Wraithkin (The Kin Wars Saga Book 1)

by Jason Cordova

  Gabriel came to a stop suddenly and threw himself flat, with Esau and Beeker following suit milliseconds later. Gabriel held his arm out and activated his command screen.

  “Activate the dragonfly,” Gabriel ordered the suit.

  Acknowledged, the suit replied and a miniscule fleck of dust rose from Gabriel’s arm. The speck zipped closer to Gabriel’s helmet and his tracking display zoomed in. Magnifying the small fleck revealed an elongated form with twin wings beating furiously as it hovered just above his helmet, reminiscent of an Earth-born dragonfly. It was the finest piece of recon equipment the Dominion had ever created, though nobody outside of the Wraith Corps was ever going to admit their equipment was far superior to that of the Navy when it came to recon.

  “Recon, passive only, order command sequence Gamma Zulu Two Four,” Gabriel intoned, looking over the security codes hardwired into his implant. “Ten-minute observation time then head to the magnetic north. Avoid detection and scan grid area one-three-four-six-six-two. Feed burst every ten seconds. If detected, power down and self-immolate. End sequence.”

  Acknowledged, the miniscule device answered and the dragonfly zipped away, towards the nearby Abassi. Gabriel watched it go for a moment before he tucked his head down and activated the view from the dragonfly.

  “I hope this works,” Gabriel muttered under his breath as the shifting winds began to kick up, a portent of a coming storm. He sighed and settled in for the wait as the dragonfly dipped and weaved in the gusts of wind. He didn’t have to wait long.

  The information feed came through onto his screen immediately as the dragonfly fed him data about the Sharks and what they were doing. The two vehicles were moving carefully through the valley. Gabriel watched through the dragonfly feed as the turrets turned right and left repeatedly. He blinked before he remembered he had set the relay from the tiny spy to one burst every ten seconds. He gave himself a mental shake.

  “No sign of infantry deployment,” Gabriel told the rest of the squad through his secure channel. He glanced at the two suits with him. “Do not let any of the Abassi deploy. I want this quick and clean. Esau, prepare to jam them.”

  “Got it,” his friend replied quickly. Gabriel looked back at the feed of the dragonfly and frowned.

  “Markus, you in position?”

  “Yeah,” Markus acknowledged. “We’re ready here.”

  Gabriel let out a deep breath. Now or never, he thought and lifted his left arm. He aimed low on the Shark that was almost half of a kilometer away. It’s almost too easy of a shot, he thought as he prepared the anti-vehicle kinetic HEAVY round in case anybody missed.

  Let’s see if I’m any good at this war business.

  “Execute.”

  A bright light streaked out from behind the Sharks and exploded as it impacted the farthest vehicle from Gabriel. The armor of the transport blew apart as the missile from Markus detonated, the shrapnel from the tiny explosive head knocking the Shark sideways. A secondary explosion blew open the front of the damaged vehicle and Gabriel watched as it began to burn hotly, smoke billowing upwards into the clear sky.

  The front transport began to turn as soon as it realized they were under attack, struggling to move quickly off the exposed road as the Wraiths shifted their focused fire onto it. The turrets began to swivel, searching in vain for a target that was not visible. Two rounds were fired from the Sharks’ turrets, but were nowhere near to where Gabriel and his group were set up. The back door of the transport began to open as it turned sideways, and Gabriel watched as the lithe forms of the aliens began to emerge from the vehicle. In their hands were the deadly scythes the Abassi infantry preferred. Gabriel swallowed as he laid eyes upon the aliens for the first time.

  They were blue, like he’d be taught; a result of their home world’s high concentration of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere. They were shorter than he thought they would be, though he knew they were roughly humanoid in size. They were very broad, with shoulders wider than his, though their arms were slender, lacking any obvious muscle tone. He could not see their eyes behind the slender, armored helmets, though he had read the reports about how the red tint made them appear demonic. Every one of them carried their scythe in an identical position. They were dull and lacking color, but he knew from his kernel that, when powered, they would glow brightly, even in broad daylight. Why they weren’t powered up now, though, he did not know. He made a note of that as he began to inspect what he really wanted more information about – their armor.

  It resembled a typical Marine’s, he decided a moment later. It was similar in size, but he was almost certain it was far tougher. The fact the Abassi could withstand a firefight with Wraiths for more than ten minutes was testament to their toughness. Or, he amended thoughtfully as tension began to make his hands shake, Wraiths are just that bad at shooting, sometimes.

  He took a deep, calming breath and keyed his comm.

  “Esau,” he warned, his eyes tracking the aliens. Needlessly, it turned out; the Abassi began to drop as Esau began to fire into the group, the steady stream of rounds finally began to penetrate their armor, the noise from the gun slightly muffled to his ears. Markus and his group began to pour more fire into them. They tried to hide behind the ruined Shark but with the fire coming in from two directions, there was simply nowhere to go. Gabriel shifted his view and watched as the remaining Shark, now devoid of personnel, managed to get off the road and onto the sandy ground. It was not damaged, a gross oversight on his part. The vehicle began to accelerate, the turrets turning and firing in the direction of where Markus had taken position earlier. Gabriel scowled and swore.

  “Twist, stop that transport,” Gabriel ordered as he readied to fire his HEAVY rounds in case the diminutive Boer missed. “Don’t let it escape.”

  His fears were baseless. A second streak reached out from a different direction and destroyed the Shark, Twist’s aim true as the HEAVY left a thin trail of burnt atmosphere behind it. Pieces of the transport flew from the vehicle as hell-spawned fire raged, devouring the perishable material around it.

  “Damn,” Gabriel whispered in awe, his eyes locked on the raging inferno. He shook his head, an attempt to rid himself of the imagery, and queued his comm. “Esau, they get anything out?”

  “Don’t think so,” his second replied after a moment.

  “Good.”

  “Shit!” Markus cried out suddenly as a small robot erupted from the ruined transport. “Seeker drone!”

  “Pop it!” Gabriel ordered.

  Two HEAVY rounds flew upwards from different firing points as Beeker and Markus targeted the drone. It began to fly away, small engines buzzing angrily as it increased speed. Both rounds missed and the Seeker began to move out of range.

  “Beeker! Get that damned thing before we’re screwed!” Gabriel shouted to the Boer. Beeker bounded to his feet and began to pursue, shooting with his Lynx. He stopped suddenly, steadied it with his other arm and let loose a solid burst. The rounds tore into the seeker drone. Sparking and damaged beyond repair, it lost power and crashed to the ground, destroyed on impact.

  “Status?” Gabriel asked, his pulse racing.

  “Downed. Don’t think it managed to get any info out, either. I’m not entirely sure, doos,” Beeker replied. Gabriel swore under his breath.

  “All right Wraiths. I don’t want to hang around to see if they know we’re here. Twist, Markus, point. Find us a path into the city, preferably one with cover. Esau, make our comms a black hole. Nobody can communicate with us, or triangulate our positioning. Got it?”

  “Uhh...I don’t know how to do that,” Esau admitted. Gabriel sighed.

  “Program, activate company commander nodule for Morales, Esau, acting Company Commander, authorization Division Commander Espinoza, Gabriel. Echo-Echo-Mark-Eight,” Gabriel instructed his suit. Moments later it confirmed his request and a surprise gasp emanated from Esau. Gabriel smiled. “Bet that was a rush, huh?”

  “Holy shit man...the in
formation in this nodule can make loco en mi cabeza,” Esau slipped into Spanish for a moment before he shook his head. “Okay, found it. Black mode? What the hell does that mean?”

  “No idea,” Gabriel answered truthfully. “The amount of data in my nodule I haven’t looked over yet in detail is insane. There’s multiple notes on what the Black mode is, though. I’ll look it up later, when we’re back on the Eye.”

  “If we get back to the Eye,” Esau corrected. “Hey, I’m a Company Commander now? Does that make me your boss again?”

  “Nope, I’m acting Division Commander until verified or rank revoked by the Emperor or the Commandant. Enjoy your power while you have it, mano.”

  “Where’s that little bitch Joshua...?”

  “Don’t make me regret it, Esau,” Gabriel laughed into the comm.

  “Me? Innocent little me?”

  “Lord help me,” Gabriel whispered loudly. Esau chuckled.

  “No worries. Let’s just finish the mission.”

  “Good idea. Beeker, Joshua, secure our flanks. Beeker, once we hit the city proper, join up with the rest of us. Joshua, you’ll go to overwatch.”

  “Awesome.”

  “Damn it.”

  “All right, my little psychotics. Let’s go kill some more aliens.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Darius, I need you in my office,” a voice interrupted his reading. Darius glanced at his datapad and closed the file. Minutes earlier the Justice of the Service had gone in for an emergency meeting with the Laird, and Darius had been anticipating a little downtime for the next hour or so. He had been looking forward to rereading Homer’s The Odyssey.

  He stood and walked over to the Laird’s door, where Christophe’s inner, more private office lay. He tapped twice before entering. The Laird looked up at him as he entered, and motioned for him to take a seat near the door.

  “Take notes,” the Laird instructed. Darius nodded and activated his datapad.

  “Tell me again. How many casualties?” Laird McCarroll asked as he calmly drummed his fingers on the surface of his wooden desk. Across from him was the Justice of the Service, Vijay Rankapurta, Lord Commander of the Dominion Navy. An old friend from primary school, the Justice and the Laird had grown closer since the unfortunate death of Christophe’s father, Darius recalled.

  “Nearly one hundred percent,” the Justice coughed as he looked at his datapad. He slid the screen to one side and brought up another one. “Laser banks placed within the city proper caught the ships off-guard. Nobody knew about them, which is our fault, to a degree. Four divisions of Wraiths are simply gone. We lost the Illiad, the Medusa, the Argo and her sister ship, the Argus. Manning actually got its emergency locator beacon off before the watcher ship lost contact with it. The Prince Ezekiel was lost with all hands, including the entire contingent of Viper escort fighters on board–”

  “Jesus,” the Laird breathed, exhibiting emotion for the first time. Viper escorts, the latest in space warfare, were expensive and extremely limited in number. He wasn’t too concerned about the loss of the Wraiths, however. He looked at his friend. “Tell me you have some good news?”

  “Unconfirmed reports, but I think so,” the Justice acknowledged. “A small number of Wraiths made it through that death trap and landed, and they are currently infiltrating the city proper. Intelligence thinks there might not be enough of them to accomplish the primary objective, however. Plus, the Eye of Solomon survived relatively unscathed, and is remaining on station. Captain Nathan Reukauf in command. Pretty much a dead-end command for anyone his age, the Eye is. I’m not expecting much from him and am almost ready to declare this mission as lost.”

  “Well, then. He can’t retake the planet if those laser banks are still in play,” the Laird mused. He gave his old friend a look. “Especially if the esteemed Justice believes he is incapable.”

  “Well, he may have an easier time had more Wraiths survived. The Wraiths changed their mission parameters, according to reports from the watcher,” his counterpart stated. The darker man scowled. “Right after the new division commander spoke with the Eye of Solomon over their standard comm system, went black. Which, naturally, locked out the watcher. Whoever their new commander is, he’s no dummy.”

  “You mentioned the Eye is remaining on station?” Christophe asked. “Does it have any Viper-fighters?”

  “Yes, it is and no, it does not,” the Justice replied after consulting his pad. “Too small for Vipers. The watcher spotted it circling out by the sixth planet, hiding in the umbra – sorry, the shadow of the planet. So far the Abassi have been content to let it be, though we’ve spotted some signs they’re mobilizing a small task force out of New Israel. Give it four days, five at the most, and the task force will be there. Then there’ll be nowhere for the Eye to hide, and nearly impossible for us to call this mission anything but a bust.”

  “I know what an umbra is. So the mission’s already a bust? And without the Fifth there to counter, it’ll stay their planet,” Christophe grunted. “What are your impressions of this? Should we cut our losses or stay the course?”

  “I’m giving my recommendations to the Emperor in about four hours,” the Justice said. “And I’m recommending we continue to push for control of the planet. We’ve already spent billions on our losses, not counting the manpower we’ve lost. I don’t want these men’s deaths to be in vain. The Navy cannot allow for these types of losses to stand. Plus, one ship and six men? Not worth the cost.”

  “I agree,” Christophe nodded, both men unconcerned about the loss of the Wraiths. They were merely Imperfects, after all, although the loss of their suits was costly. He looked to his left, where Darius was jotting down notes in his datapad. “Darius, is my schedule cleared this afternoon?”

  Darius punched a few commands into his pad before nodding. “It is now, milord.”

  “Good,” the Laird smiled. “Please inform Duncan pressing matters have emerged, and I will not be able to attend his meeting this evening. We can reschedule at his earliest convenience.”

  “Yes, milord,” Darius said and did as he was told, sending a message to Duncan’s personal aide filled with regrets and apologies. Inside, though, his mind was racing. The Laird didn’t have a meeting scheduled this evening with the senator, he remembered. What meeting is he talking about then?

  “I’d like to attend the meeting with the Emperor, old friend,” Christophe said as he turned his attention back to the Justice. “Vijay, I know it’s irregular for someone in my position to ask for an audience, but the Emperor must know what the Upper House thinks of this stunning development.”

  “Not to sound rude, Christophe, but you’re the junior Senator,” Vijay reminded him. “Hunt is the ranking Senator, and he’s already given his approval of the Emperor’s plans.”

  “Which he doesn’t need,” Christophe stated.

  “True,” Vijay allowed.

  “The Shaw House has become atrophied in their subservience to the Emperor,” Christophe argued. “They are fine with the status quo, and kowtow to the Emperor’s whims. The rest of Parliament is not happy with this, and I...guess I’ve sort of become their speaker.”

  “Speaker, eh?” Vijay cocked an eyebrow. He knew his friend had not the background in history he did, but declined to give the needed lesson. “Lord Vittori might be slightly displeased to hear you have usurped his position as Speaker.”

  “Damn it, Vijay!” Christophe exploded. “Then I’m the Opposition Leader, I guess.”

  “That makes more sense,” the Justice nodded. “Something like that is needed, I’ll agree. The Modernists need a voice, a face. Why not you indeed?”

  “It’s a little soon for that,” Christophe muttered, though he was not displeased by the thought. “In the meantime, as a favor...?”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” the Justice said and stood. “I expect funding for the new fleet to continue to be approved by you and your coalition?”

  “Naturally,” Christop
he said, pleased. “The shipyards are already ramping up their preparations for production. Lord Vittori, as you are well aware, is very pleased the shipyards at Juno were chosen to build part of the new fleet. His family has hit a bit of a rough patch lately, with the loss of their sponsored colony on Ptolemy. I’m rather surprised he wasn’t pushing harder for the counterstrike to take place there.”

  “As am I, old friend,” he said and shook the Laird’s hand. “I’ll let you know within the hour whether or not I can get you in on the briefing.”

  “I appreciate it, truly. Darius? Will you show the Justice out?”

  “Yes, Laird,” Darius saved the note and led the Justice out of the inner office. As they approached the outer door, Darius pulled a small red card from his pocket and slipped it into the hand of the Justice.

  “From the Laird?” the Justice asked, looking down at the card.

  “A token of his appreciation,” Darius said. With his free hand, he slipped a miniscule bug into the pocket seam of the Justice. The bug, a small swarm of monomolecular machines the size of a pin head, embedded themselves into the seam of the pocket, where they would remain, undetected.

  “How much?” the Justice asked, unaware of what had just happened.

  “The Laird did mention you had an eye on some property in Surfhead, on Belleza Sutil. I believe this should cover that, as well as the adjoining property for your privacy concerns,” Darius smiled. “The Laird takes care of his friends and allies, milord.”

  “That he does,” the Justice pocketed the red card with a grin. “Thank you, Darius.”

  “I live to serve the Laird,” Darius bowed his head as the Justice left. He smiled as the outer door closed.

  And now I’ve got ears on you as well, you sanctimonious prick.

  #

  Towering over the rest of the city, the Gran Via Capitol was where the royal family conducted the majority of its business. Once a grand mosque, the founder of the Dominion, David Lukas, had turned it into his personal home after gutting it. In the two-plus centuries afterwards, expansion and other rulers had added their unique features to the home, transforming it into a sprawling compound, though still keeping with the integral beauty that Emperor David had in mind.