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At Mirage’s words, Kainan slowed his run to a walk. ‘Is that right?’
‘Naamand I’m also seeing -.’
‘Enough,’ Kainan said, cutting off the AI. ‘I don’t have the time or head space for this. Just get me the hell out of here. We’ve a battle to fight and a war to win.’
12
Big Energy
Selene
It took three days to take partial control of the beleaguered city of Paris Minor and the capital, New Malindi.
Street by street, they fell to the Alliance’s elite troops and were handed over to Free Dunia’s control. It was a relentless incursion: no pauses, rest breaks, or respite.
Selene followed every battle, every skirmish and every report she could get her hands on. She was driven, but soon her weariness caught up to her. On the morning of the fourth day after the landings, she found herself yawning over her fifth cup of kahawa, trying to take in the latest update on the battle on her comm tab’s screen.
She was ever grateful for the Sable-led Edenite troops. Indeed, they were highly skilled soldiers trained to operate for days without external support.
Phantasm’s landers had delivered them onto Dunia’s surface along with high-tech, all-terrain troop vehicles and support weapons. They set down on a planet quite unlike their own. However, the Edenites’ extensive experience in aggressive high-mobility assaults and tactical flexibility meant they could adapt to the unexpected, including Dunia’s unique ecology.
Once they reached the cities, the Edenites blasted in, using giant lasers to cut through the dome’s defence walls like butter. The Technocracy’s fabled military and defensive superiority were sorely tested by the defenders’ nano-laced bullets that weakened their circuitry— causing their fighters to crash and malfunction by altering their perceptions and signals. This made them easy pickings for snipers and gunners. However, they were still a lethal force that adapted quickly.
But the Edenites adapted even faster. With the leadership of the Sable Riders, the troops on the ground were able to hold ground, consolidate gains and follow up initial assaults. They also provided heavy support, flank protection and security alongside the planet’s army that was still loyal to the Free Dunia Council.
Zane was supporting the incursion from Eden II. He’d been working overtime to send nano-laced weaponry to the Edenite troops and astromech droids. He was a clever operator, moving schills, troops and equipment efficiently and in bulk. In addition, he’d masterminded a streamlined supply system between the Notus I and II frigates and landers while the Phantasm patrolled the planet from orbit.
With the new leading-edge weaponry and machinery, the Alliance quickly proved victorious over key battlegrounds and managed to pummel most of One Dunia’s militia and the invading crat army into oblivion.
Casualties on the One Dunia Coalition side had racked up to over 470 soldiers and over 3,000 Technocracy crats, all lost. On the other hand, the Free Dunia Alliance numbers were relatively low. They’d lost thirty soldiers. They also mourned the loss of Major Levine, the Galician corps pilot of the single corvette The Technocracy had downed over Paris Minor. The major had been found shot to death in a remote forest location after he’d ejected from the downed ship. The corvette, call name Aura, had disappeared completely, with no trace. The Sable Group was still searching for it and, at best, hoped that Dunia had swallowed it into itself. At worst, its tech was now in the hands of unknown persons. Nothing, however, could be confirmed either way.
Thankfully, Rambasa and the Neo Valley, the sources of Dunia’s rich deposits of xentium, were still secure.
So was Axuma. Where Harlow, Selene’s friend, had her lab and home.
However, after a worrying report that Massimo Makori had sent a shadowy group of assailants to track her down and possibly capture her and the critical research she was developing, Selene had asked the Riders to find a way to get her out of the lakeside city.
Zane had taken her comm request since Kainan was focused on the ground incursion. Plus, Selene had been too chicken to ask Kainan herself.
Zane had recruited Kage to do the honours. The Edenite had worked swiftly, taking his corvette to find her in Axuma. He’d found her blissfully unaware that she was in danger. After some initial resistance, Harlow had seen sense and allowed Kage to airlift her away from danger and deposit her at Zulu One a day later.
News also came that the One Dunia Coalition had tried to invade Wadi and the archipelago off the western coast of Usmina. But they’d been rebuffed by a platoon of Edenites led by Kage, Riv and a few more of The Sable Riders’ best mercenaries.
As his influence and short grab for power quickly dwindled, Massimo, the now self-proclaimed Prime, continued to bombard the news holos with bloated assertions for control. In addition, he assailed the airwaves with baseless accusations of terrorism and contrived grievances about the unfair treatment of his loyal followers, who were now regretting their life choices as they faced treason charges.
The Free Dunia Council fought back with proof of his shady deals and corrupt payments to the governor of the Wadi province in exchange for mining rights.
He blustered against the Justice Minister, who wanted to take him to court for signing fraudulent contracts with a shady mining conglomerate that was a front for The Technocracy.
When Massimo tried to deny the charges against him, he tasted the bitterness of betrayal. A few leading lights of the One Dunia Coalition, now captured, attempted to negotiate lighter sentences by swearing that they’d witnessed Massimo offering to sell xentium to The Technocracy. However, the most damning evidence against the man proving his treachery was a viral video showing him storming Parliament shortly before Prime Kei’Lano’s untimely death.
The riots in New Malindi had gone into overdrive with this latest development, and the local hospitals and clinics were overwhelmed with casualties.
Then under Kainan’s leadership, the Alliance troops swarmed into the capital’s streets and quelled further infighting.
Holo bulletins urged residents to take shelter in their homes. Especially when the elite troops were on patrol, breaking up brawls and hunting down the crats.
Ultimately, the Free Dunia Council declared a curfew, and relative peace returned to the streets again.
