Metal Legion Boxed Set 1

by C H Gideon

“At ease, Lieutenant Colonel Jenkins,” Major General Kavanaugh gestured invitingly as she leaned back in the central chair.

  General Akinouye’s chair.

  “Although,” she continued blithely, “we should probably dispense with the ‘lieutenant’ bit, don’t you think?”

  “Ma’am?” Jenkins placed his beret on his head before clasping his hands behind his back and standing at ease.

  “Colonel Li’s report of Operation Brick Top was absolutely glowing, Colonel.” Kavanaugh waved a hand at a number of polymer sheets neatly stacked on one corner of the desk.

  General Akinouye’s desk.

  “Such successes are generally rewarded,” the major general continued measuredly. “When you transferred over from Fleet, we withheld what should have been an automatic step up in rank due to the…peculiar circumstances of your transfer.” Her lips twisted into an approving smirk. “Out of deference to Fleet, we held off, but deference goes only so far. As the highest-ranking officer in the Terran Armor Corps, it is my privilege and pleasure to bestow upon you the rank of full colonel. The ceremony will be in six days’ time,” she explained, “where you and a number of your officers will receive the ornaments and implements of your new ranks. Chief among the other promotions will be Captain Xi Bao’s ascent to the rank of major. I know it’s a little unusual and will cause some consternation among the other branches, especially given her youth and the brevity of her time as Captain, but the Terran Armor Corps has always marched to its own beat when it comes to recognizing talent. Captain Xi Bao is an exemplary officer whose future is brighter than any I have ever seen, and her performance on the Brick was precisely the kind of thing Armor Corps needs in order to resume its place of prominence in the Terran Armed Forces. Don’t you agree?”

  Jenkins nodded. “Absolutely, ma’am.”

  “Good,” Kavanaugh said approvingly.

  “If I may ask, ma’am?” Jenkins gestured to one of the two empty seats. “Where is General Pushkin?”

  She smiled, her lips tightening into flat lines designed to mask irritation. “General Pushkin tendered his resignation nine days ago, citing health concerns and a desire to spend time with his family. His departure comes at a most unfortunate time, especially given the death of General Akinouye, but I have nonetheless accepted his resignation. My own promotion will not be official for another three weeks, given the paperwork and oversight requirements, but rest assured that we will reconstitute Armor Corps’ leadership with all due haste.”

  “Who, if I may ask,” Jenkins ventured, knowing he was sailing into dangerous waters, “is in line to replace them, General?”

  She leaned forward, lacing her fingers and resting her hands on the desk as she peered down at him with an appraising eye. Part inspection, part predatory preamble, the expression on Major General Kavanaugh’s face was more than slightly unnerving.

  “Colonels Li and Moon are both under consideration,” she eventually replied, “although obviously, their elevation will require an even more thorough inquiry than my own, given that they must first be promoted to the necessary stations. And since the Bonhoeffer is currently in orbit over Durgan’s Folly, where it will remain until it can be inspected and have its condition thoroughly appraised, the matter of their elevation must be postponed for the time being.”

  “Begging pardon, ma’am,” Jenkins said, careful to keep his body language confused and engaged rather than rigid and anxious. “Isn’t it against TAF regulations for a single officer, no matter how highly-ranked, to restructure an entire branch’s leadership?”

  “You are correct, Colonel Jenkins. It’s encouraging to see that you’re familiar with some of the more arcane bits of the Code,” she agreed with a pleasant expression that suggested he was still in the game.

  He didn’t want to come across as being unfriendly to her hostile takeover of the Metal Legion’s leadership, and right now he needed to do everything he could to convince her that he was not a threat.

  So far, so good, he thought.

  “Which is why,” General Kavanaugh continued, “in this interim period during which Armor Corps lacks the necessary framework of leadership to restructure its chain of command, I have called in a few favors to ensure that the process runs as smoothly and effectively as possible.”

  “Favors, ma’am?” Jenkins quirked a brow in genuine surprise.

  “Yes, Colonel,” she replied with a smile, although this one was more triumphant than predatory. “Given their recent interactions with TAC, and owing to the fact that Admirals Zhao and Corbyn are old friends of mine, they’ve both agreed to step in and provide the requisite measure of confirmatory authority that our corps needs in order to keep rolling.”

  There it was—a ten-megaton bomb that left Jenkins reeling. General Kavanaugh was going to reorganize the Metal Legion under Fleet, just as Admiral Corbyn had hinted might occur during Jenkins’ “informal inquiry” and precisely as General Akinouye had steadfastly rejected. Corbyn had spoken of that project’s timetable in terms of years, perhaps even a full decade, before such a restructuring could take place, though.

  The casual way Major General Kavanaugh flipped the reorganization matter out there, like she was laying down a full house while a flush was still on the board, suggested she was uncertain if he would be sympathetic to her plan.

  He had to think fast, or his entire brigade would be in jeopardy.

  “Fleet oversight, ma’am?” he reiterated warily. “I thought you were in agreement with General Akinouye that the Legion should retain its independence?”

  “In point of fact, I did agree with him about that,” Kavanaugh replied, projecting an air of somberness that seemed wholly artificial to Jenkins. “But variables have changed, Colonel, as they so often do. And now we must also change if we are to avoid the loss of this precious momentum that you and Dragon Brigade have generated. The Terran Armor Corps has a real future now, Colonel Jenkins, and that future was only made possible by your exemplary contributions. Contributions which were enabled by the valor and ingenuity of the men and women under your command. As Armor Corps’ most senior officer, it is my duty to ensure that their talents, and yours, are deployed to maximum effect in furtherance of Terran humanity.”

  Jenkins could feel the proverbial noose tightening around his neck. General Kavanaugh was more ambitious than he had ever suspected, and she was now making a move which must have been decades in the offing. Even General Akinouye had never confided in Jenkins any real concerns about Kavanaugh’s loyalty to the Legion. He had sometimes referred to her as more ambitious than passionate, but her work at his side had been vital in their efforts to keep the Legion’s doors open.

  And here she was, with the embers of General Akinouye’s funeral pyre still warm, moving to tear down everything the man had spent his entire life to build.

  The bitch of it was, Lee Jenkins knew the only way through this minefield was straight up the middle—which meant betraying the man whose beloved Corps had become Jenkins’ last, best hope for salvation.

  “In truth, General Kavanaugh,” Jenkins said hesitantly, “I couldn’t agree more. We need to adapt to the times and maximize our assets’ effectiveness, which is why, before I went on my fundraising tour, I urged General Akinouye to move toward consolidating the Legion under Fleet’s banner.”

  “Oh?” She cocked an eyebrow, but her expression was otherwise unreadable. “And how did he receive your suggestion?”

  Jenkins forced a grimace. “Not well, ma’am. He suggested I was anatomically challenged, specifically pertaining to my cranio-caudal relationship, and went on to detail how an…inventively deployed fifteen-kilo shell would clarify my thinking.”

  Kavanaugh’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment he thought she had seen through him. Then she threw her head back and laughed. “That does sound like Ben,” she said agreeably. “His Metal Legion was the only thing he ever truly loved. He probably took your suggestion as a personal threat rather than a tactical appraisal.”


  “Respectfully, ma’am,” Jenkins continued, absolutely hating himself as he did, “his pride got in his way, but worse still, it got in the Legion’s way. When I first approached him about my trial program, it was with the declared intention of incorporating armor elements into Fleet operations. I only transferred over to the Legion when it seemed like the program…my program,” he reiterated with genuine passion, “would get shelved by Fleet brass. I think they saw my proposal as a competing alternative to the Marines, but I never envisioned it that way,” he continued, speaking with absolute honesty on this particular point. “I always thought that technologically-updated mechs and power-armored Marines could be deployed in mutually-supportive configurations in a variety of mission profiles, but every time I’d bring it up, either to the Admiralty or to General Akinouye, they reduced it to a conflict over which would be given priority. And Fleet does love their Marines,” he added sourly.

  She gave a knowing nod. “To be frank, Colonel, I’ve already encountered precisely the same thing in my preliminary discussions of the matter with Admirals Zhao and Corbyn.”

  “Rear Admiral Corbyn seemed receptive to the project,” Jenkins said with a nod, taking careful aim with another sliver of truth in his high-wire deception, “but he expressed serious concerns about the political landscape and the bureaucratic obstacles to forming a consolidated Combined Arms sub-branch of Fleet. Admiral Zhao, on the other hand…” His words trailed off pointedly.

  “Go on, Colonel,” Kavanaugh urged. “You can speak frankly. These walls have no ears but our own.”

  Jenkins believed that. If the Jemmin or their cohorts and sympathizers had gained access to the Armor Corps briefings on either Shiva’s Wrath or Operation Brick Top, they would have moved to prevent Jenkins’ people from achieving their objectives on those worlds.

  So he exhaled shortly before answering with a half-lie. “Admiral Zhao seemed intent not only on uncovering certain classified details discovered on Shiva’s Wrath, but during the inquiry, his posture was openly hostile to Armor Corps, ma’am. I think we can work with Rear Admiral Corbyn to mutual gain, but I would advise caution when it comes to Admiral Zhao.”

  She nodded thoughtfully while tapping her chin with a long, slender finger. “I agree, Colonel,” she finally declared, her face twisting into a moue of distaste. “Admiral Zhao has no real love for the Armor Corps, owing in some small part to that business with his son, which between you and me is partly why I was forced to accept him on the temporary advisory board. I must say that I’m impressed with your strategic perspective on these matters. It’s clear to me now that I will have to rely on your input in the coming weeks as we lay the groundwork for Armor Corps to merge with Fleet.”

  “Merge” in this instance was a fluffy word for “bend the knee.” For the time being, the Terran Armor Corps retained the privilege of operational security, which extended to blackout classification of certain mission-critical details. General Akinouye’s authority had permitted him to conduct off-the-books, covert operations under the auspices of preserving ongoing operational security.

  But now, with Admirals Corbyn and Zhao coming into the fold, the books were going to be opened up and information security would be compromised.

  If Jenkins was right, the Jemmin would make a serious move against the Terran Republic, and possibly even all of humanity, shortly after the details of Akinouye’s operations were revealed.

  Jenkins straightened his shoulders, mustering an air of pride as he said, “I’ll do my utmost to support your efforts, General. In the interests of Terran security, this merger needs to happen sooner rather than later.”

  “I wholeheartedly agree.” Kavanaugh nodded approvingly, and as far as Jenkins could tell, he had at least convinced her that he was not actively antagonistic to her designs for the Metal Legion. “But we should table the matter of TAC’s future. There are several discrepancies in your after-action reports,” Kavanaugh explained, producing a data slate and deftly swiping through a number of screens, “which we need to go over.”

  “Of course, ma’am,” he acknowledged, knowing that he was about to betray even more of the people who had put their trust in him.

  But he had thought long and hard about this, and despite his moral objections, he had no choice but to play every last card in his hand. The stakes were just too high.

  If he was wrong about the Jemmin conspiracy, and Director Durgan had manipulated General Akinouye for some as-yet-unknown reason, careers would end because of the details he let slip. Lives would be ruined, and an interstellar corporation would experience shockwaves that might raze it to the ground. And it would all be because of Lee Jenkins’ soon-to-be-made report to Major General Kavanaugh.

  But if he and Director Durgan and General Akinouye and the Vorr and the Zeen and even the bizarre entity known as ‘Jem’ were right about the Jemmin…

  Then there was only one possible path to victory, and Jenkins needed to do whatever it took to reach it with enough firepower in hand to do the job.

  “Let’s start at the beginning, Colonel,” Kavanaugh began, and for the next six hours, he gave as many classified details as he thought he could survive, with a single thought ringing in his head as each word passed his lips.

  God help me if I’m wrong.

  “Let’s go back to the Han-built Razorback Mk 2-Vs,” Kavanaugh circled back to the issue of the Terra Han mechs for the fourth time. “Were there any technical dissimilarities between them and our Razorbacks?”

  “As Mk 2s they had lighter frames than our Mk 1s,” Jenkins explained, “owing to the redesigned chassis, which allowed them to shore up the joint armor with ablative mimetics without sacrificing acceleration or top speed. Those modifications, along with the pop-up railguns, were the only notable differences I observed, ma’am.”

  She flipped through a few pages of information before stopping on another point of obvious interest. “You say here that Lieutenant Podsednik and Chief Styles did not secure the archeological site prior to returning to the surface, is that right?”

  “Correct, ma’am,” he agreed. “Our orders from General Akinouye were to preserve the integrity of the site. After the team arrived and found nothing but the attached recording that detailed the lives and deaths of almost five hundred Jemmin from fifteen thousand years ago, they withdrew and we ceded the site to the Finjou in the interests of diplomacy.”

  “I’ve had my people thoroughly examine that recording,” she said irritably. “So far we haven’t found anything actionable. Certainly nothing worth the cost to Armor Corps during Operation Brick Top. There are some interesting technological details in there, but nothing of interest pertaining to the Vorr or Zeen.”

  “We found nothing useful either, ma’am,” Jenkins lied. Kavanaugh knew most of the details from Shiva’s Wrath, but Akinouye had not yet let her in on the success of Xi’s “diplomatic efforts.” At the time, Jenkins had believed the late general had merely been holding his cards close to the chest for reasons pertaining to office politics, but now, standing before Akinouye’s usurper, Jenkins knew that Akinouye had never fully trusted the woman. “At this point,” Jenkins continued, “my people are inclined to conclude it was a wild goose chase.”

  “I disagree,” Kavanaugh mused, causing a knot to form in Jenkins’ throat. A potential moment of truth had just arrived.

  “Ma’am?” he asked, careful not to betray his anxiety as he waited for her to arrive at the conclusion that he, Styles, Xi, and Colonel Li had painstakingly crafted during the two weeks as they limped back home from Finjou space.

  “I think,” she leaned forward, her cold, blue eyes pinning him to the deck, “that the Vorr were trying to stir up animosity between the Finjou and us. I also think that the Vorr were the ones who sold the Solar tech to those rebel colonists using a Finjou intermediary because they have designs on Terran space and want to see us weakened by enemies on multiple fronts. We’ve pushed back the latest Arh’Kel offensive, in no small part th
anks to your work on Durgan’s Folly. I think the Vorr were behind the rock-biters as well.”

  Jenkins had to force himself to take slow, measured breaths; his heart felt ready to beat all the way through his ribcage and hurl itself onto the deck. She had gone precisely where they wanted her to go, and it was all he could do to keep from breathing the most epic sigh of relief in his entire life.

  “With the Arh’Kel threat contained,” she continued, apparently more concerned with giving voice to her deftly-manipulated conclusion than with reading Jenkins’ anxious body language, “I think they needed to find another way to keep us on our heels. But you, Colonel Jenkins, seem to have thwarted their devious plan not once but thrice in as many engagements.” She smirked. “I hope for all our sakes that you never find yourself in a dark room with a Vorr.”

  Jenkins’ eyes wanted to bulge out of their sockets at hearing that. He knew it might have been a subtle hint that she had seen through his lie about the meeting with Director Durgan, which in this fable had not included a Vorr. That particular omission had been key to crafting the narrative that had led her to her current position.

  He forced himself to project calm as he nodded gravely. “You and me both, General.”

  “All right,” she said, switching the data slate off and setting it aside. “I think that’s enough for today. Once again, you’ve done the Terran Armor Corps proud, Colonel Jenkins. On behalf of its members past and present, I would like to offer my congratulations on a job well done. You and your people have earned a little downtime, so I’m ordering you to return to the Bonhoeffer and immediately begin disembarking your crew for some much-needed R&R,” she said, standing from the desk.

  General Akinouye’s desk.

  “They’ll be glad to hear it, General,” Jenkins said graciously as she came to stand before him. She was short of stature, but one look at her made clear that she had earned the rank of major general.

  “Good work down there.” She extended a hand, which Jenkins accepted. “Ben would be proud.”