Osdal (Harmony War Series Book 3) (37 page)

For the first time Mark was scared, not of dying or fucking up, but that they wouldn’t be able to kill them all. All of their preparation and mayhem, and they were up against a military with on par or better gear. Sure they weren’t trained, but they were determined.

Mark hated them with a passion, but he didn’t let that hate blur his ability to analyze his enemy. He was wholly focused on killing Harmony, and putting the blinders on and running in would only fuck up his chances of killing more of the bastards.

If this is just their roadblock, what is Fernix and Housapel going to be like?

Chapter 55

Revival City

Housapel Prime Housapel System

8/3267

Peter Quinn walked from his office through his living quarters and to the separate area of his level that was dedicated to parties and meetings.

Bodyguards wearing powered armor made a loose square around him as he walked. People turned and looked, but only the most powerful in the crowd were able to approach and have a private word.

He seemed to be the perfect conversationalist, talking for only as long as necessary and leaving people wanting to talk to him again. He was cultured, smart and lovable. He looked like a prince, perfect teeth and hair and a blue suit that complemented his dusky tan and East Sector looks.

He was also the real head of Harmony.

He had looked over the reports of Osdal and they would lose the city, but they had taken down a carrier and the Troopers would be hit hard. The PAC weren’t as effective as they had hoped, due to their inability to reload their metal storm rifles. Quinn had already sent a message off to Hector, his military manager, to find a way to deal with this issue.

Hector and all of his staff were living with their eyes glued to the different readings and outputs coming from Osdal.

They had to learn all they could about the Troopers now, when they were already in Housapel it would be too late.

Staying in his office to look over the displays would make him look anxious, and with Harmony, everything was about looks. Make it look like a religious order that was pushing off the corporate hierarchy, instead of a hostile takeover, the likes of which had not been attempted before.

Peter felt a flush of enthusiasm run through him as he thought of what Nivad Selvra must be thinking of the whole thing.

Osdal was becoming a footnote in the war in Quinn’s eyes. It had served its purpose well, they had transported trillions of tons of pre-made materials to Housapel and Fernix, something that would have taken years to do in the systems were now coming express delivery. This allowed the two systems to concentrate on what they did have and work to build up a military that would defeat the EMF and then take its place.

Peter took an offered hand from a woman who had got way too close to him. She was complementing him on his home and the level where there were bedrooms, great large verandas, pools, hot tubs and all measures of entertainment.

Peter kissed her hand, looking up to her, she blushed and dimpled nicely, she as good at the seducing game as he.

“Come, let us greet some others,” Peter said, pulling her through the invisible barrier that the powered armor detail made.

“Oh Mister Quinn,” she said, her laugh making him smile even more. This was what he had dreamed of, being the center of it all. The master and purveyor of all. He was a natural orator, his looks were dashing, and he always achieved a greater output from his workers than other CEOs.

Those facts had made the higher CEOs keep a wary eye on their rising star, and cut his growth. They had pushed him onto Housapel and given him a mid-level management position.

“To have the CEO of Housapel as my date, this will cause quite the scandal,” she said into his ear.

Quinn smiled wider, he was liking this girl even more.

“Mister Quinn it is good to see you, have you been seeing Osdal recently, we’re pummeling those EMF dogs, right and good,” David Ramos, a beefy CEO, his bulk achieved from implants and augments rather than actual working out, said as Quinn passed, and he put his hand out.

“Yes, it is good to see such ability in our chosen. I think that Housapel’s own forces will put them to shame though, Hector has promised me that,” Quinn said, reassuring the man who had backed his rise to his position.

“It’s good to hear. I have been looking at the market, and you predicted the rise and fall precisely. Thank you for the information,” Ramos said.

“A favor for a dear friend,” Quinn said, looking into Ramos’s eyes and smiling. Cementing their bond was key in getting his further backing as he made his play for control of Earth and Her Colonies.

“If you will excuse me, I find I have a need to get a drink, and one for this fine lady as well,” Quinn said, indicating the lady beside him. His implants listed her as Dominique Choi.

“I wish you a good night Mister Quinn,” Ramos said, tilting his head and giving a knowing smile. He was a few decades older than Quinn but he identified him as his superior.

Quinn practically beamed as he glided away. Ramos picked up one of the two girls he’d come with, and she squealed in delight, the other saying things in his ear.

“A drink Miss Choi?” Quinn asked, walking to the bar. People greeted him, but this was the upper echelon; they saw that he was entertaining a lady and forwent any conversations, knowing it would be rude and looked on unfavorably.

A path cleared to the bar and the bartender came over with practiced grace.

“Most certainly Mister Quinn,” she said, putting her arm through his and pressing her body against his, alluding to the treats that hid under the silver dress which served to emphasize her figure and full assets.

“Two Scotch,” Quinn said.

“A Sex on the Beach might be more appropriate,” she said just to him, her voice low and husky.

Quinn’s eyes thinned in lust as he looked her over, and she didn’t flinch from his gaze but seemed to preen under it.

“I
will
have to take you up on that later, but first a little business.” He winked, the two drinks appearing.

Quinn took his glass and Dominique’s and handed it to her.

“I do
love
seeing a man in action,” she said sounding genuinely pleased.

Quinn clinked glasses with her and took a drink from his glass. The scotch was of the highest quality, direct from Earth and space aged.

He led her away from the bar and began working the various rooms, from the seating areas to around the theaters where people were watching Osdal. People loved to watch violence, and Quinn was no exception. Then they made their way through the buffets, greeting and talking to the higher crust of Harmony and Housapel’s society.

Chapter 56

Free City

Fernix Prime, Fernix System

8/3267

Omoti Akani cared less for parties and frivolities when he had work. He sat at his office, looking over the various reports coming in from across Fernix, they dictated where the materials coming from Osdal were going to go. They also showed the work schedules on various projects that were ongoing.

Fernix was the biggest manufacturer of large products in all of Earth and Her Colonies, she boasted over two billion humans, multiple factories and stations, shipyards and space based structures. Her one planet was turned into a pleasure planet with oceans, sandy beaches and was seeded with palm trees and other exotic life; everything except predators and mosquitoes lived there. It was if the old Caribbean had been supplanted onto the planet.

Towers dotted the larger islands, the smaller ones held advanced small homes for the wealthiest percent of people outside of Earth and Housapel. Fernix and Housapel were always competing to be the more powerful system.

Omoti Akani was a factory tech, he looked to streamline projects and production. He had lived in Housapel for many decades, closely with Peter Quinn, they were up and coming CEOs and they looked after one another. A favor here, a good word there. It was a beneficial partnership for both of them.

“Elliot, I want to have the revised schedule of the Housapel Factories and the numbers we’re pulling for the rail cannons. I want to go over resource management and book a meeting with the research and development team for next week. They’re going to have plenty of data to go over from Osdal, I want to see what they have,” he said, using his implants to connect him to his third assistant that week.

“Yes sir,” the assistant said. Akani cut the channel and perused his reports some more. The assistant’s name wasn’t Elliot, but Akani wasn’t bothered with trying to find it out.

He glanced up from his enclosed deck, looking at the streaks of incoming and outgoing freighters and shuttles. Past them in the sky were the massive factories, stations and yards that kept Fernix going. The planet was a luxury, but space was where the real money was made.

He checked his personal accounts. Even though there was a war going on, there was always a way to play with the market if you had the right amount of money, it was Earth and Her Colonies. Though many called them Earth and her Companies.

Maybe when Peter’s in power we can rename it,
Akani said. He had no illusion who would be the head of the EHC if they won. He liked being firmly in the shadows, helping to push Peter’s plans and get his just rewards.

His current account balance showed just how beneficial that had been already.

While people were using Harmony Tokens their credits had been transferred to the higher members of Harmony. The people didn’t care, they had a money that worked within their system.

Akani had a money that could be used to buy and trade stocks, and it could buy information from Earth.

There were few people that were willing to sell the kind of information that he had, but everyone had a price. Nivad Selvra was scary, but his rise to power was centuries in the past. He was weak, laden with power and unknowing of Harmony’s true face. Both Peter and Akani took more pleasure in that than intermediary fighting between the Chosen and Troopers. They, like Nivad, didn’t care about their fighters.

It was a numbers game to them, positioning and pushing their advantage where they could. It was the great game, the game of war, contracts and money.

Akani had never felt so alive. A warship was just a new kind of design, its function to exude the power of Harmony, just as a company used a freighter to change the balance of power, tallied up by credits they were worth.

“Just a few more decades and I’ll be sitting on Earth in Mega City with entire partnerships at my whim,” Akani promised himself, his eyes shining as he imagined his position.

It would take time, but the payoff would sky rocket him into the highest position in Earth and Her Colonies.

Chapter 57

Mining City Twenty-One

Osdal Actual, Osdal System

9/3267

The fighting had died down some. The Repulsors were still firing on the stairwells and grenades were tossed down them whenever the Chosen tried to push forward. But no human could fight indefinitely.

Weapons fire rang through the city here and there, the Combat Shuttles with their engines, missile racks and other weaponry were the loudest.

Their positions and the floor had been reinforced so that the Chosen couldn’t blow another hole up between the Troopers.

The powered armor had been pulled off the front lines, their armor charged, their ammo packs reloaded, then they were fed and the officers got to talking about plans and strategies.

Every so often the PA wearing Troopers were needed to push back the PACs’ advance, but for the most part they were at a stalemate, a situation they needed to change desperately. The other mining cities were quickly being taken, but Mining City Twenty-One was still largely in the Chosen’s hands.

It had been that way for three weeks now. Tyler still hadn’t seen Alexis yet, even though she was just a few floors above him. He was frustrated and praying for a mission to hurt the Chosen. He sat up his armor, the upper half open so he could eat the thick and chunky warm soup and the crusty bread it had come with. It was pure ambrosia to him.

The platoon was dotted around what had been turned into a charging station. It was a park of sorts, with hills and a stream that had dried up as the pumps had been turned off decades ago. The green grass and plants were dead, but there was still a nice view of the rising sun over Osdal Actual. The heat was already climbing, but with there not being any windows any more, a breeze was making the morning cool, the sweat on their faces chilling them further.

The armor was hooked up to a bumbling fusion generator, the thing was an armored box the size of an air car, with an equally large coolant and fuel supply box hooked into it.

Tyler drained the last of his food, putting it down and laying in his armor. It still smelled funky, but Tyler’s nose had smelled worse. He sealed his armor up, turned off his screens and got some sleep, following the motto of soldiers throughout time: if you can sleep, sleep.