The Vanguard Emerges (Maraukian War Book 2)

by Michael Chatfield

All was taken in seconds as Quina fired back at the Maraukians, one rushed though som underbrush, jumping out of cover, she pulled her trigger, a line of tracers following the Maraukian down to the ground where they didn’t get back up again.

  “Covering!” Quina barked to those near her. Others said the same words as those in front pulled back. She switched her point of aim, firing on a group of Maraukians coming down through the shelled out forest, a tree exploding near her barely registering as splinters the size of her arm hit her armor.

  Quina fired burst after burst into the Maraukians, tearing them apart in a hail of rounds. She rolled away as a line of tracers filled the ground where she had been.

  With no time to be scared or think how close she had been to death, she fired on the targeting carats that appeared in her vision.

  Up! He sees me—move! Quina rolled once again in a random direction, finding herself in a crater filled with water. She stood up, firing as she heard a call in her ear.

  “Covering!”

  Quina turned and ran, retreating away from the Edani eastern wall.

  “Moving!” she yelled, her voice hoarse. Her body was bruised and battered, but her veins pumped out pure adrenaline as she forced air through her nose.

  Her eyes moved to the drop-ships that had been racing through the valley. Hatches on the bottom of the drop-ships opened as their ramps dropped. Black crates shot out of the drop-ships’ cargo holds, plummeting from the skies.

  Powered armor burst out of the hatches. They seemed to slow just a few meters above the ground before they slammed into the dirt, sending up clouds of dust around them as they dropped to their knees as if it had just been a minor fall.

  From the dust, they shot out. Some of them moved for the black ammunition crates while the others aimed right for Quina and her people.

  “Legate Quina, this is Mark Victor of the merger forces. We’re here to give you an assist. Legate Yousef sent us.”

  “Good to see you. Going to need the help. Where are the rest of your forces?” Quina asked.

  “This is it,” Mark said. With his words, the mergers who had been flying through the air shot out twin streams of gray rounds from weapons that extended along their forearms.

  The rounds tore up the ground and forest, and lay waste to the Maraukians. It was as if they were a physical force, smashing into the enemy. Their bodies were torn apart under the forces of the rounds. They had no time to scream or try to escape as the rounds cut through their lines, laying them flat.

  Quina’s eyes went wide as missiles shot into the sky from the mergers who were at the ammunition crates.

  The missiles flew high into the sky, disappearing upward.

  The drop-ships now burned off their speed. Underneath their wings, their missile pods and heavy rail guns bellowed, also unleashing hell onto the Maraukians’ positions.

  The forest was ripped apart, round impacts making lines in the ground and tracing across the Maraukian lines as explosions were added to the artillery firepower.

  “Hold!” Quina called. The drop-ships didn’t have much in the way of ammunition but if they were able to slow the Maraukians here, then it would slow their retreat and allow the people in the city Edani more time to retreat.

  She looked to the edges of where her forces were retreating. The passes were being held, but there was no support on the way.

  The mergers landed among the lines of legionnaires, adding in their own firepower. Lines of gray rounds tore outward as mergers tossed out cratering charges. A rough trench line started to appear.

  A truly massive suit of armor turned and glided into the small hill that Quina was leaning against.

  “Legate Quina, good to meet you,” Mark said. Even with their entrance, the Maraukians weren’t giving up on the fight: tracers cut through the sky above as weapons fire was exchanged.

  The fighting was less chaotic with two lines starting to form as the legionnaires got their feet under themselves and more of the Maraukians started to amass larger numbers.

  They still had to pass through the defenses that Legate Quina and her people had been forced to leave behind, limiting their numbers, but they were fast bastards.

  “Welcome to the shit show.” Quina jumped up and fired a burst at a nearby Maraukian, dropping them as she took off for another defensive position.

  “You been updated on the situation?” Quina asked as she slid into her new cover.

  “I’ve been given the quick notes. Seems it’s pretty fucked,” Mark said.

  “Can say that again. What’s supposed to be your role?”

  “Higher-ups want us to defeat this wave, or at least hurt them really bad so that the people behind us can get out. You and yours are to pull out, get back to Ducharev. Me and mine will hold here, create the space you need from the Maraukians. By the timescale, looks like we’re going to be stuck right in the middle of the next wave of Maraukians coming this way.” Mark jumped up, his anti-gravity systems allowing him to slide to the side as he fired on the move, sending out burst after burst at the Maraukians highlighted in his vision.

  ***

  Mark had kept the rest of the mergers linked into what he was saying with Primus Quina.

  Rumblings reached everyone’s ears as lightning ballistic missiles shot out of the sky, smashing into the ground below, right in the midst of the packed Maraukians.

  “Evan, why couldn’t you get the ammo this time?” Jarek complained.

  “Sorry, Optio—got it last time,” Evan shot back.

  “Hell, looks like he’s getting sharper, Mark,” Jarek said.

  “Hey, don’t say that out loud. Next thing, Ilis will think that half of the stuff that comes out of his mouth makes sense—then we’ll all be fucked,” Mark said.

  “Coming in with the supplies. What’s the plan?” Ava’s group had broken down the ammunition crates and were hauling them up to where the other mergers were supporting the legionnaires.

  “I think we’re going to need to walk some fire right across the Maraukians, try to force them back to where the river and valley bends here.” Mark circled a place on the map and sent the information to everyone else.

  “We got anti-matter artillery clearance but then, that’s not going to be good to have right next to the squishies. What you thinking?” Dodger asked.

  “I’m thinking that it’s time those Ares fighters tried out the new models and see how effective they are. This valley is the perfect place to have them run through and line up Maraukians,” Mark said.

  ***

  “Uplink ready!” Young said as she and Yu rushed toward Edani, their drop-ship depleted of all ammunition.

  “I’ll fly from my position,” Bobbie said, on the same net as them.

  “Transferring controls,” Yu said.

  “I’ve got the ship. Woo-hoo, let’s do some barrel rolls!” Bobbie laughed.

  “Please, no.” Young looked to Yu, as if to ask why they had given control over to such a maniac.

  Yu simply laughed and leaned back into his seat. His skin went from its tanned appearance to silver as ports along his body and the seat he was in connected up.

  He closed his eyes, opening them again and finding that he was in an Ares fighter. He moved his hands over the different controls, testing out all of the different movements of the fighter.

  “Moby, this is Captain Yu. Uplink is good and steady. Bird’s looking good,” Yu said as he finished his checks. He looked to his right, seeing Young in the Ares fighter next to him.

  “Ares Modified One, this is the Moby. You are cleared for launch.” As the flight officer finished talking, the fighter in its cradle was shifted on heavy machinery, rotating into position.

  He faced a tunnel that looked out into nothingness. The hangar was already open to space in full vacuum.

  Lights on his HUD and the tunnel turned blue, blinking for a few moments and then suddenly changing to green.

  Yu was forced back into his chair as the sudden acceleration hit h
im. The Ares fighter shot out of the ship. A litany of information started to flood him. Young, Bobbie, and he had all undergone the merger procedure so there was no need for him to try to access the information. His NIAI automatically beamed it into his mind.

  “Moby, launch was good. Moving to target,” Yu reported, a massive grin on his face as the gravities subsided. He altered his course slightly, aiming himself toward Indalia.

  “Understood, One. Good hunting. Two is hot on your tail.” The flight officer cut the channel.

  Yu opened another channel. “Modified One, this is Two. Report your status. Over,” Young said, sounding rather official.

  “Two, this is One. Having one hell of a fucking ride.” Yu laughed and pushed the vessel to go faster. Behind them, there were another four modified Ares following them down.

  The four other craft sped up to catch up with them. All six of them lined up in formation as they turned toward the planet.

  The fighter shook and bucked. Yu smiled. He had gone through the same sensation many times as a combat shuttle pilot in the Earth Military Force. Now, as a member of the legion, he was getting to be in a fighter. He’d dreamed of being in a fighter for most of his adult life. The freedom of flying was unlike anything he’d ever done.

  But he’d always had someone to deliver somewhere, needing to worry about the cargo he had. With the fighter, there was just him and his ship, pushing each other to the limits—one entity, together.

  With the merging ability, it was a rush unlike any other.

  They cut arcs through the sky, passing over the seas, mountainous regions, and other features of Indalia.

  All of it passed underneath their powerful engines sending them ahead. They were the gods and goddesses of the sky, rulers of all.

  “Target coming up.” Young might now be running her own craft but she was used to updating everyone on what was going on. It was a hard habit to break out of.

  “Understood. Weapons going live. merging.” Yu’s voice was cool and professional. He might be excited to be in a fighter finally, but it was not lost on him the reason he was there. His people were in trouble and they needed his help. He would do all in his power to help them.

  The Ares fighters got lower to the ground and cut their speed. They crested a mountain range. Edani spread out below them, the valley leading to the city clear.

  “Bobbie, can you fly a bit faster?” Yu asked, banking with the formation.

  “I don’t have a fecking fighter like you adrenaline junkies!” Bobbie complained.

  The drop-ships were just coming out of the valley, pouring on the power as they headed to Edani to assist with the evacuation.

  The Ares fighter formation crossed the bowl that Edani was located in, crossing over the drop-ships and into the valley.

  “Merging,” Yu, Young, and the other fighter pilots confirmed.

  Yu felt as if his body had become alive as information flooded his body.

  He didn’t simply become more connected with the other fighters; he seemed as if he became a part of the very fighter he was in. The sensors linked up with him. The different flaps, the engines and all controls were no longer commands; he simply moved with the fighter.

  He turned to his side, the fighter banking as he crossed through the valley. If he had been human, it would have been a suicide attempt going through that valley.

  All of the Ares pilots banked, dove, and powered through that valley as if they were out for a late-night cruise.

  ***

  “Coming up on targets,” the Ares NIAIs reported to them. They banked to one side then the other, seemingly rolling through the twists and turns of the valley.

  Target carats appeared in their vision, showing the position of all the Maraukian forces on the ground.

  “Welcome to the party! Ground forces ready to move!” Mark yelled.

  “On me!” Ava barked. The symbols that marked friendly forces were now on the move.

  Hatches opened, missiles and heavy rail guns being revealed.

  The last turn came up. The lead fighter unleashed its weaponry. As it was in the air, all of the Maraukians could see the fighter.

  The air filled with different weapons fire crossing back and forth.

  The heavy machine guns hummed as continuous rounds shot down in a stream. Missiles left white trails across the sky. They were tiny but as they hit the ground, fireballs rose into the sky. Each and every warhead on the Ares was not fitted with conventional explosive but rather was anti-matter tipped.

  As they went off, they were capable of destroying everything within a hundred meters.

  The forest that had been ravaged before was now leveled.

  For Yu, his world had become simple.

  “Incoming fire!”

  “Break! Missiles on those Maraukian targets! Got some in the hills—marking.”

  “Got it. Good hit. Missiles away. Watch for friendlies in sector 1267.”

  “Got Maraukian herd commander rallying forces.”

  “Under heavy fire—can’t shake!”

  One of the signals disappeared, the Ares fighter holed and falling into the valley.

  “Triggering.”

  The Ares fighter exploded as one of the other triggered the anti-matter in its hull. A mushroom cloud shot up.

  “Watch for shockwave!”

  “Riding the waves!”

  “Maraukians ten o’clock—tagged!”

  Yu rode the shockwaves of the anti-matter explosion as targets continued to appear in his vision. It was a blend of who was talking, who was acting, and who was ordering. They flew inches from the sides of the valley and one another, moving together seamlessly.

  Whenever their weapons fired, Maraukians fell. They sowed destruction in their path, leaving the ground forces behind quickly as they continued through the valleys. The farther they went, the less vegetation there was and the more Maraukians filled the ground.

  Missiles and rounds cut lines through the Maraukians but walls of weapons fire reached up to the Ares.

  They killed thousands but they, too, were suffering heavy damage for it.

  Another Ares fighter failed. The pilot took the Ares fighter with its limited control into the densest grouping of Maraukians. The Ares ignited its ammunition, turning into a wave of destruction.

  Yu grit his teeth. Instead of pushing him forward, the shockwaves shot him upward and at an oblique angle. He fought to regain control of his Ares fighter.

  Another that had been too close was smashed upon the side of the valley, hitting the side of a mountain that bordered on the valley. It, too, exploded. The mountain shook and a section disappeared. A landslide was triggered. Yu fought against that shockwave, feeling more alive than ever as he threaded through the massive turbulence of the shockwaves.

  Young and the one other pilot continued through the valleys, unleashing destruction where they went. They didn’t even stop firing. There were so many Maraukian targets on the ground, it was nearly impossible to miss them all.

  Yu dipped, trying to get into the valley. The higher he was, the more Maraukians that could see him, and the more of them that could shoot at him.

  He dove as rounds and weapons fire started to tear through the air around him. He poured on the power. His Ares fighter flipped, banked and put on a display of aerial skill as he rolled down and came out of his dive into the valley, behind Young and the other Ares pilot.

  They took a tight turn together before it snapped back around. The Ares’ engines wailed under the abuse. The pilots pushed the fighters to their limits and then far surpassed them.

  As they came out of the sharp bend, they saw where the defenses had meant to have been. The valley narrowed substantially. Just as it opened up, the sides of the valley and the bottom of it had a line running through it that was meant to be the foundations for a truly massive fortification.

  Instead, what had been built was now nothing more than debris that littered the valley. Machines, vehicles, ammunition dump
s—all of it had been overrun, torn apart, and tossed away, the Maraukians not caring for it in the slightest as they continued on their warpath.

  “Line up!” Young said.

  The fighters got into a line, the three of them pointing at the Maraukians. As fast as their guns could cycle and their heavy rail guns could fire out bolts, a sheet of fire raked over the Maraukian positions, rolling them up. They were not only stopped—they were being pushed back!

  Young’s ship was hit by a missile. She cartwheeled, trying to keep aloft for as long as possible before gunning her engine and crashing ahead of the two others. She smacked into the ground. The charge in her fighter went up, but she was all out of anti-matter missiles.

  Yu and the remaining pilot shot through the dust cloud, leaving a vortex in their passing.

  “Shit, wonky on the right side,” Yu said, feeling a loss of control on his right as it was becoming harder and harder to gain control on that side.

  His mind, linked directly to the ship, was telling him the problem. The repair nanites were trying to fix the most essential systems, but it would take hours to fix all of the damage.

  Plasma and rail gun rounds peppered his Ares fighter, sounding like rain on a tin roof as he flew on. Systems continued to fail as the two fighters didn’t have the sort of firepower that they would need to suppress the Maraukians.

  Yu felt his fighter’s control weakening. Suddenly his connection disappeared.

  He was jolted awake from a combination of adrenaline and a combat chemical mix and took a deep breath. His ports were covered over; the nanites that made up his clothes and his body formed back into place as his flight seat restrained him.

  He let out a few ragged breaths as he looked around him. He was back in the drop-ship.

  “Holy shit,” Young thought-spoke to Yu, who was next to him.

  “Well, that is a whole new way to pilot,” Yu thought-spoke back.

  “You two back with me?” Bobbie asked. He was in the cargo hold, flying the drop-ship from there. He might be the cargo master, but he had more time in a combat shuttle with than most other people.

  “Good thing we are back. With your driving, I’m surprised we didn’t get called out for drunken piloting!” Yu laughed, his emotions still in a jumble, knowing that if he hadn’t had uplinked to the Ares fighter, then right now he would have been dead.