Absolution: A Near Future Thriller (Forsaken Mercenary Book 2) Read online

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons— living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  Absolution

  Forsaken Mercenary Book Two

  Jonathan Yanez

  Contents

  Books in the Forsaken Mercenary Universe

  Stay Informed

  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-Eight

  Epilogue

  Stay Informed

  Books in the Forsaken Mercenary Universe

  Books in the Forsaken Mercenary Universe

  Inception

  Dropship

  Absolution

  Fury (Coming Soon!)

  Stay Informed

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  Chapter One

  Just like that, my world was plunged from some kind of stability into chaos once more. The cell room in the secret Phoenix base I was in, speaking with Echo, was plunged into darkness. The emergency lights kicked on.

  The Phoenix guards near the door of the cell block spoke nervously into their comm units.

  “What’s going on out there?” one of them inquired with a quivering voice.

  “Commander Shaw, orders?” the other asked into her earpiece.

  “You should really let me out of here,” Echo said, reclining on his bunk as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “What’s coming for you now is far worse than anything you’ve faced before. You can trust me on that one, Danny.”

  I eyed Echo without smiling. My right hand went to the small of my back where my MK II should have rested. I had left it in my quarters when I came down to see Echo. I didn’t think I’d need it. It wasn’t the first time I’d been wrong, and it wouldn’t be the last.

  “X, can you get us connected to the comm channel they’re operating on?” I asked as the two Phoenix guards looked at one another uneasily then glanced my way. “Or maybe they’ll just give it to us.”

  “Tune in to channel two, five, seven, point three, five, nine,” the female Phoenix guard said. “You’ll be able to hear what’s going on out there.”

  “Tuning in now,” X said inside of my head.

  “—All units are to maintain your positions,” Commander Shaw said without a hint of fear in his voice. “All off-duty personnel are ordered to report to your commanding officers in full gear immediately.”

  “They don’t know what’s coming for them,” Echo said in a laugh. “None of you do. You’re all going to die. Except for you, Danny, because you’re a survivor.”

  “Shut up!” the male Phoenix guard barked. He looked over at me. His eyes were wide with a mixture of worry and anger. “Shut him up!”

  “Wait.” The female guard took a step closer to Echo’s cell, the blaster she held in her hands pointed down. Her pointer finger hovered over the trigger. “Who’s coming? Tell us what’s happening.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was the small room or the fact that the main lights were out and we were bathed in the dull blue backup lights, but a cold chill touched the base of my spine.

  Should have brought your MK II with you, I berated myself. You know better.

  I studied the room as Echo began his story. There was one way in and one way out, a closed door in front of us with a circular viewport. The room was large enough for three cells. Echo was the only one staying in one now. The light blue force field that kept him secured hummed with a distinct buzz.

  “Immortal Corp is just one of the many private firms in the galaxy,” Echo said with a sigh as if he were teaching children and class was in session. “There are dozens of others, some small, others mid-size, with unlimited resources at their disposal. But the one that’s here now, The Order. They’re the major players. The real deal. They’re the only other private corporation that holds a candle to Immortal Corp.”

  The room went quiet.

  “If they’re here now, and they’ve sent Cyber Hunters, it’s already over.” Echo shrugged. “Your best bet is to put yourselves into one of these cells and try to break the locking mechanism so it can’t be turned off when you’re in there.”

  “Rose, he’s lying,” the male Phoenix guard said. “He’s lying to scare us.”

  “No, no, Mark,” Rose said. “I don’t think he is.”

  “It’s confirmed we have a breach and enemies inside the Vault,” Commander Shaw said through the comms. “Our main generators have been sabotaged. The base is on lockdown. I’m sending reinforcements to secure the prisoner and Monica Warden along with the super seed. Eyes open. We’ll find who’s here if we have to go floor by floor.”

  The two guards must have had various channels open, able to receive incoming communication. While my comm was silent, I could see Rose and Mark stand up straight as new orders came via their earpieces.

  “Yes, sir,” Mark said. He eyed me, gripping his rifle tightly in his hands. Being an ancient weapons enthusiast, the rifle reminded me of pictures I had seen of a M4 carbine. His weapon was silver and bulkier, but it carried a similar shape. “Understood.”

  I felt my heart rate pick up in speed as Mark and Rose both looked in my direction. They came at me in angles to cut off my path to the door. The animal inside, I was still understanding, was eager for the fight.

  Before I could throw the first punch, Mark handed me his sidearm, grip first.

  “It’s not that hand cannon of yours, but it’ll have to do for now,” Mark said, offering me the weapon. “Commander Shaw said to make sure you were armed.”

  “He said you can be trusted,” Rose chimed in. She leveled her stare at me, unflinching. “Can you be trusted?”

  I accepted the lightweight weapon that felt so small in my hands compared to my MK II.r />
  “I’m not going to shoot you in the back if that’s what you’re trying to get at,” I answered. “We’re in this together. Whatever this is.”

  “Cyber Hunters,” Echo said with an exasperated sigh. “Are you people even listening to me? I swear, if Phoenix is this far out of the know, you have zero chance of surviving what’s about to happen. I—”

  Rose went to the side of Echo’s cell and pressed a button on the control panel that dampened the sound coming from his cell.

  “Thank you,” Mark said with a sigh of his own. “I was about to do that or put a round in his head. Although I’m not sure that would have done much good anyway.”

  “X?” I asked loud enough the other two could hear. “Can you shed some light for us on these Cyber Hunters?”

  “Certainly,” X said over her external speakers so Mark and Rose could hear as well. Although her speakers were limited to the small circular disk on the right side of my neck just behind my ear, they were loud enough to fill a room. “The Cyber Hunters are more myth than fact, as is the Order, for that matter.”

  I listened intently at the information X relayed to us, looking over at Echo from time to time. He hadn’t moved from his position by his bunk. The skin and flesh over his face was still healing. Half of his face looked normal, the other a combination of muscle and ligaments growing over a bone-white skull.

  “The Order has been linked to many names in the past, including The Knights Templar and the Illuminati. The Order is attributed to aiding in Earth’s downfall; however, these facts have never been confirmed,” X explained. She paused here more for our own sanity than the fact that she needed to catch her breath. “Cyber Hunters are robotically enhanced soldiers said to have been used by the Order to achieve various objectives over the years. None have ever been caught alive. The only thing known about them at all is through stories and the random carcasses found after an altercation.”

  “Daniel, is this you?” Monica’s familiar voice sounded in my ear. “I saw the ‘X’ call sign over the shared channel and thought it might be.”

  “I’m here,” I said, turning my head to the side. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ll be fine,” Monica said in a hushed whisper. “I’m in the lab working on the super seed. Commander Shaw has a company of soldiers here. Nothing’s going to get us. I—”

  The channel went to static.

  “Monica?” I asked, already knowing she wasn’t coming back. “Monica, can you hear me? Monica?”

  Nothing.

  Mark and Rose looked at me for direction.

  That was definitely the wrong thing to do. I wasn’t a leader. I couldn’t even remember what I was. Before I had to answer their questioning looks, a figure passed by the door.

  My neck snapped to the circular viewport that separated this room from the hall outside. I was too slow to see who or what it was. The lighting was too poor. The only thing I knew for certain was that who or whatever passed by the door was fast.

  “Someone’s at the door,” I said, lifting the blaster in my hands toward the door. “They’re here.”

  Rose and Mark ran to each side of the door, slamming their shoulders into the wall. They pointed their heavy blasters toward the door.

  “Is anyone near the prisoner’s cell level?” Rose asked over the comms. “I repeat, are there any friendlies outside the cell level?”

  “That’s affirmative,” a tough male voice said over the open channel. “I’m coming under order of Commander Shaw to help in securing the prisoner.”

  “Robert,” Mark said with a sigh of relief. “We could use some support. It’s good to hear your voice.”

  “We’re right down the hall. We see the cell door—what the—I…” Robert’s voice was drowned out in a hail of weapons fire that boomed right outside of our cell door.

  Screams of the dead and dying echoed into our room.

  “We have to go and help,” I said, marching toward the door. “They’re here.”

  “No,” Mark said, shaking his head emphatically. “We have our orders just like they do. We secure the prisoner.”

  I looked at Rose. All the blood drained from her face. Her hands shook as she gripped her weapon tighter.

  “Well, I guess that’s why I’ll never make a good soldier ,” I said, placing my hand on the door handle. “I’ve never been one to do what I’m told.”

  I was not sure if Mark was going to let me out or put the barrel of his weapon in my belly and order me to stay. We’d never find out.

  The screaming outside as well as the sound of weapons being discharged quieted. One second, the noise sounded as though people were yelling in a thunderstorm, the next, dead still.

  Something struck the steel door so hard, it made an indention on our side of the barrier. The indention looked like the crude shape of a fist.

  The blow came again. We all moved away from the door and pointed our weapons at the metal slab we foolishly thought would keep us safe.

  Three more hits came in rapid succession and I knew it wouldn’t take another.

  I could see Echo to my left. My peripheral vision told me he was on his feet yelling something at us. What, we couldn’t hear, but I could bet he was offering his help if we let him out.

  The door came down with another savage blow. I stood sideways with my weapon out in front of me. Aiming at this close a range wouldn’t be difficult.

  A figure dressed in black stood in the doorway. He or she—I couldn’t be sure yet—stood staring at us through the shadow of a deep black hood.

  “S-stop,” Mark said, finding his voice in the tense moment. “Surrender now or you’ll be shot.”

  The figure remained silent. Instead of answering, it stepped into the room. I could see it was a woman now. The poor lighting in our room made it impossible to make out distinct features of her face, but inside of the hood, I think she wore a mask.

  “The lighting’s bad. I’m not sure if your night vision will help, but you can try,” X reminded me in my head.

  I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner. I concentrated on it, then blinked. The room went from a dark glowing blue to a golden glow as my enhanced vision aided my sight. It still wasn’t enough to see the woman’s face in the deep hood, but it made the room brighter, and right now, I would take any advantage I could get.

  “Stop right now!” Rose shouted as the figure took another step into the room.

  “Screw this,” I said out loud, opening fire with my handgun. Red bolts of energy streaked across the room toward my target.

  She was fast, impossibly fast. The black clad figure sprinted toward us on the right side of the room. A shield opened up like a fan on her right forearm.

  Rose and Mark opened fire. I was sure I hit her a half dozen times, but the rounds landed on the shield she opened, not on her skull or torso where I aimed.

  Mark’s and Rose’s rounds went wild, some hitting the shield, most scorching the wall. The Cyber Hunter leaped off the ground, sprinting the last few strides on the wall itself.

  By the time I switched up my strategy to try and aim for the Cyber Hunter’s legs, it was too late. She was on top of us.

  Chapter Two

  A pair of foot-long blades sprouted from the back of her left arm, much like the shield had opened from her right.

  She impaled Rose with her first strike. At the same time, the cloaked woman swiped with her shield arm at my head, slicing sideways she used her shield as a secondary weapon instead of a defensive object.

  I ducked, rolling out of the way. I came up with my firearm ready. The assassin flung Rose’s body to the side, twirling toward Mark.

  I sent a burst of weapon fire at her. My rounds hit her this time. I knew at least one round struck something vital. The Cyber Hunter hesitated for a moment then continued the assault on Mark, taking his head from his shoulders with a single swipe of her circular shield.

  I emptied my clip at her, more out of anger at how easily she had just killed the two
Phoenix guards than anything else.

  What a day to leave your MK II, Daniel, I shouted at myself in my head. What a day.

  The handgun in my palm clicked dry. I stood up from my crouched position as the Cyber Hunter circled me. The deep hood she wore on her shoulders fell back from her face. Like I had expected, she wore a mask underneath.

  The mask was black like the rest of what she wore. As far as I could tell, there were no eyepieces for her to see through, neither were there a nose hole nor a mouth.

  The only thing that broke the plain blank darkness of her mask at all was a crimson red cross on the forehead, nearly too dark to tell what it was. The cross carried another smaller parallel mark right under the first.

  “You’re not like them,” a hard female voice said through the cloth over her face. She motioned down to the ground where Mark’s and Rose’s still bodies lay. “You’re not like them at all. You’re something different.”

  We circled each other slowly. I searched her body to see where the round that made it through had struck her. The black robe she wore made it impossible to see where she was vulnerable. What I did see was a tiny trickle of blood and something black coming off her left side. The black liquid looked like some kind of fluid you’d use in a machine.

  “I’m not the only one that’s different,” I said, motioning to the liquid sprinkled on the ground like a faint mist in the early morning. “What do you want?”