Enemies on All Sides (Maraukian War Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  The room was quiet as people looked at one another. Those were not small numbers.

  “We can keep that number up?” Ortiz asked.

  “We’ve got literally millions of people coming in from across known space. From Osdal, we’ve got three refinery stations and hundreds of thousands of people have signed up to come to Emarl already. Masoul has nearly two million people who have signed up to come to Emarl. We’ve got three EMFCs here already and the remaining twenty-two have been contacted and are on their way here, or are finishing their Alcubierre upgrades. We’re pulling out of Earth. These are no small numbers and these people won’t have anything here. With the schooling, they get an opportunity to reach for what they want. I’ve been in talks with Johnny, over training and setting out different schools. He wants to hire teachers and qualified people from in-system. We’re not the only people who want to have qualified personnel.”

  The others in the room had contemplative looks on their faces.

  Jerome cleared his throat and continued.

  “Also, Admiral Hall and General Ortiz have both talked to me about including training for different personnel needed in technical positions. We have started training for these different people. Once or if they already have military training, they will be able to apply to these in-depth programs, learning the same, if not more detailed information to improve reaction speeds. The hook is that if they complete it with the military, they will have to pay years of school with years of service, unless they pay off the debt directly,” Jerome said.

  “We have well-trained and motivated people. We want to make sure that they have the best skills, and if they choose to leave then they can get a job on the civilian side,” Hall said. Ortiz clearly agreed with his words.

  Mark sensed that Jerome was done with his report as he moved onto the next bit of information.

  “So we’ve got a good number of skilled workers coming in, which’ll allow us to really help expand the VC’s and the military wing. What assets do we have in-system—militarily, offensive, defensive as well as corporation and then Tricticus council? What can we count on adding to those assets in the coming months?” He looked over to Esamai, who took a drink of water from the table and cleared her throat.

  “Militarily, we have one battleship, a carrier being finished in a few weeks. We have four supply ships that are meant for the fleets but have been moved out to be close to the mining areas in the different asteroid belts to act as refineries and factories, passing on their completed products to the inter-system freighters shipping materials between them and the Yard. The refining station has been placed where the mining has yielded the greatest results, at one of the six cardinal points of the system. We have purchased the three EMFCs that are in-system. They are functional but we have plans to overhaul them to increase their fighting capabilities as troop transports. We have the Moby as well, which is nearly complete in its upgrades. With the items that were made by the people aboard the VCF Osdal and in-system, we have enough Defender Armor for five full forces, the drop-ships for three forces, rifles and repulsors for ten forces. We’ve got four hundred flights’ worth of rapid support drones and seeder drones.”

  One flight includes six of the RSDs and two of the seeders, Jerome thought. The number of their forces was much more than what he was expecting. Hearing it in hard numbers was one thing, but he had seen these different items when working on the VCF Osdal as containers and containers of the different items were shipped down to the Yard.

  “We’ve got four forces’ worth of the Gorgon tanks—that’s sixty per force, for a total of three hundred. Artillery, we have five forces’ worth of complete batteries—that’s six thousand gun. For defenses, we have been making the Praetor orbital cannons. I switched development over, upon the information received that an attack might be imminent, according to Hall and Ortiz’s orders. We have four thousand of the cannons. They are slower to produce but are self-contained and can be used at distance or mounted on stationary positions. Asteroids are being mined out and moved to the Ark’s orbit as well as Tricticus’s. The aim is to turn these into defensive locations to cover the planets and create a net of orbital stations, filled with close-in defense weapons to defeat enemy weapons fire before it enters a planet’s atmosphere. The orbital cannons have been deployed around the Yard in mass and around the station.

  “Full coverage is going to take a long time till we get there, so we’ve started rigging up movement engines to the cannons so that they can move to deal with different threats. Golden sky missile systems have been put into production as well. These run off the same missiles as the battleship and work to provide defensive cover over the stationary points we hold.

  “Inter-system freighters have been seeding the system with sensor buoys. We have complete in-system coverage and are pushing outward. This will create a network where we will be nearly always able to use the RSDs without the seeders around the system. Give us real-time ability to talk and see everything in-system.

  “Civilian assets.” Esamai took a big breath and waved her hand in an obvious gesture at the Yard. “Well, we got this thing. Then we’ve got the refinery station. Well, it’s being built up and working at the same time. We’ve got the station and ships in-system but I’ll leave that to Hall to talk on. Miners in the asteroid belt. The station acting as a training hub and commerce hub with the people of Tricticus. We should have two of the three civilian mega freighters currently being built completed this month; the final—VCF Alexis—will take four months to be finished and will be the largest yet. With the fabbers from the VCF Osdal, then the mergers with the nanite vats, our production has had a massive leap. I expect that our production will increase by nearly three or four times. I don’t know the exact details and others can talk on timescale.” Esamai gestured to Hall, who nodded. “It looks like we will be welcoming three refineries into the system. We need resources and badly. Right now, we’re burning through them at a massive rate. We’re going to need to start cannibalizing old equipment to make up for our resource needs and we need to make a lot more mining vessels. The shipments from Osdal should be enough to tide us over before Johnny and his people arrive, but we’re going to need a lot more, which admittedly is a good problem to have.” Esamai sat back from the table, seeing whether anyone had questions about what she had said.

  No one had anything yet and she looked to Mark.

  “All of your techs, on the VCF Osdal, in the skill schools, and on the Yard have pulled off miracles. They have my thanks and praise,” Mark said.

  Esamai sat a bit higher.

  She had heard of Mark and he was technically her brother-in-law, but there was a way he talked, acted, and just was, that seemed to place a pressure on a person. Hearing his praise was well earned and couldn’t be faked.

  “Hear hear,” Hall agreed. The others in the room all seriously looked at Esamai, giving hard-won looks of admiration. She was a new mother and still took on these challenges easily, beating them down and pulling out results.

  “Thank you,” Esamai said.

  Jerome felt proud as he looked at his wife in her element.

  Mark smiled before his eyes fell on Hall. “Where are our ships and what’s going on with that mess?”

  “Controlled chaos,” Hall said with a raised finger.

  “Navy bullshit,” Ortiz coughed. “Oh sorry, got a nasty cold.” His face was completely innocent.

  “Trooper idiot,” Hall coughed. “You know, I think it must be catching!”

  The others in the room laughed as Hall went on with a smile.

  “Right now, we have some sixty inter-system freighters, most of which ain’t so inter-system right now. Most of them have completed their missions, if it was to go to wake up the different EMFCs that were laying asleep in EHC space, or upgrade our mega freighters. All seven of our mega freighters are moving. VCF Osdal is heading for Osdal, which to even me sounds weird as hell. VCF Reclaimer is on its way back. VCF Fernix has loaded the refineries and
is also on its way back. VCF Navis is entering the system, to drop off items and then head to Emarl with personnel and resources. VCF Hope and Novum are moving to link up and support the evacuation of Earth. We have two undercover inter-system freighters there that will exit with the rest of our forces from the Sol system. VCF Promise will arrive in the Masoul system shortly and work to pull out anyone who wants to leave. There will be an extended period of time needed for refitting the mega carrier with cryopods. The standard VCFs that have completed their missions in known space are to move to Osdal and Masoul to assist in carrying resources and personnel back. EMFCs across the EHC should start arriving next month in groups of up to five at a time every couple of months.

  “In-system, we have mining vessels across the asteroid belts, inter-system freighters that don’t have Alcubierre drives, shipping materials back from the supply ships and refinery to the station or the Yard. Tugs at the Yard and station with combat shuttle assets used on Tricticus and up to the station.

  “We’ve got drop-ship training to be carried out from one of the EMFCs we’ve purchased down to Tricticus to get our people ready. The Moby is ready in case it is needed. Next to the Yard, it is our greatest combat-capable ship at the moment.

  “The battleship and carrier—I am working on the crew appointments right now and should have a crew in there by the end of the week, with crews ready for the other warships that are to come out.

  “The EMFCs are waiting with a skeleton crew to man its systems if needed. Once personnel are freed up from the mega freighters, then they can begin work on converting the EMFCs.”

  “When will the three refinery stations reach us?” Mark asked.

  “They should arrive in eight months,” Hall said. It was just over ten months transit time from Osdal to Emarl; with nearly two months underway, they had completed a fifth of their journey.

  “We will also have the Aegean gardens arrive at the same time, according to their current flight speed. They’re working to improve their travel speed with adding more battery banks and reactors,” Moretti said.

  “Then we’ve got the legionnaires coming from the Otarvi system in a couple of weeks too,” Jerome said.

  “Well, Ortiz, what’s the plan with the legionnaires and the troopers?” Mark asked.

  “First, we need to figure out a fucking name! Damn infuriating still! We’re troopers—we’re damn tin cans, Troopers…shit’s enough to keep a man awake with a dictionary! Otherwise, with the incoming ex-legionnaires, we can offer them the same deal as the troopers. They pick what they want to do, get trained up and take on the job. We’ve got some six hundred thousand personnel ready for action on the trooper side. That’s enough for six full forces. Got more coming in from the EMFCs; by estimates, we’ll have seventeen to twenty full strength forces when everything comes together. Let’s be honest—most of us joined the EMF to get at least a chance at something more. Most of the people now getting a real chance want to get some security and a life away from fighting all the time.” Ortiz’s voice calmed down as Jerome and the others who had served all had knowing looks.

  They didn’t feel like they were being let down; they were happy that they were able to offer a way for their fellows to live a life onto themselves.

  “That said, I don’t know how many will apply to be part of the mergers. Across the services, we don’t know this factor,” Ortiz said.

  The mergers’ abilities were something to make anyone jealous, but it took serious stones to even sign up for testing to become one. No matter the military branch, when the training started, it wasn’t anything easy: pushing people to their limits, drawing out their potential, their ability to face death—even go through it time and time again. Then, once they were done, they were given a choice: die for real and become a merger, or live life as a human, knowing that they had achieved what few had been able to. It wasn’t any easier becoming a regular merger with them going through all of your information, finding out the kind of person that you were in order to make sure that you weren’t going to use your power in a way to negatively affect others. There were even less people willing to do this on the civilian side. Only extreme characters like Charles and his engineering team were willing to push away their humanity, looking for answers to their questions and pushing the envelope of discovery and innovation further.

  “We’ll just have to see where the cards fall for that one.” Mark shrugged. He didn’t know what the answer would be to that, either. “Moretti, what are we looking like externally and internally?”

  “Internally is easier. With the people at the bottom getting positions with the Victor Corporation, the people in higher positions are seeing that what they had before ain’t much. I see that there’s going to be a conflict of changing classes, but there’s not much that they can do but get on board, or make a path for themselves. We’ve got other companies emerging, which is good. The council on Tricticus is working fine for now, but then I see with the class problems that’s going to be weird.

  “Sam is starting to get to work and as for this meeting, he has elected leaders for the different sectors. Esamai is the leader of the Yard. Trevor Owens is the leader of the station. Shannon O’Malley is the leader of the miners. Deva Chera controls the refinery. Lupius Wrest is to take command of shipping—sorry, Hall.” Moretti looked at the admiral.

  “I’m fine with it—was doing two hats anyway.” Hall smiled.

  “Military branch, Dominguez,” Moretti finished.

  “These positions will be filled for one year unless Sam determines otherwise and then they might change,” Mark said. “It will take effect at the end of this month, so we’ll have to make sure that we get the people new to their positions up to speed.” Mark looked around the room.

  Jerome nodded. He wasn’t a leader of anything and Esamai was over him, but he hoped that he could help her as she needed. Also means that I will need to tell her about the Ark. That might be awkward.

  “With that sorted, externally, it’s a shit show. The EHC has all kinds of bans on trading with the Victor Corporation. The same has come from the Roma Union. Also, he’s pushed for the legionnaires who are coming to us to be labelled as traitors. It looks like he will get his way,” Moretti said in a heavy voice. It was spitting on the legionnaires and all that they had done. It didn’t make anyone in the room feel good.

  “That’s not all the esteemed senator has been up to. It looks like he has been talking to the father of the disgraced Admiral Hesra. I believe it is he who got the Luyten Conglomerate to attack Dominguez on Earth. With this connection, I was able to pull up more information. The Luyten Conglomerate has been recruiting people into the military, outfitting freighters into warships, and then they sent them off a few months ago, all of the people training as they were underway. I have needed to use the mergers and their abilities to confirm that a shell corporation under the Qizata trading house has been actively moving goods around. They’ve got old powered armor and weapons. The ships also have old but decent rail gun systems and missiles. I’ll send you specific information on it all after this.” Moretti looked at Hall, Ortiz, Mark, and Ava.

  “It looks like we should be prepared for attacks on Emarl. I can also expect that the Union is going to be in a lot of trouble. Rimateus is a powerful senator already. With this move, he could politically annex the emperor and become the next one.

  “Emperor Cassius has to nip this in the bud or else the Union will be Rimateus’s instrument. To these ends, it is my aim to assist him in overcoming Rimateus. Talking to the military branch, we have decided that Emarl will take on the storm of the Luyten Conglomerate. This will allow us to pull out the snakes in the Union. Then, if Cassius is suitable, we assist him to stay in power and remove the snakes. Or we remove the snakes and put someone else in power, like Damus Versanti,” Moretti said.

  Jerome saw that Esamai seemed a little confused while Ava’s frown showed her shock.

  Moretti saw it as well. “We know someone is sending sig
nals, controlling the Maraukians. We know that they have Alcubierre drives, which put all of humanity in danger. We don’t have time for these political games. This is why we have Sam, to do the best for everyone. The Union is broken but centralized; the EHC is broken but decentralized. If we were to change Earth, then the colonies’ governors would still be corrupt. If we clear out the senate, then from the top down the Union will be affected by change. We need a secure base of operations to move forward. We don’t have that right now.”

  “But changing the emperor? Isn’t that a bit...” Ava said.

  “Crazy?” Moretti smiled.

  “Well, yeah but also, that’s an empire, and it spans over tens of planets—quintillions of people and nearly a billion people under arms,” Ava said.

  “We cut the cancer out, or else it will fester.” Mark’s words were ruthless. “If he doesn’t show he’s able to take control and do what’s best for humanity…well, we’ll leave that decision up to Sam.”

  Jerome nodded to himself. Making those kinds of decisions weren’t easy. Hell, if they overreached their boundaries again and again, then they’d be no better than the corruption and people they wanted to stop. It would make them nothing but tyrants. Leaving it to Sam to make the first decision was all they could do; then they looked to themselves. After all, they weren’t a part of the Union but the Emarl system.

  “Which, I guess, brings me to the last point of this meeting and something that I have been keeping a secret,” Mark said with a heavy voice.

  Everyone’s gaze sharpened. For him to keep it from all of them, it meant that it truly wasn’t simple.

  “Some of you might be wondering why this station is orbiting the previously unnamed planet and why Moretti called it Ark once he arrived?” Mark asked.

  Jerome could see the questions in people’s eyes.