It is because of the Earther’s that General Akari has become obsessed with your faction, first attacking Kerrak, and now he comes for you. Turn the Earther’s away, and he too will turn away in pursuit of them. This is our fight, our burden to carry alone, and it should have remained so.
In the end, he asked me to do something that I could not. Whether it be cowardice or yet another bout of ineptitude, I know not, just know that there are depths of Hell no man should find himself sinking towards, because once caught in the undercurrent, death becomes the only release.
Save yourself, please, because I could not,
Your Eternal Servant,
Mathias
The silence in the room stretched as the implications of Colonel Mathias’ death, revelation as a traitor in the StormCrow ranks, and subsequent blaming of his actions on them and Mikkhael, continued to expand in the thoughts of the Omnos squad. The four of them stared at one another, a mix of emotions ranging from fear to trepidation splayed across their faces as their mouths moved with silent exclamations.
Vera was the first to respond, relying on sheer force of will to push aside her worries and force herself and her teammates to focus on their next step, “What do we do now?”
“We stay,” Alyona calmly stated, surprising herself with the declaration. A brief moment of introspection revealed her feelings as sincere, proving even more startling. Without pausing, she continued speaking to them, as their leader. “Mikkhael needs us, and whether or not they want to admit it, so do the StormCrows, now more than ever. With the mountain about to be attacked, they should realize that fact, for it is very much a faction. Although they may require a nudge in the right direction.”
Just then, Argos interjected with a warning, “Armed guards are approaching!”
As the four turned to stare at the door, once again suddenly afraid, they collectively put on a brave face as the hydraulic door hissed open, the lock on the door bypassed by a security override. Argos could have fought the override and denied it, but his machine learning capabilities bade him to watch and wait for events to play out before intervening. This situation involved human emotions, and it was best to let those emotions run their full course, thereby exhausting themselves instead of acting too soon. Stopping their emotional release now would only cause them to remain bottled up, building until catastrophically bursting at an inopportune time. That was the very situation that had led to this crossroads. At this point, the best, and only, way to dispel the strong emotions the suicidal death of Colonel Mathias left in the wake of his passing was for the humans to work matters out themselves.
Captain Cartwright was the first to step through the doorway, quickly followed by the silent female guard who often watched over Mikkhael, whom he had peevishly nicknamed Steve in order to irritate the guard after she refused to speak or offer her name. Cartwright entered the room and halted halfway inside, maintaining a respective distance between himself and the four members of the Omnos squad. Steve stood behind him and to the side, armed with a compact rifle that fired kinetic slugs, the rifle trained in the direction of the four outsiders.
All members of the internal security division used kinetic slugs ubiquitously in the weapons they carried while inside the confines of the mountain, because they would not ricochet off the carved walls. Instead, after being fired, the kinetic slugs would flatten themselves against the carved stone comprising nearly every wall in the base, or their target, before dropping to the ground, their energy dispelled. The strap of the rifle was slung tautly over Steve’s shoulder, while the rifle itself was solidly held in the crook of her arm as if it were an extension of her arm. Most importantly however, was the fact that the business end of the rifle was pointed with a great deal of precision at them, ready to respond if called upon. The expression on Steve’s face somehow managed to convey a sense of passivity on the edge of boredom, while also simultaneously conveying that if needed, she could gun down the four of them and then forget they existed by the time she turned around. Behind the duo, still outside of the room, were at least a dozen fully armored security personnel standing by in formation along both directions of the hallway, weapons at the ready, waiting to be called upon.
Captain Cartwright turned from the four of them to the image of Colonel Mathias note depicted on the far wall, his mouth twisting in an expression of extreme disgust as he recognized the contents of the image, before turning back and silently evaluating them. The members of the Omnos squad stood silently next to one another, each of them standing straight with inner pride, remaining silent as they held Cartwright’s level gaze. Their actions had played no direct part in the events leading up to this situation and they would not accept being blamed or becoming scapegoats for it. Having lived at the edge of the possible for so long after the collective murders of their friends and families, all four of them knew that the first one on either side to speak would display a weakness that the other side would almost certainly seek to twist to their advantage.
Understanding that time was the one element they did not have, Cartwright, never one to stick to decorum, spoke first, “There’s no script for what happens next, meaning I don’t know how this plays out any more than you do. You have obviously seen what happened with the Colonel and surely recognize the implications. Therefore, I am going to put this simply. What do you plan on doing next?”
“We will stay and fight as we promised, just as we have every intention of remaining by Mikkhael’s side.” Alyona stated simply, eying the rifle in Steve’s hands as much as Cartwright’s face for any sign of trouble. Knowing that a simple concession now could forestall a much larger one down the line, she extended a figurative olive branch. “How can we help?”
Captain Cartwright nodded gratefully at her gesture of goodwill, it was clear that he had already made up his mind about what to do with them. “My boss may have been a royal prick, but he was highly skilled at his job and a master planner. Our success as a faction in regards to the inordinate amount of hurt we caused the PDF throughout the years was in no small fact due to his prowess as a field commander.”
He briefly made eye contact with each of them before continuing, “The upcoming battle will be unlike anything we have ever seen, and most of us realize we need all the help we can get, even if that help comes from quarters considered as less desirable. If you remain within the base, I not only expect your full cooperation and assistance, I demand it.” He again paused dramatically, watching them for signs of reaction before continuing, “Very well. The PDF army that destroyed Kerrak used some new tactics that I expect were practice for being used on us. Unlike previous battles against underground outposts, I don’t expect us to be able to collapse the external tunnels leading into the mountain, hide until the PDF give up, and resume operations after they have retreated to their bases. Frankly, I don’t see us being given that option this time around, there’s just too damned much at stake. General Hafnos, the most capable commander the PDF have, being placed in charge of the overall campaign only reinforces that suspicion. This will be a fight for our very survival. The numbers arrayed against us render the monumental task of holding the mountain impossible. Therefore, the burden falls upon those of us who are more capable to defend the mountain for as long as it takes for the civilians and non-essential personnel to be safely evacuated.”
“How will we safely evacuate everyone with the armies closing in from every side and ensure the PDF don’t simply follow the evacuees wherever they go?” Kurtis asked, already including himself as one of the defenders.
“We are descendants from the greatest miners the human race has ever known.” Captain Cartwright said as he smiled wryly. “Underneath the mountain are underground corridors stretching for hundreds of miles in every direction. As we speak, those corridors are serving as evacuation tunnels.”
“We need to prepare our units,” Kiryl’s voice boomed in support.
Cartwright pointed behind him, “These men will escort you everywhere you go within t
he mountain from now on. Their orders are to watch over you. Their loyalty is not in doubt, unlike yours. Prove yourselves, and always remember that a great number of people are watching your every move.” He said before suddenly turning and walking out of the room as quickly as he had arrived.
With a quick glance at one another, the four Omnos squad members trailed the Captain out the door. Steve moved to the side, allowing them to pass, and then fell in step behind them, maintaining a constant distance of two meters, the end of her rifle never wavering as she trained the weapon on them. Their armed escort accompanied them to the hangar where their Mech armor lay waiting and remained with them, splitting into two groups. One group guarded the entrance to the hangar, while the other group spread out, watching the Omnos’ every move. They operated according to the maxim of trust but verify.
The four Omnos squad members readied their beloved Mech armor with care, speaking only minimally as they did so, preparing each of their various armaments in order that they could be utilized at a moment’s notice. They had a few surprises ready for the PDF during the fight, but at this point, the majority of their abilities were well known to their enemies. The battle that was quickly approaching promised to turn into a bloody meat grinder greater than any that had ever occurred in the history of the human colonization of Mars. The task of buying enough time for Starkindler to be completed, thereby giving Mikkhael enough time to recover from spending nearly two months in a coma, fell upon their shoulders. That burden of impossible responsibility weighed heavily on them as they prepared their units. There was no promise that when their brother woke, he would be able to pilot Starkindler at all, let alone effectively, even if it was completed in time to take part in the battle. Even after the trials the four of them had faced during their short time on Mars, they chose to believe in the promise of their own abilities and those of their friend and comrade Mikkhael.
Dozens of engineers under the supervision of Soren assisted the Omnos squad with the final preparations of their Mech armor, charging the atmosphere of the hangar with their commitment. In every hangar, teams comprised of hundreds of basic laborers began the inglorious task of breaking down the extraneous equipment, machinery, and spare parts that serviced the Omnos squad and StormCrow faction at large. The materiel and equipment that could be salvaged in the limited time available would accompany the evacuation of the non-essential base personnel to their new home. As they did so, the members of the Omnos squad learned that Commander Ultor had long ago arranged with the Lazarus faction that should Mount Olympus ever need to be evacuated, its members would be provided shelter and a home in allied walls.
At the farthest point of the hangar remained the airship from Earth the Omnos squad used to fly to Mars, pointedly ignored by everyone. In its bowels, once again concealed from every prying eye and sensor, Nemesis remained hidden. Knowledge of its existence was limited to barely a handful of people. If nothing else, the squad would bury the cursed Mech armor in the rubble of the mountain, to be forgotten and unused forever. No one could approach the possessed war machine except under the penalty of death, leaving them with a dearth of available options regarding its disposal.
Several hours passed in the blink of an eye as the urgency and chaos of evacuating multiple generations of StormCrows, all while simultaneously preparing for the defense of the place they called home, continued apace. The collective reverie of honest work was broken by the wail of a siren as an airlock opened in the empty hanger next to them. Reinforcements from allied factions had come to honor the treaties the factions established with one another concerning mutual defense. Mount Olympus was not Kerrak, an outpost supplying the expansion of the Lazarus faction. They were defending the very heart and soul of the StormCrow faction, and as such, the call they sent out mandated that it be answered by their friends and allies.
Argos provided the Omnos squad with a video feed on their data slates of what was happening in the other hangar. A ragtag collection of three dozen MARS units from multiple factions processioned through the airlock, packing themselves into the open expanse of the hangar with all the finesse of an inebriate walking a balance beam. The chaos threatened to become overwhelming until Commander Ultor personally came on scene, taking charge of the arriving forces.
A disparate group of technicians, laborers, and other workers had gathered to cheer and welcome the arrival of the newcomers, honoring the mutual defense pacts, choosing to stand with them in their time of extreme need. Instead, a collective groan issued forth unbidden from the onlookers. They had been hoping for more. The reinforcements were nothing short of a token effort. Their allies’ MARS units even more dated than the StormCrows Furies and Justices, their pilots clearly new to the cause. The lack of polished skill exhibited by the allied pilots was obvious for all to see as the sixty-ton metal humanoids bumbled around the spacious hangar equipped with enough maintenance bays to hold an additional eight squadrons. Without the presence of Starkindler on the front lines, their allies had clearly written off the cause of defending Mount Olympus as lost. Everyone present within the hangar at that moment recognized that as reality.
The combat abilities of the allied support was so minimal, that when Captain Cartwright arrived to review the reinforcements, only four units were chosen as support for the main line of defense, and none were deemed capable of holding the front line. He organized two new squadrons, assigning the more capable of their allied reinforcements to chokepoints inside the mountain where they would be sheltered from the brunt of the battle to come. There they would wait until the time came for them to serve as replacements for the StormCrow units that fell in battle. The rest would be given stationary positions inside the mountain. If the fighting reached them, they would do little to influence the almost certain outcome. Before the battle even began, their obsolescence rendered them insignificant.
Commander Ultor’s hands were full for the next few hours as he dealt with one near catastrophe after another. His seasoned division Officers went about their tasks with a professional diligence that seemed to have disappeared from every aspect of the sprawling base. Near chaos was the order of the day, although a general sense of panic never seemed to overwhelm those who would remain to fight. Instead, a quiet sense of resigned determination took hold as they made their individual preparations for the upcoming battle, holding the panic at bay.
Past victories had been declared for achieving less. Their resolve was a testament in and of itself to the steadfast belief of the Rebels in the righteousness of their cause.
* * * * *
Through it all, Dr. Hesken functioned in the hurry up and wait fashion typical of the medical field and the military alike. She was assisted by only one nurse; the others were packing equipment and preparing the casualty collection points where they would receive wounded.
The role of nursing staff at the collection point was to stabilize the wounded as rapidly as possible before sending them further into the base towards triage points. Each triage collection point would operate under the care of one doctor and five nurses. Once the wounded arrived at the triage centers, they would be assessed and then sent towards different locations throughout the mountain reserved for treating, or, at the least stabilizing specific wound types. Once treatment was rendered as well as it could be, time allowing, the wounded would be packaged for evacuation via the underground corridors.
Dr. Hesken observed as the nurse inserted the contents of yet another syringe into the IV serving as Mikkhael’s tenuous hold on the world. His vitals were responding to the steady administration of pharmaceuticals, a flush and healthy tone once again returning to his skin as the circulation of his blood redolently increased to healthier levels. Bedside monitors showed that his brain activity, heart rate, pulse, and blood pressure had all steadily increased over the last few hours to normal rates. On top of those positive signs, as the fluids entered his veins, his eyes occasionally fluttered rapidly, but for the time being they remained shut.
Despite the
ir best efforts, full consciousness still eluded Mikkhael.
* * * * *
Drogdyn’s team was comprised of only four cyber specialists of various skill levels. The other ten members of his team had all been reassigned to the Command and Control Center. The priority of his now reduced team was to monitor the movements of the PDF armies stemming forth from both Kerrak and Repentance. The operatives scanned data reports from various sensors and information sources, deducing clues about how long remained until the attack began.
They were working diligently when a sudden flurry of reports generated by algorithms scanning for certain patterns began filling the room with the sounds of alerts. A brief scan of the reports revealed the emergence of a consistent pattern. The StormCrows now had irrefutable proof that the infantry stationed at Repentance had begun boarding the anti-grav trains prior to heading towards Mount Olympus.
As the division Officer, the burden of notifying the rest of the base fell on him. Hesitantly, he keyed in the command that opened a direct video link with Commander Ultor, even though he had been specifically directed to contact the Commander via text only. As he suspected, by flouting the order to communicate via text, he immediately gained the Commander’s full attention. His gumption was rewarded by Ultor’s tired face appearing on his slate, topped by thin grey hair nearly hidden underneath a military cap.
“Commander, as we speak, the infantry inside Repentance have begun boarding their transports. It is my belief that we now have less than six hours until their arrival and less than seven until they are in position for an attack. At any point now my team expects the PDF to begin bombarding us with cyber-attacks, which will almost certainly be followed, shortly thereafter, by attacks from drones and bombers.” Drogdyn said.
Nemesis (The MechaVerse Trilogy Book 2) Page 34