“General Hawk?”
“Huski…you and your team have caused me much trouble. Your flight from Rouna has made it very difficult for me to prove your innocence in all of this.”
“Our innocence..?” What the hell is he talking about?
“You and your team have been under surveillance for some time now. Terrier’s involvement with the Raiku made you all suspect. Were it not for our history Huski, I would not have given you the benefit of the doubt.”
“What are you talking about? Neither of us knew about Terri’s betrayal. All we knew was that we got set up and an Earthfront Cyclone tried to kill us. Then your assassins attacked us on Callican…”
“The assassins you speak of are not our own. Earthfront is as much a victim of the Raiku’s actions as you are. Some time ago, Kedenian spies discovered a plot, conceived by General Hj’igori of the Raiku Dynasty, and implemented by Terrier...”
A knife carves its way through me as the truth rears its ugly head.
“…A plot in which he would help the Raiku to overthrow Keden and take control of K-One’s resources, but in order to do this, they needed Earthfront out of the way…”
“The attack on us and the SysDef base of operations here…”
“No Captain Gant…” Al-Raadein rejoins us “…not an attack. The Raiku destroyed an Earthfront base on Venus and stole the Cyclone prototypes to make it appear as though we had attacked Earthfront, breaching the Intersystem Peace Accord and Deepcore, under the guise of pirates paid to move gold off world to Solace Five, were our way of determining the truth…but there’s more…Toros…”
“Toros..?” It no longer surprises me how vast Kedenian Intelligence is. That was what they had paid him for…fifty million Kays for services rendered…Hard gold. His words echo through me “Do me a favor my friend and leave this one alone…” He was warning me.
“Yes, Toros…Your contact did in fact arrange the delivery of the gold to Deepcore pirates. The same Pirates you were ordered to track and kill. At the time, your commander thought them to be responsible for the theft of the Cyclones. However, the gold operation was just a front. It would help to facilitate the lie, making Deepcore appear to be terrorists working with our enemies…Earthfront, we thought also at the time. After confirming that the people who had employed them were in fact an Elite group of Raiku mercenaries, Deepcore contacted us and along with Earth’s Intelligence Network, we were able to put the puzzle together.”
“So you’re saying…” I cut in again “…That after Deepcore, a known pirate organization, realized they were helping the Raiku to overthrow Keden’s leadership, they gave you a heads up? They were willing to smuggle your gold but not willing to help overthrow you?”
“No, they, with our authorization, carried out the smuggling run in order to maintain their guise. You see, we needed more Intel...”
“So you let them do as planned, knowing fully well that we were being set up for an ambush?”
“You were enemies of the state. You had come to Keden to carry out illegal activities under Earthfront command and your association with Terrier placed you on our watch list…”
I understand what he is saying but I still don’t like it.
“All I knew was that we were ordered to intercept and terminate a Deepcore fleet that had attacked an Earthfront base. Those were my orders and nothing more.”
General Hawk cuts in “At the time we sent you on your mission, we had believed Keden to be responsible for the Venus assault. However, new Intel revealed that it was your very own who had led that attack.”
“Hold on a minute…” I retaliate. “Terri might have been involved in all this but he was nowhere near the attack on Venus. How could he lead it? He was always…”
My words fail me. Embarrassment, betrayal, anger, sorrow…all play vicious games in my mind.
Hawk continues “Terrier was on leave to see his mother, was he not? At least that is what he was cleared for. Our investigations proved that he never set foot near her. Instead, Terrier led the assault, stole the Cyclones and made it appear to be the work of Deepcore. Even now, you fight to come to grips with his betrayal, but facts are facts. The Pirates you were sent to track were ordered to kill you when you found them, ordered by him. According to the plan, Deepcore was to take the gold to Solace Five and that would have been the end of their mission. But Terrier knew you well. He made sure that when you got there, assuming that you would have survived here, you’d meet the Cyclone and die by it.”
“Well we’re alive and kicking…there’s hope.”
“Captain Gant…” General Madison shifts his weight “…the leaders of every alliance on Earth are dead. Their assassinations were carried out simultaneously…” His look pierces me “…by Raiku assassins, defects from Earth who sell information to our enemies and that, my friend, is why there is a Raiku Battalion knocking at Keden’s doors and an all out siege happening right here on your home world.”
“This is why we need your help…” Al-Raadein speaks now, turning his attention to Mirana “…That Cyclone tracked you in the desert. You bore witness to what they did on your base. You were the only witness left who could have exposed the Raiku before their intended assault.”
“Excuse me..?” All eyes turn to Mirana “…there were two of us…”
“No Commander…you were the only witness. The woman you were with was a Dynasty spy. Didn’t it strike you as odd, that the Auto-cannons around your base did not engage the hostiles?”
I feel her distress. The look on Mirana’s face is easily readable.
“Sari..? But then why didn’t she kill me? She had more than enough opportunities to d…”
“Sari was not an assassin. She was put in place to relay sensitive information, shut down your defenses when the time came, and await further orders. Hers was with no doubt, to be the same fate as your base.”
“Where is she?”
“She is in a holding cell and will be contained there until this is all over and she can be tried before a court of law.”
I cut in. Sari’s fate is of no concern to me.
“If we help you, we’ll need our records cleared…” I make it obvious to Hawk that I’m addressing him also.
“Soldier…” He responds angrily “…you are still under Earthfront command and I urge you to remember that. Iron Five’s new orders are to provide the requested support to Keden’s forces and after Earthfront reinforcements arrive, get your asses to Earth ASAP. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes Sir…”
Somehow, the highs and lows of this hand that I’ve been dealt aren’t working out, no matter how I play them.
Keden’s Leader stares into me and in his face I see my father’s. It’s the same way he would have looked at me when I was a child. A time so long ago that it sometimes is no more than a blur. Times when I thought I knew what was right, but he knew better.
“Captain Gant…your service to Keden will guarantee a new leaf in our relationship. Your records will be wiped and you will be honorary citizens of our world. I cannot however, speak for your superiors on Earth. Your fate with them is beyond our control.”
I gather my thoughts and pull myself together. This is bigger than any of us had imagined. Terrier has betrayed us and the Raiku are about to usher in the apocalypse.
“Al-Raadein…Iron five is at your command.”
The tension in the room lifts. It’s almost tangible. Beyond the Everglass wall behind Keden’s royalty, the sun hangs halfway through its afternoon curve. The sky is clear and thoughts of what’s happening beyond the haze out in vacuum fill my head with images of battleships and cruisers, some burning, others maneuvering and missiles tracking targets. We all know that the battle will eventually reach us here. We also know that the chances of victory against Dynasty forces are minimal but then again…
“Wait…” Everyone looks to me now “General. You said that reinforcements were on the way. How soon will they arrive?”
/>
“Four Earthfront armadas are jumping to K1 and will be in your space in a little over sixteen hours.”
A loud crack, like the heavens have literally split in two, rocks the room and we are all shaken by a quake that moves us from our seats. Guards rush through the doors and begin shuffling their leaders to safety. Long lines snap and crackle diagonally across the large window-wall, cutting it into gnarled sections, and then the City’s air defenses come alive. Hundreds of fiery streaks trace lighted arcs across the desert and missiles leave vapor trails in their wakes.
Out and above the landscape beyond, a menacing Raiku Dreadnought peals away from the sky and descends to the dusty planet surface. Even from this distance the red and black Logo on its hull boldly stands out.
“They won’t bomb Dunan…too much to lose…they’ll need the place intact. The rest of the fleet won’t descend anywhere near the city’s air defense limits. That Dreadnaught is just testing your limitations. So prepare your troops Al-Raadein, this battle is going to be up close and personal.”
The King looks back to me as guards hustle the three leaders to the exit
“…Get to your armor and await orders…”
These are his last words before vanishing through the door. The Holoscreen image of Hawk flickers and sputters, drawing my attention. “Good luck Iron Five.” And then it is gone.
“Iron five…” I find Mirana “…Get to the gear and wait for me…”
“Aye Cap…”
Pitbull acknowledges the command and leads the rest of the team out of the conference room and into the hallway. Akita gives me a questioning look but keeps moving, and now I think carefully before I speak.
“Commander…” I walk toward her and there is a slight shift in her stance “…you need to get to safety…” I am close enough to smell the metallic odor of her flight suit.
“…let’s face it, we are about to go to war. We might not come back…”
“I won’t run and hide Huski. They killed everyone one on my base…”
“Commander…” The stubborn look on her face makes me refrain from continuing. I have no choice but to accept her decision “…How do you intend to fight?”
“I’m a qualified pilot with over ten thousand hours logged. I know my way around a MAV well enough.”
“Okay Commander, let’s go…”
“Huski, call me Mirana…”
There is a spark between us but it does not last long enough for me to do what my mind tells me to do, so I nod and turn away.
“And Alpha…” I turn to her again “…you have to come back…”
I wish this moment existed in another time, even if it was the same place. I want to kiss her but instead, I nod with a smile, it is the best that I can do with what little time we have left.
CHAPTER 14 - DAWGS
1358 hours Dunan time
We run through the outer doorway and onto the open bridge that will take me to my DAWG and Mirana, to her MAV. The guard assigned to us leads her to the hangar across another bridge-way and I watch until she disappears indoors.
The air is stifling…too much dust. How do Keds live in this?
I shove my helmet on, suck in a deep breath of the pure air and move toward my waiting machine.
“Alpha…”
“Hound..?”
But his words are cut short as a peeling clap of thunder shakes the platform under my feet making me stumble. Regaining my footing, I look out across the desert. The Dreadnaught, minutes from touching down, explodes and begins to disintegrate as hundreds of long-range heavy missiles continually tear into it. The sound of the titanic battleship breaking up, is like mountain sized boulders being split apart and grinding against each other.
“Alpha I’m beginning to think we should not be on this ledge...”
Akita is right, so I run to the opening cockpit and while I slide into the brace, the onboard computer tells me that Mirana’s MAV is now walking out of her hangar. The world around me goes black for a moment as I am sucked into the DAWG and synced up. In that split second of suffocation and nothingness, I feel the Neural Link joining me to the rest of my team. Everything is at my mind’s disposal now. I open my eyes from my new height and instantly, before the thought barely registers, I connect with the Commander.
“Mirana…you with us..?” Two seconds pass and “Yeah I’m with you...”
Her voice is a bit muted. The Kedenian mechanics that interacts with our Galactic Nine Technology creates a slight rift in our connection. She sounds a bit nervous. I want to ask if she’s sure about going through with this, but I don’t. Yet I can’t help but worry. I have never thought of her as a MAV pilot but then again, no one gets to be Commander of any Earthfront base unless fully trained in combat and combat operations.
I think it and my DAWG links up with her. In a few seconds, her Neural is connected to ours and now I feel her, somewhere in my gut; at least it seems that way.
“Okay guys, look alive…”
I open the digital menu and select ground and air combat
“…Let’s get low for a while, five hundred on deck...on me.”
In my head, my engines burn for lift off and in reality, so does the DAWG. Then I jump and it does the same. The vertigo brings a natural high while the city of Dunan dangles below, but I break free of Keden’s gravity, push into the air, over the edge of the landing pad, and down to five hundred feet above immediate ground level.
“Dunan Control, Captain Richard Gant requesting linkup and relay to General, Al-Jair.”
A rusty male voice comes back after a second or two
“Iron-Five, you have linkup and are to report to General Al-Jair at the Forward Command Center on Nalas...squawk code is, nine-nine-four-two-five-zero.”
“Copy, report to Nalas with squawk nine-nine-four-two-five-zero. We’re on our way...”
The com goes quiet and instantly an image of Dunan’s landscape flashes through my head as the computer sends the information in a millisecond.
“Okay team…tight formation. Let’s stay five on deck and bullet to location on link. Speed sync-up in five, four…”
And as we synchronize our thrusters for formation flying, I feel the other Mecha in my group increase in power and with relief, Mirana is right on the ball with us.
“…three…” I lean forward and the team follows “…two…” I am aware of my heart hitting my chest, one thump after the next, with the whine of my engines about to blast off “…one!”
My DAWG jumps into flight and I’m pushed forward weirdly as the cushy interior holds my body firmly in place.
We rocket toward Nalas; an Island base, twenty miles from the shoreline of the Minera, Keden’s ocean-lake and the only body of water on the entire planet.
“Huski…” Pitbull is on the com “…I’m picking up a dozen battle cruisers entering atmosphere. Their projected drop-zone is forty clicks south east of us.”
“They’ll most likely set up shop there. The sooner we get to Nalas, the better.”
An indicator in the lower right of my sights tells me that we are on course at two hundred miles per hour.
How did General Al-Jair get out there so fast?
The onboard computer projects our time of arrival somewhere in the back of my skull and based on the way the information feels, we will be there in ten minutes.
“Mirana…”
“Huski…”
“How’re you doing?”
“I’m keeping pace if that’s what you mean...”
“Yeah that’s what I mean. Do you have a call sign?”
“Yeah, they used to call me Gunner back in flight school...”
“Gunner..?”
“…to do with my last name”
“Iron Five…we’ve got a Tag-along…Call sign, Gunner… Owwooooo..!”
“Hilarious…” there is laughter in Mirana’s voice.
“Okay Gunner, stick close to us and be ready for anything.
”
“Roger that Alpha...”
She is not a part of Iron Five but I like the thought of her being with us. At least this way I can keep an eye on her. We blast past the shoreline and are now over the open lake. I look down at the crystal clear water. Keden’s ocean lake is entirely made up of mineral water. It is the only body of water on the planet and all of Keden’s water supply comes from here, be it by direct pumping or deep wells along the coast.
“Boss…” Its hound and he’s on a secure channel. He has said very little thus far so I’m a bit anxious to hear what’s on his mind.
“Hound..?”
“Let’s do this for Terrier…”
“Terrier betrayed us?”
Hound comes back as though he’d been rehearsing it all day “They must have brain wiped and re-informed his mind. Think about it Alpha…we’ve all known him long enough and you, better than any of us.”
“I don’t know Hound…I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“All I know is that I feel it in my gut, and I always trust my gut.”
I have mixed feelings about this, and the funny thing is that I can’t put a finger on any of them. It is like a jumbled mass of unrecognized emotions flooding me.
“We’ll see how it goes Hound…”
The communication ends and the rest of my thoughts have gone with it just as I see the island. It is actually one very huge, flat, grey rock formation with a few patches of shrubbery here and there. The base is in sight too. Blending into the surroundings, it is an interconnected rectangular Evercrete complex with runways and landing pads everywhere.
“Nalas Command…Iron Five on approach, request guidance on link. Approach code, nine-nine-four-two-five-zero”
“Iron-Five, you are cleared for approach. You have guidance. Follow digital to Landing Zone four and contact on touchdown.”
Other than Keden’s royalty, this is the first clean Kedenian voice I’ve heard in a while. He is either always indoors or always wearing face-gear.
“Roger that Base...”
I open up every speed-brake on the machine and let the Magnatech do the rest. The sensation dazes me slightly but is nothing to worry about. The team follows suit and I stay on course along the computer generated lines that will lead us to Landing Zone four.
We pass over an Evercrete runway and drop to twenty feet above it. Approaching the designated landing-pad, I notice many Hover Tanks and a weapons carrier parked nearby. Almost every landing zone and runway has MAV’s and Sky Fighters in motion, at the ready and on standby. But I soon forget what I see outside and concentrate on landing this thing. With a slight thud, Iron Five touches down and I let the cockpit lower and spit me out. There is no time to waste.