Enemies on All Sides (Maraukian War Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  “We’ve taken losses, but with the freighters coming, we’ll push back the enemy forces and get people loaded up. The gear is largely palletized already. It will take us fifteen hours to pull everything out from Earth. No stopping,” Dominguez said.

  “Sounds like you’re going to have one hell of a fight on your hands,” Mark said.

  “Yeah, once the other gangs hear that something is going on, they’re probably going to come swarming. We need to put them down and hard, show them what we’re about as we evacuate people to the freighters. Then we might be fighting the gangs and corporations.

  “The gangs will piss off if we show enough strength. The corporations might mess around and they could even get the gangs to keep on attacking if they offer enough benefits.” Dominguez let out a sigh. She just hoped that the gangs would back off. If they did, then they would only have to worry about the corporations making a move themselves with their aerial forces or what they had in Earth’s orbit.

  “You’ve got everything from M?” Mark asked.

  “Yeah, we do. Hope it works,” Dominguez replied. M had sent them codes as well as information that served to make what Dominguez was calling her diversion. They could shut down nearly all of the weapon systems above Earth. Also, with his information, she had been able to embed some of her people in the different corporations that had the larger aerial fleets. If they made a move, they would be in for a rude surprise.

  Knowing the battle that was to come, she hadn’t been wasting her time. The best battlefield was one that she had changed and modified beforehand.

  “Luyten?” Mark asked.

  “Leave them to me.” Dominguez’s words and eyes chilled. She looked to Phillips. They didn’t need to say anything. A killer would know another just with a gaze and these two—someone owed them a debt, and they wouldn’t stop until it was paid.

  “Understood.” Mark didn’t try to talk them down from it; instead, his voice approved. “Make them pay and get out safe. We’ve got a long way to go still.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  LMFC Righteous

  Oort Cloud, Luyten System

  10/3556

  Admiral Karain looked at the long-range scans as several freighters appeared from nowhere. “Right on time. Let’s go greet them.”

  They were outside of the Luyten system, just at the Oort Cloud. This was the final shipment that they would be receiving. Each of the freighters held parts for Alcubierre drives as well as out-of-date powered armor and weaponry.

  This would be the biggest shipment yet.

  The ships under Admiral Karain’s command altered their course and moved to intercept the ships coming in.

  They were inter-system freighters that had been modified; their containers had been welded together, with metal paneling being compressed and strapped on to create armor while weapon systems were cut into the side of the containers and attached to new power systems.

  They weren’t elegant but they had more firepower than an EMFC carrier using even the outdated weapon systems from the Roma Union.

  There were twenty-three vessels altogether. Eighteen of them already had the telltale circular Alcubierre drives attached.

  Karain couldn’t help but be jealous of the Union trader ships.

  Even though they were workhorses, they were sleek in design, with much more powerful engines, increased container capacity, and their Alcubierre drives were much better than the ones that they had sold to the Luyten Conglomerate. They were put together better, probably in a shipyard instead of in the middle of space like with the Luyten fleet.

  “We are being hailed by the lead freighter,” communications said.

  “Accept their transmission.” Admiral Karain sat up, putting on her best business-like appearance. She was management from the Luyten Conglomerate; she knew that whoever commanded these ships and took down the rough forces in the Emarl system would reap great rewards.

  Owning the only fleet of trading capable ships that had Alcubierre drives in Earth and Her Colonies would change the Luyten Conglomerate, making a bid to control Earth and Her Colonies viable.

  With the Union, her eyes had been opened to just how small the power that the Luyten Conglomerate held.

  She was now faced with the upper management of a Union-based trading company. With their power and wealth, it would be easy for them to take command of half of the EHC with little effort.

  “Admiral Karain.” A woman wearing a fresh space suit that was as close fitting as a set of clothes looked up from what she was doing.

  “Miss Edaral,” Admiral Karain greeted. “The lead ships are the ones without their Alcubierre drives and don’t have supplies aboard so they will be able to take on the goods.”

  “Good. That will make things a lot easier,” Miss Edaral said in a bored tone, as if it were just another job to be completed. “I have been asked to confirm your plans.”

  “Once we have taken aboard the goods, we will proceed under sub-light engines out of the system. We will mount the Alcubierre drives onto the ships that don’t have them. Once all of the ships have the drives, then we will use them to head toward the Emarl system at our best speed.

  “While underway, we will be training our recruits with the supplies provided by the Belarix Trading Corporation,” Karain said, using the name of the shell company Tertius had shipped the items over with. It wasn’t directly connected to him and was only being used for this operation. It would be revealed by Senator Rimateus when he asserted more control that needed to be taken with trades between the EHC and Union, allowing greater tariffs and also allowing certain companies ways to avoid these tariffs, choking their competitors.

  Admiral Karain knew a bit of these matters and the fact that the real trading company was the Qizata trading house, controlled by Tertius Hesra.

  “Good.” Edaral’s word of approval carried greater meaning as she dragged it out, making it clear that this information shouldn’t be passed on. “I will have my shuttles start transporting the goods to you.”

  “Understood. I can have my people help to move them to speed up the process.”

  “Very well, though the Alcubierre parts can be laid out around the vessels and secured down. That will save unpacking them and placing them into the receiving ship’s storage.” Edaral was nothing if not economical in her actions.

  “Understood. We’ll do as you say.” Admiral Karain nodded.

  Shuttles flew from the different ships, moving rapidly between the different vessels; containers were removed and transferred. Their contents were pulled out and hauled into the ad-hoc warships while the massive Alcubierre drive parts were pulled out and placed around the vessel like a puzzle, locked in place with tow ropes.

  Engineers started to get to work in hooking up the Alcubierre drive’s struts to ready-made holes. Their actions were well practiced now and they could easily assemble the drives.

  It would still take a few weeks until they could use those Alcubierre drives. Then it would be a headlong rush toward the Emarl system.

  Admiral Karain looked over her different information feeds. Recruits were being trained all over the ship in different tasks. They had all passed elementary training to make sure that they wouldn’t be useless in the coming battles. Now they were being taught everything about the retired weapons and armor, as well as simulating attacks on different vital points of the Emarl system, from the Yard to the population strongholds on Tricticus.

  She checked on progress reports. To her, it was no different than if she were reading quarterly reports on personnel’s progress: those who had performed poorly, those who looked as though they had potential, or their loyalty to the corporation or whether they were having thoughts of leaving.

  All of their plans were coming together. When reviewing the information on the dilapidated and backward Emarl system, she felt confident of her fleet and the ground fighting forces.

  It’s so easy to just change the viewing softwar
e and to cut off outside communication. They won’t even know who they’re fighting. Karain sneered in her heart at these idiots. None of them knew the truth. They’d walk dumb, blind, and stupid into battles against the people who had fought to save EHC from the Harmony Forces.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Luyten Conglomerate Headquarters

  Earth, Sol System

  10/3556

  There was a knock on operations manager Khan’s door.

  “Come in.” Khan looked over his glasses at the woman entering. He didn’t need the glasses, but he used them as an instrument in his business life and they had the ability to lighten or make the situation serious in a moment.

  Thus he kept them throughout his career, which had led him to the position of operations manager.

  “Sir, we have picked up two mega freighters entering the system and it looks as if they have Alcubierre drives,” the aide said as she entered the room.

  Khan waved his hand, bringing her closer. He took the tablet from her and went through the information. We should take this to Mister Fai. Khan didn’t like his new boss. Mister Fai had been a resource manager, working with the gangs and other black contacts. With the recent assassination of Dominguez, the leader of the Westerly Three Complex Crew, he had risen quickly and eventually become Khan’s boss.

  The man was crude. Even if he tried to play the part of someone of his new social status, it came off as cheap.

  Still, Khan knew that keeping this kind of information from him could only lead to future issues. He stood and quickly moved from his office, taking different elevators to a quieter floor that was taken over by massive offices. It didn’t take him long to reach Mister Fai’s.

  The male receptionist looked up at Khan. “Mister Fai is in a meeting right now,” the receptionist said.

  Khan looked around and activated a noise-cancelling widget. “I have come to report mega freighters appearing outside the system. It looks like they are from the Victor Corporation and they have Alcubierre drives.”

  The receptionist’s eyebrows climbed as he quickly stood. “I will check with him.” The man moved to Mister Fai’s office door. He knocked on it but there was no response from inside.

  The receptionist then moved to his computer and sent a message. A few moments later, he called inside.

  “Is something wrong?” Khan asked.

  “I’m not sure,” the receptionist said.

  After ten minutes, the receptionist took out a key and manually unlocked the room. He let out a startled scream and fell backward, pedaling on the carpet.

  Khan didn’t know what was wrong and moved to the doorway. Inside, there was Mister Fai. Or what was left of him. There was a hole in his head and the back of his skull on the window behind him looking over Mega City.

  ***

  Dominguez looked to Phillips as he adjusted his business suit. Dominguez activated a sound-cancelling device. Everyone used them in the corporate world so it wasn’t odd.

  She saw another entry team and gave them a barely perceptible nod. “How did it go?” Dominguez asked.

  “Fai is dead,” Phillips said.

  “Good,” Dominguez replied as they entered a conference room, their operatives moving to join as different staffs.

  She moved her shoulders, adjusting the armor underneath her clothes.

  An alarm went off somewhere as people looked up.

  “Take them down,” Dominguez said, knowing that they had been made. Blades appeared in her hands as she stabbed a woman and a man next to her in the neck. They fell, not knowing what happened; she threw another blade and hit a guard in the chest.

  The Westerly Three Complex Crew operatives pulled out their weapons, their faces cold as they cut down the people inside the conference room.

  Aides and middle management screamed and dropped to the ground as the heads of the conglomerate that had joined in holographic form dropped dead at their remote locations, the operatives there getting to work.

  An explosion shook the tower, then another and another as long-range communications systems and armories were taken out.

  Dominguez pulled out a pistol from her under-the-shoulder holster, double-tapping a man who nearly made it to the exit. Another ran for the door after him but Dominguez let him go. The first had sent down orders to attack the Westerly Three Complex Crew. The second was just some aide. They weren’t here to kill innocents, just those who wished to attack them and behead the beast.

  The trooper-trained gang members tombstone-tapped their targets, making sure that they wouldn’t be getting up. As they confirmed their targets were down, a flash of green lights appeared in Dominguez’s HUD.

  “All right, let’s get out of here.” Dominguez and the others put their weapons away. Their cold looks turned into screams as they started running with the other panicked people, using them as cover.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Senator Rimateus’s Estate

  Roma, Hellenic System

  10/3556

  “There was an attack on the Luyten Conglomerate?” Rimateus repeated the words just relayed to him by his NIAI.

  The last couple of months had been good to him. It looked as if the emperor’s position was weakening, and he was using everything he could to try to show the people that their emperor had failed them, rolling food shortages and more as he drummed up support within the senate.

  His home had been filled with different people who wanted to show him their support.

  He happily took it all in. If he was to make a play for the seat of emperor, then he would need all of these people to push him higher. As long as he made it in their best interests, then the position was his already.

  The power of the Union came from the senate, not from the emperor. Cassius was too weak to hold the position. He hadn’t even retaliated against Rimateus’s propaganda, which allowed him to become bolder and bring more people over to him.

  The common people were slow to trust him after the smear campaign, as he was calling it. Slowly he was changing their minds.

  If he could show them that he was a benevolent leader with stopping the fighting in Emarl and then taking on the task to help the people of the EHC to come out of their savage ways, then it would turn their opinion perfectly.

  The fact that the Luyten Conglomerate’s headquarters had been attacked was worrying.

  “That is not the only information. Two mega freighters from the Victor Corporation have appeared in the system and they’re heading for Earth.” His NIAI kept the good hits coming as Rimateus looked at the information.

  “Has anyone taken responsibility for the attacks on the Luyten Conglomerate?”

  “Yes, a company has—one of their competitors. After all, there has been a lot of infighting among the corporations on Earth after the fall of the Ministry of Intelligence.”

  “Separately, they are two wild coincidences. Together—what does it mean? Someone knew that we were working with the conglomerate or are they attacking them after finding out that the conglomerate was the one that led the attacks?” Rimateus rubbed his chin as he thought aloud.

  “We will need to secure our control over the conglomerate with the people we have made contact with in the Luyten system.” Rimateus was not one to leave out backup plans. If the conglomerate headquarters got cold feet, then he had been talking to people in the system who were more than willing to follow his orders.

  “We knew that the Victor Corporation had a bunch of Alcubierre drives. It looks like they’ve been sending them out to the mega freighters to get them moving faster. It makes sense from an economics point of view. We know that they have gone to Masoul and Osdal already. We know that they modified one of their mega freighters in the Masoul system, taking millions of people with them, back to presumably the Emarl system.” Rimateus’s expression was grim.

  There was some five million people aboard the Luyten Conglomerate fighting vessels that were headed to Emarl. It should be more than enough to suppress the
population of the planet and the Yard. They also had a space-based weapon system, which could allow them to hit the planet from a distance to kill off entire cities or hammer the Yard at distance.

  The Emarl system only had the Moby and a collection of freighters. Even if they were outfitted with weapon systems, they shouldn’t be enough. The VCF Promise would arrive three months before the Luyten forces.

  He slowly went through all the information that he had on the Emarl system. There wasn’t anything there that could threaten the Luyten forces before the Yard. Then it was just filled with a bunch of workers who had retired from the EMF. They only had civilian freighters; they were large but they were all over the EHC space. Many of them would only get back to Emarl months before the Luyten forces. If they did know that Rimateus was aiming for them, then to upgrade them all, it would be a massive undertaking and they didn’t have the technology of the Union.

  With just cobbled-together weapons based off what the EMF had, they wouldn’t even be able to penetrate the armor of the Luyten Conglomerate ships.

  The more Rimateus read on, it seemed unless the Emarl system pulled out a miracle there didn’t look to be a way for them to get out of this situation.

  “Keep me updated on the situation.” Rimateus dismissed his NIAI. His plans were well made and he needed to focus on the political moves he needed to make to capitalize on his victory.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Westerly Three Complex, Crew Headquarters

  Earth, Sol System

  10/3556

  The operation against the Luyten Conglomerate had gone well, throwing it and all of the businesses that had grouped together under its banner into disarray.

  The leaders were dead and people were fighting for the new positions.