The Iron War: A Xander Cain Novel Read online

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  QualiTech Military Product Number Thirty-Four: Mechanised Combat Suit

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  The Corporate Wars

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  The Web- A marvel of the modern age!

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Rise up! Fight against your corporate oppressors!

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Lost Tech - Wonders of a forgotten age!

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Leaked Heliustech Correspondence

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The Heroes of Hades

  A Message from the Author

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  Chapter One

  Xander felt the dropship shake as shrapnel impacted the hull. The vessel ahead of him had exploded, forming a wall of sharp metal his own craft had sailed directly through, travelling too fast to evade. It was supposed to be so easy, just a routine garrison job. Low paying, but with little to no expenses, important when the money was coming from Xander's pocket. The dropship shook again, and Xander felt the strap holding him to his seat slam against his skin. There would be a bruise tomorrow. If he lived to see tomorrow.

  “All riders prepare for drop in fifteen seconds. Drop zone is hot, repeat drop zone is hot.” The dropship’s pilot was struggling, he could hear it in her voice.

  “You ever wonder what led your life down such a shit path?” said one of the other riders, an ID tag in Xander’s vision identifying him as Alexi. Alexi was a wall of a man, a slab of muscle that seemed to be perpetually glistening. Xander hadn’t found out if it was through sweat or oil yet, and he wasn’t planning on it.

  “Nah, not me,” said another voice, the wetware HUD identifying her as Anya. Xander hadn’t bothered to program in their last names. Getting close never worked out, not in the long run. “I own all my shit decisions. What about you, Cain?”

  “Do you really have to ask?” Xander said. It was hardly a secret, Xander’s disgrace had made the news net across half the core worlds.

  “Dropping in five! Heads up riders, you’re up!”

  There was a loud clunk as the floor slid away, the metal doors beneath each of the three mercenaries revealing the concrete below. The clamps gripping each by the shoulders released, sending them dropping through the gap.

  They landed with a slam, massive humanoid machines crouching automatically to absorb the shock of the landing. They had dropped nearly thirty feet, the dropship hovering overhead just long enough to release its cargo. The massive war machines began to barrel forward, looking for cover amongst the already partly destroyed buildings.

  Xander brought his to a run, the machine's movements his own, its cameras feeding directly into his vision. He swung his weapon around, snapping off a shot at a tank that had trundled into the compound. The round hit the armour, denting the turret but bouncing off into the concrete, dust flying into the air. The tank returned fire, cannon shots slamming into the warehouse that Xander had chosen to take cover behind, destroying a chunk of wall.

  “Getting sloppy, Cain?” Alexi said. He stormed forward, one mechanical leg in front of the other, footprints stamping into the concrete as if it was mud. He had his own weapon tucked into his metal arms. It looked like an assault rifle but expanded to fit his enormous mechsuit. He squeezed the trigger, firing a burst at the tank. His rounds hit home, this time breaching the armour. It didn't explode, but its crew weren't taking that chance, already streaming out of its top hatch, abandoning the stricken vehicle.

  “Just conserving ammo, Alexi. This was supposed to be a garrison job remember? Doesn’t exactly pay well. Every bullet fired is less credits in my pocket.”

  “Armour repairs would cost more,” Anya said. Her mech suit lumbered behind them. It was much bulkier, thick armour plates covering every surface, powerful servos whining with every movement. Underslung on each arm were the barrels of two rotary cannons, whilst mounted to each shoulder was an imposing-looking missile launcher.

  “On that beast, maybe?” Xander panned his suits cameras over the compound, taking in what he could. The dropship had rocketed back towards orbit, but bursts of antiaircraft fire had followed it. There was a battery, likely mobile, not far from the outer wall of the compound, nestled within the skyscrapers that surrounded it. “Anyone else make it down?”

  “Doesn't look like. Shit, there was supposed to be two other dropships, both fully loaded.” Alexi had jogged forward, taking up a position at the entrance of the compound, crouching low behind the wall. He popped up, snapping off a few shots before ducking back down. “Eight riders snuffed out like that.”

  “Well, we weren’t expecting a hot LZ. Hell, we weren't expecting any kind of combat.” Anya knelt on one knee, her launchers adjusting to face upwards. "You got a clear look?"

  “Nah, want us to get one?”

  Anya replied in the affirmative, her request appearing as a thumbs up icon that flashed to life in the corner of each mans’ HUD. Xander broke into a run, sprinting past the open gateway to the compound. The great steel doors lay on the ground and they rattled as his feet struck them. Large dents were blasted into the metal, blown from their hinges by concentrated tank fire. He crouched on the opposite side from Alexi.

  “I will lay down the covering fire, eh? Wouldn’t want you to spend precious credits,” Alexi said. He immediately poked over his makeshift parapet, bursts of fire pouring from the barrel of his weapon.

  Xander didn’t wait, he peeked over the stone, scanning what was ahead with his cameras. The enemy forces were falling back, the tanks not willing to take their chances funnelling themselves through the entrance into the waiting mechsuit fire. They had their own suit support, at the far end of the road, taking cover against the sides of skyscrapers. Xander’s vision bounced between the targets, highlighting each as he did so. Six tanks, two mechs and at least three squads of men.

  “Targets tagged, Anya,” Xander said, sending the information to his colleague with a thought.

  “Launching!” she replied. There was a loud whooshing noise, the sound of fury and death screaming free from its tubes. Missiles streaked into the sky, arcing high before turning their noses downwards, racing towards the targets. They slammed down a moment later, exploding against the tops of tanks and blasting the road apart, sending infantry scattering.

  “Go, go, go.” Xander swung himself around through the entrance, taking advantage of the commotion the missiles had caused. He swung his weapon, shot after shot snapping out at damaged tanks and cowering infantry. The barrage had caused carnage, destroying most of the enemy armour and making the rest easy pickings for the advancing mechsuit. Alexi followed behind him, jogging to keep pace with his companion.

  Xander stepped to the side as a mechsuit swung around from its hiding place, firing shots from its weapon. The right side of the mech was damaged, the missile strike had hit it hard, blowing the
arm clean off and shredding the armour. The rider was lucky, a little further and they would likely have been destroyed along with the limb. They were clearly shaken, their aim off, high calibre shots careening wildly. The shells blasted into the ground around Xander, sending masonry flying.

  Xander's return fire was controlled, practised, careful well-aimed shots fired with the precision of a true expert. He fired a three-round burst, each shot slamming home into the torso of the enemy mech. It stumbled backwards, falling onto it's back with a crunch.

  Its ally finally gained the courage to help it, stepping out from its own cover. Its armour was scratched, but it was otherwise unharmed, no doubt evading a direct hit from the missile. It brought its weapon to bear and aimed at Xander. It was too slow.

  Alexi had carried on running, stomping up the road, kicking a burning tank aside as he did. He barrelled into the new arrival, bringing his leg around behind the enemy mech. It toppled, a burst of fire escaping its weapon as it fell, blasting chunks from a skyscraper across the street in a neat line. Alexi dropped his weapon as he followed his opponent down, a section of his leg armour springing open. He gripped the handle that appeared from within, sliding out a long sharp knife. He jabbed, the energy field on the blade heating the armour of the enemy suit as it pressed down, the wound glowing a vibrant orange. He pushed down until the hilt hit the torso of his opponent, before pulling it free. The enemy suit had stopped moving, the sensors on Alexi’s mech showing no life signs from within.

  Xander's opponent hadn't been so lucky. There were life signs there, but they were all over the place, the rider's body failing. Xander's shot had hit his chest directly, the high-explosive squash head rounds fired from his hand-held cannon designed to cause the internals of their targets to explode outwards, to spall, fragments of metal slammed loose from the impact. The pilot inside was likely shredded by his own machine.

  “No hard feelings,” Xander said, as he pulled his knife from its holster, slamming it into the stricken mech. The life signs stopped. He pulled the blade free, sliding it back into its resting place, the armour plate slamming tight against his leg again.

  “These are not mercs,” Alexi said. He had turned the fallen suit nearest him over, examining it. “This is a pair of stock QT-34s, no mods. See how the back of the knee is exposed? No merc would let that flaw go unmodified.”

  “No corporate markings though. Either you’re wrong and these guys are just really bad mercs, or this attack was an off the book affair. We should send this up the chain.”

  “Agreed,” Anya said. Her hulking suit was stood in the entryway to the compound, her rotary cannons spinning in anticipation. “Problem there is I’m not getting any signal.”

  “Me neither,” Alexi said. “It would appear surface to orbit comms are being jammed.”

  Xander pulled up a map of the surrounding area in his HUD. The walled compound and its warehouses were centred within a busy metropolitan area. It was not all that uncommon. As vicious as inter-corporate fighting could get, they rarely moved when there could be civilian casualties. After all, those were potential customers. There was a large green blob on the map several blocks away, a park area, a lone sea of life in an otherwise cramped city.

  “Here,” Xander said, sending the location to the others. “This is the best place to park some AA, if you want any kind of line of sight. I would bet excellent money those guns are here. Probably whatever command unit they have. Likely the jamming equipment too.”

  “Makes sense,” Alexi said. He had hoisted the fallen mechsuit over his shoulders. His own suit was straining a little, but Xander didn't blame him. Salvage rights were a hotly requested perk in merc contracts. Alexi began to walk back towards the compound, taking care not to trample the fallen infantry in his way. It wasn’t considered proper, to destroy corpses when not necessary. The other infantry had scattered, fleeing into the streets, they were no match for a trio of suits. At some point though, someone would come for the fallen, and desecrating bodies did nothing for a merc’s reputation. Xander knew all about reputation, having experienced both sides of the coin.

  “I’ll cover the compound then,” Anya said. “You two are more mobile. If you can get eyes on them and tag the guns, I can support you from here. Got enough missiles left for another decent salvo.”

  “Garrison job my arse,” Xander said, crouching to lift the suit with the missing arm. It was damaged, but salvage was salvage. Xander could use every credit he could get, especially now. “They had to be expecting a hit, right?”

  “Why else have a garrison?”

  “Anya has a point, Cain,” Alexi said. “Still, if we knew there would be combat, I would have commanded a much higher rate. This is our fate I feel, as freelancers. The guild companies scoop up all the good work, and we get left with the shit at the bottom.”

  “Well,” Xander said. “Whilst we go and deal with those guns, Anya can have a nice long talk with our employers. Express our…dissatisfaction.”

  “Hah! I wonder who I feel more sorry for, the crews of those guns or the pen pushers in those warehouses?”

  Chapter Two

  Xander jogged across the road, metal feet thudding as he did, shaking the benches and trees that ran the length of the street. He had his weapon tucked tight to his shoulder, or at least to what felt like his shoulder, his neural connection to the mechsuit making it as natural as his real body. It was why mech pilots were called riders, the connection between man and machine much closer than being merely sat at the controls. Xander tucked in closer to a building, hiding the bulk of his suit. He was careful, exposing as little of the massive machine as possible. It was a mistake rookies always made, the difference in scale tricking their mind.

  “Next block over, Alexi. We’ve got two options. Try and sneak a laser lock and hit them with Anya’s barrage first, or go in hard and fast, hope they don’t have time to react.” Xander didn’t need to explain the situation to Alexi, the man was an experienced freelancer with a long career in a guild registered before his particular fall from grace. Xander hadn’t asked how Alexi had found himself scraping the bottom of the contracting barrel and didn’t particularly care. Get in, do the job, and move on. Xander had no interest in forming personal connections, it only made things more difficult.

  “Maybe we do both?” Alexi had taken up position on the opposite side of the street, mirroring his comrade. “One of us goes in fast whilst the other locks the targets? Punch right through then follow it up with a barrage to finish off the stragglers?”

  “Depends on what they have, I suppose. We could be walking into a whole mess of mechs. Without any air support, we're in real trouble though. If they've locked down this area, it's only a matter of time before they start bringing in their own air assets.”

  “I think if they had more suits, the assault on the compound might have been more supported? Regardless you are right.” Alexi peeked around the corner, his suit's cameras scanning the street. “Hold a second, movement here.”

  In Xander’s vision a section of the building at the far end of the street became highlighted in green, the location relayed from Alexi’s mech to his. He was right, there was movement at the windows. For a brief moment, Xander considered peeking out himself, trying to zoom his camera in on the glass, an attempt to rule the movement out as civilian. The question rapidly answered itself as something streaked from the window, blasting down the street with a whistle.

  Alexi twisted back behind cover as the missile slammed into the building. Rubble sprayed forth, scattering across the concrete like confetti. Sharp sections of bent rebar jutted from the hole, the armour piercing weapon punching into the building easily.

  “Argh, fuckers scratched my paint.” Alexi shuffled his mech sideways, away from the edge of the building. “I am unhurt. Luckily.”

  “We could go around, move to the next street?” Xander's caution was well-founded. Whilst mechsuits were the premier combat weapon across known space, they weren’t invincibl
e. Lucky hits from anti-armour weapons could damage or even destroy them in the right circumstances.

  “We do not have time. Those anti-air guns will know we're coming now. This is the quickest route.” Alexi held his weapon close to his chest. “I will distract them. You deal with them. Sound good?” Alexi didn't give Xander time to respond, instead, he tucked his weapon close to his chest, turned the corner and ran, his suit pelting down the long road at its top speed.

  The infantry saw him, and another missile screamed from the window, twisting in the air as it locked in on him. Alexi waited, stepping to the side at the last moment, causing the missile to crash into the concrete. The blast knocked him, causing Alexi to stumble for a few steps before righting himself.

  Xander didn’t wait. He knew his allies stumble would be fatal if the infantry team could load another missile into their launcher. He stepped out from behind cover, and focused his mind on the window, willing his suit to fire.

  From two points on his upper chest, around where the collarbones would be on a person, green beams lanced forth. They sliced into the building, traversing the distance in an instant. The lasers melted what remained of the shattered windows, and swept along the length of the building, turning the floor into a stripe of fiery death. Lasers weren’t effective against armour; the beams took simply too long to burn through the specially treated metals used on mechsuits and tanks but were devastating against infantry. Molten glass dripped down the side of the building, hissing as it hit the street below.

  “Two left feet, Alexi?” Xander said. He kept his camera on the building, checking for further signs of movement. There was nothing. Either he had gotten all the infantry, or the survivors were trying to avoid the fate of their comrades.

  “I would like to see you try and evade that. See how upright you stay,” Alexi said with a chuckle. “Seeing a Cain face down in the dirt might brighten this otherwise shit day.”

  “There’s still time. Come on, looks like this has made our choice for us. Hard and fast it is.”

  ***