Masoul (Harmony War Series Book 2) (54 page)

              “He will try to lead his people; he will order everyone to attack, might even use his remaining educators to motivate people. Though the one thing you can rely on is that Harper is a puppet; he isn’t any kind of tactical genius. That was why I was given command of the Gas Planet expedition. I knew how Shipping Station was laid out, and I got myself into the role of advisor for all things military. I’m no trooper. Harper will react like a man that’s in over his head, but will pass out orders rather than sit back,” the man finished.

               “Would the ministry like him in custody, or do they want us to secure Masoul as fast as possible?” Nerva looked to the man.

              He’d had Nivad Selvra’s ear for the last thirty years, something that Nerva didn’t think another person might have.

              “Capture would be for the best. If that is not possible, killing him without hitting his chest would suffice. The information on his implants would be invaluable,” the man said.

              “What would you advocate, smash and grab to get him, or keep grinding the enemy?” Nerva asked, looking right at the powered armor.

              “Smash and grab. Harmony is leader-centric, at least here on Masoul. Harper is the spider at the center. Pull him, and people will start falling apart,” the man said.

              “I’ll order the Triple-Twos to grab him if they can. Once they have him, we’re going to blow all access to the lower levels.” Nerva got to his feet, growling at the pain that still persisted. “I think it’s time I talked to the resistance; they’re going to need to pull their people back, and we need to use their tunnels to the other towers,” Nerva said. His protection detail and the man with an eye on his powered armor followed as he made his way to a corner housing unit where four resistance fighters were standing.

              They didn’t look happy to be sitting there, but they perked up as Nerva got close.

              Their eyes went wide seeing the damage to his side, but quickly moved to Nerva’s as he talked.

              “I need a message sent to Madam Song. We’re going to try and grab Harper. No matter if we do or not, we’re going to blow the stairs and other accesses to the lower floors. My plan is to leave a group here to kill any Chosen that make it up. The rest are going to move to adjoining towers to assist our troopers there. I suggest that she pull back her forces as well. Also, we’re going to need guides to use your tunnels and come out into the fighting,” Nerva said.

              “Daz, run to Madam and pass on the message. Tell her I will stay with the major,” one of the resistance members said, standing. Daz turned and ran through the housing unit, disappearing into one of the bedrooms.

              “Roule and I will act as guides for now; more will come once word reaches Madam,” the leader said.

              “What’s your name?” Nerva asked.

              “Hock, sir,” the man said.

              “Hock, I’m going to need to know where my troopers should go to get out of here and head towards towers”—Nerva checked his HUD for the worst fighting— “four, five, seven, nine, and fourteen.”

              “Do you have a map? I just know the tunnels by memory, so it will be a little hard to put into words, but I can think of a few routes,” Hock said.

Chapter 46

             
Metal City

             
Osdal Actual, Osdal System

             
6/3242

              Guy Castillo was still a large man from his time working across Metal City.

              Anti-aging treatments kept him looking like a middle-aged man, when truly he was passing the century mark.

              He was a well-known face with the population, the ‘people’s CEO.’ He had worked himself up to his position from the ground floor.

              It had been hard work, but he’d done it.

              Along every step of the way, he had been beset on all sides by CEOs that didn’t want him to climb up their ladder.

              With Harmony, that had changed. Harmony had passed through the lower ranks of workers in Osdal. Castillo had been busted down to department manager again.

              He had kept a smile on his face and looked after those around him, but in the quiet of his home, he’d cried, his dreams falling apart in his hands.

              Then a messenger from Harmony had come to him. They had talked about the CEOs, the corruption that Castillo knew only too much about.

              The messenger, Fah Tsiklauri and Castillo had become friends. Castillo listened to Tsik, scared that what he was proposing would constitute a religion and serve to destabilize the planet and the workforce.

              He knew it was, but he didn’t want to admit it, as he and Tsik worked the lines together and talked. Talked in the way that few do outside of the nights they’ve stayed awake too long, had too many beers, and glanced up at the stars. Their thoughts of what lay outside them turning into thoughts of what lay inside.

              Castillo wanted there to be a future for his three kids. Their mother had died in a work accident, the CEOs paying out a paltry fee and downgrading Castillo’s home, since he no longer warranted his larger housing unit as his financial income was reduced.

              Then someone cooked up something to get Castillo struck down. He remembered when he’d stepped into the fifth-tier chief of operations’ office.

              There had been a group of them there, all watching and laughing at his attempts to bargain with them. They paraded the evidence against him, knowing it was all faked and that all he could do was accept his charges.

              They didn’t let him out of the office for two hours, laughing at his misery.

              Tsik had found him getting raging drunk. Tsik had made sure he was safe and carried him home.

              Even drunk, Castillo remembered his question.

              “So why do you follow Harmony? They’ll get you killed for being a religion,” Castillo had said. He’d never talked about it being a religion, but it was, it was a new faith-based system.

              “Harmony isn’t a religion, it’s an idea. The idea that something can be better than this,” Tsik had said, and he believed it. That poor bastard believed it.

              Castillo, imbued with that knowledge, had started asking more about Harmony. He had seen the misery the CEOs brought and he
knew
there couldn’t be anything worse.

              Castillo had been brought into Harmony, and they’d smiled. They had been happy. They were
doing
something to change their lives for the better.

              They had been careful, staying to the shadows and growing through Osdal’s structure.

              They had never attacked the CEOs; they’d played their game of secrets, deals, and blackmail.

              Castillo had risen to the position of a second-tier CEO; he helped to make people’s lives better, and it worked.

              The CEOs grumbled and plotted, but it worked for the higher ones; the second tier and lower didn’t have voting rights, and didn’t matter.

              Then Castillo had found out about Metal City’s CEO and the fund he had been keeping from the Osdal partnership. He hadn’t reported it like he would have before; instead, he passed the information to Tsik.

              That was when he’d met Luke. Luke wasn’t like Tsik; his eyes didn’t glow with the possibilities that Harmony could bring to Osdal. His eyes smoldered with anger and rage.

              Tsik was the billboard, and Luke was the fine print of Harmony.

              Osdal was controlled by Harmony. The workers looked to Harmony, who quietly blackmailed CEOs using their funds to make the people’s lives better.

              Harmony gangs had formed but kept to the shadows, and they enforced Harmony’s rules. They weren’t terrible people; they were looking out for one another. Another seventy years and two of Castillo’s kids were Chosen leaders, while the other stayed working. Of them all, Castillo was proudest of the one that still worked. She did her job, her kids staying away from the gangs and their grandfather.

              Their uncle and aunt sat back, fed by the money of the CEOs. Their care had turned from looking out for the people to terrorizing them. No one was there to stop them, and boredom and the belief that they were right were powerful agents of change.

              “Either you die young, or live long enough to become the thing you hate the most,” Castillo said, turning away from his office’s window.

              Harmony had been gearing up for their war against the EMF. Now it looked like it had come to Masoul at last.

              He glanced at the feeds playing across his office’s view screen and the one in his living room beyond it that the Harmony personnel were recording. Thousands of people were dying, and they sat there watching their enemy, trying to find weaknesses and seeing how their weapons worked.

              They weren’t out there making people’s lives better; they were preparing for war.

              Tsik had kept telling Castillo to be patient. Once the war was over, then the Chosen could lay down their weapons and once again help others through labor instead of bloodshed.

              They might be laying down their lives if the EMF came; a bit of relaxation was good for them.

              All of Tsik’s platitudes filled his mind and all of them fell flat.

              The system wasn’t better; Castillo had been naïve. He saw the light dimming in Tsik’s eyes and knew of the flask he carried now. Castillo opened the collar of his suit and drank his beer.

              Luke grabbed a beer from the office’s fridge, dragging a seat to the side so he could see the view screen in Castillo’s office.

              “We’ve given up hope of getting anything from Harper,” Luke said, drinking from his beer. Castillo hid a wince. Harper had been a great guy; he was nice, happy, a dreamer, just like Tsik. Just like Tsik, he’d convinced others to join Harmony, and now Masoul Actual had two carriers of troopers crawling all over them.

              “Looks like the resistance did a number on them. Haven’t seen anything on the videos about the heavy guns, grenades, or the powered armor.” Luke pursed his lips, not pleased.

              “Isn’t that good? Doesn’t it mean Nivad is too scared to show their effectiveness?” Castillo said. Luke looked to Castillo in thought.

              “I hope so, but from the videos, it looks like the trooper slaves are still advancing, especially with those grenades going off across the Chosen lines. I don’t know how those fucks did it, but it looks like Masoul will fall after all. If not for those grenades…” Luke looked back to the view screen, taking a drink.

              Castillo followed his lead.

              “What has the council said?” Castillo asked. He knew of the operations on Osdal, but the operations going on in the other systems were Luke and Tsik’s field. They were Harmony’s conduit of information to Osdal.

              “They know that we can’t keep the lid on our actions much longer. We planned for this. The Chosen are ready to fight and eager to do so. Already, there have been incidents in other systems. It won’t be long until all of the systems are fighting against Earth Military Forces’ troopers.” Luke sounded almost excited.

              Castillo wanted to curl up and hide from it all, but he’d never been able to back down from a fight. He would look to help the people of Osdal as much as possible. He would not shirk that duty, no matter what.

              He took a long drag of his beer as troopers cut down more Chosen.

Chapter 47

             
Landing City

             
Masoul Actual, Masoul System

             
6/3242

              Jerome tried to not think of the panicked screams of terror those cheers had turned to as repulsors and bandoleers of grenades were tossed into Chosen’s groups.

              Tyler was ahead. Alexis was drugged up and back at an aid station.

              “Contact!” Tyler said, firing a burst.

              Off to Tyler’s left, Holm did the same, tracers crashing into the Chosen’s lines.

              Jerome and Mark’s sections ran into the walls, quickly coming out behind the enforcers. They came out in their midst.

              Arms that were capable of denting armor swiped fragile humans, sending them spinning or dropping them to the floor.

              A repulsor fired here and there as Tyler, Holm, their sections, Haas, and Zukic rushed up on the scene.

              “Move it!” Haas said. Jerome and Mark’s sections followed them, new blood spattering their armor.