Galactic Alliance Read online




  Alex Guerra

  Copyrighted Material

  Galactic Alliance © 2018 by A.G. Publications

  Book design and layout copyright © 2018 by Alex Guerra

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Alex Guerra.

  1st Edition

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  Galactic Alliance

  Alex Guerra

  For my Uncle Alex,

  Thank you for keeping me sane and keeping my spirits up. I enjoy hanging out with you and laughing all the time.

  Character List

  Arthur Holland – Former Marine turned mechanic, he is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, taking two tours during Operation Enduring Freedom. He encounters the A.I., Dotty when a spaceship crashes near his home. He escapes the imperial agent pursuing the crashed ship before he is teleported to The Pillar, an ancient ship of Yau origin. Given an enhanced body, he and Dotty are now tied together until death. His mission is no longer to go home but to help the Galactic Conglomerate in the fight against the Darkkon Empire.

  Dotty – an old artificial intelligence originally tasked with ferrying his people from the now lost Yau homeworld during the end of the war with the Vael Empire around 300 years ago. Its mission ended in failure and it’s remains left within the wreckage. Conglomerate scientist Caulder Erso recovered the A.I. within the last year and the two worked together to find Yau technology to aid the conglomerate against the encroaching Vael Empire on its territories.

  Seya Aranis – She is the former princess of the Darkkon royal family. Finding sympathy for the Galactic Conglomerate, she renounced her title and escaped to the enemy territory. As a symbol for the conglomerate’s fight against the oppressive Vael’s land grab and the Darkkon’s military enforcers, she is both loved and hated throughout the galaxy. Stranded on the desert planet of Harkloon during a failed operation, she was found two years later by Arthur and brought back into the fight. She and Art have since become partners in this grand war.

  Kayton Kol – She is a Codari commander and leader of the remaining Vallus Troopers aboard The Pillar. Tough and strong-minded, the five-foot-tall commander is also the military leader and friend Art needs. With her planet destroyed by the Darkkon’s secret weapon, she is more loyal than ever and seeking revenge for the souls lost on Vallus.

  Jan Kol – Head Councilor of the Vallus Council, she was Kayton’s grandmother and only living relative. Though older, she was very wise and caring. She, like many others throughout the galaxy, was charged with keeping the conglomerate’s safety and interests at the forefront. When the planet killer destroyed Vallus, Councilor Jan Kol was still on the planet.

  Princess Ellia Aranis – Wife of the current Darkkon prince, Ibram Aranis. She was abducted by the conglomerate during the operation on Vallus. Though her loyalties still lie with the Darkkon, she recently realized that her husband is not the same man he used to be in recent history. An ultimate understanding and common ground were found when the details of her husband’s strange behavior came to light during her stay with the conglomerate. She wants the best for her people, but more than anything, she wants Ibram to return to normal and to be reunited with her family once again.

  Prince Ibram Aranis – Seya’s younger brother, he is the prince of the Darkkon royal family. He is no longer himself and is under the influence of Yau forces. They are using his status as Prince Regent to control the Darkkon military, lashing out at the weaker Galactic Conglomerate before turning their gaze toward the Vael Empire.

  Ellar Cartu – Medic of the Vallus troopers, he is often the voice of reason aboard The Pillar and one of Art’s confidants. He is very dedicated to his work, and the safety of the team always comes first.

  Habi – Almost a child, she is the youngest and most talented armor suit pilot in the Vallus region. She is quiet and shy, often letting her skills do most of the talking.

  Nadu – Second only to Habi, the tall Codari has proven his worth as an armor suit pilot many times. He is the oldest of the Vallus troopers.

  Del – Marksman for the Vallus Troopers. His prowess with his rifle is countered by his loudmouth and often clumsy demeanor.

  Bon – The explosives expert. His skills are often used as a team member aboard The Pillar. His cool-headedness and confidence are a constant reminder to stay calm in the face of battle. He suffered a severe injury to his leg during the exfiltration of Piki and Entosh on the planet Garos.

  Garvo – as an Okkar—a big, rocklike humanoid—he is the only non-Codari of the Vallus Troopers. With an appetite to match his size, he is the support weapons specialist. He, like many others, care for the rest of the team, putting himself in danger for others whenever needed.

  Ornay – A Vallus Trooper taken by the Darkkon during the operation to abduct Princess Ellia. Art’s team rescued him, along with Tal and Seya. His dedication to the team’s success is paramount.

  Tal – Pathfinder for the Vallus Troopers. She can find a way through or around almost any obstacle. Tal was taken by the Darkkon aboard one of their ships during the abduction of Princess Ellia on Vallus.

  Lena Marscos – She is Seya’s closest friend and was the first councilor of the Outer Circle on Fengar to accept the young, former princess into the arms of the conglomerate. She continues to be a strong ally for the crew of The Pillar.

  Vira Olmos – A technological genius without equal. The Tychon woman is frequently considered strange or eccentric with her loose way of speaking and mannerisms. Her work continues to be integral to the conglomerate, breathing life into ancient technologies and often providing tools and equipment for the conglomerate to prosper.

  Feylan – 300 years ago, during the final days of the battle with the Vael and Darkkon Empires, the crew of the Yau ship barely escaped with their lives as their ship was destroyed. The small crew landed on a desolate and remote world of Garos-227, where food and supplies were scarce. With the need to continue with the species existence, Feylan, one of the original crew members, was put into hibernation. When she wakes up, she will produce countless eggs and bring a new generation of Yau into the galaxy.

  Entosh, Piki – Taking the long road, Entosh was born from two of the original crew members, but due to the scarce supplies, they sacrificed their lives so that the younger generation might live. Entosh had his daughter Piki in a similar manner with his partner, who died in the underground tunnels of Garos during Piki’s infancy. Entosh has raised the girl himself, the two waiting with the sleeping Feylan for any hope of rescue for centuries.

  Damari Jutai – During Lena’s rehabilitation process, Councilor Jutai temporarily took over her role as The Pillar’s advisor to the Outer and Inner Circles. He understands the growing stressors of the galactic war, while staying kind and remaining a trusted liaison to Art.

  Admiral Rannek – Leader of the Fengar Navy, his power extends to many surrounding conglomerate regions. With the use of the wormhole manipulator, he works with Dotty and the team with tactics concerning fleet movements and war strategies. He is sympathetic and generous despite his outward appearance, w
orking cohesively with The Pillar’s crew.

  Admiral Aslen – Leader of the conglomerate’s Bekuni region fleet. Her strategies were paramount during the defense of the Lumarus against the Darkkon fleet. She and Rannek work closely with other regional admirals to keep the conglomerate safe.

  Kann Disma – A Fengar Commander, he and his troopers were assigned to Art’s team during the battle of Lumarus. He has proven his skill as a leader and currently resides on The Pillar after the recently successful operation with his Fengar Troopers.

  Omat – A puppet master reigning over Prince Ibram’s mind. He is charged with keeping a close eye on the prince, monitoring him constantly and ensuring the will of his people are enforced through the Darkkon’s military. He is hellbent on striking out at the galaxy using the Yau’s technology and doing what his ancestors did not have the mind to do centuries ago during the war with the Vael. Omat makes sure the grand scheme goes accordingly within the halls of the Darkkon royal palace and will see the Yau take their rightful place as the rulers of the galaxy.

  One

  The mechanical clanking accompanied every other step the trooper took. Del struggled with his lopsided gait across the training room, clutching Ellar’s hand shakily when easing his weight onto his injured leg. A white prosthetic now adorned his left leg, just below the knee. His face continually winced at the discomfort every other step brought him. The freshly healed wound was most likely tender, and the explosives expert would occasionally glance up at me as he continued the exercise.

  Leaning against the wall, I gave him a slight nod, encouraging the trooper to continue through the discomfort. Only the three of us were in the training room—the fewer people, the better, as Del and Ellar concentrated on the rehabilitation. The prosthetic leg was intriguing, and seeing it in action gave me a clear understanding of the advanced technology in comparison to whatever Earth could offer at this time. However, there was still no way to get around the discomfort one would imagine when putting a stump of a limb inside it initially.

  Muscles were apparent in the design of the prosthetic; the adduction and abduction of the foot, flexed the calf as much as the real deal. The range of motion around the ankle was just as good, if not a little superior, to that of a real leg. The determination on the Codari’s face, along with the approval of Ellar, made it clear that Del would be back to fighting soon enough, despite only working with the new addition for a day now.

  After I finished my term of enlistment, I occasionally visited old friends of mine from my combat unit. Some had suffered similar injuries, and it took much longer for them to bounce back from their injury. Confined to a prosthetic indefinitely, they learned to live with the device since prosthetic designs improved slowly over time. They were all waiting for the day when scientists learned how to grow the perfect replacement limbs. The combined effort from the near-magic properties of The Pillar’s healing tank, the medical apparatus Del was utilizing, and the prospect of regaining one’s limb was a surety afforded to someone in such a position. Ellar pointed out to me that the trooper did not suffer the commonly displayed body dysmorphia or signs of depression following the injury, considering the prospects of the renewed parts, as they were.

  This was not to say that such occurrences were absent in this part of the galaxy. Should someone not have access to proper medical facilities, or be stuck in a less-desirable system, they would be lucky to even get the prosthetic—if anything at all. No, Del was rather lucky to be where he was when he sustained such an injury.

  “Good job. Let’s take a little break for now,” said Ellar to Del. Sweat beaded all over the rehabbing trooper’s bald and bright yellow head.

  The man was about to protest, his mouth opening slightly, arming a word of rebuttal, but he caught my eyes and resigned to the medic’s orders with a tired, “Okay.”

  Both the troopers made a teepee over to the bench near me and sat down, with Del rubbing his thigh and knee after relieving the pressure from his left leg.

  “How long until he can walk and run on his own?” I asked, curiously.

  “A couple of days,” suggested Ellar, tapping away at his dataslate, no doubt updating his patient’s progress.

  “You feel Ellar’s guess to be in line with how you feel, Del?” I asked the man beside me.

  “Honestly, I can’t wait to be moving around on my own again,” replied Del. “It’s a good motivator to get through this, at least.”

  “Sounds good, but don’t push yourself too hard,” I warned. “It’s going to be up to Ellar if you are able to go out on the next mission if…or rather when it comes up.” Lately, there were greater odds that we would battle the Darkkon’s forces or even mysterious Yau ships.

  Del nodded slightly in approval, but unless an attack occurred within the next few days, I was sure to see the trooper alongside the team during our next engagement. “Keep up the good work,” I said, then turned my attention to Ellar. “Make sure to give me updates as you continue.”

  “Yes, Captain,” replied the medic.

  “Art’s fine, Ellar,” I reminded him.

  “Sorry, Cap—Art. Old habit,” he shrugged.

  I left the two to continue their exercises as I made my way down the hall and accessed my dataslate. Steady reports of the planet killer—as we classified the wrecked ship in the Kenadus system—came in from Vira and her team of technicians. Two days had passed since we saved the planet Lumarus from the monstrous weapon exterminating it outright, and its excavation was a slow-going process. The initial reports stated that there was no biological crew present aboard the ship, meaning the vessel was either controlled remotely or…

  My mind drifted to the possibilities of there being another Yau A.I. aboard like Dotty. We sent Vira and her team a scanning device aboard a skip drone, to help narrow down the possibility of such a thing being aboard the ship. However, the conglomerate fleet had done a number on the planet killer, turning its inner decks into solid pieces of congealed slag. Most of the time the technicians focused their efforts on cutting through the matter first, gaining access to the ship’s interior. Vira’s team estimated the hull to be nearly three feet thick from inside the destroyed area, creating a time-consuming obstacle for them.

  The technicians were wary of using small explosives to gain entry, afraid that the explosion could possibly damage any salvageable equipment and technology that the conglomerate could use. It was debatable if anything on the destroyed vessel would be of any use, but there was no reason not to explore it, or rush the process, while things were still calm. Vira assured me that they would be through in a few hours.

  Several more unread messages queued upon my dataslate, most of which Dotty already responded to on my behalf. If there was anything critical or needing our immediate attention, the circles and the fleet knew to call us. However, there was one from Councilor Jutai, concerning the growing communication between the conglomerate and the Vael Empire. Fortunately for us, the talks seemed to be going somewhere. The thought of asking for assistance from the Vael was a strange change of events, and I only hoped that the circles would know how to handle it properly.

  Putting away my dataslate, I walked to the common room near the galley, where some of the troopers were currently hanging out. Bon joked with his new friend Sartas, reminiscing about something that happened earlier in his career. With a hint of embarrassment, Garvo was flexing one of his large arms for a smaller trooper from Disma’s team, as her hands tried to measure around the rock-man’s bicep amusingly. Habi quietly spoke with one of the newer troopers while Nadu sat in one of the chairs, watching some program.

  Disma was speaking with Kayton when he saw me out of the corner of his eye and waved a hand at me.

  “Hey, Captain. Any significant updates?” he asked, crossing his arms.

  “Nothing as of yet,” I replied. “The team working on the planet killer is still making their way through. However, they think they are getting close to accessing some of the decks.”

&
nbsp; “Maybe next time we will hold back if we want to reclaim anything,” quipped Kayton, sarcastically.

  “Not going to happen,” I grinned at her. “Surprisingly enough, I haven’t heard anything from Prime Laipas. How about you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow to Disma.

  “Nothing on my end yet,” he replied. “He’s had his hands full with trying to maintain order with the Lumaran people along with the Outer Circle.

  “P.R. hell, just as I thought,” I said. “There was nothing we could do about it. If it’s any consolation, I didn’t feel good leaving those people behind, but until we can find a way to get an entire planet’s population quickly off-world, then there was no other choice. We couldn’t suffer high military casualties, especially not this early in the game.”

  “Hopefully never,” added Kayton.

  “It worked out, and I understand your position,” said Disma, flaring his orange nose. “I don’t think the Lumaran people would like that answer, though.”

  “It’s out of our hands and in the past. We will need to focus on ways to counter an attack like that again,” I said.

  “Speaking of which,” began Kayton. “Is it true that the circles are putting together a reclamation team for Yau tech?” she asked.

  “That’s what I’ve heard anyways,” I confirmed. “However, I’ve yet to learn any details about it.”

  “What about our own plans?” she asked.

  “That…I have still been thinking about,” I said. “Since The Pillar only has one power core left, and the Darkkon has hunted us down in the past, I don’t want them to catch us out in the open alone right now.” Admittedly, until we were able to find more power cores, I didn’t want to leave Fengar unless it was necessary. “It would be best to wait to see what the reclamation team finds before we risk getting ourselves into a scrap.”

  “Do you mind my team and I staying with you for the moment?” asked Disma.