Fernix (Harmony War Book 4)

by Chatfield,Michael

  Factory roofs disappeared as rounds hit the moon, the impacts sending the factories into the air or across the planet like so much other floating debris.

  The Blue Moon rolled with the vicious hits, but Hall’s attention was quickly turned to the flight controllers’ information feeds. They didn’t have nearly as much ammunition as he hoped and he knew that the Chosen weren’t going to take the attack lying down. It might have bought them a few hours to get more people out, though once the Chosen engaged someone, anyone...

  Hall suppressed a chill that ran down his spine.

  Have to hope that the flight control is exaggerating the numbers, he thought.

  Chapter 66

  Factory Complex Three

  Blue Moon, Fernix System

  3/3296

  “Here they come,” Hamdi, one of the two surviving Fox Regiment lieutenants, said. Yule, the other, had remained in the Foxes while Hamdi had come across to the Devil Dogs.

  Jerome moved his Repulsors, making sure that they hadn’t become stuck. His augments removed any signs of fatigue and made him more alert than any unaltered human in existence.

  Red carats started appearing as Chosen crossed through the sensor sticks that had been laid out beyond the lines. Some had run out of power, others had been destroyed by fighting or the Chosen.

  They still had enough out there to get a good view of the Chosen force that was rushing in from multiple directions at full tilt from a kilometer away.

  “PACs,” Tyler said, confirming Jerome’s thoughts. The Chosen were pulling out their PACs again though, by the numbers, it looked like there was a good number of regular Chosen thrown in too.

  “Fearless, this is Devil Dogs, looking for weapons fire to our front, Chosen moving to our position.” Jerome looked to either side, and saw the Troopers that were ready and waiting for the Chosen to make their appearance.

  “Devil Dogs, this is Fearless fire control. We see targets, will coordinate with the Carrier Dauntless to get supporting fire,” Fearless’ fire control said.

  “Understood. Waiting. Out,” Jerome said.

  AMRs fired from behind the forward lines in their own dugouts and positions, hitting the Chosen that were coming into view.

  “Wait for it,” Tyler cautioned. Jerome nestled behind his gun, watching the approaching PACs that were firing across the crater-pocked ground left by multiple artillery, Carrier and Combat Shuttle strikes.

  ‘Cept now the Combat Shuttles are trying to get us out of here as fast as possible. The Carriers have limited ammunition and the damned artillery is already back aboard the Carriers! Jerome gnashed his jaws together, watching the advancing PACs. A lucky shot hit the cermite pillbox he was in and he flinched, cursing the bastard under his breath. Jerome looked around at the other gunners. They too were waiting with their mounted guns.

  “Jerome?” Tyler asked, a note of anxiousness in his voice.

  “I don’t know where the fire is. I’ll call them up again,” Jerome said, answering the question in Tyler’s voice, switching to his channel with Fearless’ fire control.

  “Fearless, this is Devil Dogs, where the fuck is my support fire?” Jerome asked, his voice harsh.

  “Dauntless said that they would liaise with you,” Fearless’ fire controller said, sounding perplexed.

  “Well get me that fucking fire, right fucking now!”

  “Sir.”

  “Well, it looks like we’re going to start this party without the Carriers,” Tyler said, his voice tight. “Fire!”

  Jerome and every Trooper along the line opened up with their Repulsors. Their wave of fire added Chosen to the dead that tried to cross where factories had been reduced to support beams and craters.

  In the low gravity, the bodies were thrown backwards into their fellows, before being brushed aside. The PACs hammered them out of the way, crushing bodies that had fallen on the ground.

  The Chosen closed the distance, approaching to just two hundred meters when artillery started raining down on them. The fire was close. It killed the Chosen but it also fucked up the Troopers’ ability to see.

  “Fire control! Danger fucking close, you’re going to hit our own fucking people! Get that fire moved back a few hundred meters!” Jerome yelled. If he made it off Blue Moon, he was going to have some serious fucking words with whomever was controlling those guns over on Dauntless.

  “Seen, working with Dauntless, they’re all fucked up over there,” fire control said, sounding pissed off.

  “Get it dealt with!” Jerome snapped, shutting the channel. He didn’t have any more time to deal with the controller or his idiot secondary on Dauntless.

  Jerome saw some new targets on his HUD, relying on the sensor sticks that were getting pounded on by their own fire support to find the Chosen.

  The fire support fucked off and the Chosen were still just a few hundred meters away. They’d amassed more of their forces under the cover of the Carrier.

  Jerome didn’t need to use enemy carats to see his targets, guiding his red tracer line across the Chosen’s advancing front, but it was getting hard to see what were floating bodies and what were enemy combatants.

  Jerome sought out PACs; they were the real threat in all the mess. He took down a number of them, but the Chosen were still advancing, and there was little more that the Troopers could do.

  It was math. Weapon fire versus armor and numbers. The Chosen had decent armor and more people.

  Chosen regulars started making it into the trenches, only to be greeted with PA wearing Troopers. A good hit or burst from the Troopers left them mangled and flying away.

  “Prepare to pull back to the second line,” Tyler called. They didn’t want to hold the first line anyway. It looked impressive, but they had a Regiment to cover a distance meant for an entire force.

  “By the numbers!” Tyler called out just a few minutes later. Jerome grabbed the mounted Repulsor assembly; the ammunition boxes had been welded to it for just this reason.

  No normal human could have lifted the creation back on Earth, but on the Blue Moon and with the strength of the powered armor it was a different matter.

  Jerome moved faster than the fastest augmented humans on Earth. He used the sides of the trench like sides of a pool, the low gravity allowing him to jump through the trenches back to the second line. He covered the open ground to the second line and set up at the new position.

  He checked over the indicators that showed Two Platoon, under Dominguez’ command, was with him.

  Jerome slapped his gun into place, and Troopers were yelling with sergeants and officers moving around to make sure everyone was in the right place. Then they started firing over One and Three Platoons, right into the teeth of the Chosen.

  It seemed that no one was interested in giving them any kind of fire support, and One and Three Platoons pulled back, rushing to their new positions.

  “Jerome, where the hell is your fire support?” Yu asked, breaking into his helmet.

  “No fucking idea. Dauntless fucked up hard. You know anyone in the area?”

  There were a few minutes, as One and Three Platoons were getting into their positions and adding their fire back at the Chosen. They hadn’t lost any Troopers yet, though Jerome didn’t even try to think that would continue. To do so would only bring on bad luck.

  “Jerome! Got some people coming in with fire support, linking you,” Young said.

  “Thanks, Young.” Jerome hadn’t talked to her since Haas had died, and unbidden memories came into his mind. He cursed himself for thinking of Haas and those that he had lost, now was not the time.

  Combat Shuttles came in low and fucking deadly, their weapons leaving lines of tracers through the sky, as plumes of dust and dead bodies showed where they’d landed. Missiles rushed down to meet the ground, explosions adding more dust to the sky and clearing out the Chosen that were just starting to enter the trenches. Troopers were keeping the ones that had already made it in contained.

  Th
e Combat Shuttles’ auto-turrets and cannon blared above, catching the Chosen’s front.

  With their fire and the Devil Dog’s fire they were able to hold the Chosen back.

  “Hit them with missiles,” Jerome said.

  A moment later missiles tracked into the middle of the Chosen, throwing them like rag dolls. The Chosen stopped advancing and started running.

  “The Combat Shuttles don’t have much ammo left, they’re going for refill. I’ll get talking to some Carriers, see if we can’t get you some constant fire support,” Young said.

  “Thanks.”

  “No worries, Jerome,” she said, her voice softening. They might be soldiers, but they were all friends. They’d risked their lives together, making a bond that was hard to break.

  Jerome opened a channel to Tyler. “Young is looking to get our fire support sorted out.”

  “Good.” Tyler opened the channel to the lieutenants. “Secure the trenches, looks like we’ve pushed them back for now. I want us to stay at this position instead of pushing back up to the front lines. Check the charges in the trench’ walls, and activate the mines that are in the open land and in the trenches. I intend to make the bastards pay for every inch they come into our camp.”

  Green lights showed up as orders were passed and Troopers were sent out to clear out any Chosen hiding in the trenches.

  Just an hour to go, Jerome thought, looking to his mounted Repulsor and setting it firmly into the firing step that had been cut into the trench, so that the Repulsor’s barrels were above the trench’s lip.

  ***

  Ten minutes to go, Alexis thought. They had left a Section of Troopers at the secondary lines as the rest had filed out onto their Combat Shuttles.

  Now, the Chosen were showing activity, and not just on the surface. Fighters were launching, heading right for the Carriers, or for Combat Shuttles.

  Cold panic rushed through her as a Combat Shuttle that was leaving fired on a fighter accelerating at a hellish speed. It had come out of the Blue Moon’s factories’ atmosphere streaking behind it as it slammed into the side of the Combat Shuttle. Both craft went up in a fiery explosion, the debris rushing away from the Blue Moon.

  Alexis wanted to resurrect the Chosen bastard just to kill them again. She closed her eyes and sighed, looking at her maps.

  Dooks had been on that shuttle, now there was just Yule’s Platoon left.

  The Section that had been left behind were firing everything they had at the oncoming Chosen. A few of their rounds found an extra little surprise as Chosen exploded.

  “They’re wearing fucking explosives,” Mark cursed. “Pull back to the fourth line, prime the explosives and mines.”

  Combat Shuttles came down with heavy machines guns firing into the sky and Carriers fired back at them. The Chosen had put their guns up on the roofs of the factories again as the Combat Shuttles were preoccupied and heading to the same places. It made them predictable and easy targets.

  Alexis ducked for cover as fire came over the landing pad, and she laid down, firing back at the Chosen. Combat Shuttles fired over the top, with Troopers piling in and the craft taking off as fast as possible.

  Mines and explosive vests went off among the Chosen, slowing their advance. The incoming and exiting Combat Shuttles sowed their own death with auto-cannon and turrets.

  “Move it, Alexis!” Mark ordered. Alexis wanted to argue; he always made everyone leave before him. But he was her commanding officer.

  “Sir!” she said, turning and running with other Troopers for a Combat Shuttle that was coming into a hover. The Troopers ran up it as it skimmed over the cleared factory floor.

  She was one of the last in. The cargo master hit the emergency shut, and the ramp snapping up closed as the Combat Shuttle’s engines roared to life and took off.

  ***

  Mark didn’t pay attention to the shuttles taking off as he and the last Sections pulled back onto the landing pad. The Chosen were still having one hell of a time getting through all the mines.

  A few got to the other side and Mark triggered the explosives in the trench’ walls. They were cut down with directed shrapnel that ripped through the thickest PAC armor.

  It stalled the Chosen, but they could smell Trooper blood, and nothing was going to stop them as they continued to charge forwards.

  Mark and the remaining Troopers fired everything they had at the Chosen, making any progress hell.

  Combat Shuttles weren’t even landing as Troopers piled onto them. Dead lay strewn across the landing pad, with some bolt-action rifles hitting the retreating Troopers.

  Others with wounds were hauled into craft, which took off as soon as they were all aboard.

  Fighters were rushing towards Carriers. Mark could see the occasional explosion above, and tracer fire. He didn’t have time to care about that as he searched out Chosen targets.

  “Final lift, move!” Tyler yelled as the last four Combat Shuttles came in. None of the Troopers needed any more encouragement; they got to their feet and set off at the almost horizontal skating pace that they used to move fast.

  Magnetic leads grabbed onto shuttles, speeding up the process as people piled in. Mark was the last in, and he turned himself around as he crashed into the Combat Shuttle.

  He saw Chosen making it past the third line of defense as the shuttle piled on the power. Mark felt himself being propelled back towards the rear of the shuttle, fear gripping him as he thought he was going to fall out.

  “Fuuuck!” he yelled, as the ramp slammed closed and Mark’s feet hit it.

  “You okay?” Tyler asked, sounding anxious as hell.

  “Near pissed myself, thought that the ramp wouldn’t close in time.”

  Tyler laughed out of relief and Mark found himself laughing too as they headed away from Blue Moon. Their fight for Fernix and the Blue Moon was over.

  Now they had to prepare to defend Earth from Harmony. If they didn’t, then all of their losses, all of their fighting, would be for nothing.

  Chapter 67

  Tower

  Earth, Sol System

  4/3296

  “The Troopers have been extracted from the Blue Moon and are reforming into units that will fight in Sol,” Wallace said.

  Nivad looked to Dalia, the only other person in the room. “How are we looking on Earth?”

  “People were not pleased with all of the pulling out from Blue Moon,” Dalia said. “Some people are saying that it makes us look like a bunch of cowards. If we can show the Troopers going back to retake and control the Blue Moon before we fight here on Earth, it will make it look like a brilliant tactical decision.”

  “Have we been able to contain the fact that Harmony is coming here?” Nivad asked.

  “No,” Dalia said.

  “Good.” Nivad knew that no one would be able to keep a secret like that forever, so he’d made sure to talk to a few of the people that were looking to take power from him, or that had been staunch supporters, telling them that Harmony was coming.

  It rewarded his supporters and put those who wanted to take his power in his pocket.

  “What have been the Troopers’ suggestions on defenses?” Nivad asked.

  “Our agent has promoted a Major Ortiz to the rank of general. They are saying that it will take a few weeks as the Troopers game out various situations. Ammunition and replacements for the broken or lost equipment are among the top requirements,” Dalia said.

  “See that they have it. While they are making their way to Earth, we need to secure our position at the top of Earth and Her Colonies. We cannot have the companies squabbling, especially in the middle of a war for Sol. We will have enough troubles without companies using the chaos to act out old grudges on their opponents,” Nivad said looking at the other two. They looked less pleased talking about that than they did about the oncoming war.

  They still can’t wrap their heads around the fact that there will be fighting on Earth, or, at the very least, in Sol. Their
lives are in danger, but they don’t know war other than the entertainment and the numbers they see on a screen. They know political standing and companies. It will be good to have them focus on that instead of the fact that if Harmony wins then we will be all executed. Or the fact that we might even die among the battles.

  Nivad didn’t understand war, but he never felt emotions for himself or others. Dalia and Wallace did, but then, when they watched the Troopers fighting and dying, it was like a sports match for them. They were detached like Nivad, and it made them good controllers.

  “I approved the requests; the agent has been asking about information on strong points, full layouts of Mega City and every other populated city that houses companies. They also asked for information on any defenses already in place,” Dalia said.

  “Give him the ones of the companies and such, let’s keep the tower’s and any other ministry locations’ defenses to ourselves,” Nivad said. The agent from Masoul had proved themself to be invaluable, though Nivad had never met them and he didn’t want to give away secrets that only a select few knew. “What about the space defenses of the system?”

  “We are giving our contracts to companies that have been good supporters, or that we have enough leverage over to make sure that they don’t share plans or sell weapons on to others. I have contacted The Yard to make the hulls of the fighters based on the earlier space fighters. They will produce two hundred, handing them over to other companies to be fitted with controls, interfacing hardware, and weapons. Our recruiters are looking at the EMF applicants, and picking out suitable fighter pilots. We will be starting the school from scratch, but we have fifty years to do it in and we have all of the histories of Earth’s previous space-navies,” Wallace said.

  “Good, I want to also have long-range projections of possible uses of the fighters. Having them able to harass targets on colonies afterwards will be useful.” Nivad knew there was a lot of money going into making these fighter craft, and he didn’t want them to be useless once the battle of Earth was done.