The Pike Chronicles - Books 1 - 10

by Hudson, G. P.

  The Pike Chronicles

  Books 1-10

  G.P. Hudson

  © 2021

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  The Pike Chronicles:

  Sol Shall Rise – Book 1 of The Pike Chronicles

  Prevail – Book 2 of The Pike Chronicles

  Ronin – Book 3 of The Pike Chronicles

  Ghost Fleet – Book 4 of The Pike Chronicles

  Interstellar War – Book 5 of The Pike Chronicles

  Vanquish – Book 6 of The Pike Chronicles

  Galactic Empire – Book 7 of The Pike Chronicles

  Armada – Book 8 of The Pike Chronicles

  Galactic War – Book 9 of The Pike Chronicles

  Galactic Vanguard – Book 10 of The Pike Chronicles

  Cursed Stars – Book 11 of The Pike Chronicles

  Fall of the Terran Empire:

  War Without End – Fall of the Terran Empire Book 1

  The Tortuous Path – Fall of the Terran Empire Book 2

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in the book are fictional and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form, other than for review purposes, without the permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

  Cover art by Tom Edwards

  Book 1 - Sol Shall Rise

  CHAPTER 1

  Sometimes life isn’t short enough.

  Jon cursed as his eyes opened. Cursed at the light, and at the weapon pointed at him.

  He closed them again, hoping to fall back into oblivion. No luck. Where was he?

  Jon opened his eyes again. Energy weapon still trained on him. Trembling hand. Not a soldier, not a real threat.

  Jon looked up at a swollen pock marked face. Gray eyes looked back at him, wide and panicked. There was something about them. Something familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

  He tried to clear his mind and some memories trickled through. Not enough to understand things yet, but he started to get his bearings.

  A sweet smell filled the air. A scent he knew. Red Dust. That made sense. The confusion. The memory lapse. Everything would come back to him soon enough.

  Disjointed memories continued to flash in Jon’s mind. His wife. His children. The grief of their loss. His heart pounded violently against his ribs, the memory almost too much to bear.

  More memories flooded his mind and he saw a myriad of faces. Frightened, pleading faces begging for mercy. A familiar cold detachment took hold and stifled his grief.

  He heard yelling behind him and he turned his attention towards it. There, a large bearded man pointed a gun at someone else. Thick well defined muscles roped across the man’s arms and shoulders. Dark eyebrows snapped together bordering cold, murderous eyes.

  A third man sat in a chair. Blood poured from his nose and his eye had swollen shut. Jon watched a meaty hand pound the side of the injured man’s head. Despite the swelling Jon was sure he knew him.

  Just then something alien inside Jon stirred and his stomach lurched. Dread climbed up his spine and he almost panicked, but forced the feeling away.

  What the hell was that? he thought.

  He focused on the man in the chair. His name was Max. They were friends. Max had a lost look on his face. The poor bastard was taking a good beating. But for what?

  He looked around and realized he was in Max’s apartment. The room itself looked like it had taken as much of a beating as Max. Glass shards littered the floor, a table was upended, the holo-emitter destroyed.

  How long was I asleep?

  Lucidity returned as the effects of the Red Dust continued to wear off. He recognized the alien creature inside his belly again. His muscles hardened as it continued to awaken.

  Red Dust. That must be what they want.

  No surprise, it was what many wanted. Red Dust was instant insomnia. It made the real world disappear. Most people used it to forget their wartime haunts. Jon was no different. He wanted to forget the wars and his part in them.

  It also subdued the creature in his belly. An added perk.

  Looking back in Max's direction he saw things had deteriorated. The bearded man had wound an electrical cord around Max's neck, and twisted and pulled from behind. Max tried to dig his fingers in between the cord and his windpipe, desperate to save it from being crushed.

  Anger spiked through Jon. His rage fed the creature.

  Adrenalin surged through his body and cleared his mind. He recognized the attackers now. He had seen them at Max's place before. Red Dust customers. The shaky one pointing the gun at him was Roch and the big one strangling Max was Azzan.

  Fucking junkies.

  Azzan pulled on the cord with all his strength and yanked Max off his chair. Azzan dragged Max gagging and thrashing across the floor, his face turning a bluish purple. He didn't have long. Maybe a few seconds at most.

  “You're going to kill him. We're not supposed to kill them!” said Roch.

  Azzan ignored Roch's pleas and didn't let up, his mouth widening into a savage grin. Max’s life ticked away.

  Jon's hands balled together into hard fists. He looked back at Roch. His gun pointed straight at Jon’s head, finger tight on the trigger, knuckles white from the tension.

  The creature awoke. His body coiled. Time to act.

  Roch yelled at Azzan again and his gun shifted enough to give Jon an opportunity. In a blur of movement Jon sprang up, grabbed Roch's wrist and twisted. The gun discharged harmlessly, and Jon ripped it out of Roch's hand.

  Jon drove a heel into Roch’s knee and the sickening sound of snapping cartilage filled the room. He released his grip and let Roch crumple to the floor, screaming and clutching his broken knee.

  Jon felt the creature's silent roar and moved as if set off by a hair trigger.

  Spinning round he saw Azzan reaching for his own gun. Azzan had no chance. Jon streaked across the room and hammered the gun's stock into Azzan's jaw. A molar launched into the air and Azzan collapsed, the sheer force of the blow leaving him unconscious. Jon wanted to crush Azzan's skull under his boot, but suppressed the urge and turned to Max.

  The sight made his stomach drop. Max's limp body lay inert on the floor. Had he acted too late? Cursing himself for his weakness he reached down and placed a hand on Max's carotid artery, feeling for a pulse.

  Still alive.

  Jon exhaled in relief, but his body flexed, coiled in anticipation of more combat. He knew he would remain like this, his entire body like a tight spring, and there would be no respite. The creature would see to that.

  Max stirred and Jon turned him over onto his back. He tried to speak but heaved a groan of pain instead.

  “It's ok, just relax for a minute,” said Jon.

  He propped him up in a sitting position making him cough in violent spasms. Jon inspected his neck. Other than it being heavily bruised, he found no permanent damage.

  “Ok buddy, your neck looks good. Just some bruises. You'll just need to rest for a bit.” Max nodded.

  Jon got up and walked over to Roch, who lay in the corner sobbing. His leg jutted out in an obscene angle where Jon broke it. Jon wanted answers and Roch was going to give them to him.

  “Why are you two lowlifes here?” said Jon.

  Roch continued to wail.

  “Stop crying or I'll break your other leg.”

  Roch's eyes widened and he bit his lip, his cries now
just whimpers.

  “Why are you here?”

  “We came for the Red Dust,” Roch said.

  Roch was lying. After hundreds of interrogations Jon knew a lie when he saw one. That these two were trying to steal Red Dust seemed the obvious answer, and yet Roch lied. Jon stepped on Roch's broken knee, digging the heel of his boot deep into the mangled flesh. Roch screamed in agony.

  “Let’s try that again and this time I want the truth. Why are you here?”

  “Please! I already told you the truth. We came to steal the Red Dust.”

  Jon grabbed Roch's ankle and pulled upwards, still grinding his heel into the battered knee.

  Roch howled. “Ok! Ok! I'll tell you the truth!”

  Jon ignored Roch's pleas and continued wrenching his knee. Roch screamed and writhed in pain as Jon taught him the cost of playing games. When it looked like he would lose consciousness, Jon stopped.

  “Mr. Yang sent us.”

  Jon looked back at Roch in disbelief. “Mr. Yang? The Triad? What does the Triad want with me?”

  “They want that thing inside you, they –”

  “My symbiont? How do they know about my symbiont?”

  “I don’t know. They didn’t tell us anything else. They just said to make sure we didn’t kill you.”

  “Kill me? That’s funny.” Jon was quickly losing any respect for the Triad. “Why would they send you two idiots? Why not send professionals?”

  Roch didn't answer. Jon moved to step on his knee again.

  “To make it look Red Dust related. They didn't want the blowback.”

  Jon understood. A professional operation would attract unwanted attention. The creature was military property after all, and even the Triad couldn’t withstand the onslaught its theft would trigger.

  Still, this was a ballsy move, even for the Triad. But it didn’t make any sense. Something wasn’t right. Roch seemed like he was telling the truth, but his story sounded ridiculous.

  Jon left Roch whimpering on the floor and went back to check on Max. “I have to get going. I'm going to take these two with me. Just get some rest ok?

  Max nodded and forced a smile.

  Jon went back to Roch and Azzan. He found some rope and hogtied their hands and legs behind their backs. He effortlessly lifted both men, one in each hand, and carried them outside.

  The darkness shielded him from curious eyes. Max lived in a less populated section of Hong Kong, one that had been hit hard during the wars. Many buildings were mere shells, and the few people who did live here didn't ask many questions. It made sense for Max, considering his line of work.

  Jon lugged Roch and Azzan down a narrow street. The darkness almost complete. Azzan was awake now and they both groaned with each step.

  Roch pleaded again, “Please don't kill us. We'll disappear. You'll never see us again.”

  “Oh, I'm sure I won't. I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to dump you off somewhere and you can figure the rest out on your own. Now shut up before I change my mind.”

  They continued to moan but didn’t dare speak.

  Jon soon came upon the bombed out shell of an old building, one of the many scabs left on the landscape from the wars. It was a bizarre mix of mangled steel and concrete. The roof had a gaping hole, and the entire left side of the building was crumbling and blackened from fires that had long since burned out. In contrast, the right side was still solid and seemed structurally sound. At least it didn't look like it was going to collapse anytime soon. As good a place as any.

  Jon hauled his two captives into the structure and threw them onto a pile of garbage left by the building's previous occupants. They couldn't do much harm here and someone would eventually find them and let them go.

  “You know what’ll happen if I see you again?” said Jon.

  The two nodded.

  “Good.”

  Jon turned to leave, feeling the creature's protests as he stepped toward the exit. He knew it still considered Roch and Azzan a threat, but he didn't care. They weren't a threat and he wouldn't kill them. Ignoring the creature he continued to leave.

  A searing pain started in his bowels making him bend at the waist. Lurching forward, he took a couple more steps.

  The pain spread in violent waves through his intestines, into his abdomen, attacking his kidneys and then his lungs.

  Unable to withstand anymore, he collapsed. He writhed in agony as the creature punished him for his obstinance.

  Jon endured the pain for several minutes. He had given in and agreed to comply, but the pain continued, punitive in nature, ruthless in execution.

  When the creature decided Jon had suffered enough, the pain stopped. Curled up in a fetal position he gasped for air, relieved that the ordeal was over.

  In the same way the pain had ripped through his body, a comforting warmth now washed over him bringing with it much needed relief.

  A few minutes passed. Jon stood, turned and walked toward Roch and Azzan. They gaped back at him, a look of shock on their faces, trying to comprehend what they just witnessed.

  Standing in front of them Jon apologized and then, in two quick motions, snapped each of their necks.

  CHAPTER 2

  General Tallos looked down at the blue planet below, its oceans reminding him of home. Why had he been summoned to such an insignificant corner of the galaxy?

  He had heard whispers about these humans, about how the Great See’er considered them extraordinary in some way. For the life of him, he did not see it. They were merely another upstart species propped up by Diakan might. If not for Diakan intervention these humans would still be Juttari slaves. They owed everything to Diakus. Every breath they took was a Diakan gift.

  Why bring him here? Why waste his expertise on these creatures? The Juttari had been defeated, the human defenses shored, this system secured. He knew of nothing that would require him to travel all this way.

  He hoped the need would not be too great. He assured himself it would be no more than some minor advisory services and then he could finally return to Diakus.

  He had been away from the home world for far too long. The wars had pulled him to many different corners of the galaxy, like this one.

  Too many planets. Too many battles. Even when the wars ended there was work for him to do. Diakan space had expanded, and it needed to be secured. His advisory services were in greater demand than he expected.

  But he longed for the home world. He longed to see the great oceans of Diakus again. When was the last time he felt the heat of its giant red star on his skin? How long since he gazed upon the many moons, floating in the sky like orbs, so close you thought you could scoop them into your hands.

  Soon, he thought. Soon.

  “Ambassador Varyos will see you now,” said a synthetic voice. A door behind him slid open and he turned from the window and walked through.

  “Greetings General Tallos,” said Ambassador Varyos.

  “Greetings Ambassador.” He wondered why someone with Varyos’s reputation would be posted as Ambassador to the humans. By all accounts this was a junior position. Who did he offend to get banished here? Tallos wondered if he himself hadn’t unwittingly offended a high ranking official somewhere. Could that be it? Was this some sort of banishment? He shuddered at the thought.

  “I am sure you are wondering why you have been summoned to such a remote system.”

  “The order is curious.” It was more than curious. It was offensive, but he dared not say so.

  “What do you know of the humans, General?”

  “I know that they were Juttari slaves. Now their system is a Diakan protectorate. The only reason this system has any strategic significance at all is the jump gate it has access to.”

  “And what of their capabilities?”

  Whispers. Only whispers. “They are unimpressive. They rely on Diakan technology and assistance for their survival. Without our help they are like children alone and adrift on a vast sea.”

  “The Gre
at See’er has foretold otherwise.”

  Could the whispers be true?

  “The humans will rise to power in the galaxy,” Varyos continued.

  “Impossible,” Tallos said. “They barely stand on their own. Without a Diakan presence in their system the Juttari Empire would conquer them again.”

  “For now. This will change, quicker than you believe possible.”

  “I do not presume to question the Great See’er. If She has foretold of their rise, then it is so. What else has She seen? Do they become a threat to Diakus?”

  “It is unclear, but their rise is certain. The Great See’er warns that it is imperative that their ascension be controlled. If it is managed they will not become a threat to Diakus.”

  “And if we cannot manage their ascension?”

  “Then they must be terminated before they become too powerful.”

  “Why not terminate their species now and avoid the potential threat altogether?”

  “The Great See’er has foretold of yet another threat. One as yet undiscovered. The humans will contain that threat. Without them it will grow unchecked and plague our borders, eventually weakening the Empire. As Diakus weakens others will grow bold and challenge our power. Over time Diakus will atrophy and our enemies will feed on our withering bones, the Empire a forgotten legend.”

  “This cannot be allowed. Diakus has gained too much, at too high a cost.”

  “By Her Will, Diakus shall prevail. The Great See’er is wise beyond comprehension.” Varyos bowed his head in reverence.

  “By Her Will,” said Tallos, bowing his head as well. After a few moments the two Diakans raised their heads. “How may I serve Diakus?”

  CHAPTER 3

  Jon walked for a couple of hours, making his way down a hill along a winding road. Signs of progress dotted the landscape. Everywhere he looked he saw growth. Many buildings had already risen from the ruins like defiant fists. It made him hopeful.