ate as the nerves filled up in her gut. The tasty food from yesterday lost its appeal as it became nothing more than fuel for the day.

She had no idea what would be asked of her, what her teacher or the other students would be like. It was all nerve-racking and she didn’t know anyone here.

Ashaeed’s class was this morning and he had headed out before her. Aileen had come back from work late in the night and was still fast asleep on her bed.

Pela pulled on her work gear and wasted the remaining hours, watching TV or trying to read. None of it was able to take her mind off the coming lesson.

It seemed to pass over days but also minutes as Gondi informed her that she should head to her very first class.

She followed the bouncing ball through the building. Once again being greeted by the blinding sunlight of Tricticus, she started to pull her helmet on.

“Wait! Before you secure it, you might want to get your hair out of the ring, unless you want a haircut!” Gondi said.

“Thank you.” Pela worked her hair into a ponytail and looped it up into a bun before she pulled the helmet on.

The helmet adjusted its pads so her hair fit in without pressing it to her skull.

The cooling systems in her clothes activated. She had never been this comfortable in the heat before. Not even with the long dresses that allowed the breeze to move freely and cool one down.

She had much more mobility and she could see more as well.

An information layout appeared around her vision. Her HUD had activated as soon as she put the helmet on. It told her how much power she had, as well as a mini-map in the bottom corner to guide her.

Otherwise, the screen was clear.

She had seen all of the symbols but it was just too much information for her. Gondi told her that she would get used to it over time, that she would probably even use the HUD when she wasn’t in her work gear.

She doubted it. It felt weird knowing that something was being projected through her optic nerves, augmenting her eyes.

She didn’t put too much thought into it as she followed the bouncing ball. She moved along the different streets, some that had been laid down and others that were under construction. Right now, there were just walkways in most places.

“Malazar’s grounds were made according to similar plans for the different colonies that are part of Earth and Her Colonies.

“In the center is the main administration building; then, spiraling outward, there are different towers being built. Then the towers will be built in concentric circles for defensive reasons.

“The center-most tower will be completed first, with the other buildings being built in stages afterward. Each of the buildings is built based on the same design but their interiors are modular and can be changed as needed.

“When completed, each of the buildings will be three hundred stories tall.” With Gondi’s words, he showed a visual representation of one building growing, then another after it. Like dominoes in a circle, more buildings appeared and grew at different stages until the middle building was completed and the other buildings continued to spiral around and grow afterward. Then a circle of towers appeared and started growing up; another circle appeared as they were completed and then it, too, started to grow.

There were buildings filled with plants, others with technology, even towers that had acceleration ramps on them to shoot ships off into space.

“For size comparison.” Gondi put a model of her home city in the middle of the Malazar grounds, where the administration building was.

She coughed on her own saliva as she looked at the size difference. They couldn’t even really be compared. The base was a fifth the size of the city; the tallest building had five floors, but this had reached three hundred.

She pushed forward as the information disappeared and she took in the sights on her way to the administration building where her first lesson would take place. The closer she got to the building, the more developed the ground was.

The streets that had been cut out, gained pipes and electrical lines. Cermite was being laid down by different crews, then cut and smoothed by those behind them.

She entered an area where the cermite streets were complete.

Still, people moved all over the place, working to lay down the power and water lines in the space that had been left out for it.

Walking down the street, she could see the people who had just started the classes commencing to dig out where the road would be with heavy earth-moving equipment, then others leveling it off, cermite pouring, then finally electricians and water mains engineers.

Each and every person learned the general parts of the job, down to the specifics that they were interested in, with their teachers watching over them. They even let them take turns at being site managers so that they could focus on the students instead of the overall job.

The pressure with being the job manager was much higher. If they messed up, then not only would they be reprimanded, they would have let down their work crew and they would need to fix their mistake.

Pela entered the area of the administration building where people were doing all kinds of jobs. Teachers were doing on-the-job training with them and others were supervising their work. There were a lot less students per teacher but by the way they worked, these students had been here much longer than those working on the simpler projects that were needed to build the infrastructure of the growing school grounds.

She passed others who were talking to one another about their lessons and concepts that she couldn’t understand, like air lock safety procedures and the like.

She finally reached where her class was supposed to be. She walked in through a set of doors and found that she was in a large auditorium. The noise within the room was enough to drown out normal conversation.

Pela looked for a seat in the large area. She had never seen so many people in one area.

In the stands, there were people wearing camouflage body armor. They didn’t wear armbands identifying them; instead, they had different-shaped symbols.

A group of people started fighting. It looked as though they came from cities that had a prior conflict with one another.

The military types moved through the crowd. Anyone in their way got pushed to the side. The sheer strength of these large people wasn’t to be underestimated.

They didn’t say anything to the people who were fighting, instead using stun guns that locked up their armor or dropped them, screaming, to the ground.

Everyone stopped to watch as the legionnaires grabbed the offenders and dragged them off.

“Looks like six more idiots.” A girl shook her head and tapped her fingers on the half desk attached to her seat.

“They were fighting for the honor of their city,” another girl said.

“Us trooper types don’t give a fuck. You got an opportunity just like we did when joining the EMF. At least you get three chances—we got one. We fuck up, they’d probably space us, or use us as cannon fodder,” the woman said in a bored tone.

“What do you know of fight—” Before the second woman could finish, there was a blade in her seat back, right next to her head.

“Wanna see what three hundred years of killing looks like?” The woman, still typing, looked over to the second girl, who had a pale face.

A chill ran down Pela’s back. The lack of care in this woman’s eyes—she didn’t care whether the other died; she wouldn’t take a slight easily.

A passing trooper pulled the knife out of the seat and passed it to the woman.

“Sergeant,” the trooper said with respect.

“Cheers. My hand twitched,” the woman who’d been addressed as Sergeant said.

“Ah, I see. If there are any more mishaps, please let us know. Can’t have that happening again.” The man’s voice hinted to the sergeant.

“Understood.” The woman treated the trooper as an equal.

The trooper smiled and headed off, standing at his post again, ready to deal with any more fights.

Ten more people were ejected before someone walked onto the stage.

“Shut up!” The man’s voice boomed through the hall, making many jump.

“Get a seat, sit down, or else get out of my school. You have five seconds!”

With that, people rushed to take seats. He clearly wasn’t lying. Not everyone got a seat by the time five seconds were up.

“In five seconds of sucking vacuum, you’re as dead as a nitro smoothie! Do you lot need to find your brains still or can you find a seat!” The man’s patience was wearing thin as the last people found seats.

All of them looked at this man, many of them confused, others holding their anger in.

“Seconds count here! Many of you will be working with machines and items that will as easily kill you as they will allow you to carry out your job. Many of you will be part of the station, mining efforts, or the Yard. You think it’s hard down here in the dirt? Think again! In space, you have threats from every direction. You don’t secure your line, you’ll be spinning off into the black, screaming your head off until you pass out.

“Didn’t secure a seal, you’re dead. Not watching what you’re doing, you’ve just killed your friend. There is no time to waste and there are no second chances. You have all enrolled in the Malazar school, but few of you understand what is going to happen. You are no longer people of Tricticus—you are people of the Malazar school. This means that you have three chances here. If you are caught fighting, you will lose at least one of those chances. I will not let any one of you graduate this school if you are a threat to your work crew.

“I don’t care where you came from before or what you did. You’re all students here. You bring that outside world shit in here, you can go the fuck back there. If you can keep your head out of your ass, respect your fellow students and teachers, even if your grades aren’t the best, we will turn you into someone of the Victor Corporation. We will find a job for you. Even if you’re the smartest gung-ho mother fucker out there, you can’t play as part of the team, there’s the door.” The man waved to the door at the side of the auditorium.

“No?” A cold smile appeared on the man’s face making everyone sit straighter.

His eyes passed over all of the students. “For the first three weeks, you will attend classes on health and safety. You will be tested throughout to make sure you retained at least some information or can follow your NIAI to get you out of shit. You will join the general labor teams, where we can see if we can trust you with a shovel. Then maybe we’ll allow you a pickaxe. We don’t owe you anything. It is up to you if you are ready to push forward and show us that you are ready for the responsibility of your chosen profession.”

Information packets were sent out to all of them.

“That is your schedule for the next three weeks. Make sure you are not late! Tardiness is unacceptable!” The man looked to them all. “This is your opportunity here, people. Not many people were able to get it. It’s up to you whether you succeed or fail.” His voice softened at the end before he turned and left.

“Now get out of my auditorium!” the man yelled as he was leaving.

People started to move, checking their schedule.

“You have a basic recap on danger symbols in ten minutes,” Gondi said.

Pela started to follow the bouncing ball as more and more people started to realize that they had other classes to go to and streamed out of the auditorium.

What the hell did I just get myself into?

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Yard

Ark, Emarl System

11/3555

Esamai checked on the report from the different teams. They were all working around the clock to complete their jobs.

Even if it was starting off slower than before, with the fabbers and the new technology that was being developed, the Yard was undergoing great overhauls.

Fabbers were being made all of the time, and sent out to the other teams. Orbital defense platforms rotated around the Yard now, protecting it.

Powered armor and new weapons were coming off the line and the trooper forces that had been left behind or were being trained up from the people on Emarl were quickly adapting over to the new gear.

The designs for the different tanks, support drones, and the like had been confirmed and now she was looking at the first modular parts of the warship types coming out from the level-three fabbers.

Nearly all of the level-three fabbers had been turned over to the ship makers. As the plans had come in, it was clear that the more fabbers they had, the faster production would be. The development team in the Yard had been talking with Charles and Chen to build the vessels and had a good understanding of the ships.

They had been pre-building and testing out different ideas so when actual development started it wasn’t hard for them to step up production.

With the modular design, there were many sections that were actually interchangeable and used throughout the different ships.

This meant that the fabber didn’t need to switch between jobs as much and could just continue pumping out the same section again and again.

Her family had been building ships for four generations, but this was the first time that they were specifically making ships meant for war.

Esamai dismissed the reports and looked to Tyler, who was bouncing in his chair, playing with the different toys attached to his runner. She moved from her desk and went to play with Tyler. He made happy noises as she tickled his neck.

“Don’t worry. Daddy is going to be home soon.” The corner of Esamai’s eyes crinkled with happiness as she played with her son.

On her desk, a live feed showed different modular sections being fitted together as different crews started making the main connections between the parts.

As they finished, a new section appeared and was added to the first few blocks. The first warship from the Yard was coming together.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Crisidium

Tricticus, Emarl System

12/3555

High King Hael sat with video links to Gtrul, and the other eleven rebuilding countries and city-states. Three of them he knew were already backing him in every way possible. Their fallen comrades spurred on not only the search for more skilled laborers but teachers.

However, the other four had some issues they each wanted to address. This was going to take some time. Hael sipped from his glass of water and waited for all the files to gather in his system so he could look them over.

What bothered him more wasn’t the fact that their demands were unreasonable, but the fact they weren’t. Each of them needed similar items. Similar resources and moving parts. It was just a case-by-case transition from them not having enough to getting shipments in so they could be used. A very long and drawn-out process when so much was needed.

Taking it on a case-by-case basis had been his best idea. With the help of others organizing the resources, it was getting easier to get them what they needed, not what they wanted. Demands for silly resources were also coming in, but they really were bottom of the listings. Fancy fabric and metals could wait while they had need for building resources and food supplies; they were the larger priority. What good was a well-dressed city if it couldn’t feed itself?

Hael was grateful for information coming to him from the Yard. They had brilliant growing strategies on their man-made floating yet self-supporting monstrosity. Without growing their food first, they wouldn’t have been able to support the families working there, let alone allow them to grow while aboard.

***

Thia knocked on the door of her husband’s office and waited. She’d a tray of food and a flagon of wine tucked under an arm. When he didn’t answer for the third time, she used her codes and opened the door herself.

Hael was slumped over his desk, head lolled to one side and his mouth hanging open. Drool dripped onto his sensitive keyboard, sending error messages everywhere.

Thia moved in slowly, placing the tray and wine down before she finally slipped in nearer to him. “Darling,” she whispered in his ear.

Hael stirred, and when he looked up, his confusion was evident.

She held out a tissue for him to wipe his mouth. “You missed dinner,” she said. “I thought I’d better look after you, seeing as you’re really not doing yourself any favors.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “What time is it?”

“After midnight. I didn’t want to wait anymore in case it became past eating time for you.”

Hael forced himself to stretch and cracked the muscles in his back. He let out a groan. “Sleeping on your desk is never good.”

Thia stepped behind him and wrapped her arms around his thick chest. His breathing felt labored, but he couldn’t be in pain. Maybe just stress.

She hugged him tightly. “Let’s eat and drink. We’ll talk about your day and then retire.”

Hael agreed with a nod and a squeeze back, his stomach already growling. “Seems it already smelled the food you brought.”

“Just a little something that could be eaten colder than originally intended.”

Hael pulled the tray toward him and took off the lid. He grinned and Thia pulled herself up a chair.

“What’s been going on?” She poured wine for them both. “You’ve been locked in here for more days than I’d like to recall.”

Hael rubbed the side of his temple and she knew he struggled with a few things. “It’s okay. You don’t need to tell me everything, just what affects us now.”

“We had quite the quiet life before the Maraukians showed up, didn’t we?”

Thia laughed. “I wouldn’t say quiet, my dear. You seem quick to forget the differences in opinion between all the leaders of our cities.”

“Yes, that’s very true, but it seems the Maraukians and the appearance of the mergers really turned things on their head.”

“What’s got you so worried?”

“Everything’s changing so very fast. The leaders of the other cities, even though they’re not rebuilt, have sent over some of their finest people for the new Skill School.” He tapped the screen and pulled up some files and images.

Thia looked them over and nodded. “The other cities want to better themselves. You can’t fault them for that.”

“I don’t,” he said. “It’s the debt that they’re accumulating without thinking that concerns me. What if some or all of those they sent don’t qualify?”

“There will be other ways or means for them to repay the debt, right?”

“Of course, but I don’t think they want that either.”

Thia reached for him and took his hand in hers. “They’re clever students. With the help of the NIAIs, I think they’ll all more than qualify. Don’t be worried for their futures. Let them make the most of it and decide for themselves.”

“I can’t hide it from you?” He squeezed her hand back.

“No, you can’t.”

“Has there been any word from Julieus?”

“No, nothing. He’s located where Froleck has been for the last week. Negotiating between two of the more obscure cities, those that were protected from the Maraukian invasions.”

“They were lucky.”

“Yes, they were, hidden by mountains and oceans. The Maraukians were hell-bent on this side of the planet and not theirs. But they have resources and their people still want to join with us and the VC for trade, so he’s been there awhile for us.”

Hael’s eyes fell. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. These creatures blew apart not only our world but everything we hold dear.”

“They did, but they also gave us the opportunity to forge ahead with those who support us, instead of wanting to exploit us.”

Hael nodded. “You’re correct.”

Thia nodded, smiled and waved a hand down her slight frame. “Behind every good leader is a good woman—you knew that, right?”

Hael laughed, a good belly chuckle and the type he hadn’t had for a while. Gripping her hand more, he tugged her onto his knee, pushing his dinner and the wine aside. “And a very good woman you are indeed.”

Thia leaned down to kiss him, feeling his tension melt away as passion took hold instead.

His comms pinged. Hael pushed her away reluctantly and looked over the new information coming in from Esamai. She never seemed to sleep either, but she was a great organizer.

Thia sat down before him and waited. He knew she was here for another specific reason. But she had been patient with him for it, for the most part.

When he finished looking at the last report and the wine was almost gone, he finally looked at her once more.

“I’m worried.” She pushed something his way.

Hael took it and flipped it over. His anger rose.

“Whoever this is, we really need to find them and put a stop to it.”

“So far, no one has admitted to it. We’ve had investigators on it for months. All we know is that the instigator has a large following, and they hate mergers.” Hael knew otherwise. He also knew he would never admit this to Thia and it was the main reason he’d had Cronus leave with Moretti.

His son’s life wasn’t in danger anymore.

Hael slid his chair closer to his incinerator shoot and ripped up the paper with the evidence and pictures on it. He flushed it into the compartment, where it was instantly incinerated.

He turned back to his wife, who had looked all innocent when she’d first brought him dinner. Now he could see that she wasn’t. Her intentions here were to see how far he’d pushed over the death threats. Her son’s life was, after all, now in question.

“They can’t get him out there, you know this, right?”

“I know it for now, but what will happen when he returns to Tricticus?”

“Then maybe we’ll have dealt with the problem.”

Thia pointed to the incinerator. “That didn’t look like you’ve been dealing with it.”

“Our son’s personali—”

“You mean his sexuality.”

“It has nothing to do with this.”

Thia stood and pointed to the incinerator once more. “It has everything to do with it. You think Julieus has been watching out for him all his life for nothing?”

“No, I didn’t mean that.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“Thia, please sit down.”

When she didn’t move back to the seat, he pointed at it. “Sit, now, please. Let me tell you a few things you don’t know about our sons.”

Thia’s brow furrowed and confusion spread through her. “What do you mean, ‘a few things’?”

Hael knew she’d be more than hurt that he’d been keeping things from her, but with Cronus jetting off around the galaxy now and Julieus supposedly doing things to protect his brother, it was time that he admitted to her that their family wasn’t all it seemed to be.

Thia sat across from him, and Hael then began to explain. At first, it had been Julieus who saw the death threats, and he put a stop to those responsible. But, seeing that his brother kept on putting himself in harm’s way, he started to send them. When Hael had confronted him a few days before, he’d admitted it, and told his father he’d only wanted better for Cronus, to steer clear of politics and the legion. With Cronus joining Moretti, it seemed both father and son were happier.

Thia listened, the truth staring right back at her, swaying her emotions. She stayed still, stoic.

When Hael finished letting his story out, she looked him straight in the eyes. “I somehow knew it,” she said with a smile.

“I don’t believe he’s a bad person. Just like I’m not bad for wanting him somewhere safer.” Hael reached over and took hold of her hand. “We must keep following through with watching both of them. Julieus is slowly but surely uncovering some very deep plots against us and Gtrul. For now, I’m waiting to see who these men are, if the threats there are real. I need them out and flushed away from this society we’re trying to build or there will be no future for any of our family.”

Thia let out a laugh. “You think there’s a future for our family?”

“Of course. Don’t you?”

Thia moved back to his desk and pulled up a different file. “I’m going to leave this for you to look over. When you’ve had a chance to think it over, I’ll be retired to our bedroom. You know where we sleep.”

Hael watched his wife leave and thought about her statement. Then he finally turned back to the file she’d brought up.

He looked at it and read the title. Medico records for Thia Desialias.

He instantly panicked and clicked it open.

It wasn’t what he’d thought. There was a large open set of reports for her. Of course there was nothing wrong; she’d had the best care they could afford for many years. But there were several recent entries. He clicked on the most recent one. A picture popped into his view.

Hael stared at it.

There, inside the largely black floating image, was the shape of a fetus.

“What?”

He’d thought they’d had a much more intimate love life these last few months since the Maraukians had been beaten back and their cities were rebuilding. She’d come to him most nights with a fever for his flesh. Now he could see her reasoning behind it. She’d mentioned wanting to add to their family a few years ago before Ava had become a merger, before their sons had started this almost unbidden internal war for power, be it knowledge or military. But they’d not discussed it much more than that.

He remembered the original conversation and he’d agreed with her, mostly because he hadn’t thought she was serious. Then things had gotten in the way, but it seemed Thia was still wanting more in her life. As young as they both were still in human terms, he thought they’d had their family, that things were normal.

She was pregnant again, but not just with one baby, but twins.

He’d thought she’d put a little weight on, but not that anything else was amiss.

Hael rubbed his forehead. He’d been too busy, he’d put too much into doing everything else, and hadn’t once asked Thia what was going on.

Slowly he pushed up from his desk, swallowed his pride and made his way back to the main house and toward his private bedrooms.

She was tucked up in their bed, not sleeping, but staring out their window. He slipped his shoes off and climbed on beside her, kissing the side of her face.

“I love you,” he whispered. “All of you.”

Thia gripped his hand in hers and brought it to her lips. “Love you too.”

“Do you know what we’re having?” he asked.

“Girls,” she said.

Hael let out a gasp and tears welled in his eyes. He’d never expected it, of course. It was still a shock, but the news was astounding. Though there was much going on, he pulled his wife to him and hugged her tight. “For our future, we all fight, my love.”

“I can’t wait to tell Ava,” Thia said.

But those words filled Hael with sadness. He knew she’d made the ultimate sacrifice. He wasn’t sure how she’d take the fact her mother was expecting children again. Maybe she’d be happy, but then again maybe she’d think they were replacing her.

Hael hoped it wouldn’t feel like that to her. He hated the fact Ava sometimes spoke to the fact she was “dead,” that they’d merged to do the best they could for the future of others. But the truth was, she was and would always be his princess.

Hael stroked Thia’s hair till she fell asleep and then he left her to retire to his private office. He hoped he could reach Ava and talk to her, even if it was a brief one.

When he’d not been able to reach her, he forwarded her a message. “We can’t wait to see you.”

Then he moved to a drink cabinet, poured himself a stiff one and retired to watch the sun rise over his rebuilding city.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Malazar School

Tricticus, Emarl System

12/3555

Pela dropped down into her seat at the cafeteria with her tray of food.

“You just get off?” Remy asked. The man was part of her working group and in her dormitory.

“Yeah.” She started to shovel food in her face.

“What—no more setting out your food and eating prim and proper?” Ashaeed said.

Pela simply gave him the middle finger to the others’ smiles and laughter as she kept eating.

“’Sup, swabs?” Aileen dropped into a vacant seat. She was in their dormitory but she was a few weeks ahead of them and had already got the health and safety qualification.

Instead of working on the general duties or attending health and safety lectures filled with practical tests and examples of the hundreds of ways people could die working their jobs, she was now allowed to work on her chosen job. She had taken a different route from what she planned and was now working to become a pilot instead.

It wasn’t that abnormal for people to change their given profession. It happened most of the time, actually. Though different courses had different costs of teaching it; more or less time was added to the person’s contract and they would need to work for the Victor Corporation for longer.

Most of them didn’t mind this. If they got a job with the Victor Corporation, after all, then their lives would be changed forever.

The others jeered as she sat down.

“Don’t worry, you too will become as revered as my great self in the coming future,” Aileen said as if some reigning monarch, only serving to increase the noises of complaint.

Aileen laughed as she looked to Pela. “Even the fine Pela here will become a true health and safety guru like my fine self!”

“How did the test go?” Ashaeed asked.

“Fine,” Pela said, pausing to annoy them.

“Well, did you pass?” Remy asked.

“Of course I did! Don’t want to be a swab all of my life!” Pela laughed with a great big smile on her face. She took in their looks of annoyance as she shoveled the oh so tasty and victorious mashed potatoes in her mouth.

“Show-off.” Remy rolled his eyes.

“I knew you had it in the bag, sister!” Aileen laughed and held up her hand for a high five that Pela happily clapped.

“When’s your lessons on engineering start?” Ashaeed asked.

Pela checked her NIAI, who had already received her new schedule. “In about five hours,” Pela said. Even if it meant that she wouldn’t be getting as much sleep tonight, there was no way to cut down on her happiness for the day.

“Well, that should be fun. You know what the first lesson is?”

“Nope, but it’s called general systems. It says to look at general engineering systems, from electrical to mechanical and some coding,” Pela said.

“Generalist course—makes sense. They’ll probably have you doing a bit of every job to see what you fit best with, then let you specialize,” Aileen said. As she was further than them all, she had more information on the way that the school and the Victor Corporation operated.

The others nodded in understanding.

Pela looked at them all, excited for what they might do in the future, and thinking how this ragtag group who had barely known one another three weeks ago were now some of the closest friends she had ever been with.

She still didn’t know whether she would make it through training but she knew that she couldn’t go back to her clan after this. She had seen a small glimpse of what she might be able to achieve and like a drug, it had got in her system and hooked her.

She wanted to explore the system, to build some incredible things, and proudly say that she was a person of the Victor Corporation.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ducharev Line

Indalia, Otarvi System

12/3555

Quina knocked at Nerva’s temporary office door. When he motioned for her to sit, Quina did so and waited for him to say something. Instead, Nerva pointed at the screen. Quina didn’t recognize the face, but she could see the military inside the man who stared back at her.

“Legate Quina,” the man said. “Good to meet you. Nerva’s said some very good things about you. I’ll be conducting a small interview with you today.”

“Interview?” Quina hadn’t realized it was a video conference. “I’m sorry.”

“Quina, meet the very retired Primus Pilus, Cilo Calidius Farus.”

Quina swallowed. She’d heard tales of the retired primus and his lead against the first sets of Maraukian invasions. To be staring at him now, she was overjoyed and almost couldn’t speak. “An honor to speak with you, sir.”

“Legate Nerva, may I speak with Legate Quina?”

Nerva raised an eyebrow toward Quina, then at the man he’d been conversing with. “Of course. I’ll return shortly. Take all the time you need.”

Farus’s respect for Nerva was obvious in the way he looked toward the much older man.

“So,” Farus said. “I’m sure you know who I am, and what I’ve done?”

Quina nodded. She knew he was one of Nerva’s men, and could understand him wanting to ask all the questions of her. But she wasn’t sure of the outcome from this. Why had Nerva left the room? “Yes, sir.”

“That’s very good. But do you know where I’m living?”

Quina thought hard about answering this question. She had heard many rumors about the older generation retiring somewhere spectacular. But she’d not really looked into it. It was a dream of most: die in battle or retire to overlook Roma in the gardens.

“No, sir.”

“Let me show you. One second.” Then as the camera view moved, she heard “dammit” and a few other choice curse words.

A moment later, the video feed moved and then she actually followed the side of the old legate’s face to look out of a camera attached to a device he was holding onto. Really old school. No AI system for him? she thought. Maybe he was just against them?

What she did see stretch before her was a large orbiting station.

“I’m one of the lucky ones. When this was built, I picked the top tier, so I can see down below the circling and spinning monstrosity that this is.”

The station was a series of circular portions that were attached to a long central spine. The two rings at either end were the largest, with the rings in between of varying size.

It was covered in blinking lights and had solar panels covering most of it. The places that weren’t covered showed greenery that covered the station. If one was to look closely, they might even see the animals that lived in the different habitats that had been made for them.

Each of the circles spun to maintain gravity and make it easier on the people who lived and worked there.

Large freighters could be seen arriving and departing, bringing in new supplies and taking away the grown products on the station.

Roma by itself wasn’t a hospitable planet and there were many such growing stations that dotted the planet’s orbit, but this one was the largest and the oldest of all the stations.

Its image struck a chord with Quina. She didn’t know the station’s name but she remembered seeing it before. “Where is this?”

“Orbiting Roma, of course.”

“It’s amazing.” She knew of it, but didn’t quite believe how visually stunning it was. “You’re in the Hellenic system?”

“Yes, but I don’t think for long. It seems that Nerva’s asking us to move.”

“What…” Quina swallowed. The station was huge. Could it be moved without damage? She thought long and hard about the technology they possessed. Yeah, maybe it could. “What’s the problem? Why are you moving?”

“That is my question to you. You’ve been working with Nerva for a good few months now on Indalia. You’re almost finished with the invasion there, yes?”

Quina nodded, trying not to let him see that she was clenching her fist quite tightly.

“Well, the top and bottom of it is, he’s lost trust in the legion. He wants me to close out all communications within the next month. This is my only chance to talk to him, friend-to-friend, before the station does move. We have a choice. We can leave with the station or we can move back into the Hellenic system. What choice would you make?”

Quina didn’t hesitate and spoke clear. “I’d stay with the station, sir.”

Farus rubbed a finger through his thin hairline. “Thank you.”

Quina hadn’t really done anything, but when Nerva returned, she was chatting over some of the old historical battles on the field with him. They were laughing and that had been something new for her. These last few weeks had been dire.

Nerva leaned over and looked into Farus’s eyes. “Did that help your decision?”

“I believe you’ve made the right choice, and Quina will be an asset to you.”

Quina listened to the man chuckle. What?

“You’re one of the last on my station who knows where and how it came about. I trust you to speak with everyone else.”

“Of that, I will. Be assured that my report on its occupants will be with you as we move away from the Hellenic system in the next few days.”

“Thank you.” Nerva moved to disconnect their transmission.

He then turned to her and she had to ask. “Sir, what just happened?”

“I need people I can trust, Quina. You’ve proved yourself on and off the battlefield. There will be a new name for us as a military, but we’ll work within a system we all know. However, from here on out, you’ll have a promotion.”

Quina smiled on the inside. Any promotion was good, right?

Chapter Thirty

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

12/3555

Dodger and Miles were currently on a plateau, overlooking the merger hopefuls who were trying to fight back the Maraukians and were advancing into their fire.

It was a slaughter. There was simply no way that they would survive the battle, but they gritted their teeth and moved forward. Even with the Maraukians killing their fellow trainees, they reorganized their forces and kept pushing, trying to gain any advantage possible.

It wasn’t going to be a simple battle but instead of just wasting their lives, the troopers were fighting with everything they had. Every action they made was to try to kill more Maraukians and defend the lives of the people with them.

Dodger and Evan looked on. Their eyes were glowing as they were currently merged, not only watching the battle but analyzing their attack methods and how they were coordinating with one another.

There wasn’t anyone else who was able to do it—no human would be able to, at the very least.

Mark appeared out of thin air, with Ava beside him. The two of them didn’t say anything but looked down on the simulation battlefield as well.

Fussli and Vrouck were running the battle from the Maraukian side. There wasn’t a need for them to do anything complicated. They only altered the direction the Maraukians were going on, making it so that there was no letup on the troopers.

This wouldn’t be regarded as regular training by many. The troopers who were undergoing the selection had been in fight after fight, battle after battle, in and out for what felt like months for them.

There was no end in sight, which only added to the mental strain. Also, they would feel pain whenever they died. Many who couldn’t deal with this had already dropped out. Knowing that the pain wouldn’t stop and with no end in sight, it was easy to see how people’s mental fortitude was weakening.

Two thousand had started the training, but after a month of training in real time, just a few dozen remained. From that, the number would decrease even more.

The last of the troopers was left on the battlefield. Still, they didn’t give into despair but kept on fighting.

When they had started, those who had survived until later had given up on fighting, taking the pseudo death instead of fighting on in a helpless battle. After the berating by the mergers, none of them dared to do that anymore.

“What do you think?” Mark asked Dodger and Evan as the two stopped merging.

“They’re the best of what we’ve got,” Evan said.

Dodger nodded.

Seeing those people down there, fighting day after day, he couldn’t help but think he was just setting them up so that they would be new bodies to decorate the battlefield.

He had lost too many people over the years and although death was a familiar companion to him, after Edani something had changed. The mental and emotional connection with other mergers—he felt closer to the mergers in a way he couldn’t describe.

As much as they were their own people, they knew one another’s secret hopes and wants, and at the end they felt the fear and desperation that ate away at them as they knew that they wouldn’t be able to act on those impulses anymore.

More than anything, the young ones who hadn’t even been able to experience much out of life, who had fought for the military and then become mergers, was a loss he was having a hard time understanding.

He could just give it up and quit the Vanguard, but the voice in his head wouldn’t let him, telling him that he would be letting down the people who had survived.

He might be training these people to die, but the solace he took in his actions was that if they went on that battlefield, he did so giving them the best tools, knowledge, and training, that they had their eyes wide open and knew what was coming.

He knew that the others didn’t want to have to do this, but they would bear this duty and they would train up others and go into battle with them, hoping that their actions would bring about a future where there was no need for mergers or the Vanguard.

“How is the building going?” Dodger looked over to Mark and Ava as the scenery changed and they were inside what looked to be a military camp.

The newly dead troopers were settling their gear and preparing themselves for whatever was to come. There was a lifeless look in their eyes as they moved by reaction and need. Dodger knew that in an instant those lifeless looks could change as they switched on and fought through their battles.

“Well, the second batch we can train five thousand in one time,” Mark said.

“Have any more applied?” Evan asked.

“Yeah, about another thousand,” Ava said.

“Looks like we’ll have a higher pass rate than back on Tricticus with this selection,” Mark said.

The others nodded. They had all been checking this selection against the one on Tricticus. After all, they were the only two selections that the mergers had undergone.

“Think it’s about time.” Mark sighed.

“Form up!” Dodger yelled.

The remaining troopers all moved out from where they were, grabbing their gear and tossing food in their mouths.

It might be simulated but back on the ship, their cryopods would release food; when they were in the simulation, this was to add another layer of difficulty for them all.

Evan had made the joke that if they knew how little food they would need in the future, they might as well have a bad impression of eating before they made the transition.

The troopers all lined up in formation quickly, looking forward at the selection staff.

“You’ve made it far, further than seventy percent of the other people who entered this selection with you! Now it is just the start of the real work. Now it is time to make a decision to see if you want to be a merger, if you want to die. Becoming a merger is no simple task. As we have said again and again, there is no going back. You will get a week off from selection to do what you want, to talk to whoever you want, and yes, sleep.” Mark smiled a bit at the end.

The troopers brightened up as they thought of the coming time off. It looked as if the end was finally around the corner.

“When you come back—those of you who decide to—you will die, to be reborn as mergers. Don’t make this decision lightly. Don’t be forced by others. You need to make this decision for yourself. As a merger, you will be thrown into battle after battle. When we are fighting, it doesn’t stop. We will take losses. We won’t get to sleep. We won’t get time to do anything but fight. If we don’t fight, we die.”

Mark’s words struck a chord. Even tired as all hell and pushed past their limits, all of them understood what he was saying and it showed that they weren’t simply listening.

“Enjoy your time off, and no matter your decision, it is yours to make. If you don’t want to be a merger now, in the future if you want to become one, then the door will be open for you. Passing this training has given you that right.”

***

A week later, Mark was once again in front of the people who wanted to become mergers. Out of the forty or so people who had passed, fourteen were willing to make the jump.

When the first set of mergers had finished their selection, everyone had stepped forward to become mergers. This was due to three reasons. One, they didn’t truly believe they would be thrown right into the fighting as much as possible. Second, they didn’t understand how complete the change was. And finally, they were in a state of war. Most of the people had come right from the battlefield. They were angry and looking for a way they might be able to do more. For these reasons, they were willing to ignore the warnings and step forward.

He understood why they wouldn’t join but he didn’t blame them for that. He respected that they had enough knowledge about themselves that after all this, they decided that it wasn’t good for them.

He didn’t want people who were scared or had hang ups about being mergers. If they were second-guessing themselves here and went through with it, then it would be in the back of their heads the rest of their lives.

Distractions cost lives and he needed his people focused.

On the VCF Osdal, the troopers had a chance to think about their future if they were to become mergers.

This was why many of them, even if they had passed the general selection, were hesitant to make the final step.

Mark looked at them all. “Follow me.” He walked away.

All followed him to the medical facility.

The mergers all stood between the different nanite vats while the candidates moved to the nanite vats.

“Once you enter the nanites vats, you will be rendered unconscious. This is to make sure that there are no complications with becoming mergers.

“We will start to turn you into the merger, altering your brain and your biological systems. Then, once the main component is completed, it will be up to you to decide the upgrades that you want to add to your body.

“You will have a greater access to knowledge and the different ways that we have altered our bodies as a template. It will not be a slow process and it can take a few days to be completed,” Mark said.

Someone raised their hand.

“Jones?” Mark pointed to them.

“Sir, I thought that the people on the engineering team and Captain Chen were good after just a couple of hours?”

“This is because they did not go through a full transformation right away. Instead of changing their body in one go, their nanites are slowly changing their body part by part until they can become full mergers. Instead of taking days, it will take months, but it will cost less resources. They don’t need the heavy-duty upgrades to their body and internal systems that mergers need. For them, the increased speed at which they can access and assimilate information is all that they required,” Mark said.

Jones nodded in understanding.

“Any more questions?” Mark asked.

No one seemed to have anything else that they wanted to say.

“Very well. Samples will be taken from you all, in case in the future you want to, say, have children, then it will be possible for you to do so. Of course, this is optional, but I suggest you do it, even if you never use it,” Ava said.

The others nodded as Mark sent a covert look over to her, wondering what might have happened on the family front if they weren’t both mergers.

Their relationship was still complicated but Mark knew that his walls and defenses against her continued advances and actions were falling.

It might not be official but she treated him as if they were already going out. Although he might protest out loud, they both knew that he didn’t mean it.

All of the candidates agreed before they got into the nanite vats. The mercury-like liquid, which was millions of nanites, covered them as they were sent into an induced coma.

“Time we started,” Mark said.

Each of the mergers took one nanite vat and started to work on the person inside. It took a few hours before they were able to finish with the first person. The different mergers started to wake up and then go through with changing their own bodies.

The mergers had already moved to the three candidates who they hadn’t been able to work on before.

By the end of the day, the mergers watched over the fourteen vats where nanites swirled around and moved rapidly as the mergers inside went to work.

Mark looked over the next generation of mergers. With it, they would double their numbers and they could start building up the Vanguard.

Still, there was three weeks of training to throw them through and they would need to make their own armor. It was too costly or time-consuming for the fabbers or the other people in the VCF Osdal to make.

Otherwise, they would need to make them in the Yard and as they were already so busy, that would be impossible. No, this was something they could do, and would be helpful for them to learn.

Chapter Thirty-One

The Yard

Ark Orbit, Emarl System

12/3555

Esamai’s almost daily talk with Jerome had been put to one side for now. She tucked Tyler away in a carry cot at the edge of the room. He slept well after his mid-day feeds and this was her time to get things done. To manage the Yard and to sort through the daily tasks. She sat in the large comfortable chair and read over all the reports. She’d been very pleased with the outcome of everyone working together. Even if it was taking awhile to get them all on the same path and toward them in Emarl, it was coming together and it showed more so now. She’d been glad that, although it hadn’t been the main purpose of the buoy system to relay messages, it had certainly come into its own now.

The eight different Skill Schools were underway. Using the students to help build the place allowed them hands-on training right away and to work with a team of people from all over Tricticus. It would still be a number of months until people were ready to move onto intern jobs with the different locations in space, from the Yard, station to mining operations. The more people they could get trained, the more they could teach and the cycle would be ongoing.

A few really bright minds were shining through and teachers noted several names on their radars for various tasks. So long as everyone passed, their prospects within the company were good. Esamai liked this more than anything: the fact people could learn, and make themselves and their families better. Not once had she ever turned anyone away, even if finding them a job had been harder on her.

A couple of pings alerted her. It was time. She moved her chair to the center of the room and clicked Accept. This had taken some organization too, but one by one, the faces that joined her in the room smiled.

A meeting of all the core leaders. “Good to see you all today.”

“How’s the streams looking?”

Quickly she checked each was on the same length and that there were no major delays. “We’re all looking good.”

The men around the room before her were the VCF’s most influential leaders, though she knew their new system for picking out those right for the job would eventually kick in: Hall, Mark, Nerva, Ortiz. Moretti, she knew, was watching over them all. And a few new faces she’d not seen before. There was a tag over one she didn’t outright know, Cilo Farus. His position made her do a double take. He was bringing up the Aegean Gardens from the Hellenic systems. Quickly accessing the main details, she smiled. That kind of station held a lot of interest for her, filled with retired legionnaires and their families. She planned to get better acquainted with Farus as soon as possible. Retired or not, the legionnaires on there would make excellent teachers.

Mark coughed and all eyes looked to him.

“We’re in constant contact. This is more to voice opinions and thoughts than anything. Our lines are secure and your opinions matter.”

Esamai listened carefully as each of them gave their report to Mark, and then he dished out orders to what their next steps to be. She was here just to catch up, and listen if plans had changed.

General Ortiz and the other freighters were close enough now that they would be waking up the EMF ships in the next month. This would be interesting. These men and women were asleep, completely unaware that their world had grown a thousand times or that the threats they now faced were so much deadlier.

However, Esamai had seen and heard about them from Jerome and Mark and believed these troopers would choose the right path.

The first to waken would be by Ortiz himself, the EMFC Doomsday, and from there, he hoped the influence of himself, Nerva, and Mark would be enough to sway the thoughts and actions of the others. This imminent task was the most important. Esamai knew Jerome downplayed this to her a lot. But the truth of the matter was they needed those troopers.

When the men in the room had finished with their exchange of positions and their forward movement, Mark turned to her. “Please, Esamai, report for the Yard.”

Esamai knew that Jerome had been hearing her talking about the projects, but this was her first face-to-face.

“Group one is doing well. Fabber production is up 50% and they’re looking into ways to improve those numbers. Group two is in full production—got a whole lot of full sets of armor and weapons completed. Group three is moving on with producing Gorgon tanks and group four with the new fighters and drones. Group five is struggling the most. They’re working on freighters. All five groups are reporting we’re running low on resources, need more fabbers to produce, so we’re pulling all that we can together and buying in materials as we can.”

Mark nodded. Everyone was working beyond their job descriptions. “Thank you, Esamai.”

Jerome spoke next, his gaze never leaving hers. His words struck home. “I want to talk some more about what can go wrong.”

When she looked to Mark, she thought she noticed his eye twitch. But she could see that Jerome needed to say this.

“We’re all focused on these tasks, for this mission to be ready and we will be. But the Maraukians have already proved that they’re jumping the gun, so to speak. The Ramesh system is the latest to take that hit. According to our good friend Mr. Moretti,” he gave him a nod, “the legate from that planet is in defense and so far, the system is holding.”

Esamai could see Mark’s questions, yet he let Jerome carry on.

“The point is at the moment we’re spread very thin. It will be another few months before we’re all together and these plans have fortified. Predict what could go wrong and we’ll conquer that as well, but without that forethought…” He let his thoughts trail off.

It was only a minute before Mark spoke.

“Jerome’s right. Let’s ask one of Charles’s people to start some predictive movements. Over the years, the Maraukians have seemed to hit randomly, but we know they’ve something behind them. I think with what they’re already pooling together, by studying them, we’ll have enough to see their real patterns, alongside that from the legion.” Mark glanced to Nerva and Farus, who agreed.

“The information is all there. He should be able to work with it. Anything new I’ll send over as soon as we get it.”

Esamai had thought for one brief moment how much easier it might be to manage everything as a merger. Then, no sooner had the thought crossed her mind, had she pushed it back. Tyler’s gurgling drew her attention.

“All right, looks like we’ve covered everything. If there are no more questions, I think we’re done here.” Mark looked around. No one said anything for some time.

“Good day.” Mark cut the channel as the faces disappeared.

Esamai moved over to Tyler, who was starting to move around again.

“Jerome is requesting a channel with you,” Esamai’s NIAI said.

“Connect him,” Esamai said.

Jerome’s official bearing was gone as a gentle smile appeared on his face, looking at Esamai and Tyler. “He’s growing,” Jerome said softly.

Esamai turned to him, her emotions showing for the first time. Meetings aside, now it was her time. She moved to the vid screen and, tugging the blankets aside, showed Tyler’s little face off more. “He’s just like you,” she said. “Soon as he’s eaten, he just wants to sleep.”

“Are you doing okay?”

She met his eyes with hers. “I miss you, and I’m more than sure Tyler wants to get to know you.” Watching her husband’s reaction to those words alone hurt. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I…” Jerome reached out. “I had to go. I know you understand that. I can’t wait to see you both again.”

Esamai smiled. She knew all of his decisions were not made lightly. “I am worried for our future, but I won’t be as worried with you by my side.”

“I love you.” He placed his fingers to his lips and blew her a kiss. “I’ll be with you soon. We all will be.”

Esamai blew him a reciprocal kiss. “We both love you.” Then she winked. “Does that mean we can have a party?”

Jerome chuckled. “Anything that makes you happy.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

12/3555

Jerome signed off from Esamai with a heavy heart. Seeing his son that much bigger was killing him on the inside. His hands curled into fists before he let out a frustrated sigh and let them relax again.

He had stood beside Mark through it all. From battles on Sacremon to Indalia, they had shed blood together, lost too many people, lost Tyler and Alexis. Jerome thought he’d even lost Mark for some time.

When he saw him, he thought that he would just go back to being a trooper, but now—now he didn’t know. His home, his family life was just passing him by. These were the times he should be with his wife and son. Jerome’s heart ached, and nothing he was doing here was helping.

The biggest thought that Jerome was having at the moment was all those what-ifs: What if anything cropped up now? What if Emarl got attacked? What if another system near them got attacked? What if they went to attack the place where the Maraukians command signals were coming from? What if he didn’t make it back? Tyler would grow up without his father.

“I don’t think I can do that. I’ll defend my home, but if I’m fighting somewhere else, my mind is going to be focused on back home. Then I’m just a danger to the troopers around me,” Jerome said aloud.

It felt as if a pressure left him as he’d finally been able to make a decision that had been plaguing him for so long.

Jerome stood and moved to find Mark. He would probably be with Ava, going over their latest plans. Jerome winced. He’d known Ava for only a short span of time but come to respect the princess of Crisidium. She was not only strong but an amazing warrior, a perfect match for Mark if ever there was one. Yet, he’d also seen how much Mark pushed her away. It stung for him to know his brother forcefully pushed away a woman who was willing to accept him and all of his flaws, and that he, too, wanted to be with her, but his history stopped him.

Jerome knew that most of the women Mark had been with had betrayed him in some way, or died. The last woman he thought he might have a chance with was killed on Osdal. After that, he didn’t let anyone get too close.

Jerome was about to knock on the door when Mark opened it from the inside.

“Come on in.”

Jerome hesitated for a split second before he entered Mark’s office.

Mark was also training the upcoming merger candidates at the same time, so he would only come out of the simulation for a short period of time before jumping back in to watch over their progress.

Any time outside the simulation was precious and it wasn’t to be wasted. Though he would always make time for Jerome if he needed it.

***

“What do you need, or were you trying to raid my Coheleans?” Mark laughed.

Jerome smiled, but it was weak and tense.

Mark waited, knowing that whatever Jerome was thinking wasn’t simple. A few moments passed before Mark couldn’t take it. “Will you just spit it out?”

“You know I’ve always got your back, right?”

“Yeah, of course.” Mark nodded.

“I’m not a fighter anymore,” Jerome finally admitted. “Hearing you were in dire straits on Indalia tore at me. To only just get you back and then lose you again—I couldn’t do it. I had to be there to get you out safely. We all did.”

Mark could see the pain on Jerome’s face, and he knew the decision that was coming for him would change his life forever. But even in their meeting today, he’d seen the way his friend had watched and looked over at his wife. It was a meeting that he wouldn’t forget due to Jerome’s words, but also the underlying facts with them. She wasn’t just looking out for all of them; she was also doing all the extra work to protect Jerome and baby Tyler.

Jerome took a few moments before continuing. “Tyler’s growing.”

Mark felt the emotions, the pressure that Jerome had been under for the last couple of months.

“Tyler’s growing, and I’m missing it. I’m missing the early stages of his life because of war. I can’t do this”—Jerome waved his hand around the office—“anymore. When we reach Emarl, I’m staying.”

Jerome seemed to wither and look at his hands, unable to meet Mark’s eyes.

Mark didn’t say anything but stood and walked over to Jerome, patting him on the shoulder. “Don’t lower your head. This is your life and your decision. You have to do what is best for you. That is what I said four months ago and that’s what I mean,” Mark said, comforting his friend.

Jerome seemed to agree partly but he didn’t raise his head, feeling as if he had stabbed his brother in the back.

Instead, Mark was relieved. He could take on all the hell if he knew there was someone he could protect. When he joined the EMF, he had taken the pain so that Tyler might be safe, but in the end, he hadn’t been able to keep him alive.

Jerome had a family, he had a place, and Mark didn’t want some sense of guilt or imagined debt pulling Jerome into this fight.

“The decision is yours. You’ve a future, a life. You need to make the most of it.”

Jerome stood so that Mark wasn’t towering over him. The two of them locked eyes, their emotions all tangled up as they looked at each other, brothers through thick and thin.

“I won’t stop worrying over you, or the others. They need you just as much as I do. Esamai needs help. The Yard and everything in the Emarl system is growing so fast. Doing that and raising a son—she’s doing it now but I can see she’s pushing herself beyond her limits.”

“Jerome, you don’t have to defend it to me. I understand and I acknowledge that this is something that you have to do and I respect your decision,” Mark said, reassuring him.

Jerome seemed to deflate, as if hearing just the thing he needed to. “If you’re going to listen to the one other thing I have to say, let it be, don’t miss what’s right in front of your eyes. Listen to me, Mark. You have something right here that’s beyond most guys’ understanding. You have one of the most amazing women I’ve ever known at your side. Don’t let that slip away.”

Mark was left speechless. He might be able to argue with Ava, against his feelings, but Jerome saw through him in a way others couldn’t.

He tapped Mark’s shoulder and left the room.

And with that, Jerome was gone, leaving Mark to an empty room.

Chapter Thirty-Three

VCF Fernix

In Transit from Sol to Osdal System

1/3556

Captain Grild checked with his engineers once again before looking to the rest of his command crew. There was only Dev and Theo.

Dev was his communications officer and his cargo master while Theo acted as his navigator.

All of them and the crew of the VCF Fernix had been asleep just a few weeks ago. The crew on watch woke them all up with an important message from the Victor Corporation headquarters. It took a few days for them all to get up to speed with everything. After all, the news there was a massive Union hiding in the stars, and humans had been fighting an alien race for decades was not something that was an everyday occurrence.

Though the biggest news for them personally wasn’t the changes that were happening across the stars; it was the new mission that they had been given.

An inter-system freighter had been rigged up with a faster-than-light drive, an Alcubierre drive, and it was heading to intercept them before they reached Osdal. Onboard, it was holding three Alcubierre drive systems and fabbers.

The freighter would meet them up in just a few weeks, drop off their supplies, and head off to meet with another freighter that was still decades away from its destination.

The inter-system freighter, which was now one of the farthest-travelled out-of-system freighters in the Victor Corporation, appeared on time and they cross loaded items, setting to work with putting the parts and computers together.

With it all completed, they ran multiple test scenarios and simulations. Theo turned into a red-eyed nervous wreck as he crammed all of the information he needed to know within those few short weeks.

Now it was time for them to test their drive, turning their forty-one-year journey into just a few weeks.

“Ready to engage drive,” Theo said, unable to hide the slight shake in his voice.

“Engage,” Aaron said, not giving himself or Theo any time to second-guess their decisions.

The Alcubierre drive’s power ramped up as the processing centers went into overdrive. The view around them changed; the stars turned into red and blue as the ship moved. The stars didn’t seem to move at all but their odd coloring made the crew feel tense as they all checked the different systems.

As fast as the stars had changed, they returned back to normal but in slightly different positions.

No one did anything, their hands away from the computer systems as different information started to be compiled and appear in front of them.

It was a full fifteen minutes before Theo said anything.

“I think…it worked.” Theo’s words seemed to break the dam of pressure as all three of them felt so relieved that they nearly collapsed.

“Check your systems.” Aaron looked over the information from the ship.

Aaron Grild had been apprehensive whether this new drive would work. He trusted the people in the Victor Corporation, but trying a new drive that would allow them to go faster than the speed of light was the kind of technology that people in the EHC could only dream of.

“Dev, send a message to the Yard. Detail them the information on our transition and give them an updated timeline on our time estimate to Osdal. Best to show a conservative time estimate and arrive earlier rather than later.”

“Yes, sir.” Dev started to ready a message for the Victor Corporation headquarters as Aaron opened up his new mission brief he had received from the freighter that had dropped off the drive parts.

It didn’t take him long to read through the notes the first time. They weren’t much different than his original orders, with one far-reaching change. Instead of just linking the people of Osdal and the Victor Corporation together through trade, now they would be offering jobs and positions for people in the Emarl system.

Aaron kept on reading, his amazement increasing as he went on.

There were plans to create a pipeline and trade routes from the Emarl system to Osdal, including travel. Someone could pay to move between systems, allowing the freighter to become not only a way to transport goods but people through systems.

Aaron wasn’t just the captain of the VCF Fernix; he was one of Moretti’s operatives. He had served with the EMF as a secondary captain who would look after the ship when it was moving between systems or, when the real fighting started, he would be in the hot seat as the higher-ups, although wanting the glory, didn’t want to be blamed if something went wrong. Only when the fighting was over would they take back command so that they could add yet another good action to their record.

Aaron was a capable leader and someone who was closer to the troopers and the crew of his ship than the higher-ups.

It was only through his actions and other people’s references, as well as Moretti and Admiral Hall’s vetting, that he was able to gain this position. They were placing a lot of trust in him, so they needed to test him again and again as an inter-system freighter captain before he was allowed to enter the selection process to become a super freighter captain.

Now it looked as if his second role was being activated before he had even made his first trade.

Well, shit, hopefully I don’t fuck up too badly. Aaron looked over the political information that was included in the information, as well as the profiles that were included on various key and important people.

Chapter Thirty-Four

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

1/3556

As soon as the fourteen candidates had recovered from their bodies’ changes, they’d tested out their bodies. They’d been shocked by their new incredible abilities.

Once they were used to their bodies, they were thrown into the simulations once again. They fought in their new bodies at first with no other changes, then they fought with armor and weapons. With their faster thinking speed, a week in the real world was a month in the simulation.

Then, once they were fighting at a decent standard, they were no longer fighting by themselves. The other members of the Vanguard joined them.

At first, the Vanguard members had been left yelling at them, but with time they got better, pushing themselves past whatever limits they placed on themselves and truly becoming mergers.

They began to fight while merged, and started to use tactics that conventional soldiers would never think of because they couldn’t do it.

A whole new type of warfare was ingrained into them as they unknowingly became part of the Vanguard’s command structure.

Every waking moment, and even when they were sleeping, they were together.

For them, it went on for two months of grueling training.

They became one fighting group. Seeing their leaders pushing themselves so much inspired the candidates to grit their teeth and push on, thinking: If they can do it, then what’s to say I can’t? Why am I making excuses for my weakness?

But now, they were all sitting in the training area of the simulation, shooting the shit, talking tactics or what they wanted to eat. Some were playing card games or watching movies and reading books.

Fussli jumped up, yelling as he found that Popper had planted a spider under his pillow. Seeing the others snickering, Fussli grabbed his pillow and charged after Popper. “Goddamn asshole!” he yelled as he charged past.

Mark looked over them all.

Each group was different: they liked different games, they had different pranks, and talked about their lives to one another.

In the battlefield they might become family, but here in their downtime, they created bonds that couldn’t be broken.

Mark stood and banged on his crate that held his armor.

The others in the room quieted down and looked over to him.

“Two months ago, fourteen of you started on a journey, not knowing what would come of it. Today—today you officially became members of the Vanguard.” Mark let that sink in.

“Take a few days off. Next week, we have a meeting with the other mergers and we’ll be starting to train the next batch of people to join the Vanguard.”

***

Chen looked at the other people in the room. He felt a deep connection with all of them through his mind. Most of the times they said it was a connection over the net that was real.

There were different names for the information networks that spanned the Union and the EHC. It encapsulated the faster-than-light communication buoys as well as all of the information that was connected to them.

There was very little information that wasn’t connected to the net in some way or another.

To them, firewalls weren’t really a boundary and they easily waded through to different systems and corporations, coming to know the best information that was out there.

The strength of mergers’ abilities to make things wasn’t that they were coming up with something new; it was the fact that they were connecting different information together in a new way to create something new.

Each of the merger groups were part of different sub networks, so Chen was connected to the network with all of the mergers and then the one that was with the engineers as he had worked with them to come up with different designs for the new warships that they wanted to make with the Victor Corporation’s Yard.

In this room were all of the merging capable people: those who had been part of the merging initiative, those from the engineering team, as well as Chen and the mergers from the Vanguard, including the new candidates.

If it was a group of humans, the room would have been chaotic. Here there was a hierarchy. Mark was the first, so he had the strongest voice, but they had already integrated the control AI, the one that they had proposed to use to help run the Emarl system and make sure that their governing system didn’t become corrupted. Humans had shown that if they were in power then it was only a matter of time until there was an issue.

The AI, named Sam, was another being in their group to them, just as all of the NIAIs were also a part of the mergers.

“I open the first meeting between all branches of the mergers,” Mark said. All of the people looked at him.

“As you all know, we have been developing an AI that is made to look over the people of Emarl and hopefully curb corruption. Having an AI that is led one way or another is really hard. Also making sure that it doesn’t take too much control is also a pain, so I’ve got some help.” Mark’s expression was heavy as he looked around the room.

“As some of you may or may not know, when a merger is killed, their mind stops to exist but there is an imprint left on the network. It is created from all of our memories of the person. Unconsciously, they kind of exist, creating a ghost in the net. I took the information from all of these ghosts and plugged it into Sam. This means that the mergers who have passed away who have no need for avarice, will all make decisions based on the criteria that we have set,” Mark said.

The others in the room had conflicted emotions that showed on the net.

Mark didn’t respond to their questions and instead shared information with them directly.

All of them merged and took in the information. Once they understood it all, the arguments started to die down as people had interested looks on their faces.

The imprints of the mergers were just that: an imprint of the person that they were, an imprint that didn’t have any goals or motivations. Each of them would act like a filter passing through them all, giving feedback to Sam, who would then pass the decisions down to the rest of the mergers or to the Emarl system.

They knew all the tricks of a person, but without the issue of being humans with greed.

“I want to integrate Sam into the merger network,” Mark said.

Some people in the room had moral conflicts using these ghosts of those who had died, but overall, they knew it was their memories keeping them alive, the emotions and connections of the people.

“Even in death they’re looking over us.” Ava’s voice filled with emotion on the net.

The other’s issues started to fall away as they, too, started to think. Even if they were dead, it wasn’t a bad way to live on in memory.

The vote passed: Sam would be integrated with their network.

It didn’t take Sam long to become part of the network.

For some time, nothing happened as he processed information at an incredible rate. Finally it came up with a list of names.

Yu was in charge of all ships and flight crews, from combat shuttles to RSDs.

Tanks were given over to Christina Torres; manufacturing was given over to Zoi. The sciences were led by Maxine, engineering was Chen’s domain.

Mark was the leader of the military faction. Christina Torres, Chen as commander of the Moby, and Yu fell under his command, giving them only one vote. This was to balance them out with the other groups or sectors that were meant to encompass all of the different sectors that the mergers worked in and represent them all.

People would pick or do a job and then Sam would put them under a sector. They could work in multiple different sectors but the sector heads—Mark, Charles, Maxine, and Zoi—would make most final decisions. If they couldn’t make a final agreement and Sam couldn’t, Ava Desialias was made as the leader of the mergers. She wasn’t the smartest or most powerful, but Sam saw that she was able to look at all sides of the argument before making a decision.

These people were picked based on the ghosts’ thoughts and beliefs.

When people saw all of the appointments, no one said anything as they saw how their job had been broken down by sections.

“Good. Looks like we have some more organization. Each sector will be in charge of looking after themselves and regulating their work. They will also provide oversight for the other sectors to greater regulate. Sam will be supervising us all. Each sector can apply to the other sectors if they want to take on a new merger. If the person is accepted, then they are allowed to become a merger. One person does not need to stay in one sector and people can move freely through them all. It is the sector’s head duty to create plans for their sector’s people and make sure that they have the best conditions and further their field,” Mark said.

“Wait, so we can recruit more people?” Yu asked.

“Yes. You don’t expect that we’re just going to have you three flying around merger-capable gear?” Mark smiled. “That is another thing. Each sector is responsible for making their own gear. That said, if you’re working with other sectors to, say, build more RSDs or the new Gorgon tanks that are modified to be used by mergers, that is understood. If there are any conflicts, they are to be brought up to the sector heads and Sam. If an agreement can’t be made, then to the leader of the merger faction, who is currently Ava.” Mark turned to Ava.

The others did so as well.

Ava didn’t shirk away but looked at them all with an impassive face.

“So if someone wants to be a merger and passes our tests to make sure that they’re good to be a merger, then we can bring it up with everyone else and see if they agree?” Zoi asked.

“Exactly. That way, with all of us looking into the person, we can be sure that they truly want to be a merger and not have some kind of hidden secret that could adversely affect us,” Mark said.

The mergers were a powerful force to be reckoned with. One could see that by the advances in the Moby as well as the different ship types and weapon systems that were being created, or even how a merger could use a nanite vat faster than a fabber could create things.

That said, even now with the fourteen new mergers sitting in the room with them, there was less than one hundred of them in total.

If they were able to bring in more people from aboard the VCF Osdal, or even the Emarl system, then their strength would grow greatly.

This was the first thought on some people’s minds. But as the others thought on it, this idea of gaining more strength mellowed out. Instead, it was giving people the option to become mergers. Leading someone blindly into being a merger was enough to reject them becoming one and look bad on the merger who had been trying to increase their strength without thinking of the individual.

The second round of training for the Vanguard was about to start, but now the other sectors and people were thinking about starting up their own recruiting drives.

Mark knew that in just two days he would be standing in front of five thousand people who hoped to become mergers for the Vanguard.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Mesami

Indalia, Otarvi System

1/3556

Legate Yousef and the room came to attention as Legate Nerva came in. He saluted back to Legate Yousef. Technically, being on the planet, Legate Yousef was the one in charge of the defense and military strategy—he knew the land better.

In most cases, this would work, but with the secondary commander in the area being Nerva, a legend who was there at the founding of modern Roma, Yousef knew that they were in good hands with him and would follow his lead.

“Legate Yousef, it is good to see that you are well now.” Nerva bowed to the legate, making it clear that he would be leaving command and control to Yousef.

Yousef’s smile came a little easier as he felt a weight come off his shoulders.

With someone like Nerva around, it was possible for him to take control of the battlefield instead of him. If Nerva was to do that, the people under his command might not trust his judgement on different things. This was the power that came with just Nerva’s opinion.

“Thank you, Legatus,” Yousef said, using the way of address for a lower-ranking legate that was secondary to his command. “I couldn’t miss out on kicking these Maraukians off Indalia.”

The others in the room made their approval known. All of them were legatus or liaisons with the different forces under Yousef’s command.

With their combined weight, they moved millions of personnel and forces across the entire planet.

It was no small undertaking and Yousef felt the pressure once again rise. He knew the path ahead of him would be anything but an easy one.

“All right, now that we’re all here, it’s time that we started the briefing,” Yousef said. Although it looked as though they were all in a large command room, in fact they were all holographically projected to one another.

This made it so that if they were attacked in one location, then all of the officers wouldn’t be killed.

The Maraukians might be dumb but the legion wasn’t in the habit of tempting Murphy’s law.

“We have been holding the Maraukians in a steady state for some weeks now. With our forces now firmly stuck in, we’ve been able to free up more people and resources to move around the planet. It is my aim to collect these forces in different areas and begin clearing out the Maraukian presence at our walls and move to any possible Maraukian nesting sites that might have survived a nest buster. As we clear areas, we will be moving forces to where the fighting is, concentrating our efforts to remove the remaining threat. I aim to start our push back at the Ducharev line. If we are able to eliminate the Maraukians there, then we will be able to pull the larger than expected force from there to help clear other isolated areas. The areas of attack are all contained in the information brief.” Yousef had given out the information packet days ago so all of them had plenty of time to read it.

The nest busters were a type of missile that were meant to penetrate the ground and explode inside any of the Maraukian nests that might be left behind.

With the space legion’s forces above and their satellites, their coverage wasn’t the best, but they were able to see most of the Maraukian movements. And from that and previous information, they could figure out to a high degree of accuracy where the nests were and launch a buster.

Although the busters were almost always effective, they still needed to have forces on the ground making sure that there were no Maraukians left in the nest. If there were, it was possible that they could come right back out of the ground and renew the attack against the legion, catching them off guard and making them lose everything that they had earned up to that point.

Yousef’s plan aimed to gather the forces from Ducharev, which, although they were great in number to cover such a large area, weren’t fighting all that many Maraukians overall. The line at Edani was much smaller than the one at Ducharev and a force just a sixth the size the one at Ducharev could have held it with ease.

There was also the hidden danger in the Edani area. They didn’t have much coverage other than what the mergers had left behind. They were now getting information from spy satellites, but the area had been unrecorded for a long time, and they didn’t have that much information on the Maraukian movements, so it was very likely that there were a few nests located in the area that they had no idea about.

If this were so, then it meant that they were sitting on a ticking time bomb.

Yousef would feel a lot better if they were able to confirm or deny the existence of a nest in that area.

“Now, any questions or issues?”

No one raised any issues on the plan that was to be carried out. They knew that although this was the first part of the plan that it would change as the situation changed on the ground.

“All right. Then in nine days we’ll start taking back Indalia. Make sure your people are ready and you have everything needed.”

Legate Yousef closed down the meeting. Now they were committed. It was time to clear up his home.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Ducharev

Indalia, Otarvi System

1/3556

Legate Quina sat with the fifty or so leaders of her mismatched cohorts. New orders were starting to drift in and they were going to be split up. Looking to Rayin and Valez, she received an incoming message. Legate Yousef was healing well and would be joining them at the meeting. Now that she was alerted to him being well, she knew her step in commanding what was left of their legionnaires was over.

The door at the back of the hall opened and Legate Yousef and Centurion Augustus stepped inside. It was obvious to her that the legate still had injuries, but he seemed in control. She stood to greet them and was then surprised when the door opened again, this time revealing Nerva. She hadn’t thought he would be needed here today. Even Legate Yousef turned to see, then his face changed as he waited on Nerva to approach him. Quina watched as they conversed for only a brief moment, then they both turned to her.

Nerva approached her and all her instincts kicked in. She had no idea what were his intentions after the other day. “If I may speak with you and Legate Yousef for a moment in private.”

Yousef looked confused, but he led the way so they could talk.

Quina quickly followed.

They entered a smaller office, which only had the one desk and chair, but Nerva didn’t sit. What Quina did see was him quickly check the room for anything. Then his eyes fell on them both.

“I’m commending you both for your service to the legion on Indalia. Protecting the people here and in keeping as many of ours alive as possible,” Yousef said.

Quina looked to Nerva, who lowered his head.

“When I was injured at the city wall of Edani,” he then nodded in Quina’s direction, “we were picked up by a transport and brought to Ducharev in some of the first evac shuttles. The commendation goes to Legate Quina and her reputation for stepping up.”

Nerva eyed over Yousef very carefully. “Injured in the line of duty does not negate what you’ve done for the Otarvi system.”

“Thank you, Legate.”

Quina wanted to ask all the questions pounding through her head, but she waited for Nerva’s eyes to turn to her.

“Speak freely, Legate Nerva,” Yousef said.

“Of the commanding men outside, are they trustworthy?” he asked them both.

“I would stand by any of them and fight,” Quina stated. “They fought with passion and honor.”

“I have a proposal that I take Legate Quina and any men who wish to join with me when I leave Indalia.”

Quina read into his gaze the more he stared at her, and then he turned to Yousef.

It was Yousef who locked his eyes with hers. “I will not stand in your way,” he said.

Nerva seemed to visibly relax. “Good. I have a lot of things I need to put into motion. If you trust all the men outside, I will address them all. If you hadn’t, it might have had a different outcome.”

Nerva sent over files to them both, which Quina accessed quickly and started to shake her head at.

The information it carried confirmed everything she’d seen on the front line. Everything she’d heard and witnessed. She turned to him, anger and pain in her voice as she said simply, “I want that bastard dead.”

“We have to be a little cleverer than that. Here’s the second part of what I’d like to ask of you both. You are powerful people in your own rights. I need full backing on this for it to even start to work out.”

Yousef didn’t even read through the proposal before he answered. “Whatever it takes.”

Quina was a little more cautious. She opened the new document and read through it. They could join with Nerva or return to the legion, and that meant being spread about their planetary systems in various jobs. Quina let out a small laugh and Yousef gave her a concerned look. There was no way she was returning to the people who abandoned her and her men.

“All I ask is that you don’t…” Nerva started to speak.

“The people of Indalia have a great legate to help them rebuild. They’ll need help for the foreseeable future, to keep the forces here and the Maraukians at bay.”

“Of course.” Quina lowered her head toward Yousef, who beamed with pride. She felt her energy building, and she knew where she wanted to be. Yet she wanted to be sure she was doing the right thing, her gut telling her she was. “Requesting to be on your transport, sir.”

Yousef smiled when Nerva just nodded at her. “Thank you, Legate Quina, for your service. You will not be forgotten here on Indalia. We will need to rebuild and I’m more than sure we will support you, especially after the events that transpired here.”

Yousef turned to Quina. “There’s a lot to fortify still before you leave. And, if possible, beat back those Maraukians while they’re losing.”

Quina contained her smile. “Yes, sir.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Bellona 3241 Hellcat

Indalia, Otarvi System

1/3556

Thomas McDougall checked all of his systems. “Once more into the breech.” He thought of the talks he had with Nerva and those with his own crews and tanks.

After this, this was where he drew his line. He was ready to send word to his wife and daughter, informing them of his decision and telling them to join him in Emarl, but he made that their decision. It had been too long since he had last seen them both.

The few months or weeks that he got away from the legion weren’t enough.

He had given the legion his all. He had seen the corruption that ran rampant among those with connections, the shit that they pulled.

Still, he was able to lie to himself and say that if he looked the other way, it would be fine. He just did his job, looked after his people, and let them play their games.

Now he was angry—angry at himself for looking away.

Nerva couldn’t do it anymore, nor could many of the others who had looked over the evidence Nerva provided them with, showing Admiral Hesra’s past and the way that he cut off supplies and necessary support from the Moby and the mergers.

Many of the people who came with Nerva knew him well and others had come to from their time on Gilese. Hearing what had happened to the mergers and the legionnaires in Edani, few of them had anything good to say about the space legion or their admiral.

The fact that he had tried to get Ares fighters to shoot on them as they were leaving the system peacefully, having to flee for fear of being shot down—McDougall and the others were done.

They would save these people and this planet, but their future wasn’t with the legion anymore.

He didn’t know whether Emarl would be any batter. He did know that he would do his best to try to turn it into something that they could be proud of.

McDougall looked through his sensor readings. Four Bellonas waited on the road that had been built up to the massive gate that led beyond the wall. All of them had their sweeper barrels locked in place and ready to fire.

Across the Ducharev line, Bellonas were ready and waiting.

Beyond the wall, one could see the continuous artillery that was tearing apart the natural features of the region, killing tens of Maraukians.

Weapons fire echoed along the wall as machine guns fired nonstop. The Maraukians’ own coil guns and rockets hit the wall, trying to break it down and open up a path for them.

“Artillery barrage is incoming. Follow your NIAIs!” McDougall said as he saw the time warning.

With his words, the first Bellona moved forward, the massive military machine proudly charging forward.

McDougall rocked with the Bellona as his tank followed after them.

The four tanks advanced along the road, their massive tracks sending the gravel flying.

Artillery came down like the hand of God, smashing into the Maraukians outside of the gate.

“Artillery is shifting fire. Demoness, be ready to engage!” McDougall said.

The artillery shifted its fire as the Demoness, the leading Bellona, watched the opening gate.

Even under the artillery, some of the Maraukians that were farther back or could still move started to push through the opening and those that were to either side started to pour in.

Crazed or controlled Maraukians—it didn’t matter at this moment: all of them were grouped together.

“Gate open!” McDougall yelled as the Demoness’s cannon belched out its sweeper round.

The canister shot smashed everything ahead of it into the ground. The tank’s twin support gunners went to work. Their machine guns hammered away as acceleration tubes fired, angled to come over the wall and drop on the Maraukians pressing in from the sides.

The Demoness hit a low ridge, smashing through it as the dust was whipped up by the three other accelerating tanks.

“Shifting aim!” Valentine said as the main cannon moved, facing the left-hand side while the third tank shifted its aim to the right.

The Demoness’s main cannon fired again as they left the gate and the wall behind. The tank bounced as it reached the uneven terrain. Maraukians in their path turned into a fresh blue coating as they rumbled on.

The secondary weapon systems all lit up, looking like an angry ant hill as tracers cut through the early morning light.

McDougall bounced in his chair as they, too, left behind the gate. The Maraukians on either side were still pushing in as Valentine fired. The main cannon’s canister shot tore down hundreds as they pushed forward.

Instead of an unending sea, the Maraukians were only in the final three hundred meters of the wall.

“Prepare to halt!” McDougall said as the third tank cleared the gate.

“Demoness, arcs ten to two; Hellcat, seven till ten; Rabbo, two till five; Rampage, four till eight!” With McDougall’s orders, the main cannons on the different tanks moved to orientate themselves in the directions he spoke of.

The gate was quickly sealing behind them as they were now on the other side of the battlefield.

The Maraukians’ rounds hit them, and blow-out panels were doing their best to take out the missiles before they struck the armor.

McDougall was thrown about in his seat as one of them exploded too close for comfort.

All of the weapons systems were firing as the tanks slowed down.

“Diverge!”

The tanks turned quickly so that they brought more weapons to bear on their arcs. The Rampage Bellona shot dirt into the sky as it turned itself all the way around, protecting their rear.

“Blow out!” Rabbo’s tank commander said as armored doors opened on the tank. Sealed pods were revealed, blowing out their coverings as missiles shot off, one after another, again and again. The launches sounded like a machine gun going off as they covered the tank in ejection gasses and propellant.

“Stands going down. Deploying anti-explosive defenses!” Robert barked from deep in the Hellcat as panels opened and boxy-like objects were thrown out around the Bellona. These were remote blow-out packs that would destroy incoming explosives and heavy weapons fire. They could also blow themselves up to create close-in defense and give the Bellona time to get the hell out.

Up and down the line, Bellonas stopped, cutting the Maraukians up.

The fire from the wall doubled as everyone who could use a weapon had been put on the wall.

The Maraukians were lambs to the slaughterhouse as they were struck from two different sides with artillery and other munitions dropped from above.

The missiles that the Rabbo had fired out hit pockets where herd commanders had been seen.

The Maraukians were rapidly losing cohesion. Some of them threw their weapons away as they charged forward into the weapons fire with nothing but their claws.

“Lackey, twenty degrees right! Valentine, shift by ten to the left!” McDougall moved between his tactical displays and fields of fire. It was easy to go tunnel vision, so it was his commands that made sure that they saw the whole picture and not what was just in front of them, directing them on to new targets.

“Sending!” Valentine yelled as the tank bucked with the round mowing down Maraukians.

The entire teams were working together, relaying information and knowing what the others were doing. The Maraukians were being eradicated.

“Group to my right, marking!” Chang said as Lackey shifted fire onto the new target.

“Shit—got some trying to move through those craters in front!”

“Firing,” McDougall said as acceleration rails fired, dropping fire into the creatures and stopping the Maraukian advance.

“Long-range fire mission.” McDougall’s NIAI showed him the target area as he approved it. His missile racks were exposed as he fired off missiles into the skies.

“Sending!” The tank shook as a new section of the Maraukian herd was reduced to mist.

“Got a bad hit on the left outermost track! Going to need to blow it if we need to move!” Robert said.

“Got targets coming up between fields of fire. No one on my side on it,” Rampage’s tank commander said to McDougall.

“Lackey! Get those bastards!” McDougall sent the information to him.

All around them, sensors continued to update them on Maraukians and their movements. Sensor shells were overhead, making sure that they could see everything on the battlefield.

McDougall saw as they were clearing an area around themselves, their time to react growing with the Maraukians they killed.

There just simply wasn’t enough of them left anymore to swarm the tanks, which was the most dangerous situation for a tank to be in against the apes.

Comms chatter died down as people started to get an understanding of what was going on. The gunners didn’t even need to talk to one another as they worked with each other, even on different tanks.

This could only come from a tank group that had fought together constantly.

The tempo of the battle started to die down. The Maraukians couldn’t keep up and their losses were severe to the point that their rushing tactics had failed completely.

They pushed the Maraukians away from the tanks and started to use their longer-range weapons. Zooming in on targets, their shots were more accurate because they weren’t panicked.

As fast as it had started, the weapons fire started to slow down. They shifted from close-in weapons systems to longer range ones, hitting the Maraukians that were farther away.

McDougall fired off sensor shells from backup acceleration rails, allowing them all a better view of the battlefield.

A rail gun fired here and there, their target failing to move again. The tanks started to go silent and for the first time in a long time, the guns on the Ducharev line stopped firing.

Everyone looked for targets as the weapons fire in the distance started to die down as well.

Nothing was left alive outside the wall, just piles of Maraukian bodies.

More sensor rounds were released, checking every inch of the battlefield.

An hour and a half—that’s how long they had been beyond the wall. But with tremendous fire superiority and good communication, they were able to defeat the Maraukians that had been banging on their wall for months.

“Good work, people. Tank commanders, move to phase two.” Nerva’s voice came out over the Ducharev channel.

“Everyone, check your systems and tell me how we’re looking. Robert, you got a way to fix that front track? Otherwise we’re going to be replaced out.” McDougall was the leader of this tank group but if his tank was less than one hundred percent, he would be a liability and they’d need to stay behind the wall.

“Sorry, sir. It’s a nasty one. We’ll need someone to come help us out here. Otherwise we’re going to need a whole new track,” Robert said.

“Got it.” McDougall wasn’t happy with the situation but he opened a channel to the Rampage tank commander.

“Finch, our outside front track is busted up good. If we move on, we’re going to lose it and mobility. Going to wait for repair. You’ve got command of the tank column. Pick out a replacement for the Hellcat from those staying behind,” McDougall said.

“Damn shame. It would have been good to have you, boss!” Finch said.

“Shit happens,” McDougall said. “Bring them back safe.”

“I’ll do my best.” Finch cut the channel as he took command of the column.

“Just got done talking to the mechanics. They’re sending out a work crew to help us. I’ll get in an armored suit and take a proper look at it,” Robert said.

“Wait out fifteen. Want to make sure that there is nothing left out there that would be a danger,” McDougall said.

“Gotcha. I’ll get suited,” Robert said.

Robert and McDougall had been talking on the tank channel so the others knew what was going on.

“Shit. Well, that sucks.” Lackey sighed. “All green up here. Ammunition report to you.”

“Got some scuffs and two accel tubes are messed up but good otherwise,” Chang said.

“Main gun is green. Could do with an ammunition resupply, though,” Valentine reported.

“Green for all mechanical and electrical. Need resupply for reactive blow-out panels and packs. Track is still busted. Got some hits and dings here and there, but nothing close to penetrating,” Robert said, clearly getting suited up as he made noises of effort while talking.

The other tanks moved back to the gate, getting resupplied before heading out away from the wall and firing sensor shells all the way to scan the ground and surroundings. If they found a nest or something that looked like a nest, they’d call in a nest buster from the launchers behind Ducharev.

After fifteen minutes, Robert left the tank to go check on the track, with the mechanics saying they were twenty minutes away.

With the torn-up terrain, it would take them some time to reach the Bellona.

McDougall sat back in his chair and started the waiting game. He tapped the armrest of the massive metal monstrosity that he had spent most of his life with.

The Bellona’s guns continued to check the surrounding area, smoke rising from the torn-up landscape.

Under it, Maraukian bodies were strewn over the ground. It was a sight that McDougall had seen all too many times. He pulled out a tin of chew and packed a new lip, the motions automatic and rehearsed into a science.

As the nicotine started to hit his system, he came down from the rush, the headache from being that alert for so long and the stress of his decision and the unknown future ahead of him.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Legate Nerva’s Estate

Orbiting Gardens of Ageia, Hellenic System

2/3556

Cilo Calidius Farus moved from one side of his office to another, trying to stretch out his aching muscles. Not one at all for the new tech that they kept trying to get his old bones to accept. He smiled, thinking of the recent conversations and plans with Nerva. Quina reminded him of someone he knew, so many, many years ago.

It had taken awhile from his first conversation with Nerva to get things on the move. Storing up not only equipment but resources on the quiet side. A few people had asked questions, but he’d managed to persuade them that this was nothing out of the ordinary.

Today, things were going to change for good.

He punched the comms to the nice young lady who waited on him daily and called her inside. “Yin, call a meeting of the council. I’ll need to announce this properly.”

Yin seemed to stumble at his words, but she found her stride, nodded and backed out of the room once more.

Farus picked up a snack from the table before him and ate while he thought about the next few weeks. The large floating estate hadn’t been tested for movement for many years; seemed he might need to visit with the engineering division as well before the day ended. There hadn’t been this much excitement around here for half a century.

No time like the present for getting going. He swiped the water bottle and started to walk. The large garden station could take some time to negotiate around when you weren’t that steady on your feet.

Refusing most of the medical aid, Farus liked to feel that he was getting older. Aching bones and all.

The walking allowed him to stretch his legs, and within a minute or two, he was back in a stride he was comfortable at.

It didn’t take long for Yin to catch up to him, despite his being well ahead of her. Settling in beside him, Yin asked, “What’s so important you call a meeting of the council during their vacations?”

“You’ll all know soon enough. For now, we’re heading down to engineering.”

Her smooth Chinese features crumpled. “Engineering, sir?”

Farus met her concern with a glare of his own. Yin was used to hearing all of his conversations and comms but the last one with Nerva she’d been removed from. “It’s not kept from you for a reason. You’re by my side now. Come, you’ll hear first-hand down in engineering.”

Yin nodded and kept her pace with his, making sure her quick footsteps weren’t pushing his.

While they made their way down, Yin made small talk with him about the gardens’ growing capacities, and their recent festival, which most of the population took as holidays. Farus found the facts she was giving interesting. Winning competitions for food production and quality of product was a big win against a planet that was actually producing one hundred times as much. He smiled, wondering whether they’d miss their additional resources in trade once they started their move and closed their borders.

As they passed several people through the corridors, each stopped in turn to greet Farus, some with just a nod of appreciation and others to verbally thank him for his work.

Yin never let this grow old, and always made sure when she was with him that he stopped to work with the people in the gardens. Appreciation all around was a good thing.

Finally at the lift he wanted, Farus pushed for the inner parts of the gardens. It had been awhile since he’d actually visited this side of them, and the thrill of seeing them flare to life filled his veins with adrenaline, making his heart race.

“Take your time,” Yin whispered. “Whatever it is we’re going to be doing, they don’t need you keeling over.”

Farus laughed and stepped into the lift. His body slowed and he calmed as they dipped, lower and lower into the belly of their home.

Two corridors later, he stood before the main doorway into the engineer’s control room.

“Once more into the...”

Farus opened the door and stepped inside with Yin in tow. He looked around to the bustling stations. Several gentlemen watched over various unique parts inside the gardens, making sure all energy and resources were balanced.

A uniformed man spotted him and called out, “Legate.” His much younger legs ran toward them and he stopped dead to salute him.

“Retired, you know that, Proclus.” Farus beamed at him. “Good to see you are the one on duty today.”

Proclus looked about the room as everyone had paused in their duties. Farus noticed and quickly called out, “At ease, please. But may I ask you finish your tasks and gather at the center of the room in a few minutes.”

Proclus gave him a side glance. “Retired you say?”

“Well, maybe not after today,” Farus said.

There were some concerned eyebrows raised and small chatter started among the teams, but they were buried back in their duties in seconds. Then, one by one, men and women moved from their stations to gather at the center of the room.

Proclus watched and then turned his eye to Farus. “What’s going on?”

“We have orders from Legate Nerva,” he simply said. “I’ll address you all in a moment. Let them make sure the gardens are running and we’ll talk.”

Proclus glanced to Yin, who shrugged, and together they made their way to the gathering group.

Farus stood before them, eyeing up the forty-seven men and women on this watch.

“You’re my first port of call today because we’ve received orders from Legate Nerva to begin preparations.”

Farus watched several of the men stiffen. Their eyes lit up at the mention of their leader. There were others who seemed confused but the immediate reaction was just as he’d thought, so he carried on. “The preparations we’ll be starting are to move the gardens out from orbit and to set her on a course for a new system.”

There wasn’t a word spoken from any of them. Faces changed, though, and from excitement to nervousness, they could be read well enough.

“I’ll be addressing the garden’s population as soon as I can. No communication from here on will be allowed out into the Hellenic system. They will get one chance to leave, as will you once the statement is made.”

Farus took the time to look around the room, and one young tech held up a hand.

“Yes?” he said.

“Sir, why would anyone want to leave the gardens?”

Farus smiled at her, noting her name, Angela Denst. “Angela,” he said, “good question.”

Someone else answered for them all. “If the gardens are moving on Nerva’s orders, there’s good reason for it. If he goes, I go.”

Resounding nods of heads and yeses filtered through.

“So, first things first.” He looked to Proclus. “We need to be sure this ship is still a ship and can actually get her engine going, to be able to move. I can’t announce our departure and then have us fail.”

Proclus’s face beamed as he looked over to two of the other gentleman on his team. “Yes, sir. We’ve kept the systems all running smooth. Shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes to start up procedures and the engines for a test run.”

Farus glanced once around the room to all the other head nods. “Then begin. We’ve a test to run.”

All hands snapped to attention and within a minute, they were back at their respective posts and coordinating with one another.

Yin caught his attention. “I’ll be able to recall my son, won’t I?”

Farus lowered his eyes, remembering. “Yes, all outside personnel will be recalled using their NIAIs. They’ll have plenty of time to return, don’t worry.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Mesami

Indalia, Otarvi System

2/3556

“Reports are back. The area around Edani has been checked. There were several nests but they’ve been eliminated and the region is secure,” Centurion Augustus said.

“Good. Transport orders have been already sent and we’re moving the legion forces to the next region to clear out. Work crews should move up under protection to Edani and re-establish the line there. This time I don’t want any fuck-ups,” Yousef said.

“Yes, sir,” Augustus said, passing information and orders.

For many of the companies that they had contracted out defensive works for, fighting Maraukians was a forgotten nightmare. They were looking to make as much money as possible for the least work.

With their politician friends, a lot of them got it. Then the Maraukians came and all of their stupid ploys got people killed.

They weren’t safe as Yousef searched them out, recalled them all to the Union, not caring about the protests, and put them on the front lines, where they had built the defenses.

This included governors and statesmen as Yousef detailed some trusted subordinates to charge the different people with gross negligence. The court order was still pending but the people of Indalia were whipped up into a rage with it all.

Yousef had cleared out most of the dirty people in the system. He might not be a large political figure but he spent enough time in those circles to know who was truly looking out for the people and who was not.

It was why he was so interested in the information that Nerva had passed to him. If Emarl system was to rise by itself, there was no telling whether Indalia couldn’t rid themselves of the political machine that was the Roma Union and guide their own future.

He only needed to think of the space legion forces or the obstructive way of the legionnaire commanders who had come from Roma. There was a reason he hadn’t included them in his briefings: they would turn it into a much longer affair, just to seem more important.

The Roma Union was a slow-moving machine that didn’t seem able to move anymore as its gears were locked up, with everyone looking out for themselves.

Yousef moved the map with his fingers. In isolated regions across Indalia, where he could, he had their forces pushing out with heavy support. Ducharev was the first battle to be won, but already the fighting in these different areas was starting to die down and the Bellonas were moving out to look for nests.

“Time to end this battle,” Yousef said to himself. He was sure that there would be plenty more to come in the future.

Chapter Forty

Denala

Indalia, Otarvi System

2/3556

Legate Quina and her people had been moved to the new region for just a few minutes before she was walking out of the command center again with her new orders.

“All right, boys and girls, we’re on the line again. Try to do as much damage to the Maraukians until the Bellonas can get all set up,” Quina said over her legion’s channel. At the same time, she sent out areas for her different centurions and their forces to be placed.

The plan hadn’t changed and was the same as what it had been at Ducharev. They could’ve come up with another plan, but this one was simple and effective.

The centurions took command of their people and they started moving to the wall. More people were still coming in, so it would take time for them to be all deployed.

She moved with them, checking her weapons and armor before entering the wall.

The walls were made up of complex doors and passageways to make it easier for people to retreat and cut down the Maraukians, funneling their numbers and giving the defenders time to escape, or ready a new defensive line or counterattack.

It was rare to counterattack as it nearly only happened by using a shield wall and pressing forward right into the Maraukians. Casualties were usually high, so only veteran units did it.

Heavy rail guns were mounted on the walls so people were less exposed but even they could be hit by the Maraukians, needing to get them replaced.

There were also firing slits where people could shoot through.

Quina made it to the front line with the first complete century.

The weapons fire volume increased as rounds struck the wall. A few rounds made it through the openings and struck the corridor behind.

Everyone was ducking low so that they wouldn’t be hit.

Plasma hit the wall, making it through an opening and striking a trooper in the helmet. “Help! Shit!” the person screamed out, panicking. Another grabbed a canister and doused the person as their buddies held them down.

“Medico!” someone yelled out. It looked as though the plasma had gotten through their helmet.

People ducked as a missile exploded, thankfully hitting the ground. Dirt rained down on the position, and then the legionnaires were back up and shooting at the attacker.

The new legionnaires grimly stepped up to the wall and manned weapons systems, replacing out a few that had been destroyed while others simply used their rifles.

Quina moved to one of the heavy rail guns. Her NIAI connected to it, telling her the ammunition, temperature, and condition while also feeding her target information.

Quina pulled on the charging handle and depressed the trigger, spitting tracers and rounds from the gun.

Long bursts shot through the air as she used them to guide herself onto the Maraukian targets. She moved with the gun. Blue blood appeared behind the Maraukians as the tracers hit the dust around them and flew off into the distance.

The Maraukians dropped to the ground, missing parts of their body as she fired on the grouped Maraukians.

“Those of you not on a machine gun, get herd commanders!” Quina said.

The M19 users dialed in on the herd commanders. It might take more rounds but their rifles were much more accurate, allowing them to take down commanders.

The enraged Maraukians lost their reason. They started to group together and make a concentrated charge.

“Machine guns love grouped targets,” Quina muttered to herself, remembering what one of her machine gun teachers said to her. She understood it only too well as she brought the different groups under fire.

She flinched as rounds pinged around her, but the line was coming alive as more legionnaires filed into the wall to increase their firepower and push back the Maraukians.

“Bellonas have landed and are moving up to the gates!” a communication officer warned the legates.

A missile struck a section of the wall, throwing several back into it. People were screaming out and crying as Quina continued firing her gun.

Once on the line with all of her people sorted out, there was nothing more she needed to do. So she might as well help them out, and do some damage at the same time.

Her machine gun clicked empty. “Reloading!” she yelled. She opened up the gun, tossed the attached belt off to the side and grabbed a new box, slamming it into place and feeding in the new belt. She slammed the cover back over the belt and heaved on the charging handle, pulling a new bolt into the chamber.

She pulled the trigger as the whine of the rail gun’s magnets entered her ears once again. “Back in!” Quina yelled.

When climbing the ranks, people often forgot the more basic parts of their jobs. Like how to reload and operate a machine gun. Seeing how she hadn’t lost her skills in the slightest, the legionnaires around her stepped up more.

If their legate could do it, then they could as well.

She reached the end of her belt, her gun barrel overheating. “Changing barrel!” She pulled on the gun, pulling it back from her mount so she could get to the barrel.

“Bellona’s moving!” the communications officer said. The weapons fire from the wall had climbed aggressively with the incoming reinforcements.

“Get down! Artillery!” Quina yelled at seeing the information pop up in her area.

Everyone ducked down more. People moving ammunition, weapons, the wounded and dead continued on as the wall started shaking. Dust from the ceiling fell on the legionnaires below as shit pinged off the walls.

People who were running about fought to keep their balance and keep moving.

Artillery walked from the gate into the Maraukians as the doors snapped open. The rumbling of the Bellonas could be felt through the walls as Quina looked out on the battlefield.

“Guns up, legionnaires! Cover the Bellonas!” Quina said. When the Bellonas were moving into the battlefield, it was the most likely time for them to get hit.

She unlocked the barrel on her gun, tearing off the smoking barrel and putting in a new one. She locked it into place and pushed the gun forward with one hand and opened up the cover, reloading the heavy rail gun and once again depressing the trigger.

“Back in!” she yelled as she drew tracers over the Maraukians, whose attention was now split between the wall and the Bellonas that rocked. Their main cannons fired and spat out tracers into the Maraukian herd. Thumping noises came from their acceleration rails as trails of smoke appeared from their missile racks.

Maraukian rounds hit and bounced off the incredibly heavy and thick armor of the tanks.

Reactive blow-out panels disappeared in a cloud of debris, hitting missiles out of the sky and turning them into a black smoke that would shake the tank and kill the Maraukians around it.

Its armor was hit repeatedly with plasma rounds. Foam shot from different nozzles to counteract the plasma.

Quina moved from target to target, remembering her training, leading her targets and sending precise bursts into them. Her movements and actions weren’t even conscious thoughts but reactions that her training staff would have been proud of.

She shifted her fire as another machine gun took out the targets she had been lining up. She continued to look for targets, her bursts coming less often. With meticulous attention to detail, she reloaded the heavy rail gun once again.

She checked over the gun, looking for more targets. Quina couldn’t see any and her NIAI wasn’t highlighting any in the area. She kept scanning before consulting her NIAI and realizing there simply weren’t any more targets left. It was over.

She slowly put the heavy rail gun on safe as she looked at the links that were all around her. She kicked her legs, pushing them into the gutter below.

People were rushing back and forth still; the wounded were moving through the wall but ammunition was coming much slower now.

The Bellonas started to move again, their pitted and scarred hulls returning to behind the wall.

“Move to quarter watches. Make sure all wounded are taken care of,” the legate in command of this wall said to all of the subordinate legatus.

“Check the buddy beside you and then get your weapons sorted out. Centurions, get the watch schedule sorted out,” Quina said as her brain started to work again, coming out of whatever zone of madness and fury she had been in.

Her entire body was shaky as she drank some water from her hydration pack. She looked through the reports that her NIAI had compiled and leveled off the adrenaline high she’d been riding.

“Just two more walls,” she promised herself as she moved to the last report. Even though they had been reinforcing, still people had died and more were wounded.

There was nothing she could do but see their names and wish that she didn’t have to leave them on this battlefield.

Sitting against the wall next to her gun with the belt links moving away from her, she took deep breaths. She wanted to take off her helmet and rest her head in her hands. But if she did that and her people saw, then what would they think?

Instead, she drank from her water tube and composed herself.

After a few moments, she got up and moved down the line, checking on her legionnaires, seeing how they were, making sure that they had water and seeing whether she could get some food brought up for them.

Chapter Forty-One

VCF B-17

Between the Masoul and Guaranak Systems

2/3556

Ortiz had spent the weeks in transit talking to the different commanders under him. They needed to get new weapons and armor in order to fight on the same level as the people in the legion. The first reason was that Ortiz only wanted the best for his people; the second was that if the legion did attack them, Ortiz wanted to be ready.

Using the armor that they had modified from the Harmony War was no longer an option.

Then he had decisively moved through the ranks of the troopers who were committed to joining the new military force.

He had gone through from colonels and generals down to the privates. Based on merits and past performances, people were moved around into different ranks and groups as needed.

Then there was setting up the training base in Emarl system. If people wanted to become a trooper, they needed training.

For this, there were people from all over Tricticus who were looking to remain warriors and defend their homes.

They needed to be washed of their previous identity and turned into troopers. Thankfully, the training staff of the troopers could make anyone forget their past and just look toward surviving what was coming.

The last was managing the different forces that were looking to make contact with the people aboard the different EMFCs that hid between the EHC systems.

He stood on the command deck of one of the inter-system Freighter B-17 that had been modified with an Alcubierre drive.

Captain Depah was a serious man who played it by the book. Although he might seem like a hard taskmaster, he knew when to let his people go and when to push them harder.

Ortiz wasn’t here just to see how things worked in the command center. He was looking at the main screen. On it, three large carriers were moving just with the stellar winds.

Ortiz saw the sensors zoom in as they were finally able to get a good picture of one of the Earth Military Force carriers, Doomsday.

The carrier floated in space, a silent behemoth waiting to be activated and sent into war. It was hard to not look at it and feel a surge of power.

Ortiz gripped his hands behind his back. The powerful guns on the ship were all stowed away and there didn’t seem to be life from any three of the carriers as they floated there.

“Communications, send out the security codes,” Depah said.

“Sir.” The woman at communications input the different codes. These were the codes that Moretti had gained from the Ministry of Intelligence, override codes for the EMFCs.

They weren’t that well-guarded and he had been able to get them before Nivad died.

No one had been able to take full control of the Ministry of Intelligence after his death.

The corporations were scared of having another overlord telling them what to do, while the factions inside the Ministry of Intelligence turned on one another.

Part of why they needed to carry out this operation as soon as possible was in case someone was able to find the codes and change them out before the different freighters were able to reach out to the EMF personnel and take command of the ships themselves.

The tension on the command bridge climbed a bit more as everyone focused on the communications officer who was sending out the security codes to the ships.

Finally, something changed on her screen.

“Codes have been acknowledged. We are cleared to dock with the different carriers. The carriers confirm that all of the command staff are unconscious and all fail-safes have been disabled.” The communications officer’s words made everyone sigh in relief.

“Looks like our bit is done.” Depah looked to Ortiz.

“Now it’s just up to the rest of us to make sure that we can hopefully beat some sense into our fellow troopers and EMF personnel over there,” Ortiz said.

Depah nodded. “Good luck, General.”

“Hopefully I won’t need it. I’ve got my secret weapon.” Ortiz grinned and patted his thigh pouch that held a squeeze bottle filled with an amber liquid.

Depah couldn’t resist smiling as Ortiz turned and left the command center.

“Send word to the shuttle pilots that they are free for launch. Make sure that their containers are unlocked,” Depah said.

“Sir.” The communications officer passed word onto the shuttle crews.

The VCF B-17 was filled with containers, most that contained different parts or machinery that would be needed to assemble the three different Alcubierre drives.

They also had three shuttles that were stored in outer containers. The shuttle crews, in their armored gear, quickly moved across the freighter to the large containers holding their craft.

They opened the container doors, revealing the combat shuttles.

Checks were run on the different combat shuttles as the personnel who had been picked up from the VCF Osdal moved to the combat shuttles as well.

Ortiz met with the group that would be joining him aboard the VCF Osdal. He grabbed his E13 from the mini armory, checking it and his ammunition by rote response.

He didn’t know how many decades it had been since he had first touched an E12 but he’d spent more time with it than any other woman he’d ever known.

Once everyone was checked out and good to go, they headed into the air lock.

It quickly cycled and released them into the soundless expanse.

Ortiz took it in for a moment, that moment where the world, the noise, all of it just fell away and he could hear his breath, crystal-clear.

He saw the freighter with its long spine and ribs that the hundreds of containers were clamped to. Beyond it was the endless abyss and the stars. Stars that were older than all civilization and life appeared in his eyes as the glass on his helmet compensated.

His activated mag boots kept him connected to the freighter as he stepped onto the containers and headed for the combat shuttle that would take them over to see the EMFC Doomsday.

It took them some time to reach the container. The doors were opened and attached to the others on either side. Inside, the combat shuttle was clamped down, with gear stuck to the walls.

The Victor Corporation might be a civilian corporation but they made sure all of their people had some options if they wanted to fight till the end.

The containers weren’t anything rare and had been built long ago. Slotting them into the B-17 was as easy as adding any other container.

They all clambered in, seeing the captain, co-pilot, and the cargo master running final checks.

“Morning y’all. Come on in. We’ll be leaving in fifteen. Nearly done.” A petite but wide woman, the cargo master of the combat shuttle, guided them in.

The pilots moved up to their seats. The different systems were already humming as the start-up power was routed through the ship.

The craft started to hum. Ortiz could hear it through his helmet as the powerful engines on the combat shuttle increased and decreased power, confirming that they were fully operational.

“We’re all good to go!” the pilot said as the ramp of the combat shuttle closed up.

Different bolts were released and power was pushed into the engines as they moved forward and out of the container. The landing gear was pulled in as they cleared the container and the shuttle pilot increased their speed.

“All right, we’re looking at about forty minutes of transit time. Get comfortable,” the cargo master said.

Ortiz got comfortable in his seat and put his head back.

***

“Morning, ladies and gents. We’re almost at our destination.” The cargo master’s voice rang in all of their helmets. People who had nodded off started to stretch and wake themselves up, checking the harness that kept them locked in place.

They could feel that they were already firing toward the EMFC, trying to reduce their overall thrust and velocity toward the Doomsday. Ortiz accessed the ship’s sensors and got to see the EMFC Doomsday as it seemed to appear out of the darkness. He checked the telemetry that showed the VCF B-17 moving between all three of the carriers while the three different combat shuttles were coming in on final approach.

“Codes are sent. Hope this works.” The co-pilot looked toward the large carrier doors that actually allowed one to access the flight deck of the carrier.

The doors started to open on their approach, as if welcoming them home.

Ortiz felt a wave of nostalgia as he looked upon the ranks and ranks of combat shuttles that lay ready on the carrier’s flight deck. He used his NIAI to access the records of the ship and checked on one Major Ramirez.

The pilot and co-pilot talked to the computer systems of the carrier that guided them into a landing spot. They shut down the engines as the ramp opened up.

Ortiz smacked his harness, releasing it and standing up. “All right, engineers, check on the fail-safes. I want team alpha at the bridge, team bravo at the ground command center. The rest of you move to the spine and don’t wake someone up unless you confirm with your own eyes it’s a person you know. We can’t have any Earth and Her Colonies dogs trying to get the word out. If they do, then we won’t be able to revive any of the other carriers and try to get them back to Emarl,” Ortiz reminded them all.

He got green lights across his visor, showing that everyone understood his orders and they were good to go.

“Move out!” Ortiz led the way and the different groups set off. The whole ship’s systems were just coming back online; gravity was online and air was filling the living areas of the ship under the orders sent from the B-17.

Some areas had lights on while others were slowly coming online. The reactors were only partly online. If this went sideways, they didn’t want the ship to be fully combat ready.

Ortiz patted the squeeze bottle and headed off down the spine, passing thousands of EMF personnel just waiting to be activated, to be called to battle once again. It was eerie, looking at all of these faces with no one around him.

Major Janina Ramirez was his target and finding her in the officer’s logs wasn’t hard. Forward decks, cryopod 77. Her favorite number.

Various areas of the ship were offline without even basic lighting. The ship was in full sleep state, running on just passive systems that only needed the solar sails to run.

Ortiz located the pod. The older cryotanks were large, made of materials they’d long stopped using, but they worked just fine. He placed a hand to the pod and felt the cool metal beneath it. A shiver ran through him. She was gonna be pissed at this. That’s for sure.

Waiting no longer, Ortiz keyed in several codes, and then waited while the red blinking lights across the pod’s boards turned green. There was a click and a slight gaseous cloud escaped from it. Then the pod opened completely.

Lying there, just slightly coming around, was a woman in uniform. Her thick muscles and physique showed and he couldn’t help but admire her for that.

Then her gray-green eyes opened and she saw him. “What are you staring at, you perve?” She pushed herself up slightly. She glanced around, quickly assessing her situation, and then met his eyes once more. “Fuck, seems I went to hell after all. Goddamn, Ortiz, can you get any uglier?”

“I brought a present.” Ortiz held up the bottle of Scotch he’d had in his pocket.

Ramirez laughed as she stepped out of the cryopod, holding her head from the cryofreeze’s telltale hangover, and stretched out her hand. “Gimmie,” she managed.

Ortiz opened the bottle and passed it to her.

She took a slug straight from it, letting out a sigh as the alcohol got to work, clearing the hangover.

“Damn. And it’s the good shit.” Ramirez’s eyes were still closed as she waited for the pain to go away fully. The Scotch warmed her stomach.

“All right, so why are you on my ship and why isn’t there a real officer yelling at me?” She opened her eyes fully, seeing the general rank on his shoulder. “Or maybe I should be asking who the hell made you a general, of all things?”

“It’s going to take a lot longer than a five-minute conversation.” Ortiz waved for her to follow him.

“Lead on,” she said. All of the EMFCs were built the same, so Ortiz already knew the EMFC Doomsday as well as his old EMFC Reclaimer.

They passed the other cryopods. Ramirez looked into the different pods and saw that everyone was still out cold.

She took another slug and sighed. “I hope it’s good, whatever you’re dragging me into,” she muttered.

“Aliens, new frontiers—only the best for you!” Ortiz laughed and grinned at her over his shoulder as they exited the spine of the ship where all the cryopods were located and entered one of the several cafeterias that littered the ship.

“Hit me with it,” she said. “How long have I been out, where are we, and why the hell are you the one waking me up?”

“Have another drink and watch.” Ortiz pulled out a hologram projector, set it down on the table and hit play.

The prepared video, meant to inform and prepare them, took no more than a few minutes and he watched as she did. She took another swig of his Scotch and passed him the bottle back. They sat there in silence. The video showed the fighting with the Harmony Forces, then the Maraukians showing up, coming to know about the legion, and Mark emerging from it all to pull them together and give the ex-EMF personnel a chance at a new life.

Finally, the video finished off with information on the Emarl system.

“Okay, what’s your sales pitch?” Ramirez asked.

“Simple. We can hook this ship up with one of those faster-than-light drives and head for Emarl. You are in a holding pattern with two of EMFCs—we all go together.

“Then, when we get to Emarl, you can make a decision: fight for your own future instead of the corporations, or start your own life as a civilian, with training included,” Ortiz said.

“It sounds too good to be true.”

“Well, it ain’t going to be easy. It’ll take us months to get there, and we will need to make sure that we have people who are only looking out for themselves or for their fellow troopers. Any EHC spies or the higher-ranking corporation dogs we need to get rid of,” Ortiz said.

A savage look appeared on Ramirez’s face. “With pleasure. Though, what’s to say that they won’t activate some kind of fail-safe and blow us all to kingdom come?”

“Because I’ve got the codes, making me the highest-ranking person in the ship’s system, and there’s a team of engineers working to remove the different fail-safe systems,” Ortiz said.

“Looks like you became a general and grew brain cells. I never expected such a thing to happen,” Ramirez said, making a shocked expression.

Ortiz rolled his eyes and grinned.

Ramirez pulled out a tablet and started working on it. Sometime later, she passed it to Ortiz. “This is a list of all the people loyal to the EHC that I know of.” She watched Ortiz’s expression.

“Very well.” Ortiz copied the information to his NIAI and passed the order to not wake these people, while also requesting information on what these people had done. If they committed crimes, they’d never wake up again; if they hadn’t, then he would leave them in storage until there was a time that they could do something with them or send them back to the EHC.

“Time we headed to the command deck. From there, we can wake everyone up, get them up to speed, and then start with the upgrades and head for the Emarl system,” Ortiz said.

Ramirez pushed out her chair and stretched. “Spent too long sleeping. Be nice to actually live for a bit.”

Ortiz nodded. Ramirez had been in the EMF longer than him by nearly one hundred years, but she had been asleep for most of it as her carrier wasn’t near a lot of the fighting systems.

Still, she had led her people across three worlds to secure peace, fighting all kinds of people who wanted her and her people dead.

Being a trooper wasn’t easy. It was only the hope that at the end of it all they’d be able to escape from everything that they kept going. That’s what they told themselves but it became more of the person on either side of you than that far-off goal.

“Good to have you on board, Major.” Ortiz stood and extended his hand.

She flashed him a smile. “How about once the ship is moving, we take that bottle somewhere private?”

“That sounds like a damn good plan to me.” Ortiz wanted nothing more than to blow some steam off after all the stress he had been under in the last couple of months.

There would be more shitty situations in the future, but worrying about them now was pointless. He just got a new carrier with nearly two hundred thousand people to join the Emarl system.

He checked the reports coming in from the other ships. Scratch that, three carriers of EMF personnel.

He didn’t know what would happen in the future, but having these people with him, he felt that the future was a little less bleak.

Chapter Forty-Two

Freighter O-41 (Wind Snapper)

In Transit to Hellenic System

3/3556

Moretti was pouring over reports coming from the different sources he had in the Roma Union. With the departure of Nerva from the legion, the legion had been in turmoil.

People were calling him a traitor; others were agreeing with him.

The senate and the legion were already starting to move.

No one could see what would happen in the future.

Moretti was able to use the confusion to seed a few new sources among different groups and get a greater understanding of what was happening. Right now he could only react to information; he didn’t have the power to start affecting even a slight change in the Union.

The report he was focusing on was Damus’s new orders that looked to create legions that were without political alliances.

It was a bold move but if it could be carried out, Damus would have a force he could totally rely on instead of the political mess that was involved in some of the larger legions and space legion crews.

Admiral Hesra was political poison at the moment. No one wanted to touch him.

Though Moretti saw that his father Tertius was working closer with Rimateus than ever before. It wasn’t in any kind of official capacity, but the people he had around the two of them indicated that they were organizing something.

Moretti didn’t like it. The two of them both had grievances with powerful characters in the Emarl system. Left together, he wasn’t sure what would come from it, but he was sure it wouldn’t be anything good.

He turned his attention to the EHC and started to go through reports there. Unlike the Union, he had a much greater reach.

He had been close to the center of the Ministry of Intelligence. His contacts were some of the best and none of his contacts knew who he was. With his different credit accounts and aliases, he covered most of Earth and Her Colonies.

“Why is the Luyten conglomerate buying up more ships in-system? Looks like they’re also making something they don’t want others to know about in their development labs in the Luyten system.” Moretti started to dig deeper. The Luyten system was staying quiet, but they were quietly buying up a lot of shipping vessels in their system and even in the Sol system.

Moretti sent off a message to some of his sources within the Luyten conglomerate to see whether he could get more information out of them.

There’s too much moving around and we can barely stay on top of it. Moretti and his people were dealing with it, but they needed to grow out their force. Few people wanted to work in intelligence gathering. Moretti hoped to recruit some more of the troopers as their identities and loyalty could be confirmed.

His mind moved to Cronus. The young man was bold and cocky. If he could rein in that cockiness, it would be possible to turn him into a capable agent.

With him working with Moretti, Moretti could then get him to vet the people on Tricticus easier and try to build up more intelligence officers from a greater pool of people.

So much to do and so little time to do it.

Chapter Forty-Three

EMFC Doomsday

In Transit to the Emarl System

3/3556

Ortiz’s worries seemed to be all for naught. Once the troopers aboard the different ships met with the retired troopers who had come with Ortiz, they had watched the video and got updated on what had happened.

They had their own doubts as they woke up their people and started to talk between ships. It took some time with Ortiz and his people, not sure what to do but sit there before a decision came back.

They were with the Victor Corporation. They would sell the ship and the different items on it to the Victor Corporation, which would give them some decent cash to use how they wanted to. If they wanted to retire, then it would be possible.

This was within expected results. After all, if the troopers retired, they would probably live on the station, the Yard, or Tricticus. If they went to any of these places, then their credits would serve to help these places. The more money moved around, the greater stability they could find within the system.

If they didn’t, then there were plenty of jobs that they could train for, pay with the money that they got and start on their own path.

If other people wanted to set up businesses in the Emarl system, then it would be only another thing that the Victor Corporation didn’t need to do.

Work had started right away as the troopers started to wake up and the trusted personnel of the ship were also woken.

They went through the lists of people, checking them with Moretti to see whether any of them were listed as spies and going through the records to see who were the corporations’ people and not.

It was a long list of spies and contacts.

They had gone through and looked up people’s different crimes. A number weren’t even woken up. Others who were spies or people from the corporations were locked down and left asleep.

Everyone else was put to work and allowed to access the recruiting systems of Emarl.

With the freighter, they had a few fabbers—one level-one fabber for each of the carriers. They had two purposes: to make NIAIs and to make more fabbers.

People who elected to be part of the Victor Corporation and join the Skill Schools were given NIAIs.

For them, their training already started as they were able to see the classroom through their NIAIs in real time. They could even participate as if they were really there.

Ortiz couldn’t help but be surprised by Esamai’s suggestion.

If they’re going to be spending months trying to get to Emarl, we best start teaching them something useful! Her words rang through his head as he truly understood what she meant. Time was limited. The troopers were all trained to deal with space and they had dealt with weapon systems for most of their lives. They understood health and safety and didn’t need the extensive training that someone who had lived on a planet all their life would need.

Instead of the regular year that it might take some of the people on Tricticus to train up for a job, it would take the troopers just five months.

With a total crew who they knew were reliable at about five hundred thousand people, including armorers, engineers, an array of technical specialists and troopers, some people were already looking for signing bonuses, bringing their expertise to the fore.

Everyone was excited. All of them thought that when they woke up next, it would be to deal with another battle, continuing the endless cycle of killing.

It had taken some time to put the different Alcubierre drives together. The Freighter B-17 had headed off toward Osdal to help there and now they were running through the final tests.

“We’re looking good, General.” The captain of the Doomsday was a young-looking man called Hurley. The command staff was filled with corporate types, so it had been hard to scrape together a command crew that Ortiz and the people aboard the ship had faith in.

“Well, let’s give it a try,” Ortiz said.

The three carriers had moved into formation. They were a dominating sight to behold as they seemed ready to face whatever might come in their future.

“Engaging Alcubierre drive,” the navigation officer said.

One by one, all three of the ships disappeared from where they had laid dormant for decades.

Ortiz looked to the sensor plot as information was uploaded. They re-entered real space, one of the ships appearing and then the others popping up.

He stopped himself from letting out a sigh of relief and continued on as if everything was normal.

The ships’ positions weren’t the same when they had activated their Alcubierre drives but they were still within a few light-seconds of one another.

Ortiz looked to Major Ramirez, now Lieutenant Colonel Ramirez.

“Well, looks like someone much smarter than you made it,” Ramirez said in her all-wise and seeing tone.

Ortiz shook his head as he saw a few grins on the bridge. Ramirez looked close to laughing as Ortiz didn’t know what to say.

“We’ll be fully charged in a couple of hours,” Hurley said.

Nice save. Good man. Ortiz shared a look with the captain, who smiled slightly.

“Good. It won’t be a short journey but in nine months we’ll be in Emarl system.” Ortiz was looking forward to it as much as the people around him.

Now that the technology had worked, even those who had been denying his words and calling him a liar found it hard to argue with him.

If this was possible, then why shouldn’t the Emarl system be the utopia it sounded like?

Chapter Forty-Four

Legate Nerva’s Estate (Aegean Gardens)

Departing Hellenic System

3/3556

Farus never doubted that the engineers had kept the station in fully working condition, but hearing and feeling their multi-engines start up and thrum under his feet settled any nerves he had.

He had gotten his orders a few months ago. It had taken time to pass this information to everyone. In that time, there was no communication with the outside world. Families made requests, with their members being sought out in-system.

All of the residents who had left to pursue higher schooling or working at other places were called back.

They weren’t sure what was going on. When they arrived, they received a shock: the gardens were moving.

Everyone had to make their own decision. Some wanted to stay; others wanted to leave. Farus didn’t pressure them either way.

He focused on making sure that they had everything they needed.

It had gone on for a month and a half before different groups started to think something was up.

The Aegean Gardens had been one of the centerpieces of the Hellenic system. People from all over the system bought and traded goods with them. With the sudden shutdown, a lot of people were confused.

Farus had made the excuse that there was an issue with the water on the station but they were looking to sort it out themselves. That had gained them another two weeks, with people watching the station closely.

People started asking questions but Farus and the people of the gardens were too busy to care.

Ideas, conspiracy theories, and experts were called in to debate what was happening. Finally, the gardens gave their response. Engines across the gardens started up, as the gardens began to push out of its orbit.

Everyone was in uproar, they’d forgotten that the Aegean Gardens had the capability to move.

Calls came in but Farus let them go without responding, instead checking on the people under his command and in the Aegean Gardens.

When Farus had made the announcement initially, there had been a lot of talk. The council he aided to run everything was very concerned, not only for their safety but for those they also had planetside.

To his surprise, of the station’s staff and occupants, not one family had wanted to leave. The opportunity had been there, the chance to stay with the legion and leave. But not one of them had wanted to.

This made him very proud, proud to have fought alongside these honorable men and women and proud to have their families now with him—workers, training troopers, and more. The fact that they were sticking with Nerva meant they’d back him no matter what. Respect due to the great leader who had over time made this station what it was, and the workforce what it became.

It was time to move, and standing in his office now, he felt more like the ship’s captain he thought he might be one day as a fresh legionnaire.

Yin knocked on his door and then stepped inside. “Everyone is waiting your final order.”

Farus looked to her. “The moment we move, they’ll know.”

She nodded. “Yes, there are several ships we might encounter pushing away from orbit.”

Farus knew this. He’d been watching their trajectories and had timed it for the least involvement from the legion, but he expected something to happen. Someone would track their engines as soon as they ramped up. He just hoped that no one would open fire. This station was not shielded enough against any weapons nor would it withstand any kind of attack. This maneuver had to be quick as possible—get out of orbit and then fire the Alcubierre drives.

Sounded much easier than the actuality of it.

“I’m ready.” He motioned to Yin.

His image projected across multiple screens the station wide; his voice echoed along with it. “All hands, this is Cilo Farus. Secure yourselves. We are commencing orbital push in five minutes. I repeat, we are leaving orbit in five minutes.”

Yin smiled at him, and he nodded. “Shall we watch this from a better view?”

“Yes, let’s.”

***

Cilo watched as Roma grew smaller in their viewer. Pushing off from the planet itself was a huge feat. He knew the engineers would be working full throttle to get her out into space so they could use the Alcubierre drives that she was built with.

This time he wanted everything to go well, but he felt in his gut something was bound to go wrong.

He turned to Yin, who also had a frown on her pretty young face. “What is it?” she asked.

Farus moved to a comms panel and pushed for engineering. “How’s our trajectory looking?”

“We have intercepting carriers moving in,” came the stern reply.

Cilo and Yin looked to each other. Moving as quick as his old bones could carry him, he and Yin fled below. They would no longer watch from above. He was needed below decks, to manage what was inevitable.

Once inside the engineer’s headquarters, Farus moved to center position.

Proclus moved out of his way, lowering his head. “Sir, they’ve opened comms to us. Are you wishing to respond?”

“It’s not quite the command deck of a battleship, but we’ll take it. Open comms to the lead carrier.

“This is Cilo Calidius Farus. State your intentions.”

“I am Captain Grislol from the SLS Defender. You are to stop acceleration as we believe that you are leading these people away from the system with an unstable craft. Only when your craft’s integrity is confirmed will you be able to leave.”

“Oh, well, here is the shipbuilder’s writ  signed with all of the souls aboard this vessel accepting the updated terms of agreement to the management of the Aegean Gardens. If you fire or attempt to board this vessel, you will be charged with gross negligence and attacking a free vessel without authorization,” Farus threw back. “We are a free station, not governed by the legion. You will let us pass.”

“Legate, their weapons are armed and they are tracking us,” Denst reported in Farus’s ear.

Farus looked over to her and to the holo before him. He could see everything clearly and the SLS Defender had its weapons ready.

Farus met Captain Grislol’s eyes. “Any attack on this unarmed vessel will be seen as an act of war against us and the VCF. Do you understand, Captain?”

“Perfectly, and we are under orders. If you continue, we will open fire.”

Farus cut the comms, and looked around at the forty or so faces before him. “Keep our course steady. Whatever happens, we will deal with it.” He met Denst’s wide eyes of concern with his steady gaze. “Get me the med bays. We need them on full alert.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alanis Forzetta,” came the reply. “We’re standing by.”

“Let’s hope you’re not needed, Forzetta,” Farus said, referring to the head of the medical staff aboard the station. “Yin, where are all key personnel?”

Yin sidestepped to a console and quickly brought up several images. “They’re all secure. Station is at full readiness. Securing hatches and flushing atmosphere in residential areas.”

With her words, klaxons started ringing and lights flashed as armored shutters covered over the different windows that revealed the space beyond. Families donned their protective gear, moving to the secure and armored bunkers that lay in the main spine and revolving rings.

Chapter Forty-Five

Freighter E-567

Departing Otarvi System

3/3556

Nerva checked on the different reports, from his new orders telling him to pull back the reactionary force from the Otarvi system to the ones coming from Legate Yousef, declaring their fight against the Maraukians a success on Indalia.

People were already heading toward their homes while mass funerals were being led and Maraukians cleared from cities and the different defensive points they had been assaulting for months.

Nerva checked his plans. Everything was ready to go. Even he had some apprehensions.

He’d spent the last few months preparing for this, seeking out those who he thought were struggling with their ties to the legion. Now he was sure all of them would follow his lead.

He’d wanted to do this as quietly as possible, to slip away and be forgotten, but the legion wasn’t going to be happy with that. It meant that all the people around him would be at risk, so making sure they were all safe had been his priority over these months. One slip from his plan and it would have been over before it started. The people onboard and the resources he had there were second to none and without that, he’d have had nothing but expertise and men to bring to the VC’s new fighting force.

“Sir, all of the shuttles are prepped and ready to go,” Thomas McDougall said. All of the resources and people of the reactionary force who hadn’t been included in those talked to by Nerva and his people had been sent ahead.

The shuttles had returned for their second flight, but their destination was a bit different.

“I know, I just need confirmation,” Nerva said. “Start loading but take your time with it.”

“Yes, sir.” McDougall closed the channel and started to organize their forces.

Finally, Nerva got a private channel from Freighter E-567.

“We have a private communication from the Aegean Gardens,” the communications officer said.

“Connect me.” Nerva was connected through the freighter’s long-range communication system. He quickly checked that no one was listening in.

Farus’s face appeared in his vision, sitting in a private office.

“Report?” Nerva asked.

“It has been done. All people accounted for, including those you wanted us to contact,” Farus said.

The extra people he was talking about were the family members of those who had chosen to follow Nerva from Otarvi.

They might be legionnaires, but their families weren’t. If they were seen as deserters, that was one of the most dishonorable things. To save them from that, Farus and the people of the Aegean Gardens had been working to gather them all together and give them a place on the gardens.

“We are an hour or so from transition. All personnel who were not with us have left and are headed toward the planets in the Hellenic system.”

“Understood,” Nerva said. Some of the people might have been raised on the gardens and never known Nerva other than the stories, or others didn’t want to get involved in the political mess that was bound to appear with this kind of move.

“Just got fourteen more months of travel time,” Farus said. “Reminds me of that time in Caraces.”

Nerva relaxed as he heard the signature safe word from Farus’s lips.

Nerva smiled and he straightened his back. There was no going back now. His next call to the emperor and the senate wasn’t going to be a private one. Even while he’d been on comms to Farus, there were calls coming through from many people in the legion. They were looking for answers and they needed them now. His NIAI was keeping them all at bay, but even Denise was feeling the pressure here.

“Please let everyone on the station witness my full resignation from the legion. From this day forward, we are part of the Victor Corporation.”

Nerva silently sent a message to Quina and McDougall, telling them to speed up loading as fast as possible.

Farus grinned at him. “Who needed to stay retired anyway?” He laughed. “We’ll be within the Emarl system in fourteen months. I hope you’ll have a place for us.”

“I’ll be there before you. We’ll negotiate safety for the station and a place for you.”

Farus nodded. “They knew this was coming—they’ve been prepared for it. I don’t think they ever expected the legion to retaliate, though.”

Nerva’s heart quickened. “What happened?”

“Rimateus happened. He was having the station watched a little more carefully than I had thought. There were some complications.”

“No life lost?”

“No, but we did lose one of the sections to the labs. A few injuries, but no deaths. Repairs are underway right now and we believe there will be no further complications because of it.”

Nerva’s heart settled back down. “Good. Keep me posted with your progress. And I’m forwarding on a file with training schedule and jobs. Once you arrive here, there will be need for any skilled labor. The best time to study will be in transition.”

Farus waited on the file then nodded. “We won’t waste any time. Do not worry. We’ll be prepared for anything.”

“Thirty minutes,” Nerva said. “All channels.” When Farus nodded, Nerva cut the comms with him and prepared for his final statement to the legion.

He boarded a drop-ship with the others of the legion. Its already warmed engines started to push off the ground just minutes later.

A mass exodus of shuttles was headed for the reactionary forces’ vessels.

He wasn’t going to answer any comms requests, or listen to any of the senators after his statement was made. He would ask Denise to cut all of it. There would be no connection to him for them ever again. If anyone wanted to talk to him, it would have to be through regular channels.

As the shuttles looked as though they were headed for the reactionary force ships, they altered their path and headed for a freighter off to the side.

The inter-system freighter was a solid-built freighter that had large open storage areas instead of the ribbed design where containers were strapped inside.

The freighter’s bay doors opened to admit the drop-ships in. As the timer ticked down, he knew all eyes would be focused on him. Across the legion, and across all of space. He’d put on his uniform for the last time, made sure it sparkled to give them one last look at the man he used to be.

“My name is Kaeso Lucillios Nerva. I’ve been alive for one thousand and sixty-four years. I have served the legion for more than eight hundred years. I fought and defended against the very first Maraukian invasions and I am standing here, facing you with a heavy heart. I no longer believe Roma and the legion has her best interests at heart. There is corruption from within and there are men and women bent with nothing but greed. I’ve stood with many of you, in senate and in battle. I thought I was making a difference. I realize now this is not the truth anymore.”

Nerva looked to the lapels on each shoulder and, with a quick pull, yanked them off. “From this day forward, I am no longer part of Roma or her legion. I renounce all of my vows and my commitment to her protection. It will be no big shock to some of you, my home, the Aegean Gardens, moved from orbit this morning. Her people are with me. Those who stand with me are already in safe places. Anyone else who wishes to join is welcome to do so. I will not turn any friend or support away.”

Denise spoke in his ear. “They’re trying to disrupt your signal, but they’re failing.”

This urged Nerva on all the more; he needed to finish this.

“I am no traitor to the people of Roma, though you may call it as you see fit. The legionnaires you abandoned on Indalia have seen the truth. You have protected their saboteurs, disregarded any request. They are leaving the Otarvi system with me. You may pick up any remaining people at a date of your choosing.

“The legion has been corrupted by people looking for personal gain. I will no longer see people die over petty arguments in the military I serve. I will no longer be a member of the EMF or the legion, but instead work to build a military that looks after its people and works together toward their mutual goals, instead of stepping atop one another for no reason other than financial or political gain. Nerva out.” The drop-ship he was in came to a rest on the freighter. It was one of the last as the big bay doors started to close.

“Denise, cut all comms with Roma. Block everything incoming. We’re done.”

The tiny pings and comms calls trying to get his attention stopped.

“Captain Stiphal, get us out of here. Destination, the Emarl system.”

“Course plotted and moving, sir.”

The freighter powered up its drives, accelerating away from Indalia and toward the closest region where they could activate their Alcubierre and leave the system.

Chapter Forty-Six

Legion Headquarters

Roma, Hellenic System

3/3556

Legate Julio Alves burst into Damus’s office, disturbing him. As he looked up, a frown appeared on his face as words started to make his lips curl.

“The Aegean Gardens are leaving the system!” Julio said, directly throwing a broadcast over to Damus and throwing it up on the wall.

They were also linked in on the channels.

Damus heard a familiar voice as he saw the video transmission on the main screen. On one side it showed an old man, the other the captain of one of the carriers.

“Any attack on this unarmed vessel will be seen as an act of war against us and the VCF. Do you understand, Captain?” the man said.

Damus’s mind spun. He knew he had seen that man before! Who was he again?

“Perfectly, and we are under orders. If you continue, we will open fire.”

The old man closed the video, showing the two carriers and the Aegean Gardens.

Just as he was trying to piece things together, with Julio looking at him, the emperor himself appeared on a main screen as his NIAI came up with a match for the old man.

Damus Versanti’s eyes went wide as he yelled out. “Give that captain a cease and desist order now!” He knew who that old man was.

He was the cousin of the old emperor, the first emperor; he was one of the people who had fought under Nerva. After the fighting, he had disappeared. Most of his family was gone and there was only his cousin left.

He was one of the first settlers of the Aegean Gardens. It was made up of primarily legionnaire forces; many legionnaire lineages could be traced back from there.

Many of the top leaders in the legion came from that seemingly simple floating gardens.

“What?” the emperor yelled as they all watched the cannons on the carriers firing.

The Aegean Gardens were rocked as the rounds struck its hull and sections were blown off. Damus’s hands were gripped together as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, fearful on what might happen. Thankfully there were no more rounds.

“Uh, Legate Versanti?” The person on the other line sounded panicked as Damus was now connected to the carrier.

“Link me in, video!” Damus growled.

“Sir!” The communications officer did so and now Damus was facing Captain Grislol, who frowned.

“You are fucking relieved of command. You just fired on an unarmed fucking station, carrying the fucking souls from the first legion. That old man—he’s the fucking cousin of the first emperor!”

The man’s face started to go pale.

“The Aegean Gardens is owned by Legate Nerva himself, and is a home for retired legionnaires and their families, or the families of those who didn’t make it back!” Damus yelled, the information fresh in his mind as he started to recall more about the station that had become a regular piece in the Hellenic system.

“I—”

“It doesn’t fucking matter. This is the goddamn fucking legion! We’re supposed to look out for the people, not whoever is your backer!” Damus looked to the people in the command center.

“Return immediately to the Grotto station. Bring the other carrier with you,” Damus growled and then cut off the signal.

He looked to the side wall where Cassius was still waiting, a cold look in his eyes.

“Emperor,” Damus said, making to bow.

“Hold it,” Cassius said, his voice calm and collected. “My cousin is still alive. Have the people involved charged according to the law. I don’t want them to be charged more or less. We need to rip this cancer out from the Roma Union,” Cassius said. “We need to use the distraction of the Victor Corporation. We can use that to draw the rats out. Then we end them.”

Damus nodded, but a part of him wondered whether it was possible.

The senate was part of everything now. There were few things that they weren’t involved in, and they had a certain amount of power in the higher ranks of the legion.

The people at the bottom and the top were for the people of Roma and the Union, but the people in the middle, many of them were from the political or money based alliances that were focused on making more money or gaining better position.

Siding with the political powers of the Union, they were able to reach new heights and greater power.

It was similar to the corporations on Earth, but they were more secretive about the ways that they operated.

“As you command.” Damus saluted the emperor.

Damus headed back to his desk, watching the Aegean Gardens head away from the Hellenic system.

The Aegean Gardens supplied most of the Hellenic system with fresh food. With them gone, prices would jump up.

Also, with the last words of Farus, it looked as if they were headed for the Emarl system. Few things grew there, but if they had the gardens, then they could support millions more people.

Emarl system wasn’t looking so insignificant anymore: They had a yard that was capable of building the biggest ships, a freighter company that operated it with freighters that were who knew where. They were allied with hundreds of thousands of troopers and the mergers, as well as having a planet that had just climbed out of a fight with the Maraukians.

It would hold the rejects from Earth and Her Colonies as well as the Union. But the fact was that if they were able to manage it well, then it could be possible for it to surpass both of them. It was one system while the others were powerhouses with complicated defensive and trade structures.

He was just starting to get himself under control when Julio, who hadn’t left the room yet, looked up at Damus.

“Nerva just left the legion,” Julio said.

Damus felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Nerva was the man who had led the defense of Roma. Symbolically, there was no one higher than him. He had consistently refused to take the position as the leader of the legion. He was a battlefield commander, not someone who was good at managing it.

He kept the legion healthy from its lower ranks.

Now, if he was gone, if he made a clean break from the legion, it could cause chaos.

Damus called up the information on his NIAI. It didn’t take him long to get everything that had happened in the Otarvi system, including Nerva passing back all of the equipment to the reactionary force carriers as he looked as though he were leaving the planet, only to divert to an inconspicuous-looking freighter that readily accepted them.

As the freighter moved off, even the drop-ships were thrown out of the freighter, effectively cutting off all ties that held the legionnaires to the legion.

“What about their families?” Damus asked.

His NIAI was the first to respond. “They were collected up by the people from the Aegean Gardens.”

Damus felt as though everything that had happened since Julio had rushed into the room had been a blow to his heart and soul.

He didn’t know what was going to happen in the future but he had a good idea. With Nerva leaving and his speech, it would spur some of the people who had been pushed to the side. Instead of staying in the legion, they might look to go to the Emarl system.

The legion had attacked a freighter that had brought support helping their people; they had cut off supplies to a legendary group.

They had fired on the Aegean Gardens that had birthed legion heroes and was the home of many legionnaires and their families.

If he was at a lower rank, he might be scared by the moving currents. As the man in charge of it all and facing the Maraukians, who were starting to use new tactics, he wasn’t sure how things would go.

Maybe it is too broken. Maybe we need to rebuild.

Damus felt a headache coming on. If it couldn’t be saved, he needed to remake it. To do that, without the senate’s approval, would be incredibly difficult.

If he could leverage the power of the Maraukian war, then it was possible. If he hid it on different planets in different legions, he could clear out the senate’s power piece by piece.

In a way, he was thankful for the Emarl system. At least they woke him up and they were something that was constant. As long as they kept to their system, he was fine to let them be. With Nerva, he doubted that they would try to be the aggressor against the Union.

The EHC wasn’t able to move faster-than-light yet, but the senate was able to do all of these things.

“It won’t be easy, but if it isn’t done then there won’t be a Union left to defend.”

Chapter Forty-Seven

SLS Edilon

Indalia Orbit, Otarvi System

3/3556

Hesra waited in his office while all the reports came in around the Otarvi system. He’d been gathering what intel he could and waiting for orders—or, in fact, anything from Rimateus. From his different contacts, he felt that something was brewing.

First, the legion frowned on him shooting at the freighter and then, of all things, Nerva himself fled the system on a private freighter. It wasn’t until later that Hesra found out Nerva had sent out an information package as well, revealing what he had done to the mergers, with cutting them off, and nearly leading to the civilians who were retreating to being cut down and making it harder for the people on the Ducharev line to hold their ground.

Furious still, Hesra didn’t know how to react. He had sent more messages out to Senator Rimateus and his father, asking them to tell him what to do and he was waiting for their response when someone knocked on his office door.

“I said that I was to not be disturbed!” Hesra yelled as he looked over to the door. He hit a control that allowed him to see through the wall but not allow others to look in.

Hesra looked over the command center that he controlled the fleet from.

He felt that something was wrong from the expressions of the people on the command deck and the way they were all looking at his room and the person standing in front of it, who was a captain flanked by two armored legionnaires.

“Admiral Hesra, it would be best if we had this conversation in private instead of out in the open,” the captain said.

Hesra’s eyes thinned as he sneered. “You best have a good reason for standing in my doorway. If it isn’t good enough, I’ll have you and your flunkies stuck in the brig!” Hesra yelled.

He was all-powerful here. Everyone needed to follow his commands. He had become used to the power, using it to advance his own plans.

The captain’s eyebrow twitched as he brought himself up to his full height. “Admiral Hesra, you have failed the vote of confidence. Due to this, you will be removed from command of this fleet and must return to the legion headquarters for review of your conduct by your peers. I have been placed in temporary command of this fleet to run the day-to-day issues.” The captain’s tone was clipped and professional as Hesra was left in a state of shock and confusion.

“You are not allowed to leave the ship, and your orders will not be carried out unless confirmed by myself. These two legionnaires are here for your safety. I will leave them here and assume command of the fleet.” Captain Tollin turned around and nodded to the two legionnaires who stepped up next to the door.

Hesra felt his NIAI alert him to an incoming message and he read it. His face fell. It looked as though Captain Tollin wasn’t just cooking this up; it was official. The entire fleet didn’t believe in him. With the information and his attitude and actions, no matter his position and the people he knew, only those who were from other political powers had voted for him.

Seventy-three percent had voted against.

Just as his shock was starting to settle in, a call came in on his main terminal. He didn’t answer it, still in shock.

“Your father is calling you,” his NIAI told him as the terminal kept on ringing.

“Accept it.” Hesra pulled himself up straight. His father would have a plan—he always did.

Hesra saw his father, Tertius Hesra, sitting in his study. He looked like an older and larger version of Hesra. His eyes were dark and calculating. Unlike the flighty and arrogant nature of his son, he had a volcanic attitude that seemed calm and reserved, but also ready to break into an angry tirade within a second.

“Father—”

“Shut up.” Tertius bit out the words, the veins on his neck popping out. “I just got the information. You failed the vote of confidence, the first person in two hundred years, and it was seventy-three percent against and twenty-seven for. Losing a vote of confidence is the deathblow for an officer in the legion. Even if you somehow pass the board, which will be filled with people either of the legion or have those who hold grudges against us, you will lose command over anything, become some paper pusher with little power. How is that useful to us? It would be a stain upon the whole trading house and me personally!” Tertius shook his head.

Hesra wanted to get words out but although he might argue against others, his father had always been the one he listened to and did as he said.

“From now on, you are no longer my son. You will have no more access to the family or to our assets. For the betterment of the family, you will be cut off,” his father declared, the decision final and complete. With that, he cut the channel.

Hesra started to reach out to his other contacts but none of them were taking calls, all of them avoided him like a plague.

Hesra let out a yell, smashing things on his table and kicking a screen near him. He grabbed his chair and slammed it against the desk as the people on the command deck did nothing.

“I’ll fucking kill you! I’ll kill you all!” Hesra yelled as the legionnaires held onto their weapons with a firmer grip.

Chapter Forty-Eight

VCF Osdal

In Transit to Emarl System

3/3556

Eighty-nine people now stood in front of the twenty-five members of the Vanguard, looking at one another.

Three of the people who had become mergers hadn’t been able to hack the last bit of training. They had then gone to look at the other merger groups that had open recruitment. Being mergers already, it was possible for them to work in an area that the mergers were developing.

These might be one hundred and fourteen people in the Vanguard but they were quickly approaching three hundred mergers.

The reason was that the other areas didn’t need to have such high mental training for the losses that happened with the legion. They would feel the losses and the people’s last thoughts, and it would hurt, but if they didn’t know them directly, then it wouldn’t be as hard to suffer through.

With this in mind, the biggest need for the mergers in other areas was to make sure that they had a good moral compass, that they wouldn’t turn on the other mergers or use the strength and abilities that they had for nefarious means.

“You have all graduated today. Today, you become official members of the Vanguard. If there was time, we would allow you a week off to go and party, to celebrate the hard-earned victory. Instead, we can offer you three days. In five days, there will be another five thousand people who are just the same as you two months ago, hopefully thinking that they know their path in life is becoming a merger. As you know, only a few people will pass this test and then even less will be able to give up on their life to become a fighter.

“As we say, once you are a merger, you have already died once, leaving behind your humanity to become the killer that you are today.

“This is something that we’ve all come to accept.

“The fact is that none of you would have made it this far if your only motivation was to kill. Each of you has an inner reason for being on this parade square.”

Mark’s words resonated with them. They had pushed their bodies and minds past their limits. By doing so, they had learned things about themselves that they never thought possible.

“Sometimes it’s also my job to make you do shitty jobs.” Mark’s smile showed that even with his words, he took a certain amount of joy out of it.

They didn’t groan but the emotional feedback was clear.

“We’re people of the Vanguard and mergers. Just knowing how to shoot and run around isn’t enough. Our biggest strength is our ability to talk in real time, to break information down quickly. That is all good, but if we are able to have skills, not just information that we’ve pulled from the net, then we will be stronger overall.” Mark talked over the Vanguard net, information going from him to the others. They all saw his logic, but they didn’t like it. They came here to be fighters—they didn’t want to learn engineering or how the sciences worked, or even how to make a fabber or a rifle from a nanites vat.

Though these were all things that Mark would make them do from now until they reached Emarl.

The main reason was that one merger was as effective as a fabber at making different items. Give them a nanite vat, and they could pump out items; strap them into a think tank, and they could push sciences further in a few minutes than it had moved in years.

On the surface, these were all of the reasons to do all of these different jobs and lend them out to the other merger sectors.

Mark’s real reason was much simpler: many of these people had been fighting for all of their lives. They hadn’t had the time to take on a normal job, to have time off and do something other than killing other living beings, or training to do so. Troopers fought through Earth, then the EMF. He could give them these few months to just expand their minds and experience something akin to a normal life of someone in the Colonies or someone in the Union.

It sounded simple, but to some of them it might be the greatest couple of months in their entire lives, where they didn’t have to worry about the next fight, the people around them and their own security—just doing some hard work, then getting time off and hanging out with their friends.

“Now go on and have fun with your three-day liberty.” With that, Mark ended the simulation and the mergers started to wake up from where they were all linked to computer nodes in an empty container.

Mark let them run off to the different messes to have a drink or leave for their new accommodation.

“Just three more groups,” Ava said, reassuring Mark as they walked away from the room and toward the Moby, which had become the center of work for the mergers. There were upgrades going on all over the ship; the Moby was still being overhauled. It was a longer process than before and there were sections opened to space, where people were working on the parts underneath.

“I know,” Mark said. It felt good to be training people. There was a sense of satisfaction with it, passing on what he knew to the later generation.

It didn’t take them long until they were inside the Moby. As they walked through the ship, they could see parts of what was happening with the merger sectors.

There was Yu and his people, all training with the different drop-ships that were in the main bay.

There were groups talking about different developments—well, not talking but violently hurling ideas through the air, gaining a better understanding of the information that they had been working with all of their lives.

When Mark had merged for the first time, he had no idea what was going on. Now, he was the first in a brand-new race. One that was leading a revolution in all manner of different sectors.

They might not be human anymore, but they still had desires and pursuits and things they wanted to do.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Senator Rimateus’s Estate

Roma, Hellenic System

4/3556

Rimateus heard the comms call come in from Hesra, but he’d ignored it. Rimateus wasn’t sure what he wanted to do first: strangle the stupid admiral or wait to see what else the man could possibly do to bring himself down all the more. At this moment in time, it was easier to set up the admiral for all the wrongdoings against Mark and Nerva. He would try as best he could to let him take the fall despite it being himself doing all the pushing.

“There is a call coming in from Tertius Hesra.”

Rimateus perked up with his NIAI’s words.

Rimateus knew that Hesra had been looking for more merchants to move Alcubierre drives to the people in the EHC. Then they could directly attack the Emarl system with the corporation’s forces.

They had parts already on their way but it wouldn’t be enough. They needed a larger merchant to make it happen. If he could use the father, then it might be possible to have his new plan come into fruition.

“Accept,” Rimateus said. The holographic projector in his office turned on, with Tertius Hesra appearing in front of Senator Rimateus.

“Hello merchant head, Hesra.” Rimateus smiled.

“I want revenge—what do you need?” Tertius’s usual tact was gone. Seeing his son shamed in such a way, he wanted to fight back against the people who had rubbed his son’s and his own name in the dirt.

Rimateus knew that hitting the Emarl system wouldn’t be enough; they needed to do something now to pull Tertius over to them.

Rimateus quickly thought through his options. If he let this opportunity go, then he wouldn’t be able to even try.

“I have a plan to directly hurt them but I will need your help.” Tertius made to talk but Rimateus talked over him. “Though I know that slow revenge is nothing compared to what is available right now. There is a woman still on Earth—her name is Dominguez. She is in charge of some gang. I have made a few contacts on Earth and they will be happy to show their abilities,” Rimateus said.

Tertius looked interested as Rimateus continued.

“Dominguez is someone who has served with the EMF and is one of the closest people to Mark and Jerome Victor, as well as their leader Ortiz. She is an integral part of the Victor Corporation and someone that they view as a sister.”

A vicious look crossed Tertius’s eyes with those words. To hit the Victor Corporation in a way that would not only disrupt their operations but bring them the most amount of pain possible—Tertius was deeply interested. He wanted these people to hurt for what they had done to his son and his own reputation.

“I’m listening. What else do you need?” Tertius asked.

Rimateus showed a smile as he looked at Tertius. I might have lost an admiral but I gained his father. Rimateus could just see the fall of the Emarl system in his mind.

“I know some aspiring merchants who are looking for some Alcubierre drives, if you would have any you would be willing to pass on to them?” Rimateus asked.

“I wouldn’t say no to a friend,” Tertius said. His words made it clear that if Rimateus carried out his plan, then he would help him.

“I guarantee nothing but I will send word to our friends on Earth this very hour,” Rimateus promised.

“Very well. I will have a look into assisting our new friends. Which system?”

“Luyten seems rather nice this time of year,” Rimateus said.

Tertius nodded. The two of them shared a look. They didn’t trust each other, but they needed each other to meet their needs. If this plan succeeded, they’d both benefit from it.

Chapter Fifty

Brass Jackals Base of Operations

Earth, Sol System

4/3556

Voras Jakab sat with his back to the wall, overlooking his small dominion through the misted red windows of his office. He knew he waited on a serious call to arms, and an offer that he, of course, wouldn’t refuse.

Movement between his land and the Westerly Three Crew had doubled. This annoyed him. They were plotting and doing much more than they’d originally asked for access for.

It was time he had a meeting with Dominguez to work out better payments. Without their safe passage, the shipments heading her way would be attacked, delayed—or worse, never get through at all.

Yan Dres stepped inside without knocking, a regular occurrence for his second-in-command, and one he often berated the boy for.

“What’s the problem this time?” Voras asked, not even looking to the boy.

“Spotted an extra big load heading out this way toward the Westerly Complex,” he said. “Thought you might want to step in and see what the hell it is this time they’re dragging through.”

Voras pushed himself up. “Thank you. Yes, I think that’s a very good idea. Gather the others. We need to stop this convoy and then meet with the Westerly Three.”

Yan’s eyes lit up. But the thought of confronting the Westerly Three Crew wasn’t something they’d do without backing of some of the other smaller gangs.

That’s when a call came in. Voras glanced to his tablet device. Only a few had that number, and it wasn’t going to be just a personal call. “Come back in twenty,” he said to Yan. “See what you can do in getting the Faceless Ones and the Pistol Monkeys together. We’ll meet with them before dark. We can discuss what the plan might be against the W3C.”

Yan nodded and ran off quickly.

Voras moved to answer his device. “Voras. What’s the problem?”

Voras listened to the caller. He knew all the safe passwords and codes, and seemed to be a strong, persuasive man, offering all kinds of deals for this “job” to be completed.

With a smile, Voras accepted the payment. He paused to see the credits transfer over, and then he returned to the caller to finally confirm the arrangement.

It seemed that the gathering of gangs, tonight, might be more beneficial to him than just tracking this shipment. Now they could actually organize and plot a real attack on the W3C, the new job much more important. He laughed to himself. Voras had no idea who he was helping put this together and with any luck, neither would the W3C.

Bringing up the images where he’d meet the others, Voras made a few more calls. They might need more backing than the other two smaller gangs. The truth of the matter was, with all the work and workers turning to the W3C, they were fast running out of labor for their own jobs. Hopefully, if they completed this job, it might turn the tide.

Several minutes later, he had another three gangs aligned with him. Payments had been made and he arranged to meet them earlier than the others. He wanted them armed and weapons ready so when they were called upon, they would answer his call right away. The Faceless Ones and the Pistol Monkeys already had enough to back them, but the others would need full kits. That meant they had to come in here first and get kitted out.

It might be tricky to move that amount of people around for a few days while the W3C were watching, but with some of the underground tunnels and ducts, there were places they’d managed to sneak through. Even sneak onto the W3C grounds, well ahead of any of their guards noticing.

Voras finally pushed himself up. He needed to arm himself before anyone arrived on his land.

Chapter Fifty-One

Refining Station Seventy-Seven

Oort Cloud, Osdal System

5/3556

Johnny Walker was an old man now. He had multiple treatments to keep him young but time inevitably marched onward.

He’d crossed the one hundred year mark a long time ago and was looking toward two hundred now. He wasn’t sure he would be able to make it.

He looked out over his station.

This was where it had all begun for him. He remembered when he made a deal with who he had thought were just a bunch of new miners, but had turned out to be an undercover group of troopers gathering information on Osdal and plotting to remove the Harmony cancer that plagued the system.

He remembered it as if it were yesterday. It was hard to forget those days. With Harmony destroyed and no corporations, the Osdal system had been largely left to fend for themselves.

The people banded together, from those on Osdal to the miners in the belts, refining and processing stations. The processing stations were turned into homes and greenhouses to create more food; the ground was also transformed as people looked to grow items there and build parts needed by those in space.

The miners kept bringing in materials, readying them for the big sale with the Victor Corporation that was still decades away.

There was also a freighter headed toward them, filled with corporation executives and their security guards, or bullies who would suppress them again.

Johnny Walker had gone from controlling one station to three stations. He knew that this wouldn’t be rewarded by the corporation types, but rather they would tear away his control. His only hope was that with the Victor Corporation providing shipping for them, they could pay off the security people and take the system.

His eyes looked at the screen in his room that showed the entire Osdal system. On the outside of the system, there was a small icon, drifting with the stellar winds—the EMFC Avenger. After the Harmony Forces were defeated in Osdal, the EMFC had been left behind to stabilize the situation. Once everyone was settled, the EMFC left the system, with all of its personnel going into cryo.

If called upon, they would wake up again. Johnny didn’t know what would happen if they were ordered to assert control over the Osdal system.

He looked at that icon. All of his plans were held together by a thread. He looked at the icon for the EMFC Avenger when something else started to appear—a new icon.

“What the hell is that?” Johnny sent commands to the different long-range sensor arrays. His eyes went wide as a new picture came back at him.

A massive freighter seemed to have come out of nowhere, moving to intercept the EMFC Avenger.

The freighter wasn’t trying to hide at all and was still some time away from the carrier.

Johnny was about to send a message to the miner’s council when the freighter’s identification codes came across.

“Victor Corporation Freighter Fernix. But that’s not supposed to show up for another few decades.” Johnny looked at the freighter. There was something different compared to other freighters: this one had two rings, one at the front and the rear of the craft.

His mind moved to the craft that the Union were using, the rings that people were interested in. “Alcubierre drive? How the hell did they get that?” Johnny said aloud. He paused for a moment before turning to the controls on his table. He started punching in communication codes, sending the information to the miner’s council. If this was the Victor Corporation freighter, then it meant that the Yard still wanted to trade with them. It also meant that they had faster-than-light capable ships. Johnny didn’t know what kind of impact this would have.

Though, if they were contacting the EMFC Avenger, it would be waking up soon. If that happened, Osdal needed to be ready if they attacked the system.

“I thought I’d have a bit of peace for a few more years at least. Should’ve kept my big mouth closed,” Johnny complained darkly.

Thank you for reading! If you like the book, please rate and review! It really does help get the word out there and allow other readers to find this book!

From the Authors

Michael Chatfield

You can check out my other books, what I’m working on, and upcoming releases through the following means:

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Thanks again for reading! 

Dawn Chapman

Dawn Chapman has been creating sci-fi and fantasy stories for thirty years. Until 2005 when her life and attention turned to scripts, and she started work on The Secret King, a 13-episode Sci-Fi TV series, with a great passion for this medium.

In 2015, Dawn returned to her first love of prose where she revelled in the world of The Secret King, Letháo and First Contact, as an epic prose space journey over three generations.

This year her experience of working with others expanded. From Drama, Sci-Fi, Action, to LitRPG/Gamelit. Dawn’s built a portfolio of writing, consulting and publishing.

Website - https://dawnchapmanauthor.com/

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Many Thanks

Table of Contents

- An Empire is Born
- Prologue
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Twenty-Eight
- Chapter Twenty-Nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-One
- Chapter Thirty-Two
- Chapter Thirty-Three
- Chapter Thirty-Four
- Chapter Thirty-Five
- Chapter Thirty-Six
- Chapter Thirty-Seven
- Chapter Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirty-Nine
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-One
- Chapter Forty-Two
- Chapter Forty-Three
- Chapter Forty-Four
- Chapter Forty-Five
- Chapter Forty-Six
- Chapter Forty-Seven
- Chapter Forty-Eight
- Chapter Forty-Nine
- Chapter Fifty
- Chapter Fifty-One
- From the Authors