New Enemy (Jack Forge, Lost Marine Book 4)

by James David Victor

  Then Jack felt the heavy blow as the huge Devex warrior landed a punch to the side of his head.

  The onboard medical readout showed he had received a blow of force normally associated with a crash-landing impact. The on-board systems cushioned the blow but some of the impact made it through. He was knocked aside, dizzy.

  Jack fell to his knees, one hand on the deck. His pulse pistol was still in his hand, blade fizzing and ready for work. Jack began to bring his blade around in an arc, targeting the Devex’s shin.

  A second heavy blow landed on Jack’s helmet, knocking him fully to the ground. The med-pack began to treat a minor concussion, and then another blow hit home.

  Jack was face-down on the deck, a three-meter-tall Devex standing over him, punching down on the back of his helmet. He picked his moment and rolled aside, the fist slamming into the deck. The warrior turned to face Jack, now lying face-up a meter to the Devex’s left.

  Jack wheeled his legs around and flipped himself up onto his feet. He spun and delivered a heavy blow to the Devex warrior. The blow, assisted by his suit’s wrist thruster, landed on his opponent’s central mass. The blow hardly made a dent.

  The huge warrior grabbed Jack around the throat and lifted him off his feet. With a fist drawn back and aimed directly at his faceplate, Jack braced to take a heavy punch. He kicked out at the Devex, then raised both feet and planted them against the warrior's chest, Jack’s hands holding onto the wrists of the hands at his throat.

  Then the Devex went limp, and Jack was released. He fell to the deck and saw the long electron blade from Sam’s pulse rifle erupt out the front of the Devex exo-armor.

  Jack stepped away from the fallen warrior and collected his pulse pistol from the deck.

  “Get on that console, Sam,” Jack said. “I think they hit the alarm over there. We’re going to get company.”

  Jack released a series of micro drones that flew off in all directions, searching for the Devex warriors he felt sure were on their way. The micro drones would give him advanced warning of their approach, and from which direction they were coming. He hoped it would help.

  “I’m in,” Sam said. “Communications systems. It is a kravin mess, Jack. I’m surprised they get any communications going.”

  Jack checked the opening to the sub-command room. All was quiet, for now.

  “Okay, got something here,” Sam said. “A central communication system for all Devex warriors. It’s covering all the newly-equipped warriors. They are all being directed toward one point, then they are gone.”

  “It’s sending them to the matter transport. Can you see where they are going?”

  Sam shook his head. “That’s controlled from another sub-command. I can try and locate it.”

  “No,” Jack said, realizing it was a distraction from the mission. “Just isolate the Henson girl in the massed formation. Can you stop her?”

  “I can’t see who she is from here. They are all on a single protocol. They move as one.”

  Jack checked Riya Henson’s ident location on his wrist-mounted holostage. She was nearing the front of the Devex formation, about to be transported away to some unknown location.

  “Just shut it all down,” Jack said. “Stop them all moving. Can you do that?”

  “Done,” Sam said. He turned to look at Jack. “They will throw everything at us now.”

  Jack received an alert from one of the micro drones. A number of warriors were heading up from the attack on the civilian transport ship clamped below.

  “They’re on their way.” Jack unclipped a blast grenade and set it on the communication console.

  Sam did the same.

  “High-yield blast, Sam,” Jack said and turned the detonator control.

  The pair looked at each other and released their grip. The arming lever flicked away from the grenade.

  They ran.

  Turning the corner into the corridor, Jack launched himself forward, his suit’s gravity field and thrusters throwing him away from the room. The blast from the two grenades roared along the corridor behind them, the fireball licking at their feet as they moved back to the first assembly area. With the fireball dying away, the pair reached the end of the corridor.

  The opening in the corridor looking down on the vast assembly area was just as they had left it, but below, the Devex were statues. The guards marching up and down the lines appeared to be aware of a problem but were unable to fix it.

  And out of the dark ovals came more and more Devex. They formed up, but with the formation no longer moving forward, they began to clump in disorderly patterns.

  Jack looked at his wrist-mounted holostage, holding the image up against the formation below. He identified the location of Riya Henson in the front rank of the formation.

  “We need to secure her first,” Jack said.

  Sam nodded and pointed at the Devex guards.

  “We deal with them once we take control of the Henson girl,” Jack said. “Then we find a way down to the second Henson girl. I suspect she is in the dark holding area awaiting transformation. Are you listening to me?” Jack said, noticing Sam’s attention was elsewhere.

  “Look,” Sam said. He pointed down into the formation. The tall Devex guards were moving off toward a side exit. The lines of Devex raiders were powering up and launching through the tubes, including the one Jack and Sam had used to make their landing.

  “There goes our escape,” Sam said.

  “Where are they going? Are they abandoning the ship?” Jack couldn’t understand why the Devex were launching their raiders. Maybe the admiral had gotten impatient and was moving in to attack. All Jack could do was guess. It would be better to act.

  “Let’s get the Henson girls and then find a way out of here,” Jack said, getting ready to move.

  Sam climbed up onto the opening alongside the corridor, one leg over the side wall, a hundred meters above the assembly area below.

  Jack followed him up then dropped. He activated his suit’s local gravity field and moved in a smooth arc toward the front of the formation and Riya Henson, Sam right behind him.

  Jack landed. A few meters behind him, the matter transport pad was whirring, a bright light emanating from above and below, awaiting its next set of passengers. Jack wondered what he would find on the other side. He was tempted to take those few steps and have himself transported away, to some other system, possibly the other side of the galaxy, or some other galaxy all together.

  But curiosity could wait. He grabbed Riya Henson by the shoulders. He looked into the Devex faceplate, dull gray with a dark slit at eye level.

  Jack spoke to the faceplate, not knowing if Riya could hear him or not.

  “I’m here for you,” Jack said. “Your father sent me. We need to find your sister and then we’ll find a way out of here.”

  11

  Long-range sensors and an extended surveillance drone network gave Henson a view of the distant Devex warship where his daughters were. He watched the indistinct image on the Scepter’s command deck holostage, waiting, hoping.

  Then the sensors displayed a new signal. Something was moving in toward the Devex warship, and it was moving fast.

  “Narrow the field and get a look at that mass,” Henson said, pointing at the indistinct shape moving in from several parsecs away.

  The holoimage resolved and showed a large teardrop shape moving in toward the Devex warship, rounded end first.

  Henson knew what it was.

  “Get in closer,” Henson shouted, looking around the carrier command deck for someone to blame.

  “We know what it is, Admiral,” Captain Tanaka said. “It’s a Skalidion swarm.”

  “Deploy the fleet, Captain,” Henson said. “Move in now.”

  Tanaka shook her head. “Sir, that would be suicide. I won’t send my carrier into certain destruction. The fleet is relying on us.”

  “Then we go in en mass. Summon all destroyers. The Scorpio, the Aquarius. Everything.”


  “We can’t fight off the Skalidions, sir.”

  “But they will destroy that Devex ship.”

  “Better them than us,” Tanaka said.

  Henson thought of his girls on that Devex ship. He had hoped the Marine could have saved them, but he had to admit that those Marines were probably already dead. It was hopeless. He turned and walked away from the holostage.

  “We can wait for Major Forge to report in, but if that Skalidion swarm heads this way, we will have to order all fleet ships to fall back to secondary rendezvous coordinates.”

  Henson nodded. He walked toward the command deck exit. He knew he had let his personal feelings come before the safety of the fleet.

  “I’ll be in my quarters,” Henson said and left.

  Tanaka waited for the admiral to leave and then initiated a holocall to the Scorpio.

  “Tanaka,” Pretorius said, looking out from the holostage.

  “You have seen the readings?” Tanaka said.

  Pretorius nodded.

  “Skalidions. They will tear the Devex ship and the civilian transport apart.”

  “Any word from your Marines?” Tanaka asked without hope. “The admiral would like some good news.”

  Pretorius shook his head. “I’ve sent a drone to transfer comms to the major. I’m waiting for it to get into position. I’ll contact you the moment I hear anything.”

  Tanaka tapped her armrest controls and pulled up an image of the civilian fleet. Although still spread out, all ships were coming together. Hundreds of ships all under the protection of a few Fleet vessels—three destroyers, one carrier, and scores of assorted frigates, corvettes, and several hundred Blades.

  “I’m waiting for the fleet to form up and keeping a close eye on that swarm. We must keep out of its way. Copy?”

  Pretorius nodded. “You can count on the Scorpio.”

  Tanaka closed the channel. She focused on the distant image of the Devex warship. She pressed her thumb under her finger until it went white.

  “Come on, Major Forge,” she said under her breath. “Come on.”

  Jack looked at Sam and then back to Riya, clad in the Devex exo-armor.

  “We need to move her,” Jack said. “Then we find her sister.”

  Sam pushed Jack aside.

  “Let me try something.” Sam placed his hand on Riya’s shoulder, the Mech tissue unraveling into thousands of fine threads.

  “Won’t that hurt her?” Jack asked, remembering the times Sam had dropped Devex warriors in this manner.

  “I’ll try not to. I might be able to bring her around.”

  Suddenly, Riya moved. She turned her head and looked at Jack. She staggered out of the formation, looking left and right, taking in the sight of hundreds of Devex warriors.

  She let out a frightened gasp and then a whimper. She held up her hands in front of her face.

  “What’s happened?” She staggered back for a moment before moving toward the matter transport pad.

  Jack reached out and grabbed one of her arms. She pulled away.

  “Where am I? What is this stuff? Take it off. Take it all off.”

  “It’s okay,” Jack said, reaching out for her again to stop her from stumbling onto the transport pad. “I’m Jack Forge. We’re Marines. Your father sent me. We need to go.”

  Riya grabbed the helmet and pulled. She yelled and grunted. The helmet stayed in place.

  “What’s happening to me? What’ going on?”

  “You have been put in a suit of Devex exo-armor,” Jack said as calmly as he could. He took hold of Riya’s arm and pulled her away from the pad behind that would whisk her away, possibly forever.

  “A what? I’m a what?”

  “The Devex, they convert their captives into new warriors.”

  “Why?” Riya said, her voice rising to a shout.

  “We don’t know why,” Jack said calmly. “They need an army is my guess. But you are safe now. Come with us. We need to go.”

  “Get this stuff off me,” she said.

  “We will, later. Not now. We have to go.”

  Jack received a message alert from his suit’s communicator. Text only. It must have come from a great distance on a narrow band. Jack opened the message. It was from Captain Pretorius.

  ‘Jack. Skalidions. Hurry.’

  “We have to go. Now!” Jack said urgently. He picked up the Devex rapid-fire blaster off the deck where Riya had dropped it. He pressed it to her.

  “Miss, you might be glad you brought this along.”

  “Where are we going?” Riya said, taking hold of the huge blaster. She held it comfortably. Somehow, she knew exactly how to work it.

  Jack checked his holostage and searched for the ident signal from Bren Henson. It was still below their current position. He pointed to the rear of the assembly area and the dark ovals where new Devex were emerging every few seconds, cluttering up the rear of the formation.

  “Through there. It’s the quickest way to get to your sister. Let’s move.”

  “I’ll take point,” Sam said and moved into the lines of Devex warriors, all inert, switched off.

  Jack pulled Riya with him. “Stay with me,” he encouraged, looking into the dark faceplate. He had no idea who Riya Henson was, or what she looked like, but he knew he was here to save her. He had at least found her.

  12

  Phisrid watched the swarm advance on the Devex warship through the observer caste mixed into the swarm. With her sister dead, she was able to easily dominate the remaining fighters and builders. She launched them in her first attack as swarm queen, and they raced toward the Devex warship.

  The Devex had held the boundaries of their territory for years, and Skirid had thrown everything into breaking them. She had been too aggressive and used up all her reserves and all that their mother would send. But their territory had become too big and too distant from their mother’s nest. No more support would be sent.

  The Devex had rallied recently, having found a fresh supply of warriors from somewhere. Just when Phisrid had thought they were broken, she’d noticed a sudden increase in their numbers. Not the tall warriors she had been observing for so long, but newer, smaller warriors.

  But they were just as docile as the Devex that came before, stupider even, but powerfully equipped with the Devex rapid-fire blaster that could tear a fighter apart with a single spread of the fierce white energy bullets.

  And so Phisrid had held back her fighters, sent in more observer caste. She watched her sister expend all her resources until she was spent.

  Phisrid had been as cunning as her mother, and when her sister became weak, she moved in with all the ruthlessness she had inherited.

  Skirid was dead, her husk now a pod for the next generation of fighters. Phisrid’s first fighters would grow on the corpse of her sister.

  Her first attack was with her sister’s final reserves. Her first attack was on a Devex warship, clamped to another ship. One Phisrid did not recognize.

  She did not need to know what this new ship was. She just needed to know her builders would enjoy the taste and that they would devour it and bring the matter back to the nest asteroid.

  Phisrid was growing. Her body was changing. She knew she would be as powerful as her mother had been, as cunning as her mother had been, as ruthless as her mother had been.

  This was the start of a great Skalidion nation on the outer boundary of the massive Skalidion Empire.

  Soon, the Devex would fall completely.

  And Phisrid’s nation would grow.

  13

  Jack cut through the dark oval membrane at the rear of the assembly area with his electron blade.

  “What’s through there?” Riya asked. She held her blaster ready for whatever was on the other side.

  “It’s where they make—” Jack checked his choice of words. “—arm the new Devex warriors.”

  The membrane collapsed. Beyond was a short, dark tunnel. At the end was a person suspended in an apparatu
s, clad in Devex exo-armor.

  Jack moved toward the man. A small chamber beyond was empty.

  Riya stopped next to the man. She looked him all over.

  “Is that what they did to me? Why isn’t he moving? What’s going on?”

  “The Devex bypass your personality somehow. Once the helmet goes on, you become Devex.”

  Jack stepped past the man in the apparatus and into the chamber. He looked at the deck. There had to be a way through.

  “How do you know all this?” Riya asked, stepping up next to Jack.

  “We were here. Me and Sam. That’s why we were sent to try and get you.”

  Riya looked at the deck where Jack was looking.

  “What’s up with the floor?”

  “We need to get through it.” Jack fired up his electron blade. Sam did the same. “Your sister is down there.”

  Jack pressed his blade into the deck. It cut through easily. He moved it along, cutting a line across the deck, but the deck resealed the moment the blade was gone.

  Jack looked at Sam. They tried again, faster this time. The cut resealed.

  Sam slung his rifle and kneeled, pressing his Mech hand to the deck. The tissue unraveled. It spread over the deck like a swarm of super-thin snakes. He looked up to Jack and shook his head.

  “Nothing,” Sam said. His hand returned to the human form.

  Riya kneeled. “I know about this,” she said in wonder. “I have access to Devex knowledge through the helmet.” She pressed her hand to the deck.

  The deck vanished, and the three fell into darkness.

  Jack quickly activated his suit’s local gravity field and grabbed Riya as she fell. They landed together, heavily. Sam landed lightly next to them a moment later.

  “Okay,” Riya said, getting up off the floor. “I don’t know how to control the knowledge just yet.”

  Jack saw the dark shapes all around, captives from the civilian craft, waiting to be snatched up to the conversion chambers above.

  The sight of a pair of Marines landing in their midst caused an uproar as the scared people asked a hundred questions, others begging to be freed.