Orion Rising: A Military Science Fiction Space Opera Epic (The Orion War Book 3) Read online

  ORION RISING

  THE ORION WAR – BOOK 3

  M. D. COOPER

  SPECIAL THANKS

  For Just in Time (JIT) & Beta Reads

  John Piper

  Alastar Wilson

  Phil Schlenger

  Chris J. Pike

  Copyright © 2017 M. D. Cooper

  Cover Art by Laércio Messias

  Editing by Amy DuBoff

  All rights reserved.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  TO WAR

  HONEY, WE’RE HERE!

  CLOSE QUARTERS

  BEAMFIRE

  CORRECTION

  KENT

  RETURNING HOME

  UNVEILED

  MYRIAD

  MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

  REUNION

  FATHOM

  SENTIENCE

  FLEETING RETIREMENT

  A FAMILY MEETING

  MASTER PLAN

  CAPTAINS AND ADMIRALS

  AN OLD FRIEND

  A NEW MISSION

  TRISILIEDS

  A MOMENT OF WEAKNESS

  JOY RIDE

  ASSAULTING ORION

  VICTORY AT ANY COST

  OURI’S BAD DAY

  BRITANNICA

  VISITORS

  INFILTRATE

  FALL BACK

  EXFILTRATE

  THE STAND

  DARK LAYER

  GENERAL’S DECEPTION

  DISCOVERY

  RESCUE

  NEW BEGINNINGS

  GOING BACK IN

  HUYGENS

  AN IRREFUSABLE OFFER

  CABIN ON THE LAKE

  STARFLIGHT

  NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS

  NIETZSCHEAN ADVANCE

  THE EMPIRE

  A NEW, OLD FREIND

  MYRRDAN EXODUS

  DESTINY GATE

  BOOKS BY M. D. COOPER

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  FOREWORD

  Here we are at last.

  The Orion War has begun in earnest with the Hegemony Fleet’s arrival in the New Canaan System. Tanis will be forced to bring all her might to bear against these aggressors—as she has done so often in the past.

  There is, however, a part of the story that you may not have heard, as it has been revealed only in expanded content—namely Destiny Rising, and The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star.

  If you’re not familiar with Destiny Rising, it is an extended version of Outsystem and A Path in the Darkness that re-integrates parts of the story that I had removed so as to not leave too many threads open over the years.

  There are a few chapters in that book that provide clues as to Myrrdan’s origins, and explain why he has abilities that even Bob has trouble dealing with.

  The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star is a novella that released on the same day as Orion Rising. It begins the story of what happened to Jessica and the crew of Sabrina during the nine years they were missing (between when they were approaching the Transcend’s dwarf star mining operation, and when they jumped into New Canaan).

  While I certainly don’t expect you to sit down with the tome that is Destiny Rising, you may want to pick up The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star and read it before you start reading Orion Rising. It’s a really fun ride, and the first of 6 novellas I’m creating in a series called The Perseus Gate.

  However, if you really can’t bear the idea of waiting one more minute before you find out what happened after the end of New Canaan, you can dive right in, I took care to write the story so that it works without having to take the side-quests. There is also a new section below to refresh you as to where we are in the tale.

  As always, to get the latest news and access to free novellas and short stories, sign up on the Aeon 14 mailing list: www.aeon14.com/signup

  M. D. Cooper

  PREVIOUSLY IN THE

  ORION WAR…

  When last we left Tanis and the colonists, many events were rapidly unfolding…

  To begin with, over the past eighteen years, Tanis and the New Canaan colonists had built up a powerful space force by growing ships within moons using their picotech.

  When the Transcend Space Force arrived, ready to use force to secure New Canaan’s picotech and their stasis shields, Tanis deployed her fleet under the cover of their advanced stealth systems, waiting to strike if necessary.

  After the initial round of negotiations, Sera’s father, President Jeffrey Tomlinson, had realized exactly who and what Helen was, and forcibly removed the AI from Sera’s mind.

  Tanis infiltrated the Transcend fleet’s flagship, the Galadrial, to rescue Sera. On the bridge of that ship, Elena (Sera’s lover over the last eighteen years), revealed herself to be an agent of the Orion Guard and killed Sera’s father.

  Kent, a colonel in the Orion Guard—who was on a mission to kill and capture as much of the Transcend and New Canaan leadership as possible—attempted to kill Tanis, but failed.

  During these events, Tanis’s fleet, the ISF, revealed itself and forced the Transcend fleet (the TSF) to stand down. The danger appeared to have passed, when word came in that a Hegemony (also known as the AST) fleet had arrived at the edge of the system and was attacking the Transcend ships interdicting New Canaan.

  Adding fuel to the fire, Sabrina (Sera’s old ship) jumped into the New Canaan system, causing a new AI, calling itself Myriad, to take control of the TSF fleet and send them to destroy Sabrina.

  * * * * *

  What you may not have known…

  Back in Sol, before Tanis ever joined the Intrepid’s mission, Myrrdan met with a strange entity that altered him in a fashion that facilitated his infiltration of the Intrepid.

  Myrrdan assumed and subverted many people on the Intrepid over the years, and led Tanis and the mission leadership to believe that they had killed him on Victoria.

  But what they (and you, unless you read The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star) didn’t know, is that when Nance got her nano upgraded by that oh-so-kind medtech on the Intrepid, she was taken over by Myrrdan.

  Myrrdan later directed Nance to meet with the same entity that altered him back in Sol five thousand years ago. She encountered it on Senzee station where it revealed itself as The Caretaker, burned Myrrdan out of Nance and sent her to seek out the rest of Myrrdan’s subsumed humans, and cleanse them as well.

  In turn making them into agents of The Caretaker…

  * * * * *

  We begin Orion Rising after Tanis has ordered Joe to save Sabrina at any cost, while dealing with the fact that she has effectively taken part in what could be considered a coup.

  TO WAR

  STELLAR DATE: 03.27.8948 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: ISF Hellespont

  REGION: Roma-Normandy L1 Point, New Canaan System

  The connection with Tanis closed and Joe rose from the I2’s command chair, issuing orders in rapid fire succession.

  “Helm, light it up, full burn to intercept Sabrina. Comm, raise them. Tell Cargo he needs to boost and match our vector so we can grab them cleanly. Scan, have the TSF ships powered up their weapons?”

  “Aye, Captain,” Ensign Karl replied from the helm as he worked with Bob to bring the I2’s four stern fusion engines to full burn, while also spooling out the nozzle for the antimatter-pion drive.

  “I’ve sent a hail, Captain” Lieutenant Ripley said from comm. “They’re twenty light-minutes away, but with our boost, we should get a response in about thirty-five minutes.”

  “Lieutenant Ferris?” Joe asked the officer who led the scan team.

&n
bsp; “Sorry, yes, sir. We’re correlating with the rest of the fleet. There are a lot of TSF ships out there—so far, none have powered up weapons, though they all have shields online.”

  “What’s going on?” Amanda asked from her auxiliary station. “The transmission from Admiral Greer on the Galadrial told the TSF fleet to stand down.”

  “Tanis just sent me a data-burst,” Joe said lowering his voice. “This still barely makes sense…. For starters, it looks like President Tomlinson took Helen out of Sera and then killed her.”

  “Wait—What? He killed Sera?”

  “No,” Joe replied with a shake of his head, “he killed Helen.”

  Priscilla said over the bridge net.

  Joe continued reviewing the data-burst from Tanis. “Then Sera was going to kill her father, but Tanis stopped her—oh shit…Elena killed him. She was a Guard agent!”

  “OK, that’s nuts, but it still doesn’t explain why the TSF ships are going after Sabrina,” Amanda said.

  “While I was talking to Tanis, another AI showed up and butted in,” Joe said with a frown. “She said her name was Myriad, and that she was a shard of Airtha, just like Helen.”

  Priscilla said.

  “What’s a shard of Airtha?” Joe asked.

  Bob responded.

  “Isn’t that the name of the Transcend’s capital?” Joe asked.

  Priscilla replied.

  Bob said.

  Joe set aside his suspicions about what a ‘Not-AI’ was and asked the more pertinent question, “So…Myriad, who is a shard of the Not-AI, Airtha, has taken over the Transcend ships? Is that the outflow of this?”

  “Yes, sorry I just dumped all that on you. Things are nuts here,” Tanis said as she appeared in a holoprojection. “Though, I didn’t know about the whole ‘Not-AI’ thing.”

  Bob said, his mental tone almost angry.

  “Well, she has designs on Sabrina, that’s for sure,” Tanis said.

  Bob said.

  “Captain Evans, we won’t make it in time,” Ensign Karl said from the helm. “The TSF has fast interceptors that are outpacing our ships.”

  “Damnit!” Tanis swore. “We don’t have any of those in the fleets here—their stealth systems weren’t ready yet.”

  “The Daedalus is close to where Sabrina has exited, sir, ma’am. I believe they could beat the TSF ships to Sabrina,” Lieutenant Ferris offered.

  “Do it, Lieutenant,” Joe said, not waiting for Tanis’s approval.

  “You beat me to it,” Tanis said with a wan smile. “Light-lag is starting to hit. I’ll just slow you down. Do what you have to, but if you have to take out any TSF ships, try to be non-destructive. We’re going to need their help against that fleet coming insystem—once it finishes with Isyra’s fleet out past the heliopause.”

  “Do you think you can get control back from this Airtha shard?” Joe asked.

  “We’re out of range to be effective. Once we fix what the Orion Guard broke on the Galadrial, we’ll follow after. Until then, Bob, do what you can to get Myriad under control.”

  “Wait, Orion?” Joe asked.

  “Yeah, their guy is the reason I need a new arm,” Tanis said. “Go, I’ll see you soon.”

  Bob said.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Joe said.

 

  “How could that even happen?” asked Joe. “An entire civilization’s AIs under the control of one being?”

  Bob said in agreement.

  Joe noticed that the AI did not offer any explanation as to how such a thing could be achieved. He decided not to pursue it for now. Pushing those larger moral issues from his mind, he brought up the space surrounding the New Canaan System on the bridge’s main holotank.

  New Canaan’s ISF fleets were bracketing the TSF ships as they raced toward Sabrina’s position—over three hundred million kilometers away. The ISF fleet greatly outnumbered the Transcend ships, but most were little more than hulls with engines. Many did not even have functional weapons arrays, and even fewer were crewed by more than half a dozen people.

  If it came to an all-out fight, New Canaan would win, but the cost would be high. And with the AST fleet bearing down on them from outside the system, they were going to need all the ships they could get for the colony to survive.

  “Colonel Espensen,” Joe addressed the I2’s XO, Rachel Espensen. She stood amidst the scan team’s consoles, reviewing their data on the TSF fleet’s weapons. When Joe called out, her head snapped up.

  “Yes, Admiral?”

  “You’re getting a field promotion to Brigadier General. I am hereby placing you in command of the I2. With Admiral Richards out of communications range, I am assuming FleetConn.”

  A smile broke out across Rachel’s face and she snapped off a sharp salute. “Yes, Fleet Admiral!”

  A few of the scan techs nearby gave her brief congratulations before she directed them back to their tasks and approached Joe. “Command tokens accepted. I have the conn, sir.”

  “Very good, Captain Espensen, the chair is yours. I’ll take the auxiliary comm station as my Fleet CIC,” Joe replied.

  “Yes, sir,” Captain Espensen said as she took the command chair and re-arranged the holo interfaces to her liking. It wasn’t Rachel’s first time in the chair; she had been in command of the I2 when it rose from Roma’s clouds to show the TSF fleet what they were really up against.

  However, this was her first time in the chair as the I2’s captain, and Joe couldn’t help but feel her infectious joy. Rachel Espensen, who he still remembered from her first day at his Fleet Academy over back at The Kap, who had proven herself with distinction and valor in the battle over Victoria, and again at Bollam’s World, was now captain of the most powerful ship known to humanity.

  She was already calling out orders and reviewing the status of the ship’s shields and weapons systems, allowing Joe to focus on the fleet at large. He may not have possessed Tanis’s otherworldly ability to spread her mind across the ships, but he knew a thing or two about getting ready for a fight.

  HONEY, WE’RE HERE!

  STELLAR DATE: 03.27.8948 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Sabrina

  REGION: Near Roma, New Canaan System

  “What the…” Jessica exclaimed from the pilot’s seat on Sabrina’s bridge. “Is there some sort of party going on here that we didn’t know about?”

  “What is it?” Cargo asked.

  Jessica responded by throwing the system scan up on the holotank.

  “Look at that jovian…Roma,” she said. “There are thousands of ships around it!”

  “Is it Orion?” Cargo asked anxiously.


  Jessica didn’t blame him for being worried. They had just spent nine years avoiding the Orion Guard. If they had risked everything to get to New Canaan, and Orion had beat them, if Cheeky and Piya…. It didn’t bear thinking about.

  “Get us over there, max burn,” Cargo ordered. “Not sure what we can do, but that’s where the action is.”

  “You got it, boss,” Jessica said and increased the flow of Helium-3 and Deuterium into the ship’s huge fusion torches. “We’re dry on antimatter after that gate-run, so the burners will have to do.”

  “Understood,” Cargo replied before addressing the rest of the crew over the Link.

  Nance asked.

  Cargo replied,

  Nance sighed.

  Jessica asked.

  “I have a better picture of the fleets at Roma,” Misha said from the scan console. He passed the updated view to the main holotank. “That one there looks like that ship you guys used to be on…the Intrepid. Except it’s bigger…and has more guns…and more engines…and more…everything.”

  “Shiiit,” Jessica whispered. “That does look like the Intrepid! But yeah, it’s more everything.”

  Iris, Jessica’s AI, offered.

  Sabrina said.

  “Wow, and I thought we got up to a lot of shit the last decade,” Jessica said. “But that has to be at least ten thousand ships. Tanis has been busy.”

  “I’m just glad we got here before they started shooting at each other,” Finaeus said from his seat at the back of the bridge. “A bit later than we’d hoped, but not too bad overall.”