Invasion Wars 1: Crimes of War (15 page)

“Have you tried using ICBMs, by any chance?”

“That would do more harm than good,” Harold Marr said darkly. “A nuclear blast in space is the only thing strong enough in our arsenal that
might
take it out. But having something that size and that high would knock out every satellite we have and every electronic under it with its EMP effect. It would leave us sitting ducks while we still have the ETO problem to deal with.”

Demeitri looked at the pictures of the space cannon, Valerie showing him with her handheld. “What would you say if I told you my prototype could take out that space weapon without the use of such drastic measures?”

“You’re crazy,” Marr instantly stated.

Demeitri tossed his head to the side. “True. You have me on that one. But I will cut you a deal. One you won’t regret. Help me get my new super soldier up into space and into the space cannon, and I will give him to you instead of the ERA.”

Marr thought for a second before answering. “... Who is this super soldier you speak of?”

Holding up a finger, Demeitri took in a deep breath. “
That
is classified, even to you. To anyone, so don’t feel left out.”

There was dead silence for a while before the UMA emblem started to light up again. “I’ll get back to you. Wesleydale, attention.”

The sound of the others rose, their emblems growing back to normal size with the volume of their voices. It was calmer now, but still hard to tell who was who.

“Everyone, stand down!”

The talking stopped instantly. The sound of him being angry was made to have that effect on anyone who heard it.

“Wesleydale,” the commander resumed, “how consistent are the shipments to our moon base?”

The Wesleydale emblem flashed as its representative cleared her throat. “Yes, yes. Our Sky Train shipments have not been affected by the Niflheim. Not yet, anyway. With how they are attacking China and the Canadian District, there is no telling how long we have until the Lunar Rail System will be cut off.”

“That is all I needed to know,” Marr stated. There was another pause from him. “... Sindri. I’m giving you one chance and I’m
only
giving you this chance. Any other offer from you will be rejected instantly. I’ll even kick you out of congress if I have to. We’ll work together on this. You will send your Siegfried prototype to Outerpost Hati and from there, we’ll plan a way to get him into the Niflheim ship and stop this invasion once and for all.”

“That is more than I could ever ask for,” Demeitri slowly said, hiding his inner glee from his words. I’ll send him off right away.”

“Excellent.” Marr’s voice was still troubled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a congress to quiet down. I am sure you’ll show yourself out, now that you have what you want, as usual.”

“You know me too well, commander.” And with that, he cut the connection, returning the holosphere to an empty orb.

Valerie lowered her handheld, approaching Demeitri with concern. “Do you really think Emich is ready to do such a thing?”

“Of course. Emich’s a brave man. Perhaps too brave, if you ask me.”

“What if he refuses?”

Demeitri scoffed as he crossed his arms. “He can’t refuse. The outcome is simple. Either he dies… or we
all
do.”

Chapter 10

The moon floated calmly, above a world with a maelstrom swelling from the north. The effect of the Niflheim over the years was always observable from space, the lights gone from where they once were, entire countries absent once night fell. The grey pinwheel swirling over the ETO continued to grow as long as the Yggdrasil was active. As long as the Yggdrasil was there, little hope was given to the chance of stopping this new invasion force. The sky train barely made launch in time, the winds above the site picking up as it was being fired from its magnetic rail port.

Unlike Mars, the moon wasn’t big enough to sustain an atmosphere. It was an automated outer post, one of the only UAM owned areas that was run by robotics. UAM on one half, ERA on the other — no life to be found. Only machines. As the train drew closer to the moon’s curve, the top of a satellite dish could be seen poking out. The ERA base was on the other side, hidden in complete darkness.

Emich was running on an oxygen reserve the entire trip, his Exoframe storing it in its metallic cells. Still, he felt constricted in the train, hard to breath among the crates of supplies. Being his first time in space, the thought of being lost forever ran through his head. One small mistake or one tiny mechanical error and he’s sent out into space with no way to return. The train stopped with a sudden halt, not meant for human passage. Bracing himself against the wall, the kinetic shielding on his Exoframe flashed as he bashed into the metal surface.

The hatch to the train raised open, robot workers wheeling in right away, their treads spinning in silence. Emich pushed his way by them, their giant claws lifting up the crates like forklifts, taking them out into the train station to unpack. Most of it was more robots, there to change the guard while the units that were completely unusable were to be reshipped for recycling. A drone floated over him, its thin arms nearly bashing him in the head. The place wasn’t made for humans, everything small and narrow, barely enough space for the train to fit on the station’s single rail.

Emich’s communicator chirped, now that he was in range of the satellite.

“I see you made it to the outer post in one piece,” Valerie said tauntingly. “How was the flight?”

“It would’ve been better if there was a class higher than cargo hold.”

“With such short notice, our only other option was strapping you to a missile.”

Emich took a second to take the kinks out of his neck. “Don’t tell me you’re my only contact. There isn’t a military personnel I can talk to? Someone who can at least call for backup in case things don’t go so well?”

“Mr. Kuznetsov and I are the only ones who know you are up there. Backup would only do more harm than good.”

“We make sure we are the only ones who know you are up there, as well,” Demeitri added, from a headset of his own. “Valerie is a master at what she does. There is no way anyone can get through to our audio link.”

“Why do you need so much security? I pretty sure the Niflheim can’t understand our language, even if they somehow hacked into the system.”

Demeitri scoffed. “It’s not the Niflheim we worry about. You’re using UAM equipment. In the eyes of the ERA, that makes you a rival. If they catch wind that the UAM has a way to destroy the Muspell Cannon, they will try to take that winning ticket for themselves. Meaning…”

“I hear you.” Emich leaned against a wall, taking out his MBC4 off of its back sheath. “So, what’s the plan? That is,
if
there is any.”

“It’s a long shot, but its power core is what you want to go after. If it works like an Yggdrasil does, then you can use a demo charge to take it out to render it helpless. A missile barrage from Outerpost Hati should clean up the rest. We give the UAM the go ahead and its mission accomplished.”

Emich pushed off of the wall. “And if it’s not like an Yggdrasil, what then?”

There was a pause until Demeitri started to talk. “Then we’ll think up of a plan B.”

Emich sighed. “Great. No pressure.”

“You should start heading towards the ship bay,” Valerie insisted. “The only mannable ship there is going to be a stealth craft: The Zumwalt. Your escorts are going to be remote controlled Bolts from our own relay station, here in Sindri tower.”

“Affirmative.”

The ship bay was the only part of the base that was considered comfortable to move around in, the high ledge overlooking a packed bay, filled top to bottom with Bolt fighters. Attached to the ceiling, they resembled bats hanging in a cave, their wings folded over the underbelly until they are put online. Stepping up to the hexagonal carrier, he pressed the button, the hydraulic system pushing him forward towards the Zumwalt in front of him. Rising off of the bay’s floor on a platform of its own, the Zumwalt spun in place to have its cockpit facing the hangar’s door. The ship was nothing but corners, a sleek shine glossed over its black skin — a material designed to make it invisible in the void of space.

If he went in the wrong direction, there would be no way to tell where he is. Nobody to help. No way to return.

Getting into the pilot seat, he closed the hatch, finally able to breathe air from another source again. The small ship light up from his presence, the control panel and screen turning on. The engine would have roared if there was any air outside, but he could feel a slight vibration. The screen in front of him turned on, the visual-capture squares starting from the center and spreading to show what was in front of him, without having to put fragile glass between him and outer space. A reticule spun around the hanger door, Emich swiping it to the side.

The activation of the bay doors also activated the Bolt escorts, their lights glowing red to indicate they were unmanned machines. Against humans, seeing the red lights gave them the incentive to fire at them first, knowing there wasn’t a human on board — weather they felt killing a human was harder or thinking an AI was more skilled. Either way, it didn’t matter against the Niflheim. Emich knew the Bolts were going to be nothing but million dollar decoys. They were the only thing defending Outerpost Hati from any threat, meaning the base was going to be helpless once they are gone. No way back to base.

No pressure.

His gun rested by his side, ready to be used once he’s out. Checking the small storage case behind him, he could see extra demo charges were in there, as well as extra ammunition. He didn’t know how much he would need, but there would never be enough to take out the entire crew. During the training sessions in the suit, he made sure to practice with his Saebo more than he should have. The Zumwalt’s slanted wings lifted off of the ground, having been used as landing gear.

Right when he blasted out of the hanger, Valerie chimed in. “The controls for the ship follows the universal LUFT system. I assume you can pilot the Zumwalt on your own?”

“Of course,” Emich said confidently. “I’ve had to learn on the go, once or twice.”

“So I saw. I had to double check when I was reading up on your war history. Someone that dedicated to the ERA and taken in for war crimes.” She tasked tauntingly. “What could make such a good apple go sour?”

Emich drew closer to the Muspell ship, seeing it appear as a small dot on the enhanced visual screen. “I never said I was dedicated to the ERA…”

“Mmm-hmm.” Her tone was infuriating, but Emich didn’t know why. “Your Bolt escorts are right behind you. I’m monitoring your pilots personally. The Zumwalt has been proven to get through whatever detection system the Niflheim use on their ships, so you should have no problem sneaking yourself in. It should have a hive for its own craft. Your escorts will be what sends out the swarm. You have weapons of your own, but don’t be tempted into a dog fight.”

“I’ll try my best.”

As the pack of spacecraft flew away from outer post Hati, their distance revealed themselves to the ERA outer post. From the curve of the moon, the Eye of VALKYRIE followed their flight path. Her base stayed concealed in the dark side of the moon, unmoving and unstirred. Despite the base’s state of stillness, VALKYRIE was processing, thinking. Once the eye tower turned and focused on the Muspell Cannon, she knew exactly what to do.

The distance counter on the reticle over the Muspell shrank, while the visual size of the Niflheim ship grew. Staying on his flanks, the Bolts were light flying flares, able to get anyone’s attention. Their rockets had a special add-on inside that caused the exhaust vent to light up, purposefully put there for attention. By the time Emich could see any detail of the cylindrical Muspell, a zoomed in square indicated that its closest hanger hive was opening, a segment under the shadow of its forward solar-pedal breaking off into space. Without skipping a beat, Sky Screamers spewed out of the gap, blending with the aesirium rocks that floated about.

The Bolts fanned out, attempting to spread the Sky Screamer swarm as far out as possible. Emich continued his course, keeping his crosshair on the broken-off wall. It was going to be risky going through such a crowded area, but it was the only way in, unless he wanted to try out the giant tube where the death ray came out of. Small blips appeared all over his screen, showing the high number of Niflheim fighter craft. Seeing streams of bright red also indicated that the Bolts were spotted.

Everything was going just as planned… until the hull of the Muspell moved.

Splitting apart its outer hull, a massive crystal in the shape of an eye protruded from the opening, blinking. Niflheim ships were living creatures themselves, which met something had to have awoken it from its slumber. There was a strange noise, like a throbbing in the air. Emich couldn’t hear any kind of clear sound, but he knew it had to do with the Muspell waking up. A purple pupil of light floated around in the crystal eye, following an object nearby.

It was the Zumwalt.

One of the Bolts was disintegrated after it fired a few rockets, hitting a sky screamer before it exploded. The other three Sky Screamers turned their attention to their next target, with Emich already making evasive maneuvers. Missiles and plasma rounds lit up the void of space around him, machine gun tracers flying in the Muspell’s direction. Because bullets contained their own oxidizer, they were just as effective in space as they were on Earth. Emich figured that out first hand when he opened fire on the Sky Screamer that was heading right towards him.

The alien craft fired back, but couldn’t get a clear shot, having its Frecka pilot launched out into space when he shot through the crystal wind shield. Dodging over the emptied vessel, he still had more company coming his way from behind. Red salvos flashed by him, getting too close for comfort. He was already close enough to the Muspell to see its defensive turrets crawling up and down its hull, firing at the Bolts and not his Zumwalt. It was as if they knew he was there, but not to an exact.