Homeworld alliance, p.1
Homeworld Alliance, page 1
Homeworld Alliance
HOMEWORLD
T. E. BUTCHER
Copyright © 2022 by T. E. Butcher
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
A Word From The Author
Preview of Blackwater
Chapter
One
9 June 2026
Aboard the USS Relentless
Henry Wells watched as the dropship Sugar Mama ascended through the storm clouds. Their dagger-shaped vessel easily weathered the worst that Mother Nature could throw at it, powering through wind and rain to enter the long docking bay. The USS Relentless lived up to her name. The only clue Henry and Qrora had that there was a storm outside was the salty ozone stench in the air. The ancient alien vessel, long buried in the Nevada desert, had withstood far worse than the surrounding storm.
As soon as the docking bay doors closed behind the ship, Henry, joined by the M’Nok Commander Qrora, made for the lowering boarding ramps.
Carlos and Swayze staggered down the ramp, looking as exhausted as their leaders.
“We need to compare notes,” Henry said as the rest of the Abyss team walked down the ramp. His brother Issac, as well as the mysterious Space Force officer Astreia, joined them, dragging their bags behind them.
“The Forgotten have established strongholds across the planet,” said Carlos. “The Alps, Central Asia, South Africa, Argentina, and the southern US.”
Henry raised an eyebrow.
“So they’re not aggressively expanding their territory?”
“We’ve likely severely disrupted their plans already,” Qrora added. “It’s possible the one on the Moon was meant to control our orbitals and rain hell down on us.” He scratched at his snout. “Although it was stuck underground, I can’t help but feel like this invasion was cooked from the beginning.”
“What even tipped it off?” Carlos asked. “All we know is we had some weird signals, and then we’re suddenly under attack.” He took a breath. “Again.”
“Well, the one on the Moon could manipulate people, influence their minds and stuff,” Henry said. “It took over a secret Soviet Moon base and was only stopped when one worker deprived it of power. He was able to figure out its weak points, so we were able to exploit it and defeat it.”
“How big was the Forgotten on the Moon?” Swayze asked. “What did it look like?”
“It was a huge centipede-like thing,” Henry said. “About the size of the Relentless.”
Carlos and Swayze looked at each other.
“What the hell?” Carlos said. “Ours was like . . . a guy.”
“Huh?” Henry gasped as Qrora cocked his head. “What do you mean yours was like a guy?”
“Well, he was like a metal guy,” Swayze said. “Like a robot or something, with a bird face. But yeah, Qaroww got into a fistfight with it. Called itself the Architect.”
Henry shook his head. “If it weren’t for our line of work, I’d be convinced you watch too many movies,” he said.
“Wait, wait,” Qrora said. “The journal. If I remember right, the journal referred to the one on the Moon as the Navigator.” He squinted as he scratched at his feathers. “I wish we had more intel. These titles feel like they mean something.”
“Let’s head up and talk to H’kai,” Henry said. “The Keblarians are burning into the system, and they seem vaguely familiar with the Forgotten.”
Carlos raised an eyebrow as they turned and headed to the CIC. “What are the Keblarians like? Besides looking like extras from the Lord of the Rings?”
Henry chuckled.
“Ari straight up called them Vulcans when he saw them, but they don’t seem all purely logical. A little hippie influence, I guess, Mikey. What does the old M’Nok data say?”
“The Keblarians were part of the old alliance the M’Nok were part of,” Mikey said, his Brooklyn accent coming in through the earpieces they all wore. “They didn’t have a home planet. Apparently it was lost prior to the alliance forming. They had some colony worlds, but were primarily a thalassocracy.”
“A what?” Swayze asked.
“Thalassocracy,” Henry said. “It is mainly an ancient history term used to refer to a seaborne empire, like the Phoenicians or ancient Carthage.” He paused. “I guess it could refer to a spaceborne empire or people as well.” With a sigh, he stopped and held up his hands. “Sorry, we’re almost talking past each other. Let’s talk about what happened.”
Qrora nodded. “Our team got into orbit and landed near the Armstrong Habitat, meteor defenses damaged our ship, and we made contact with survivors,” he said.
“From there, we split into two teams,” Henry continued. “One protected the habitat, and the other investigated the source of the distress signal. We found a hidden Soviet Moon base, an ancient Forgotten, and its soldiers. Our people believe they were created with nano-machines. We destroyed the Forgotten on the Moon, and we got a signal from the edge of our solar system.”
“Well, we landed, and lobstermen attacked the Cussler Station,” Swayze said. “None of our weapons worked against them, but Qaroww was able to adapt and defeat them. We fixed our weapons, fought more monsters on a cruise ship, then found an undersea base where Qaroww defeated the Architect. We resurfaced to get the same message you did from the Keblarians.”
“So they kind of hang out in their spaceships and just bump from system to system?” Carlos asked. “Must take forever.”
“Well, it would, but they apparently have faster-than-light technology,” Mikey said. “They’re pretty secretive about it, though, and according to the records, alliance ships with FTL drives had to have exclusively Keblarian techs maintaining it. Oh, and speaking of forbidden technology, Qaroww got loaded up with Forgotten nano-machines during the last fight.”
“What?” Qrora snapped. His younger brother, thanks to some Lost Light bioengineering, could manipulate and enhance his body at will. Normally, this was just enhanced strength, agility, and durability. While they’d had concerns about public perception of him, particularly due to his connection to the Blacktide—the alien race that had wiped out the alliance—the children who lived in and around Inner Sea saw Qaroww as a real-life superhero. “When was I going to be told this?”
“Well, he seems fine,” Carlos said. “Better, actually. He seems to have some control over the nanos himself. Hopefully he can help us figure out a way to beat these guys.”
Qrora hissed and shook his head. “I’m going to go check on my brother. Can you go introduce them to the Keblarians?”
Henry nodded, and the M’Nok commander scurried off to the med bay.
“So these are the first alien-aliens we’ve met,” Carlos said. “At least, alien-aliens that aren’t also trying to kill us.”
“Doesn’t mean we should trust them,” Henry said. “These guys seem cagey, and I’m not sure if I’d trust them as far as I can throw them.” He sighed. “Granted, they look pretty light, so I think I could throw one fairly far.” He shrugged. “Anyway, let’s go meet them.”
Chapter
Two
The Relentless’s CIC, or Combat Information Center, was nestled safely in the heart of the cigar-shaped vessel. A large rectangular room with monitors, maps, and readouts, it served as the nerve center for the ancient alien warship. It blew Henry’s mind every time he stepped into the room, that it was likely built millions of years before humanity took its first steps, or the M’Noks quit eating bugs.
“Gentlemen,” H’kai said as they entered. The M’Nok shiplord served as the commander-in-chief for all commonwealth forces, standing tall enough to look Henry’s tall frame in the eye, and wearing the same armor grunts wore. “It’s good to see the Abyss team back.” He gestured over his shoulder to a tall woman with dark, shoulder-length hair reading a screen. “This is Miss Nancy Gardner. She may be out of a job as the Armstrong Habitat’s mayor, but we’ve needed a dedicated navigator for the Relentless for a while.”
She turned and gave the Abyss team a sheepish smile. “I was a C-5 pilot for almost six years. This ship is nothing.”
Henry nodded and looked over at Carlos.
“She was solid on the moon. Ya’ll will like her.”
Just as he finished speaking, their new guest walked in. The Keblarians were tall on average, more so than the M’Nok and Humans. Their guest, who’d arrived in a scout ship far ahead of the main body, wore a simple forest green utility uniform, with a single elaborate design over her left breast pocket. Her face looked almost Human, except it was too sharp, her exposed skin otherworldly pale, too beautiful to be quite Human. The pointed ears, though, had forever associated the words “Space Elves” with the Keblarians.
“This is Illyana,” Henry said. “She’s come ahead of her fleet to make contact with us.”
“Are these the men we had to wait on?” she asked. Her voice had a soft, almost songli
“His brother was injured in the last mission, so he’s seeing to him now,” Carlos said.
A difference Henry had noticed was that the Keblarians didn’t emote with their faces as much as Humans. Illyana’s mouth twisted downward slightly.
“Well, I cannot wait any longer. Your people have been sitting in the dark for too long, only knowing half-truths and what you have gathered for yourselves,” she said. “The enemy you call the Forgotten are an ancient machine race. Millions of years ago, they drove my people into the stars in search of refuge, much as the Blacktide drove the alliance members apart.”
“Do you have a specific timeline for this?” Issac asked.
Illyana blinked, and Henry wondered if his younger brother had startled their guest.
“Sorry,” Henry said. “Illyana, this is my brother Issac Wells, one of our scientific advisors.” He cocked his head as more people walked in. “Chloe Matsura you’ve met. This is Warrant Officer Astreia, and Qrora’s back.” He made some space so everyone could see.
“I’m sorry,” Issac said as Illyana’s harsh glare turned to him. “I have a theory about the Blacktide and the Forgotten’s origins, but that can wait.”
“Well, if we can avoid interrupting me again, I would like to hear this theory after I’ve finished,” she replied. “When the Forgotten came to our homeworld, they did so with four highly advanced beings at the helm. They called themselves gods and demanded our obedience along with sacrifices and tribute.” She paused. “They called themselves the Architect, the Baron, the Navigator, and the Warlock. The Architect created structures and soldiers suitable for our world. The Navigator brought them there, and the Baron led their forces in battle.”
“What about the Warlock?” H’Kai asked.
Illyana shook her head. “He was the most mysterious of them. We never found out what he did, but many suspect that he conducted dark experiments on our people.”
Henry tapped on his chin.
“Well, it sounds like two down, two to go,” he said. Her sharp eyes narrowed at him, and Henry shrugged.
“Impossible. Their gods vanished millions of years ago,” she said.
“We defeated the Navigator on the Moon,” Henry replied, “and the Architect under the ocean. That’s fifty percent of these so-called gods.”
“Hell, Qaroww beat the Architect by punching him,” Carlos said. “More or less.”
Isaac held up a hand. “Before we get ahead of ourselves, this kinda goes back to my theory.” He stepped forward and asked Gway to put up an image of the tidepool and the Forgotten’s ships, bug-like constructs that resembled a streamlined version of the Navigator. “Alright, we know, vaguely, how the Forgotten work. They consume biomass to produce their soldiers, weapons, and ships, correct?”
Illyana nodded.
“Well, from what we’ve seen, the Blacktide fundamentally do the same,” Issac said. “Except they do it with a macro-virus rather than nano-machines. They’re more efficient in some ways, but the fact the Forgotten got stuck here is telling.” He gestured to the tidepool and the Forgotten ship. “Now, look how similar they are.” He folded his hands in front of him. “I don’t want to get into long rambling explanations, but the M’Nok existed and we didn’t have any evidence. At least that was obvious to us, but what’s to say an even more ancient civilization didn’t exist?” He swallowed.
“I believe the Forgotten landed on Earth in the Precambrian era and encountered the Blacktide in their original form.”
“Their original form?” Shiplord H’Kai asked.
Issac nodded.
“What we’ve encountered so far from the Blacktide is their equipment, their ships, and the macro-virus that makes it happen,” Issac said. “I believe the original Blacktide developed the way they did in order to fight the Forgotten.” He held up a hand. “Now, I know what you’re thinking, and I know, it’s a bit of a jump, but this machine race with its nano-machines could probably adapt to whatever tech they had. Why bother building ships when the enemy can just reformat them and use them against you?”
He swallowed hard. “So when Qaroww was getting looked at in the medbay, we ran a few tests on his blood, since he has both the macro-virus and the nano-machines in his body. Gway, can you pull up the results?”
“Roger dodger!” the bubbly AI replied and brought up images on the main monitor. “And we are live from Qaroww’s bloodstream, where the nano-machines are currently getting blown out by the macro-virus.” On-screen, simple machines the size of red blood cells struggled against large virus cells. The viruses engulfed the smaller nano-machines, and when they reemerged, their outer shell had been eaten away.
“As you can see, once the outer shell is gone, the nano-machines switch over to the home team. We’re not sure why this happens, but it seems like the Blacktide macro-virus is indeed built to fight nano-machines.”
“Like anti-bodies,” Issac said.
“So you’re saying that Earth is not only the home of the M’Nok,” H’Kai began, “not just the home of humanity, but also the homeworld of the Blacktide, the alien force that drove us back to Earth, thousands of years ago?”
Issac shrugged.
“Well, it could have been a colony world or some kind of outpost,” he replied. “There were two mass extinctions between them and the Mesozoic. The Permian extinction wiped out 90% of life on the planet, but I believe this is where they made their stand, and for whatever reason, they left.”
“Do we still have more samples from the tidepool?” Henry asked. “Is there a way we can use the Blacktide against the Forgotten?”
“We’re not putting Earth at risk,” H’Kai said. “Worlds swallowed by the Blacktide were never heard from again. Outside of the localized instance of the Blacktide in Qaroww, this is a weapon we can’t control.”
“Well, we need to prepare for a combat drop then,” Henry said. “We’re nearing the fortress in Atlanta. I don’t relish having to clear all of these out with an assault, but if that’s what it takes—”
“There will be no need for some of that,” H’kai replied. “Motherships are moving to take care of the outposts in Central Asia and Argentina. We can’t do that to the rest, though, because of civilian casualties.”
“It won’t matter if you’re capable of overcoming the fortress,” Illyana said. “The Forgotten will keep fighting as long as the Baron and Warlock live.”
Henry shrugged.
“Well, we’ll just figure out where they are and deal with them.” With that, he left with the others to get the Midnight teams ready.
Somewhere in Central Asia
In the center of a vast wilderness, an ancient thing plotted and planned. Between stretches of mountain and roaming herds, a monolith of technological terror rose from the ground at the behest of a master on the other side of the world. Its orders were clear: dominate the immediate area, begin creating soldiers, and await further orders. Something was wrong, but the fortress couldn’t tell what. The grand plan was a need-to-know piece of information, and the fortress didn’t have a need to know.
Some locals had attacked it with primitive aircraft, carbon-burning delta-wings that fired chemical warheads at it. It only took a few bursts of hot plasma to discourage further curiosity from the locals.
Maybe it was the primitive nature of the attack craft, but the fortress didn’t prioritize orbital tracking or high altitude. If it had been a little more cautious, maybe it would have noticed a star in the beautiful night sky was a touch too bright. In the vast heavens unspoiled by the light of humanity, a star slowly moved until it presided over the fortress.
High above the quiet machinery on the ground, Human and M’Nok crews worked tirelessly to purge the invaders. Their targeting telemetry looked good, accounting for air drag, terminal velocity, as well as the curve and rotation of the Earth. Within seconds, Tungsten-carbide rods, each the length of a skyscraper, were sent on their way to the surface. Breaking through the sound barrier, the first rod didn’t allow the fortress any time to react, entering its airspace and annihilating 70% of its air-defense and air-warning capabilities. The rest of the half dozen rods cleared the board, collapsing subterranean structures and wiping out anything that survived the initial blast.
