Empyrean Rises

by Spencer Pierson

  The man met Nathans eyes for a long moment, considering him before nodding. “I am Captain Uzoma. I hope you don’t mind if I have one of my men confirm you have permission? But in the meantime, you look well-armed, and I don’t have enough men. I will gladly accept your help, Nathan of Empyrean security.” He turned, pointing to several tall buildings to the north. “We think there are shooters up in those buildings. Either on the roof or around the outer grounds but they are moving so we’ve not been able to pinpoint their locations. They are shooting at anyone that moves, and I already have three men down. There are at least six firemen dead, and I don’t know how many civilians.”

  “What about the explosion?” Nathan asked.

  “From what little we were able to find out before the shooting started, there were three explosions, but I’ve not been able to confirm. The attackers, whoever they are, waited until the fire department and we arrived and started pushing the crowds back before opening fire. There were so many of us bunched together. It was not good,” Captain Uzoma said bitterly. “They are monsters, whoever they are.”

  “We’ll do what we can,” Nathan said, clicking on his shoulder mic and began to issue orders. His men had established a perimeter around the two Skylarks, but they had cover from the huge, burning food processing plant. He needed the Skylarks up in the sky to help him identify shooters and where they might be coming from. He had brought pilots that he knew had combat experience, and he hoped they remembered their old training. Clicking on the command channel, he also tied in the pilots. “Keith? Get the ships up in the air and see if you can spot attackers on the roofs.”

  “Okay, boss, but it will have to be using the Mark one eyeball. I don’t have any IR equipment, or really anything other than looking out the window. The smoke won’t help either.” Keith said before clicking off. A moment later, the two ships rose gracefully up into the air and ascended to a few hundred feet. It would make shooting at them difficult. However, they could still see the ground with enough detail to see people running around with weapons. Besides the pilots, there were several other crews on the flights that could try to help to spot.

  Another flurry of gunshots zipped by, but this time Nathan saw a flash from one of the roofs and returned fire. He didn’t think he’d hit anything, but it served to make whomever it was duck and keep their head down. He clicked on his mic, speaking to his fireteam leaders. “We’ve got a target on the roof of the red and white building to the Northeast, southeast side. Gonzales, move your people up and cover that corner. Have your sniper watch and take him out when he sticks his head up again.”

  “Roger,” Samantha Gonzales said.

  Nathan returned to scanning the battlefield, calling over to Captain Uzoma for more information. “Is most of the fire coming from the north?” he asked.

  The captain nodded, sticking his rifle around the side of the swat van and firing without looking. Nathan shook his head but didn’t blame the man for wanting to keep his head down. Still, it was a waste of ammo. He ordered another fireteam to move east into the cover of the buildings and then push north toward the hostiles along with instructions to a third to go south in case someone was trying to flank them. He kept the rest of the men here to protect the civilians with himself while he scanned the battlefield.

  “I’ve sent my men out to the right,” Nathan called to the Nigerian captain. “Keep your men under cover and protect the civilians.” Captain Uzoma acknowledged Nathans words, not arguing after having seen the soldiers charge off, taking command of the firefight. He knew experience when he saw it.

  Nathan kept watching the skyline, making sure none of the shooters moved south from their position. He wasn’t really worried about the west. He doubted whomever it was wanted to try running through the thick, greasy smoke so at least that side was secure. Now he just had to trust in his people.

  Chapter 16

  Time: October 9, 2030

  Location: Ibadan, Nigeria

  Samantha ran, dodging behind cars and pounding across the pavement before sliding toward, and then slamming her back against a low wall. She paused, listening to the sounds of gunfire as it chased her movements but it hadn’t caught her before she found cover. Peeking over the top, she sent off a short burst toward a hostile she’d seen shoot at her, not hitting him but making him duck even as another of her fireteam leapfrogged toward her under covering fire.

  “Can’t hit the broadside of a barn!” Johnson crowed after charging past her, grinning from under his tactical helmet. After a moment, he moved deeper into the small alley between two buildings, sweeping their path. The rest of her two team members sprinted across, also making the safety of the alley with covering fire from the second fireteam, still back at the edge of the food processing plant and surrounding cars.

  Samantha grunted, crawling the rest of the way behind the wall, then popping up to face her team once she’d made the relative safety of the building. “Okay, kids, it’s time to take the party to our new friends. Johnson, Khalid, you two provide cover as Kelly, and I move leapfrog north. Keep your smoke ready, but I’m betting they don’t have any spotters. They’re too eager to shoot civilians.”

  Khalid smiled, bowing and gesturing with his hand toward the street. “Ladies first,” he said in his heavily accented English, then took his place at the corner of the building. Raising his rifle, he scanned for a few moments, while Johnson took his own position on the other side of the alley entrance. A moment later, both men called clear.

  Samantha and Kelly moved out, with Samantha taking the west wall while Kelly sprinted across the street, covering the east wall of the far building. They each moved forward in a crouch before settling themselves, scanning the surrounding buildings while Johnson and Khalid both sprinted past. They moved like this, passing and covering each other for several movements with no resistance until reaching the end of the street, hearing the hostiles firing from emplacements just around the corner.

  “We’re in position on the flank,” Samantha reported to the other fireteams and Nathan.

  “We’ve moved up and ready to support,” Bill Riley said. “Go when you’re ready.”

  “Be advised there are hostiles on the ground about twenty feet down from the Southeast corner of the building, and one sniper on top. No one has moved the entire time. Their attention is toward the fire,” Keith reported making Samantha grin.

  Amateurs.

  Firing and moving was how you kept alive. Sitting in the same spot was just asking for trouble; trouble that she and her team were glad to give them. She gestured, indicating for Johnson and Kelly to cross to the far corner while she and Khalid stayed where they were. Then she gave the signal to commence their attack.

  Samantha stayed standing while Khalid crouched, both swinging their rifles around the side of the building. She kept her rifle pointed toward the roof as Khalid took his shots, targeting several hostiles on the ground that hadn’t seen them.

  Their opponents were dressed in a mix of dirty fatigues, civilian clothes, and partial head-wraps as they sent rounds in the wrong direction, their gunfire covering her fireteam for a few precious moments. Several of them collapsed with bullet wounds appearing on their bodies. The screams finally alerted the rest of the hostiles to Samantha and her team’s presence, eliciting a mad scramble to take cover in disorganized chaos.

  The smart ones simply ran, darting away from the precise fire while they exposed themselves to Riley’s fireteam and their more distant threat. The lucky ones made it around the corner even as they lost several more members of their group. Samantha noticed none of them even tried to turn back and retrieve their companions.

  A moment later, a dark head thrust into the skyline looking down in shock from his position from the roof. The man had only a moment for his eyes to widen before Samantha’s bullet took him low on his jaw, shattering the bones of his face and flinging him away from the ledge. If he wasn’t dead, he was the next best thing though Samantha continued to watch the roof.


  “Good shot, Gonzales. Target is no longer moving,” Keith’s voice crackled over her radio. She scowled at the noise but was thankful for the report. At least she knew the target was down and wasn’t going to toss a grenade at them from out of nowhere.

  The remaining attackers tried to run across the street to take cover from Samantha and Khalid, but in doing so, opened themselves to fire from Johnson and Kelly. In desperation, they fired back with most missing, but she heard a scream of pain. Looking over, Johnson had retreated around the corner, his rifle laying on the ground and his arm dripping blood.

  “Dammit,” Samantha said, dropping her target and joining Kelly and Khalid’s fire with her own. They quickly finished off the last of the remaining insurgents.

  “They’re running,” Keith said. “There are two coming down from the roof, as well. If you get around the back of that building, you can probably intercept them. No one else is going to be close enough to support them.”

  “We’re moving up,” Bill Riley called.

  Samantha ran across the street, checking Johnson over as he held his arm against his side, gritting his teeth. “We’re going to try to capture them, are you okay here? Riley should be along in a second.”

  Johnson nodded, not complaining though Samantha looked into his eyes to make sure he wasn’t going into shock. A moment later, she gestured for her two remaining team members to move forward before grinning at Johnson. “I guess you are the barn, eh? We’ll be back.”

  They raced around the building, coming around the corner and scanning the sides for movement. Sure enough, two men were desperately trying to climb down the fire escapes while the rest of their comrades were nowhere in sight. She held her hand up, keeping her team from exposing themselves until both of their targets were almost to the ground, halfway down the ladders before the three of them charged out, screaming at the men to get down.

  One complied, but the other tried to scale back up the ladder, so Samantha winged him in the leg, making him scream before falling. Seven feet to the ground and the man collapsed into a moaning heap while Khalid and Kelly approached, quickly disarming and zip tying their targets.

  “We got em. Both targets are trussed up and ready for delivery,” Samantha reported to Nathan and the other fireteam leaders. “No more hostiles in sight.”

  “Let them go,” Nathan said. “Riley, cover their return. Gonzalez, bring the prisoners back to base after picking up Johnson. The Nigerians and I have some questions for them.”

  “Will do,” Samantha said, sweeping the area with her rifle while Khalid and Kelly lifted their prisoners up, keeping a firm grip on their arms as they pushed the rough men along. Before leaving, she looked down and noticed one of the men’s weapons. A too-shiny AK47 that looked like it had just come out of the factory. She grabbed it and then she and her prisoners returned to Johnson who was being tended to by one of Riley’s men.

  As they approached the impromptu command center next to the SWAT van and firetruck, the two prisoners suddenly started yelling at the Nigerian policemen, clearly trying to get a rise out of them before being pushed down against the large tire of the firetruck. Samantha grimaced, glaring at the man she’d shot before unslinging and tossing the clean AK47 toward Nathan. “Someone supplied these,” she said, “they’re brand new.”

  Nathan caught it, examining it carefully before frowning. She was right. They were new, and there weren’t any serial numbers. “Who do you work for?” he said after a few moments, turning to the uninjured prisoner. The man only glared and didn’t respond, but Captain Uzoma approached. “Boko Harem from Kanuri lands, I would say. They have been against the government for a long time and have grown angry at projects like this,” he said, gesturing toward the burning food factory. “They do not like seeing prosperity.”

  “Terrorists,” Nathan growled, shaking his head. “Or not. Someone was giving them new weapons.” He looked toward the burning building which was finally receiving attention from the firefighters. With Empyrean’ help, several cities in Nigeria had upgraded their water and sewer infrastructure, which had improved life for the residents and were modern enough to contain fires, but the fire had been allowed free reign for too long. The only thing they could do was keep it contained as it slowly destroyed the building. “I’ll be anxious to find out what the explosives were once the fire dies down.”

  “It’s a shame,” Captain Uzoma said, watching the burning building along with Nathan. “It was a good thing to have. I was happy to see people no longer starving.”

  Nathan looked at the man, shaking his head. “It won’t be a shame. We’re not going to let them win. Empyrean will rebuild it, bigger and better than ever and faster than they expect. We need your people’s help.”

  Captain Uzoma looked with surprise at Nathan, but after a moment his face firmed in determination. My nine-year-old son goes to one of the schools your company built and comes back speaking of things I never had the chance to learn. Math, science, computers…and he can even speak to his grandfather in Yoruba, now. Sometimes better than I can. I thought our culture would die, but you have given us the tools to be better. I promise you, Nathan of Empyrean security, you will have our help.”

  Chapter 17

  Time: October 11, 2030

  Location: Empyrean Island, Pacific Ocean

  “Talk to me,” Alex said, striding into the security center where Nathan was catching up on reports after returning from Nigeria.

  “Sit down; we have a lot to talk about,” Nathan said, looking up from his holographic desk. “We were hit, and the little I’ve been able to find out points to the same group that’s been moving against us globally.”

  “So not an accident?” Alex asked though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

  Nathan shook his head. “Not a chance. Whoever it was set the explosives, and then gave Boko Harem weapons and probably cash to hit the plant after they blew it. Perfect win-win for the bad guys on all sides and so far, we’re still not any closer to finding this shadow organization. They are covering their tracks too well.”

  “How do we know it was the same group?” Alex asked, slumping in his chair as he considered what Nathan was telling him.

  “We’ll know more once we get the forensics from the explosion, but it bears the same fingerprints. No solid proof yet, though. I’m keeping my options open, but realistically I’m sure this is the same shadow group. Well-funded, good equipment, and efficient at staying hidden. They accomplished their task, and I bet we’ll see more of this.”

  “What was their task?”

  “Causing terror with people who are working with us. Before, they were striking directly at us. With this attack, they’re letting it be known that whoever works with us is also a target.”

  Alex stared down at his fingers as he tapped on the desk, considering everything as Nathan stayed quiet. Finally, he looked up, a grim determination in his eyes. “I’ll let Nabhitha know we need her to step up her development of those armored materials. She’s done some fantastic things, and we’ll push production of the personal body armor as well as making you some of those Skytigers for rapid deployment. I think the first prototype is almost done.

  Nathan grinned, nodding. “She is. I swung by the Atlantis factories before I came back here to check on her progress. She’s got all the bells and whistles we’ll need, but we’ll need more than one. I fully expect that we’ll start seeing attacks in a variety of places, now.”

  “What about personnel?” Alex asked. “Did you find someone that you trust to oversee the larger organization you want?”

  Nathan nodded, touching an area of his holographic desktop and moving some files around. A few moments later, a picture flashed into view showing an older man with thin features and piercing grey eyes. The name below the picture said Admiral Christopher C Roland, retired. “Admiral Roland retired several years ago after an accident left him partially paralyzed. I worked with him in some wargames, and he’s got the skills we nee
d. Excellent strategist, calm, and knows logistics like the back of his hand. If we can get him onboard, I think we’ll have who we need at the head of the helm.

  “Navy?” Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Nathan nodded. “Yes. He’s familiar with marine deployments, but I figure you also need someone that will be good with large ships. Since-” he pointed upwards toward space, “-we’ll be up there. I know it’s not the same thing as surface ships, but it’s the closest thing we have.”

  Alex leaned forward, studying the man’s record. He didn’t understand all of it, by any means, but it looked good, and there were several notes in the file suggesting that the man was a stickler for ethics. That was good. It might also help that they could get the man walking again. Heck, maybe even running with all of the advances that Helen had made in the medical field. “Have you contacted him?”

  “Not yet. I was waiting for your go-ahead.”

  “Consider it given,” Alex said before changing subjects. “Thanks for putting together those risk assessments for our various holdings around the world. I want to see what the department heads say tomorrow at the meeting, but if we do decide not to follow the UN’s direction, It’s good to know where we will likely suffer losses. I want to give those people a heads up ahead of time so they can either join us here or leave our employ safely.”

  Nathan raised his eyebrows. “Are you going to give everyone a vote?”

  “Not quite a vote, but I want their feedback before I make a decision. I’m sure we’ll have people pushing either way, but the reality is, we can go out on our own. Most of our work out here and in the ocean is self-sustaining. Piper and her team have already begun to move our liquid assets to more secure areas, and we’ve installed more EMP turrets around the island and offshore. I just hope it doesn’t come to that.”