Reclaim: Books 1-3

by J. A. Scorch

  "Shit," Teve muttered as he regained his footing. He doubled back behind the sizzling spire and used it as cover, using the incoming bolts to finish the job. The tower groaned and creaked as it finally gave way. Teve rolled back and ran for his life as the heavy, purple tower came crashing down. He almost smacked into another patrol but managed to pull out an EMP grenade and toss it perfectly at the feet of the clustered group. The grenade went off and dropped half of them to the ground.

  He continued to run away from the location as a swarm of drones arrived to give their input. Teve got on the comm and said, "Target is down, Hoang. Sun is still up. It's done."

  "Excellent work, Sergeant. I've never seen such efficiency. You completed that test with remarkable urgency."

  Teve was still running from cover to cover, heading away from the city. The further he moved away from the Zeal soldiers, the more his headache eased up.

  "Glad to hear you're so happy, Doctor, but I finished your damn test. It's time to let me go."

  "I'm afraid we can't let such a valuable asset out of our sight. A team is coming to retrieve you now. I suggest you drop your weapons."

  Teve gripped his rifle tight, having no intention of giving up. He made the Zeal look like an inferior enemy. It was time to do the same thing to the people at Black Forest.

  "Don't make this harder than it needs to be. I can still get what I want from you using rather unpleasant tactics."

  "Go to hell, Doc. I don't take orders from you, so you can forget about me surrendering anytime soon."

  "I see," Hoang said. "I guess then I've got no option but to release that vial in your neck."

  "Go ahead. I doubt it even exists in the first place. You keep referring to me as an asset. I don't think you would ever risk killing me."

  "Bravo, Sergeant. You've got it all worked out. You're free to go. I won't harm you. Of course, I can't say the same about Mish."

  "You wouldn't hurt her. She's valuable to you as well."

  "Yes and no. While she is showing signs of extreme capabilities like yourself, Specialist Mishina has a much greater problem underneath."

  Teve's brow twisted. "What problem?"

  Hoang let half a chuckle escape his lips before he spoke. "To put things simply, the virus is slowly killing her. Unless I continue to treat her."

  Gritting his teeth, Teve felt his rage boiling. "You're lying. I know it. This is just another trick."

  "It does sound like something I'd do, doesn't it? I guess you just have to be confident in your judgment."

  Teve heard an armored Humvee rolling up to his location. He swung around and trained his rifle on the masked gunner sitting on top of the truck, aiming at the soldier's head. With one bullet, he could drop the gunner and take out the rest of them using the same tactics he just employed on the Zeal. He could kill them all without thinking.

  "Choice is yours, Sergeant," Hoang said. "Turn yourself in and save Mish, or fight your way out of here and trust that I won't kill her the second you leave the city."

  Teve stared out at the Humvee full of gas-masked guards from Black Forest, unsure what he would do.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Porter watched as a few of the mechanics dropped one of the fixed guns from the Stalker. The thirty-millimeter, hydraulically-driven, ten-barrel Gatling autocannon fell away from the bird to a mobile station the techs used to perform maintenance on the Stalkers.

  "We can bring the fight to the Zeal," Garcia said.

  "What about a power source?" Porter asked. He knew almost everything there was to know about the Stalker as a pilot, but not about how the machine came apart.

  "Got that covered, Captain," a mechanic named Phillips said. "We can attach one of the axillary units to the station to spin up and fire the gun. We do this all the time during testing."

  Porter smiled and nodded at the same time. "This is perfect."

  "Damn straight," Cannon said. "We better go."

  "Agreed," Porter said as he reloaded his rifle. "Phillips. Can we get this thing on the move? We need to stop the Zeal before they destroy the ship."

  "Piece of cake. I'll order my guys to work on the next one while we head out. Just as a backup, you know."

  "Do it. And good thinking, Specialist. Keep the good ideas coming."

  Phillips gave him a nod and issued some orders down the line, asking for two more mechanics on his team to help with the first gun. The setup required a team of three people to operate. One needed to drive, and one had to shoot. The third had to keep an eye on the ammo feed, ensuring a smooth run. The system wasn't supposed to be used as a mobile cannon. One slip up and the team might end up blowing up the weapon.

  "Let's go, people. We bring the fight to the Zeal. Same tactics as before. We draw them out. Only this time we won't need to drag them all the way here to blast these pieces of shit to death."

  Porter, Cannon, Briggs, and Smith moved out. Garcia stayed behind. It was probably for the best given her leg. The first gun trailed at the rear, pushed along by a four-wheeled electric hauler.

  "Okay, listen up. Drawing them out shouldn't be so hard. Take pot shots and make yourselves look like a decent threat. The main issue will be finding blast doors we can fire the autocannon against. Anything else might result in too much damage to the ship. We might puncture some important control panel and vent our oxygen or worse."

  They all nodded and showed their understanding. The team moved past the first pack of dead Zeal and then again through the next room the second bunch of aliens had been guarding. Gunfire blasted out up ahead, sounding desperate. The group pressed forward.

  "That's coming from the mess," Porter said. The seven of them charged around the next corner and came to a stop. "Phillips. Set up here. We'll use this blast door for firing. The four of us will draw them out. You don't squeeze that trigger until this door seals all the way up. Got it?"

  "You don't have to tell me, sir. I'm an engineer by trade, so I understand how vulnerable the ship is"

  "You're an engineer, huh? Figures. Why else would you have your guys working on the next gun."

  "Redundancy is Engineering 101," Phillips said.

  Porter slapped him on the shoulder. "Good luck, Specialist. Now let's kill some goddamn Zeal."

  The gun was set in an ideal location. Porter and his team stacked up against the partially open blast door edge as he commanded the panel to open the rest of the way. He attached a remote module to the board so he could close the heavy door whenever he wanted. Inside, he could see MAF soldiers engaging the Zeal. He found a dozen of the tall aliens charging around, shooting their metal bolts at his comrades. A small group of three pilots was pinned down behind makeshift cover as the Zeal advanced on their location.

  "Let's go," Porter said as the four of them crept into the open area. He led the team to the nearest upturned table and ducked behind. The three pilots were in the kitchen and about to be overwhelmed by the Stiltz.

  "On three," Porter said to Cannon. They were still the only ones with rifles. "One, two, three." They popped up as one and shot a quick burst toward the Zeal. Briggs and Smith fired a few rounds from their pistols to add to the threat. Half of the Stiltz responded and shifted direction.

  "Not all of them are taking the bait," Briggs said.

  "Keep firing. We have to get them off those pilots. Shoot at the closest ones to the kitchen." The four of them jumped up again and did just that, hitting their targets or coming close enough to them to grab the attention needed to draw the Zeal into a new fight. Searing-hot bolts sprayed out and slammed into the metal tables.

  "Time to go," Porter said as the team dropped back while he and Cannon covered Briggs and Smith. They all fell through the open blast door and continued to fire, hoping to lure the enemy. After several more bursts, the Zeal decided to finish the job and move into the next room to the immediate threat pestering them.

  "Drop back. Keep shooting. We're almost there, Phillips. It's on you."

  The first few Stiltz
came through the door and were quickly followed by the remaining group as the fire team ran for cover. The gun had no armor and began to take hits from the Zeal. Phillips and his two mechanics ducked behind the weapon. The shooter was too exposed by Porter's estimate. His suspicions were confirmed a moment later when six bolts ripped him to pieces in front of Phillips' eyes. The two techs were stunned.

  "Dammit. We need them to fire," Porter shouted. "Cover me," he said to Smith, handing him the rifle and ammo pack. He charged across the killing floor as the last Zeal came inside the room.

  He ducked down behind the cover of the gun and engaged the door remotely. The heavy blast door slowly slid shut as Porter hoped up to the trigger and squeezed it down, doing what he could to protect his body from a stream of bolts.

  The 30mm autocannon spun up and blazed out a flame of power, spewing out armor-piercing, high-explosive rounds at an alarming rate. There was no need for accuracy as the gun sprayed the Stilts down into thousands of pieces. Porter let go once the last Zeal hit the deck and joined the twisted mess of metal and purple material.

  "We did it," Briggs roared. "Take that you assholes."

  Porter let himself fall to the floor and check his body for hits. His fatigues had been grazed a few times leaving a deep cut on his arm. Otherwise, he was alive. He couldn't say the same for the mechanic on the ground.

  Phillips hovered over the body mumbling confusion to himself, his engineer mind trying to beat the unsolvable problem of death.

  "Come on, Specialist. We have to keep moving. This big beast has still got some killing to do. Stand up and help me move her to the next target. It's what your man would have wanted."

  Phillips kept staring at the corpse, mouth open.

  "Hey. Are you with me?" Porter asked.

  "Ah, yeah. Sorry, sir. Let's get a move on."

  "That's more like it."

  Cannon came over and handed Porter the rifle he'd swapped with Smith. She spotted the blood on his bicep. "Let me patch you up before we head out."

  "No, it's nothing. We need to keep moving," he said shuffling the gun toward the next branch in the network of the ship.

  "Porter, stop. We should take it slow. There's no point charging out there with injuries and little ammo. Let's resupply and patch you up."

  "You don't understand. Every minute we waste, another person dies or worse. The whole ship could be disabled if these aliens find the right section."

  She paced up to him and planted both hands on his shoulders. "Just stop. For once, we can't save everyone. We've done more than enough to balance the fight. Let's make sure we can keep doing so."

  Deflated, he gave up, letting Cannon win. He knew she was right. He just couldn't shake the thought of anyone else dying in the ship.

  "Fine. We've got five minutes to resupply."

  "Good. I'll strap your arm and give you some meds to help prevent an infection."

  "Please hurry. We haven't got long."

  Cannon smiled at him, possibly to calm him down. It worked for a few moments until he saw something blinking on a tablet on the wall. He floated over to the screen to discover that two of the fleet's carriers had been destroyed.

  "We have to go, right now," he yelled. "This ship is minutes away from destruction."

  Chapter Twenty

  Despite the opportunity to run from Hoang and his goons, Teve turned himself in. He couldn't abandon Mish, even if she had been transformed into a dependent weapon of war against her will. It was then that he realized the escape plan and notes had all been a load of crap fed to him by Hoang and Dorsey. The little act he portrayed at the prison was award worthy, leaving Teve to question everyone and everything he knew.

  He had no way of knowing the truth about Mish. If she truly was dying from the Zeal virus, the purple tech on her arm might back up that theory, or it might have meant she was going to end up like the crazy hybrid he ran into before his incarceration. Either outcome, he was to blame.

  Hoang had put Teve through two tests now. Once at the prison to see if he would be willing to kill his fellow species, and again in the field against the Zeal. He was beginning to wonder when the testing would end and when the doctor would simply let him fight again for the UEF. It had to be better than going from one cell to the next, never knowing what the day would reveal.

  Riding in the back of the Humvee with multiple rifles trained on his chest, Teve let his eyes wander over the city skyline, taking in the fractured, burned out metropolis that once was Los Angeles. The Zeal structure stood defiantly in the middle, growing taller by the day as the aliens added to its power.

  A tug on his wrists reminded him of the shackles Hoang's team had placed on him. One of his masked escorts held up an e-slate and pointed the screen towards Teve's face. Doctor Hoang was on the line.

  "Hello, Sergeant."

  "Too much of a coward to venture out of the lab, Doc?"

  Hoang cleared his throat as his eyes narrowed. "There is little point in me being out there when my skills are better served in safer environments."

  "Safer, huh? I honestly felt safer out there than anywhere near you. Anyway, where are your slaves taking me now?"

  The soldier holding the e-slate ignored Teve’s insult.

  "To the next phase, Sergeant. While you have the incredible ability to fight the Zeal single-handed, you are failing in one critical area."

  Teve knew what the doctor was going to say before he said it.

  "Loyalty. You have no desire to serve the greater cause."

  "Don't give me a speech on loyalty, Hoang. I've been fighting for the UEF for three years. Before then, the USMC. I’ve managed to survive countless missions while serving the greater cause. Screw your loyalty."

  "Some excellent points, but serving under a banner is not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about fighting for more than humanity's survival; I'm talking about sacrifice in the name of humanity's best interests."

  For a few seconds, Teve's eyes flicked back forth until he worked out exactly what the doctor was saying. "You're talking about the next steps after the war, aren't you? About who will rule over the trash piles once the Zeal are gone? You make me sick."

  "Think about it for more than a second, Sergeant. A lack of unity is what left us so vulnerable as a planet in the first place. How can we let that happen again just to create some sort of fairness across the globe?"

  "Fairness? It's not about fairness. It's about helping people to live their lives without the threat of the Zeal or the threat of oppression from an opportunistic psychopath like yourself."

  Hoang leaned closer to the camera. "Don't be so sure, soldier. If you think for a minute that I'm any higher up the chain than my appearance would suggest, then you will be severely disappointed."

  Teve fell back in his seat, his head shaking. "Screw this, bullshit. You're not turning me into one of your mindless drones. I don't know what the hell you did to Mish, but it won't last. She's stronger than you think. We all are."

  "That's where you are wrong, Teve. Humanity is not strong. We are a collective of feeble minded individuals. We're either following some grand imagination in the sky, or we're marching off to a war we don't understand. The people need this unity, now more than ever."

  Facing away from the tablet, Teve couldn't bring himself to look the doctor in the eye. "What makes you think we can even force the Zeal off the planet? They've done a pretty good job of trashing the place to their liking."

  Hoang spoke with complete certainty. "The MAF has already destroyed most the Zeal fleet hovering above Earth. They are in the process of finishing them off. In particular, I hear your brother is leading the fight to destroy this last ship. Once that happens, the ground forces will weaken significantly."

  "What do you know about my brother? How can I believe what you are saying? He's probably dead."

  Teve glanced away from the screen. He turned his head back to the display to see a photo of Bradley standing on the wing of a fighter with a caption des
cribing the victory the MAF secured over the Zeal fleet.

  He shook his head. "No. You're lying."

  Hoang scoffed. "Now, we both know you don't think that at all. I can understand you not believing me. I have been untrustworthy leading up to this moment, but your brother is alive and helping the MAF achieve victory for one simple reason: you."

  "What do you mean?" Teve asked as he leaned closer to the screen.

  Hoang's smile filled the bottom half of the display. "When the Zeal infected you with their virus, it unlocked certain possibilities within your being."

  Teve didn't respond. He instantly thought about seeing into his brother's mind from a great distance when X tried to end his life in the Zeal base. How could Hoang have known about that? The only possibility was that Teve had mentioned details about the incident during one of his drug-induced sessions with the doctor.

  Hoang continued. "None of this really matters. In a few hours, my men will be taking you to another facility past Black Forest. Consider it the final phase of your transformation."

  As his nostrils began to flare, Teve could feel his anger rising through the cuffs wrapped around his wrists. In less time than it took to blink, he could snap the restraints free and kill every one of Hoang's brainwashed soldiers.

  "It's been a pleasure conversing with you, Sergeant, but I must bid you farewell."

  "What? That's it? You're done with me?"

  "My work is complete. Our time together is over. Don't get all sentimental on me, Sergeant."

  Teve scoffed and came to within an inch of the tablet screen. "The only reason I'm upset is that I won't get the chance to snap that fragile neck of yours with my bare hands."

  The doctor smirked back in response. "Once your training is complete, you and I will shake hands as I welcome you to your new ranks. The soldier you think you are now will be dead forever. Until we meet again, Sergeant."