Star Crusades Uprising: The Second Trilogy

by Michael G. Thomas

  “You know this has to be done. They cannot be trusted, understood? Now, put some of the weapons with the creatures. It needs to looks like they were killed in a breakout.”

  The group nodded and moved about their work, but Hobbs detected a sense of confusion about them. She reached down to her sidearm, her right hand resting gently against it. One of the marines looked back to her.

  “Sir, won’t it look odd if everybody is dead?”

  “Good point, marine, somebody needs to survive this slaughter.”

  She flipped her pistol out with speed and precision, putting two rounds into the man’s head. He was dead before he hit the wall. The other marines spun around in confusion, but she was already amongst them. At this close range they had no chance, and in a matter of seconds they lay dead and slumped to the ground with the rest of the bodies. She stood in the middle of the blood and carnage, smiling to herself. She moved towards one of the cells and pushed the gun into the hand of one of the dead Jötnar. After making sure the hand was pushed around it, she placed her hand back into her black glove and picked up a pistol one of the marines had dropped. She stood back up, walked the length of the corridor and stopped near to where she would have been standing had she just arrived.

  “Spartan, you are going to wish you’d never joined the Corps,” she said happily. Reaching down to her comms unit, she tapped a sequence of keys and then lifted it to her face.

  “It is done. Bring them to the brig, and fast!”

  “Sir.”

  A quick hand gesture on the device wiped any record of the conversation. With a slow turn, she moved the pistol around and pointed it at her leg. She waited though, as there was no immediate rush. This part of the ship was secured from the occupied areas and noisy. There was little chance she would be found for at least a few more minutes. As she waited, she thought back to the battles she had fought for the Confederacy and opportunities she had been given, but until now she had been held back. Now she had full authority to strike the hated enemy, and she intended on making one man pay more than any other.

  “That should do it,” she said quietly to herself. With a quick squeeze, she blasted herself with a single shot. The impact dropped her to the floor. She cried out in pain, but also bizarrely in satisfaction. She hurled the pistol in the direction of the Jötnar and then pulled out an, until now, hidden handgun. This one was heavier duty and modified slightly to her specification. It was actually her regulation pistol, but it was fitted with compensators and a quick mode sight system. A quick tap on her datapad connected her with the security desk.

  “Security, the Jötnar have escaped. They’ve killed the Captain and my marines are trying…” she paused and fired off several shots with her firearm in the direction of the Jötnar bodies. “Hurry, they are coming!”

  Captain Hobbs dropped her datapad to the ground and slumped down, blood still dripping from her wounded leg. She knew it wouldn’t be long until reinforcements arrived. Try as she might, she simply could not disguise the slightest look of satisfaction on her face.

  * * *

  Spartan was becoming bored with having to wake from a daze to find himself in unfamiliar surroundings. But this time something was different. He could feel the cool, damp liquid about his body and thought for a second he might be in water. As he looked about, it was clear to him that wasn’t the case. He was slumped in the corner and against a wall in a darkened part of a ship. He forced himself to think back, but the last thing he remembered was the room with Hobbs and the others. He turned to the right only to feel a dull, throbbing pain in his head.

  “Argh, dammed bastards.”

  There were shapes on the floor and against the walls. He checked his hands and was glad to see they were unbound. Perhaps somebody had freed him, or maybe this was a prison cell and the binds were no longer needed. There was a problem, for resting in his right hand was a marine issue pistol. He lifted it closer, recognizing the shape as the kind of weapon he normally carried. Still it couldn’t be his, Hobbs and her cronies had removed it from him. He started to move when the noise of running boots became louder and louder. From the end of the room appeared a group of marines. All were in armour and heavily armed. A bright light almost blinded him, and before he could get his eyes to adjust they started to shout.

  “God, no!” cried the first.

  The second man moved closer with the beam of light still pointing directly at Spartan.

  “Drop the weapon, now!” he roared.

  Spartan look back to the weapon and then the direction of the marine. He dropped the pistol without hesitation. As soon as it hit the ground, two more marines pushed ahead and grabbed him, lifting him up. From this position, he could finally get a good view of the place, helped by the now indirect light of the marine’s light. There were bodies all about him, and most of them looked like marines, but at one end he spotted what looked to be Jötnar. A group of them were almost in a huddle around a blown out metal door.

  “The brig,” he muttered, finally starting to understand what was happening. “Hobbs, you bitch!”

  More marines arrived and started checking the bodies.

  “Live one, it’s the Captain!” called out one.

  “Another one, here. It looks like one of the Jötnar is breathing.”

  The leader of the unit pointed his carbine in the direction of the fallen warrior.

  “Watch him, they are hard to bring down.”

  The Sergeant tapped his helmet and started speaking. He was presumably getting backup to assist with the bloodbath. As he started to talk, Spartan noticed the familiar outline and movement of his old friend.

  “Gun?” he asked with slightly slurred speech.

  The mighty Jötnar fighter turned his head to see Spartan. Gun stood with his hands free, but he had considerable blood on his body. Three marines levelled their rifles and aimed at his chest.

  “Spartan? What is this?” he growled.

  More marines arrived and quickly secured the rest of the area. Two helped Captain Hobbs up, but she cried out from pain in her leg.

  “What happened?” asked the Sergeant.

  “We came down to interview the prisoners when we were attacked by those two.”

  She pointed at Spartan and Gun, a look of malice in her eyes.

  “Bullshit!” snapped Spartan, but one of the marines struck him with the butt of his rifle, forcing Spartan to his knees.

  “You’re in a world of pain, Spartan. We heard about your Biomech friends.”

  He looked back at Gun.

  “So, it is true. They are ready to turn on us whenever it pleases them.”

  He waved over to the newly arrived marines.

  “I want these two in lockdown. Take them to the starboard loading bay, and put armed guards on them at all times. We’ll get them shipped over to the Cruz at the next changeover. In the meantime, get the Colonel here. We need to start a serious investigation, and fast.”

  * * *

  Khan stopped outside Spartan’s quarters and hammered his fist on the metal plating. Flanking him were two more Jötnar, both carrying blades and modified carbines. It took a couple of seconds, and then the door slid open to reveal Teresa. She stood silently in her nightclothes and stared at Khan.

  “Have you heard news?” he asked.

  “No, what is it? Spartan? Is he okay?” she asked, her face betraying fear.

  “Come with me,” replied Khan. He turned and walked down the corridor. Teresa grabbed her combat jacket and ran to catch up.

  “Tell me, what is going on?”

  “You know Hobbs?”

  “Of course, she’s the bitch that got us thrown off the Santa Cruz for helping your people. What about her?”

  “She has Spartan and Gun in prison. News is that there has been Jötnar revolt on Oceania. Jötnar killed the Captain, Bishop and marines.”

  “What?” she demanded.

  She stopped, but Khan kept moving and once again she was forced to catch up.
/>   “Khan? What is going on?”

  “Hobbs says they mutinied, and she says the will be tried today for treason. Five Jötnar are dead. She says they killed Bishop.”

  “No way, Bishop and the Jötnar have been friends for a long time. Why would they do that?”

  Khan shrugged and said nothing. They reached the doorway that led into dimly lit hall. It had once been used as just another storage room, but it was now a command and operations centre. The technicians and crew had installed a multitude of computers and communications equipment throughout the space. Inside stood a dozen Jötnar plus a small number of marines and crew. Teresa recognized most of them, especially the marines. They well all people loyal to Spartan. A Jötnar closed the thickened steel door behind her with a crunch. Two men moved from the darkness, and she instantly recognized the first as Major Daniels. It took longer to work out the second until he stepped under the ceiling-mounted light. It was Lieutenant Weathers.

  “When did you get here?” she asked, surprised and also partially relieved.

  “We came over on the last transport run. I was supposed to be taking over formally as Gun’s number two, but it looks like events have conspired against us.”

  “You could say that,” replied Lieutenant Weathers.

  Teresa was unsure for a moment exactly where their loyalties lay in the present predicament. She waited for them to speak first.

  “As you all well know, Spartan is a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy. No way did he or any of the Jötnar commit a crime, even murder. The idea they would try and mutiny on the Oceania is total bullshit,” said Major Daniels.

  Teresa sighed, glad that there were some allies in the fleet, or at least on the ship.

  “The problem is that the person in charge over there right now is Hobbs. She’s already declared martial law on the civilian liner and appointed naval crew with a new captain.”

  “We need to get aboard, Sir,” suggested Teresa.

  “No chance. Hobbs has already broadcast the attempted mutiny and conveniently outgoing long-distance communication traffic from our ships has stopped.”

  “So we can’t reach Admiral Jarvis?”

  “Exactly. Only narrowband ship-to-ship traffic seems to be working, and Hobbs has already persuaded Captain Schaffer to halt all inter-ship traffic until we reach the Anomaly. He is concerned that security breaches could occur, and with the fleet travelling together at this speed, the risks are too great.”

  “What about Spartan and Gun?”

  “Schaffer has authorised a trial by Captain Hobbs.”

  “He must know she hates Spartan.”

  “You don’t know the Captain. He is a traditionalist. As far as he is concerned, if he asks an officer to be impartial, then that is exactly what they will be. The trouble is that I have a feeling they’ll be found guilty and quickly. If that happens, they could be imprisoned indefinitely or…” he was unable to finish as Teresa interrupted him.

  “They’ll be spaced as a security risk in such a critical operation.”

  “There is another problem.”

  Khan stepped forward.

  “If Hobbs kills Gun, Jötnar will not fight for Confederacy.”

  “There are squads of Jötnar throughout the fleet. They’ve already heard about the attack, and one group on one of the light cruisers has already been placed in the brig in case of trouble. If this isn’t resolved, and quickly, we could be looking at a full-scale Jötnar uprising in the fleet.”

  “An uprising, just as we arrived at the Anomaly?”

  “Exactly.”

  “How long do we have?”

  “We are due to arrive at the Anomaly in sixty-three hours. We are expecting to go into battle immediately.”

  “So, less than three days before we get there and she dumps them out of an airlock. Have you spoken to Captain Schaffer?”

  “Yes, ten minutes ago. I don’t think he trusts the Jötnar. He is backing Captain Hobbs and won’t consider other options until he can speak with somebody higher up the chain of command.”

  “With the comms out, that isn’t gonna happen until after we are at the Anomaly,” added Lieutenant Weathers.

  “Convenient,” said Teresa.

  Khan stepped forward and placed his paw on Teresa’s shoulder.

  “You and Spartan risked your lives to safe us. We Jötnar will risk ours for you. Tell us what you want.”

  Teresa looked to the two marine officers. Daniels spoke first.

  “Right now we need information. It’s not like we can just turn up and start shooting. When we know what is going on aboard the Oceania, we will make arrangements to do whatever needs to be done to fix this problem.”

  “Get me on board, and I’ll find out what’s going on,” said Teresa.

  “Another marine will just attract attention,” replied Weathers.

  Khan lifted his hand to speak, but Daniels stopped him.

  “No, Jötnar are not right, not yet. We need eyes in the place, if it comes to needing some muscle, you will be the first to go in.”

  Khan nodded with pleasure, and he seemed satisfied with that answer, for now at least.

  “We need a civilian crewman on board to get us some intel.”

  “What, like this?” asked Teresa. She pulled the button on her combat jacket and let it fall to the floor. She stood in her black underwear that she had been wearing in bed.

  The two officers stared but said nothing as both were equally surprised.

  “Get me some overalls or civilian clothes, and they’ll never know who I am. Aren’t most of the marines rookies over there? Newbie’s from the garrisons?”

  Major Daniels nodded in agreement.

  “True, we can probably get a couple of people over, if we can work out a way of getting to the Oceania on the next run.”

  “When is the next one?”

  “Almost twenty-four hours from now, assuming there will still be some.”

  “There have to be,” answered Teresa.

  “Huh?” said a confused looking Khan.

  “Good point. We are on a fixed schedule. If we don’t stick to the next two fixed engine cuts, we’ll reach the destination early. But more importantly, we will be well out of range and have to travel at a slower speed to reach the target.”

  “Plus they’ll have more time to react to our arrival.”

  Major Daniels turned to the rest of the marines, Jötnar and crew present.

  “We have less than a day to prepare. We need to get an infiltration team on board the Oceania,” he explained and then turned to Khan.

  “I need you to get a team of your six best warriors ready. We’ll find a way to get you over too. We’ll need to hide you away somewhere ready to be put into play once we have solid intelligence on Gun and Spartan.”

  Khan nodded.

  “Get working on this, people. I’ll get back on to Captain Schaffer and see if I can get any further with him. He must have people working on this communication problem. Stay calm, the last thing we want is dissent ripping through the fleet.”

  He looked to Captain Weathers.

  “Get in touch with the security teams and Jötnar units through the fleet. Let them know the situation is under control and being resolved peacefully. Say whatever ever you need to, but just keep everybody calm.”

  He moved away to the nearest computer system.

  “As for the rest of you, especially the techs. I need to know why we can’t communicate outside the fleet. We must be getting jammed from somewhere. I need to know how this is happening, and what we can do to fix it. Get to it.”

  The door opened and in walked Kowalski plus two more Jötnar warriors. It slammed shut behind him as quickly as it had opened. Khan looked to Teresa, and then back at the marine.

  “It can’t be true, the public net is saying Bishop’s been assassinated on board the Oceania.”

  “I’m sorry, but it’s true. Somebody has started something over there, and something that could c
ause the fleet a great deal of trouble.”

  Kowalski stepped closer until he stood in front of her.

  “I don’t understand. He and Misaki were sent there to help on board a safe, civilian ship. How could something like this happen?”

  Teresa placed her hand on Kowalski’s shoulder and tried to console him. The news of Bishop’s death was obviously a major blow to him. The two had been friends for a long time and had served together as marines in operations alongside Teresa and Commander Anderson.

  “No way did Jötnar do this. That is total horse crap. If nothing else, there’s a lot of respect between the Jötnar and any marines that helped on Prometheus. Something must be going on. Where is Spartan?”

  Teresa sighed.

  “He went aboard to find out what was going on with Gun and a few others. We heard a short while ago they had been involved with an incident at the brig. The Captain is dead, so are the Jötnar prisoners and a number of guards and marines. Spartan and Gun have been incriminated in a plot to rescue the Jötnar.”

  “What? They honestly think Spartan and Gun would kill marines and civilians?”

  “There is more. Captain Hobbs has been injured, and the rumour is that Spartan or one of the Jötnar did it.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The campaign to take Euryale proved to be the milestone event in Operation Perdition. With the total defeat of Union forces, and the recapture of the colony, it seemed that the war had reversed its course. General opinion in the Confederate military was that it was only a matter of time until the war was won. Little did they know of what awaited them on Terra Nova, or what was soon to come for the last remnants of the Confederate armed forces.

  Reports of the Proxima Emergency

  Admiral Jarvis sat in her chair and smiled as she read the latest battle reports. In just over two weeks of fighting, it looked like Operation Perdition was proceeding with great success. The first stage had been risky but had paid off. The combined ground forces of the Confederacy had managed to secure Euryale against a determined Union defence. With the Union military exodus taking place throughout the System, General Rivers had seized the initiative and secured Kerberos, right in the middle of the enemy evacuation. With that objective under control, he was making the final push on Orthrus and Agora. The combined use of marines, Army and the Jötnar, supplied by Commander Gun, had proven invaluable. The initial landings on Agora, the rural agrarian world, had been much more successful than even she had hoped. The heavily armoured land vehicles of the Army, combined with the mobility of the marines and the power of the Jötnar, were an irresistible force.