Ronin (The Pike Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  She gripped it apprehensively. As a medical officer she would not have seen much combat, but she would have still received weapons training. Jon was confident she knew enough to defend herself if the need arose.

  Turning, he walked out of the craft, closed the hatch, and dropped his helmet back down over his face. His HUD lit up, identifying a line of Kemmar soldiers advancing on their position. They were moving fast. His HUD clocked them at two kilometers per minute. That was similar to what a human could do in a combat suit. The Chaanisar could hit higher speeds due to their augmentation, and Jon could move even faster.

  The Kemmar were committing to a direct attack using traditional shock tactics. They intended to hit his men fast and hard in order to create confusion and fear. If the human line collapsed and his men tried to retreat, the Kemmar would cut them all down in short order. Jon wondered who they were used to fighting against. Certainly not Space Force Marines. Jon shouldered his rail gun and took a knee. He counted twenty. They were outnumbered. Every bullet would have to count.

  “Hold your fire,” said Jon. His troopers had spread out and established a defensive line. There wasn’t much to use for cover. There were a few outcroppings of rock that a couple of the men lay behind. It wasn’t much but every little bit would help. They avoided using the transport itself as cover, since they didn’t want to draw enemy fire at it. Not only was the survivor on board, but it was also their ride off the planet.

  Jon’s targeting sensor turned green as the aliens came into range. “Fire!” he shouted. The Marine line exploded with rail gun fire, ripping into the enemy ranks. The Kemmar in the front took most of the damage. Their suits withstood the first salvo, but soon cracks started to appear in their armor. Light leaked out of the fissure points as their suits leaked energy. Yet they kept coming.

  The leaking light gave the Marines a better target, and they focused their fire on the weakening combat suits. Under the weight of the rail gun fire the cracks turned into chasms, allowing the bullets to pierce the flesh hiding underneath. Kemmar soldiers started to fall.

  Jon lined up one of the creatures and squeezed off a shot, hitting it in the chest. Not enough to break the armor. It kept coming and he fired off another one. He hit the suit in the same spot and a crack began to form, causing a glimmer of light to escape. Jon didn’t release the trigger. He drilled into the Kemmar’s chest until the combat suit ruptured and the creature fell face first onto the hard dirt.

  Jon didn’t hesitate. He lined up a second soldier and fired, hitting it in the helmet. Again it kept coming, but Jon continued firing, and a fissure formed down the center. He kept his aim steady and pored fire into the creature’s skull until it too dropped. There was a flash of red and his HUD told him his suit had taken some damage, its integrity now down to eighty percent. The enemy was returning fire.

  Vicious red bolts of energy streaked at the Marines from the Kemmar weapons. The upper corner of his HUD displayed a series of statistics informing him of the hits taken by his men and the damage caused. The fact that the aliens were firing from a full out run minimized the damage. Multiple shots missed their targets.

  Still they kept coming. The Marines had dropped almost half the Kemmar line, but it wasn’t enough. The Kemmar were fearless and they were moving fast. Too fast to be stopped. They stampeded into the Marine line.

  Jon braced himself as a metal clad soldier leaped for him. He sidestepped the airborne creature and drove the stock of his rail gun into the side of its helmet. It hit the ground hard and Jon rushed it, firing a sustained burst into its visor, killing the alien.

  He spun around as another Kemmar crashed into him, knocking his rail gun away and causing him to fall backward. He hit the ground and used the momentum to roll. The creature straddled him with its legs, trying to point its weapon at him. Jon held its arms back, preventing the gun from finding its mark.

  He succeeded in rolling out of the fall and ended up on top of the alien. Holding back its energy weapon with one hand Jon unsheathed his ion blade with the other. It crackled to life, glowing white and firing off sparks along its entire surface. The alien grabbed Jon’s wrist, futilely trying to stop his attack. Jon pushed down hard, his strength too much for the Kemmar to handle. The blade came down steadily until its tip found the helmet. The energized point sunk through the armor, melting away the alloy. Jon gave one final push and drove the tip into the alien skull.

  Jon stood up, to witness widespread chaos. All around him the battle had shifted to hand to hand combat. Marine and Kemmar grappled with each other in tests of strength and will. His rail gun lay at his feet and he briefly thought about picking it up. It was pointless. He couldn’t fire his gun for fear of hitting his men. His ion blade, however, still crackled and vibrated in his hand.

  He saw Kevin rolling around on the ground with one of the creatures. Kevin tried to fight off the alien from his back, blocking its attempts to bash in his helmet. Jon lunged forward and with a crack and a spark, drove his ion blade through the back of the Kemmar’s armored neck. The creature went limp and Jon’s blade hummed as he pulled it out.

  Kevin threw the heavy corpse off and pulled himself up, but Jon was already gone. In a blur of movement he surged through the battle, wielding his ion blade in a familiar dance of death. He flowed from one strike to the next, his body moving in almost forgotten ways. He drove his blade through an enemy helmet, pounced and sunk it to the hilt in another creature’s back. His speed gave his victims no warning, his skill with the blade allowed them no hope. He slaughtered with fervor, as the screeches of the dying filled the air.

  In seconds the butchering was over. The battle won. Jon stood in the middle of his men as they rose to their feet, a sizzling ion blade in his hand. He could only imagine how he looked, but he knew how he felt. Alive. Adrenaline coursed through his body, but there was something else. Something more. Something he hadn’t felt since before the Hermes. His symbiont had awoken.

  Chapter 4

  “Plot coordinates to jump just behind the stern of the Kemmar warship,” said Colonel Bast, analyzing several cascading information feeds through his brain chip. When the Chaanisar first revolted against the Juttari they had refrained from using their brain chips for fear of some overlooked back door. Now, convinced that no such threat existed, they returned to relying on the speed and efficiency of the implants.

  “Coordinates plotted,” said the helmsman, not verbally, but sending the message through his own chip.

  “Refrain from using your chip for communication,” Bast chastised through his own chip.

  “I am sorry, Sir. It will not happen again.”

  Bast didn’t want any unnecessary tension with the Space Force or Reiver passengers. Since those without implants could easily grow suspicious about the unheard conversations. They must learn to use vocal communication, even when only Chaanisar were present. That way mistakes made out of habit could be avoided.

  Interacting with the ship’s systems was another matter, however. The ship was designed to take advantage of the Chaanisar brain chips, and everything functioned much more efficiently when the neural links were in place.

  “Load all missile tubes and prepare to fire,” ordered Bast.

  “Missiles loaded,” said the Chaanisar tactical officer.

  An image of the Kemmar warship and its location flashed in Bast’s mind, along with the present location of his own Heavy Cruiser. They orbited on the opposite side of the planet from the enemy. He planned to use the jump system to surprise their prey and inflict as much damage as possible.

  “Jump,” said Bast.

  The ship folded the space between the two locations, effectively vanishing from their current position, and reappearing behind the enemy vessel. Explosions reverberated all over the ship, their jarring concussions surprising everyone on board. The floor tilted and quaked under Bast’s feet making him struggle to keep his balance. Had the Kemmar fired on them? Impossible. Even if they anticipated their jump they could
n’t possibly know where they would land. Yet they were taking damage. Somehow, something was hitting them.

  “Report,” yelled Bast, as a flurry of information flashed through his mind.

  “Mines, Sir,” said the tactician. “The Kemmar have deployed mines around their ship.”

  They anticipated the jump, thought Bast. They were adapting. A view of the space surrounding them appeared. He saw the warship and its minefield. They were everywhere. The mines ignored the Kemmar warship. That could only mean they were intelligent, harmless to Kemmar vessels, yet deadly to the enemy. This changed things. He had planned to use the jump system to keep the enemy guessing. Now he would have to hold position and trade blows. Landing behind the vessel still gave him a positional advantage. It would have to be enough.

  “Fire missiles,” ordered Bast.

  Underneath the Chaanisar ship small hatches swung open and focused explosions thrust a volley of missiles forward, sending them streaking ahead toward the enemy vessel.

  The mines had tipped off the Kemmar to the Chaanisar arrival. The warship launched decoy drones in defense against the missiles. Point defense fire joined in successfully destroying any missiles not fooled by the drones.

  “Load all missile tubes and fire again,” said Bast. “Continue firing missiles until further notice.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Fire energy weapons. Target enemy’s point defense batteries. Set rail guns to point defense mode.”

  Bast anticipated a counterattack, and fully expected to spot missiles hurtling toward him at any moment. But they didn’t come. Instead, the ship belched out an endless cluster of fighters. A swarm of tiny ships streaked toward the Chaanisar cruiser, their thrusters blazing white hot in the dark sky. As they entered the Chaanisar perimeter the point defense batteries opened up. Bast watched the scene unfold through a tactical display in his mind. Fighter after fighter disappeared from the display as the guns hit their mark, swiveling around and firing with remarkable speed and precision. Somehow the fighters kept coming, a continuous stream pouring out of the Kemmar ship.

  Bast studied the tiny vessels, zooming in for a close-up. The image was accompanied by a list of the fighter’s specifications. They were small for fighters. Too small. He focused on the data, scrolling through the information he was receiving, realization dawning on him. There were no life signs. No pilots. The fighters were drones. That was how it was possible to deploy so many. They were trying to employ swarm tactics. Attempting to overwhelm the Chaanisar defenses through sheer numbers. First the mines and now the swarm. He was impressed. The Kemmar truly were a worthy foe.

  “Retarget energy weapons. Focus on the fighters. Fire at will,” ordered Bast. He knew the added defensive fire wouldn’t be enough. There were simply too many.

  The swarm began to envelop the cruiser, creating a glowing halo around the ship as the defensive ordinance destroyed the craft in the hundreds. Bast knew that the drones would wrap around them like a fiery blanket. They would find the inevitable cracks in the defensive field. They would exploit those cracks, opening wider gaps, until the ship’s defenses were irreparably compromised.

  The bridge seemed to speed up. The crew moved faster, spurred by the urgency of the situation. He glanced to the open levels surrounding the bridge above him. His crew was composed. It wasn’t that he expected to see anyone panicking. Chaanisar didn’t panic. The Juttari ensured this when they augmented them. Not only did they fit them with implants that made them stronger and faster, they also inserted medical devices that managed the way their bodies reacted to different stimuli.

  He noted his own body’s response to the present situation. His adrenal gland had kicked into action, pumping hormones into his system. Adrenaline increased his heart rate and blood pressure, while cortisol elevated the sugars in his bloodstream. He could feel all of it. All natural, primal responses to stressful, dangerous situations. His Juttari medical implants moved quickly to counter nature. Medication was released into his bloodstream, negating his body’s hormonal response. It worked to calm his mind and body, and regulate his heart rate and blood pressure. In short order, his breathing slowed, and he achieved a calm, Zen-like state. It allowed him to think clearly, his mind free of distracting, potentially paralyzing emotions.

  “Prepare to jump to previous coordinates on the other side of this planet,” said Bast. “Jump when ready.”

  “Yes, Sir,” said the helmsman.

  The jump system was engaged, creating a jump field around the Chaanisar ship and the drones swarming it. The ship jumped, folding space and reappearing at its previous location. The drone swarm appeared in kind and resumed its attack.

  “Take us away from the planet. Thrusters at full power.”

  The cruiser’s engines fired and the Chaanisar ship vaulted forward, temporarily breaking free of the swarm. The drones gave pursuit. They were small and nimble and quickly caught the massive vessel. The cruiser’s guns kept firing, but the swarm still possessed a massive numerical advantage. It gained on the cruiser and began to envelop it once more. The batteries couldn’t keep up and the cruiser began taking damage again. The damage would increase incrementally until the cruiser was crippled, then destroyed.

  “Activate the FTL drive,” said Bast.

  The cruiser surged forward, quickly surpassing the speed of light. The drone swarm was left behind. With no FTL capabilities of their own, the fighters had no hope of keeping up with the more capable vessel.

  That was all Bast needed. “Disengage FTL drive, and jump back to previous coordinates behind the Kemmar vessel,” commanded Bast.

  The ship dropped out of light speed and slowed to make its jump. It folded space again and reappeared behind the Kemmar. This time the fighter drones didn’t come along for the ride. They remained on the other side of the planet, no longer a threat.

  “Fire all weapons,” said Bast. “Set rail guns to offensive mode.”

  The cruiser attacked the alien ship with a ferocity the Kemmar couldn’t match. The Chaanisar unleashed a combination of gun batteries, energy weapons and missiles.

  “Target their batteries,” said Bast.

  The Chaanisar weapons systematically attacked the Kemmar gun batteries, one by one. The Kemmar ship simply couldn’t defend itself against such a powerful onslaught.

  The Kemmar tried to fight back. They traded blows with the Chaanisar, lighting up the void with a crisscross of red and blue energy fire. The Kemmar defenses were quickly overwhelmed, however. One by one the Kemmar batteries were methodically destroyed. The enemy fought as long as it could, but without the fighters they were woefully mismatched.

  A final wave of Chaanisar missiles breached what was left of the Kemmar defenses and found their reactor. A massive concussive wave followed, tearing the enemy warship apart, until it was nothing more than a field of scrap metal.

  “Contact the landing party,” said Bast. “Let them know it’s safe to return.”

  Chapter 5

  “Why do the Diakans help us, father?” said Jon, pushing aside a hanging branch, as they hiked through the mountain forest. They moved furtively, his father leading the way, several men following behind Jon. Above them the tall pines swayed and danced with the mountain winds.

  “The Diakans are no different than the Juttari, son. Never forget that,” said Collin Pike, Jon’s father, without breaking stride. “They don’t give a damn about us, or our planet.”

  “But they’re our allies. They’re giving us weapons so we can fight back. Some say their starships have entered the Sol System and are fighting the Juttari in space. Why would they do all that if they didn’t want to help us?”

  His father frowned. He shook his head and looked back at Jon with his one good eye. “You’re as strong as a man, but you still think like a child. The Diakans are using us. And we’re using them. That’s all there is to it. By pushing the Juttari out of this system they expand their empire. It helps us gain some freedom, so we go along with it. It su
re as hell is better than living under the Juttari boot. But don’t fool yourself. The Diakans are not our friends.”

  Jon walked quietly through the brush, thinking about his father’s words. He dropped his hand, letting it rest on the grip of the gun strapped to his thigh. A Diakan energy weapon. He remembered how his grandfather’s eyes lit up when the first shipment of these weapons arrived. He had stared at them with wonder and declared it the dawn of a new age. Of course in his day the only weapons accessible were Juttari, weapons stolen from the government. Now, with Diakan backing, there was a steady supply of arms finding their way into the resistance.

  “The Diakan weapons have made us more successful,” said Jon, gripping the weapon tighter. Its cold metal reassuring him. “More people join us each day. The population wants to fight, where once they only cowered in fear. This is the result of Diakan help. I am thankful for that help,” said Jon.

  His father’s laughter surprised him. “Be thankful all you want, son. Just be smart at the same time. We may live hard, but we live free. There is no substitute for freedom. Never forget that.”

  “Do the Diakans not help us fight for our freedom?”

  “What do you think will happen when we push the Juttari off our planet? Do you think the Diakans will just leave us to our freedom?”

  “If they leave the Juttari will return.”

  “Now you’re using your head, son. The Diakans will not leave. They’ll stay, and we’ll want them to.” His father stopped and turned to face Jon. “Imagine a baby left alone in these woods,” he said, waving his arms at the thick forest surrounding them. “How long would it stay alive?”

  “Not very long,” said Jon.

  “We are that baby. We need protection so that we can grow up and protect ourselves. The question is, will the Diakans allow us to grow up?”

  “Why wouldn’t they? Wouldn’t it be better for them?”