Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (17 page)

There’s nothing happier than a Jötnar warrior in the
middle of a battle!

The last real battle fought by the Confederate
Marine Corps was in 338CC on the capital world of Terra Nova. In
the final desperate action by Admiral Jarvis, she sent the heavy
infantry, Vanguards and Jötnar into a direct assault at the Palace
and engaged traitor forces loyal to the Echidna Union. The battle
degenerated into a close quarter bloodbath until the heroes of the
Marine Corps, including Major Daniels, Sergeant Lovett, Lieutenant
Spartan, and the Jötnar were able to smash the Echidna Union once
and for all. The casualties were massive on both sides, but it did
bring the Uprising to a swift end. The Alliance Marine Corps would
be the successor to its illustrious predecessor.

Great Battles of the Marine Corps

The new uniform for
Teresa was
far from ideal. Gone were the
fatigues she was used to, and instead the black trousers and loose
jackets that were now standard. The belts were worn around the
waist but over the jacket to hold it in. At first, she was less
than impressed with what appeared to be a scruffy alternative. Gun,
on the other hand, had been forced to make do with what he had. His
only concession to the Corps was the beret he wore jovially on his
head. Luckily, the Jötnar tended to wear militaristic clothing and
armor even as civilians, and he reminded her of exactly what the
old Jötnar Battalion head looked like in the War. She’d had only a
few minutes in her new quarters before rushing to the training hall
towards the stern of ANS Savage. Gun marched noisily beside her as
they moved through the new smelling warship.

“
She’s
fresh,”
Gun said with little real
interest.

Teresa said nothing
and concentrated on
making her way to her
destination. Gun didn’t care one way or the other about the ship.
It meant little to him whether it was an old ship covered in rust,
or one directly from the shipyards. All that mattered was what it
had done and what it would do. The fact that it was new meant it
had only potential to its name, nothing more. He watched Teresa as
they moved and nodded slowly to himself, well aware she was
thinking of just one thing.

“You’re worried about Spartan, aren’t you?”

Teresa kept moving
and tried to avoid his eye contact.
It
wasn’t a subject she really felt like sharing, particularly with
somebody like Gun. He had definitely changed in the last years, but
he could still be very gruff and avoided most of the niceties of
conversation. When they’d first met, he’d know only a few basic
words and most of those were to do with weapons, violence, and
battle. Over the years, he’d become more and more articulate and
was now able to hold complex and detailed conversations. There was
nobody outside of her own blood that knew her as well as he
did.

“
I
t just doesn’t feel right,” she said finally, almost
blurting out the words. “It wasn’t long ago that we were both
planning APS operations. Now the company is being stripped, our
people are being relocated, and we’re standing on a brand new Navy
ship with hundreds of marines waiting for us.”

They moved on a few
more steps before
she spoke
again.

“None of this feels real to me, not one bit,
Gun.”

He nodded, thinking he understood what she
meant.

“You mean rejoining the Corps while Spartan is
missing?”

Teresa immediately felt guilty as he explained it in
detail.

“
APS is dead,
nothing you can do about that. What can you do to help find
Spartan? He is somewhere, probably causing
trouble
, and having a good fight. This
expedition is a good step, and it will mean you are doing something
to help. You have three children who need you as well. Spartan
would want you to show them strength and courage. We will find him,
don’t worry. We will not stop until he is back.
Understood?”

Teresa looked at
Gun
with his oddly shaped body and great
size. It was strange to think that back on Prometheus he and his
kind had been the jailers of the place. Although it hadn’t been by
any choice of theirs, she had seen many of her friends and comrades
die at their hands before they gained their freedom and
independence. Now all she saw was a friend. She took a along breath
and rounded the final corner to their destination.

“
So
, our new battalion. From what
I hear, they are as green as they come.”

Gun laughed.

“Let me guess, you want to ship them into
shape?”

Teresa gave a short, grim smile.

“
Commander, when I
am finished with them, they’ll put the fear of God into every other
marine in this expedition.”

Gun nodded happily, glad that for at least a moment
he had the old Teresa back, for however fleeting a moment it might
be.

* * *

The
T’Kari Raiders moved about the bridge of the
Raider ship as they continued to take control of the vessel. At
least, that was how it appeared to Spartan. He kept a close eye on
them and their weapons, as well as what he could see
outside.

“So what’s the plan?” asked James Lovett.

Spartan
and Khan were still on their feet; the rest of
their depleted team sat on the floor to the side of the room. Each
maintained a careful eye on their surroundings as they contemplated
what to do next.

“
That depends on a
lot of things,” answered Spartan while watching the T’Kari he was
sure was the leader of the group.

“
Such as?” asked
Lovett.

“
Well, for starters,
where the hell are we
, and whose ships
are those?” snapped back Khan.

He pointed at the
myriad of dots on in space. They all looked out through what was
presumably the artificial screen, trying to identify them. Most
were no more than dots, but a handful close enough they could be
made out. The nearest of them all was brightly colored and thickly
ribbed along its length. The rear was bulbous and fitted with
multiple engines. Studded shapes ran along the top and side at
regular intervals. The front looked like a crater or the open end
of a pipe that disappeared into the dark interior.

“
I’ve
nev
er seen a ship like that before,”
James Lovett said.

“Me either. Looks like an assault ship of some
kind.”

They continued
watching as dozens more of the same ship design moved into position
around the first. From the gaping fronts of the ships emerged
formations of smaller craft.
Spartan
nodded at the emerging craft, as the ship seemed to match his
suggestion.

“Fighters?” asked Khan.

Spartan shrugged.

“
Who knows?
Could be fighters or maybe transports. Either
way, they aren’t ours. I’m counting at least fifteen of those
ships. How big are they?”

Spartan and Khan
both watched with interest
. Without a
known vessel nearby, it was impossible to gauge the actual size of
the vessels. Spartan concentrated his attention on the small craft
and spotted three windows running along the front of each of the
wedge shapes.

“
Okay, assuming the
small craft are roughly the same size as Thunderbolts, I’d say
those ships have to be bigger than cruisers.”

Khan nodded in
agreement
, but before he could speak, a
familiar shape moved alongside the other vessels. This one looked
very similar to the ships that had tried to seize control of the
New Charon system, prior to the T’Kari breaking down the
Spacebridge the enemy had used. It was a similar size to an
Alliance cruiser but wider and shaped like a prehistoric fish from
Earth. Thick metal plates ran across its hull in between the thick
ribs that were very similar to those of the larger carrier type
vessels. Now that they were close, Spartan could see that the
carrier vessels were almost fifty percent larger than the ships
that had blasted their way into New Charon.

“
Spartan!”
Lovett called out.

He turned his head
and spotted two of the
T’Kari
approaching. Both had their weapons slung on their shoulders, much
like a marine would. Even so, Spartan lowered his hand to his own
weapons, just in case. Unexpectedly, a sound came from the leader
of the Raiders. At least, they assumed he was the
leader.

“
This is the
harvesting fleet of the Masters,” he said through his
translator.

Lovett stood up angrily and looked to Spartan.

“So they could understand us all along?”

Spartan ignored him and instead took a step closer
to the Raider.

“
Who are you, and
what the hell is going on here?” he demanded.

Khan moved to his
right while the other five marines lifted their rifles to their
hips. It wasn’t a direct threat of violence, but it made their
intentions perfectly clear. Only Porter remained on the ground.
Even so, he was easily able to operate his rifle and joined in with
his comrades. The T’Kari bowed slightly and beckoned for the other
T’Kari to approach. They moved toward him, forming up in a neat
line. They wore the damaged and worn armor they’d first seen upon
arriving on the Raider ship. The leader tapped a button, and the
helmet opened up to reveal a scarred T’Kari face.

“
I am
Tuke, I guide our surviving people in
captivity,” he said through the translator.

Porter tried to lift
himself up
, but it required the
assistance of the others to help him to his feet. Spartan took a
step closer to Tuke.

“What are you doing here?”

He looked at
Spartan
and then to his comrades before
continuing.

“
We are T’Kari
slaves. We were captured by the Enemy, and they forced us to
fight.”

“How many of you are there?” asked Khan
suspiciously.

“
We have eight ships
and three hundred and twelve T’Kari.”

Khan looked to Spartan.

“Well, what now?”

Spartan looked at
him and appeared confused. He walked closer to the large window and
out to the ships. He could see more of the T’Kari ships and
recalled the captured ship that had been seized by Captain Thomas
of ANS Devastation. He looked back to Tuke.

“What were you doing when we found you?”

He inhaled from
his
respirator before replying; his
high-pitched voice drowned out by the suit’s speaker
system.

“
The Masters are
suspicious. They believe your people are interfering with
the
T’Kari. We have been collecting
information on your people and your ships.”

Yeah,
that sounds more like it
,
thought Spartan.

“For what reason?”

Tuke looked to Khan and then back to Spartan.

“To help them prepare for the cull of your
species.”

Khan, Spartan, and
his six comrades looked at each other with a mixture of surprise
and horror at his words. The idea of war was one thing, but
something as primitive as a cull made them seem more like cattle
than people. Spartan pointed to Tuke.

“
You’re saying these
Masters are getting ready to attack us? To kill our
people?”

He shook his
head.

“
No, they are
already prepared for the cull. We have been sent ahead of the fleet
to halt our kin before they can close the Rifts.”

“You serve them willingly?” called out Isamu
bitterly.

Tuke looked directly at the young APS operative.

The Enemy have our
families onboard their factory ships. If we refuse, they will be
processed. Either we do this or they will take more and do the same
with them.”

He looked down,
shame clearly on his
face.

“
We have no choice
but to obey them, but we do as little as we can. It isn’t much, but
it will take them longer.”

Spartan stepped in
front of him, reaching
out with his hand.
He placed it on his pale flesh, lifting his face to look directly
into his.

“
Not true, until
today you had no choice, but now things have changed. Now tell me
about these Masters? Who are they? What do they want, and
lastly...”

Khan stepped up to the pair of them and grinned.

“
Yeah,”
h
e started, “where do they
live?”

The
T’Kari pressed a button on his arm, and a
three-dimensional model appeared. It showed what looked like a
great spoked wheel that rotated around a glowing central
hub.

“
We are here,” he
said, pointing to one of the glowing shapes on the outside of the
wheel. He then pointed to another shape on the outside of the
wheel.

“
The home of the
E
nemy is here. All are connected at this
point,” he explained while pointing to the middle of the
wheel.

“What is that?” asked Spartan.

“
Helios,”
r
eplied the T’Kari, this time without the
translator. Though alien, Spartan was convinced he could detect
almost reverence in his voice. It was just a word though and hadn’t
answered Spartan’s question.