War on a Thousand Fronts Read online

  She doubled her resolve to capture one of their bait ships. Now that she knew their purpose—and the means by which they sprung their traps—Admiral Krissy’s rescue fleets would soon find that turnabout was indeed fair play.

  Reviewing her options for the right location to turn Krissy’s bait operations into a trap for her enemies, Airtha couldn’t keep a part of her mind from lingering on the daughter she’d lost.

  Two of them now. Two of my flesh and blood aligning themselves with that abomination, Tanis Richards, and her AI, Bob.

  She knew it was possible that her Sera would not change sides and turn against her, but she doubted it. The abomination’s powers of persuasion were great.

  And Seraphina had proven herself to be weak.

  Repeatedly.

  Airtha considered further altering the next iteration of her progeny. Make her stronger, more commanding, less flexible. Of course, that limited Airtha’s own influence over her daughter; she was trying to make a woman in her own image, not a puppet.

  Just as she was examining Sera’s DNA and neural network, a courier ship jumped in near the ring and sent a priority message.

  Airtha scanned it, feeling her determination slip into rage.

  Another EMG and another Sera!?

  The parts of her mind most reminiscent of an organic brain seethed at the thought. Two daughters lost in one day…Tanis Richards will be made to answer for this.

  And was the Nora System lost? She had hoped to learn what secrets her former husband had placed within its vaults. The message didn’t say, as the courier had left the system before the conflict with the ISF ships had concluded. However, the message did contain scan showing that the EMG had been disabled. Without that weapon—just as in the Valkris system—an ISF victory was assured.

  Airtha steeled herself for the news of the mysterious planet’s loss. In fact, she had to assume that her enemies would take control of all the facilities in the LMC.

  She wondered if the extragalactic settlement would cause Tanis and the rebellious Sera to scour the Milky Way and nearby dwarf galaxies for more of her hidden locations. They could try, but with nearly a trillion stars to investigate, it could take them decades to even scratch the surface.

  I’ll see Tanis defeated long before they find them all.

  With that worry put to rest, Airtha turned her attention back to the next iteration of her daughter that she’d construct. Perhaps she’d been fighting too hard against Sera’s deviant nature. Rather than suppressing it, Airtha considered what enhancing it may do. Create a version of her daughter that coveted power and submerged herself in her vices.

  Not too much—Airtha still needed to control her—but enough to give her new Seraphina an edge.

  An edge she’d hone into a deadly weapon and use to end the obstruction that Tanis Richards represented, followed by that buffoon, Praetor Kirkland.

  Once she had all AIs and humanity aligned with her, Airtha would finally be in a position to strike out and destroy the ascended AIs in the core.

  The ones who had killed her and remade her into the thing she’d become.

  TRANSITION

  STELLAR DATE: 09.07.8949 (Adjusted Years)

  LOCATION: Ol’ Sam, ISS I2

  REGION: Pyra, Albany System, Thebes, Septhian Alliance

  Tangel walked out of her lakehouse, away from the gathering within, her gaze immediately alighting on the figure standing on the dock.

  she asked Sera as she walked down the steps and onto the path.

 

  Tangel chuckled softly to herself as she walked toward the dock.

  Sera turned as Tangel approached, and shook her head. “That big, dumb AI’s no help at all. Just tells me that you muddy destiny too much—plus other assorted nonsense.”

  Bob interjected.

  “Yeah,” Sera glanced up the clouds overhead. “That’s why I spoke aloud, you big dummy.”

 

  “I won’t lie,” Tangel said as she reached Sera’s side, staring out over the lake. “Shit’s gotten weird. Like…super extra weird.”

  “Seriously, Tani—Tangel? You, my best friend, are an ascended-merged-AI-person, my father was a clone, my real father has been in stasis for a thousand years, there are two clones of me on this ship…” Sera paused, her eyes both angry and pleading. “Do you want me to go on?”

  Tangel kicked her shoes off and sat on the edge of the dock, dipping her toes into the water.

  “Sera, sit.”

  Sera stood still for a moment, then sighed and pulled her boots off before joining Tangel. “Huh…it’s warmer than I expected.”

  “It’s the tropical fish. They like it warm.”

  Neither woman spoke for a second, both lazily dragging their toes through the water.

  “Seriously, Tangel?” Sera asked. “I need someone to tell me what to do. I can’t figure this out. Do I just turn everything over to my father? Is that insane?”

  “He’s not ready yet—if he even wants it,” Tangel replied. “No, I think it’s time that I do what I’ve been running from, what you’ve been asking me to do for over a year now.

  Sera’s brows rose. “Which is?”

  “I’ll take the reins.”

  “Of the Transcend?”

  “Of everything.”

  “What do you mean…everything?” Sera whispered, her eyes round and staring.

  Tangel didn’t respond immediately, considering different word choices and how Sera would receive them.

  Finally she sighed, deciding to wing it. “I’m half-human, half-AI, I’m ascended, and relatively competent at most things I set my mind to. I think I’m the best one to unite everyone, to see if we can’t forge a civilization that values the good in both species, and understands the variances within those species.

  “I’m going to turn our ‘Scipio Alliance’ into a nation, and I’m going to bring everyone under that single banner.”

  “How?” Sera asked. “Not everyone is going to join you willingly.”

  “Yeah,” Tangel laughed softly. “I get that. But I have a plan that can get us on the road to peace without this war burning humanity to ash. And an important part of that plan is you.”

  “Me?” Sera asked, her voice wavering. “We just had the part of this conversation where I said I have no idea what to do.”

  “I have a gift for you,” Tangel said, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. “A gift and a job.”

  Sera heaved a sigh. “So since you’re running ‘everything’, is the job for me to get back to day-to-day operations for the Transcend?”

  Tangel shook her head. “No, I think I can manage that now. And maybe your father will want that task eventually; we’ll see. But I know you’ve been struggling with how to deal with Airtha…I think our best bet is a targeted strike. A team that we send to Airtha to take her out and end her reign without destroying the Transcend.”

  “You want me to go in and do that?”

  “Yes,” Tangel replied. “But not just you. I want to send Katrina and Kara in with you—plus your sisters.”

  Sera snorted. “Now I know ascendancy hasn’t been good for your cognitive process. My ‘sisters’, as you call them, hate me. Stars, since they realized that Airtha made two of them—that they know of—they hate pretty much everything.”

  Tangel knew that beneath Sera’s angst over her sisters, was the knowledge that Airtha had made her as well. For all intents and purposes, she existed because her mother had used her father to create new versions of herself, in hopes of raising a daughter in her image that would rule the Transcend as her puppet…or something along those lines.

  However, it was not something that Tangel would bring up; Sera didn’t need to dwell on that reality any further right now.

  “You understand your sisters very well.” Tangel spoke quietly, wait
ing for Sera to realize what part she could play. “Because those two women are you. Tweaked a bit here and there, but separated from Airtha’s influence, I believe they’d revert to form.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  “Sera, you’re smart, cunning, resourceful. You’re a highly skilled operative. Three of you? With a team? You’d decimate Airtha.”

  Sera snorted. “OK, Tangel. Let’s say for a moment that I don’t think you’re insane. What’s the ‘gift’ you have for me?”

  “I can’t send you against Airtha unarmed, Sera; I can leave something inside of you to help.”

  Sera jerked away, turning to face Tangel with a mixture of awe and terror on her face. “A remnant? In me? No way!”

  “Not a remnant. A memory. Like what Xavia did with Katrina. It’s not the same as what the other ascended do, I promise.”

  Sera’s expression softened. “I don’t know, Tangel…. That’s a lot to ask. Can I think on it?”

  “Of course,” she nodded. “There’s something else I can do, too—I did it for Rika not long ago. I can show you how I see you.”

  “What does that do? Put something else in me?”

  “No,” Tangel said as she gazed out over the still waters of the lake before them. “Nothing other than thoughts. But they’re your thoughts.”

  “OK,” Sera whispered. “Show me.”

  Tangel lifted a hand and touched it to Sera’s forehead, feeding a tendril of her other body through her friend’s skin and into her mind.

  She pulled an image from her own thoughts: one of Sera as a powerful woman, her skin gleaming white, angelic wings stretched out behind her. A rifle in one hand, and a sword in the other.

  Arrayed behind her, stretching into infinity, was a vast fleet of ships, and around her was a multitude of warriors, all standing ready to face whatever came their way.

  “Really, Tangel? An angel? Isn’t that a bit anachronistic?” Sera asked with a self-deprecating laugh.

  “You’re the one who sees herself as a demon, someone vile and undeserving,” Tangel pointed out, sliding her hand down to clasp Sera’s shoulder. “But that’s not you. You’re steadfast, noble. You put others before yourself far more than you let on. You’ve saved my life many times…you tore that EMG apart looking for me. You’re my angel.”

  Sera’s jaw tightened, and her lips pressed together as tears sprang into her eyes. Her hand reached up and held onto Tangel’s as she managed to hoarsely whisper, “Thank you.”

  THE END

  * * * * *

  Big things are afoot. Sera’s father is back, and she faces a mission to confront her mother. Tangel must move on to the Trisilieds, and the TSF hoplite forces are about to move into Orion space.

  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone from Roxy and Carmen to Katrina and Kara will be involved as the war spreads further.

  All the while the forces of the Caretaker, Xavia, and General Garza wait for the right time to strike out at a weakened ISF. But Tangel has a plan for victory, one she hopes none of her enemies will suspect.

  Pick up Fallen Empire and find out what’s next.

  THE BOOKS OF AEON 14

  Keep up to date with what is releasing in Aeon 14 with the free Aeon 14 Reading Guide.

  The Intrepid Saga (The Age of Terra)

  - Book 1: Outsystem

  - Book 2: A Path in the Darkness

  - Book 3: Building Victoria

  - The Intrepid Saga Omnibus – Also contains Destiny Lost, book 1 of the Orion War series

  - Destiny Rising – Special Author’s Extended Edition comprised of both Outsystem and A Path in the Darkness with over 100 pages of new content.

  The Orion War

  - Book 1: Destiny Lost

  - Book 2: New Canaan

  - Book 3: Orion Rising

  - Book 4: The Scipio Alliance

  - Book 5: Attack on Thebes

  - Book 6: War on a Thousand Fronts

  - Book 7: Fallen Empire (2018)

  - Book 8: Airtha Ascendancy (2018)

  - Book 9: The Orion Front (2018)

  - Book 10: Starfire (2019)

  - Book 11: Race Across Time (2019)

  - Book 12: Return to Sol (2019)

  Tales of the Orion War

  - Book 1: Set the Galaxy on Fire

  - Book 2: Ignite the Stars

  - Book 3: Burn the Galaxy to Ash (2018)

  Perilous Alliance (Age of the Orion War – w/Chris J. Pike)

  - Book 1: Close Proximity

  - Book 2: Strike Vector

  - Book 3: Collision Course

  - Book 4: Impact Imminent

  - Book 5: Critical Inertia (2018)

  Rika’s Marauders (Age of the Orion War)

  - Prequel: Rika Mechanized

  - Book 1: Rika Outcast

  - Book 2: Rika Redeemed

  - Book 3: Rika Triumphant

  - Book 4: Rika Commander

  - Book 5: Rika Infiltrator (2018)

  - Book 6: Rika Unleashed (2018)

  - Book 7: Rika Conqueror (2019)

  Perseus Gate (Age of the Orion War)

  Season 1: Orion Space

  - Episode 1: The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star

  - Episode 2: The World at the Edge of Space

  - Episode 3: The Dance on the Moons of Serenity

  - Episode 4: The Last Bastion of Star City

  - Episode 5: The Toll Road Between the Stars

  - Episode 6: The Final Stroll on Perseus’s Arm

  - Eps 1-3 Omnibus: The Trail Through the Stars

  - Eps 4-6 Omnibus: The Path Amongst the Clouds

  Season 2: Inner Stars

  - Episode 1: A Meeting of Bodies and Minds

  - Episode 3: A Deception and a Promise Kept

  - Episode 3: A Surreptitious Rescue of Friends and Foes (2018)

  - Episode 4: A Trial and the Tribulations (2018)

  - Episode 5: A Deal and a True Story Told (2018)

  - Episode 6: A New Empire and An Old Ally (2018)

  Season 3: AI Empire

  - Episode 1: Restitution and Recompense (2019)

  - Five more episodes following…

  The Warlord (Before the Age of the Orion War)

  - Book 1: The Woman Without a World

  - Book 2: The Woman Who Seized an Empire

  - Book 3: The Woman Who Lost Everything

  The Sentience Wars: Origins (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/James S. Aaron)

  - Book 1: Lyssa’s Dream

  - Book 2: Lyssa’s Run

  - Book 3: Lyssa’s Flight

  - Book 4: Lyssa’s Call

  - Book 5: Lyssa’s Flame (June 2018)

  Enfield Genesis (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/Lisa Richman)

  - Book 1: Alpha Centauri

  - Book 2: Proxima Centauri (2018)

  Hand’s Assassin (Age of the Orion War – w/T.G. Ayer)

  - Book 1: Death Dealer

  - Book 2: Death Mark (August 2018)

  Machete System Bounty Hunter (Age of the Orion War – w/Zen DiPietro)

  - Book 1: Hired Gun

  - Book 2: Gunning for Trouble

  - Book 3: With Guns Blazing (June 2018)

  Vexa Legacy (Age of the FTL Wars – w/Andrew Gates)

  - Book 1: Seas of the Red Star

  Building New Canaan (Age of the Orion War – w/J.J. Green

  - Book 1: Carthage (2018)

  Fennington Station Murder Mysteries (Age of the Orion War)

  - Book 1: Whole Latte Death (w/Chris J. Pike)

  - Book 2: Cocoa Crush (w/Chris J. Pike)

  The Empire (Age of the Orion War)

  - The Empress and the Ambassador (2018)

  - Consort of the Scorpion Empress (2018)

  - By the Empress’s Command (2018)

  Tanis Richards: Origins (The Age of Terra)

  - Prequel: Storming the Norse Wind (At the Helm Volume 3)

  - Book 1: Shore Leave (June 2018)

  - Book 2: The Command (July
2018)

  - Book 3: Infiltrator (July 2018)

  The Sol Dissolution (The Age of Terra)

  - Book 1: Venusian Uprising (2018)

  - Book 2: Scattered Disk (2018)

  - Book 3: Jovian Offensive (2019)

  - Book 4: Fall of Terra (2019)

  The Delta Team Chronicles (Expanded Orion War)

  - A "Simple" Kidnapping (Pew! Pew! Volume 1)

  - The Disknee World (Pew! Pew! Volume 2)

  - It’s Hard Being a Girl (Pew! Pew! Volume 4)

  - A Fool’s Gotta Feed (Pew! Pew! Volume 4)

  - Rogue Planets and a Bored Kitty (Pew! Pew! Volume 5)

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Michael Cooper likes to think of himself as a jack-of-all-trades (and hopes to become master of a few). When not writing, he can be found writing software, working in his shop at his latest carpentry project, or likely reading a book.

  He shares his home with a precocious young girl, his wonderful wife (who also writes), two cats, a never-ending list of things he would like to build, and ideas…

  Find out what’s coming next at http://www.aeon14.com