Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2)

by Michael G. Thomas

This piece of information sent a shudder down Teresa’ spine; the very idea of a hidden network reminded her of places like Hyperion back home. Places where Rifts had been kept hidden and allowed the movement of people, equipment, and even ships into weakly defended areas. Gun moved and pushed to the front. He completely ignored the protocols of a briefing and interrupted the commander. Two marine officers moved hesitantly to apprehend him, but he glared at them and clenched his fists; he meant business.

  “I’m getting tired of secrets, hidden enemies, and agents.”

  He turned and looked to those watching and listening.

  “Who the hell is behind all of this, and what do they want?”

  The hall fell silent. It was a question so many of them had wanted to know, some for years, others for decades. Teresa felt uncomfortable, but then the mood seemed to change. At first it was the Marine Corps officers, then almost to a man they started asking the same questions.

  General Rivers nodded at their words and moved to a position directly next to the T’Kari leaders. The aliens, who until now had seemed calm and confident, were starting to move about. Flustered looking T’Kari guards fidgeted at the walls as if expecting trouble.

  “Quiet, please!” he called out with great authority in his voice. He then looked over to Gun.

  “Commander Gun, leader of the Jötnar, and a great friend to the Alliance. I know you have questions, but this expedition must get moving and quickly. Please, let them finish their briefing.”

  Gun considered stepping back but then shook his head.

  “No, General. Who is this Enemy? Who was on Hades, and what do they want? Where do they live, and when are we going to end this?”

  The room was deadly silent, with just the deep breaths of Gun punctuating the silence. Ayndir lifted her hands and beckoned to one of her assistants. He approached, and they spoke in agitated tones for a few seconds before indicating for the General to approach. He spoke for almost a minute and then moved off to the side to make contact with somebody on his secpad. The T’Kari leaders stood silently, waiting while the General spoke in hushed tones to an unseen figure. This went on for several minutes before he moved back and simply nodded to Ayndir. The leader of the T’Kari pressed a button. The image changed to show a dark outline of what appeared to be some kind of bipedal monster. It was tall, thin, and its multiple limbs hung down low from its close fitting armor. There were only a handful of people in that open space that recognized the figure for what it was.

  “Echidna,” Gun hissed, surprised and angry.

  “These are the foot soldiers of the Enemy, and you discovered the remains of one of them on Hades itself,” Ayndir explained.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Echidna had started off as a simple religious symbol that had been adopted during the Uprising. Only in the last days of the War did it become clear that the demon was something more. Rumors from the marines that fought on Hyperion, suggested the demon herself had led monsters and mechanical beasts in a violent last stand. Only those that fought there ever truly knew, and no video or still imagery of the event existed in the public domain in the following months. Some of those veterans were driven mad by the things they saw in that last battle, but as always, it was the demon Echidna they spoke of.

  Holy Icons

  “It was the image of Echidna, the half snake, half woman that had been found in iconography for decades now. The sight of the demonic looking monster kept everybody at the summit enthralled. Khan and Spartan had seen the creature first hand through the Rift on Hyperion. Teresa had seen the shape only briefly, as it had entered the human worlds, just as it had been destroyed by the implosion. At the sight of the beast, Gun became almost excited. Teresa, on the other hand, felt very different emotions while Gun’s blood pumped with excitement at the opportunity to face a mighty foe. Teresa felt nothing but worry. The creature she’d seen so briefly nearly two decades earlier sent old memories stirring through her body.

  “Foot soldiers?” she said, without thinking.

  Gun looked over to her with a grin. His initial surprise at being shown the image had quickly changed to excitement at the sight of something so strong and powerful. She hadn’t seen him that excited in a long time.

  “Yeah, now that is an enemy worth fighting!”

  The audience became aroused as a dozen T’Kari entered the room and formed up around a cloth-covered column. Teresa hadn’t even noticed it before, due to the low-level lighting in this part of the hall. Ayndir looked to them and nodded. Her people pulled on cords, and the fabric fell away like silk. Beneath the covers lurked the dark, twisted shape of some horrific monster. Many of those present recoiled at the sight of the thing. It was nearly twice the height of the Jötnar, standing almost six meters, and its torso was a sickening fusion of woman and mechanical beast. It was bipedal but a long serpentine tale coiled around it and along the ground. It had the limbs of the machines they had fought on Hyperion, but the body was closer to Gun and his Biomechs followers.

  “This is the beast you discovered, and we suspect it was this very machine that controlled this sector before your people destroyed the Rift,” explained the T’Kari.

  All eyes were on the great demon.

  “We recovered the body a year after and placed it here. Look at it; this is the face of the Enemy, one of their trueborn soldiers. In the past, it was rare to see one. They are masters of deceit and manipulation and use others to fight their battles for them. There are none better at biological manipulation and fusion with machines.”

  General Rivers looked at the monster for some time before taking over the briefing. He was one of the few there that had not been taken by surprise, and Teresa could only assume that was because this had all been preplanned days, perhaps weeks earlier.

  “This is all very interesting, and you can read the full details upon your return. The President already has this data, and it is the reason we are all here.”

  He took in a deep breath.

  “Most of you have already seen the reports from High Command, and you’ve already been briefed on the basics on this mission. The Alliance is stabilizing, and our new colonies out here in New Charion, but also back in Alpha Centauri, are thriving. We have a few minor problems, like the troubles on Carthago, but in general, we are doing better than ever. We’ve made contact with the T’Kari and even our battle-brothers, the Jötnar, are creating successful colonies with or without our help. This is a golden age for all of us and our citizens, and our politicians want it to stay that way.”

  He waited, watching them all carefully.

  “But...there is an evil out here, an evil that turns brother against brother, and as we have seen from the images of the T’Kari, they will stop at nothing until entire societies are reduced to ash.”

  His face altered slightly as he spoke and described the devastation wrought by their enemies; he almost seemed to snarl.

  “Our policy until now has been one of enlightened self-interest. We will get involved when, and if, it is to our mutual advantage.”

  He continued speaking while Teresa whispered quietly to Gun.

  “Mutual advantage?”

  Gun sniggered and then spotted a marine officer glare at him. He looked directly back at the short man and raised a questioning eyebrow. The man looked away. Gun turned back to see Teresa shaking her head at him and indicating at the General who continued to speak.

  “The discovery of these new Spacebridges in the Orion Nebula, change the strategic situation drastically. This means the enemy could have the capacity to strike at any point, and that leaves us vulnerable and at a disadvantage. Ayndir assures me this secondary level of short-range Rifts would take months, perhaps even years for ships to navigate. She also says they would not allow a ship to reach Helios or any of the old empires. Only the long-range Rifts they, and the other races, built have the power and positioning to allow that kind of travel.”

  He looked out to the group of assembled officers, recognizing some of their
faces, some by reputation and others personally.

  “Even so, what if any of the enemy’s ships from this sector were able to appear outside of Kerberos, or Terra Nova? The T’Kari assure us this could not happen, but can we take that chance? In hours they could be landing legions of troops, dropping bombs, or destroying shipyards. We have neither the manpower nor the technology to repel attacks like these.”

  A marine officer approached his side, spoke briefly, and walked away. The General continued.

  “Some want us to withdraw from this part of space, to leave the Orion Nebula, and concentrate on our old colonies. The referendum taken last month says otherwise. Our citizens want our new territories to be protected and more importantly, they want this enemy that has started so many wars to be hunted down and destroyed. Based on this information, the President, with the full approval of the Senate, has issued orders for the military to secure our colonies, at any price!”

  This news sent a chill through the room as each of the military officers digested his words. Already it was starting to sound like a call to war.

  “Both I and Admiral Anderson have advised the President that we need information, and we need it as quickly as possible. We fought the last war blind and with few friends. This time we need to know as much as possible, and perhaps pick up a few allies on the way. We have been given an important mission, no, a critical mission to the survival of our species, and together with the T’Kari, we will succeed.”

  He looked back to the creature.

  “We encountered this thing two decades ago. I was there and witnessed the fanaticism of their warriors. If these beasts are merely the foot soldiers of this enemy, then we definitely need to know more. Just one of them is a horrific opponent. An entire army could lay waste to cities. As Commander Gun has already asked, where do they come from? Who are they, and what do they want? Helios is the first-stage in answering these questions, and with that knowledge, we can put a plan into action to safeguard the Alliance. Helios is the central hub in this collection of ancient races. Even more important though, it is how the enemy can send troops to us, or to any of the other six empires, assuming they even still exist.”

  Ayndir nodded calmly and then started to speak in her high-pitched voice. As before, there was a momentary delay before the translator kicked in. Teresa looked to Gun who was now mesmerized by the demon.

  “What do you think?” she asked quietly.

  “I think we’re going to be heading somewhere dangerous. The creatures are massive!” he replied happily.

  They both turned to listen to the T’Kari leader.

  “We have kept the T’Kari Rift, as you call them, secret. This strategically critical region of space is our greatest secret and known to our people as the Helios Gateway. It will take us directly to Helios. The capital world is much like Terra Nova and controls Rifts that connect to dozens of star systems. Helios is at the center of this great web. From this one key point, every one of the empires can be reached. Even the lands of the Enemy can be accessed from Helios through the Dead Rift. Whoever controls Helios, will control the Network and access to the Dead Rift.”

  These few words captivated the audience, especially the menacing Dead Rift.

  “The Helions are directly related to my own people. There are some that say they are our brothers, but we are different as we are similar. They are obsessed with science and technology, to a level that greatly surpassed our own, and use this power to control access to most of the Rifts. If they still live, they could prove a powerful ally. We will travel with your expedition to act as an intermediary, and also to take you through the Helios Gateway. I will now leave you in the capable hands of your military commanders. I will make our facilities available to you, if any require them.”

  She then turned and walked away from the hall along with the rest of the T’Kari. General Rivers and the others waited until every single one of them had left before banging his hands together.

  “Right. Officially, we are on an intelligence-gathering mission, but I think you can all see where this is going. New Charon is our beachhead into this part of space, and it now looks like the whole area is about to get much more complicated. I’ve looked at the data, and it is clear that this Network of Rifts is both a major weakness and a strategic asset that we have to control. Helios maintains the Network, as well as access to each of these old empires. Once we have take over of the Network, we can monitor traffic to all of these worlds. Ayndir suspects there will be a Rift entrance back to Alpha Centauri. We can’t take the chance that the enemy could get hold of this strategic backdoor. If we control this region, it means ships could travel from Terra Nova directly to Helios, and then on to any of these old empires, assuming any remain.”

  Several of the naval commanders started speaking in excited tones to each other.

  “That’s right,” announced General Rivers. “That means an Alliance ship at any planet within three days! If we cannot do this, then we will have to deny it to the enemy, because he sure as hell will be doing it to us. Assuming, he doesn’t already run the whole show.”

  Teresa looked to Gun and nodded in agreement.

  “Makes sense, the quicker we have control of this thing, the quicker we can find Spartan and the others.”

  Gun said nothing.

  “There is a good chance we will run into either these Helions, or possibly forces loyal to the Echidna if for any reason these aliens have already folded. Space is about to get very complicated, and I don’t need to tell any of you how serious this is. I want every Marine unit and Navy ship ready for combat operations in the next twelve hours, even the recruits waiting for their unit replacements and new commanders. We are sending twelve warships, including six Crusader class vessels and three Marine battalions. We are also bringing science vessels, transports, and heavy equipment. Former private security units from APS Corporation have been transferred to us, and they will travel aboard the civilian ships to provide unit security.”

  The officers present seemed unsurprised at the news. Teresa quickly realized they must have been briefed well in advance, and she started to wonder what else had been decided without her knowledge.

  “Admiral Anderson will be leading this operation, and your specific orders await you aboard your ships. If all goes well, in just under a month, we will make contact with a second civilization, expand our frontiers, and obtain knowledge to protect our worlds.”

  Most of those present assumed the briefing was over, but before they could leave, he nodded toward Teresa and Gun. They both shifted suspiciously.

  “There is just one last thing I want to say before you leave, and it concerns Commander Gun.”

  All eyes were now on the Jötnar leader.

  “I consider the disbanding of the Jötnar Battalion to be nothing short of a crime. I saw firsthand what they were prepared to do and still do for our citizens. When we return from Helios, it is my intention to push for its reinstatement in the Alliance. I know it is a long time in coming, but we could do with the support and strength of the Jötnar, and I am getting sick of the racism and bitterness still prevalent.”

  This sent a surge of interest through the group. Gun looked to Teresa with a confused expression on his face. She looked equally surprised at the news.

  “In the meantime, we have access to the skills and experience of two of our most experienced leaders, Major Morato, formally of the Confederate Marine Corps and of course, Commander Gun, leader of the Jötnar and of the illustrious Jötnar Battalion. Both played a vital role in the War, and both have been reinstated to Alliance service with full Marine Corps ranks and privileges. They are joining the headquarters of the brand new and under strength 17th Marine Battalion aboard the new ships ANS Savage and ANS Sentry, where their skills will whip them into shape prior to arriving at Helios.”

  The other officers looked both amused and surprised at the postings. Teresa had no idea what to say with regards to the unit. She’d not heard of them, but then things h
ad changed substantially since she’d been in the Corps. The General then turned his gaze from the audience and directly to Gun and Teresa.

  “The 17th is out here for training. I need the manpower though, and you know what I need and how to get it. I expect the 17th to be a unit even Colonel Spartan would be proud of, and before we enter the Helios Gateway!”

  To their surprise the assembled officers started to clap. Teresa was at a loss as to whether it was spontaneous or planned that way, but it was still a pleasant surprise for a change. The two looked at each other, but Teresa was speechless. The mention of Spartan had stunned her, especially the reaction from the Navy and Marine Corps officers present. She felt transported back to her days in the Corps, and a feeling of wellbeing pushed up through her body. Gun, on the other hand, had no problem in expressing himself and lifted both of his massive arms up into the air.

  “Yes!” he roared.

  * * *

  Jack Morato entered the lush jungle themed training arena. It was his final test as the Alliance military assessed his performance and suitability for promotion in the Marine Corps at the end of the first year. He was dressed in a gray cadet uniform and carried an L48 training rifle. At his flanks moved two similarly equipped cadets. The only difference between them was that they were both women, and they were quickly tiring of his attempts to get their interest. Over the last year, Jack had built up quite a reputation, to the level that the female cadets either sought him out, or made a special effort to avoid him.

  “I can hear them,” whispered the shorter of the two women, a young oriental woman with a deep scar running along her forehead. Her name was Thai Qiu-Li, and Jack was still finding it hard to match her shooting skills out on the range. Jack moved closer to them but kept his head low. She indicated with her hand to the right, and Jack moved in that direction before lying low behind a tree. As he peered around its trunk, he marveled at the realism of its structure. They might have only been on Terra Nova, but the training area could easily have been Hyperion.