Judgment: Forsaken Mercenary, #12

By Jonathan Yanez

Failure is not an option.

It waits to consume them all.

 

The Darkening is so much more than anyone could have imagined. This ruthless consumer of worlds lives only to spread and infect. 

 

Now, it sets its eyes on Earth.

 

With the Galactic Government still reeling from the events of Chancellor Mandrake's rule, Daniel and his team prepare for war. The campaign promises to be long and bloody but they must strike now. The Darkening cannot be allowed time to grow in power.

 

Daniel leads the Pack into battle one more time. They may not be the heroes humanity expected but they are the heroes the universe needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Yanez
• Release date: Aug 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223758440

Book preview

ONE

All right, so here we go, Al said. Into the belly of the beast?

Not surprisingly, Al was the first to find her voice as we stared into the blackness of the hole the Darkening left behind. Once we had Number Eight and the rest of the infected humans on the run, they had escaped into a massive opening in the Earth I was now beginning to assume was actually a tunnel. A tunnel to where was another question altogether.

I stood there with Cassie and the rest of my team as well as the six Primordial war machines that looked like animalistic mechs in my eyes.

My boots stuck in black and green ooze left behind by the thousands of Darkening infected humans who traveled through the tunnel.

Where does it lead? Cassie asked. And what are the odds they want us to follow?

Nowhere good. I answered what she was already thinking. They know we’d follow.

Perhaps we can shed some light on this matter, Alerna, the Primordial leader and my point of contact with the alien species, said over our comms. The Darkening has created a tunnel in time and space to travel from one point of this planet to another. My scanners tell me the tunnel doesn’t go far before it ends at a wall of dirt. The Darkening is gathering its forces for the final fight. It knows we’re here.

It’s taken them back to the fortress we saw through the satellites, I said, working out what would come next. We need to go to Australia.

Indeed, Alerna answered. There is much to do and little time in which to do it. The Darkening fortress on this continent you call Australia must be obliterated. There lies the origin point of the Darkening. We were unable to annihilate it before and had to banish it to another dimension via the relic you know as the book. If we cannot destroy it this time, then we will do the same. We are locating the book now.

Cassie gave me a sideways glance.

I knew we were thinking the same thing. We had seen how the Darkening used innocent lives to shield itself in the Hole. I could guess it was doing the same thing in its new fortress. There could be hundreds, maybe thousands of people melded into the walls of the structure used as living shields and possibly infected in the future.

We have the book, I shared, remembering Shane Armstrong, our new Interim chancellor, was the last one to secure it under Chancellor Marie’s order. I can get it for you. We’ll destroy the Darkening, but we can’t obliterate it with ships or missiles. We’ve seen how the Darkening builds structures. There’ll be human lives at risk.

All six giant mech animal heads turned to look at me as if I were the strange one. I didn’t know how that made sense, since they were sleek metal faces without expression, but I sure felt it.

A mech on my left that looked like some kind of alien gorilla with a wide chest and small back end settled down. With a hiss of steam, the faceplate of the mech opened. Out stepped Alerna, just like I remembered her in all my dreams and visions.

She looked like a tall, older woman to me. A robe with her hood lowered fell down her back. Long greyish-white hair pulled back from her face to reveal kind understanding eyes.

The maker. Al inhaled like some preteen in the presence of their holo star idol. I have so many questions for you, Alerna.

And I have answers, Alerna said. But right now, that will have to wait. Right now, we need to settle on a plan to defeat the Darkening together. Daniel, I understand your aversion to the loss of innocent life. I do not relish the thought myself. However, the Darkening has to be dealt with now before even more suffer. I guarantee you it is already searching for a way off your planet to go and infect another solar system. It lives only to spread death and disease. If we have a chance to end it now amidst collateral damage, we must.

You’d sacrifice innocent lives to end it, I said, understanding what Alerna was getting at. I saw what the Darkening does. I saw firsthand kids in the wall, held in place by the Darkening. Children, Alerna, you’d send the order to murder children if it means destroying the Darkening?

Yes, Alerna said, unblinking. You have not seen the destruction. The true nightmare is the Darkening at its full power. If we allow it to grow in strength, it will cost the lives of millions. Right now, if we can stop it at the cost of a few hundred or even a few thousand, it’s our duty to do so.

Warning alarms went off in my brain. I wasn’t exactly the trusting type, however, up until now, everything Alerna said had been true. Even now, I didn’t think she was trying to pull a fast one on me. She was dead serious.

Alerna, I began, trying to defuse the situation. I can’t let you fly over there and nuke that Darkening fortress when I know there are innocent lives in there.

And yet neither can you stop me, Alerna answered just as calmly. At those words, the other five mechs moved to take up defensive positions behind their leader. No weapons were pointed at us yet, but I’d seen the mechs in action. It wouldn’t take more than two seconds for them to aim and light us up like a fireworks display at some kind of celebration.

Low key, she’s making a lot of sense here, Al whispered from my arm. I’m just saying.

Would you be willing to talk to our leadership while we secure the book? Cassie asked, filling the tense moment with a question. The Darkening has also spread to our moon and Mars. We can use your help there as well. We want the Darkening destroyed as badly as you do. Trust me.

Alerna moved her gaze to Cassie, blinking a few times.

The moment was so tense, I could feel it like a weight on my shoulders. We had no chance of everyone getting out of this alive if it all went down right here, right now. Maybe Sam could crush a mech or two and X could take another, but I didn’t see a scenario where a fight ended well for us.

That is acceptable, Alerna agreed with a firm head nod. However, we do not need your help to locate the book. My team will do so while I speak with the head of your species. Once the book is recovered, we will be off to destroy the Darkening.

It wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but it was better than the Primordials flying off at the moment and obliterating the Darkening fortress from orbit.

Alerna walked back with us toward our temporary HQ in New Vegas, Pedro De Gales Gear and More. It wasn’t much, but it was where Major Hochuli decided to set up shop.

All six alien mechs, even Alerna’s—which was, as far as I knew, unpiloted—made for their own ship outside the city limits.

In the dark, I could only make out a silhouette of the behemoth of a craft. The stars and moon shining down offered me no better view at the moment.

Sergeant Toy and his Titans moved in to secure the Hole while the rest of my team manned our perimeter. I walked into the HQ with Alerna, Cassie, and Al still on my arm.

I hadn’t expected my first in-person meeting with Alerna to feel this tense. It was strange, since she had helped humanity so much in the past. It seemed her hate for the Darkening far surpassed any need to get along with humanity now.

I found myself wondering how this had become so personal for her as we entered the HQ.

The building had once been some kind of local store. Right now, the shelf aisles were pushed back against either side of the room to clear space for desks. Major Hochuli sat at the end of the room behind his desk waiting for us.

As soon as we arrived, he was on his feet.

I’m not sure if extending a hand is appropriate to your species, however, you have our thanks for coming to our aid, Major Hochuli began. My name is Major Edward Hochuli. Would you like to sit?

No thank you, Alerna said graciously. My name is Alerna Halmar. If we may speak to your leaderships about what is to be done next about this threat, the sooner the better.

Major Hochuli nodded along with her words. He gave me a sideways look that said, What’s going on here?

I obviously couldn’t respond with Alerna standing right next to me.

With a few quick finger taps, Major Hochuli had Shane Armstrong on the holo screen. After introductions were made, things got interesting.

You’ve seen the threat firsthand, Alerna said, wasting no more time on pleasantries. I’ve come here to aid humanity and end the Darkening while it is still in its infancy, if I can. We did not have this opportunity before. When we faced the Darkening previously, it was at full power consuming and tearing through the universe at a pace thought impossible. My people sacrificed everything to stop it then. I will not allow their lives to be lost in vain.

Things were beginning to make more sense now. The usually stoic Alerna was letting down her guard, albeit ever so slightly. She felt a duty to her own people to do whatever it took to end the Darkening. I could understand that.

I don’t think we disagree, Shane said, leaning forward in his chair. We would like nothing more than to eradicate this Darkening threat. What do you propose?

Once we recover the book, we will begin our assaults, Alerna explained. We will fly to the fortress and destroy it with long-range weapons. Perhaps that will be enough, since the Darkening is just beginning here in your solar system. If not, we use the book as we did before and this time send it to a dimension so far and dark, it will never return.

I understand the passion in your voice, Shane said slowly. And I agree with your plan up until the point where you want to try and destroy the Darkening from orbit. We have reason to believe there are hundreds, maybe thousands of civi—

I’ve been briefed on this, Alerna interjected, cutting Shane off. It’s a cost I’m willing to pay.

TWO

Both Major Hochuli and Shane looked over at me.

I gave off the slightest shrug. I only found this information out for myself moments ago. It wasn’t like there had been a whole lot of time to process and relay the turn of events to either man.

I understand what you must feel right now, Shane said, finding his voice. But there must be another way to defeat our enemy without turning into the monster ourselves in the process.

You understand nothing, Alerna said, as calm and cool as ever. I had to refocus on her to make sure I had in fact heard her words correctly. She used the same monotone even voice, even when her words were anything but. However, I can show you, so you may have an inkling of what it was like to live in a time of all-out war with the Darkening.

I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but one moment I was in a store in New Vegas, and the next I was transported to a war zone or the aftermath of a war zone.

I looked around as the walls and floor of the building melded to dirt under my boots. Ruined buildings and bombed-out structures surrounded me. I was on some kind of street. Alien bodies lay everywhere around us. Some carried the green and black liquid of the Darkening about them, others did not.

In the distance, I could hear more bombs going off and weapons being fired. The acrid smell of smoke made me cringe.

How, how is this possible? Cassie asked beside me.

I am taking you into one of my memories, Alerna said as simply as if she were explaining to us what she had for breakfast. Shane Armstrong was not physically present, so I cannot take him as well, but he is seeing everything you are through his holo screen.

I looked over at Cassie and the major. Both of them were wide-eyed and just as disturbed as I was.

I understand that, in your eyes, I may seem cold and unforgiving, Alerna continued, taking a step in front of us and waving us forward. That is only because I have seen what has happened and will happen again if we fail to stop the Darkening now. Come, you are in no danger in my memory. It’s a quick walk. What I wish to show you is up ahead.

Oh, this is some crazy tech I must get my hands on, Al practically squealed. Is there anything my maker can’t do?

This doesn’t bother you? I asked the AI as we followed Alerna down the city street.

Does what bother me? This memory or what she wants to do to the Darkening despite the loss of innocent life? Al asked. This memory is horrible, but the tech used to bring you in her memory is something fascinating. The fact that she is willing to sacrifice a few to save the greater many makes sense to her. You didn’t think an alien race was going to see everything exactly the same way you do, did you?

No, I answered. I guess not.

I stopped talking then as I walked side by side with Cassie and the major. We followed Alerna down the ruined street. There were bodies everywhere as if the Darkening had gone house-to-house killing or taking every family one by one.

The aliens here, wherever here was, weren’t much different than humans and neither were the dwellings. The aliens walked on two feet and had two hands with webbing in between their toes and fingers. Gills came up on either side of their faces like some kind of fish. Their eyes were slightly larger than our own and noses slightly smaller.

The houses they lived in were single and double stories with round roofs. I saw what looked like a child’s swing outside one of the houses hanging from a burnt purple tree. It sat there now empty and as sad as I felt.

Amidst the dead bodies of the inhabitants were the infected Darkening. The Darkening soldiers were of a variety of different alien races. I saw one that looked like it was made from rock with its head chopped off and another that looked like some kind of alien pig with a hole the size of my head smoking in its chest.

What happened here? Major Hochuli asked.

This is the planet Trigun in the Vermilion system, Alerna explained. This is how the Darkening spreads from planet to planet. They come to take and enslave city by city. Any who resist are killed. They abduct adults and children alike. With every planet they consume, their numbers swell.

Punctuating each word were the sounds of a battle still waging somewhere in the far distance. I could hear the heavy artillery bringing down buildings and opening new craters in the planet.

Alerna made a right down the street we were headed. The road ended at a steep bank below us. Instead of houses, an open swampland spanned out in front of us with water knee high. Two large groups stood here. On my right was what looked like a group of prisoners on their knees, surrounded by a unit of Darkening that went to them one by one, infecting them by making them drink from some kind of horn.

On the left were ranks of the alien species who inhabited the planet. Newly converted, their eyes were black and green. They stood at attention, ready to be deployed.

One by one, I watched as the Darkening forced the black liquid down the throats of the prisoners on the right. Once the prisoners drank, their body spasmed and convulsed. In a few moments, they calmed and walked over to the group on the left.

There, do you see him? Alerna said, pointing to the group of prisoners on the right. He’s about to be turned now.

I shaded my eyes against the twin suns in the midday sky. If everything weren’t so alien and strange around me, I might have spent more time focusing on that particular anomaly.

Sure enough, I caught what Alerna was pointing at. It seemed so obvious now, I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t seen it before. One of the alien prisoners penned in by the Darkening was different. Instead of scaly skin and gills on either side of his face, this one was hairy with horns on the top of his head like some kind of bull.

I squinted, trying to make out what was happening below. The bull man looked as though he were injured. He hobbled on one foot in the marsh below. When the soldiers infected with the Darkening came for him, he fought like a wild man possessed. One of his horns went through the throat of the darkening soldier and he picked up and flung another.

I felt myself cheering for this alien, although I had no idea who or even what he was. For a moment, it looked as if he might escape. He broke through the ring of Darkening soldiers surrounding him and made a run for it. Not really a run, since his left leg didn’t seem to be cooperating, but an attempt to escape nonetheless.

The Darkening soldiers fell on him, dragging him down to the water. There were just too many of them. Instead of trying to bring him up and turn him with a symbiote, they drowned him right there in front of us.

I felt sick. I wanted to go help him even with my knowledge this was just a memory.

Why are you showing us this? Major Hochuli asked. Why him?

Primordials can take on any shape we prefer, Alerna answered. Right now, you see me as human because that is the form I choose to put you at ease. That man you just saw drowned was my husband. We were here trying to evacuate the planet ahead of the Darkening. Remember, this is my memory. I was forced to watch this all as it happened and there isn’t a day that goes by I don’t wish I had done something different.

I could hear the anger in Alerna’s voice. She forced the words past her teeth as if each one held nothing but anger and malice. I looked over at the Primordial to see her hands clenched.

Where were you? Cassie asked gently. How did you manage to witness this and not get infected yourself?

There, Alerna said, pointing to an alien woman with gills bloodied and bruised. She was being supported by two other alien prisoners. She made feeble attempts to try and go to her husband, but she was too weak. Yellow blood spilled from her stomach and mouth. She fell unconscious a moment later.

I took a round in my stomach when the attack started, Alerna said, tears welling in her eyes and slipping down her cheeks. I was in and out of consciousness throughout the murder of my husband. I do remember him telling me he was going to try to make a break for it and call down help. I remember him telling me he loved me. I remember him dying.

As Alerna’s memory faded, we were taken to a new scene. Our surroundings blurred then came back in startling clarity. Now we were on some kind of mountain looking down on an army. Not any army; a force so large, I couldn’t even begin to number them.

Soldiers of various sizes and weights were covered in black and dark green armor from their booted feet to the spiked helmets on their heads. Hover crafts the same colors of greens and blacks with tanks, mechs, and support craft rolled over the ground like ants.

In the air, fighters and ships patrolled with indifference. This planet, wherever we might be, was dead. I couldn’t think of any other way to describe it. It reminded me of Earth. Nothing but dry cracked ground of red dirt and black sand. Even the sky itself looked as though it had given up on life. Black clouds rolled across a grey sky.

Something like hot sulfur assailed my nostrils. It was hot. Everything seemed so hot.

This is the Darkening we encountered when it was at full power, Alerna explained. You’ve only seen the beginning of what it can do. You’ve seen it infect life forms, and now build a fortress. But it can do—it will do so much more if we don’t stop it right now. It’ll construct armor for its soldiers. It’ll make crafts, tanks, ships, and weapons of war you’d never want to imagine.

Alerna let those words hang in the air as the three of us were left to our own thoughts.

This is insane, I found myself saying in my head. How can one entity, one being create so much destruction?

When my kind first battled the Darkening, we were nearly wiped out ourselves, Alerna said cautiously. There are those among my kind that don’t want to fight at all. They would rather go into hiding than face the Darkening again. I’m here. I’m with you, but you have to trust me. We must strike now if we have any chance. The lives of a few are worth the universe’s existence.

As quickly as we had gone into Alerna’s memories, we were taken from them. In seconds, we were deposited into the headquarters we were using in New Vegas back on Earth in our own solar system.

No one wanted to be the first to speak. Or maybe they did and just didn’t know how to break the silence. Shane Armstrong sat back in his chair on the other side of the holo viewer.

Major Hochuli swallowed hard.

Cassie was the first to speak.

Thank you for coming, Cassie said with a heavy sigh. Please believe we are grateful and we believe everything you’ve shown us. I’m so sorry you had to lose your husband.

Alerna just nodded, stone-faced, as stoic as ever.

Give us a chance, I said, thinking of how to convince this woman who had lost so much to give us an opportunity. Let us try to take out the Darkening without all the collateral damage first. Let us at least try. You’ll always have your ship and the nuclear option. But give us a chance.

I was pretty sure I was speaking out of turn again. It was probably our acting chancellor that should be making the deals here.

I thought I was going to get through to her for a moment, I really did. Alerna turned to me with a shake of her head. Her thoughts were still clouded by pain and rage.

No, Alerna told me before leaving out the front door. She paused right before exiting the building and looked over her shoulder. You might have been the one to save your species from the Voy, but this is beyond you now, Daniel Hunt. When my team returns with the book, we destroy the Darkening. One way or another.

THREE

Well, I saw that going differently, Al said from my vambrace. I mean, I really did. That’s not sarcasm for once. I’m going to go talk with her.

Without waiting for our approval, Al disengaged her dual holo projectors from my vambrace and sped out the door after Alerna.

We can’t let this happen, Shane said from his desk. Not like this. Not when we’ve just made such a huge leap in progress. We just got control of the Galactic Government back and a serum in production.

I agree, Major Hochuli said, rolling his head around his neck. A series of satisfying pops following the act. But we also can’t stop them without going to war with the Primordials, and I don’t think that’s an option.

She says she can already detect the book, I stated, looking over at Shane. That friend of mine who I told you would be reaching out. Did you give her the coordinates for the book?

The friend I was referring to was no other than Carly Coughran AKA Madam Eternal. After she and Omega saved me on the moon, I had put her in contact with Shane vouching for her.

It’s hidden on Mars in a safe house, Shane answered. "I told her where it was and have confirmation she picked it up.