Tears of Kerberos (27 page)

“What the hell is that?” asked Marcus, instantly suspicious.

Spartan lifted up the pad to see a request for a cipher to decode a classified message that had been repeated and bumped down from the orbiting CCS Santa Cruz. He checked the sender before pressing anything and noted it was anonymous, at least that’s what it said. For a moment he considered doing nothing but there was a good chance it was important and the fact it came from the ship must mean it had some kind of providence.

“Screw it!” he said and quickly input his cipher codes.

The display flashed and turned to an image of a bloodied Teresa.

“Teresa!” said Spartan, a little louder than he intended.

Marcus moved over, looking at the video. “What has she got into now?”

The video was a one-way transmission and sent some time ago due to the time difference between locations in the sector.

“This is Private Morato of the Confederate Marine Corps,” she started before the video feed crackled and started to phase shift.

In the background a number of people were rushing about and sparks and flashes suggested there was some kind of ongoing violence or emergency. As the picture settled Teresa reappeared and continued.

“Our mission to the Rim has revealed a plot centred on Typhon, leader of the...” the image disappeared and the audio crackled for several seconds again, “intend to assassinate President West...” the audio dropped out again.

 
“A coup? What the hell!” Marcus looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

“Guards Company...assassinate President...church” the audio finally cut out completely.

For a short while the video feed continued, Spartan tried as hard as he could but he couldn’t work out what she was saying. He could however make out the background was the bulkhead section of a ship of some kind. It wasn’t military, or at least not like any ship he had been on yet. Then the image cut as suddenly as it had started to be replaced with a message indicating it was the end of the transmission. Spartan was stunned. It might have been the image of Teresa, or more likely the message, but for the briefest of moments he was paralysed with the arrival of the information.

“Spartan? Come on, what’s the plan?” asked an anxious Marcus.

It was as though a switch had been flicked inside Spartan’s brain as he suddenly started to glance around the anteroom and at the Marine Guards stationed at all the key locations.

“I tell you what we’re going to do, we’re going to get the General and the President out of here!” he said as quietly as he could.

“How though? If the Guards are in on the plan then what friends do we have left?”

“Shit, you’ve got a point, come on!”

The two turned to the door that led to where the meeting with President West and his Cabinet was taking place. Spartan placed his hand on the door and turned the handle, nothing happened. He pushed the door and still it remained firmly shut.

“Hey, what are you doing?” said one of the Marine Guards as he approached.

“We need to get inside!”

The marine raised his carbine and pointed it at Spartan, as he did so the other five Marine Guards in the open room did the same.

“Oh man, this is bullshit!” swore Marcus.

Spartan put his hands out in front in a gesture of compliance and moved slowly towards the man.

“We just need to speak with the President, something has come up,” said Spartan again, this time even firmer in his tone.

“I don’t care what you want, he is being taken care of, you just stay here and keep out of...” he didn’t get to finish as Spartan ducked to the side and jumped in, grabbing the carbine. He swung it around to strike the man in the head. The guard slumped to the floor as Spartan lowered the weapon, pointing it at the rest of the marines.

“Get it open!” Spartan shouted to Marcus who was already kicking the door to try and open it. Finally becoming frustrated he pulled out his sidearm and emptied three rounds into the frame before it finally buckled.

“Go!” Spartan shouted and with all the speed they could muster the two rushed inside.

As Spartan emerged into the room he was shocked to find it deserted. Not a single member of the Cabinet or even the President was there. The two spread out, looking for any signs of the men in the large meeting room. A shape appeared at the door and Spartan put two rounds into the open space, discouraging anybody from entering for now.

“They won’t wait long, we need to find them!” Marcus said as he looked behind each of the desks and chairs.

Another man approached the doorway and this time he entered the room. Spartan did his best to not kill the man and put a round into his upper leg, the man dropped, crying out in pain.

“Here!” Marcus called out as he found a false wall at the back of the room. With a tug he pulled it open to reveal several bodies slumped across the desks. In the middle of the room lay the bloodied body of President West as well as three Marine Guards.

“Oh shit, Marcus, it’s a setup!”

They ducked into the second room and took cover among the already shattered decks and tables. As they waited it was evident a terrible scene of violence had taken place in the last hour. Marcus checked the President for a pulse before turning back to Spartan.

“He’s cold, they must have done this just after they went in, how did we not hear it?”

Part of the wall to the side turned white and they were knocked backwards by the violent blast. As Spartan tried to get up four men in black body armour of the Guards Unit formed a line. Each of them was pointing a thermal shotgun at him. Spartan shook his head, trying to clear the fuzziness from the stun grenade. He looked to his right, Marcus was unconscious and slumped across a desk.

“You bastards!”

He started to lift his weapon when General Rivers entered the room. For a second Spartan thought he might be behind the assassination but then he saw the cuffs on his wrists and the gag on his face. Two more armoured guards flanked him. As Spartan watched in shock the men rushed forward to secure him. With his instincts kicking in he emptied the pistol into the first but the pistol wasn’t powerful enough to penetrate the thick armour and they were instantly on top of him. He punched and kicked with all his strength but there were too many. In just under a minute they had him knocked to the ground and unconscious.

* * *

Admiral Jarvis stood in the CiC of the CCS Wasp, waiting for news from Commander Anderson. In the last ten minutes a number of jammed data packets had been received but there was too much corruption for her people to obtain much solid information. She was starting to become impatient.

“Captain, any news from the Fleet at Kerberos?”

Captain Hardy spoke briefly with the Communications Officer before turning back to her.

“Nothing, Admiral, the last update was the regular sitrep one hour ago.”

She stood, examining the disposition of the ships on her display. Already a number of vessels were heading to Kerberos and Prime to reinforce the ships already there.

“Put me through to the Crusader, they must have heard something by now!” she said, her patience finally running out.

“Sir,” the Captain gave the orders to his crew.

The officers moved about, realigning their communication arrays to receive the narrowband encrypted data channels. There was something wrong, Admiral Jarvis could tell by the crew’s body language that they were having problems.

“What is it?” she asked finally.

“All channels to Kerberos are being jammed, Admiral,” replied the Communications Officer.

“Jammed, by whom?”

“I...uh...don’t know, Sir. The signal is being overlaid with an unencrypted video stream, it is being played out on all frequencies.”

“Put it on,” ordered Captain Hardy.

“The main display slid away from the strategic map and to a standard definition colour video stream of a podium behind which hung the banners of the Church of Echidna.

“What is this nonsense?” she demanded.

There was no time to answer her as a man in a robe stepped up to the podium and removed his hood.

“I, Typhon, Bishop of Yama City and head of our good Church and the people of Kerberos welcome all with open hands. I thank you,” he said as he lifted his hands.

Admiral Jarvis turned her head in disbelief at the platform being used by this man.

“Fellow Kerberons and citizens of Proxima. I have been asked to speak by the Vice President of Kerberos. Within the last few hours a terrible event has occurred. Not content with violence and depravity on Prime, the agents of the Confederacy have struck in this very city. President West and a number of his key advisors have been assassinated by a well organised and savage assault by agents of the Confederate Navy,” he said as he waved to someone off camera.

Six men in black armour appeared and dragged the bloodied and bruised shapes of General Rivers, Spartan and Marcus into view.

“God no!” exclaimed Admiral Jarvis.

“These men are responsible for this terrible crime and they will be sent to an undisclosed location where they will await their trial. Even more incredible is that the operation was under the direct command of General Rivers, one of the senior Confederate Commanders in Proxima!”

The guards dragged the prisoners out of the view of the camera so that the Bishop was the only person remaining in shot.

“Due to these terrible events the Vice President has chosen to remain hidden until our security forces can guarantee his safety. His first order however is to establish the Church as a moral oversight to his administration. Though a terrible night, this change in policy to the atheist and abhorrent regime of the past should gives us cause for joy. For decades our good people have slaved under the tyranny of big business. Workers earn little, yet work longer and harder as the rich become richer. Human morality has become shameful with even our own leaders living in shame and decadence. Today the partnership between the government of Kerberos and the Church announces its intention to help any colony to become a safe and prosperous place to live outside of the greedy paws of the Confederacy. No more will our citizens be forced to fight wars on foreign lands for an oppressive regime.”

He paused, waiting as if there was a momentous addition to his speech. The silence extends to almost ten seconds before he continued.

“How many of our colonial brothers have been forced to join the military? Some because of debts to oppressive companies, others for so-called crimes against the state. This duty of service and war is a crime against humanity and we have been working tirelessly for the last five years on the creation of an alternative to this service. Our loyal citizens should never have to fight in another war or die in another battle. I am therefore proud to announce the wonder that is the Biomech. A biological machine that will provide our people with safety and security, while removing the risk of war to our citizens,” he said with a gleam in his eye.

From the right hand side of the camera stepped two of the shock troopers. They seemed almost identical the ones that had fought on Prime. They looked like normal people, just bigger and more substantial. They both wore a minimalist level of armour, much like the tight fitting PDS suits of the marines. Their heads were covered with metal masks that conveniently covered their mutated muscles and jaws. In perfect synchronisation the two warriors dropped to one knee and bowed to the camera. As they remained totally still, a man in the robes of the Zealots approached the Bishop and spoke quietly before turning and moving out of view. The Bishop then looked up and smiled at the camera.

“We have received word following the discussions between the Chief Ministers of Kerberos and those of the Colonies of Prime, Orthrus and Agora. They have all announced their intention to secede from the oppressive capitalist regime of the Confederacy. I call on all military forces to join us and return Proxima to the people. From today, any city or colony joining our union of peace and brotherhood will be provided full protection against military intervention, piracy and organised crime through the deployment of our loyal Biomechs,” he signalled to both shock troopers who then stood and left.

“Peace to you all,” said Typhon as he placed his hand on his heart.

The video feed cut off abruptly. Admiral Jarvis continued staring at the video display in disbelief. She had sent General Rivers as a representative and now the situation in Prime seemed to pale in insignificance to this new threat in the sector.