Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (28 page)

“
Jack!”
Matius shouted as he spun around.

Instead of facing
him
, the young marine moved his back foot
to the right and twisted so that he could land another strike on
the next man before they reached Hunn. His attack was fast and
violent, sending yet another man to the floor. Four more leapt at
Hunn, and either through skill or luck, they managed to force him
to the floor. Jack tried to help, but Ingo grabbed him and held him
back. He looked at him and shook his head.

“
Not today,
broth
er!”

With an open palm,
he struck him shoulder and sent him flying backward. It wasn’t
enough to take him out of the fight, but it did move him back far
enough to allow Jack to leap on the nearest man pulling at Hunn. At
the same time, Ingo crashed into a group of onlookers and managed
to bring them into the brawl. A fist struck his face, and he was
knocked down, just in time for his brother to arrive on the
scene.

“Who did this?” he said.

Ingo rubbed
his
forehead and wiped the sweat from his
face. He reached out and pointed to the rolling melee on the
ground.

“Our bastard brother.”

Matius’ face seemed
to contort even further than it had at the onset of the fight.
Months, perhaps years of frustration at their unwanted sibling
boiled up to the surface
, as he rushed
back into the fray. He threw himself at Jack, and the two rolled to
the floor while the two Jötnar flailed about in the middle of an
increasing group of fighters. They looked like a pair of bears
surrounded by yapping dogs, yet neither seemed concerned. In fact,
as Jack rolled on the floor, he was convinced the two were having
the time of their lives as they threw marines and navy cadets
about. His vision blurred, and he spotted Matius lifting his hand
for yet another strike. He could feel pain in his
forehead.

That
asshole must have landed one!
he realized
incredulously.

As the strike
approached him again, he batted it to the side so that Matius
struck the ground with all his force. His fist made a sickening
sound, much like the sound that had occurred when Jack had
fractured his right arm. He screamed out in pain, and Jack took
that as an opportunity to flick up and kick his leg out from under
him. Matius collapsed to his side and left Jack standing alone with
a smirk on his face. Ingo rushed back in, a chair lifted over his
head and followed by three men, each wearing navy crew uniforms.
Jack didn’t realize what was happening until they were on him. Thai
Qiu-Li and her two friends jumped in front of him, blocking the
path and grabbed, punched, or grappled with the new arrivals. Jack
looked about and nodded with amusement.

“Now this is a fight I think Spartan would be proud
of.”

His moment of smug
self-satisfaction was stopped by a firm punch delivered from an
angry looking sergeant. The man’s face looked like a weathered
rock, and his bark was louder than any, shouting in the open space
that was now filled with fighting Alliance personnel.

“Enough!”

Jack rolled to the
ground,
a searing pain spreading through
his head. It joined the other sharp aching pains that seemed to be
coming from all around his body. His instinct told him to move, and
he rolled to the side in time to avoid a black leather boot from
striking his chest. With all his remaining strength, he lifted
himself back up, shook his head, and swung his fist.

“
I said,
enough!”
shouted the Sergeant who pushed
the punch aside with his left forearm and then delivered three
swift punches into Jack’s stomach. He doubled over and dropped to
his knees, gasping for air. A loud thud from five meters away
indicated the end of the fight with the Jötnar. Wictred turned to
look at Jack with a grin the width of his face. He spotted Jack
wheezing and made to approach the marine that had struck him. A
look of recognition appeared instantly on his muscled face, and
instead of advancing, he stood his ground.

“
Better,”
s
aid the Sergeant in a calm yet assertive
tone.

Over a dozen people
lay injured or knocked out on the ground, including one of Thai
Qiu-Li friends who kept rolling about on the floor groaning. The
Sergeant ignored her and turned to face what were now nearly
hundred people. He shook his head angrily.

“
You people are an
embarrassment. Half of you have only just graduated the Navy or
Marine Corps academies, and now you’re brawling like common thugs
or even worse, pit fighters.”

He spat at the floor in disgust.

“Hell, at least pit fighters do it for a
living.”

He looked at them
all and soaked in the details. There was some blood, but he was
pleased to see that there didn’t appear to be any major injuries
other than the odd broken bone.

Wounded
pride, more like
.

“
This incident will
be investigated, and the facts will come out, mark my
words.”

He straightened up, his back as level as a piece of
wood and lifted his chin.

“
I’m Sergeant Stone,
and I’m here to tell you that today is your lucky day. All leave is
cancelled. Your little soirée is over. You can get yourselves back
to your quarters and into your combat gear.”

The atmosphere in
the room changed completely. Instead of facing off against enemies,
the cadets and officers each turned their attention to the veteran
Sergeant standing before them. He watched them, pleased to see that
at least this news seem to get their attention. A few started to
run for the door, but a loud cough from the Sergeant stopped them
cold.

Here it goes.

“
As of thirty
minutes ago
, all Alliance military units
were activated. That includes the 8th Battalion. Every vessel and
tactical unit stationed aboard this base will be leaving in the
next hour. Get your gear and wait for your next orders.”

There was a
stunned silence until a female Navy officer
called out.

“What’s happening, Sergeant?”

“
We’re going to war,
that’s what’s happening. Thirty minutes ago an exploratory mission
was attacked on the distant edges of T’Karan. There is no more
information, but trust me, it will come. All you need to know is
that the fleet is assembling, and all Marine units from Prometheus
and Prime through to Terra Nova have been activated. Now, jump to
it, people!”

The room quickly
emptied, and even the wounded vanished, but they must have been
carried or helped. Jack and his comrades didn’t notice, and they
approached the Sergeant.

“Sergeant…I…” started Jack.

The
S
ergeant looked at Jack, starting with
his feet and then moving up until reaching the young man’s bruised
face.

“
Son, you need to
sort out this rage. You’re Spartan’s son, aren’t you?”

Jack nodded.

“
Yes
, Sergeant.”

“
Yeah, I thought as
much. I never met him
, but I know him by
reputation. He was a hot head like you, but he learned the value of
discipline and self-control early on. If you want to be half the
marine he was, you need to bottle it. Save it for the enemy, and
believe me, there are plenty of them.”

He lowered his voice
as
, speaking just to himself.

“There always are.”

Wictred moved up to
Jack, looked at his bruises
, and then to
the Sergeant. Although he had been involved in the fighting just as
much as anybody else, he failed to see that he’d done anything
wrong. In fact, by the look on his face, he seemed to think he had
behaved rather well.

“
Well, well.
Sergeant, you have Jötnar warriors in the Corps now. If you need
more help, just contact our leader. Gun will not let the Alliance
down,” he then looked over to Hunn, “He never has.”

The
S
ergeant shook his head.

“
Ladies, this is all
very touching
, but right now you’re on my
wrong side. Now, get your fingers out and fall in. I need marines
kitted up and ready to go, and fast. Hell, the Corps needs you
ready.”

Sergeant Stone
marched away from them toward the corridor leading back to the bow
of the ship. He looked over his shoulder and spotted the small
group making slow progress in the opposite direction. He stopped
and called out to them.

“
This isn’t over,
Private Morato. You struck a sergeant in the Alliance Marine Corps.
Well, you tried to strike. I suggest you spend the time from now
and your hearing to fix your reputation. You might want to watch
your back as well. Navy officers have plenty of time on their
hands, and nobody likes getting their arm broken by a
jarhead.”

He walked out of the
room, and try as he might, found it almost impossible to hide the
glimmer of a smile. Jack looked to his friends who stood around
him. Everybody else had gone, even his siblings who must have
escaped at the first opportunity.

“
What’s going
on?”
asked Thai Qiu-Li.

Jack shrugged.

“
The Sergeant didn’t
give much away,”
Wictred answered in a
slow voice.

The public address system siren sounded, quickly
followed by the voice of the station commander.

“Now hear this, now hear this.”

Wictred smiled and tilted his head towards the
sound.

“Here it is.”

The muffled voice
continued, “All Alliance personnel are to report to your ships.
Marine units are to assemble on platforms seven-twelve.”

Jack looked at his group of friends and smiled.

“It looks like we’re going to war!”

He marched from the
room and into the corridor, without even checking if the others
were following. Thai Qiu-Li, Wictred, and Hunn stood there in
silence. Thai Qiu-Li’s two friends had already gone. She’d noticed
them go, with one holding on to the other, but the news from the
Sergeant was more important right now.

“
I need to go,”
s
he announced, leaving in the opposite
direction to go and check on them. Now just the two Jötnar
remained, and they looked at each other. Wictred looked impassively
at Hunn who now just smiled. He was known as the Champion of
Hyperion, and had won the title after defeating ten of his brothers
in a bloody and violent contest. Where Wictred was young,
impulsive, and excitable, Hunn was far less predictable. Most of
the time he was calm, but his rage knew no bounds. His mouth
changed from almost a smirk to a wide smile. He reached out and
grasped Wictred’s arm.

“Brother, we became marines just in time to save the
day!” he laughed.

Wictred cocked his
head and laughed but not as enthusiastically as Hunn. He thought of
the stories he’d heard from the first of the battles fought by the
original generation of Jötnar. Hundreds, perhaps thousands had died
in the service of the Confederacy. He loved war as much as any
Jötnar, but he was convinced it had to be different this
time.

“
Yes, but this time
we will show them how to fight a war. We are no longer cannon
fodder.”

Hunn looked
surprised at his comments. He thought about them
f
or a few seconds. “You are right. It is
time to lead men into battle. We need promotions, and
fast!”

Yes,
thought Wictred,
promotions and responsibility will
give us units to command. That is how we will change things for the
Jötnar.

* * *

Tuke approached the
ruin of the four alien bodies with trepidation. Khan and Spartan
shared no such concerns. Their fallen enemies lay smashed and
broken from the powerful gunfire released by the T’Kari Raider.
Spartan moved to the closest of the things, tapping its head with
his foot. The shape was easily the size of Spartan’s armored torso
and beautifully intricate and ornate. Tuke moved up to him, bent
down to take a look, and stepped back.

“
What’s
wrong?”
Spartan asked.

Tuke’s translators took a moment to catch up with
his quiet words.

“
The
E
nemy, I’ve never seen one of his
soldiers…never so close.”

Khan joined them and
kicked the
metal head. Tuke recoiled but
neither could establish if it was concern or fear.

“
It’s just
big soldiers, nothing special about
them.”

Tuke shook his head.

“No, you do not understand.”

Spartan spotted a
fluid running from a number of holes in the metal of the head. It
didn’t surprise him. After all, he was already very familiar with
the idea of biomechanical creatures. What did surprise him was that
the hand-sized holes in its arms and chests revealed nothing other
than scorched metal and electronics. He looked to the armored form
of Khan, giving an expressionless stare back from inside his
suit.

“
So? It’s an
armo
red bug.”

Spartan reached down and examined the thing even
closer.

“
No, it’s more than
that. This entire warrior is mechanical, a bit like the machines we
fought on Hyperion. But the technology used for these is a league
ahead.”