Steel Storm (Steel Legion Book 2) Read online

  STEEL STORM

  by Casey Calouette

  For Grandpa.

  Copyright 2015 Casey Calouette

  All Rights Reserved

  http://caseycalouette.com

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

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  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

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  #

  Chapter One

  Planet Squire, Kalivostok System

  Interstellar Outgate Defensive Facility

  Private Tomi Morgan marched into the shadow of the stargate. Gray grit whipped up from the ground and hissed through the air. He tightened his face mask, wiped off his goggles, and tried to keep himself warm.

  Sergeant Mick ran up the incline to the gate with the rest of the platoon behind him. "You buying me a drink when we're off planet?"

  "Everyone’s buying you a drink, Sergeant," Tomi said. It was tough to talk through the dust mask, and his voice was barely audible.

  "Ya hear Private Morgan?" Sergeant Mick yelled. "He's going far in this army!"

  Tomi grinned behind the mask and shifted his rifle to the other arm.

  A team of technicians walked past the platoon and started connecting heavy cables. At the same time, men and women swarmed the gate and started connecting cattle railings, which led to the empty pens.

  Lieutenant Torori ran up the embankment. He clambered over a gate and jogged up to Sergeant Mick.

  "Sir," Sergeant Mick said. He saluted Torori.

  The winds shifted and the dust exploded up from the ground. Ash mixed in with gritty sand. For a moment, the air was painfully cold before the sun punched back through. The alkaline-yellow orb hung low.

  Tomi felt the chill and was glad he wasn't on Lishun Delta. Even now he still woke and fought to get a blanket on, only to realize he was sweating. The cold was like an old wound; it never quite left him. The ash and dust on this planet, Squire, was bad enough, but it had nothing on Lishun Delta.

  The dust finally dropped, and the crews went back to work.

  "Listen up!" Torori called out. He waved an arm over his head.

  The platoon all clustered around.

  The air cleared as the wind died, and the full depth of the embankments came into view. Just beyond the cattle pens was a hive of trenches, turrets, mortars, antiartillery umbrellas, and the newest addition, antiaircraft emplacements. Further beyond, great pillars rose into the sky. The massive gray-and-black obelisks were ancient, older than man, and of a purpose no one knew. Closest to the gate, they were short, and as they stretched into the distance they rose higher and higher.

  Tomi studied them for a second and picked out his barracks near one. One more night, he thought, one more.

  "Two batches coming in. First is passengers and small goods. Let 'em through, inspect. We expect some Vek, so be on your toes. They're rather touchy. Then we've got a full load of cattle coming in. The colony is called Billings and is not officially a Sigg or Vasilov possession. This is the first contact in three years. Give them some space," Lieutenant Torori said. "They might be a bit rough on the edges."

  Tomi listened with the rest of the platoon. Same as every day. A gate to somewhere. A gate to nowhere.

  "Walker!" a technician yelled.

  The crews setting up the cattle rails tore them down as quickly as they could. The walkers would avoid people, but didn’t have any problem crushing some flimsy fences.

  A massive mechanical being shambled into view. It was as tall as two men and as wide as a truck. The walkers were as old as the pillars. They shambled from the gate to the towers and to other places long gone. No one knew why. Ropes hung from the walker's body and a bale of hay was attached.

  "We got anything to send back, Mick?" Lieutenant Torori asked.

  Mick shook his head. "All our gear went back with the last one, sir."

  Tomi grew impatient. He liked the walkers, but this one was delaying his trip back to Kalivostok. Kalivostok, or Kali, was the opposite of Squire. Rich, green, verdant, and a much cushier duty than watching cattle shit.

  The walker ambled away on some long-lost course and the railings went back up. Technicians finished the last hookup and backed away.

  "Get ready!" Lieutenant Torori said. He waved at the command bunker. The platoon took positions behind sandbags and defensive barriers.

  "Gonna stink like shit!" Hutchins yelled.

  "Just like you," Kallio called back.

  "Take positions! Lock and load!" Mick yelled.

  Tomi backed away from the gate and seated a round into his rifle. He almost stumbled but caught himself. The slightly lower gravity on the planet played tricks on everyone. They told him it was 0.8 gravities, but it felt like less. Nothing moved like he thought it should.

  Puck yelled out and pointed at Tomi. "I saw that, Private! You're buying me a drink!"

  Tomi grinned. They had all long since lost count of who owed who drinks. They'd all tripped and stumbled in the strange gravity.

  Sirens rang out. They blared on and off. The stargate crackled, and then the air took on a static feel. The dust rose from the ground and clumped up before the wind rolled the bits away. Far in the distance, the turrets came to life and the heavy-bore cannons all pointed right at the stargate.

  Tomi glanced back and swallowed hard. He never liked this part.

  Mick stood next to Tomi with a casual ease and yawned loudly.

  The gate shuddered, and a high-pitched whine pulsed through the air. Waves of heat rolled off the carbon-black ring, and then finally it opened. A wall of air rushed out as the pressures struggled to equalize. The sunlight on the other side was a dull yellow.

  People immediately started flowing through. Men and women walked with children in tow. Baggage handlers pushed through carts c
overed in all manner of luggage. The travelers had a moment of confusion, and then they stepped past the cattle guards.

  Tomi stood in the middle of the walkway and waved them past. He scanned from side to side and kept an eye out for weapons.

  Puck pulled a man aside and searched through his bag. Kallio and Hutchins did the same to a group of men carrying crates. Hutchins pocketed a few grapefruit and then let them go.

  Tomi grinned at Hutchins and turned back toward the gate.

  A Vek Esh Shell stood before Tomi, so close they were almost nose to nose. The Vek had pale, yellowish-green skin and a frumpled head with wrinkles and creases of skin. It had no teeth. Its eyes were yellow with a black iris.

  "Holy shit!" Tomi said. He stepped back fast.

  The Vek grinned and tromped past.

  "Keep an eye on them!" Lieutenant Torori said. He stepped out from a barricade with a pistol in his hand.

  The Vek stopped and raised its hands slowly. "We're clean! Just passing through!"

  More Vek stepped through the gate. They halted almost immediately. One spun around and raced back through the stargate.

  "Hey, hey!" Sergeant Mick said.

  The platoon went from calm to very, very nervous. Those behind sandbags dropped down. Everyone else had fingers on triggers and was ready.

  The Vek group stood nervously. They all had satchels hanging from their sides. They sidestepped slowly away from the gate.

  An alarm sounded, and the stargate connection closed.

  Tomi felt the sweat pouring down his back. He could hardly get enough air through the mask. His vision narrowed down, and all he could see was the Vek glaring at him.

  "Check him, Tomi!"

  Tomi stepped close to a Vek and reached into the satchel. He poked through a heap of clothes, some data slates, and a heap of cords and pins, and then stepped away. "He's clear!"

  "Get the next ones," Mick said.

  Tomi took two steps toward the Vek at the gate.

  A Vek in a bright-blue jacket yelled something out. The aliens exploded into action. Those on each side darted behind the gate and drew pistols.

  Tomi didn't even try to fumble with his weapon. He simply stared at the half-dozen Vek. "I wish I had my tank," he mumbled.

  "Drop your weapons!" Mick yelled.

  "Hold your fire!" Lieutenant Torori said.

  Hutchins swung the barrel of his rotary cannon right at the Vek and tucked himself behind the shrapnel plate.

  "Open the gate!" the Vek in the blue jacket said.

  "We can't do that!" Lieutenant Torori yelled. "Drop your weapons!"

  The Vek nearest to Tomi leaped to the side, and then they opened fire. The pistols clacked and the actions sang. Flames leaped from the barrels. Rounds sang past Tomi and thudded into the sandbags.

  The platoon returned fire, with Hutchins stitching the rotary cannon up to the gate. Rounds exploded off the carbon surface without leaving a mark. One Vek fell; another ran for cover and was shot in the back.

  Gous fell to the ground, squealing and crying out. Kallio dropped behind the sandbags and ran to his aid. Puck pitched a concussion grenade that sailed through the empty gate and detonated harmlessly on the back side.

  "Tomi, move!" Mick shouted.

  Alarms blared everywhere. More troops surged out from the trenches and raced ahead.

  Tomi stood the entire time, locked up with fear.

  The last Vek leaped out of cover and slapped the barrel of his pistol up against Tomi's head. "Open the stargate, hasshuhav! Open it!"

  Lieutenant Torori stepped out from cover and holstered his weapon. "Set it down. Just set the gun down. It doesn't have to go like this."

  The rest of the platoon aimed at the Vek.

  Tomi took a breath and kept as completely still as he could. He could feel the warmth of the Vek next to him. The moment was beyond fear; it was into a primal place beyond flight or fight.

  The commset in Tomi's ear clicked. A voice, calm and soothing, spoke. "Don't move."

  There was a sickening crunch. The Vek fell to the ground with a ragged hole just above his mouth. A crack roared out in the distance. The Vek’s pistol clattered to the ground a moment later.

  Lieutenant Torori ran up to Tomi. "Why didn't you move?"

  Tomi didn't have an answer, so he followed after Lieutenant Torori and helped move the bodies out of the way.

  "Gous is fine! Round hit his prosthetic," Kallio said. She helped Gous to his feet.

  "It hurts! Holy shit!" Gous said. He squeezed one hand onto the wound. "Fuck!"

  "Get him back, Kal."

  Lieutenant Torori finished checking the Vek before he turned to Tomi. "Are you OK? You head back with Gous and Kallio."

  "I'm fine!" Tomi stammered out his response. There was no way he was leaving. The adrenaline had honed every single sense right to a razor’s edge. "I'm fine, LT! Last day we’re on Squire, sir, just some cows now, sir. Let me stay!"

  Lieutenant Torori glanced over at Mick and then back to Tomi. "Next time, get the hell out of the way. Gate is coming up. Get ready." He turned and took a few steps. "Oh, Tomi, you owe Riga for that one."

  Tomi waved toward the trenches and was very thankful that the Sigg mercenary had decided to stick around.

  ***

  The platoon dragged the corpses away and let the local customs officials handle the issue. Then they all took turns giving Tomi a hard time. He didn't know exactly how to respond, but no one called him a coward. Though they all called him stupid.

  Finally the alarms sounded, Lieutenant Torori returned, and the gate fired.

  Sergeant Mick walked up next to Tomi and put a hand on his shoulder. "Help me grab one of these cows when they come through, eh Tomi? We're gonna have a little cookout back on Kalivostok."

  Tomi looked away from the stargate at Mick to see if he was joking, but couldn't tell. He glanced up at Lieutenant Torori and then looked at his platoon mates. Corporal Puck, the brawler. Hutchins, the heavy-weapons specialist. Hess and Wellington, the gamblers. Mueller, the thief. Waslinski, the virt reality addict. Sophia, the drunk. Veriha, the murderer and demo specialist. Bosovitz, the former (and probably current) drug dealer. Only two were missing: Kallio, the medic and addict, and Gous, the porn addict and data specialist. Three, he thought, Sergeant Nikov, dead on Lishun Delta.

  Tomi felt out of place. Just over six months before, he was a civilian. Now he was a private in a penal battalion. He regretted signing up for that wildcat mining operation every single day since he'd been caught. Though a part of him just regretted getting caught, a deeper part realized he didn't mind being a soldier, but he missed his tank.

  "Where are they?" Mick said.

  The adrenaline had faded out of Tomi, and he was daydreaming. It hit him that nothing came through the gate.

  "Hurry up, assholes!" Puck yelled toward the open stargate.

  "For fuck’s sake!" Lieutenant Torori said. He stomped to the front of the gate and stared in. "Sergeant Mick, send in a pair. Someone find out where the hell these cowboys are."

  "Tomi, head on in," Mick said.

  "Ha ha!" Puck called back.

  "You too, Puck," Mick said.

  "Fuck," Puck said. He ran up to the front of the gate and stood next to the lieutenant.

  Tomi ran up beside the men and stared through the stargate. He wanted to curse his bad luck.

  "Take off your masks, you don't want to vomit in them," Lieutenant Torori said.

  Tomi and Puck peeled off the masks. The skin beneath was ivory white compared to the dust-stained skin elsewhere.

  "You'll be gate-sick for about ten minutes; it's a long run, like eight light-years," Lieutenant Torori said. "Just tell them to get moving and get the hell back."

  Tomi sighed and took a deep breath. Going through a stargate without a gate on the other side led to massive sickness. But at least on the way back he'd feel fine.

  "Lead on, newbie," Puck said.

  Tomi safed his weapon and jogg
ed through. Lights flashed on his eyes and sounds roared in his ears. Then a massive wave of nausea struck him, and he vomited uncontrollably. He couldn't focus his eyes, he couldn't move his muscles—everything rebelled as the electrical charges in his brain went into overload.

  Puck came through a second later and fell to his knees. He vomited hard and groaned and moaned. Seizures racked his body, and he shook like a drunk.

  "Oh God," Tomi moaned. The whole world felt like it was moving, and then it faded away. He stood up and spat out bile. "Oh God."

  "The hell are the cows?" Puck said. He stumbled ahead a few steps and stopped.

  The landscape before them was nothing but yellowish grasslands. White rocks dotted the ground as far as they could see. Far in the distance, hills swelled up on the horizon. The air was unpleasantly warm with a sporadic breeze stirring the summer-dead stalks.

  The two soldiers walked ahead and looked around.

  "Did the gate link up in the wrong spot?" Tomi asked.

  Puck squatted down and plucked up an empty food wrapper.

  Tomi walked ahead and saw something white jutting out of the grass. He squatted down and tugged it free from the soil. He studied it but couldn't quite place it. "What's this?"

  "Bone."

  "Bone?" Tomi said. He dropped the bleach-white bit and then saw another. He leaned ahead and picked it up. Then more came into view. He walked slowly through the grass and saw more and more.

  The grass thinned the further they walked, and now the bones outnumbered the stalks of grass.

  Puck unslung his rifle and clicked the safety off.

  Tomi knelt down and picked up a mud-encrusted bone. He poked away the mud and held his breath. Teeth. Human teeth. It was a jawbone. He let it fall from his hands and backed away.

  Then Tomi realized that it wasn't white rocks that stretched to the horizon but bones. Human bones.

  #

  Chapter Two

  Planet Kalivostok III, Kalivostok System

  Industrial Transit Zone

  Two men stood in the center of a warehouse. A stout little armored vehicle sat before them. It was a dull-red color, like old dirt. The tracks were a crisp black. A fluted main cannon pointed into the darkness. The open space was cold, the floor slick with humidity, and it smelled of old oil.