The Vanguard Emerges (Maraukian War Book 2)

by Michael Chatfield

  “Get yourselves together. Those who don’t have legs with those who do! Come on!” Ava’s orders were followed as quickly as possible, people helping one another out as those without legs or just one was loaded onto the backs of those who could run.

  Ava saw another bundle coming down as three sets of armor slammed into the ground.

  Others moved to help, but by the time they got there, Rachel was already pulling Dodger and Mark out of the ditch they’d made.

  “We need to get moving. Remember to keep distance from one another!” Ava said.

  Both Dodger and Mark were surviving off backup systems that focused on keeping their brain alive as their nanites raced to fix key systems to bring their bodies back online and back from the brink of death.

  Rachel attached her mag line to Mark and then Dodger’s line to her armor. She threw out the remaining ammunition.

  “Let’s go! We’re burning daylight!” Ava ordered as their preparations were complete.

  “Legate Nerva, this is Signifier Desialias. We’re moving to your position. We have severe wounded,” Ava said as they all started to run at their best speed and spread out to make it harder for the Maraukians to hit them.

  “Understood!” Nerva yelled.

  The mergers ran as fast as possible, not knowing where the next weapons fire might come from.

  They fired their M20s with short, precise bursts, putting down Maraukians in their path or that were aiming at them.

  Support fire fell around the mergers as the Bellonas fired their acceleration tubes. Rounds landed around the mergers, protecting them and giving them a screen.

  ***

  Jerome’s heart constricted as he looked at the people coming out of the dust that had been thrown up by the massive explosion.

  The Bellona tanks kept moving as they ran back.

  Their armor was covered in Maraukian blood and silver scars. Many of them were missing limbs but still those with at least an arm would fire backward so those who had legs didn’t have to turn around and slow down.

  They looked as if they had been thrown into the wringer. Jerome might not be able to see their faces but he knew the truth. The mergers had gone to help Edani seventy-four strong. Now eleven of them barely clung onto life. The losses here were beyond anything Jerome could comprehend.

  Jerome’s NIAI identified Mark, who was being dragged along the ground next to another merger.

  Jerome made to rush over and help.

  “Get your head in the game, Jerome.” Ortiz used his command voice, arresting Jerome’s actions.

  Jerome wanted to punch Ortiz at that very moment but instead he gritted his teeth together. “Yes, sir.”

  “Get those mergers on the first flight out of here!” Other medics and personnel rushed to aid them while Jerome watched. “Prepare to fall back by tank units!” Nerva yelled.

  Chapter 74

  SLS Moby

  Indalia, Otarvi System

  8/3555

  Charles started off with two of the best friends he’d ever known, their concern for him evident.

  “You’re sure about this?” Gomez asked.

  “There’s no coming back. You know that more than anyone.” Jess frowned, her eyes brimming with tears.

  Charles reached out and touched the side of her face. “You’ve always been like a daughter to me.” It was true and his respect for her grew all the more now as she reined in her emotions.

  Charles looked to Gomez. “I’m sure.” He then glanced to the nanite vat, which was prepped and waiting for someone, anyone—including him. “I don’t know why I was putting it off. It was inevitable, really.”

  “You’re no fighter. Do you think they’ll let you just sit in a lab after this?”

  “Oh, they will. They’ll likely not find out for quite some time if I can avoid it. Besides, who’s going to tell them?”

  “Mark will know. There’s no need to tell him once you’ve joined the net.”

  Charles had hoped he might be able to shutter off his mind—he’d been thinking about how it could work—but until he was fully merged he’d not know whether that was possible or whether the mergers would all just know he’d done the dirty on them. He hoped he would be able to convince Mark that it wasn’t for the wrong reasons. But as smart as he was, he wasn’t putting all the pieces of the sounds together; he needed to be smarter.

  He looked around the science lab. He’d let all the other techs and engineers go for an early night, no projects to work on, least while this happened. “Is everything ready?” He sucked in a breath that he knew belayed his nerves. The pain was supposed to be horrendous, and there were no guarantees he would survive it, let alone come out the other side as a fully functioning human. There were horror stories about the merge, and about the psychological effects it had on even some of the toughest men. He was fifty-two and had a pudgy belly. Wasn’t fit by any means.

  When Gomez had checked over the readings, he met Jess’s frown with a smile. “We’re all good here.”

  Jess checked his vitals. “Heart rate and breathing elevated, but I think that’s to be expected. If you’re sure, we’ll commence.”

  Charles moved to the vat. Jess pulled him back into a hug and Charles allowed her. “See you on the other side,” he said and finally stepped up and then down into the waiting, swirling nanites.

  Chapter 75

  Ducharev

  Indalia, Otarvi system

  8/3555

  Legate Quina and Valez watched through the eyes of others what was transpiring at the front line.

  “How many got out?” Valez asked.

  Quina turned to him, shaking her head. “Eleven.”

  Valez’s eyes narrowed. He focused and sent through orders for the legionnaires around them. They’d pull back with the tanks and support where needed, but across his own HUD, there were many loss reports also coming in.

  “Legate,” he said. “There’s finally some reprieve. We’ll hold this city and keep the Maraukians from getting any farther. The mergers completed their task. They saved more than any of us could have.”

  Quina pushed down her emotions, her eyes focused on Valez. “You’ve been under my command for a long time, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, Legate, since I joined the legion. Why?”

  “You trust me, yes.” It was more of a statement than a question.

  “With my life, of course.”

  Quina nodded and looked back to the retreat. “Good. Times are changing, Valez. I need to know who I can trust.”

  “I don’t understand. What are you thinking?”

  Quina pointed out to the retreating tanks and men who had risked everything for their own. Those who had fought and lost their lives so that the mergers would survive, so that Mark would survive. “Why do you think the mergers had to be saved by their own and not the legion? Why were our men not the ones coming to rescue them? Our drop-ships were held back and our forces halted. We were left here to die by the ones we held sacred. They didn’t just abandon Mark and his men—they abandoned us.”

  Quina watched as those words sunk in and as her new second, he disappeared for a few minutes. She knew he could access those reports, that truth now with his higher position in her ranks. When his eyes became focused once more, she continued. “In my mind, those men out there risked everything—not only reprimand from the legion—but it all could have been lost. We are alive because of them.”

  Valez lowered his face, his cheeks burning with anger.

  Quina turned away from watching the retreat to look back into Ducharev and the people who were milling about, people giving her legionnaires food, water, and other goods they needed. “If I were to ask any of the people in this city a question about where their loyalties now rested, on whose shoulders do you think they’d settle on?”

  Quina could see Valez’s fists ball, his knuckles turning white. “Exactly where mine does.”

  He moved to rip his lapels off, but she stopped him, grabbing his ha
nd within hers tight. “Not yet.”

  With a steady arm, she lowered his, stemming his shaking. She turned back to the road to where both troopers and legionnaires fought side by side. “Do you think they will follow me?”

  “They were left abandoned, and with no hope. Now they fight alongside a force with over a hundred times their numbers. Wherever you lead them, they’d follow. As will I.”

  Quina nodded. “Watch the retreat. When we’re all back inside these walls, I want the centurions to meet with us. Till then, this goes no further.”

  “Agreed,” Valez said.

  Chapter 76

  Ducharev

  Indalia, Otarvi System

  8/3555

  Ava stood with Polwell, Egli, and Rachel as they watched the medevac take Mark and the others away. The fact they couldn’t be healed here was enough to flip her emotions on again. Pumped with adrenaline and enough stims to keep anyone else awake for months, she finally started to feel her sanity ebb. They could have gone with them, but their fight now was to draw back and regroup with all their forces. She knew it and so did they.

  Ducharev’s walls were growing with every hour. With the troopers and the new legionnaires, they’d be able to hold the new line. With them holding at Ducharev, Indalia had finally drawn a defensive line around their cities. Artillery loaded with nest busters and area denial rounds could be put to use, hitting the places that Maraukians had made nests, leaving them no way to recover their numbers as they threw themselves against the massive defenses. Ava’s thoughts raced through her, and those connected with her.

  Rachel moved in closer, approaching her carefully and placing a hand on her shoulder. When Ava finally straightened herself up, she glanced back to the sky. The others weren’t linked, but she knew they were heading into the best hands, those who could get them healed up.

  Rachel always seemed to be one of the strong ones but not right now. Her emotions were as raw as Ava’s. The pain was unbearable on her own. Ava let the older woman’s hand rest on hers and ordered her NIAI to quell the tears; she needed to focus, no matter the pain. Polwell and Egli stood with them, eyes skyward.

  Chapter 77

  SLS Moby

  Indalia, Otarvi System

  8/3555

  Gomez and Jess watched the nanite vat over the several hours the process took, taking turns to check and double-check both sets of readings.

  When Charles’s screams had finally died down and Jess’s tears with it, Gomez had sent her to get coffee for them both and some food. It had been a very long shift.

  He checked all the readouts, now going over everything with a fine-toothed comb. He wouldn’t let his friend down. He knew Charles had accepted merging as a risk, but he reached the bottom of his reports, and then turned to Jess’s. There were no life signs from the vat.

  Nothing at all.

  Gomez slumped down in his chair, and he sobbed. A life-long friendship, gone. The genius he’d known and the support and dreams they’d had, fighting for a better future—gone with his best friend.

  Jess entered the room. Gomez turned to her.

  “I don’t know what went wrong. He should be okay!” Gomez said, sounding lost as shock covered his face.

  Jess dropped her tray and moved to Charles, where no vital signs came from the nanite vat.

  ***

  Inside the swirl of nanite mass, Charles worked feverishly. The experience in here would haunt him for a lifetime but he also knew he had to be faster than any other merger to stop his lock into the net. The nanites responded to the speed of his thoughts much quicker than with anyone else, something else for him to study, and he wondered briefly as to the why. Brain IQ or something else?

  No, his job in here was done. There was a privacy bubble enveloping him, not much different than some of the working ones that international spies had used, but it was there and he could build on it. He did, however, already feel the others, and he knew that they felt him too. Even if they didn’t understand what or who he was.

  There was an ache inside him, though, that wanted to join Mark and the others properly. But he also knew their situation down on Indalia wasn’t the best; now was not the time to be frightened to death—even though technically he had already died.

  Reaching forward, his hand found the internal latch for the vat. Why hadn’t Gomez and Jess opened it for him? He thought briefly that something had gone wrong. Was the Moby even safe? How long had he actually been in here?

  He twisted it and pulled. Nothing. What the hell?

  Panic set in, but Charles focused instead. He knew he had to get out of here. He tried again and realized his hand hadn’t twisted properly; the vat door now opened. Light filtered inside and so did fresh air.

  When he stepped out into the lab, he saw Jess holding onto Gomez, who was crying. The two of them seemed not to have noticed him at all.

  “What’s going on, guys?” he asked.

  Jess turned around, seemingly in slow motion.

  Oh, crap. I’m operating at high speed. Charles focused and slowed down all the processes that were going on around him. When Jess threw her arms around him and cried, he could do nothing but just hold on to her and try not to squeeze too tightly.

  Gomez threw his arms around the both of them, despite not quite being able to wrap his arms about both their frames.

  “What did you do?” Gomez finally asked.

  Charles glanced to the vat. “You thought I was dead? I couldn’t join the net, so I stopped the process. I guess I confused all the sensors out here too?”

  Gomez moved away and gave Charles the once-over. “Complete makeover…would the gals love to do that. You look good.”

  Charles finally glanced down. There was no pudgy belly anymore and for the first time in his life, he had abs. He also noticed he was pretty darned naked. “Oh, my!” With a thought, his nanites responded and covered his skin, hiding his immodesty.

  “So, now what?” Gomez asked.

  Charles moved to take a seat, using his newly found speed to his advantage. The data from his transformation gave him much pause for thought, but what he really found interesting was all the vids and links from the mergers over the recent events on Indalia. “The Maraukians…” he said, then faltered. “Everything we thought about them is wrong.”

  Jess stared over his shoulder at the multiple screens he’d been watching. “I don’t see anything different,” she said.

  “No, it’s not just the vid. It’s the sounds with them.” Charles tapped the side of his head. “Tuning out all the other mergers and not joining the net, I can see it.” Charles tried to stand, but wobbled. “Man, this takes some getting used to. I need to speak to Mark.”

  Jess frowned at him. “Mark’s here. They’ve been recuperating and healing almost as long as you’ve been in the tanks.”

  “See!” Gomez laughed. “Just join the net!”

  “No, I can’t. They already know something is wrong. I need to speak to him the old-fashioned way, to explain.”

  “Then I’ll fetch him,” Jess said. “If I can get in and out without causing any bother.”

  Gomez smiled at her. “I’m more than sure I can cause a distraction.”

  When she’d gone, Gomez called out all the other medics from Mark’s side of the med bay.

  Charles pointed at the screen. He didn’t want to do this, but he had to. “We need to figure this out, and he’s gotta understand why I did this.” Tapping screen after screen, he let out a sigh and turned to Gomez.

  “I hope so too.” Gomez coughed.

  Chapter 78

  SLS Moby

  Indalia Orbit, Otarvi System

  8/3555

  Mark woke up. Information flooded in. He searched for those connections for his fellow mergers, but nothing answered. Only ten other people were connected to the net and then one anomaly.

  Mark didn’t want to focus on the anomaly as it could just be an echo from one ot eh NIAI’s that hadn’t been destroyed. He didn
’t know if he could deal with that right now. That familiar feeling that turned one’s stomach and made them feel insignificant and useless. He’d failed them. They’d placed trust in him; they’d left their humanity behind, and even sacrificed their remains and armor just to help their fellow mergers.

  He reviewed the information on the others. They were all healing well and would take some time before they woke up.

  Mark didn’t want to move from his bed as medicos checked on him before they left.

  Someone cleared their throat and opened the curtain. Mark looked over and saw Jess there.

  “Mark, Charles did something,” Jess said.

  Mark didn’t want to do anything. Even keeping his eyes open seemed to be a chore as he sunk deeper into his depression. “What?” He looked at her with dead eyes.

  “He—” Jess looked away, as if not sure of how to say it.

  “He turned himself into a merger. He must be the anomaly on the net,” Sarah said.

  “He did what?” Mark yelled, rising from his bed. A vicious look appeared on his face as he merged, sending his mind through the Moby to where Charles was. He remotely accessed Charles, who went as stiff as a board, his victorious face turning pale.

  Becoming a merger was something that those sixty-three people had fought for, for months, going through some of the hardest training imaginable. For Charles to take it upon himself and use the information he had gathered on the mergers and turn himself into one was a stab in the back.

  If this was to get out that someone was able to do it without the training, then there might be all kinds of people looking to gain power trying to become mergers.

  This was Pandora’s box and Charles had opened it out of sheer curiosity.

  In that moment, Mark rewrote all of the connection code, locking Charles out of the net and limiting his ability to use his enhancements. Mark had feared that this sort of thing might happen, so he’d worked to make a way to immobilize a merger at long range so that only those who were trusted by all of the mergers could become one.