Original Work Vendetta: Final Conflict

Chapter Forty-Three



Luna

5th October 2435



“They killed the Admiral?”



Paul sat in the fleet carrier Magnificent’s CIC, listening to the exchange of radio messages between Home Fleet’s starships and the orbital defences. Word of Grand Admiral Ivanovo’s death had reached the fleet only thirty minutes ago and the situation was already chaotic. Ivanovo had been well-liked by his officers and men – and everyone believed the speculation that the Security Council had ordered him killed. The suggestion that it might have been suicide, coming from an obviously ill-informed speaker, had only strengthened that conviction – and convinced the Navy that the Security Council was mocking them. It was easy to see that the Navy was on the verge of mutiny.



Grand Admiral Ivanovo would not have approved. But the Grand Admiral was dead and the Navy was coming apart at the seams. The pounding the Trolls had handed out, along with the belief – rightly or wrongly – that they were no longer trusted by their political superiors, would have been bad enough. But the suggestion that the Security Council had ordered the Admiral’s death was enough to convince the Navy to question its own beliefs and honour. What was the point, some were asking, of serving politicians who had no honour themselves, who had turned the Grand Admiral into a scapegoat for their own failures? It wasn't a fair assessment – Paul had fought the Trolls long enough to know that no one could have done better – but logic and reason and fairness were in short supply. The Navy was on the verge of lashing out at the politicians...and that would be destroy whatever remained of the Navy’s honour. It might lead to civil war...and with the Trolls breathing down their necks, civil war would be utterly disastrous.



It was the old problem of national disunity returning to haunt them. All UNNS officers took an oath to be citizens of the United Nations, serving the human race, at least for the duration of their enlistment. They were the only people who separated themselves from their homeworlds; no one else, particularly not the politicians who had been elected to the General Assembly, had taken such an extreme step. But now the UN was fragmenting, the politicians were trying to scratch up advantages for themselves, crippling the Navy that served to defend the human race. The politicians had ordered worlds abandoned and entire populations left behind to face the Trolls. Right now, the Navy was simmering with rage, a rage that could explode out into mutiny and civil war. A number of starships had already, it seemed, gone to the dark side. It wouldn't be long until the explosion shattered the last remnants of representative government and democracy.



Paul looked into his own soul and shivered at what he found there. It was tempting to turn the Navy’s firepower on the politicians, to send in the Marines to remove the politicians from power and take over the government...but he knew it would be disastrous. They couldn't force Earth’s industry to move any faster, or produce more weapons...or even take back the millions of workers who had become unemployed as the economy ground to a halt. Military rule would be nothing, apart from a short interlude before the Trolls arrived...maybe that, too, was fuelling the mutinous rage. The Navy was gripped with hopelessness, a corrosive feeling that was tearing away at its integrity and its faith in itself. Paul knew that they believed that the Trolls were just gathering their forces before advancing on Earth, and the remains of the UNNS. They’d fight, of course, and they would hurt the Trolls, but it wouldn't be enough.



“Admiral,” the tactical officer said, sharply. “I’m picking up a report of a firefight breaking out in the Luna HQ. Admiral Lyudmila is out of contact. Myrmidon and Pluto are moving out of position without orders.”



And so it begins, Paul thought, grimly. The Navy was moving to challenge the politicians it blamed for the endless series of disasters. And the politicians would try to take control and in doing so, cause a series of mutinies that would rip apart whatever was left of the Navy. The Trolls might simply be able to walk in and take over after Earth’s defences tore themselves apart.



“Open a channel,” he ordered. “I want everyone to hear me.”



The communications officer blinked. “Everyone?”



“Everyone,” Paul confirmed. “Don’t bother to encrypt the signal. I want the whole system to hear me.”



There was a pause. “Channel open, Admiral,” the communications officer said. “you may speak when ready.”



Paul nodded, composing himself. In truth, he wasn't quite sure what to say, but there was no time to write a speech. He would just have to hope that his words, spoken from the heart, would be enough to head off a crisis. And if they weren't...chances were that he would end up dead, or in command of a government established by force. Neither option was very palatable.



“When we all enlisted in the Navy,” he said, “we took an oath to protect and defend the civilian population of the United Nations. We all, from the highest-ranking Admiral to the lowest enlisted crewman, took the same oath. We cut ourselves away from our homeworlds to stand together in the common defence of the human race. Right now, we are facing the greatest – the gravest – challenge of our history. Does that make our oath invalid?



“No! We are still charged with fighting in defence of the human race. Yes, some of our political leaders have make mistakes, some very stupid mistakes. But that doesn't give us the right to threaten them, to plot their removal, or even to cross the line into outright mutiny. We do not know who murdered Admiral Ivanovo; when we find out, we will see justice brought to them through the law, not through the courts.



“These are grave times. We are facing the direst threat humanity has ever encountered from without, while our political systems crumble from within. If the only thing left to us is our honour, what does it do to us if we lash out now at our own political system? This is not the time to point fingers, or to fight each other; this is the time to prepare our defences to face the Trolls when they return to this system. And they will return to this system. Do you really want to give them the chance to walk in unopposed?”



He took a breath. Speeches were definitely not his forte. “We will see to it that the killers of Admiral Ivanovo face justice,” he said, “and we will do our duty and stand together in the defence of humanity. Many of us have contemplated mutiny, but this is not the time to embrace disunity. Let the police do their jobs, track down the killers and arrest them. Our job is to defend the human race and that is what we are going to do.”



There was a long chilling pause. “Return to your stations and prepare to continue exercising and drilling your ships,” he concluded. “We do not know how much time we have before the Trolls invade our system, but when they come we must be ready to meet them.”

***​

“Admiral Lyudmila has resigned, Admiral,” the Security Council representative said. He didn't sound happy, merely relieved. Perhaps the politicians had suddenly become aware of just how close they had been flying to the supernova. “The Security Council has nominated you to succeed her as Grand Admiral.”



Paul nodded. Never, in all of his worst nightmares, had he imagined negotiating with his political superiors. One way or another, the United Nations as they had known it was not going to survive this war. The Trolls would destroy it – and even if they didn't destroy it, a line had been crossed. Naval personnel now knew that they had the power to threaten their own governments; it would be a great deal easier for them to cross that line the second time, or the third.



“Thank you,” he said, shortly. “I am not a politician, so I’ll be blunt. We came very close to the end of everything today and I don’t want to see it happen again.”



“Of course, Admiral,” the representative said. “The Security Council will be happy to meet your wishes on this issue.”



Paul’s eyes narrowed. That didn't ring true. “Good,” he said, concealing his doubts. “The first thing I need is for the remaining political commissioners to be removed from their ships. They’re nothing more than a distraction to my officers and men.”



“If that is what you wish, it will be done,” the representative said. “However, the Security Council does feel that the fleet needs to be more responsible to its political superiors.”



“Which isn't going to happen as long as the Security Council makes its lack of faith in them obvious,” Paul snapped. “Second, you can issue general orders, but specific military commands and operational details remain with the Naval officers who are trained to issue such orders. Third, perhaps most importantly, those responsible for the death of Admiral Ivanovo are to be found and punished.”



“The Security Council did not order his death, Admiral,” the representative said. “I know that the Navy believes that we did, but we did not send an assassin to murder him.”



Paul considered it for a long moment. Who else would have a motive? The Trolls, of course, but the Trolls had never shown any interest in hiring humans – and besides, why assassinate Admiral Ivanovo after he had been removed from office? It was easy to believe that the Security Council had ordered his death, if only because there were no other suspects. There was no obvious motive for any of the lunar crime cartels to want the Admiral dead, unless they had wanted revenge for the Admiral’s crackdown on New Vegas, Lunar Vegas as the spacers used to call it. But if they had been to blame, why had they not struck earlier? Did they really feel that his death would go unnoticed after his resignation?



“We need a full investigation carried out,” Paul said. “I’m assigning a Marine Law Enforcement Team to handle the grunt work. I expect that you’ll smooth their path with the Lunar Police; we don't have time for a jurisdictional scrabble.”



“I’ll see to that,” the representative said. “Admiral, for what it’s worth, the Security Council regrets having let matters get so far out of hand.”



“So do I,” Paul said. “But regrets never made any difference, did they?”



He clicked the channel closed and turned back to the latest report. The Trolls had been probing the solar system, watching the human race from a distance. They’d probably scattered plenty of stealthed platforms around the planet, monitoring the Navy while secure in the knowledge that detection would be almost impossible. The only good news was that they didn't monitor human politics, or they would have attacked while the Navy was on the verge of fighting a civil war or mounting a coup.



Shaking his head, he looked down at the fleet list. Over ten thousand starships, a solid core of them United Nations warships and the remainder modified freighters, passenger liners and scout ships. A formidable force, the largest fleet humanity had ever scraped up, yet was it enough to deter the Trolls? And there were the starfighters, the picket ships and the gunboats...and the countless shuttles that had been pressed into service. Even manoeuvring such a disparate fleet would be almost impossible.



A handful of self-defence forces had even pledged starships for the defence of Earth, almost as if they expected that this would be mankind’s last stand. Paul couldn't fault them for being reluctant to send more ships, not when their own people were under threat. But the Trolls were closing in on Earth and the UNNS was preparing to fight its final battle. God alone knew what would happen if the Trolls won



But that hardly mattered. All that mattered was that the twilight of the human race was at hand.

***​

“Jump completed, Captain,” Lieutenant Gayle Anderson reported. “The improved navigational system appears to have worked perfectly.”



Janine nodded, grimly. Phoenix had been outfitted with an experimental navigational system, one that Professor Lombardi claimed to have created after studying the remains of the Troll computer network from the captured alien ship. Human starships always had a margin of error in their jumps, even when jumping into empty space, but the Trolls seemed to be much more precise. One more technology they possessed that was more advanced than humanity’s...but not for long. Lombardi was confident that the next generation of human starships would be far more powerful than Phoenix, able to go toe-to-toe with a Troll Alpha.



Assuming the human race survives that long, Janine thought, coldly. Admiral Ivanovo’s last orders had been clear. If – when – the Trolls attacked Earth, Phoenix was not to take part in the battle. Instead, she was to monitor what happened from under cloak and then start jumping out towards Iceberg, meeting up with the other ships and personnel from Area 51. Once there, they could start building a new human fleet incorporating all the lessons the human race had learned from the Trolls. And then they would see which race would become the masters of the universe.



“Transmit our IFF signal to Luna Base,” she ordered. Phoenix had jumped into the system nearly a light-minute from the base, but they would have been detected – and perhaps mistaken for a Troll probe. One thing Lombardi hadn't managed to do was duplicate the Troll FTL communications system, the miniaturised StarCom units that allowed them a flexibility that the human race simply couldn't match. He believed that it would be possible, sooner or later, but for the moment more research was required. “And then hold us in position.”



Admiral Ivanovo had told them that Phoenix was the human race’s last hope. Janine wasn't so sure if they should be showing the starship to politicians and the media, but the Admiral had claimed that displaying what they had achieved would be enough to convince them that the human race could fight on. Janine wasn't so sure about that either; she’d successfully captured a Troll ship, allowing the human race a chance to reverse-engineer its technology, only to watch helplessly as the Trolls pushed them back against the wall. Maybe they would be better served by slipping into the darkness and rebuilding in secrecy, or sharing what they’d discovered with the other races. No one had any doubt that the human race was only the first target for the Trolls – and humanity had been the most advanced race in the known universe until the Trolls arrived. What would happen when the Sutra and the Polis were targeted for conquest or elimination too?



She looked over at Sally’s image on her console – her XO was in the battlecruiser’s CIC, which could double as a secondary bridge if necessary – and frowned. The RockRats were going into hiding, she’d been told, protecting as much of the human race as they could from discovery. But hiding alone wouldn't be good enough, Janine knew; they had to find a way to fight back. Area 51’s move to Iceberg might be the human race’s last best hope for freedom.



“I’m picking up a signal from System Command,” McLaughlin said. “Captain, Admiral Ivanovo is dead.”



The news hit Janine like a punch to the belly. She’d barely known the Admiral, but she had respected him – and his willingness to allow subordinates to exercise their own initiative.



“I see,” she said. “What happened?”



“There’s a long download for your eyes only,” McLaughlin said. “And then we’re ordered to hold position and wait for the first shipload of tourists.”



Janine nodded. “You have the bridge,” she said, as she stood up. She would have to decrypt the rest of the message in her stateroom. “Inform me when the first tourists arrive in the shuttlebay.”



The message took only a few minutes to deliver, but its contents were shattering. Admiral Ivanovo dead, perhaps by orders of the Security Council; the Navy on the verge of outright mutiny...and the Trolls probing the solar system. Janine stared down at the datapad for a long moment, unsure of what to do. Maybe the smartest thing to do would be to take Phoenix out of the system at once and head directly for Iceberg. They could make their preparations there to wage war on the Trolls, without the Trolls having any idea what was coming their way.



But that would be an act of mutiny in its own right, no matter how justified.



Shaking her head, she started to read through the other tactical updates from Earth’s defence network. Maybe she could be nothing more than a helpless observer, but she could make sure that she knew who was standing on the defence line when the Trolls arrived. She might be the only one to remember their names when the Trolls destroyed Earth – and shattered all that remained of the United Nations.

 

Chapter Forty-Four



Sol System

10th October 2435



“Do you really believe that this ship can defeat the Trolls?”



Janine considered her answer carefully. Every politician who had visited Phoenix in her holding orbit had asked the same question, some rather sarcastically. They’d given up hope in the wake of the loss of 6th Fleet and the Navy’s near-mutiny; others, she’d heard, had managed to get flights out of the system, searching for a safety that might prove elusive. At least Philip Larson didn't seem to be that bad. He’d stayed at his post where others had deserted the people who had elected them into office.



“I believe that this ship will serve as the prototype for a new class of starships that can face the Alphas on equal terms,” she said, finally. Phoenix was a hybrid between human and Troll technology, a combination that was far stronger than the sum of its parts. But the next generation of starships would take full advantage of the potentials of Troll technology and carry weapons that out-ranged the Troll death rays. “The war is far from lost.”



“I hope you’re right,” Larson said. He didn't sound convinced, but then the human race had its back pressed firmly to the wall. Everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before the Trolls descended on Earth and humanity made its last stand. “How long until we produce new starships with this technology?”



“I’m afraid I can’t discuss that,” Janine said. The answer would only have upset him. If the Iceberg facilities were all that were left to the human race, it could be years before the human race had a new fleet of ultra-powerful starships. God alone knew how advanced the Trolls would be by then. “The answer to that question is classified.”



Larson looked as if he was about to push the question, just before the alarms started howling. “What’s that?”



Janine cursed. “The Trolls have arrived,” she said, flatly. The alarm could only mean that, she knew. “I think you’d better come with me to CIC.”



She led the way through the corridors up to the bridge, catching sight of the main display as soon as she entered. Earth was surrounded by red icons, pushing down into low orbit around the planet. They’d jumped right into high orbit, Janine realised in shock, emerging at knife-range of Home Fleet. Their death rays would cut into the fleet before the human ships could recover from their shock and start firing back. Hundreds of green icons were flickering out of existence, faster than her eye could follow them. Far too many of Earth’s defenders were really nothing more than converted civilian ships.



“Do something,” Larson urged. “Take this ship to Earth and fight!”



Janine wanted to join the fight, even though Phoenix wasn't powerful enough to tip the balance in Earth’s favour. But she had her orders. If Earth fell, Phoenix was to be the core of a new resistance against the Trolls, using Area 51’s technology to build up a new fleet and eventually throw the Trolls out of human space. All she could do now was watch helplessly and record what happened as Home Fleet fought its final battle.



“We can't,” she said, quietly. “I guess you’re stuck with us for the duration, Mr. Larson.”

***​

“Launch all fighters,” the CAG was bellowing. Paul grabbed at his command chair as Magnificent shuddered under the weight of a direct hit. The Trolls had achieved total surprise; they’d jumped right into point-blank range and opened fire. No human fleet would have dared such a stunt, but then no human FTL drive was so accurate. “Admiral...”



“Move the cruisers up to cover us,” Paul ordered, grimly. Their only advantage was the simple fact that the Trolls were well within range of the ship-mounted bomb-pumped lasers. They might just managed to survive long enough to push the Trolls away from Earth. “And then signal the fleet; prepare to jump out of Earth orbit.”



The tactical officer looked surprised. “Admiral?”



“We need fighting room,” Paul snapped. They’d waited in orbit because they’d been worried about what the Troll flux gun would do to their position in interplanetary space. Now, the Trolls had turned that against them. “And we need time to reorganise.”



“Potomac has taken heavy damage,” another officer reported. “She’s losing air and...”



A green icon vanished from the display. “She’s gone, Admiral,” he added. Paul grimaced. The Trolls were pressing their offensive against the fleet carriers, largely ignoring the cruisers even though they were carrying weapons that could hurt the Trolls. But that made sense; take out the carriers and Home Fleet would be effectively crippled. “Mountbatten is under heavy attack.”



“Order the 56th Cruiser Squadron to cover her,” Paul ordered, just as a new shower of red icons sprung into life. Enemy gunboats had jumped into the inner system, roaring down on Earth’s defences. The massive orbital fortresses that had protected Earth against all threats for centuries were under heavy attack. One by one, they blinked out of existence as the Trolls drove their death rays deep into their superstructure. “Swing around the fighters and order them to cover the fortresses.”



He pulled back, trying to take in the entire scene. The Trolls had gambled and it had paid off for them, even though at least a hundred Troll starships had been vaporised by the cruisers or the automated bomb-pumped mines they’d scattered through low orbit. In return, they had shattered Home Fleet’s defensive formation and destroyed nearly eight carriers, with seven more badly damaged and on the verge of total destruction. Home Fleet needed time to reorganised its scattered squadrons and time was exactly what the Trolls were not going to give his people. Humanity’s last major battle was also going to be one of its shortest.



A tear pricked at his eye as he saw his people fighting magnificently to the last. Civilian craft, armed with makeshift weapons mounted on their hulls, threw themselves at the Trolls, sometimes ramming their ships directly into the Troll starships. But countless more were burned out of space before they could get into effective attack range, or obliterated in passing as the gunboats roared through their formations and threw themselves on the carriers. Magnificent shuddered again as her 5th launch tube was completely destroyed by a gunboat slamming into its flight deck, triggering off a series of explosions that blew a shower of debris out into space. The fight had barely lasted five minutes and yet it was already becoming hopeless.



“A new wave of incoming gunboats,” one of the officers snapped. More red icons had materialised out of nowhere, racing down towards Magnificent and her fellow carriers. “Point defence on alert; standing by to intercept...”



“Bring up the flux drive,” Paul ordered, sharply. Home Fleet had lost the battle; now, all that mattered was finding a safe place to repair the fleet and attempt to liberate Earth. “Order all starships to jump out on my command...”



“We can’t,” the engineering officer snapped. “They’re using focused gravity pulses to neutralise our flux drives!”



Paul stared in horror as the gunboats fell on the formation. The point defence and the CSP claimed a handful of them, but the remainder were just fast enough to evade everything they could throw at them. They fell on the carriers like wolves on sheep, firing their death rays directly into Magnificent’s superstructure. Paul opened his mouth as explosions tore his ship apart, ordering the crew to run to the lifepods and abandon ship, but it was already too late. There was a moment of intense heat and pain, and then nothing.

***​

Darkness had fallen over Washington City, but the night skies were illuminated by an endless series of explosions up in orbit. Hind watched helplessly as Home Fleet fought its final battle, praying desperately that a miracle would occur and the human race would survive the war. But as more and more debris fell out of orbit into Earth’s atmosphere, it grew increasingly less likely that Earth would survive. Some of the chunks of debris were large enough to reach the planet’s surface and cause vast damage, even if they landed in the middle of a desert. And if they landed in the ocean...



She tapped the radio, trying to pick up a news channel, but it kept blurring into static. There was no way to tell if the Trolls were jamming radio channels or if the local authorities were keeping the radios off in the hopes that it would prevent panic; Hind prayed it was the former, but suspected that it was the latter. The local government had been trying hard to keep the population ignorant, ever since the loss of 6th Fleet. It hadn't really worked; the planetary datanet was designed to simply reroute around censorship.



A sonic boom echoed through the sky as a piece of debris tumbled to Earth somewhere to the east, into the Atlantic Ocean. Down below, Hind could hear panic spreading through the streets as people looked up and saw the holocaust taking place over their heads. Another chunk of debris fell into the atmosphere, only to break up into smaller pieces of debris that burned up, leaving fiery trails glowing in the sky. The noise of panic was followed by the noise of sirens as Washington’s police department attempted to respond to the growing riot, too late to prevent it from spreading across the city. Hind knew, from a handful of interviews that she hadn't been able to use as sources, that half of the police force had deserted and gone to live in the countryside with their families, fearing what would happen when the Trolls reached Earth. She could hardly blame them, even though their desertion would harm the cities they had sworn to defend. No one expected the Trolls to show mercy.



There was a flash to the east, followed by a faint sense of movement in the darkness. Hind stared, unable to understand what she was seeing until she saw the lights on a boat being lifted up into the air. There was a giant tidal wave racing towards the city, moving far too fast for her – or anyone else – to hope to escape. She watched numbly as the wall of water crashed over the land and roared through the city, finally slamming into the skyscraper that she was using as a vantage point. The building shook violently and started to collapse, sending her falling hundreds of metres down to her death.

***​

“Captain, I just picked up an all-channels broadcast from the General Assembly,” McLaughlin reported. “They’re offering the Trolls unconditional surrender.”



Janine nodded, unsurprised. Home Fleet had been shattered, effectively destroyed, in less than ten minutes of savage fighting. The Trolls had torn through Earth’s defences and were descending on the planet, ready to accept surrender – or bombard Earth into a land of radioactive debris. There was no longer any choice for the General Assembly, but to surrender – and pray that the Trolls were feeling merciful. Nothing Janine had seen about them, ever since the first battle at New Marseilles, had convinced her that they were inclined to show mercy to anyone.



“You have to surrender,” Larson said. “Captain...”



Janine ignored him. “Jump us out,” she ordered, flatly. They’d have to find out what had happened to Earth – and the rest of the heavily populated system – later. “Take us to the RV point.”



Phoenix hummed, and then jumped through flux space, leaving the Trolls in possession of Earth. The bridge fell silent as the crew came to terms with what they had seen, the complete destruction of a once-powerful human fleet and the surrender of humanity’s homeworld. Beside her, Larson was spluttering in shock, unable to understand what had happened, or why she had disobeyed his orders. But Janine knew that there had been no choice. Humanity had fought bravely and lost. All that mattered now was building up a new fleet and preparing to return and evict the Trolls from humanity’s homeworld.



Seven months! That was all it had taken for the Trolls to defeat the most powerful military force known to exist. Seven months of hard fighting, brief fleeting victories and shattering defeats. Janine had been there when the Trolls had announced their existence and she'd watched helplessly as they’d sliced a UN squadron into flaming debris. Now she’d borne witness to the destruction of the last major fleet in human space and the fall of Earth, humanity’s homeworld. Even those from planets who resented Earth or loudly declared their independence from the UN would be shocked when they heard the news. Earth had fallen, and with it the United Nations. The remaining worlds wouldn't pose much of a threat to the Trolls.



Seven months...



On impulse, she keyed her console, broadcasting her voice throughout the entire ship. “You’ve all heard the news,” she said. Her voice sounded harsh, even in her own ears. “Earth has fallen and Home Fleet has been destroyed. The United Nations has offered its surrender. It won’t be long before the Trolls occupy our remaining colony worlds and start brushing up against space controlled by the Polis or the Sutra. Humanity faces its darkest hour. The fight seems hopeless.



“But we are still alive, and we still have access to the technology that produced this ship, the technology that may one day prove a match for the Trolls. If we surrender, if we present this ship to the enemies of Earth, humanity’s last hope will be lost. The best-case outcome for humanity will be eternal servitude. After what they did to New Brisbane, the worst-case outcome is the complete extermination of the human race.



“I say to you that the war is not over,” she snapped. “We have the ship, we have the technology, we have the shipyards that can produce more starships. Instead of surrendering, we will slip into the shadows and build up a military force that will be more than a match for the Trolls. And we will use that force to overcome their starships, liberate Earth and drive them back to wherever the hell they came from! We will see to it that they pay in blood for every slaughtered human ever since they started this war!



Her voice softened, slightly. “I won’t lie to you,” she added. “It won’t be easy. There will be times when the fight feels hopeless, when it seems that all we can do is fall to the ground and die, but I promise you that we will never surrender. We will live on, we will survive, and one day we will return to crush the Trolls like bugs! The human race survives in us.”



She clicked off the communicator and looked over at McLaughlin. “Set course for the StarCom relay at Gamma-Alpha,” she ordered. The fleets might have been shattered, but there would be some surviving starships. “We have some orders to send.”



Larson stared over at her. “But...”



“We may be the last free humans in the galaxy, soon enough,” Janine said. The faces of everyone she'd known in the Academy, mostly killed by the Trolls, drifted across the surface of her mind. “I will not betray the human race by surrendering, not now. We’re all that remains of the Navy, the one last chance for freedom. I will not surrender!”

End of Act One​

​

The Story Will Continue In:​

​

Vendetta: Flag in Exile​

 

To be honest, I’m not entirely happy with the way this one turned out.

Basically, the original idea was for the story to start where Final Conflict ended; Janine is on her own, with the only starship humanity has produced that might be a match for the Trolls, fighting to build up a resistance movement. But I needed to outline how she was involved in the war itself, but that part of the story couldn't be completely focused on her. Therefore I ended up with a number of characters whose only real role was to fight and die against the Trolls.

I’m not sure what to do with it. Part of my suggests writing the second part of the story as a stand-alone, with flashbacks to this story, but I’m not sure how the sequel to THAT story could fit in. Any thoughts?

Chris

 

I enjoyed the journey, you've certainly set the scene for a very motivated fight back. Be interesting to see what if anything the Trolls do with the Polis or the Sultra.
I'm not sure how overcome your obstacle but if I think f something I'll be sure to let you know. That said however I will gladly read it however you chose to go

 

So I’m currently thinking about what to write next.



Vendetta didn't work out as well as I hoped, so I’m going to put it on the backburner for now and leave it for a month. That leaves:



Quagmire is the sequel to On The Imperium’s Secret Service. A strategically important planet is on the verge of outright rebellion, thanks to the way the Imperium treats anyone not lucky enough to be born a noble. One unlucky officer with aristocratic connections is sent in to clean up the mess, not an easy task when the planet is overpopulated and every alien (and most of the humans) hates the bosses.



The Great Interstellar War is the story of the first large-scale interstellar war, set in the year 3000. Basically, WW1 in space; thousands of starships clashing with each other for ultimate power over the known universe. I intend it to be a story on the same scale as the Night’s Dawn books.



The Tree of Liberty is set on a much smaller scale. Humanity has settled a handful of planets near Earth, but Earth’s government has become corrupt and tyrannical. The colonies must fight to save themselves when Earth’s government moves to crush their first steps towards independence.



The Mirrored Image is fantasy, sort of. The main character is a Princess whose father was overthrown in a coup and forced to flee to our world, along with his wife and daughter. But the daughter is developing her own magic and all they can do is send her back home to study in a magical academy, knowing that if her uncle finds out that she’s alive, he will kill her. Naturally, things don’t go entirely to plan.



Thoughts? What would you like to see?



And I’d like to remain you all that the offer of a free copy of The Empire’s Corps is still available, for three more days.



Chris

 

I could easily see the sequel skipping forward in time several hundred or thousands of years. It offers a plausible explanation for how humanity could have been scattered across the universe. Maybe this story is now remembered as a myth, was Earth real or not, where did humanity come from, are the rock rats and "normals" even the same species.

As for your next work I vote for Quagmire. Then again I really like SF so I'm biased.

Whatever you decide I really enjoy reading your work. Thanks

 

Hello Chris, thanks for another "page turner". I'd like to see this one continue on as part 2, maybe some time in the future? There was another story you did - Their Darkest Hour - that you left for a part 2. Any thoughts of finishing that one?

Whatever you choose to do, I'll be checking in to read. Thanks!

 

I would have to agree. The disaster is almost more than I can take. However, the feeling of absolute desperation and defeat is necessary for the follow on stories. This was quite a departure for you. Usually, the human race doesn't get its head handed to it. I am curious as to how you will resolve this. One thing to keep in mind, if most of the human race is dead or enslaved, who will man the starships being built by Project Iceberg?

 

Well, the first plan called for the book to start with Earth's last stand...

Chris

 

Just make sure when they do start kicking the trolls butts they kill them all!

 

I found nothing wrong with the story..The story line would do good as a trilogy.. Ya know like, Here's how we got our butts kicked, next the rebuild, then the payback. Your stories are so easy for the reader to enter and envision. they are a entertaining read. that is one of the reasons we read is to escape to another world. Thanks for for the universes you create.