Star Force: Marauders (SF63) Read online

  “See for yourself.”

  Brayden inserted the chip onto his datapad and saw a number of files on it, but first among them was labeled ‘Skarron Walker.’ He immediately opened it up and saw Mason’s brief notes indicating that a pair of Type-5 walkers were being operated by the invading army with no sign of Skarron or Hobbit involvement. Regardless, they were trashing what heavy weapons the local defense force had and were shutting down the airspace around them with just their plasma cannons…and Brayden knew that their own plasma weapons would be next to useless against that armor.

  “Shit,” he pronounced, pulling up the auxiliary files that held a multitude of data on both the walkers and the rest of the invading army’s movements and reinforcements.

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  “Get every rail gun and missile mount we have loaded up, plus all the small scale explosive ordinance.”

  Trayven’s eyes widened. “We’re actually going after those walkers?”

  “We’ll charge extra,” Brayden quipped, his eyes still glued to the updated report.

  “Don’t you think that’s more than we can handle?”

  Finally looking up from the datapad, the Colonel sighed. “I honestly don’t know. But if we can bag even one of them I want the Marauders to have it on our rep. I have no illusions about single-handedly saving Tieor, but there’s fighting to be done on a scale we haven’t seen since we left Star Force, and a lot of credits to be made in the process. I don’t know how this is going to play out, but we need to be there and no other merc unit is going to be able to touch those walkers. They’re ours for the taking, if we can.”

  “Alright, I’ll get the weapons mods switched out before we leave.”

  “And send a courier,” Brayden added, “with all the information we have on Tieor and these walkers to the nearest Star Force colony.”

  Traven turned around, already halfway out the door. “You think they’ll intervene?”

  “No, we’re too far out for them to worry about. But there’s not supposed to be any Skarron influence in this region whatsoever, and I doubt they just sell their toys to the highest bidder. I don’t know what’s going on, but anything Skarron-related Star Force needs to have the intel on, especially if this is somehow connected to a push into this region.”

  “I hope not, or we’re out of a job.”

  “We move when the lines do,” Brayden reminded him. “Get the message sent and our ships loaded, preferably within the day.”

  “Give me 8 hours on both and we’ll be good to go.”

  The Colonel nodded, satisfied, and turned his attention back to the new reports, studying where and how the invaders were kicking the crap out of the planetary defense forces…and where the Marauders might do the most damage when the bulk of them finally got there.

  “Archon,” a voice said softly from behind Jenna-732 as she sat in the small cafeteria along with a few hundred other personnel in the clandestine base on the surface of a volcanic world beyond the ADZ that was part of the combined Clan Ninja Monkey/Clan Cloud circuit.

  The Mage turned around, still chewing on a sugar stick. “Whaaat?”

  “We’ve received a bit of intelligence from a mercenary unit concerning the Skarrons.”

  Jenna swallowed. “What system?”

  “The Noop System.”

  She frowned, looking at her Padawan. “I’m not familiar with it.”

  Levi-12733 shrugged.

  “Neither was I until I looked it up. We only have basic data from survey records, but it’s located 128 lightyears from here and more than 400 from what we know to be the Skarron border. Furthermore, the mercenaries appear to be a unit comprised of former Star Force personnel, some of which have seen combat with the Skarrons. They’ve sent data indicating the presence of two Type-5 Skarron walkers involved in a planetary invasion by an unknown force, but without any Skarron or Aronsic present.”

  “What mercenaries?”

  “They’re called Brayden’s Marauders, and they operate out of the ADZ with the bulk of their activities occurring beyond Star Force’s reach.”

  “So who has the walkers?” Levi asked.

  “The Marauders say the invaders have not identified themselves, but are a conglomeration of various units unknown to them…and to us. I had an analyst run through their profiles, and we can’t identify them either.”

  “It’s a big galaxy,” Jenna reminded him. “But I’ve never known the Skarrons to share to their military equipment.”

  “Or to work with intermediaries,” Levi added.

  “Which is why I brought it to your attention, given that you’re about to depart.”

  Jenna raised an eyebrow, looking at her apprentice. “Feel up to a road trip?”

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