An Empire is Born (Maraukian War Book 3)

by Michael Chatfield

  Mark snorted. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Desialias Residence

  Tricticus, Emarl System

  10/3555

  Hael watched the funeral procession. It had been a rare sight when so many people were dying. When they had been fighting the Maraukians, there had been no time to hold a funeral.

  As such, a new custom had started: the dead were laid to rest while the family, who many times weren’t allowed to see the body due to its state, went to the Wall of Remembrance.

  Today, once again, military and civilian members entered this holy ground, a section of wall that was covered in the shields of the fallen. The wall, cast with the melted-down metal, was rough and unkept.

  His wife gripped his hand, sensing the emotions that stirred in Hael’s heart. He gave her a smile as he ascended the stairs to the podium that had been set up today for this sad event.

  Silence fell over the people as they stopped. Some people fought back tears; others gripped their fists tight to hold back their emotions.

  These were people who had served with the fallen, or grown up with them. So many of Crisidium’s youth were now part of the military, serving on the front lines every day to bring a new future for their people.

  “Chyna Taleel, Radis Kallo, Joreen Weloi, and Hedar Osori. Today these names will be put to rest on this wall, but they are not just names. They are not just an engraving. They are people of Crisidium who made the ultimate sacrifice for their friends, brothers and sisters, for us.” Hael let out a shaky breath.

  “Nothing I say will remove the pain. Our losses have been too great over the past years and our hearts are already scarred from those we have lost. More might be asked of us in the future. I wish that we could just become farmers, go back to the times when we could enjoy the setting sun with a drink in our hands and think of the beauty of the day instead of the lost ones that, like the sun, have fallen, leaving our lives in darkness. These brave men and women lost their lives for us. To make them proud, we must live on, to try to live lives that they weren’t able to. I can’t say that this is the end of the fighting. Only that we have entered a new chapter of this war.”

  Hael didn’t stand there, proudly declaring their coming victory; he could only tell them the truth. This might just be the beginning.

  “Whoever comes, whatever creed, whatever race, if they want to step on us, let them remember the people on this wall. Let them remember that while their shields broke, they created a wall—a wall covered in the blood spent and lives lost.” Hael’s voice became angry, savage even, as he looked at those people in the crowd.

  “We do not want war, we do not crave battle, but if our enemies wish to attack us, we will defend. When they wish to retreat, we will surge forward and when they attempt to hold, we will crush them. For the first time in Tricticus’s history, since the beginning, we are united! Thirteen cities standing together! Our skies have been opened by the Victor Corporation and our arms strengthened by their training. We will stand by this wall, and we will push forward, so that maybe one day, one of our younger generations can farm this war-torn land and can look upon this wall filled with pride and strength. That they will not need to carry weapons but instead carry our hopes and pursue a free future!”

  The people looked at him, their eyes still wet and a few of them trying to hide the wet streams that fell on their cheeks.

  Hael looked away, tears on his own face as he thought of the people he had commanded, the people he had known who had fallen.

  There were just too many of them.

  The procession continued as three people, two carrying a laser etcher and a woman, stepped up to the wall.

  One was Julieus, Hael’s son and Chyna’s nephew; the other Taleel. They placed the engraver against the wall; Taleel’s mother slowly placed her trembling hand on the etcher.

  The etcher’s lasers fired up as she let out a sob. Hael’s wife placed her hands on either shoulder.

  Chyna’s wife fell into her, crying as the etcher finished.

  The group moved away as the next stepped forward. An all-military group stepped up for Radis Kallo. His parents had died but his three brothers and two sisters survived on. All of them had served and now there was just three remaining.

  This scene was all too normal across Tricticus.

  Hael watched as parties moved up to the wall, leaving their mark and their close one’s names.

  I wonder how many more names will be added by the end of it. Hael gritted his teeth against the surge of pain that came from deep within. He glanced at the wall filled with names already, and the extra space left for those who might join their fallen brothers and sisters.

  Chapter Sixteen

  VCF Osdal

  In Transit to Emarl System

  10/3555

  Charles glanced up from his work to see Gomez and Jess staring at him. “What?” he asked.

  Jess’s eyes seemed to widen, but it was Gomez who broke the awkward silence that fell between them.

  “We need to talk.”

  Charles looked at the files spread out on his three monitors. His mind worked so fast he had to force himself to slow down to their level. “I’ve just got to finish…”

  Jess put her hand on him and he raised an eyebrow at her. “Seriously, Charles. Please.”

  He glanced from her to Gomez, not knowing why the serious attitude. “Is this some kind of intervention?”

  “Actually,” Gomez sat before him, letting out a big puff of breath, “I know things have changed since you merged. But there’s some things that we need to sort out. Jess and I’ve been talking with Maxine. You’re working yourself to the bone to try to make it up to Mark and the others for what we did.”

  Charles noticed Maxine working away in the background. She saw him and nodded his way. “I’m with them,” she said.

  “I don’t need to sleep more than a few hours a week or eat all that much anymore. You guys can’t try to keep up with me,” Charles said.

  Jess frowned. Before, Charles had been the type to get wrapped up so deep in his work that he would forget to eat and drink some days. Now with his merger body, forgetting to do these things or even sleeping was fine.

  She knew that guilt fueled him and made him push past his limits. In the last two months, he had produced more things than he had done in the last five years. With his ability to instantly integrate knowledge his NIAI had acquired, if he had a problem he could find a solution to it or at least find a direction to go in to find a solution with enough time.

  His ability to use nanites meant that he had hooked himself up to a nanite vat every waking hour, acting like another fabber to produce more items.

  With him pushing himself, he had forgotten the others who worked around him. To try to capitalize on everything he came up with, they had been working long hours and meals were being sent to their desks as they didn’t have the time to leave.

  Some of them had even been put on medical leave by medical staff.

  Charles blinked a few times as he actually focused on them.

  Gomez’s eyes were gaunt, his face pale; gray hairs sprouted through a now scraggly beard. Jess looked as though she’d not showered or changed clothes in a week, and had also lost about ten pounds.

  “Oh.” It dawned on him then what he’d done. Although it had been fine for him to work consistently with no sleep, with no real food, it wasn’t fine for them. He knew he’d been overdoing it, but he’d also been pushing them. Without them by his side to bounce things off to finalize plans, even from his own much faster mind, he’d worried. So, they’d stuck by him almost…

  “Twenty hours a day,” his NIAI informed him.

  “I’m sorry. You’re trying to keep up with me, and it isn’t working, is it?”

  “Charles, we love you. We love working with you, but…” Jess rested a hand on the back of Gomez’s shoulder. “No,” she stated. “We’re exhausted. Everything
you’re doing work-wise, science-wise is amazing. You’re breaking concepts apart we’d never even thought of. But we can’t keep up with you.”

  “Don’t worry. You guys need to rest and that’s fine. It might be a bit slower but having you guys burn out would be even worse. I’ve been so focused I forgot about your limits.” Charles scratched his head awkwardly.

  Gomez cleared his throat and the others looked at him.

  “I talked to the mergers. It’s clear the advantages of becoming a merger. I’ve been a bachelor most of my life. I spend more time in a lab than seeing other people to have a relationship. I’m nearly eighty years old. I don’t want children either, so taking the next step isn’t all that hard for me.”

  “What are you talking about?” Charles asked.

  “I talked to them and they said that they’ll make me a merger if I really want it. I’ll have to go through some basic fighting training to defend myself but you won’t be the only person tearing it up in here.” Gomez grinned.

  “I talked to them as well. They said that it would be okay,” Maxine said in a small voice.

  Jess looked at them both with wide eyes. Charles was also stunned by what they said.

  “If you’re doing this because of me…” Charles said, feeling guilty.

  “I’m not doing it because of you, Charles. I’m doing it because I think it’s the right thing to do. Seeing what you’re able to do—if we were to merge and then work together, wouldn’t our efforts be multiplied?” Maxine asked.

  Charles couldn’t argue against that position. But… “Then you wouldn’t be able to have children, or change back. You’d be a merger blend of machine and person for the rest of your life—heck for all eternity possibly!”

  “Well, at least we’ll have good company,” Gomez said.

  Jess looked awkward as they talked to one another. “I, I can’t.” Jess shook her head. “I might be an engineer; I might spend my time in a lab, but I want to have a family sometime. If I became one, then I would lose that. I wouldn’t be able to have a family or kids or any of it.”

  “It’s fine,” Gomez said.

  “It’s not! If I don’t and you all are, then how will I be able to help you? I won’t be able to merge, or be a part of the team anymore!” Jess said.

  “You will always be a part of our team,” Charles said.

  “I…I just need some time.” With that, Jess turned and left the lab quickly.

  Maxine, Gomez, and Charles watched her leave.

  Becoming a merger wasn’t for everyone and they had made their decisions. It looked as though Jess had made hers as well.

  Charles just hoped that it wouldn’t tear their team apart.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Senator Rimateus’s Estate

  Roma, Hellenic System

  10/3555

  The hologram closed as Rimateus’s easy smile turned into a snarl and he threw a glass at the wall.

  “Talking to me about my lost voting points! Fucking piece of shit, who do you think you are!” Rimateus’s veins popped out while he fought to control himself. He wanted nothing more than to punch Senator Fehin.

  Rimateus already knew it: he had been slowly but steadily losing voting points over the last couple of months. The worst part was he knew why and he couldn’t do anything.

  Someone was passing information to the different ex-legionnaire people who supported them.

  He didn’t know who the person was but it seemed that they had quite the reputation from the effect it was having.

  If he lost enough points, then his position, which had been stable for so long, would start to weaken. And then the enemies that he had made across the Union might be able to use this to push him down further.

  He couldn’t let this happen but he didn’t know who the source was. Although he could get the information that showed him meddling in the affairs of Otarvi system, the information made it clear that this was not all that Rimateus had done.

  More than anything, Rimateus needed to silence this person.

  If they were to have real information on him and then release it to the public, he might truly lose his position.

  His thoughts turned to the people in Otarvi who he had an issue with, primarily the people of the Victor Corporation.

  Before they had even left the system, he had been talking with his fellow senators.

  If there was another power out there with military capabilities and an Alcubierre drive, it might destabilize the situation within the alliance.

  They could deal with Earth and Her Colonies but this was a wild group that they didn’t understand, with technology that was more advanced than their own.

  A plan had started to form. Although they might not be able to directly act, it was possible that they could act through some pawns.

  The fighting forces in the Union were a few mercenary bands, private security, and the legion. Few, if any, of the people in these different groups would be willing to go up against an entire solar system.

  Though there was now a new strength and group of pawns that they could deal with: the corporations of Earth. They had people, resources, and money. They were also the kind to do deals and were much easier to handle.

  They had already started to send out some feelers to the different corporations. Primarily the ones in Luyten. Luyten was the closest system to the Hellenic system and it was well developed, second only to Earth.

  With a large population base, there was a greater need for forces to suppress the rest of the population.

  They also had a high traffic of ships and some shipyards. With a population of three billion, it was possible to raise a fighting force from them, update ships in-system, and form a base of operations for striking out against the Emarl system.

  With promises and deals being brokered on both sides, the senators had nearly all of the parts in place. They just needed to get some of their more trusted friends to sell parts to the Luyten corporations, mainly Alcubierre drives.

  Although they weren’t military types, they all knew that the longer they left the Emarl system alone, the harder it would be to defeat it.

  With the EHC attacking Emarl, the senators could not only make a deal with the Luyten corporations to protect them, they could make the case that the EHC and Emarl system needed the guiding hand of the Union. If they weren’t part of the Union, they might bring trouble to all of humanity.

  With this, they could support their chosen corporations to take control over the EHC and bring them under the Union’s control.

  It didn’t matter whether there were people rebelling on planets; they’d just be protesters against the survival of humanity.

  To the people in the Union who had liberated these people, they wouldn’t care whether these ungrateful systems were left to fend for themselves, or that they had to pay much higher prices in resources as it was harder for ships to reach them, increasing the profits of the merchants and the senators they lobbied.

  If he pulled it off, Rimateus would be seen as a paradigm of virtue and the rumors would disappear—along with the one saying them.

  Then he could also gain more power than ever before through backhanded dealings, pushing his family to even greater heights.

  Already the first delivery of parts was on the way. But Rimateus needed more, many more, if the attack on Emarl was to succeed.

  Information had closed down in the couple of months since the Yard had moved into the system.

  Rimateus and his people had looked into the system and the numbers of people they were able to gather. His different military advisers told him that it would be nearly impossible for Emarl to defend against their forces.

  Still, he pushed for the growing Luyten Military Force to get not only Alcubierre drives, but older weapon system plans and armor.

  The Harmony’s chosen had battle armor and the troopers showed that they had improved on it.

  He didn’t just want to defeat the people in Emarl—he wanted to destroy them.
To make sure it didn’t come back on him, he had added his own operatives to the mission to make sure that there weren’t any major problems and to keep the ships running.

  If the Luyten force was defeated, Rimateus was sure that he could hide it after some time and then turn it into a secret ace if he needed it.

  The emperor’s position seems less and less stable every year. With these thoughts, Rimateus was able to calm down as he opened up his NIAI and continued to check on his different plans.

  The loss of his voter points was only a small lapse, before he made his greatest gain.

  Chapter Eighteen

  VCF Osdal

  In Transit to Emarl System

  10/3555

  Mark finished off his run while he took in all the other info from his NIAI and the other mergers. He headed off to the showers though he didn’t need to physically do it; he wanted the feel of something normal. The water ran over him, and he let the nanites take what they wanted from it and discard anything they didn’t.

  Thoughts plagued him, not only from his darker past but from more recent events. Sectioning those off from the wider net, Mark allowed himself the time to wallow both in and out of the shower. There was a lot going on around him and new mergers meant a lot more emotional dealings. The theory was great: having more firepower to do the hard tasks they were asked of. But the reality was no matter how much you tried to keep personalities and the other people at bay, they eventually found their way inside the mind and were soon a permanent fixture.

  Sarah kept the reports coming in. Though he wasn’t focused on them, it at least kept him a little distracted.

  Then his thoughts drifted to Jerome and Esamai. With the love they had, it was hard for him to see his brother in pain every day. Not being with his wife and child.

  Without even knowing it, Mark started to think about Ava and what had transpired after they’d been reunited on Osdal. Merging with her at that level was something else entirely, and although the shower was warm, his body shivered, not even needing to—his nanites kept everything regular as clockwork.