Well, he could relieve her of those weighty burdens. “You present such a tempting offer, milady. But, no. It is my great pleasure—truly, you have no idea how fantastic a pleasure it is—to inform you that the party is, at long last, over. Nos libertatem fucking somnia.”
He lifted his weapon and shot a plasma burst straight through her left eye. Just like he’d dreamed of.
Then he closed his own eyes and waited for the inevitable killing blow from swiftly arriving Vigil security officers. He breathed in deeply, ready to take the next breath in a regenesis capsule and begin again.
The blow never came. After an egregious number of seconds had passed, he opened his eyes and looked around.
The body of the Primor floated in crimson water foaming to pink on the surface. The Novoloume servant cowered behind the bar, and the two men on the bed continued to sleep soundly.
Was this how a hundreds-of-millennia reign of sin and unchecked libertinism ended? With averted gazes, snores and quiet sighs of relief?
Huh.
A commotion echoed behind him. He spun around to see a guard rush in, then fall ahead of Eren’s companions arriving.
The Marines fanned out to secure the room, but Drae merely glanced at the body in the pool then back at him. “You were supposed to wait for us.”
Eren shrugged. “One last foolishly reckless yet brilliantly heroic stunt to cap off my rebellion.”
“Feel satisfied?”
He considered the body for a final moment as the water turned muddy and dark. “Feel ready to move on.”
34
AFS SARATOGA
TARACH STELLAR SYSTEM
* * *
A HOLO OF THE CENTRAL COMMAND ANNEX orbiting Machimis filled the front third of the AFS Saratoga’s briefing room. The holo measured a tiny fraction of scale, as the structure itself was the size of a city. However, if the mission went according to plan, they wouldn’t see more than a few rooms.
Malcolm zoomed in to the uppermost section of the space station. “At present, the Machim Primor is located in the large room that encompasses the top level of the Annex. He’s been at this location for over an hour, meeting with a succession of his top lieutenants and high-level station personnel. The room is isolated from the rest of the station, with a single ingress/egress point via this vertical transit tube. Despite the presence of an MP detail and frequent visits by military officers, it’s as much of an ideal location to trap him in as we are going to find. As such, we’ll be moving in a few short minutes.
“Entering directly into this room using a wormhole will leave us too exposed during transit and the immediate aftermath. Therefore, the wormhole is going to deposit us…here.” He shifted the holo up slightly to bring the level below into focus, then indicated a corridor.
“This location should give us sufficient cover during our entry sequence. Once everyone has reached the station interior, Major Ettore will close the wormhole until it’s needed for extraction. We’ll proceed to this central atrium, clear and secure it, then access the target room by way of the transit tube. It’s large enough to carry the entire team, which addresses the exposure issue.
“When we breach the room, everyone is a fair target, but the Machim Primor is our number one priority. Polowski, Benoit and Shaviiz, you will guard the transit tube. Your orders are to ensure no one but us gets back out of the room.”
Malcolm exhaled portentously and considered the gathered Marines. “I know the mission profile looks like a simple in-hit-and-out, but nothing about this mission will be simple. We won’t be facing security guards and drones this time. Every person in that room is not merely a highly trained, experienced military officer—every person in that room has been a highly trained, experienced military officer for hundreds if not thousands of years. The same is going to be true for the vast majority of the people present on the Annex. And we won’t have the benefit of a diati bubble to take cover inside and lick our wounds like we did on Chionis. Top of our game, Marines. Nothing less will get the job done.”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
He killed the holo. “Gear up and meet at Transport #3 in ten.”
Brigadier Ashonye (Machim M2): “M2 target destruction confirmed.”
The second of three regenesis labs down. One to go—albeit the most difficult one, on the surface of Machimis.
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP/M2): “Acknowledged. Ambassador Requelme, MP target status?”
Her initial response came in a pulse instead of the mission channel.
‘Mia’ is so much faster to say. Surely there’s an official ‘expediency’ protocol exception?
Malcolm bit back a smile, since he was surrounded by his squad.
Yes—I can simply call you ‘Ambassador.’
I’m sighing, in case you were wondering.
Mia Requelme (Machim MP/M2): “The Primor’s location is unchanged, but the agitation level of all present has increased significantly in the last minute. I suspect they just got word of the destruction of the regenesis lab at M2.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP/M1): “Machimis squad, time to M1 target destruction?”
Major Berg (Machim MP/M1): “Eighty seconds.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Major Ettore, initiate the wormhole.”
“Form up and prepare to move. We are weapons free on arrival.”
Modified Reverbs were a necessary addition to their arsenal for this mission, but they complicated the weapons loadout. The best Marine still only had two hands. Given that their potential targets were virtually all Anaden, the modified Reverbs took the primary position. See an Anaden, point and kill. Straightforward and clean.
But the Reverbs were useless against drones, automated weaponry and non-Anadens, so Daemons and blades accompanied every Marine as well. Himself, Harper, Benoit and Pello also carried splinter and stun grenades, and Shaviiz and Redale carried heavy weapons. Their tactical gear included three layers of impact protection, stowed breather masks and a flex-helmet module. A cloaked reconnaissance ship waited eight hundred meters from the Annex, should an external rescue be required.
The wormhole’s amorphous border solidified.
Major Ettore (Machim MP): “Wormhole open and ready.”
Malcolm motioned ahead. “Go, go, go.”
MACHIMIS CENTRAL COMMAND ANNEX
MACHIMIS STELLAR SYSTEM
MILKY WAY SECTOR 36
They landed in the designated hallway, which thankfully remained otherwise empty.
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Wormhole traversal complete. Major Ettore, deactivate it and await further orders. Incursion team, proceed ahead to the perimeter of Point MP-2.”
The large atrium beyond the hallway served as a hub for those traveling to and from several sections of the Annex, and it was crowded with Machim military personnel. Too many to individually point Reverbs at one at a time, that was for certain.
Weapons fire at this juncture would alert the Primor and the other individuals in the apex room above to their presence, at which point the mission would go sideways in a hurry.
Malcolm remained on the silent mission comm to delay their detection for a second longer. “Pello, toss three stun grenades, maximum coverage.”
Pello lobbed the small devices in a perfect arc across the center of the room. No one had time to do more than turn in surprise before the pulses triggered, knocking everyone in range temporarily unconscious. The squad’s shields provided limited protection from the stun grenades’ effects, but at this distance it was enough.
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Move to the transit tube.”
The tube was a tight fit for the entire squad and their gear, though they did fit. They began ascending, but not before several Machim who had been near the edge of the stun grenades’ range struggled to their feet—and again collapsed to the floor when Odaka and Grenier pointed modified Reverbs at them. Straightforward, clean and silent.
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Crouch and prime weap
ons.”
Mia Requelme (Machim MP): “The Primor is standing on the far side of the room from the tube, at twenty degrees past the central holo map.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Copy that.” He badly wanted to toss a handful of stun grenades into the room ahead of their entry, but the room wasn’t nearly large enough to ensure his men wouldn’t be caught in the stun pulses—and if that happened, the mission was over. “We hit the room hot. Sweep and neutralize threats as you advance. With the tube guarded, the Primor won’t be going anywhere, but we must secure the room. Benoit, I want splinter grenades at thirty and three hundred thirty degrees, but not until we’re exposed. Do not tip anyone off.”
He eyed the rapidly approaching floor above. “3…2…1…Mark!”
Their heads cleared the floor, splinter grenades went flying, and the detonations brought chaos to their arrival.
Redale and Rodriguez charged forward. He and Harper followed then split—
“Duck!”
Malcolm instinctively obeyed Harper’s order. Her arm extended over his shoulder in a silent shot from the Reverb, and somewhere a body fell.
He jerked a nod at her, and they moved in opposite directions while Polowski, Benoit and Shaviiz took up defensive positions around the tube.
The floor was already thick with blood and bodies, a result of the brutally effective splinter grenades, and he devoted too much attention to keeping his footing as he moved deliberately toward the Primor’s last reported location.
Major Berg (Machim M1): “Destruction of Machimis surface target M1 complete.”
A Machim sighted down a plasma weapon on him. Faster than he could articulate it, Malcolm decided he could reach the man before he fired. Malcolm lunged forward while raising his left arm; he aimed his blade for the man’s throat and barreled into him, sending them both to the floor.
The barrel of the plasma weapon jammed painfully into his side, but the blade found its mark and the gun didn’t fire. The next second he was on his feet and moving again.
Yelling rose above the cacophony of combat in uneven bursts. “Don’t let them—” “—blow it if—” Heavy weapons fire erupted, crisscrossing the circular room, and his ocular implant filters struggled to resolve the shapes of bodies and obstacles through the blinding flares.
Lieutenant Odaka (Machim MP): “I’m hit!”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Stay down, Odaka, and signal your location to Redale. This is all over in twenty seconds.”
Sustained weapons fire from the far side of the room swept back and forth in wide arcs, which wasn’t going to penetrate anybody’s shielding absent a focused burst.
Captain Harper (Machim MP): “This is cover fire. Push through it!”
She was right. Maybe they were trying to protect the Primor for as long as possible, or maybe they were protecting something else. His shield absorbed a blast from a Machim weapon as he took out two more enemies blocking his way. The room was less than forty meters across, but it now felt as though kilometers remained between him and his target.
Captain Benoit (Machim MP): “Too much resistance fire. Splinter grenade at twelve o’clock from the transit tube in three.”
‘Get clear’ went unsaid as self-evident. Malcolm threw himself against the wall as the yelling turned to screams.
Mia Requelme (Machim MP): “I can’t see what’s happening on the far end of the room. I’ve lost eyes on the target.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “It’ll clear soon. Hold tight.”
The enemy fire lessened considerably after the grenade detonated, and he quickly resumed course. He climbed over two bodies to finally reach the target’s location—
“Shit! Grenier, with me!” Malcolm didn’t wait for Grenier before leaping down through the jagged, meter-wide hole burned into the floor near where the Primor had stood seconds earlier.
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Mia—”
Mia Requelme (Machim MP): “I’ve got him. The Primor’s fleeing on foot one floor below you. I’m following.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Captain Harper, you have the room.” He landed in the atrium below, Veiled, and took off running.
Chasing a target through a city-sized structure that was filled with armed hostiles and that the target doubtless knew every square centimeter of felt like a doomed endeavor. But he had to try.
Mia Requelme (Machim MP): “He’s taken a transit tube out to the perimeter torus. Entry to the tube is on your left, thirty meters.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “He’s going for a ship.” He added a channel to his comms.
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP/M2): “Brigadier Ashonye, I need a blockade on the Central Command Annex with orders to shoot down any ship that tries to leave the Annex.”
Brigadier Ashonye (EAS Marengo)(Machim MP/M2): “Solid copy. ETA four minutes.”
It should be enough time. He reached the transit tube, Grenier a step behind him, and they sneaked inside as it began to move.
“Polowski, Benoit, Shaviiz, stay on the tube shaft. Nobody gets in or out!” Harper whipped around at the sound of scuffling behind her. A Machim missing most of a leg dragged himself across the floor; by the time she spotted him, he had reached a body and wrangled a bulky weapon out of the dead man’s clenched hand.
“On my target!” Harper lifted her Daemon and fired. Off her left shoulder, Eaton hurried to train a Reverb on the man. Dammit, she’d gone for the Daemon out of reflex, but she should have opted for the modified Reverb….
The man didn’t point the weapon at any of them; instead he pointed it straight up in the air and began firing at the ceiling.
The glass ceiling.
His already mangled body jerked under multiple streams of fire, and whether from the lasers or the Reverb after another second the weapon clattered to the floor.
“Eaton, check him.” Harper stared up at the ceiling, where cracks raced outward from the impact point like a web emerging from a spider’s frenetically dancing spinnerets. “New plan—everyone down the tube, now!”
Captain Harper (Machim MP): “Ettore, we need a wormhole extraction at the insertion point ASAP!”
Nobody hesitated or questioned the order. The squad members guarding the tube disappeared down it. Verela helped Odaka into the opening to follow them, then Eaton and Pello. Finally Redale and Rodriguez. She took a last glance around to confirm all her people were below then leapt—
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Captain Harper, report.”
—the ceiling shattered, and the vacuum created yanked her into the air and toward the widening hole. Her face grazed a shard of the ceiling as it broke off.
Then she was in space.
Her left hand unlatched the breather mask and slid it on while her right felt for the helmet trigger.
Her finger slipped past it, fumbled back for it.
Found it.
Pressed it.
The callous punishment of space sealed off for a few precious minutes.
Brigadier Ashonye (Marengo)(Machim MP/M2): “We’ve got hostile vessels on an intercept course. Engaging.”
Shit. If the fleet was occupied dispatching other Machim warships, they were unlikely to spot a single vessel departing the Annex and slithering into the crowd. His blockade was going to fail before it began.
Malcolm willed the tube to move faster.
Mia Requelme (Machim MP): “The Primor disembarked at the eleventh level and is entering the docks.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Copy that. Grenier, be ready to move.”
Major Grenier (Machim MP): “Yes, sir.”
Major Ettore (Machim MP): “Incursion team is safely back at Staging Point #1, down three personnel.”
Three?
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Captain Harper, report.”
The tube slowed, and he positioned himself to be able to slip out before any of the other occupants moved forward.
Mia Requelme (Machim MP): “To your le
ft, but there’s a lot of security guarding the docks. I don’t want to stop tailing the Primor to try to find another way in, but I can.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP): “Stay with him. There’s no other way in—at least, not on the schematics.”
Malcolm stepped out of the tube and veered left, barely dodging a drone whizzing by—and stopped short. ‘A lot of security’ didn’t begin to cover it. Two guarded checkpoints spanned the full width of the docks’ entry hall. Each one was staffed by a drone and two Machim security officers, and both boasted toggled force fields. As he watched, a new squad of drones sped in from elsewhere to take up positions in front of the entry.
There was no way in at all, invisible or not.
Mia Requelme (Machim MP/M2): “The Primor has boarded a Machim battlecruiser at docking berth C-11E.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP/M2): “Ambassador Requelme, if the battlecruiser departs, track it for as long as you can. I understand if it switches to superluminal you won’t be able to follow. Major Ettore, Grenier and I are going to need an extraction as well. We’ll find a deserted corner, then I’ll transmit the location.”
Brigadier Jenner (Machim MP/M2): “Brigadier Ashonye, if you can get any ships around the enemy’s front line to where they can prevent that battlecruiser from leaving the vicinity of the Annex, do so. MP is on board. Stopping it is our highest priority.”
He shot a final, invisible glare at the gathered security blocking him from his target. Also, why hadn’t Harper responded yet?
Droplets of blood floated into view inside Harper’s helmet. The glass she’d been scraped by had cut her face. Droplets weren’t gushes, however, which made the cut the least of her concerns.
Aurora Resonant: The Complete Collection (Amaranthe Collections Book 3) Page 104