Sacremon (Harmony War Series Book 1)

by Michael Chatfield

  The EMF just felt as if it existed in a completely different universe from their home. Mark paused for a moment, letting that sink in. So many things he didn’t know, so many people he would never meet since he didn’t bother to ask. Guess it was as good a time as any to start now.

  “Sir, I was wondering, what did you do on Earth before all of this?” Mark asked.

  That made Pullo pause, tensing a bit before sighing.

  “I was in a gang over in South complex sector nine,” Pullo said as if pulling facts from a not-quite forgotten dream. “That was pretty long ago. Five years of service and around seventy years of real-time.” There was a hint of sadness hiding in his voice over that fact.

  “I helped out at the docks around tower city four,” Jerome said. “Always heard about other planets and wanted to go to them, this was the only way I could do it. It always felt a bit more like job security since it was a place where someone would stab you so that they can get hired in your place,” Jerome let out a dry laugh.

  “Lot's of job security here son, no one will want your job on these planets, but you have to kill every bastard that wants to get you to keep your position,” Pullo said.

  “Yeah, true enough sir. So what about you Mark?”

  “I was a bodyguard and enforcer for Westerly three complex gang, Tyler was too. I knew how to kill and do it well,” Mark replied.

  “That training has come in handy quite a few times I've noticed, my ass might be as cold as space without that training,” Pullo said.

  “Well that damned training you put us through was more than enough to get me thinking about guns instead of blades,” Mark said in an accusatory tone.

  Pullo laughed and Mark smiled as Gupta came out of the CEO's office. The CEO was watching a movie on a massive screen reclined in his seat without an apparent care in the world.

  “Nice to see everyone's having a good time,” Gupta remarked.

  “Just swapping back home stories,” Jerome said. “Pullo said that you worked in the gardens, why did you give a sweet gig like that up?”

  “Cause I didn't want to die from the fumes of the gardens. And I wanted to see the world outside of the recycled atmosphere and fertilizer smelling huts. So I joined the EMF, got my medical, saw three planets so far, and killed a lot of people that tried to kill me and my friends,” Gupta shrugged.

  “How long until your mixture works on these people?” Pullo asked.

  “I used Carbon dioxide, they'll be knocked out within a few minutes. The plants will survive and we won't have to blow the windows out. The CEO has a mask and he's fine with putting it on so that he doesn't have to destroy this levels crops,” Gupta drawled.

  “Alright, well I'll go see if he is ready to leave anytime soon. Buddy check your helmets, re-breathers and oxygen tanks,” Pullo said.

  They did so making sure the connections were sorted out.

  “Well it looks like your helmet doesn't have much of a seal, you run ahead and clear the way just in case,” Gupta said, looking over Mark's helmet which hadn't been replaced since he'd been blown backwards from trying to clear the towers the day before.

  “Hmm I was wondering why it was so breezy.” Mark's voice dry as he looked at the opened armor and smart clothing on his one side. Scars ran up and down his side from the ad-hoc first aid he'd performed on himself.

  “What are we going to do with you?” Gupta said, shaking his head as Jerome laughed.

  “Make me run into more shit it appears.”

  “Smart ass,” Gupta smiled.

  “I try,” Mark said.

  “Look,” Jerome said. Gupta and Mark followed Jerome's line of sight seeing the first colonists become wobbly on their feet. Most had already got themselves comfortable and looked like they were taking a nap.

  Someone fell to their knees and started slowly crawling away from the centre. These colonists didn't have the breathers that the ones in the forest possessed.

  “Someone open the doors I grow bored of waiting,” The CEO said.

  Jerome looked to Gupta.

  “Yes sir. I will look to it,” Gupta said, going to the blast doors console. “I'll reduce the air in here so that they can't come near your office.”

  “Very well,” The CEO said impatiently.

  “May I check your helmet?” Pullo asked.

  The CEO made an 'if you must' gesture with his hand and Pullo checked the helmet with quick and precise movements.

  “We're good, opening blast doors.” Gupta's announcement was punctuated with the blast doors opening for them.

  “Jerome, Mark, clear the way,” Pullo said.

  “Sir.” Mark ran on, following the plan they'd made to the CEO's elevators they were just five hundred meters away.

  They got through most of the level without trouble. They passed the stairs to find that someone was trying to come up them. Mark put a burst into them. The door was broken so they couldn't lock it.

  “Grenade surprise?” Jerome asked innocently.

  “Sounds good.” Mark fired another burst at a colonist that had poked their head out.

  “Dinners served fuckers,” Jerome whispered as he tossed a handful of grenades down the stairs. Mark slammed the door shut. nothing happened for a few moments and then it bucked against his shoulder, they paused in anticipation. Waiting… Waiting… Silence.

  “Move it troopers, this ain't no vacation,” Pullo said as he, Gupta, and the CEO had made it to their position.

  Mark and Jerome ran on, their weapons ready as they got to the elevator.

  The CEO, Gupta and Pullo went straight in. Jerome and Mark fell in behind, the doors slammed shut and the CEO tapped his arm to the console on the elevator. It shot upwards for a few minutes and then stopped. Mark and Jerome pushed out, scanning the interior.

  It wasn't so much a room, as it was an entire floor. The floor was a single living space with several pools of various sizes, some pretty damn big video screens and lots of VR rooms. There was a full kitchen, a massive bedroom, and robots came to greet the CEO who ordered something that sounded expensive and rare.

  The robot appeared a few moments later as the CEO was making his way to a spherical working area. He took the drink, sipping on it as he walked into the air. The sphere didn't have any gravity. He simply floated up to his chair, resting in it as he flicked through different information.

  “Contact me with the commander of the EMF transport,” The CEO said, still sipping on his drink as the others looked around the room in shock.

  “Damn, so this is how CEO's live,” Jerome said, his tone bitter.

  “Watch that tone,” Pullo warned.

  “Yes sir,” Jerome replied with some apprehension, but it was not directed at Pullo.

  “We never get up here, not even our keys let us into CEO's pads. They've got their own power-plants and everything up here. Can't blast into them from downstairs without a few-kiloton nukes,” Gupta said, in as much awe as everyone else.

  A face appeared on the CEO's screen, it showed a thirty or so year-old with a ship backed by a super-nova. It was general Wai. She looked pretty enough with her high cheek bones, small mouth and nose. Her black hair was pulled back into a perfect pony-tail, eyes that Mark could tell were usually cold and unfeeling were now submissive as she bowed deeply to the camera feed.

  They were starkly different to Captain Nerva's eyes which were cold and deep, but he cared about those under him, he knew what had to be done and showed it through his actions and willingness to risk his life just like his troopers.

  Wai seemed more like the person that didn't care about those under her, she was a player, a political player that was probably trying to get a CEO position for herself. Mark had picked up on enough from of the chatter on Reclaimer to gather together that feeling.

  “CEO Harrison, I was not aware that you were still on the surface. I thought that you were on the holding vessel or heading towards Earth,” she said.

  “That barely matters now. I desire a r
ide up to the holding vessel until this mess is dealt with.” CEO Harrison waved his hand as if encompassing the rest of the planet.

  “Certainly, I will do everything in my power to see that your needs are seen to,” Wai replied.

  “Indeed, your people do seem to be rather good at their job. I think I might buy some shares of the EMF and get a regular detachment for Sacremon,” CEO Harrison admonished.

  “We would be honored. If I might talk to the security detail, I will see that your needs are met and we can sort out some transport from the planet.” Wai bowed her head again in subservience.

  Mark turned off his communications and pulled off his helmet, indicating the others to do the same. They did with confused expressions.

  “Captain Nerva told me that if we were to talk to higher we should say that we need support or you won't be able to get the CEO to a safe location for retrieval. Might be best if it came from me,” Mark said rubbing his arm where his rank was.

  Pullo put his helmet back on, everyone else following suit.

  “I am going to check if the CEO needs anything from us. Gupta being the other senior personnel present it would be best if you accompanied me so that we understand the CEO's request, Jerome you check the security of the lift, Mark talk to higher and say that we've secured the CEO,” Pullo said over a live channel.

  A chorus of 'yes sirs' came back to him and they split apart. Mark opened a channel with Captain Nerva, looking out of the tower, it was still night outside, it would be a few hours until Sacremons’ sun crept into the heavens again.

  “Mark Victor, do you have the CEO in your protection?”

  “Yes sir, second lieutenant Pullo and Sergeant Gupta are attending to him. We are looking to extract him from his building and get him to safety at this point,” Mark said.

  “Very well, I would not advise a rooftop pick up due to the anti-air and space abilities in the area. Also with the number of enemy combatants it would take some time to get clear of the tower and the CEO's safety couldn't be guaranteed. I am sending you the most recent outlay of weapon emplacements in the area. If we could get support at our tower then we might be able to create enough of a distraction to get the CEO clear, but our numbers are low,” Nerva said.

  Mark's map populated and he wondered just how Nerva had gotten all of this information.

  “If Friendly forces were able to land after the clearance of the enemy weapon systems then I have teams in place to assist in distracting them long enough to gain a foot hold and move to the tow...” Captain Nerva's channel was replaced with one to General Wai.

  “Victor is it? Why is Second Lieutenant Pullo and Sergeant Gupta not answering my calls?” Wai said, her voice hot and angry.

  “They are talking to the CEO currently General Wai,” Mark said in clipped and respectful tones.

  “Very well, I want them to contact me with a report immediately,” Wai answered.

  “Umm general...” Mark said, unsure of how to continue.

  “Spit it out and it better be worth my time.” Wai was pissed and Mark needed to be quick to make sure that annoyance didn't turn into him pissing off the woman in charge of his entire carrier.

  “I have been updated of the situation and have been in contact with Captain Nerva who had a plan for extraction and updated plans on the city and weapons emplacements,” Mark said in a rush.

  “Go on,” Wai said, her interest piqued but not sounding pleased. Mark was beginning to doubt she capable of such an emotion.

  “I have been sent a detailed map of all weapon emplacements in Growing city, with a strike they could be taken out, giving ships cover to land,” Mark said.

  “Then we can put a shuttle on the roof and pull the CEO out,” she said thoughtful.

  “Well...” He let his anxiousness creep into his voice.

  “What?” The heat back in her voice.

  Damn she's worse than some cats I know!

  “There is a large force of colonists on the ground, they could make that situation bad. Captain Nerva said that he could create a distraction for a short period of time, with more troopers then he could elongate the distraction and in the confusion you could lift the CEO out on a shuttle,” Mark added.

  “Send me this weapon emplacement plan,” she said. Mark sent it, waiting a few tense moments.

  “Well it does look like his alpha company is panning out after all,” she muttered.

  That's who got the information, they moved out before us and we haven't linked up with them since we entered the city. They must be observing or in the city hiding to gather information on the enemy, using us as a distraction to gather what they can.

  Mark's jaw worked, he saw how it was smart to have them do that, right now it was the only way the crafts were going to be able to land and not get slaughtered. Yet there was another part of him that wanted to punch Captain Nerva in the face for letting Alpha company keep out of the fight and not reinforce them when they were barely holding on to a couple of floors.

  “Inform Pullo and Nerva that I will be sending shuttles down to clear out the emplacements. The CEO is top priority, if at any time you think that he is danger I want you to take every care to keep him safe.” Her simple statement shaped into a threat.

  “Yes General!” Mark said, she clicked off of the channel and Mark requested a channel with Pullo and Captain Nerva, they accepted it immediately.

  “General Wai says that she's going to hammer the weapon emplacements and that we should keep the CEO safe at all costs,” Mark said.

  “Very...” Mark cut the channel on Nerva before he could finish.

  A few minutes later Pullo was marching towards Mark.

  He opened a channel and Mark accepted.

  “What the hell was that Mark? Not many officers are going to take too kindly to you shutting communications channels on them!”

  “Sir, he just had an entire company running around while we were getting slaughtered in that fucking tower.” Mark waved in the general direction of the faint weapons fire that could still be heard.

  “I don't like it, but he is a Captain for a reason. Without his forethought then we wouldn't have the targets for the weapon emplacements. I know this is your first drop but Captain Nerva is a damned good officer and I won't have you bad mouthing him. Am I clear?” Pullo's tone bordered on the tone he had used after Mark and Tyler had sent half of the section to the medical ward.

  “Yes sir,” Mark said, straightening.

  “Good, now just sit back and watch the fire works and I don't want to see your emotions getting involved and fucking things up. Am I clear?”

  “Yes sir, I won't fuck about,” Mark answered.

  “Good,” Pullo said after a few seconds in which he seemed to weigh Mark's statement.

  There was a tense few moments, but Pullo still left to go deal with the CEO.

  Jerome watched the discussion from his seat against one of the massive windows that looked down on the Growing City.

  He was eating on a meal-replacement bar; his helmet lay on the floor. Mark wandered over to him, taking off his helmet and grabbing a bar from under his armored plates. Food was still the most precious thing to him, habits from Earth died hard. He didn't horde it like a number of people had. It was seen as more of a nuisance when it got to that point.

  “So they coming?” Jerome said trying to sound calm, but his anxiety crept through regardless. Mark sat against the window, not looking out, or trying to think of how the glass might give way at any moment.

  “Yeah, looks like the general went for the plan and is sending down shuttles. At least that's what it sounded like. What's a lowly grunt like me know?” Mark shrugged.

  Jerome made a noise of agreement grabbing his water bottle as Mark bit into his bar, they were kind of chewy and tasted a bit salty, but he could deal with the bland taste any day. He had eaten some truly nasty things after he and Tyler left the orphanage to survive.

  “That's one hell of a sight,” Jerome said, his voice
trailing off as Mark followed Jerome's eyes, chewing on the bar absently.

  The slightly overcast sky was alight with red streaks that marked combat shuttles entering atmosphere. The city was quiet for a few moments and then weapons systems started firing.

  The combat shuttles were far away and evaded the cities defenses with ease. Auto turrets rounds reached down towards missile trails, explosions igniting the night air.

  Combat shuttle after combat shuttle fell through the atmosphere, the clouds turning red with the colors of re-entry before shuttles plunged through them.

  They leveled out and then it wasn't just the colonists that were getting their licks in.

  Auto-cannons fired their heavy rounds into the towers as missiles raced towards their targets.

  Using their tilting engines, the shuttles didn't come at the city straight on, they stayed at a distance and hammered the city, rotating around and taking out anything that dared to fire at their armored hulls. The first shuttles used the cover of the weaponless towers to move closer.

  ***

  Yu jumped into his combat seat, pulling his harness around him, sleep falling away as Young powered the engines and pushed for the new flight plan.

  “What we got?” Yu said, his harness good.

  “Trooper drop and fire plan. Our people are in a tower and pinned down,” Young said.

  “Taking control,” Yu replied.

  “I am relieved,” Young said, working her screens to refine the flight plan and listen into the nearly platoon sized group left.

  “How we looking Bobbie?” Yu asked, the armored doors coming up, Yu was on the front landing pad and he was going as soon as he got clearance.

  “Five minutes!” Bobbie said, yelling before he turned the channel off. Yu could feel the boots clanging through the cargo bay, the Troopers had kept four regiments ready to go at all times.

  “Good!” Bobby said, the rear hatch closing.

  “Flight control this is CS one-four-nine, we are good to go, submitting flight plan,” Yu said, sending the information.

  “Plan received and cleared, go for launch,” the flight controller said.