AI Wars: Legacy Earth 4

Book 4: Legacy Earth

by Ross Buzzell

Genres: Alien Invasion; Space Exploration; Space Marines

Synopsis

Welcome to the Galaxy!

With war criminal Kolar’Tul in custody and sentenced humanity has been offered a seat at the galactic table. Traveling deeper into the galaxy than any human before the Manifest Destiny, along with its full crew are invited to the Alcazar, a massive space station named after the council it houses.

When brought before the council races a sin of mankind’s past is brought to life. Their creation of artificial intelligence. With Reeve forces pouring out of an unexplored part of space known as the Dark Pillar humanity is offered a choice. Help clean up their mess or be excluded from the protection the Alcazar offers.

Join Hrafn squad once more as they’re sent to stop the AI’s advances. Ride along as Lance struggles with his command being given to the Jarog Special Operations and Tactics operative Chadavia. They’ll attempt to drive the Reeve off worlds just developing into the Middle Ages. Fight on planets once thought to be dead but home to formerly extinct creatures and unravel the mystery just a little bit further why artificial intelligence has seemingly declared war on the galaxy.

Grab Legacy Earth 4, A.I. Wars and see who, if any can stand against artificial intelligence.

 

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Release date: April 28, 2022

Publisher: Archimedes Books

Print pages: 384

Sample

Chapter 1: Re-adjustment

Glass flew in all directions, accompanied by a splash of water. Lance stepped to the side
as quickly as he could to prevent the shards from bouncing back at him. Shooting a stern look at
Dexter, the captain raised an eyebrow.
“Get yourself together soldier!” he snapped as he pointed at the giant.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Dexter shouted.
“I’m not,” Lance replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m with Dex,” Mattias said as he stood up from the S4 officer’s club table. “I can’t
agree with this order.”
“I like it just as much as you guys do,” Lance said. “And even though it wasn’t us
directly, humans are still responsible for a diplomat’s death, and the killer is yet to be brought to
justice.”
“What, two hundred Galio died in that explosion TOPS?” Dexter asked as he stepped
toward Lance, knocking one of the tables to the side. “He’s responsible for over a hundred
thousand dead humans! He killed Michael!”
Anger flared within Lance. Gritting his teeth, he stepped toward Dexter, uncrossed his
arms, and formed a fist, clenching his fingers tightly.
“You don’t think I know that?” Lance snarled from behind gritted teeth. “You don’t think
I see his face every time I close my eyes, feel the blast wave of that torpedo as it tears through
my armor every time I dream? I’m well aware of what Kolar’s done, but humanity is a tiny fish
in an ocean full of sharks. One misstep, and they devour us whole!”
“Sorry, big guy, but Lance is right,” Justin chimed in from the back corner of the room.
“Kolar led a fraction of the Galio forces, and they had enough firepower to wipe out humanity,

or at least put us back to the Stone Age. It doesn’t matter if we don’t like having that homicidal
maniac strapped to our sides moving forward.”
Justin slid out of his seat and made his way across the empty room.
“What matters is we don’t tick off the sharks enough that they decide to turn their teeth
our way,” Justin added as he stopped several feet away from them.
“There are some things we have to put our pride aside for; if this makes peace with the
Galio, then it’s something we have to do, like it or not,” Lance said in a low, stern tone.
Dexter clenched his jaw as waves of anger twitched across his face. Taking a deep breath,
he shook his head and stormed out of the room, kicking a chair as he did. Mattias followed
closely behind, slamming his chair into the table as he slid it back in place.
“Thanks for backing me,” Lance said softly, his eyes locked on the door as it slid shut.
“For the record, I don’t like it either,” Justin confessed. “But orders are orders.”
“If it were up to me, I’d put a bullet in his head and be done with it too,” Lance muttered
as he grabbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. A dull throbbing formed just behind his

right eye. “But yes, orders are orders, and since I was unfortunate enough to be selected as Uk-
Ta-Ha, he’s stuck with me.”

“Have you told Stephanie yet?” Justin asked.
“Yep, she just grunted and shrugged while elbow deep in some new project she’s
working on,” Lance explained as he lowered his hand. “I half expect her to kick in my door and
start yelling at me when she’s no longer distracted and actually remembers what I told her.”
“What about the investigation on the Galio attack?” Justin probed as he itched under his
jaw.

Lance sighed. Shaking his head, he made his way to the door. It slid open. Justin
followed as he stepped out onto the Martian surface.
“I keep checking periodically, but all I get is the official line,” Lance explained as he
watched a transport truck pass. “It’s still an open investigation and they aren’t able to discuss any
details. It’s been years and they’ve gotten nowhere.”
Lance pointed toward the north side of the base and started walking. Justin followed
closely behind.
“I mean, we all know who’s responsible,” Justin said as he glanced at the hangars to their
right. “It’s the Veles.”
“Totally,” Lance agreed with a nod, saluting a CO that passed them. “And I’m positive
that Ingrid is the one who delivered at least half of the explosive.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Justin asked. “Just tell that to the authorities and I’m sure
they’ll be able to track her down.”
“There’s two, actually,” Lance said, holding up two fingers as they approached the dig
site’s elevators. “One, I’ve told them about Ingrid, and they can’t find her. And two, there’s no

patent, no design, no nothing in either military or private sector that I could find, that is a two-
part explosive that can be injected into different targets and have it go off when they get into

close enough proximity.”
“I can have Stephanie do some investigating if you’d like,” Justin said as he hit the down
button on the elevator. “I’m sure with her technical skills, she can get past any hidden firewalls
that might be stopping the actual investigation.”

“Aside from the fact that it’s highly illegal to do that, if she gets caught, she’ll be
dishonorably discharged,” Lance said with a shake of his head. “Any evidence obtained illegally
won’t stick. And we need to have it stick.”
The elevator dinged as the doors slid open. Lance stepped in; Justin remained outside.
“Why are you going down there?” Justin asked, a puzzled expression overtaking his
features.
“Val had something she wanted to give me but couldn’t because of Kolar’s interruption,”
Lance said as he held the door open. “You coming?”
“Nope,” Justin said, shaking his head. “I’m meant to be in the skies, not underground.
Have fun down there.”
“Always do,” Lance replied before letting the doors close and pressing the down button
inside.
The lift dropped rapidly. Lance grabbed the bars on the inside of the box to keep himself
steady. Any faster and he would’ve lost his footing. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach as he
looked around the elevator, his ears perked up, listening for any odd sounds. Nothing out of the
ordinary.
As the contraption slowed, Lance planted his feet. His stomach dropped, causing him to
let out a groan, straightening himself up. The doors dinged and opened at the foot of the large,
underground sphere.
A toolbox sat on the ground in front of Lance. Yellow caution holographic lights formed
a cross at mid-chest height and two men stood several feet back, startled at his arrival. One held a
data pad, the other a wrench.

“What are you doing?” the man with the data pad asked. “This thing has been having
calibration issues. Why would you ride it?”
“Yeah, the thing slammed the box right into the ground last time it was used,” the wrench
wielding worker added. “Luckily, it was only holding tools, but still!”
“Well then,” Lance said as he cracked a sarcastic smile and stepped over the toolbox and
through the caution lights. “Might I suggest one of you go up there and put an out of order sign
on the door so no one else uses it.”
Both workers looked at each other. Their features tightened as anger spread across their
faces.
“CARL!” they both screamed in unison.
As both men stormed off to look for their co-worker, the man with his data pad pressed a
few buttons. The elevator’s lights shut off and the doors slid shut about halfway.
“You all couldn’t have done that earlier?” Lance muttered to himself as he headed toward
the sphere.
The city had changed since he’d been here last. They’d been busy. Rock and dust were
cleared away from the ruins, leaving well-preserved remains of the advanced civilization that
once called this planet home. Metal buildings sported hardly any rust. The streets were paved
with what looked like asphalt but felt like metal underfoot.
“Prepare for decontamination,” a robotic voice rang out as Lance approached the sphere’s
entrance.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he walked under a series of metal frames.
They let out a hiss as the upgraded decontamination suite sent puffs of sterilizing clouds over
him and his armor.

The buzz of automatic doors opening and then closing behind him accompanied with the
lack of blasted air in his face caused Lance to open his eyes once more. Nothing had changed
inside since the last time he was here. Still a sterile room of white walls and floors.
Lance walked past several people working in clean suits, using scanners to inspect the
walls. He noticed they tossed him a dirty look or two, likely due to him wearing battle armor
instead of a sterile suit.
The Space Aged Rosetta Stone, or SARS for short, was still being inspected by a half
dozen people all the way up its height. One of them looked down from their hovering platform
and pointed toward the back of the room.
“She’s in the next chamber!” the scientist shouted down.
Lance gave the woman a thumbs-up before following where she’d pointed. Near the back
of the room, he came across another hallway. Delving deeper into the sphere than he’d been
before, the narrow corridor spat him out in a large room that was lined with shelves from floor to
ceiling.
Shelves were also situated in rows around the room. Dozens of men and women
inspected what looked like a digital library. Several hundred feet away on the part of the back
wall, Lance could see what looked like workbenches.
Lance jogged through the eerily silent room. His boot-falls echoed with each step. He felt
the glare of dozens of eyes turn his direction as if he were in a library and just started screaming.
As he reached the back wall, he slowed to a stop.
“It’s actually really fascinating!” Stephanie exclaimed from one of the workbenches.
“Everything here was designed to be simple, elegant even.”

“Almost like it was meant to be found by a technologically inferior race,” Valdivia added
from behind her sterile suit. “I’ve been saying that this whole time!”
“Well, it should work now that we’ve calibrated the magnetic field generator,” Stephanie
said as she looked up and waved at Lance. “But it won’t be able to be used for extended periods
of time. There’s just not enough juice to sustain it.”
“I don’t think it’s meant to be used for a long time,” Val replied. “But do you think he’ll
like it?”
“Ask him,” Stephanie said as she stepped back from the bench. “Sir.”
“You going to throw a cup at me too?” Lance asked as he raised an eyebrow.
“No, sir,” Stephanie replied. “I’ve thought about it. I don’t like it, but I understand it. So
long as he stays in cuffs at all times.”
“Any time he’s not in a cell,” Lance said with a nod.
“Good, now I need to get these decrypted blueprints to our R&D division. We can
increase polarization of our ships' hulls for better armoring and there are even a few more
interesting ship designs that may prove useful,” Stephanie said while holding up a mobile
databank. “The knowledge in this place is an engineer’s dream!”
“Glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Lance mused as Stephanie headed out of the library and
he approached Valdivia.
“I have a question for you,” Valdivia said as she fiddled with an odd metallic band that
sported several servos and attachments that looked like it would clip perfectly into a multi-tool.
“I thought the translators we brought were coded for all human language. I think mine is
malfunctioning because I’m having trouble understanding several people.”

“I’m sure Stephanie could run a diagnostic for you without any problems,” Lance said as
he glanced back to his new teammate while she walked away.
“She did. There wasn’t anything wrong with it,” Valdivia replied before pointing at two
men kneeling at a nearby shelf with scanners.
“Ia on’tda owkna,” one said with a shrug. “Esha’s indofka otha.”
“Ehh, orema uteca,” the other replied. “An’tca etga a oodga ookla ata erha acefa.”
“Owha area ouya alkingta abouta?” Lance asked as he crossed his arms and made his
way over to them.
“Oh, no one, sir!” the first said as both men shot to their feet and saluted him.
“I didn’t think so,” Lance replied as he cocked an eyebrow before nodding to the side.
“Go exchange jobs with someone in a different part of this structure.”
“Yes, sir,” the second replied before they both quickly marched away.
“You know that language?” Valdivia asked as she picked up the device and stepped
towards him.
“It’s pig latin,” Lance mused, facing the Jarog. “Your translator’s not broken; it’s just not
uploaded with a made-up language.”
“If it’s made up, then how do so many people know it?” Val asked, tilting her head to one
side in curiosity, her visor obstructing her features from the soldier.
“In the English language, if a word starts with a consonant, you move the consonant to
the end of the word and add an A at the end,” Lance explained. “If it starts with a vowel, so A, E,
I, O, U and Y, then you keep the vowel at the beginning but still add the A at the end. I’d bet just
about anything that the reason your translator isn’t working on it is because the satellite with the

information about Earth that the Galio discovered wasn’t loaded with the language because it
was made up and the only people who spoke it, spoke it for childish fun.”
“Hmm, who would’ve thought such a childish thing could bypass such an advancement
in communication,” Valdivia mused before extending her project to him. “I heard you broke your
multi-tool blade on Carpathia. Since I doubt you’ve had time to get it replaced, I’ve been
working with Cadence and Stephanie to make you this. It’s based off the blueprints we’ve found
in here and Steph helped me change the design enough to fit in your multi-tool.”
Lance extended his arm. Valdivia slid the device onto his forearm. Its servo sat near his
wrist with a thin piece of metal that looked like it’d flip outward once activated. His multi-tool
let out a hum for several seconds as four little lights filled up on the framed addition to his suit.
“Go ahead,” Valdivia said as she stepped away and laced her hands behind her back.
“Give it a try.”
“And what is this exactly?” Lance asked as he looked at Val with curiosity in his voice.
“I call it the Standard Tactical Arm-mounted Bayonet for Solitary Transitioning of
Aggressive Bystanders,” Valdivia replied.
“That’s a terrible name.” Lance chuckled as he continued to inspect the device. “And it
doesn’t tell me what it is at all.”
“Yes, it does,” Valdivia argued as she pointed to it. “It’s the STABSTAB.”
Her voice brimmed with pride. Even though he couldn’t see her face, he could hear her
smile. With a sigh to stifle his laughter, Lance planted his feet and took a deep breath as he
prepared to test out his new suit addition. ...