Onslaught (Rise of the Empire Book 6) Read online

  Onslaught

  Rise of the Empire series

  Ivan Kal

  Copyright © 2016 by Ivan Kal

  Art/Cover Copyright © 2016 by Nikola Nikolic

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Editor: Tom Shutt at Main Line Editing - http://www.mainlineediting.com/

  Contact the artist - [email protected]

  Table of Contents

  Map

  Timeline

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Epilogue

  Timeline

  November 2103 – A faction of humanity—Olympus—leaves to colonize a planet in a star system 600 light years from Earth.

  February 2159 – An alien race called Ra’a’zani conquers Earth.

  May 2164 – Olympus arrives at their destination; they name the planet Sanctuary. They get involved in a conflict against an alien race called Sowir. Ally themselves with the Nel of Nuva.

  March 2170 – Resistance from Earth contacts Olympus on Sanctuary, asking for aid.

  December 2171 – Olympus and Sowir Dominion make a pact of non-aggression.

  January 2172 – Olympus fleet arrives in the Sol system, engaging Ra’a’zani forces in the system. The battle for Earth results in narrow human victory, but the cost is the Earth. Ra’a’zani weapon makes the planet uninhabitable.

  March 2172 – Year 1 of the Empire – Tomas Klein leader of Olympus creates the Empire.

  December – Year 30 of the Empire – Sowir attack Nelus system, homeworld of the Nel. Empire breaks the non-aggression pact with Sowir by simultaneously sending aid to Nelus and invading the Sowir territory. Clan Leader Adrian Farkas overuses the Watchtower command interface, falling into a coma.

  January–March Year 31 of the Empire – Adrian Farkas wakes up and hears the telepathic beacon from the sphere left by the originator of the human and Nel races, unlocking all the knowledge and technology contained inside.

  March Year 36 of the Empire – Empire wins the war against the Sowir.

  Year 36–Year 54 of the Empire – Empire at peace, focusing on exploring, developing technologies from the sphere of the People, expanding their borders to reclaim Sol.

  June Year 54 of the Empire – Empire meets an alien race called the Erasi.

  July Year 54 of the Empire – Lord Sentinel Adrian Farkas meets Dai Sha Anessa of the Shara Daim, the third race created by Axull Darr. Anessa attempts to capture Adrian, the fight ends in narrow victory for Adrian and his people. They take the Dai Sha prisoner.

  January Year 55 of the Empire – Shara Daim Elders recall all of their forces for an attack on the Empire, seeking the device left by Axull Darr.

  Prologue

  February; Year 55 of the Empire – Shara Daim territory

  Narrasak, Dai Sha of the Third Legion, commanded his forces from the flagship of his Legion, the Ravager. The force amassed against him was great in numbers, but disorganized, cobbled together by many races. Ships of every shape and size were present, forming an uneven sphere of ships. The fleet, and calling it that was a stretch, moved without order, small groupings of ships trying to act as a unit without actually being a part of the whole.

  The force outnumbered his Legion, with their exact count being 6843 ships, compared to his Legion, which numbered 2000 warships with another 100 auxiliaries—like all the Legions of the Shara Daim—it seemed overwhelmingly stronger. But ultimately it was nothing compared to his force.

  His opponent’s fleet was put together by dozens of races, those who wanted to stop Shara Daim expansion into what they considered their territory. Most of them, save for a few races, were weak and had territories so small that they were of no consequence. The Shara Daim had moved into the new area of space, ignoring other races, colonizing worlds that they wanted, engulfing territories of entire civilizations. Those who held a territory larger than a single system or two were warned to stay out of the Shara Daim’s way. But sadly they had not listened.

  They had gathered allies from other races in the area, those whose future expansion was threatened by the Shara Daim. And now they had a fleet of ships that they believed strong enough to threaten the Shara Daim, to intimidate and force them to pull back.

  The enemy fleet had been trying to establish communications since they’d entered the system, but Narrasak had ignored every attempt, there was nothing to discuss. In a way this act had made him respect them more, they had shown him strength and determination to protect what they believed was theirs. But, unfortunately for them, the Shara Daim would not tolerate anyone standing in their way.

  Narrasak watched as the last ship in his opponent’s formation entered well into his Legion’s weapons range. With a thought, he sent the order. Every ship in his Legion fired at the same moment, and beams of dark blue crackling energy connected his fleet and that of his opponents. Wherever the beams hit, hulls disintegrated; crackling energy arced from the impact point to scorch and eat into the rest of the ship. His opponents tried to evade, tried to turn around and escape, and their superficial unity collapsed as clusters broke off in different directions.

  The Third Legion continued firing, destroying ships even as they tried to escape. A few clusters among the mass held ships from the more advanced races, but their numbers and even their level of technology was not enough—they too would die.

  Narrasak was ordering his Legion to pursue the fleeing ships, intending to destroy every single one of them, when one of his subordinates interrupted him.

  “Dai Sha, we have received a top priority message from Shara Radum,” the Va Sun said.

  Intrigued, Narrasak reached with his mind to the console in front of him, engaging the privacy screen around his chair, and then opened the message from the homeworld. An Elder appeared in front of him and started issuing him new orders. Narrasak’s eyes narrowed as the message finished, and he disengaged
the privacy screen. He turned to his subordinates.

  “Send the orders for the fleet to halt,” he said as he watched a few of the enemy ships burning as hard as they could in order to escape. “Let them go.”

  “Dai Sha?” his Do Sun and second in command asked.

  “The Legions have been recalled. It appears we have a new worthy enemy,” Narrasak said.

  “How many Legions are being sent?” Do Sun asked eagerly. It had been a long time since more than a single Legion had been sent against an enemy.

  Narrasak turned to look at his second in command, and gave him a wicked grin before he responded, “All of them.”

  Chapter One

  One month later — March; Year 55 of the Empire—Mars—Olympus Monss

  Adrian jumped through the air; six heavy steel-lead balls the size of his head were spinning around him in synchronized orbits, held there by his Sha. As soon as his left foot hit the ground, he turned around in a dance-like spin, switching his legs and making a swiping motion with his hands. The orbits of the balls expanded; his Sha pushed the balls faster and each struck a different plastic pillar in front of him, set at varying distances. The pillars exploded in pieces as the balls struck and smashed through them. Then the balls returned to their smaller orbits around Adrian.

  Adrian took a deep breath and flicked his right hand forward, sending the balls to hover in the middle of the debris from the pillars. He closed his eyes and concentrated, remembering the battle he had had with the Dai Sha of the Shara Daim on Tarabat and the feeling of her using her Sha. Searching deep within his own Sha, he found what he was looking for.

  He opened his eyes and looked down at his outstretched arm. He released his telekinetic hold on the balls, and the balls started to fall towards the ground. Then Adrian closed his fingers, making a fist. The balls lurched, suddenly pulled back towards a single point above the ground, the plastic debris flying off the floor and towards the same point with a soft whooshing sound. Adrian felt the power of his Sha as his arm shook, and he watched as everything at that point was compressed into a spherical bundle. Then he felt the last of his power leave him and he lowered his hand. The bundle of plastic and lead fell to the floor, making a loud thumping sound.

  Iris appeared in front of him, floating in her usual fiery form. “You got the hang of it.”

  “Yes...finally,” Adrian responded.

  “You should be proud of your achievement, creating a localized implosion with only your own power is impressive,” Iris said.

  “But ultimately nothing compared to what she can do,” Adrian countered.

  Iris’s expression turned to one of distaste. “You don’t need to compere yourself to her.”

  “Of course I do,” Adrian said. A comm message interrupted their conversation. Adrian read it and then sighed and started walking towards the exit of the training room; the two wolions that had been sleeping near the door woke and followed him out.

  “I am needed at the hub,” he said to Iris, who huffed and disappeared.

  ***

  “The station has been moved,” Gotu said.

  “Good,” Adrian responded. “Iris, is everything ready on your part?”

  “Yes,” Iris said as her fiery hologram appeared in front of them. “I have conferred with Atlas; we will make sure that everything goes according to your plan.”

  “Great,” Adrian said.

  “I’m still not so sure about this...” Gotu commented.

  Adrian turned to look at him. “Trust me, it will work. We need to do this.”

  “Fine.” Gotu sighed. “I guess that I will have some time to finish the rest of the preparations as you take that trip to visit the Ra’a’zani.”

  “I know that you want to do this some other way, but we need to make them see that they are wrong. I need to plant enough seeds for the things to move according to our plans,” Adrian said.

  Gotu turned his palm sideways and back in a Nel gesture, agreeing with Adrian’s words.

  “See that Veritas is ready; the fleets will be leaving for Ra’a’zani space in a matter of days,” Adrian said, and then turned and walked out of the Mars command hub, passing people working at their stations. Iris floated to his side, following him.

  After they turned a corner, she floated up in front of him, flying backwards with her hands on her hips. “Are you still planning on releasing her?” she asked disapprovingly.

  “Yes,” Adrian said simply.

  “And you really think that is wise?” Iris asked.

  “Yes,” Adrian said with a smile. “She has learned a lot about us, both from me directly and from what she probably observed or inferred by herself. But in the end, she knows only what I wanted her to know; she doesn’t know our strength. And the Shara Daim would attack whether she is here or not; they planned it from the moment they learned about us from the Ra’a’zani. My actions only accelerated their plans, and gave us forewarning. If the seeds I planted take root, we will have the upper hand.”

  “She is not stupid, Adrian; she must’ve realized that you are trying to manipulate her. I doubt that anything you have told her has made her doubt her people’s ways,” Iris said.

  “I still have other plans in motion. Convincing her to change ways would be a great victory, but in the end, I’m not placing all my hopes on it.”

  With one last long look, Iris disappeared. Adrian knew that she didn’t really like their prisoner, Anessa of the Shara Daim. Mainly because she had tried to kidnap Adrian. There were reasons as to why he needed her, and why she could serve his purpose better back with her people. The Shara Daim would come for the Empire. They would attack because they wanted the sphere, the device left behind by Axull Darr, the originator of the human, Nel, and Shara Daim races.

  The three races were very similar to one another; their genetic code—or rather their core code, the part that came from their ancestor—was very close. The Nel were generally taller than humans, averaging at around 210 centimeters tall, and were usually slimmer, while humans’ average height was around 190 cm and they were a bit bulkier and stronger than the Nel. The Shara Daim, on the other hand, were the tallest of the three, at least based on what they had learned. His prisoner towered over Adrian at 241 cm tall compared to his 186 cm.

  Nel had pale gray skin, a result of evolving in caves and under the thick gray skies of Nelu, their homeworld, which prevented a large portion of their sun’s radiation from reaching the surface. They had tails, evolved to aid them in keeping balance as they moved through the large underground chasms and deep tunnels. The Shara Daim were the complete opposite; their homeworld was bathed in a high amount of radiation, resulting in the need for defense against it. Their skin was obsidian-colored and highly resistant to their sun’s radiation.

  But not even the common ancestry between the three races would halt the Shara Daim’s hand. They wanted the sphere that contained all the knowledge of the People, their ancestors and the first intelligent race in the galaxy.

  Each of the three races had received its own device, hidden on their homeworld until they’d evolved enough to hear its telepathic beacon. Humans hadn’t found theirs before Earth was lost, and the Nel had found theirs by accident before they were ready. Only the Shara Daim had found it in the way it was intended, and then they had lost their sphere. Now they were coming for the Empire’s sphere—the one found by the Nel—and Adrian was not going to let them have it.

  The Shara Daim were an arrogant race, one that believed itself above all others. They took what they wanted by virtue of strength and power. Compromise was not something that they entertained. Adrian had hoped initially to get his prisoner to see value in peace between the Empire and the Shara Daim, but he had quickly come to see that that was impossible. They would not allow for rivals to exist, especially rivals that they perceived as weaker than them. Their race had never lost a war, never been beaten. They didn’t know how to work with others because, in their eyes, everyone was inferior.

 
; The Empire could not win an all-out war against the Shara Daim, not without sustaining heavy losses. They had a far larger territory and vastly greater resources and population. Technologically, the two civilizations were closely matched, at least based on what Adrian’s people had managed to learn from the Erasi, another large alien force that the Empire had recently encountered, one that was equal to the Shara Daim. But unlike them, the Erasi welcomed other races; it was composed of many who traded freely inside Erasi territory.

  The Erasi traded in everything, and Adrian had sent people back to one of their worlds in order to establish a closer relationship, one that had already borne fruit. The Erasi had provided the Empire with information on the Shara Daim. The numbers of their ships, population, size of territory, and perhaps most importantly, data on their technology.

  The Shara Daim tech was close to that of the Empire; their ships used different kinds of materials for construction, but they were close to equal in strength. The path to discovering better technology wasn’t a straight line; there were infinite routes one could take in order to advance. But the path of the Shara Daim was not like that—theirs was predictable. One look at their technology and Adrian knew that they still kept to the path set before them by the knowledge inside the sphere of the People.

  There were a few technologies that were unfamiliar to Adrian, and those had probably been acquired from other races. But most of them were directly derived from the data in the sphere. The Emperor and his advisers had decided to use the technologies from the sphere like guidelines, and not strict paths to follow. They still relied on their old weapons, only more developed and enhanced by the knowledge in the sphere, and other new things that they had developed that their ancestors hadn’t conceived of.

  But Adrian was sure that in a battle of equal numbers, the Empire’s fleets would hold their own, maybe even have an edge. But the Shara Daim could bring much larger numbers against them. And that was why he needed to either make peace with them or force them to do what he wanted them to. But to change the mind of an entire species, he first needed to change the mind of one.