Exodus: Empires at War:
Book 8:
Soldiers.
by
Doug Dandridge
Dedication
This novel is dedicated to all of the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines who have fought and died through the ages for the freedom and safety of the people of their nation. This includes, of course, the pilots and Airmen of the modern Air Forces. Your sacrifices will be remembered.
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Copyright © 2015 Doug Dandridge
All rights reserved.
Please respect the hard work of this author. If you found this book for free on a pirate site, please visit Amazon and buy a copy of your own. I feel that I charge a reasonable price for this work.
For more information on the Exodus Universe, visit http://dougdandridge.net for maps, sketches and other details of this work.
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank all of my fans, especially those who sent emails or commented on blogs about how much they enjoyed the first four books of this series. Your kind words gave me the impetus to continue through the not so kind words left in some reviews. And special thanks to Ruth de Jauregui, who helped with the covers on all of the Exodus series. Her changes improved all of the covers.
Books by Doug Dandridge
Doug Dandridge’s Author Page at Amazon
Science Fiction
The Exodus Series
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 1
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 2
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 3: The Rising Storm.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 4: the Long Fall.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 5: Ranger
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 6: The Day of Battle
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 7: Counter Strike:
Exodus: Tales of the Empire: Exploration Command:
Exodus: Machine Wars: Book 1: Supernova.
The Deep Dark Well Series
The Deep Dark Well
To Well and Back
Deeper and Darker
Others
The Shadows of the Multiverse
Diamonds in the Sand
The Scorpion
Afterlife
We Are Death, Come for You
Five By Five 3: Target Zone:
Fantasy
The Refuge Series
Refuge: The Arrival: Book 1
Refuge: The Arrival: Book 2
Refuge: Book 3: The Legions
Refuge: Book 4: Kurt’s Quest:
Doppelganger: A Novel of Refuge
Others
The Hunger
Daemon
Aura
“Marathon”
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Cast of Characters
The Capital
Emperor Sean Ogden Lee Romanov: Born Year 971 (29 years old). Fifth child and the third son of the late Emperor Augustine Romanov.
Empress Jennifer Conway Romanov: Sean’s Wife and Physician.
Grand High Admiral Sondra McCullom: Chief of Naval Operations.
Field Marshal Betty Parker: Commandant of the Imperial Marine Corps
Grand Marshal Mishori Yamakuri: Army Chief of Staff.
Prime Minister Countess Haruko Kawasaki.
Ekaterina Sergiov: Chief of Imperial Intelligence Agency.
Countess Esmeralda Zhee: Member of the Lords’ Opposition Party.
Baron Emile von Hausser Schmidt: Leader of the House of Lords.
Capital Police Lieutenant and Imperial Naval Captain Ishuhi Rykio: Former Naval Commando.
Fiona Ogden Lee Romanov: Sean’s older sister.
The Fleet
Commodore Duchess Mei Lei: Hyper VII battle cruiser squadron commander.
Captain the Duke Maurice von Rittersdorf: Squadron Commander hyper VII destroyer squadron.
Ensign Lasardo: Rittersdorf’s tactical officer.
Commodore Bryce Suttler: Commodore commanding HIMS Seastag (Stealth Attack 421) and Stealth/Attack Squadron.
Grand Fleet Admiral Duke Taelis Mgonda: Admiral in command of Hyper VII battle force.
Grand Fleet Admiral Gabriel Len Lenkowski: Commander: Battle Fleet.
Fleet Admiral Jerry Kelvin: Commander, New Moscow Assault Force.
Rear Admiral Lawrence Kelso: Fleet Admiral Kelvin’s Chief of Staff.
Commodore Sheila Stepanowski: Task Force Leader, New Moscow Fleet.
Captain Vladimir Schmidt: Captain, HICS (His Imperial Czar’s Ship) Sevastopol.
Commodore Natasha Romanov: Commander of NTR Light Cruiser Orleans.
Commodore Mary Innocent: Sean’s Intelligence Officer.
Commodore Natasha Sung: Commanding Officer, exploration mission to the far side of Ca’cadasan Space.
Captain Beauregard Morris: Inertialess Fighter Wing Commander, Zokoku I.
Fleet Admiral Jumar Akai: Imperial Fleet Commander, Right Wing of Fenri Assault.
Admiral Theodosius Glaven: Akai’s second in command.
Lt. Commander Nahuel Runningdeer: Naval Commando.
Imperial Army
Cornelius Walborski: Ranger Captain and two time holder of the Imperial Medal of Heroism.
Senior Marshal Beatrice Sanginawa: Imperial Army Commander of Sector IV.
General Lucius Arbuckle: Commander, Fifteenth Army.
Lieutenant General Samuel Baggett: Heavy Infantry Corps Commander,
Lt General Walther Jodel, The Preacher: Head of Special Ops in Sector IV.
Major General Hri’stanna: Phlistaran Commander of the 512th Heavy Infantry Division.
Major General McPherson: Commander 47th Heavy Infantry Division.
Major General Patrice Napoli: 25th Armored Division.
Colonel Pham: Ranger Regimental Commander.
Lt. Colonel Montaigne: Ranger Battalion Commander.
Captain Stella Artois: Engineering Officer.
Captain Nora Kevista: Flight Leader, F310 Pteranadon.
First Sergeant Renhard Fujardo: Ranger Company Sergeant.
Sergeant Emanuel Sargasso: Ranger.
Sergeant Slater: Ranger.
Corporal Ramirez: Ranger.
Ca’cadasans
Great Admiral H’rastarawaa: Commander New Moscow Space.
High Admiral Lisantr’nana Mishrantaow: Commander, New Moscow System.
General Jawa'therista: Ground Commander, New Moscow Planet.
Fenri
Supreme Emperor Jrastrina Jastrinae: Ruler of the Fenri Empire.
Supreme Fleet Leader Kalisana Jastrinae: Commander of the Fenri Fleet.
Others
Sonia Rupert: IIA Agent, former member of Imperial Protection Detail.
Devera Walborski: Warrant Officer Medic and the wife of Cornelius.
Rebecca Walborski: Sean and Devera’s adopted daughter.
Cat Jeffries: Processing Camp Inmate, New Moscow.
Rory Caronones: Ex-police Detective and Camp Inmate, New Moscow.
Elizabeth Caronones: Rory’s daughter and Cat’s friend.
Pietrov Gorbunov: Former New Moscow Army Colonel.
Sharon Vakhrusshev: New Moscow Resistance Leader.
Timeline
2151 AD: Hiro Yamamoto discovers subspace portal generator. Opens subspace dimension to transport of human colonists.
2160 AD: Alpha Centauri B4 colony established.
2173 AD: Tau Ceti III colony established.
2208 AD: Humanity has spread to eight inhabitable systems within 20 light years of Sol.
2250 AD: 12 million humans living outside of the solar system.
2254 AD: First contact with Ca’cadasans on Epsilon Iridani V. Human colony destroyed without warning or trace. Incoming ship discovers colony destroyed and runs back to human space with news.
2256 AD: Human colony at Altair V attacked and destroyed.
2257 AD: United Solar System Fleet established to fight alien threat.
2260 AD: Battle of Tau Ceti, humans meet Ca’cadasans with a five to one advantage in mass and are handily defeated.
2261 AD: Construction started on the six Exodus ships to allow some of humanity to make it to safety outside of human space.
2264 AD: Ca’cadasans, having destroyed all of humanity’s colonies, attack the solar system in force. Five completed Exodus ships attempt to leave the system under heavy escort. Two are destroyed before they can make it into subspace. Two enter subspace with pursuit, while Exodus III makes a clean breakaway into subspace.
2264 - 3260 AD: The Long Voyage. With several fueling stops and explorations, Exodus III travels along the galactic rim and toward the core, traversing 9,760 light years from Sol.
3261 AD: Supersystem discovered, along with remains of ancient civilization that had once owned it. First human colony founded on Jewel. Year 1 of New Human Empire.
3268 AD (Year 8): Humans make contact with traveling merchant ship from Elysium Empire. Discover thriving civilizations that sprung from the ancient civilization that used to inhabit the Supersystem.
3361 AD (Year 100): Population 2,000,000+. Establishment of the Fleet.
3460 AD (Year 199): Beginning of Terraforming projects around super system.
3573 to 3579 AD (Year 312 to 318): First Gardasian War, human victory.
3589 to 3592 AD (Year 328 to 331): Second Gardasian War, human victory, Gardasian race absorbed into human empire.
3619 to 3621 AD (Year 358 to 361): First Markanan War, human victory.
3669 to 3676 AD (Year 408 to 415): Second Markanan War, human victory, Markanans absorbed into human empire.
3696 to 3698 AD (Year 435 to 437): Kiniman War, Kiniman race absorbed into the human empire.
3724 to 3733 AD (Year 463 to 472): First Crakastan War, human victory.
3744 to 3762 AD (Year 483 to 501): First Lasharan War, human victory.
3772 to 3784 AD (Year 511 to 523): Second Lasharan War, human victory.
3797 to 3801 AD (Year 536 to 540): First Margravi War, human victory.
3803 to 3808 AD (Year 542 to 547): War of Revolt, Imperial Victory, 150 million humans leave Empire to found Republic of Mankind.
3809 to 3814 AD (Year 548 to 553): Civil War, Constance the Great triumphs over Cassius the Terrible (II).
3815 AD (Year 554): New Constitution establishes Constitutional Monarchy. (Bill of Freedoms added in Year 607).
3841 to 3846 AD (Year 585 to 590). Machine Revolt. Human built autonomous robots rebel against humanity. Billions die before the revolt is stopped, Man in the Loop Law enacted.
3848 to 3853 AD (Year 587 to 592). Second Crakastan War, human victory.
3873 to 3876 AD (Year 612 to 615): Third Cracastan War, human victory.
3892 to 3897 AD (Year 631 to 635): Second Margravi War, human victory, ends with alliance of Margravi and Klashak with human empire.
3913 to 3936 AD (Year 652 to 673): First Galactic War (against Lashar, Crakasta and Fenri).
3984 AD (Year 723): Donut Project approved and construction planning begins.
3984 to 4000 AD (Year 723 to 739): Elysium War, marginal human victory.
4007 to 4008 AD (Year 746 to 747): War of Man, humanity (Imperium) against humanity (Republic). Political pressures bring an end to short, sharp war.
4009 to 4114 AD (Year 748 to 853): The Century of Peace. Empire involved in no extra empire or border hostilities.
4065 AD (Year 804): Dissidents from New Terra Republic found the Grand Duchy of New Moscow.
4114 to 4131 AD (Year 853 to 870): Second Galactic War, Elysium, Lashar and Fenri against Empire, New Terra and Margrave/Klashak, human victory.
4167 to 4180 AD (Year 906 to 921): Third Galactic War, humanity's victory.
4206 to 4216 AD (Year 945 to 955): Klang Consortium attacks New Moscow. Empire of Terra and Republic of New Terra come in on New Moscow’s side.
4256 AD (Year 985): Donut Generates first working wormhole gate.
4261 AD (Year 1000): Empire celebrates 1000 years of existence and growth. January 1, 1000 local Galactic calendar.
March 15th, 1000, Ca’cadasan invasion of Empire begins in earnest with the attack on Sestius and Massadara.
March 29-April 5th 1000, Sean leads rescue mission to Sestius.
April 27th, 1000. Sean crowned in Capitulum.
May 26th, 1000. Conundrum system taken by the Cacas.
June 7th, 1000. Klassekians discovered by Exploration Command.
December 27th, 1000. Exploration missions launched to other side of Ca’cadasan Empire, Galactic Core and Greater Magellanic Cloud.
December 30th 1000 through January 2nd, 1001. Cacas wiped out the planets Cimmeria and Aquilonia, killing over seven billion humans.
January 10th,1001. Human counter strike takes out Caca station in Massadara space.
May 28th, 1001. Crakistan Empire joins the Alliance against the Cacas.
July 6th, 1001. Imperial Human forces attacks the Lasharan Homeworld.
August 30th, 1001. New Terran Empire attacks into Fenri Space.
September 18th, 1001. Combined New Terran Republic/Crakistan Empire force defeats Ca’cadasan force in the Xenia system.
November 18th-19th, 1001. Battle of Congreeve. New Terran Empire Fleet traps Ca’cadasan Fleet in an ambush and savages them.
November 27-28th, 1001. Ca’cadasan commando force strikes at Elysium Home World and the Donut.
December 12th, 1001. Sean and Jennifer wed, and Shape Shifters attempt assassination of the couple.
January 8-9th, 1002. Imperial Fleet defeats Ca’cadasan forces in Imperial Space.
February 10th, 1002. Renegade Machines are discovered in extra-Imperial space.
The Story So Far
In 2254 the human species had spread to eight star systems after the discovery of the Subspace drive, allowing humankind to achieve pseudospeeds of over eleven times the speed of light. That was the year the human species first encountered the long lived Ca’cadasans, three meter tall horned carnivores whose empire had been expanding for thousands of years. That was the year the aliens attacked the Epsilon Iridani V colony. When the heir to their imperial throne was killed after the colony had surrendered, the Emperor ordered the complete extermination of the human species. After a short, sharp war, humanity had no other option than to try and flee the killer aliens. The six Exodus ships were built, each capable of moving fifty thousand humans in cryostasis, along with all the knowledge of the human species. One ship is known to have gotten away through subspace, a dimension through which the more advanced hyperspace faring Ca’cadasans are not prepared to follow. Four generations of crew navigated the Exodus III over ten thousand light years in a thousand years, reestablishing humanity in a system of eight stars in orbit around a black hole, the Supersystem. Once the home of an extinct species that had helped raise most of the intelligent races of the area to technical civilizations, it was also the perfect region for the newcomers. Over the next thousand years the New Terran Empire fights, wins and expands in a number of wars, improving their technology at breakneck speed, becoming the dominant military power of the region. Humanity also improves its genome, becoming stronger, faster and smarter, and seemed destined to rule the Perseus Arm, given time.
On the thousand year anniversary of the empire, Emperor Augustine I is having prophetic dreams, the gift and curse of his line. He has seen the ancient enemy returning, finding the human species disunited in its three governments, and utterly destroying
them. Augustine has fought to expand the military, running into obstructionism from the Lords House of Parliament. It is an uphill battle in the Constitutional Monarchy the Empire has become. Meanwhile, the Donut, a century long engineering project, is nearing completion. The enormous station, built as a ring around a black hole, and using the swirling gravitational energy to generate wormholes, has begun to make the many portals that will be used to eventually link the Empire. And spies have infested the Empire, a race of shape shifters who make most security measures moot, adding sabotage and espionage to the problems facing the Emperor.
Sean Ogden Lee Romanov, the third son of the Emperor, is a serving naval officer on a battleship in a relatively quiet sector, with no thoughts of ever assuming the throne. He was a mediocre officer, despite his superior intelligence. With two brothers ahead of him in the succession, and a still young father, the throne seems like the least his worries. By this time the Ca’cadasans have made contact with some of the enemies of the Empire, and sent the information back to their leaders. The ancient enemy has been found, and can now be eliminated. Ships begin to disappear in Sector IV, and sightings are made of vessels that fit no known description. Many people refuse to believe these are the Ca’cadasans, and some think that Empire must have fallen in the near past. The Emperor continues to try to rally support for increasing the size of the human military, while Parliament fights him on the economic effects of such a move, and alien powers protest that the humans are planning territorial expansion.
There is an attempted assassination attempt on Sean, and a successful attempt on the Emperor and his two older sons during a tour of the Donut. The assassin is an officer of the Imperial Protection Detail, causing distrust to grow among the agencies charged with the security of the Empire. The same day as the assassination, the Leader of the House of Lords is killed in his home. Sean is now the heir to the Empire, and the man who must be seated as soon as possible on the throne, but he is almost a week’s one way com range from the capital.
The Ca’cadasans now attack, sending large fleets into several industrial or base systems, and smaller forces to many other stars. The Massadara system, a major Imperial base, is one of the systems attacked. Sean is serving on one of the battleships that happens to be in that system, and is aboard the vessel as it heads into combat with the enemy. Word comes to the system that Sean is the uncrowned Emperor, and his ship, against his protests, is ordered out of combat. His ship, the Sergiov, heads out of the system before the main battle begins, a small Ca’cadasan force on its heels. The main battle is joined, and, though it inflicts casualties on the Ca’cadasan fleet that is only about a decade ahead in technology, it is defeated, and the system falls.
Exodus: Empires at War: Book 8: Soldiers (Exodus: Empires at War.) Page 1
