The Immortals: New Panama: Symphony of War

By David Adams

Southport has fallen, and the claws of the Myriad crawl ever closer to the vulnerable city of New Panama. They reproduce endlessly, consuming their local environment and turning it into new soldiers.

The Immortals expend tonne after tonne of ammunition fighting a perfectly evolved bioweapon that cares nothing for casualties. The days wear at them. Their systems begin to fail. And always, always, the Myriad advance.

Nicholas Caddy must fight to save New Panama…but the stakes are higher than he could ever imagine.

Part four and finale of The Immortals series set in the Universe of War, twelve years before the events of Symphony of War: The Polema Campaign.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Adams
• Release date: Dec 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393275961

David Adams

David Adams served as an Officer in the Australian Army Reserve, trained alongside United States Marines Corps and Special Air Services SAS personnel, and served in the A.D.F as a Platoon Commander of Military Police. He has worked alongside Queensland Police Officers and held investigative roles with The Commission for Children and Child Safety.

Book preview

The Immortals: New Panama by David Adams

Copyright David Adams

2019

The Immortals: New Panama

A novella set in the universe of Symphony of War

The truth is, that it is not the Jewish banking conspiracy or the grey aliens or the 12 foot reptiloids from another dimension that are in control.

The truth is more frightening, nobody is in control.

The world is rudderless.

— Alan Moore

Southport has fallen, and the claws of the Myriad crawl ever closer to the vulnerable city of New Panama. They reproduce endlessly, consuming their local environment and turning it into new soldiers.

The Immortals expend tonne after tonne of ammunition fighting a perfectly evolved bioweapon that cares nothing for casualties. The days wear at them. Their systems begin to fail. And always, always, the Myriad advance.

Nicholas Caddy must fight to save New Panama…but the stakes are higher than he could ever imagine.

Part four and finale of The Immortals series set in the Universe of War, twelve years before the events of Symphony of War: The Polema Campaign.

Books by David Adams

The Lacuna series (science fiction)

Lacuna

The Sands of Karathi

The Spectre of Oblivion

The Ashes of Humanity

The Prelude to Eternity

The Requiem of Steel

Magnet

Magnet: Special Mission

Magnet: Marauder

Magnet: Scarecrow

Magnet Saves Christmas

Magnet: Ironheart (coming soon)

Faith

Imperfect

The Kobolds series (fantasy)

Ren of Atikala

The Scars of Northaven

The Empire of Dust (coming soon)

The Pariahs

The Pariahs: Freelands

The Pariahs: Elfholme

The Pariahs: The Abyss (coming soon)

Sacrifice

The Symphony of War series (science fiction)

Symphony of War: The Polema Campaign

Symphony of War: The Eris Campaign (coming soon)

The Immortals: Kronis Valley

The Immortals: Anchorage

The Immortals: Southport

The Immortals: New Panama

Demon and Emily

Iron Lazarus

Khan

Other Books

Insufficient

Insurrection

Injustice

Who Will Save Supergirl?

Evelyn’s Locket

The Gossamer Shard

NEW PANAMA

Near Southport

47 miles from New Panama

World of Polema

December 24th

2231 A.D.

Twelve years before the events of Symphony of War: The Polema Campaign and the Myriad invasion

I’m out. The last of my rounds flew downrange, fiery streaks that exploded in distant flashes of light against the night-shrouded valley. Steam rose from the barrels of my assault cannon as the rotary gun spun down, empty and useless. A box flashed at the side of my vision.

>>AMMO: 000<<

I stood knee-deep in spent brass and mud, tropical rain pouring all around me, the metal and sodden soil forming a brassy crown on top of a nameless hill. In truth it was little more than a muddy protrusion from the sodden ground.

Down the bomb-scorched and blackened ravine in front of me, the Myriad horde climbed over the bodies of their fallen, scrambling to get to my squad. Fires burned all around us, despite the rain, turning the air into a golden curtain that blanketed the green, lush ground of Polema. A world that was stormy, rain-slick, washed out and grey.

My number two, Angel, fired the last of her belt, silent flashes that lit up both sides of the ravine. Then her weapon spun down too. I am also out of ammunition. She moved up beside us, watching the massive hordes of Myriad below us, swarming through the ravine.

We had exhausted another full combat load for three Immortal suits and didn’t seem to have made a dent. The Myriad just swallowed our bullets, died, accepted their losses, and more came. And more. And more. They burrowed up from below the ground in seemingly endless waves. Where were they all coming from?

Been out for a while, said Stanco. He’d had used all his ammo quickly. Typical. Stupid dumb bugs. What was more concerning was that given it was Stanco I expected a snarky remark, something jovial or at least…something more Stanco-ish, but he was flat like the rest of us.

The plan had been simple. Had been. Nuke Southport, evacuate New Panama, then evac everyone. But for some reason the civilian governments didn’t want to nuke everything and run away; they were convinced we could contain the threat, and that the people shouldn’t be worried by alarmists. So we had been trying to kill them manually.

Trying and failing.

What day was it? I’d lost track of the days. I had lost track of the battles. It felt like the Reclamation all over again. Just me and Sandy and my battle-comrades, where any mistake would kill us all. I watched the approaching Myriad with vague indifference. Maybe this time they’d kill me.

Why don’t they just give up? I asked, quietly.

Occupiers lose if they don't win, said Angel. Her AI was generating her voice so it was flat and emotionless, but I could somehow sense the exhaustion beneath. Insurgencies win if they don't lose. They’re the latter. We’re the former. To beat them we must destroy them all. By contrast, all the Myriad must do is survive long enough that we leave.

That was never going to happen. "Southport is an important logistical point right next to New Panama. If we can’t contain this…there are other options. Gas. Heavy artillery. Nukes. The Coast Guard should pull their thumbs out and just nuke it like they promised."

I meant the planet, said Angel. I’m certain the Myriad do not care about a spaceport. This place is just a patch of dirt to them. But I am confident they won’t stop here.

Surely the Myriad would not push to take the whole world. No colonial planet had ever fallen, not even Uynov, even after the bio-weapons. Planets were big. Occupying a whole one was extraordinarily difficult.

A discussion for another time. A’right, I said. Rain plinked off my suit. Time to bug out of here before the bugs get here.

You’re in charge, said Angel. And I was. Angel had led our first op. Stanco had commanded the last one. Mopping up these Myriad was my turn, and the task seemed to drag on forever. Where were they all coming from…

I opened a channel to our mothership. "Caddy to Lahore, I said, trying to keep my voice even, even though it was being generated by the suit and wasn’t really my voice at all. Sitrep, all guns dry. Casualty estimates are as follows, uhh… Dammit. I was so tired I couldn’t keep track. A lot. The onboard AI will send through kill-counts and evaluations." Once more, Sandy would save the day.

A’right, said Golovanov, our handler, into my ears. He continued to project an image of calm confidence as he always did, but I could sense the exhaustion around the edges of his voice. "Everyone’s work today has been gas. We have an Albatross on station moving to ex-fil you in two minutes. Refuel, rearm, and get back out there. Don’t worry, we’ll have you back on the Lahore as soon as we can. No telling when that would be. The lack of specific ETA was telling. We’ll all be