He carried Lance over his shoulder, the pain in his back a raking tearing thing which threatened to sap what little energy he had left. All around them the facility collapsed under the assault of the constant bombardment. Liam had chosen the building because it provided the best coverage, but the structure proved useless against the enemy ordinance. Their refuge would soon be their tomb.
He kicked open the door marked NEXUS and put his brother down. The facility was still under construction, the Core AI not yet installed. The room would be the sturdiest in the building and vacant. Lance mumbled something, but Liam couldn't hear it over the rumbling of another artillery shell. Liam took his brother's rifle, and his extra clips.
"Don't worry, Little Brother. You wait here, I'll get us out of this."
Spider ran from that room, through the structure, and out into the war zone. Their unit lay in shambles, body parts scattered like a mad child's bloody toys. The stink of it was enough to make one violently ill, the sight enough to break a sane mind. Liam blocked it all out, survival depended on it.
He ran through the wreck and ruin as the BEAR-class BACK pulverized the old city. The first group of enemy soldiers didn't notice his approach until it was to late. He delivered swift death and moved on. By the time he reached the BEAR he was covered in blood, equal parts his enemy's and his own.
He had two grenades which he knew were useless against the walking tank's armored plating. However Liam knew a thing or two about BACK pilot tactics. The machine could fire its heavy weaponry on the go, but the generated heat would quickly disable the firing system. A competent BEAR pilot would anchor the walking tank and open up the cooling vents in order to support continuous fire.
Liam looked back at the smoking husk, once a colonial city, and readied himself mentally for his assault. Failure would mean his brother's death, an outcome he couldn't accept. Success might call for his own demise. For Liam it was an acceptable risk.
The BACK's auxiliary we're waiting for him, but they weren't prepared for his tenacity. He fought like a man with nothing to lose. Liam reached his target, the central cooling column along the vehicle's center. He primed his grenades, and threw them in. Exhausted, he stumbled from under the tank and into the waiting enemy. He laughed and put his hands up, mission accomplished.
The ensuing explosion leveled the city. Liam watched in horror as all of his heroics were for naught. It was all gone. The colony, the unit, his brother, his brother, his brother.
My brother
MY brother
MY BROTHER!!!
Liam sat up from his dream in a cold sweat. His heart raced as he sucked in quick ragged breaths. The cool room air sent a chill up his spine, but the cold wasn't what made him shiver. Liam stared at the door on the other side of the room, but what he was seeing was Dachshund Colony.
"You alright?"
Liam shook his head. He wasn't alright, hadn't been for quite some time. He took a deep breath, and for a moment he could still smell the ash from the burning city.
"Another nightmare then?" Patricia moved closer, the bed shifting under her weight. She put an arm around his waist and rested her head against his back. "You smell like a chemical fire." She released him and moved around to lay across his lap.
"You smell it too?" Liam ran his fingers across her scalp eliciting a gentle pur.
"It's the R.Nano reacting to your thoughts. I haven't been able to isolate enough of the active strain to analyze, but the implied possibilities are endless."
"Yeah..."
"Sorry, you know how excited I get over new technology." She raised her hand to his cheek and ran her fingers along his bearded chin. "Dreaming about your brother again?"
"What else do I dream about nowadays?"
"Taylor."
Liam shook his head. "One day I'm going to stop telling you my secrets."
"Then who will you talk to?" When Liam didn't respond she continued. "Talk to me."
"It was Daschshund Colony... but different. Lance was wounded, and I had to save him. In reality it was the other way around. He saved me, the unit, and the colony. Took out a BACK with two grenades and a rifle." Liam closed his eyes, and again he was in the dream colony fighting dream militia. "In the dream, I did everything I could, but I still lost him in the end."
"Well it was only a dream." Patricia sat up half on the bed and half in his lap. "First, I won't try to unpack all of the symbolism, but I will say you should speak to Dr. Ho. The pressure of holding all of this, all of us together might be weighing on you. Second, If this Pale Garden agent, Lord Scorpion, is who you think he is then Lance isn't gone. We can get him back."
Liam leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Patricia's waist. They'd been close ever since that fateful day six years earlier when he and Scott stumbled into her apartment. They'd both been infected with the R.Nano, and could barely think straight. The nano was pulling them towards The Pale Garden, and only sheer will kept the voice in their head at bay. Liam didn't know the siblings at all, but he put his trust in the brilliant felarnian girl. Patricia saved his mind, and helped him find purpose in a universe without his younger brother. In the Felinus siblings he found a new family.
He squeezed her tightly, her fur a comfort against his skin..
"If it's him, it changes everything."
"Will this war be over for you?"
"Never. Belladonna needs to be stopped, and The Earth Conglomerate can't do it alone. Before the explosion they took him for a second dose of the nano bath. He'd be twice as strong as us, and who knows what his R.Nano can do... The Pale Garden wouldn't stand a chance."
"So you intend to stay even if it is him? Scott's convinced you'll leave us."
"We started this together, and I intend to see this to the end."
"I told him you'd say that... what's the matter?"
Liam eased away, turning so his legs hung off the side of the bed.
"You're naked again."
"What is it with you humans and nudity? You're born more naked than we are. No fur, very little hair. I can out crack super thinkers with one hand, but I'll never understand why a naked body scares you."
"I'm not scared."
"I can see that," she purred with a suggestive glance at his shorts.
She moved towards him on all fours. Patricia licked his cheek, one quick motion, the felarnian equivalent to a gentle kiss.
"That isn't fair. I can't control how my body reacts."
"More like you can't hide your feelings." She kissed him to silence his response. "I'm just messing with you. Figured you could use the distraction."
Patricia rolled over and stretched out. Liam looked away as heat burned his cheeks and other places. She looked up at him, and winked. He grabbed a pillow and gave her a few good swats about the head. She used his blanket to protect herself, all the while laughing and hissing.
Before they found the abandoned micro-station Liam, Patricia, and Scott lived on a pair of old shuttles slaved to one another. It had been cramped, but it was a place safe from The Pale Garden's agents and EC authorities. The micro-station gave them a chance to sleep in relative comfort. Each had their own private quarters, Patricia and Liam had their own offices. Liam saw to the day to day operations of the station, Patricia kept everything running smoothly, and Scott stayed to himself and brooded. Patricia's room was a storehouse of strange inventions, and trinkets. She had multiple workbenches installed, but not one pillow. Liam was told by the stations quartermaster that Patricia had never brought in sheets to be washed. It wasn't until Liam visited her quarters to ask a question about wave conduits that he discovered she didn't even have a bed.
He didn't mind sharing his bed. If he was being honest, he'd grown used to having her warmth beside him at night. She spent her time working in her lab, or the metalshop, but eventually she found her way into his bed. She reminded him of the old cat his grandfather kept around the house. The little guy went out every morning, but returned every night to drink from his water bowl and sleep in the basement. Liam kept his observations to himself because, except for Patricia, felarnian's hated being compared to Earth cats.
Liam leaned back on the bed. Her little distraction had taken his mind off of his dream for a moment, but thoughts of his brother Lance were never far off.
"If he's alive, we'll find him," Patricia said from beneath the blanket.
"You're too smart for your own good."
"No such thing."
A loud chime filled the room, echoing off of the walls like the ringing of a bell. Liam grabbed his ears and closed his eyes against the jarring vibration. A face appeared on the screen above his desk.
"Damnit, Nash, I told you to recalibrate the paging system!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Marcus. I'll get someone from maintenance right on it." The young man on the screen, looked over Liam's shoulder. His face reddened and he averted his eyes. "Good morning, Ms. Patricia."
"Good morning, Rich."
"You look, ummm-"
"What's up, Nash?" Liam didn't care about the man's discomfort. What bothered him was the ringing in his ears.
"You left instructions for someone to wake you thirty minutes before the council meeting."
"It couldn't have been 7 hours already."
"7 hours and 15 minutes, Mr. Marcus."
"Just great. I feel like I barely had a chance to close my eyes."
"Sorry, sir."
"Not your fault," Liam said as he pulled on his pants. "The paging system is your fault. Get it fixed, now."
"Yes. Yes, sir." He nodded vigorously and cut the connection.
Liam shook his head, and pointedly ignored Patricia as she casually put on a pair of his shorts. She grabbed her datapad off his desk and left to give him his privacy. Liam looked at the empty bed and wondered if he should tell Patricia to find somewhere else to sleep. She'd likely shrug and do as he asked. He'd always thought of her as a younger sibling, but he couldn't pretend he didn't find her attractive.
He grabbed his datapad from the desk and used the room's access node to sync with the rest of the micro-station. He had 15 messages from the station network, two encrypted messages, and his regular assortment of periodicals. Liam grabbed a shirt, and checked the messages as he made his way to the conference room on level B. He dealt with the encrypted messages first. An old friend was looking in on a few distant relatives upon whom Liam couldn't risk contacting. All was well. There was also a bounty hunter who'd found Liam and Scott. He was currently blackmailing the two and it was time for another payment. Liam filed that message away with his other expenses. The non-encrypted messages were all manner of request and updates from across the micro-station. He skimmed those with the urgent tag, and flagged the others to be read later.
On his way to the lift he walked past a group of maintenance workers repairing a damaged bulkhead. The old micro-stations seemed to need constant repairs which was why the EC decommissioned their usage. They were abandoned relics from the days when humans were still trying to expand deeper into space. The advent of The Mobile Colony made the small space stations obsolete.
By the time Liam walked into the conference room the people of the station dubbed The Council Chamber most of the council were already waiting for him. Every department was represented as well as the three lodging habitats. When one added Liam, Scott, and Patricia it made 15 members. They were the leaders of Eagle X. As he walked around the large circular table Patricia entered carrying a bundle of blueprints and a few datapads. Everyone was present.
"Where's Scott?" asked Undeen Price, head of station security. She reported directly to Scott, who had always been the unofficial security director.
"He's still in the infirmary, might be for a few more days," Liam responded. The faces around the room did not look pleased.
"It's already been 48 hours."
The council chamber swelled with mummers. Liam had known the people of the station were afraid but he didn't anticipate the magnitude of their worry.
"His wounds are nearly healed," Dr. Ho added. Baby Ho was back in her quarters with her husband. "I keep him only for observation."
Liam sat at his customary seat at the table, his notes from their last meeting still exactly where he left them. The old canamarian seated beside him, 'Ticker' Rukinmal, handed Liam one of his wife's homemade rolls and a mug of faux coffee. Liam slid Ticker one of his Uncle P cigars, despite Mrs. Rukinmal's constant objections.
Liam sniffed the coffee substitute and looked around the room. He'd alway been a tactician, analyzing the data in front of him and creating plans of attack. The data he specialized in was people, and before him was an accurate cross-section of the populous. Many present would prefer Patricia's scientific mind or Scott's judicious hand running things. Some had even suggested a physical change be made. It was those, all supporters of Scott, who were the most distraught. Liam knew the station's melting pot population could easily become a powder keg. He already had plans for that eventuality.
He pointed his datapad at the room's access node, and activated the display on the wall. Scott's aggravated face appeared. He adjusted his datapad, moving it back and giving its camera a better view of his torso and infirmary bed. Liam raised his drink toward the display, and the wounded Felarnian nodded.
"Everyone's here. Let's begin," Liam said.
"Recording: Council Meeting 22, Council Leader Liam Marcus residing."
Liam looked up at Patricia and she shrugged as she directed the rooms video recording devices. The council had named him leader during the last session regardless of how much he tried to forget it.
The Council started with the general business: food production, energy conservation, and supply acquisition. The micro-station was capable of supporting 500 humanoids and two Va Pu at any given time. It could even manage a traveller from The Silent Worlds if they quarantined him. They were at half capacity, so space wasn't a issue. The biggest problem was their inability to work directly with EC traders and distributors. Many among the population, including Liam and Scott were fugitives from Earth Conglomerate with warrants and bounties. All were on the run from The Pale Garden who seemed to have access to EC data streams. This combined to make consistent commerce impossible. They had to rely heavily on black market traders and undocumented dealings with unscrupulous merchants. It left them operating on the bare minimums.
Liam listed the most pressing resource issues then listened to the council's recommendations. He allocated what could be spared to what was in desperate need, and sat back while members of the three factions argued. Everything seemed to come back to the same conflict: technology vs. security vs. the people. When the arguments reached a crescendo he activated the three-dimensional projector in the table. Synced to his datapad, the table displayed the supply crates being sorted through by the quartermaster.
"This infighting was one of the reasons Operation Smash & Grab was so important." The others quieted down as lists of the crate contents scrolled past. "We've restocked the infirmary. Comms and the power reactor now have the components for much needed repairs. We have enough ammo, armor, and weapons to start training the civilians."
"So you're calling the op a success despite Scott being critically wounded," Undeen asked. Her skepticism was palpable.
"He is," Scott growled. "So am I."
"No offense, but, supplies aside, this only proves you're vulnerable. If the two of you can be brought down, then so can Eagle X."
Her usual compatriots nodded, as did a few unexpected heads. Liam realized she could be a bigger threat to the peace than he expected. He'd have to discuss her with Scott and Patricia.
"The purpose of the op was to determine whether we could bring the fight to them. We did." Liam replaced the crates and lists with images of the unnamed moon base. "We attacked a Pale Garden outpost, broke their forces, and walked away with much needed supplies. We can repeat this success. With the right reinforcement we can exceed it!"
"Unless there is a Primus present."
All eyes turned to Patricia. Her face obscured by a datapad, she took control of the projector. The images changed from the base to images of the known Pale Garden generals. Liam watched the faces populate. Each Primus was a fierce commander who'd proven themselves an overwhelming opponent for Scott and Liam, even in war mode.
"That's why we need to allocate more resources to surveillance. We can avoid the Primus just as we avoid their war ships."
"Unless we're caught by surprise. The chance of success drops by 50% the moment a Primus is placed in the equation."
Liam bit back an emotional response. He was trying to sway the council over to a course of action Liam, Scott, and Patricia had agreed upon, and she was undermining his efforts.
"If a Primus arrives, we'll deal with her. We've beaten one before," Scott growled.
"As we become more familiar with their tactics and capabilities we become better equipped to face them," Liam added.
"And the more they become familiar with your abilities. Our best course of action is to begin training units to support Spider and Raven." The Primus stared down at the council, their cold eyes a window into the heart of The Pale Garden. "I vote to begin training of volunteers immediately."
The room fell silent.
"I second Patricia's motion." Scott yawned and leaned back on his gurney.
Price, and her cohorts followed suit. The rest of the table gradually voted. In the end there were 13 for and 2 against. Just like that the initiative was past, and Eagle X made a shift towards raids and paramilitary operations. Liam and Scott would no longer be fighting alone, they'd have their people at their back.
Liam stifled a laugh. He'd made multiple attempts to convince the council. Recruiting Hitman for the moon base attack was merely the most recent. Despite his efforts the majority vote was always against him. All it took was Patricia speaking against him to make the difference, just as she had planned. She'd scripted the entire conversation, and all Liam had to do was recite his lines. Scott had always said she should make all the decisions for the group. Liam agreed, but she didn't want the day to day dealings getting in the way of her research. He wondered what kind of force they'd be if he could convince her to take the reins.