Crusade: Forsaken Mercenary, #9

By Jonathan Yanez

Monsters roam the wasteland.
And some beasts live within.

The book, the cup, the sword; ancient alien relics buried on Earth have been recovered. But before they can be put to use, two old friends must be saved. 

Angelica and Jax codenamed Angel and Spartan have been gone since the end of the Voy invasion. With no communication received from the two original members of the Pack Protocol, the search begins. 

Daniel will lead a team to discover the truth and the nightmare that waits for them. 

This one was written with you in mind. For the faithful who have followed Daniel's story since the beginning. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Yanez
• Release date: Aug 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215641651

Book preview

ONE

I stood in the level of Leviathan Station that shouldn’t exist staring at tubes of creatures not born of our world. I knew what I saw; still, my mind raged against accepting this new reality.

The lab room was longer than it was wide. Julian Fairmount, the leader of the Order and the Cyber Hunters, worked like a madman behind the control panel. He pressed buttons, flipped switches, and turned dials like some kind of crazed conductor.

I knew I should be racing toward him. I wasn’t positive what he was doing. I was sure it wasn’t going to be good for me.

I moved in slow motion, taking in the horrific scene of the bodies each tube held. The tubes were massive things reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Floating in light green liquid, the form of some kind of amalgamation appeared as if they were asleep.

Each thing, for lack of a better word, was different. They were part human, part machine, and part Voy. The aliens who descended on Mars not so long ago had been taken and experimented on.

I passed a tube holding the head of a human on the body of a Voy with green skin and four arms and a mechanical tail. Another tube on my left carried a mechanical skull with red eyes, the upper body of a human and strong Voy legs with three green toes on either foot.

I had to tear my eyes from the scene in the room and remind myself to concentrate on Julian.

What—what have you done? I asked him, clenching my axe and knife tightly. Julian, what have you done?

The man was pale. Even behind his clear gas mask, I could see that. Finally, he looked up from the podium-like control panel he worked over.

You must think I’m some kind of monster for not just this but what I did to Cassie, Julian said, removing his mask. His brow was bathed in a sheen of sweat. Whatever gas agent you introduced to the ventilation system has run its course.

"I don’t think you’re a monster, I answered I know you are. Why? The man who I fought beside against the Voy would never stoop to this level of madness. Splitting human DNA with Voy DNA? What happened to you, Julian?"

Some things are out of my control, Julian responded, moving away from me toward the rear right side of the room. The Order recognized an opportunity for a new wave of super soldiers. If we didn’t, someone else would have, and you know that’s the truth. Others probably already have. The Galactic Government, Phoenix Corp, Madam Eternal. The world isn’t as black and white as it appears.

Slowly, I closed the distance between us.

It should be, I told him, realizing he was right. You’re right. Any government or private corporation would jump at the chance to experiment on alien DNA. But there are some things that should be black and white. Brainwashing people is one of them.

Julian stopped in the corner of the room, his left hand on the wall. To my surprise, he slowly nodded.

Believe whatever you want, Julian said, swallowing hard. Harming Cassie was never my intention. I wanted her home.

I did believe him actually. As crazy as it sounded, I didn’t think he wanted to hurt her. In his compromised brain, it made sense for him to get her back any way possible.

I’m not proud of what I’m going to do next either, Julian said.

The testing tubes around me began to bubble and drain. The transparent green liquid each body floated in disappeared via holes in the floor. The creatures floating in the liquid began to move. Eyes opened, searching their new surroundings intently.

In the moment it took me to take in what was happening, Julian opened a secret panel in the wall. He was through in a blink of an eye.

I recovered from my nightmare long enough to dash to the panel. It closed just as I arrived.

Well, you’re not alone anymore, Al said in my ear. I’m reading other heat signatures coming from the room you’re in. Still working on gaining camera access to the sixth floor. Oh—oh, wait a minute. There it is, got it.

I watched with a dry mouth as the doors of the tubes hissed open. There were twenty of them. Ten tubes on each side of the room. The monstrosities began moving limbs as if they were trying them for the first time.

What kind of freak show did I just walk into? Al said in my earpiece. This is some messed up stuff.

We need to get everyone off the station now, I answered, thinking of the unconscious crew members who were private contractors and civilians, not Order members or Cyber Hunters. Al, you’ve got to wake them up.

First you want to put them to sleep, now you want to wake them up, Al huffed. What do I look like to you? I don’t even have any hands.

Al! I shouted too loud. The amalgamations exiting their tubes looked over at me. We’ve got no time here.

I’m on it, X answered. I’ll get them up with a serum that will neutralize the effects of the gas. I only need to get half the crew on their feet. They can take care of the other half. How much time can you buy me?

I stood in the room with my axe and knife, wishing I had a blaster. The confused science experiments in front of me looked at me with what I hoped was curiosity and not hunger.

Hurry, I told X. I looked back at the mutated forms of humans, Voy, and machines in front of me. Hi, guys. So, funny story. I’m not actually supposed to be here right now.

I don’t know if sound pissed them off in general or they just realized they didn’t like my face. The group of science experiments gone wrong raced toward me with menace in their eyes.

I chose the left side of the room, hugging the wall, and charged forward. I needed to reach the exit on the opposite side of the room as fast as possible.

The first creature to lunge at me was something with four metal arms on a Voy body. I slid under the attack, allowing my momentum to carry me forward. I felt the air from the creature’s maddened arms swing at me, buffeting my face.

On the other side of the creature, I popped to my feet and continued my sprint for the exit.

If I didn’t have to fight them, I wouldn’t. I was tired, sore, and in desperate need of food. My body was an amazing healing machine, but that healing came at a cost, sapping energy and resources from my body.

I spun around the next creature and slammed into a third. That one was the scariest by far. A human face looked at me with desperate eyes. It moved its jaw up and down as if it wanted to take a bite out of me.

Four mechanical arms grasped at my clothes. I planted a stiff arm in the thing, pushing forward toward the exit. It didn’t have a firm grasp on me, but it was enough to slow me down.

More arms—human, Voy, and mechanical—grasped at my head and torso, trying to pull me back into their macabre embrace.

I had a feeling if they still weren’t waking from their drugged state, I wouldn’t stand a chance. As it was, their movements were clumsy. Fully alert, they would have been able to stop me right there.

Gritting my teeth, I managed to shove off them, continuing my sprint for the door.

Al? I asked.

Got it, Al said, opening the door that would lead me back to the hall. I’ll close and lock it right behind you. Don’t let them catch you. It would be sad if I had to watch you get ripped apart limb by limb.

Heart racing out of my chest, I skidded to a halt outside the door. Not a second too soon, as the monsters behind me lumbered in my direction. Al closed the door on them.

Prior to this, the amalgamations were silent. Not anymore. Horrible screams and wails from inhuman throats echoed through the closed door. The beasts on the other side began to slam on the barrier, realizing their true strength.

The door in front of me dimpled then dented with a strike I assumed was from a fist.

Wow, that was a truly horrifying experience. Al breathed. I bet you have night terrors from what you saw in that room for the rest of your life.

Not helping. I grunted. How long is that door going to hold?

If I had to guess. Al paused for a moment. A hundred and twenty-seven point nine-three seconds.

That’s rather exact, I said, making my way back down the hall toward the lift on the level. We need to be out of here by the time these things break through the door. X, how’re we looking?"

Just rousing the first crew members now, X answered. It’s not a quick process convincing them I’m a friend and they need to abandon the station.

Right, I said, turning the corner back to the lift on my level. Cyber Hunter bodies lay strewn in my path. Al, the lift on floor six. I need to get back up there. Can you give me access to the station’s speakers and put a live feed of those creatures on every screen?

Child’s play, Al said as the lift doors opened in front of me. Go ahead; you’re on.

Workers of the Leviathan Station, I started, staring into the camera in the corner of the lift as I stepped inside. Right now, you’re seeing images of experiments set loose on this station by the Order. They’re confined to Level Six for the moment, but that moment will soon pass. In seconds, they’ll begin to spread through the station. The Cyber Hunters are all dead or have abandoned you. Trust me. You need to get to your ships and escape pods now.

Low, ominous music began to play from the lift’s speakers. The melody added to the panicked hour of our situation.

I ignored it.

There’s a woman named X that’s rousing you now. Trust her, I continued. Help get the others to escape crafts. Hurry, there’s no time. If you want to live, trust us.

The lift doors opened for me on the level I initially entered the docking bay on. I stepped out, running for the ship.

So, what did you think? Al asked.

What did I think about what? I questioned.

The music, Al replied in a huff. The music I added with your warning. What did you think?

I should have known that was you, I gasped, sprinting around the corner and down the hall for the ship. Can you cut off access to the sixth floor? Lifts, stairwells, whatever goes down there?

Already done, Al shared. That should buy us around five minutes before those creatures get through and start killing the rest of the crew. Nice speech, by the way. We’re getting movement from those X is waking up now. I think they’re taking things seriously. Oh wait, here, I can give them another little kick in the pants.

Red alarm lights began flashing off and on. A siren wailed through the station.

Devil’s in the details, Al said. She actually sounded proud of herself. Oh, should I create a mix for this scenario as well? I’ve been diving deep into ancient human music. I can play a little something tougher for the moment. Maybe some Rob Zombie or Two Steps From Hell will fit the scenario well.

No, no music, I said, finally reaching the docking bay. A few confused station workers were just arriving, helping unconscious or groggy coworkers to their escape ships. They looked at me, part confused part frightened. Hurry go, go hurry. You have to get off this station.

Oh, I know what will really help motivate them to get off this station, Al said, maneuvering the hovering T-bird in the docking station. The crazy alien AI opened fire.

TWO

A pair of rounds hammered into the far wall, exploding on impact. I was thrown off my feet by the concussive force. Smoke filled the docking bay along with screams of those nearby.

No one was injured, from what I could see.

Al, you crazy brum, cease fire. Cease fire, I yelled into my comm. I rose to my feet, running for the T-bird hovering just off the ground. The bottom ramp was still open.

Fine, fine. Al sighed. But it worked. Do you see how fast they’re running for the ships now? A little panic never killed anyone.

I reached the bottom ramp of the ship, jumping on board and heading into the ship. Preacher was there applying skin spray to his shirtless torso. A wicked deep line of slices clear to his ribcage showed through.

Cassie was still unconscious, lying on a row of seats.

I’ll be fine, Preacher said, finishing with the skin spray and handing me what looked like a thick silver pen. It’ll wake up anyone who’s still out using high-pressured air to penetrate their skin. The neutralizing agent will work immediately. Go, get as many of them up as you can.

I nodded, looking from Preacher’s wound to Cassie, who looked like a sleeping angel, if angels wore all black and had metal forearms capable of producing multiple deadly weapons.

She’ll be fine, Preacher assured me again. We both will. Go, save as many of them as you can and let’s hightail it out of here.

I grabbed the inoculation instrument and raced for the ramp. Jumping down onto the floor of the docking bay, I headed for the team of engineers I had taken out when I first arrived on the station.

X? I asked into my comm. How’re you doing?

As well as can be expected, X answered. That explosion and the alarms really helped. Now as they’re waking up, there are less questions. They’re just getting up and getting out of here.

See, I told you, Al said. Explosions always work.

I raced back the way I came, stopping at the first door off the hall. I hit the panel on my right that opened up into some kind of spare parts room. On the floor, five engineers in white overalls carrying the Order sigil lay unconscious. I had hit them with knockout rounds from my MK II when I first infiltrated the station. I felt personally responsible if they ended up being a snack for our friends on Level Six.

Just a friendly heads-up; those nightmare creatures have broken through the lab door and are running wild on Level Six. A few of the brighter ones are working on the lift doors. Al snorted with laughter. Sorry, one of the techs who just woke up slammed into an open door as he ran for the cargo bay and knocked himself out again. Ah, this species is good for entertainment if nothing else.

Al? I asked, trying to get her back on track as I went to work in the room. The end of my thick silver pen was equipped with a small tube. I jammed the end with the tube into the neck of each unconscious worker. A tiny click and gust of air answered each action. Slowly, they began to stir.

Right, right, Al answered. So the terrifying monstrosities are forcing the lift doors open now. It’ll take them a few more minutes to get to the ceiling hatch and then climb to various levels. I’d say you have a good minute or so.

You guys have to get up, I shouted over the blaring alarms. This station is going down. Come on now, get up.

The technicians stirred, looking at me, confused and disoriented.

Who are you? one of them asked, eyeing me as if he were in a daze. Were you sent by the Gingerbread Man?

Sure, the Gingerbread Man sent me, I said, turning him around and shoving him out the door into the hall. The station’s going down. Everyone, if you want to live, you need to get to a ship in the docking bay now, right now!

They looked at me with glazed-over eyes, nodding to me and stumbling for the hall and the landing bay beyond.

Hey, don’t I—don’t I know you? the female technician named Sarah asked. I’d had a brief conversation with her when I first landed on the station. You look familiar.

I just have one of those faces, I lied, shepherding her and the others through the hall and to the docking bay. The area was a mass of confusion and bodies. Coherent station crew helped those still totally out or less lucid into ships and escape pods. Go, hurry, go!

The group I woke stumbled forward into ships.

X? I asked through the comm. Where are you? We can’t have you stuck in here when we pull out and blow this joint.

Whoops, Al said through the comms over the roar of escape pods and smaller crafts taking off through the shield. Well, I was wrong there. Huh, my bad.

Your bad? I asked. What’s going on? Where’s X?

I’m here, X said, skidding to a halt beside me. I’m here; everyone is either awake or helping someone who isn’t yet.

Uh oh, as in, they’re here, Al said. Best to get going now, unless you want to sit down for a meal with alien-machine-human hybrids.

I turned my attention back to the hall I had just come from. Al wasn’t kidding. The first abomination rounded the corner, spotting us with a smile that would make any maniac jealous.

This one was a woman’s head on a Voy body. The four arms had been replaced with human arms. The lower half of its body was machine. She screamed at me as if I personally did something to piss her off, and charged.

Go, go, go, I said, running with X to the T-bird.

The sheer number of various sounds in the landing bay was enough to make my eardrums want to give up completely. On top of the alarms, the screams of the fleeing workers and roar of engines came the inhuman screeches of the abominations.

The Order-made monstrosities flooded the docking bay. X and I jumped aboard the lowered ramp on the T-bird. Preacher knelt, cradling a rifle. He pumped round after round into the charging monsters.

Get inside, Al ordered. Hold on to your butts; we’ve got to go.

No! I yelled, even surprising myself. We need to cover their retreat.

Say whhhhhhat? Al asked incredulously. These people were going to kill you if they found you.

They aren’t part of the Order, I shouted back over the screams of the monsters and the answer Preacher’s rifle returned. They’re in this position because of us. We stay here and cover their retreat.

Oh, for pity sake, Al responded in a huff. Fine, but it’s your funeral.

Over the roar of Preacher’s Hyperion Mark Seven rifle, I unsheathed the axe and knife at my belt. X disappeared into the ship.

There were too many of them for Preacher to take out, even if he could put them down for good. Every round to the creatures’ skulls, torsos, or appendages did nothing but momentarily hinder their progress. Dark blood poured from scorched wounds, but no real change in their movement took place.

I saw Preacher put at least a dozen rounds into the head of one creature who wore a Voy face. Its six eyes splattered around its skull. Gore dripped from its ruined face; still it stalked forward. Free of any eyes, it wasn’t sure where to go, but it kept moving.

Well, you were wrong, I thought to myself. Right when you thought these things couldn’t be any more terrifying.

The flood of brutes was closer now. Those that fell were trampled by the ones behind. The good news was Preacher firing on them had directed their attention solely on us. The bad news was that Preacher firing on them had directed their sole attention on us.

They were ten meters and closing.

All around us, the last scientists and technicians on the station were boarding their crafts and seeking safety off the station.

As soon as the monstrosities were in striking distance, I hurled my axe at the closest target. The black axe blade sank deep into the torso of a human body with a Voy face. The creature looked stunned at first then looked down at the weapon protruding from its chest.

Before it could reach for the weapon and pry it out from its chest cavity, I called the axe back to me. The axe spiraled through the air back to my hand. The creature looked at me with malice in its eyes as it pressed on.

In no time, the monsters reached the rear ramp of our ship. Al kept the T-bird hovering a good three meters above the ground. The jump was nothing to the monsters. The first one to reach us gripped the edge of the ramp with three-fingered Voy hands. It looked to pull itself up.

I stamped a boot smack dab in the middle of the thing’s forehead with all my strength. It lost balance and fell back into the mob of leaping monsters.

Another creature to my left managed to not only grab the end of the ramp, but in the same move, propel itself upward with its impressive upper-body strength.

The sounds of weapon fire opening up added to the insanity of the situation. X walked out from inside the ship with not one but two Hyperion Mark Sevens, one in each hand.

The laser rounds ate up the amalgamation’s chest like knives being stabbed repeatedly through a sponge. The monster trembled, falling backward off the ramp.

The three of us held our ground against impossible odds as more and more of the creatures gripped the edge of the ramp.

Are the others clear? I asked, stabbing my knife into the skull of another Voy head popping up in front of me. Al, did the others get to safety?

Yes, and before you say no, I have the perfect song for this moment, Al said in a rush of words as if she were concerned I was going to cut her off again. The band is called Skillet.

Just get us out of here. I grunted, throwing my knife into another body then recalling the weapon before slamming it into a different target.

The ship immediately started forward at the same time a song I never heard filled the interior of the ship.

Sometime soon, Al and I were going to have a serious talk about her music selection. I didn’t hate the song, to be honest. I kind of liked it. Her timing was just off.

The T-bird’s ramp closed as Preacher, X, and I backed into the interior of the craft. A monster on the right side of the ramp insisted on catching a ride. It got stuck between the closing ramp and the frame of the door. Under a spray of black blood, a Voy body with a mechanical head was ripped from the lower half of its body.

Even cut in half, the thing wiggled and squirmed toward us. I was about to do the honors when X stepped forward, planting a heavy boot on the robot skull and crushing it under her foot. The thing spasmed once, twice, then failed to move again.

I didn’t realize it in the heat