Unfaithful Covenant

by Michael Anderle

  Cabrina’s faced twisted in confusion and she backed up. “Huh? What?”

  “You heard me. I’ve spent the years since Molino doing everything I can to track down the people responsible for killing the Knights Errant, so I can get revenge for what they did to every man and woman in that unit on Molino.” Erik’s voice was low and full of deadly implications. “I started as a cop in Neo SoCal because that was where my clues initially led me, and it spread from there. But I couldn’t stay a cop and chase these people. That was when I hooked up with the ID. They might screw me over in the future, but for now, they’re helping me chase them.”

  “I got swept along as Erik’s partner in the NSCPD,” Jia added with a smile. “I saw a way to go after someone far more dangerous than the petty thugs and gangsters in Neo SoCal.”

  Cabrina pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let me get this straight. You…fly around the galaxy hunting the conspiracy that killed my brother and everybody else? You expect me to believe that crazy story?”

  Erik shrugged. “Believe what you want. It’s the truth.”

  “Then tell me why he had to die. Why they all had to die.”

  Erik averted his gaze. They might not be beholden to the ID, but certain truths by their very nature were dangerous. A low-ranking officer like Cabrina might not be able to protect herself from the government if she pushed too far and asked the wrong questions. Jia held her breath, waiting for Erik’s response.

  “It was a coverup by rich assholes who want more power,” Erik answered. “Simple as that. They were worried we’d find something we weren’t supposed to on Molino.”

  “And they’re here, now, or at least their people are, killing more good soldiers? Killing more innocent people?” Cabrina’s hand curled into a fist. “You’re kidding me.”

  “That’s the basic version of it,” Erik confirmed. “I wish I was kidding, but even we don’t know their reason for being here. We have a lead on some information related to them, but we’re still working on analyzing it and trying to get actionable intelligence from it.”

  “These bastards have outflanked us from the beginning,” Cabrina muttered. “Between all their jamming and hacking, it’s hard to pinpoint their main bases. Drones don’t last seconds in rebel territories. Cameras, all gone. They even kamikazed most of the satellites with stolen ships when the shooting began down here. No wonder we’ve had such a hard time. I always thought everything was too tough.” She shook her head. “But it’s all a stalemate. We’re waiting for more reinforcements, but they keep doing shit like yesterday. We have more people, but we have to spread them over a wider area. We can win, but it’s costing us. It’s costing this whole colony.”

  “I’m sure there’s something useful in the info we have,” Erik commented. “We just need time.”

  Jia frowned. If they were going to tell her part of the truth, they shouldn’t mislead her otherwise. “But we don’t know what’s in it.”

  “This isn’t false hope. Someone killed a lot of people to protect that info.” Erik gestured at the main garage doors. “And we know the files relate to the Elites somehow. There has to be something we can use in there. If not us, then the Army.”

  Cabrina slashed the air with her hand. “Then the military should have those files. Why are you two dicking around with them?”

  “They’re encrypted, and we’re using special resources to unencrypt them,” Erik replied evenly. “Resources the Army and Fleet don’t have here. If there’s something the military can use, then we’ll pass it along, simple as that. We’re on the same side here, Cabrina, but that doesn’t mean we take orders from you.”

  She gritted her teeth and sucked air through them. “I’m not questioning that, Erik, but you can’t lay all this on me about the people responsible for my brother being killed being on this planet and expect me to sit around doing nothing when you’re dangling that kind of lead over me.”

  Erik shook his head. “I don’t expect you to, but I also don’t have what you need yet.”

  “Damn it.” Cabrina scuffed the heel of her boot on the floor. “I get that the big bosses probably aren’t on the planet, but I also know if I can personally help wipe out an Elite base or something like that, knowing what I know now… I don’t know. Call it what you want. Revenge. Closure. Naïve. It doesn’t matter. I want that.”

  “I’ll do what I can, but I’m not going to make any promises.”

  “Pull your weapons,” Malcolm shouted into their ears.

  Erik and Jia both yanked out their pistols and pointed them at Cabrina. Her eyes widened, and she lifted her arms.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she asked. “You going to kill me after telling me you’re trying to help him?”

  “Not on her!” Malcolm continued. “I’ve got a rebel on the drones. I don’t know how he got so close, but he popped out of a pile of junk, big gray cloak over a carryaid, huge-ass rifle on his back. He’s walking toward you from the west now. No obvious weapons ready to shoot, but I can’t see under his cloak.”

  “Go ahead and transmit to Cabrina,” Erik ordered, swinging his gun to the west. “He might not be the only one out there.”

  Cabrina blinked and turned her head to follow his movement. Jia matched him. Malcolm was right; a figure approached, jogging at a decent pace, not sprinting. If he had not been a mysterious cloaked figure with a large rifle on his carryaid, he might not seem threatening.

  Cabrina yanked out her pistol. “Should I call for reinforcements?”

  “One guy,” Erik explained. “We’ve got our eyes in the sky and cameras watching around here. If there’s trouble, he’ll let us know.”

  “No weird thermals or other readouts,” Malcolm reported. “He’s the only rebel I see around here. I’ve got some civilians about a kilometer out in the opposite direction.”

  The rebel continued to advance. He lifted his arms above his head. There was nothing in them.

  “Suicide bomber,” Cabrina suggested, her eyes narrowed.

  “Have you had a lot of those here?” Erik asked.

  Cabrina shook her head. “No, but it’s not like rebels never change tactics when the old ones aren’t working.”

  “I think he’d be charging if he was a suicide bomber,” Jia suggested, her tone curious. She couldn’t make out the man’s features, but he didn’t look scared or angry.

  The rebel continued his advance, slowing as he closed to twenty meters. It was now more a brisk walk than a jog. He rattled with each movement, the magazines in his pouches and the grenades on his vest jostling. If he did intend to blow himself up, it’d be a spectacular explosion.

  “Don’t get too close,” Erik shouted. “Or we’ll give you some new holes.”

  The rebel stopped and kept his arms up. “It’s fair not to trust me. I don’t take offense.”

  “On your knees, rebel,” Cabrina ordered.

  He dropped to his knees and put his hands on his head. “It’s fair for you to execute me if you want. I’ve helped monsters. I deserve it.”

  “That might be how you insurrectionists and your merc buddies do things,” Cabrina spat, “but that’s now how the UTC does things. We have rules we follow.”

  The rebel chuckled with a pained look. “I’m beginning to appreciate that, but no one can change the past.”

  “Why are you here?” Jia asked softly. “If this was a trap, it’s taking too long. If this is about surrendering, this is an odd place to do it.”

  The rebel inclined his head toward Cabrina. “I’m no longer an acting member of the FSA. Our leadership has become corrupt, trusting those mercenaries and those metal monsters. I’ve been hunting mercs and monsters on my own. I’ve even taken down a couple of the Elites.”

  Cabrina gave a slight nod, not looking that surprised. “We had some intel about a potential factional dispute. I suppose that answers what the hell is going on.”

  “Factional dispute?” The rebel laughed. “I’m not a member of any faction…” he lo
oked at her uniform, “…Lieutenant. I’m one man who has turned against his cause to save its soul. My name is Damir Sokov.”

  Erik holstered his gun and gestured to the man. “If he wanted to kill us, he would have used that sniper rifle and taken us out at long range. Whatever this is, I don’t think it’s an ambush.”

  Jia nodded her agreement before putting her gun away. Cabrina hesitated for a moment before stowing her pistol.

  Damir lowered his arms but stayed on his knees. “I saw your squad in action, Lieutenant Pena. I saw them defend civilian transports when mercenaries were attempting to shoot them down. I didn’t want to believe what I was seeing, but that led to…” He averted his eyes. “It led me to trouble with one of the mercenaries, which made me understand the corruption they represented. That led me to hunt them. They’re butchers, and we should have never hired them.”

  Cabrina nodded slowly. “Okay, so you’re what…stalking me because I did my job and didn’t let you and your friends murder a bunch of innocent civilians?”

  “It was strange luck because I saw your squad in action again the other day. I recognized the markings and numbers, and that gave me an idea.” Damir’s gaze slid to Erik, then Jia. “I haven’t seen you two before, but you match the rough descriptions of the ghosts who took out some Elites at a checkpoint. I also saw you take down that Elite during the battle. The ones I’ve killed were far away, but you took that gunship down like it was nothing.”

  “We’re not exactly ghosts, but sure, whatever.” Erik shrugged. “Get to the damned point before the rebellion ends, or we die of old age.”

  “My father believed in a free New Samarkand.” Damir stood slowly. “I do too, but if we attain our freedom by selling our souls, what’s the point? Freedom without conscience is pointless. It leads to nothing but cruelty and corruption. I’m not ready to betray my FSA brothers and sisters directly, but I want to make the mercenaries and those cybernetic monstrosities suffer for what they’ve done and the harm they’ve caused the rebellion and the colony.”

  A grin ate away Erik’s frown. “You want to sell out the Elites, not just hunt them by yourself? Good. Now we’re getting somewhere, but what specifically have you got for us?”

  “There’s a merc camp. There are a lot of Elites there, and they also received some sort of delivery the other day. I don’t know what it is, but it was important enough that they were willing to kill an entire rebel squad to cover it up.” Damir glowered. “I can lead you to the camp. It needs to be destroyed, but I can’t do it by myself. I need the help of assault infantry.”

  Cabrina looked incredulous. “What if this is a big command post? If we take out the mercs and the Elites, the rebellion falls apart. You don’t have the strength to win by yourselves. You’re not really winning now. You’re just stalling and inflicting pointless damage on the colony.”

  “I know.” Damir stared down at his hands. “The rebellion wasn’t supposed to destroy the colony. Freedom doesn’t mean making the innocent suffer. My father would be ashamed of us.” He slapped a hand on his chest. “I’m ashamed of us.”

  “Okay. We get it.” Jia nodded. “Where is this camp?”

  Damir shook his head. “The only way I can justify this in my mind is if I lead you there and participate. Then I’m not betraying the rebellion by giving information to the Army and you ghosts, I’m recruiting you to help me. I know you might not care about how I think, but if you want that camp, you’ll do it my way.”

  Cabrina scoffed. “Or we could drag your ass in to be interrogated and make you tell us.”

  “You could, but why not just take what’s offered?” Damir sounded weary.

  Erik shrugged at Cabrina. “He’s got a point. If we treat him like the enemy, he might clam up.”

  Cabrina scrubbed a hand over her face. “This is insane.” She nodded at the hangar. “Fine, if that’s the way we’re going to play this, at least lock him up on your ship until I can run this up the chain. They might order him turned over anyway. This whole thing could be a trap. And I’m calling my squad here and having them bring my exo. We need to be ready if more rebels show up.”

  Damir turned around and offered his wrists. “Go ahead and bind me. I’m willing to wait. I know you have no reason to believe anything I say, but I guarantee it’s all true.”

  “It’s fine,” Erik replied. “We’ll even be nice and give you a cabin with VR. You can relax while we figure out what to do with you.”

  “My thirty of pieces of silver?” Damir replied with a sneer.

  “Maybe, but this time, you’re getting paid to betray the guys who are telling the lies.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  October 18, 2230, Ross 128, New Pacifica, Aurora, Private Residence of Julia Caldo

  Watching full three-dimensional holographic scenes of Elites wreaking havoc might have been immature or potentially even dangerous, given that Julia was still confirming the security of her new home, but she couldn’t help it. She soaked in the glorious vision of the Core’s cybernetic warriors laying waste to the pitiful colony of New Samarkand. A delicious scene of a Torch Dragon Elite killing an entire squad of Army soldiers made her smile. Perfect, far too perfect, even if she was disappointed by reversals in other battles.

  She tried to not let it bother her. Ultimately, the Elite project wasn’t intended to create a devastating army as much as perfect terror tools. Undermining the UTC was the first step in destabilizing the entire government and replacing it. There was no better tool for that than something unpredictable.

  And what a tool the Elites were. They were the perfect distillation of the closest thing to demons in the minds of modern people, humans who’d left even the pretense of a humanoid body behind. Humans who had sold their souls to the cybernetic Devil for power.

  Julia licked her lips. She’d worried it might have been too early to use them in such a bold manner, but she was willing to admit to herself she’d been wrong. The footage and the reports from New Samarkand proved it.

  The bounty of early reports had proven the huge advantage of moving to New Pacifica. She was ten light-years closer to New Samarkand and able to receive reports and issue orders two weeks faster than she would have been on Earth. Additional missions beyond the inner core and in the mid-frontier would benefit from her nearby presence. The others should have heeded her suggestions, not out of self-preservation, but for the good of their plans.

  Their failures would only benefit her. The Core had grown stagnant with age, foolish and hidebound. If they wanted to disrupt the UTC, they would need to discomfort themselves with aggressive dynamism. With each passing month and individual success, she continued to wonder why so many of them were still alive.

  Sophia had been the heart of the Core, the founder and the closest thing they had to a leader, but she’d led them down the wrong path. Julia had done them all a favor by setting up the situation that had led to Sophia’s death. She would never admit it, of course, but she found herself disappointed by the suspicion of the surviving Core members and their inability to take advantage of the change in the situation.

  Julia snickered quietly. “Then again, I’ve killed Sophia and Shoji now. If they truly suspect me, they should move against me, but until then, I have a rebellion to manage.”

  Yes, there could have been a blatant reversal of the situation in the last two weeks. Her distance meant her latest information was dated October 4, but she wasn’t concerned. The mission of the Core assets on New Samarkand wasn’t to win the colony’s independence, after all. They were there to gain combat experience and waste military assets, along with inflicting simple terror.

  She’d admittedly not been convinced the plan would work at the beginning, but everything had gone surprisingly well. The ID had been blindsided by the Core’s assassins, and the military garrison had given up half the capital city in the first week. It’d been a spectacular success by most measures. Arguably, it wasn’t as cost-effective as some of their other plans, but
the eventual propaganda value of the use of Elites would make their losses in battle worth it.

  Julia stopped and admired the sleek curves of one of the gunship Elites. She appreciated that they represented pure dedication to the cause. That was what the fools in the Intelligence Directorate hunting the Core didn’t understand. Although the brains of the Elites required mild drug-based manipulation to maintain their temporary stability, no one was processed into their new bodies who wasn’t deeply loyal to the Core’s cause. They understood that sometimes people needed to be sacrificed for the greater good, even if they themselves were to be sacrifices.

  She clucked her tongue. Alas, the stability of Elites was limited since Cybernetic Psychosis Syndrome would always eventually set in, but they’d proven startlingly effective on New Samarkand. There was no reason to believe that success couldn’t be replicated on other colonies, especially if they invested more resources into fielding more powerful armies. The high level of redeployed Army and Fleet resources after a single month of fighting was staggering.

  The Core had been right to target the mid-frontier rather than the far frontier. She had been right to argue it, even though Sophia had questioned the fundamental basis of that idea, preferring to focus on taking control of Earth.

  With so much of the military stationed on the far frontier to guard against aliens and the rest dedicated to protecting the larger populations of the core worlds and Earth, it was inevitable that if the mid-frontier colonies rose up in revolt en masse, the military would be overwhelmed. If they set it up correctly, the Core could slice the UTC in half while they proceeded with their manipulations.

  Julia dismissed the holograms with a wave and took a long, shuddering breath, almost overwhelmed by the enormity of the potential success on New Samarkand. The seeds of a greater victory lay in front of her. The advances in research from her collected Hunter artifacts put her in a position to claim victory over the rest of the Core without more vulgar assassinations like with Sophia and Shoji.