Burning Sun (SMC Marauders Book 2), page 23
Eigon said nothing.
Cronin expanded his chest and raised each of his arms. He stood taller and broader than before, yet weak from the recent transformation. His skin appeared thin. Light flowed through veins, barely visible yet disturbing. He pointed the weird single arm on his back at Kevin. “You are the protector of Ace and Amanda.”
Kevin nodded, not knowing what to say. He felt this was taking too long and that the Guide warriors were almost ready for a fresh attack.
“Why have you not protected them?” Cronin asked.
“I’m trying!” Kevin cursed. “You stole them!”
“I did not. Not from you.”
“Cronin the Betrayer,” the Guide said, moving forward with its pale gray sibling the Dream-rider close behind.
“That was never my identity.” Cronin’s emotion arm withdrew regretfully and tucked behind the ridges of his complicated armor. He bared his teeth at the powerful alien invader. “Call me what you will. From this day forward, I will be known as your doom. I know your secret.”
The Guide flinched backward, bumping its sibling.
“The Ignari have come for you,” Cronin said. “You are caught between their wrath and mine.”
“The transformation of Chrysalis will make you stronger in time. Now you are weak,” the Guide said.
The words changed, hurting Kevin’s ears and overwhelming his willpower. He wanted to sit down and put his head in his hands.
“Keep your head up, Marine,” Lovejoy said as he moved to the left to watch that flank. As he dragged his feet, he looked and sounded drunk or feverish.
Neither Eve nor Kroger moved. Kevin guessed that Eve was imitating the posture of the other Cyclops to present a unified front and hide Kroger’s lack of ammunition and low power. Kevin hoped that was the case.
I should have paired with the Forever Siren when she entered the final Chrysalis, the Dream-rider whispered. I will not forget what you have done to me, Kevin Connelly.
Kevin stood straight and stared at the creature. He’d forgotten about the silent, pale gray alien. It looked like the Guide’s twin, except less muscular and covered with sickly tight skin the color of old spider webs.
Lovejoy interrupted his thoughts. “Some of the creatures are leaving. Don’t look. We may be making progress and I don’t want to mess it up.”
My servants will not die at the feet of the Ignari, the Dream-rider said. You are not the only one to make a last-minute bargain.
Kevin stared at the sickly creature. He hadn’t made any bargain and certainly didn’t feel safe from the Burners or the Guide’s warriors. Pain grew in the back of his skull. He didn’t like the sound of the Dream-rider. The strange thing had spent too long in these dark tunnels.
Cronin and the Guide argued in languages Kevin didn’t know or want to know. The sound of the words made him want to scream and cry.
“Information only,” Kevin said to Lovejoy and the others. “The Dream-rider thing can hear our commlink. Or read our minds. Not sure which at this point.”
“Probably just your mind, Connelly,” Lovejoy said. For some reason, this made Eve and Kroger laugh.
Another voice slid into his consciousness. I am Eigon, the first and only Forever Siren. Cronin will attack soon. Be ready.
“Did you hear that?” Kevin asked on the commlink.
“Nope. Fill us in,” Lovejoy said.
Kevin fished through SMC terms for a generic warning phrase. “Get frosty.”
“Okay,” Lovejoy said skeptically.
Eve shifted, very slightly, toward the milling Void Trolls and Guide warriors. As Cronin lifted his swords, or maybe a second before, she sprinted forward, accelerating with such force her feet gouged the stone floor. “Lovejoy and Connelly, get back as far as you can.”
Kroger limped away from Eve, reaching both hands up as though surrendering.
Kevin and Lovejoy fell backward.
Cronin turned his head to observe the spectacle.
Eigon faded back to join Kevin and Lovejoy near the passage leading to the Chrysalis chamber.
Bolts of focused energy ripped from Eve’s Cyclops, slamming into Kroger’s unit as though she had hit him with a lightning bolt.
Kroger staggered. The battered mech sagged as though losing the rest of its onboard power, then flared to new life. A moment later, it sent an energy beam to Eve’s unit completing the circuit.
Void Trolls and the dragon-horse Kirin fled up and out of the oversized room as others charged forward. The Guide’s warriors hesitated and were slammed forward in the confusion.
The Dream-rider screamed hatefully in Kevin’s head. The aliens turned on themselves, submitting to a hellish bloodlust fighting each other with the fury of betrayal. The Guide didn’t see any of the melee fight but kept its attention on Cronin.
Kevin watched, weapons ready despite feeling useless. It seemed Cronin would be blasted in the Cyclops hell weapon. The destruction missed him by inches, flowing around him as though steered by a greater force.
The building shuddered.
Artillery pounded the planet outside.
Kevin staggered.
The surviving Void Trolls charged away, but something wasn’t right.
“They’re not running away,” Lovejoy said. “They’re running toward a fight. Something is happening outside. It’s about time we get back out there.”
“I want to check on Ace and Amanda,” Kevin said.
Lovejoy looked at him. Streams of Cyclops power crackled the air above and behind him like the scene in a recreation deck action video. “I can’t stop you, Connelly. You hear things I don’t, so tell me if you think going in there will change anything.”
“I could at least see them,” Kevin said.
“You can do that after the battle. We need to push these monsters out. That’s the best way to protect your family.”
Kevin nodded and started forward even before Lovejoy could move.
Eve ran out of power. “That’s all I have since Kroger isn’t helping. The circuit is hard to hold together from one side.”
“You are a fool, Cronin!” the Guide roared, ignoring the death and destruction of its warriors.
Cronin drew his swords. His arms trembled from his recent transformation. He had drawn energy and nutrients from the Chrysalis chamber and grown nearly as tall as the Guide. There was no comparison between them, however. The Guide was Darkness wrapped around armored muscle. Cronin was a newborn prince of this planet.
Kevin thought he still looked like one of the Siren-nix warrior class. He was unclear on how he understood this wasn’t normal. Nothing was right in his head since he had slept in the chamber and awoken to the Forever Siren’s healing care.
Cronin, fragile as a newborn creature, moved forward with grace that threatened to steal Kevin’s concentration when he needed every bit of it to fight his own fight against the Guide’s creatures.
“You have nothing to lose by dying here, Guidis,” Cronin said as he started to run forward. “We will meet again in the black depth of your stronghold.” He leaped into the air, swords arcing toward the Guide.
“You fool!” the Guide roared as he formed spikes on his fists.
The two giants clashed, swords and spikes fists striking in rapid succession.
“We have to go now!” Lovejoy said. “He’s on his own.”
A handful of the enemy resisted when Kevin and Lovejoy charged. The rest streamed up the wide hallways and into a battle Kevin had dreamed of but never remembered until now.
33
No Ammo, No Power, No Choice
KEVIN manually adjusted the light filter of his helmet visor because it was too slow to protect his eyes from the sun and the battle explosions. Every muscle in his body ached from getting slammed around during the last hour of hard fighting. He went to his knees and drove a third of his heat sinks into the soil for as long as he could, then retracted them to move forward. Waves of heat burst away from him, not quite forming the dragon wings of a full discharge.
The invasion of Siris had been the most incredible display of human-directed force he’d ever seen or experienced. The battle spreading from the horizon to the edge of the city could have been a scene from a mad preacher’s sermon.
Alien ships of fire raced across the sky, pinwheeling to avoid surface to air missiles and flak cannons. Flaming mech warriors two or three times the size of a Cyclops stomped across the ground, smashing soldiers, tanks, and buildings without mercy.
“I guess the Burners have ground troops,” Lovejoy said.
“Yep.” Kevin checked his ammunition and energy counters. “I need a magazine. All I have left is my MSRG.”
Fatigue showed as he and Lovejoy laughed hysterically.
“Let’s find your squad,” Lovejoy said. “Eve and Kroger will have to catch up.”
“Are you okay?” Kevin asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be? You left family. I only left a woman who probably hates me for reasons unknown.”
Unsure how to respond, Kevin headed around the perimeter of the shining structure. He noticed cracks and places where the diamond-like surface seemed dull or dirty. “Foster and the rest of my squad may have returned to base or joined the battle. Montgomery was leading Alpha Squad. I pretty much guarantee he’s not sitting out here waiting for us.”
A new wave of Burners entered the atmosphere chasing a wave of ships that moved strangely.
“What the hell?” Lovejoy said. “Those aren’t part of our planetary assault force. There are too many and they look like fish out of water,” Lovejoy said.
Kevin watched hundreds of ships crawling down from the upper atmosphere as the enemy swarmed through them, destroying everything in their flight paths. Debris tumbled toward the surface of the planet. Clouds of smoke drifted down from the aerial battle and across the land from the total war now covering the surface of the planet.
“I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
Lovejoy started jogging. “Looks like the cavalry arrived and got the shit kicked out of them in orbit. What you’re seeing is an entire fleet abandoning their ships and making for the surface… like that’s safer right now.”
Kevin ran ahead of his lieutenant. “Foster, give me a situation report. I need ammunition.”
“I knew you weren’t dead.” Foster’s voice seemed far away. “We got called back. I waited as long as we could.”
“Roger that,” Kevin said, slowing to a stop.
“Lovejoy to command, where do you need us?”
A voice that might have been Captain Kingstar or his executive officer answered. “What are you bringing to the table, Lovejoy?”
“Just me and a lance corporal,” Lovejoy said. “Maybe two battered Cyclops if they can share enough power to get free of the primary target location.”
Whoever was on the other end of the commlink laughed. Hysteria translated surprisingly well via modern helmet links. “Ah, well, that’s grand. I’m sending you coordinates. Get back here and do what you can. Admiral Danzig Robedeaux has been reinforcing ground troops with his ship marines and sailors. Not sure what to think about that.”
“My advice, Brent, is don’t think about it,” Lovejoy said.
Kevin and Lovejoy hurried toward the nearest UNASMC units as Burner mechs and what remained of the Cyclops Regiment faced off on a distant series of hills. Kevin watched that battle and others, dying to get ammunition and power so he could help his friends.
It took him fifteen minutes to realize one of the main differences from the 2nd Brookhaven War. There was no orbital artillery support. Tanks and mobile ground artillery fired, moved, set up, and fired again, but it wasn’t the same as fleet-launched meteors.
When he first saw the Burners, it seemed defeat was inevitable. With every minute that passed, it looked impossible the UNA and CWF forces could survive.
The Burners targeted the Void Trolls and Kirin monsters unequally. Kevin wasn’t certain, but thought former Nix rebels and their creatures were hit hardest.
Burners frequently exposed their flanks to wheel on specific groups and annihilate them. He watched a trio of Burners corner a contingent of Nix in a gully less than a mile away and destroy them — no quarter asked or given. He wondered why the rebels didn’t allow the regular troops to defend the planet. Instead of fighting for their cause, they were taking the bulk of the casualties.
UNA artillery shells screamed down on the scene, heedless of the extra damage to the lumbering VT fleeing the Burners. Everything in the grid was pounded by the biggest guns in the UNA ground force.
Some of the Burners took damage, their light dimming as they squatted and addressed mechanical failures.
“Do you think we should try to capture one of them?” Kevin asked.
“No, Connelly. We’re almost to the line. Try to re-equip before you do anything stupid,” Lovejoy said.
Stopping and starting as his suit power dipped low, Kevin and his platoon leader picked their way around battles as the day grew darker.
“Not my favorite part of valor,” Lovejoy said.
Kevin wasn’t sure he understood the reference. His grandfather Brandon said something about discretion and valor once, a long time ago during a time his parents laughed and shared food.
He stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Lovejoy asked.
“My legs are on fire. The suit is pulling negative power. Feels like pushing a battle tank.” Kevin studied his boss, wondering how the older man did it.
“Fine. Take a break. I’ll stand watch if you need to dismount for a minute,” Lovejoy said.
“Why would I dismount? I just need to catch my breath.”
Lovejoy laughed slowly. “Ah, I remember youth. Have you ever tried to take a piss in a completely unpowered suit?”
“No, but the training sergeant said everything is filtered out the vent network.”
Lovejoy nodded. “More or less. But it isn’t pleasant. Suit yourself, Connelly. We need to move as soon as you’re ready.”
Kevin scanned the horizon. There was fighting in every direction from their current position. Battle sounds echoed from near and far.
“Can’t we resupply from a field unit?”
“Who did you have in mind? Priest?”
“It’s a thought.”
Lovejoy turned in a circle, broadcasting on a very tight infrared band. Unlike radio, Kevin couldn’t hear it without power. The former commlink sounded like words through a tin can, but he could still receive messages.
“No response. Let’s move.”
An hour later, they came across two of the ZIC Recon grunts, Kims and Nate.
“Haven’t seen Priest or Lacy all day,” Kims said.
Lovejoy turned to Nate, who shrugged moved his gauntleted hands with more animation than de-powered armor should allow.
“You thought Lacy kicked Void Troll ass, you should see her tangle with the Burners.” Nate shook his head in respect. “We couldn’t keep up. Lacy makes us train a full day each month without power, but still no good. Probably kept me and the Kim’r alive, though.”
“Fine,” Lovejoy said. “We’re heading back until I see a better option.”
“Roger that,” Kims said.
Kevin was too tired to argue. He moved further into the camp and was immediately struck by the lack of organization. Compared to Brookhaven, which had been chaotic, this was a refugee camp, except everyone was armed. Medics treated wounded wherever they found them. Technicians repaired equipment, often while it was still being worn by the users.
Kevin found 1st Platoon and downed his gear.
Eve and Kroger limped into the field base. Military police units, looking every bit as banged up as the regular infantry units, confronted Kroger. Lieutenant Lovejoy and Kevin watched.
“Lieutenant Kroger, I need you to stand down,” the MP leader said.
Kroger slid wearily out of the mangled Cyclops unit and stood with the palms of his hands visible until he had been patted down and was about to be handcuffed.
“Sergeant,” Lovejoy said. “Can you parole him to my custody for a bit? I may need him.”
“Yes, sir,” the MP sergeant said. “I was hoping you would say that. I don’t really have a place for him. I have to seize his gear.”
Kroger backed away from the first generation Cyclops. “It has enough juice to walk about two hundred meters. After that, you’ll need a transport.”
The MP sergeant nodded.
“Come on, Kroger,” Lovejoy said. “Connelly. You’re with me also. We need to debrief command.”
34
The Enemy of All
NIGHT fell heavy on Siris. The contrast with the Ignari fires blinded Cronin’s people. They gathered to him, then arrayed for a battle that he prayed would be different from the unorganized chaos preceding his transformation.
One of the Ignari came forward, ignoring human sniper rounds that struck with unerring accuracy but little effect. A band of white fire around its chest distinguished it from other Burners. “Since when does the Forever Siren fight in the front line?”
Cronin moved ahead of his people to listen to the Ignari leader. “Since now.”
The flaming mech warrior held its torso and bellowed a laugh at the sky like a sudden brush fire.
Siren and Siren-nix arrayed themselves in a mile-long semi-circle facing the walking machines of fire and plasma. Cronin was glad to see the Nix brought back into the grace of Siris. Nearly all the defenders on this battlefield had once been rebels. Few of the old guard had bothered to show themselves when it mattered.
Humans retreated to tend wounds and re-armed themselves, or that was what Cronin believed they were doing. He listened for Eigon and maintained the cold shell that was his face.
The Ignari captain moved closer. “Ageless eons it has been since the Ignari witnessed the shining cathedrals. This world has not changed. You have not changed. Even with the Chrysalis, the children have evolved less than a human grows during a single life.”
