Star Crusades Nexus: Book 06 - Call to Arms (6 page)

“They won’t stand a chance,” said Khan.

A pair of men in black suits at the back of the room whispered to each other whenever Khan said something and once again, when he finished, he looked at them to see them busily chatting away. Khan narrowed his eyes slightly and watched them until the taller man spotted him. He nodded politely and turned back to his comrade.

Yeah, you do that,
Khan thought.

“Get the hell back!” cried out the figure they were observing.

Unlike the shouting and crying from others off camera, they were calm and remarkably restrained.

“This is Special Agent Aaron Smith. I am making this a category alpha attack. Unidentified forces are landing around the refinery site. Evacuate all Earthsec installations and head for the escape shuttles. Seal the tunnels!”

Another voice screamed, and a metallic shape ripped its way through the wall. Two long pointed arms pushed through and skewered the man like a kebab spike. The razor sharp tip punched through his front and out of his spine. A man near the front twisted about and vomited on the floor. Another nearby recoiled from the involuntary action and then stepped away.

The Governor sighed and indicated with his hand for two security guards to enter. A third person came in with cloths to clear up the mess. More sounds of violence turned the attention of the audience back to the screen. The machine had completely torn its way into the room, and the special agent had taken aim with a thermal shotgun of the type often used by internal security and police units.

“Get back!” he shouted.

The machine stabbed again at the first of the men who had already stopped moving. There was no reaction from him, just the foul sound of sharp metal punching into flesh. The shotgun safety clicked, and a pair of loud booms interrupted the sound. Everything else lowered in volume as the electronics tried to compensate for the spike in sound levels.

“He’s a brave man.”

“Brave, but foolish, Spartan,” Khan agreed.

The thermal shotgun sent chunks of molten metal projectiles in a tight pattern against the machine. Incredibly, the man succeeded in blowing a number of fist-sized holes in the thing, yet it refused to stop. A scream off to the left made him turn about, and another machine filled the view. This time the machine was busily smashing a number of computer system and displays.

“Special Agent Smith. Abandon the refinery, now!”

He turned from the machine and began to build up speed. The door to the room quickly approached their view, and then he was through and into a wide passageway. Screams continued from all about, but he was of a single-minded purpose and ran the few hundred meters while ducking and jumping past smashed computer systems and broken walls.

“What the hell is going on here?” he asked himself as he ran.

He rounded a corner and slid to a stop. The ceiling had collapsed in on itself, and the level above had broken down to his level. Movement caught his eye, and he lifted the shotgun, but the face was that of a female civilian.

“Up here,” she said.

A hand came down and helped lift him up. The camera struggled in the blackness, and finally adjusted by pumping up the volume. The resulting mess was much harder to make out.

“Who are you?”

“Anna Fitzgerald, technician for Amcord Mining. What the hell is happening?”

The camera panned back and forth.

“No idea. It’s some kind of machine attack.”

He looked back at the hole in the ground that led back the way he’d come from.

“There are machines back, and they’re killing everybody.”

The woman wiped her face with the back of her forearm.

“Where are you going?”

“The evacuation shuttles, we can get to one of the habitation compounds beyond the mountains.”

The young technician laughed; a hint of hysteria welling up in her voice. She started to speak, but no words came out. Special Agent Smith pulled her close and tried to comfort her.

“It’s going to be okay. The rest of the colony will have received our communications. Earthsec will send in help soon.”

There was a short but uncomfortable moment where he held her, and she lost control. The two of them just waited there for what felt like an eternity in a stunned moment of fear and compassion. It couldn’t last though, and finally Special Agent Smith pulled her away and looked into her face. She looked back, and it was only then he saw the blood trickling down her left cheek.

“No, they don’t know anything about this,” she said, desperately trying to stay composed.

There was a delay before he spoke.

“How do you know?”

She looked behind her and pointed.

“I was monitoring a high-bandwidth stream to our head office when we lost power to most of our system. My manager said something had destroyed the main and backup power generators for the refinery complex. By the time we got the communication system onto the reserve supply, the transmitter station had gone. We've been trying to reach other bases and installation on Mars. So far nothing.”

Again there was a short delay.

“We have to find a way to get a signal to Earthsec command.”

Anna shook her head.

“No chance. With the transmitter array gone, we just don’t have the power to get a signal to Earth. Only one of the Lagrange stations is still functioning, and that will not come into range for another...two hours.”

A volley of gunfire shook the floor from a dangerously close position. It was followed by shouting, more gunfire, and then screams. A powerful explosion shook the ground, and both were knocked to their knees by the power of the attack. Agent Smith lifted himself up, helped Anna do the same, and then leaned in close.

“We don’t have much time. Let’s get to the shuttles. We can use their communication gear to reach the Lagrange Station One when we’re in orbit.”

The image paused, and the light increased in brightness for a few seconds until those in the room could see each other clearly. The Governor moved to the front and stood directly in the path of the agent.

“The transmission continues for another eleven minutes. Copies have been sent to all of your accounts. These two made it to the shuttles, but shortly after sending in their report, we lost contact with them and any other craft that had escaped.”

He let that sink in and found to his surprise that not one of them had a thing to say. He panned across until finding the annoyed looking expressions on the faces of his two newest arrivals.

“You have something to add?”

Spartan looked to Khan who saw the question as an open invitation.

“You’re kidding, right? We told you what these machines would do, and now they have. Right now, they have this refinery and will be sending out their forces to secure the rest of the colony.”

“Khan’s right. How many people were there on Mars?”

Governor Trelleck looked at them both for a few seconds and then turned his head to nod in the direction of a short, dark skinned man. He stood up and faced them but didn’t introduce himself.

“Mars Colony has just over three hundred thousand personnel, mainly workers for the refineries and their families. There are two main refinery complexes, a small engineering base, and a number of large habitation complexes. On top of that, there is City One where over half the population live, but it’s nearly four hundred kilometers from the refinery site.”

Spartan looked confused.

“I thought Mars was a major colony? That is not much more than a decent sized space station.”

The man looked disappointed with this question but sat back down and left it to he Governor to continue.

“No, Spartan, we do not have the personnel or resources that the rest of the Alliance has in abundance. Mars...continues.”

“Well, not for much longer,” stated Spartan.

He lifted himself up and walked toward the Governor, ignoring standard protocol. This simple movement sent consternation through the small throng of people. A number of guards moved from the two main doorways, but on a signal from the governor they backed off.

“Well?”

Spartan pointed at the display.

"How many people are there at this refinery? The one where the Biomechs attacked?"

The Governor didn't even need to consult his system to answer.

"Three hundred and twelve plus a small security details. The site has underground tunnel access via light rail to the secondary refinery, as well as a major tunnel system leading directly to City One."

Spartan shook his head again.

"Those three hundred plus people will get them started. In just a few days they will strike out to the rest of Mars, assuming they haven't already. I can promise you that City One will fall and will become a Biomech forward base in a matter of weeks. You need to open up the Rift and contact Terra Nova for help. They can have a rescue team at Mars in less than a day.”

Some of the civilian staff in the room murmured in agreement, but the look on the Governor’s face turned from that of calm and patience to anger. The lines of his face tightened, and his jaw twitted. The dark skinned man approached and stepped alongside Spartan to face him.

“Governor, I don’t completely agree with our guests, but my officers think a rapid search and rescue operation on Mars should be conducted as a matter of urgency. We can move in, contain this threat, and put things back the way they were.”

He then leaned in so that only the Governor could hear him. They spoke for a few more seconds before standing back. The tightness of his face softened just a little, and he then moved back to Spartan.

“No, we will not risk opening the Rift.”

Khan burst out laughing from further back inside the room.

“Then Mars is gone, and you will be next. Three hundred thousand foot soldiers, all modified, butchered, and one hundred percent loyal to them. Earth won't stand a chance.”

This time the Governor did give the nod to his guards, and a group of four closed in, each trying to look calm and relaxed as they approached the two visitors. Spartan faced off against one side while Khan looked to the other two, without even moving his body.

“You really don’t want to do this,” Spartan said.

The nearest man stopped in front of Spartan and then saluted; to Spartan’s surprise it was his old comrade Lieutenant Jenkins.

“You keep showing up, old timer.”

The man remained impassive and waited for the Governor to speak first.

“As Governor, I have already put plans in motion for a full-scale operation to retake Mars. I would very much appreciate it if both of you would travel along with the team, in an advisory capacity.”

Khan looked at Spartan and grinned.

“They want us along, to advise?”

Spartan was less than amused at the suggestion though.

“Governor, you’ve just shown us a feed of your refinery operation. I promise you, these machines are just the lowest of their war machines. There will be at least one machine in overall command, perhaps more.”

“Yeah,” Khan added, “and those machines are something else.”

Governor Trelleck indicated for them to move to his side so that he could see the rest of his people. Khan dutifully did as asked, but Spartan wouldn’t easily do so. It took an additional request from Lieutenant Jenkins for him to agree.

“As you can see, our friends from the Alliance are experienced in fighting these machines. As experts in this field, I think we would all value their contribution to our rescue party.”

Three men and a woman stood up and began clapping in appreciation. More followed, and it was very quickly clear it had been planned right from the beginning. It wasn’t a particularly sophisticated plan, but it had put Spartan into a rather difficult position. He looked to the Governor, who gave no indication other than a courteous nod.

“Thank you, Spartan. Your skills will be very much appreciated by our combat team.”

Lieutenant Jenkins extended out his hand for Spartan to shake, and he felt obliged to return the favor. In that one moment, he knew he had just sealed his and Khan’s fates. It didn’t make him feel bad though. As he looked back at the group of people, many of whom wore their Earthsec uniforms, he realized he had absolutely nothing in common with them. They were isolated, and it seemed they liked it. He looked to Khan who’d tilted his head a little, as if to question him.