“You’d better.” Keel looked to his navigator. “Ravi, send him the money.”
“’I’d better?’” Gannon scowled. “Space off, Keel. I don’t need your money.”
Keel stared coldly at the man on the holoscreen. “Maybe not, but you’re gonna take it. And you’re gonna do the job. Because if you don’t… I’ve got the credits to pay Wraith to make good on all those threats I’ve let slide over the years.”
“Wraith ain’t gonna…” began Gannon, but his words trailed off at the sight of Keel’s unyielding stare. “You’re bluffing.”
Ravi leaned over, placing himself in the holo’s view. “I don’t believe he is. This is very serious. Wraith owes Keel a favor, and you will certainly be it.”
Gannon swallowed. “Look, Keel—”
“Get it done.”
With a slow nod, Gannon said, “Yeah. Okay.” He leaned forward and cut the holofeed.
Keel didn’t so much as blink until the screen went to standby.
Ravi gave a quick “Hmm” as commentary on the interchange. “I am wondering how long you will continue this Wraith-Keel duality charade. Surely the word will get out before long that you are one and the same. I calculate an eighty-three-point-six percent chance that a member of your old kill team shared this information with Lao Pak.”
“Keep your cards hidden until someone calls.”
“And I suspect you are planning on killing Gannon no matter how good a job he does for you?”
Keel gave a fractional shake of his head and a half-smile. “Ask me no secrets and I’ll tell you no lies.”
Ravi twitched his mustache. “I will ignore your sudden enthusiasm for platitudes and instead ask, why have you not killed Gannon already? He certainly deserves it.”
Keel reached for the hyperspace controls. “Same reason I didn’t kill Lao Pak back on Pellek. Because he might be useful.”
He pushed abruptly on the controls, causing the Six to dump out of hyperspace with a lurch, as though he had ignited counter-repulsors to brake in mid-flight. “That felt convincing enough.”
Ravi eyed the captain. “We are now feigning a mechanical failure to provide Gannon the needed time.”
Keel rose from his seat. “That’s right. Make sure the Six reads a plausible failure in case either of our passengers has the wherewithal to check the logs. And give me something showy to fix back by the drive reactor.”
Ravi’s fingers danced over his console. An audible pop and groan sounded from the port side of the ship. A siren sounded immediately.
“Yo!” Exo shouted over the ship-wide comm. “There’s a bunch of smoke filling the ship!”
Keel gave his navigator a confused look.
Ravi shrugged. “You said to be showy.”
***
Legion Destroyer Intrepid
Cononga System
Chhun hadn’t expected Major Owens to take a shuttle from the super-destroyer Mercutio over to see him on Intrepid when he passed on Wraith’s report. But here the major was, standing inside the doorway, shades on, working over a wad of gum.
“Get dressed,” Owens ordered after looking over Chhun’s down-time uniform of mesh shorts and a Legion T-shirt. “I’m bringing you to a meeting with Commander Keller.”
Chhun smiled. “This is pretty much how I was dressed the first time I met the Legion commander.”
Owens popped a bubble between his teeth with a loud snap. “Not this time. This is the big one.”
“We get to find out why all these destroyers are staging out here?”
“Yep.” Owens nodded toward the kill team’s dormitory. “So let’s go, because I need to talk with you about Wraith before the briefing.”
Chhun left for his footlocker. “I’m not shy—we can talk while I get jocked up. I’m guessing the Legion commander wants me in full battle rattle instead of dress blues?”
“Good guess,” Owens said, following Chhun past the rest of the kill team, who pretended not to eavesdrop.
In his room, Chhun pulled off his shirt, revealing abs of impervisteel.
“You young guys,” complained Owens. “Doesn’t matter how many sit-ups I do,” he slapped his stomach through his Legion fatigues, “I still got the padding.”
“That’s because you eat too many carbs,” said Chhun, pulling on his synthprene under-suit and moving to his locker to armor up.
“Drink too many is more like it,” Owens said with a chuckle. “But Mrs. Owens doesn’t seem to mind it. When I actually get to see her, of course.”
Chhun stepped into his boots and felt them seal around his knees. “You gonna try and see ’em?”
“Talked to ’em on holo,” Owens answered, sniffing and looking to the side. “That’ll have to do for now. My girl, Neese, is growing like crazy.”
Chhun nodded. He knew the feeling. Comms and holos were all that he’d seen of his family in what seemed like eons. Only for him, there were no children, no wife. Just parents who seemed to age a decade between each op. The last time Chhun saw them, his father looked as though he’d lost fifteen pounds, and his hand constantly trembled. Chhun’s mother told him it was probably just stress. Nerves. Nothing to worry about. Chhun worried anyway.
“You wanted to talk about Wraith?” Chhun said.
Owens grunted an acknowledgment. “Keller wants an after-action report about the mission planning. And I’ve got it written up, ready to transmit. My understanding is that Captain Ford went AWOL, abandoning the Legion and Victory Squad. And our previous discussions gave no indication of anything else. So you’ll understand my surprise to hear from you that Wraith is in the field, calling in intelligence reports outside the chain.”
Chhun sighed. “It’s… complex. Yes, Wraith left the team instead of joining the mission, but I didn’t exactly try to stop him. I think he came in from the cold and then back into action too quickly to adjust. Couple that with Nether Ops kidnapping his crew… I think we got what we could out of Captain Ford. At least for a while.”
“He helped you accelerate your mission’s timetable through the pirate.”
“Yeah. And I’m not saying you didn’t have it handled, but we came at the right time. And now he’s dug in with a Black Fleet strike team.”
Owens’s furious gum-chewing ceased, and his mouth hung slightly open. “He’s what?”
Chhun lowered his voice, holding his armored sleeve in his hand. “Yeah. They’re after some kind of fleet. Unmanned. That’s why Nether Ops took his crew. One of them had insider knowledge. And… Exo is with them.”
“With Ford?”
Shaking his head, Chhun said, “With the shock troopers.”
A silence fell between the two men before Chhun quickly added, “Don’t know why. Ford’s working on it. He says for Victory Squad to stand by, though. And I think we should.”
“No can do. Keller wants me to put you guys on something big. We’ve been planning a major operation. This is going to be it, Chhun.”
“Did he ask for us specifically?” Chhun felt his final piece of armor snap around his left arm.
“He asked for the best.” Owens snapped his gum. “That means Victory.”
“So then you don’t have to send us?” Chhun leaned inside Owens’s bubble and spoke quietly. He looked around the room to see if he was being eavesdropped on. "Listen. This is bigger than what Keller has in mind, whatever it is. I just… have a feeling.”
Owens gave a slow, repeated nod, as if listening to music. “Okay. I can get you out of this one. But we won’t be making this a regular thing. Command isn’t going to be happy if my best assets are out doing whatever it is Wraith has in mind. You’ll soon find out that Victory Squad is going to be kept busy. Real busy.”
***
The Intrepid’s bridge war room was as crowded as Chhun had ever seen it. All five of the pentagonal room’s walls were lined with staff and command officers from the Republic Navy, Marines, Army, and Legion. Captain Deynolds stood beside a round holocomm table, with Ma
jor Owens at her side, along with the head marine and army brass stationed on the ship.
If every other destroyer, frigate, and corvette amassed at Cononga had their command rooms packed like Intrepid’s, there was no way the holoprojectors could render them all. But the holoprojectors didn’t try. Only Legion Commander Keller was being projected, alone in the center of the holotable, and that was surely true in every other ship in the fleet. This show was his to run.
“I want to thank you all for being here,” Keller said, and the buzz of conversation died down. “I promise to keep you no longer than absolutely necessary. While I have every confidence that our location won’t be divulged to the House of Reason—as you know, Cononga is one of the friendliest planets in the galaxy to the Legion—the House will no doubt notice your absence from your battlenet positions. So I’ll make this quick.”
Keller seemed to eye everyone in the room through his holographic projection. “We are on the verge of beginning a campaign, under the authority provided to us by Article Nineteen, to depose the House of Reason.”
Chhun shifted from one foot to the other. This was it. This was really it. The Legion was going to shut it all down—to finally curb the malignant hand of the House of Reason and the Senate. He was witness to history.
“You have all received the dossier that outlines, in detail, our reasons for taking this step. It is not a decision we make idly, or rashly. It is a decision that brings me no joy. For many years now we have made every effort to avoid this very outcome—and have been stymied at every turn. But now the time has come. The time to fulfill our duty to protect the Republic—even from those threats that come from within.
“As I am sure all of you here assembled will agree, this is a course of action that has been a long time coming. It is not a response to any single event, to any single failure of the House and Senate. Having said that, the revelations about the clandestine punishments taking place in the synth mines at Herbeer were certainly… salient. The illegal imprisonment of legionnaires and political exiles. The implicit cooperation with Gomarii slavers. All contrary to Republic law. Our slicers are working to recover further incriminating evidence from Herbeer’s systems, but we already have more than enough to make a compelling case to the galaxy that the House of Reason has long been operating unlawfully and must be held accountable.
“I remind you all that the Constitution of the Republic names the Legion the rightful protectorate of the galaxy’s liberties. Thus we stand prepared to invoke Article Nineteen and remove the current House and Senate so that a new government, one willing to represent its citizens, can be built.”
Keller paused, letting the weight of this settle. The room was dead silent. They had all known what Keller would announce, but it was another thing entirely to hear him actually say the words.
“You have also received the dossier revealing General Hannubal’s battle plan for the attack on Ankalor, and your specific roles therein. I know this strategy probably comes as a surprise—that a quick strike on Utopion, designed to remove the House of Reason from power and disband the Senate, is what you believed would happen. I know it is that goal that led you to risk all and stand with the Legion here and now. However, after considering the aid and counsel of a former legionnaire serving in Nether Ops, I am confident that Ankalor must be our initial target. It is not enough for the Legion to invoke Article Nineteen; we must bring the people of the Republic on our side. This strategy will allow us to achieve that goal. It is our best chance for Article Nineteen to fully succeed.”
Keller rocked back on his heels. “It is also our moral duty. I remain surprised that the House of Reason made a deal with these demons. I can only surmise that it is the repeated failures of Admiral Landoo and her forces that caused a desperate House of Reason to arm the zhee. Ostensibly as ‘protection.’ But the result… was predictable. The zhee have already used their new ships to attack both Legion forces and Republic worlds, as you all know. We won’t let that stand. We can’t let that stand.”
The Legion commander’s voice remained calm and cool, but it was infused with passion. With steel. “The zhee on Ankalor cannot be allowed to remain an unchecked fighting force. Nobody in the galaxy wins when zhee have battle cruisers. We have a moral obligation to protect the Republic even as we remove the House of Reason’s poison from its veins. We will show the citizens of the Republic that the Legion, when unfettered from the demands and control of the House of Reason, stands for peace, order, and justice.”
A murmur shot through the room like an electric current through water. Keller stood still until the noise died down.
“Questions?”
Keller’s eyes caught the upraised hand of Captain Deynolds.
“Captain Deynolds?”
“Sir. With Admiral Landoo essentially in hiding from the Black Fleet while at the Bantaar Reef, aren’t you concerned that this action will provide the Black Fleet an opportunity to consolidate gains with their… dreadnoughts?”
“I am,” said Keller, the creased lines of his face reinforcing the words. “However, it is my opinion that the Black Fleet at this time is not our primary threat.”
When it was clear that there were no further questions, Keller gestured to someone unseen, and a holograph of Major Owens appeared beside Keller’s on the holotable. “Major Owens is the sector commander of Dark Ops at galaxy’s edge,” the Legion commander said. “As his immediate superior was a House of Reason appointee now relieved of command, I’ve given him command of our infiltration on Ankalor. Major, is your team prepared?”
Owens cleared his throat. He and Keller had planned out Dark Ops’s role in the assault for hours on end, scrutinizing every detail. And now it was time to let the rest of the force in on what he had prepared. “I have Zenith Squad set to infiltrate and take down Ankalor’s planetary shield in advance of the fleet. That will prevent the zhee, or those sympathetic to the zhee under the sway of the House of Reason, from putting it up and preventing our attacks.”
Chhun felt a pang. This was the mission Owens had spoken of earlier. Chhun knew Victory Squad would have been first choice. But he had begged off as a result of Keel’s tip, and now Zenith had gotten the honors. He was already second-guessing his decision.
“That leaves the shield protecting Fortress Gibraltaar,” Owens continued. “It’s built to Legion specs, enough to protect it from orbital and artillery strikes. And a kill team isn’t going to get past that security. It will have to be taken down the hard way—through a direct assault.”
“Thank you, Major.” Keller’s hologram faced the rooms. “I needn’t tell you that Major Owens’s and Dark Ops’s role is critical to our success. With the planetary shield down, we will initiate a planetary bombardment eliminating all zhee military facilities. The Legion, Marines, and Army will then drop onto the planet and take its cities.”
Chhun found himself nodding his head in agreement with the rest of the leejes, operators, hull busters, and featherheads. This had been a long time coming. The zhee had been given every chance to live peacefully in the galaxy and yet had never failed bite the hand holding the olive branch. And now that they were armed and equipped by the Republic, the Legion couldn’t let them sit unchecked. They couldn’t leave their rear or flanks exposed to such an enemy.
When the briefing ended, Chhun filed out with the rest on board Intrepid. He hoped that whatever action was still before him, he would play a role in restoring freedom to the galaxy.
06
The Indelible VI
Dead Space
“You sure there’s nothin’ I can help you with?”
Keel lifted up his black welding goggles for a moment so he could look around the corner at Exo. “Nah, afraid not. I think I’ve got it, though.” He went back to his work, sending brilliant white-blue flashes dancing across the hull of his freighter. Luminous balls of ghost-white sparks sprinkled onto the deck like fairy dust.
It was all for show, of course. After putting a stop to the
smoke—a simple venting duct Ravi had overloaded and re-routed into the life support air streams—Keel had spent the last two days breaking and repairing non-critical sections of the Six, always “on the verge” of finding the elusive problem that kept them from jumping into hyperspace to join the rest of the shock trooper strike team.
But the time wasn’t wasted. Through it all, Keel had worked hard to play the role of potential recruit. He’d asked about Goth Sullus, the Black Fleet, tactics, objectives—anything he could think of to make himself sound interested, but not too interested. It was a skill he’d picked up in the first year he’d gone out into the cold, and something he now did better than anyone he knew.
He examined his torch work with an artist’s eye. “I bet that does it. Ravi’ll have to run a full systems check before we make the jump, but I think I got it.”
“Cool,” Exo said, but his voice betrayed a certain reticence. Perhaps… sadness?
“Don’t sound so busted up about, huh, pal?” Keel said, removing his gloves and stowing his torch in its case.
Exo gave a half-hearted laugh. “The thing about the Black Fleet—the Empire, officially—is that it’s like the Legion, but it ain’t. You know?”
“Not sure.”
“So, militarily, it’s KTF, even if we’re not allowed to use those words. I mean, Black Fleet is full-on kill them first. Like, almost scary.”
“Coming from you,” Keel said with a lopsided grin, “that is scary. When I was an officer, no one in VC ever accused Exo of being timid. Pappy used to call you one of his pit-maulers. You and Chhun.”
Exo nodded, a whimsical, melancholy expression on his face. “That’s probably the biggest thing. There’s no one like Pappy in Black Fleet. Or Chhun. Or you, for that matter. The officer class doesn’t have any points, sure, but it’s full of guys who play the attrition game, you know?”
“We have twenty and you have ten, and we’ll spend fifteen to win,” Keel said with a knowing nod.
“Exactly like that. When we took Tarrago’s moon, I mean, it was well thought out. It was tactically sound. But dude, we lost so many men that I ended up being the ranking leader until Sullus showed up. Casualties were that bad, bro.”
Turning Point (Galaxy's Edge Book 7) Page 6