Bombardier - The Complete Trilogy

by SD Tanner

  Raising his gun arm, he aimed it at Dunk Two. He’d lost track of how many bullets it had taken to kill the Navigator. He might have one more round and he might not. “How lucky do you feel, Dunk?”

  Before he could answer, Dunk Three walked from the bedroom with a Burner in his hand. Nodding at him, he turned to look at Dunk Two. “Enough is enough. Call off the Navigator.”

  Dunk Two gave his clone a disgusted look that matched his tone. “Are you serious? Your so-called brother has a gun on me.” His face broke into a wide and mad grin. “Looks like you’re the tie breaker.”

  When Dunk Three raised the Burner, his hands were shaking. Tightly gripping the gun, he didn’t seem to be pointing it at anyone. Dunk Three’s gun couldn’t kill him, but if he fired it then so would the Navigator, and his gun would blow the back of his head open.

  Still aiming at Dunk Two, he hesitated unsure what his brother would do. “Who are you going to shoot? Him or me?”

  Without moving his head, Dunk Three’s eyes met his own. “Who did Tank order you to kill?”

  “I don’t follow Tank’s orders, but he wants all the Dunks dead.”

  “Will you kill me?”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  There were three guns in the room, one pointed at him, his own targeting Dunk Two. Only Dunk Three was pointing at no one. Given their situation, his question seemed out of place.

  “I don’t know.” Flicking his head at Dunk Two, he said, “I don’t know why, but I don’t believe you’re the same as him.”

  Dunk Three’s eyes softened. Spinning on his heel, he shot Dunk Two pointblank in the face. His body tipped back, dead before it hit the floor. Casey who had been standing against the office desk launched herself between him and the Navigator.

  Now in the line of fire, she barked, “Stand down!”

  Lowering his gun, the Navigator flicked up the faceplate on his helmet. Underneath it, the older face was creased with confusion.

  Turning on her heel, Casey saluted him. “The Navigator Army is at your service, sir.”

  “Stand the army down. Now!”

  Without replying, she began speaking rapidly into her headset, issuing the order for the Navigator Army to disengage.

  Lowering his arm, he looked across at Dunk Three. “Close call.”

  “Not that close.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Dunk Two was a dead man. It was only a question of which of us pulled the trigger.”

  “You’ve changed.”

  His brother shrugged, putting his weapon down on the office table. “Are you going to kill me now?”

  “No.”

  Dunk Three appeared to age before his eyes, slowly hunching his shoulders so that he resembled his now dead clone. “Maybe you should. I have bad blood.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:

  Army of One

  (Ark Three)

  “You need to address your troops.”

  Casey was striding by his side, covering the short distance to the medical center. He’d left Dunk Three with Dunk Two’s corpse, still confused by his last comment. If he wasn’t so busy pulling the situation under control he would have asked him what was wrong. He seemed depressed at being left alive, as if he deserved to die.

  “That’s what I’m doing.”

  “I thought you were talking to the renegades.”

  Stopping on the lawn, he turned to face her, waving his hands at the dead renegades lined up against the wall. “They belonged to us too. It was only Dunk Two who thought they were the enemy.”

  The confusion on her face spoke of ingrained brainwashing. Where he saw men who were citizens of their world, she believed they were enemies of the state. “But…”

  “No if, ands or buts about it. If you’re from Earth then this is your home. I don’t care what’s in your blood, what you look like, or how you might have been changed. You are…a citizen of Earth and it’s our job to defend our citizens. End of discussion.”

  A small smile played across her mouth. “You’re a dark horse, Ark. I never knew you felt this way.”

  Continuing to walk across the lawn, he spotted ten Navigators with eight men and one woman between them. Three of the men were Bombardiers, but two of those were bleeding heavily. He didn’t have time to discuss politics with Casey. Instead, he quickened his pace until he reached the small group.

  As he approached one of the men pushed past the Navigators, waving as he did. “Ark!”

  Seeing Granger, his face broke into a warm smile. “Granger.”

  Grabbing him in a tight hug, he was surprised how comfortable he felt with a man he barely knew. “What happened?”

  “My son got sick. We took him to the city and were arrested.” Looking around the grounds, he added worriedly, “He’s here somewhere with the woman I’m with. Her name’s Joan, but I don’t know where they are.”

  A Bombardier wearing only track pants walked towards them. He vaguely recognized the face, but couldn’t place where. There shouldn’t have been any Bombardiers on Earth. “Who are you, soldier?”

  Granger grabbed the Bombardier by the arm, pulling him closer. “This is Parker. He was a nav, but he just transformed.” Giving Parker a genuinely grateful look, he added, “If it wasn’t for him we’d all be dead.”

  He studied Parker’s fixed features, still unsure why he seemed so familiar. “What unit were you with?”

  “Does it matter? I was arrested and used in a hunt. Granger saved me.”

  Nodding, he looked down at Granger. “Do you want a job?”

  “No, I need to find my son…and Joan.”

  Placing his arm around Granger’s shoulders, he noted how thin he was. “Look around you. This is the heart of the Guild and it needs someone to lead it.”

  “Isn’t that Dunk Two’s job?”

  “He’s dead and Dunk Three doesn’t want the job.” Leaning his head close to Granger’s, he added, “And I don’t have the time. My job is to lead the army against the critters. They’re back.”

  Granger pulled away, looking at him in surprise. “You want me to lead the Guild.”

  “Why not? You know the people. You believe in treating everyone as equals. You’ve stood up for the little guy, so why not you?” When Granger continued staring at him with his mouth gaping in surprise, he added, “If not you then who else? Dunk Two is dead. We need to integrate Earth’s capabilities with the Trachans, so Dunk Three has his own job. So, who else? A Navigator?”

  At that suggestion, Granger’s mouth snapped closed. His jawline hardened as his back straightened. “Hell no. If it’s a choice between one of them or me then I’m in.”

  Nodding, he called to one of the Navigators. “Get over here. Granger is now President of the United Guild. He needs you to find his wife and son. Once you’re done, take them all to the main building.”

  As he turned to speak with Casey, Granger grabbed his arm. “I need to fetch the renegades. The women and children headed north.”

  “Parker, consider yourself promoted. You’re now a Brigadier General in the Bombardier Army. Render President Granger whatever assistance he needs and report back to me.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And get my Boms over there some medical assistance. Don’t let them die.”

  “Wasn’t going to, sir.”

  The two men left and Casey turned to him. “You need to talk to your army. I’ve told them there’s been a change of command and they’ve stood down. Tank’s army are in orbit around the planet. He’ll be here shortly.”

  He was now the leader of not only the Bombardier Army, but also the Navigators. No doubt, Tank had done immeasurable damage just to be by his side. His mind was already worrying about how many troops and ships he had left. Where he’d once felt guilty about killing his troops, now he was only worried about how many he had left. The critters were coming. Their imminent arrival left no time to mourn or feel their losses. As his mind zeroed in on a single focus, alread
y preparing for battle, he was no longer the young man he was. A sense of urgency, a need to prepare flowed through his system. If he’d thought they weren’t ready for civil war, they were even less so for an army of mindless killers. He didn’t even know how much time they had, only that the critters were already on their way.

  Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back. When he opened his eyes again, all he could see were the lights in the sky. The Bombardier Army was home, ready to fight side-by-side with the Navigators.

  Clearing his throat, he spoke slowly and distinctly into his headset, knowing both armies could hear him. “My name is Arkansas the Third. Earth has one army and I am your Commander. Bury the hatchet. We have a war to win.”

  EPILOGUE

  “It did not work.”

  “Yes, it did. There are less of them.”

  “Now they work together.”

  His second-in-command was irritating him. As far as he was concerned, he’d successfully weakened the enemy. He should be happy there were less to fight, not critical of there being any left.

  “Many cuts kill more easily than one.”

  “And now.”

  They hadn’t been idle while their enemy fought, using the time to build their own weapons.

  “Now, we strike.”

  EMPIRE

  (BOMBARDIER TRILOGY – BOOK THREE)

  SD TANNER

  CHAPTER ONE:

  Homecoming

  (Battalion Alpha Two)

  “What is that?”

  Sitting in the command chair on the Bridge of the BattleRig, the Navigator who’d asked the question was faded into the background. The holographic deck showed her suspended in space facing an enormous blackness blocking the stars. Many miles wide and tall, it was stopping the fleet from moving forward.

  “Send out visibility pods.”

  “Already done,” the smug voice of the Visibility Specialist informed her.

  “Aaaand?” She drawled irritably.

  A red arrow appeared in the blackness in front of her. The specialist had thoughtfully highlighted the tiny pod making its way towards the black area of space.

  “I don’t need to know where the pod is. I want to know what it can see.”

  A smaller screen appeared on her left, showing the view from the visibility pod. The surface of the blackness was pitted with deep crevices, meaning it wasn’t just a black blob of nothingness.

  “What do you want to do?” The Weapons Specialist asked.

  Since ordering the two armies to merge, Commander Ark Three had assigned five hundred Navigators to her Battalion. Before transforming into a Bombardier, she’d been a Navigator so figured it wouldn’t be a problem, but it was. They weren’t showing enough initiative, waiting for orders like the children she could never have.

  “We need to know more about it. Map its size and take a sample.”

  “Do you think it’s a critter?”

  She didn’t know what it was, only that it was in her way, acting like a wall. “We’ll know soon enough.”

  Her worst fears were confirmed when a long tendril fired from the blob, grabbing the visibility pod and pulling it inside of its mass. As it disappeared, she shouted, “All ships retreat!”

  The order was too late. Tendrils began firing out from across the wall, snatching at her ships. With four BattleRigs and a hundred Scorpions surrounding them, it had plenty of targets. A long thick limb was heading directly towards her and she fought an instinct to flinch. The end of the tendril split wide open, revealing it was hollow. Thick grasping fingers spread from the end, reaching around the BattleRig. Although they were pulling away, they weren’t moving fast enough.

  “All pilots to Scorpions.” If she lost the rigs then at least they might escape in the smaller ships. “Weapons, fire at will.”

  Following her orders, the Weapons Specialist launched a swarm of mini-missiles directly down the throat of the limb. The clawing fingers exploded with the impact. Instead of withdrawing, the limb seemed to float, bobbing as if confused. The distraction was short lived. Recovering within seconds, the end of the limb began reforming into another claw. Other Scorpions were being snatched as they were retreating. Dragging them into the body of the wall, small explosions could be seen as crews chose to detonate their weapons rather than be caught. Her troops were dying. More Scorpions were launching from the BattleRigs. Some were desperately pulling away from the wall, while others were zipping closer to the extended limbs, firing particle beam cannons. Each limb was dense and thick, absorbing the damage without detaching from the main wall. Occasionally one was torn free and then it let go of the Scorpion it was holding.

  She needed to split the Battalion. “All personnel to Scorpions or HackSuits. Send the BattleRigs home.”

  Standing, the image of space disintegrated until she could again see the Bridge. The three specialists sharing the deck with her were also rising to their feet.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “The BattleRigs are slower and make big targets. Some of us might escape if we’re in Scorpions and HackSuits.”

  “Why don’t we just blow the hell out of it?” A Navigator asked.

  He was her Communications Specialist, but his experience in space was negligible. “Because it’s a dense mass. We don’t have any weapons that can penetrate deeply enough to blow it apart.”

  “I don’t think it’d help anyway,” the Weapons Specialist added. “If it’s a critter then it’ll just turn into smaller ones.”

  She was already pushing the crew out of the door, but she turned around before leaving. In addition to the limbs still snatching at the Scorpions, pieces of the mass were sloughing away. Reforming in space were the familiar shapes of chittering critters. What had once been a wall was turning into an army of small black bodies. If they attached themselves to the BattleRigs, they would chew straight through the hull.

  Joining men and women running along the corridor in full armor, she flicked through the screens on her helmet. Finding the distress call, she activated it, hoping they would understand her message.

  “Enemy contact. Large mass. Split into many critters. Abandoning rigs. Send help.”

  An electronic whoosh sounded in her ears, letting her know the message had been sent. With it was the footage captured while she’d been on the Bridge. Reaching the docking bay, her ship was parked near the door. Grabbing the Communication and Weapons specialists, she pushed them towards it. “Gotta go!”

  She could stay with the BattleRig, which was more heavily defended than a Scorpion, but Ark Three said leaders led from the front. Her troops had been ordered to retreat and it was her job to stay in the line of fire. The BattleRigs would head home, slowing down once they were a safe distance from the battlefield. Anyone surviving the attack could hook up with a BattleRig later.

  “Take me to the front.”

  Sitting in the Scorpion, she again had a view of space around her. Ark Three said leading a space battle from the front gave leaders the best understanding of their situation. Watching the Scorpions firing at the limbs and critters she had to agree. Critters were zeroing in on her position, moving so fast she wondered what was propelling them.

  “Weapons Specialist. Protect the ship. Navigation. Move us along the front line.”

  Her job was to monitor the fight, assessing their situation and deciding what to do next. It didn’t look good. The tendrils were still grabbing at Scorpions as they pulled away. Other ships were being smothered by critters chewing through their hull. Being smaller targets, the troops in HackSuits were faring better. They were retreating from the battlefield, but if they didn’t hook up with a rig then they’d be lost.

  She needed to create a diversion, something that would drive the mass in another direction. If she used two of her now unmanned BattleRigs to attack the wall from above, it might see them as the greater threat. The tactic could buy her Scorpions enough time to escape.

  Although she wasn’t on the lead BattleRig, she didn
’t need to be. Tapping her screen, she ordered the nanobytes to lead the rigs to the top of the mass. Accessing the weapons computers, she programmed them to unload everything they had onto the wall. Once they ran out of ammunition, they would crash into the enemy.

  Two BattleRigs fired over her head pulling away fast. “BattleRigs in play. All ships retreat.”

  Reaching the top of the wall, the rigs were bombing it from above, creating an endless stream of explosions. Just as she’d hoped, the mass became distracted, launching limbs trying to catch the rigs. Without a crew, the BattleRigs weren’t retreating, but maintaining a continuous attack at close quarters. Scorpions were taking advantage of the break, pulling away from the battlefield.

  Destroying the mass seemed impossible. It was absorbing each bomb with almost no damage. Following her orders, the two rigs dove straight into the mass, causing an enormous explosion. Failing to penetrate deeply, the massive blast threw pieces of black into space, only it didn’t help. Even as the chunks spun wildly into space, they were reforming into spider-shaped critters.

  They weren’t winning this fight in space. Her Scorpion was bucking left and right, up and down as the crew evaded the critters. Flicking through her screens, she located the nearest planet. She had to change the nature of the fight even if it meant turning it into a land-based battle.

  “All ships, head to the brown planet in sector seven-bravo-two.”

  “What are you doing?” The Navigator asked.

  “We’re not winning out here.”

  “Ya don’t say,” the Weapons Specialist drawled.

  “Do you think we’ll do better on land?” The Navigator asked.

  “Couldn’t be any worse than out here.”

  Her ship was weaving its way towards the planet, joined by hundreds of Scorpions. She hoped by landing across the entire planet they would spread the enemy attack. As her ship broke through the atmosphere, she lost sight of the other ships in the fiery glow. Once she could see again, the planet below was a dirty brown.