The Dark Star War (Codex Regius Book 3) Read online

  The Dark Star War

  Book Three of the Codex Regius

  By

  Chris Kennedy

  PUBLISHED BY: Chris Kennedy

  Copyright © 2016 Chris Kennedy

  All Rights Reserved

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  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

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  I would like to thank Linda, Beth, Jimmy and Dan, who took the time to critically read this work and make it better. I would also like to thank my mother, without whose steadfast belief in me, I would not be where I am today. Thank you. This book is dedicated to my wife and children, who sacrificed their time with me so I could write it.

  I would also like to thank Jim Beall for his assistance with several aspects of the physics in “The Dark Star War.” Any remaining errors are mine, in spite of his expert aid.

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  Cover art by Brenda Mihalko

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  Author’s Notes

  Note: When more than one race refers to a planet or star, the same name is used by both races in order to prevent confusion. Also, on the topic of planet naming, the normal convention is to add a lower case letter to the name of the parent star (i.e., Tau Ceti ‘b’). The first planet discovered in a system is usually given the designation ‘b,’ and later planets are given subsequent letters as they are found. In order to prevent confusion in this book, the closest planet to the star in a star system is given the letter ‘a,’ with the rest of the planets given subsequent letters in order of their proximity to the star.

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  “Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.”

  ― Napoleon Bonaparte

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Epilogue

  1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment

  Space Fighter Squadron-1, Terran Space Force

  Excerpt from “The Progenitors’ War:”

  About the Author

  Titles by Chris Kennedy

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  Coming Soon From Christopher G. Nuttall!

  Prologue

  Throne Room, Planet Utopia, MOA-2007-BLG-192L System, December 15, 2021

  “Admiral, I don’t understand,” High Lord Sarpedon said. “We had the Terrans outnumbered, but our fleet commander chose not to attack? How can this be when I specifically told you to destroy the Terrans? Did I somehow fail to communicate my intentions clearly? When I said, ‘Destroy the Terrans,’ did I leave room for interpretation on how and when this was to be accomplished? I meant immediately!”

  “No, my lord, and I was equally clear in my instructions to the fleet,” Admiral Rhadamanthus replied. “I told them to seek out every opportunity to destroy the Terrans, wherever they could be found, and to annihilate them.”

  “So explain to me why we had four ships in the same system as the Terran ship Vella Gulf, and none attacked it? The only reason the crew of the Agnosios fought the Terrans was the Vella Gulf attacked them, and they had no choice!”

  “At the time the Agnosios was attacked, the other ships were destroying much larger Terran vessels. Even if they had known the Vella Gulf was there, they probably wouldn’t have attacked it; they were busy destroying the Terrans’ battleships. Then, when they were finished with the battleships, they were concerned about the Vella Gulf’s ability to jump between the universes.”

  “Did you just say my commanding officers were…scared?”

  The high lord’s voice had fallen to not much more than a whisper; the admiral knew that was not a good sign. “No my lord, I did not say that. The commanding officers were unprepared for a ship that could jump between universes and sneak up on the Agnosios like it did; since they didn’t have tactics to fight these new capabilities, they withdrew rather than lose any more of your ships.”

  “The Vella Gulf has now been responsible for the annihilation of two of my ships. I want it destroyed! At all costs! As soon as possible!” All four of his eyes spun to glare at the admiral. “Am I making myself clear?”

  “Abundantly, High Lord,” Admiral Rhadamanthus said. “I will make sure all our ships’ captains know the Vella Gulf is to be destroyed on sight. It will not escape again.”

  “It better not, admiral…or you will be the next to die.”

  “Yes, my lord,” the admiral said with a bow.

  High Lord Sarpedon turned to the Jotunn ambassador. “Now, what is this ‘shield technology’ everyone except us seems to have?” he asked. “Why have you failed to make us aware of it? Are you intentionally limiting our capabilities?”

  “Not at all,” replied the giant, “although the same could be said about your failure to share the technology needed to jump between our universes. We have asked for it on many occasions, and you have yet to make the secret known to us. If the Terrans now have it, they will be difficult for us to defeat, just as your ships are for everyone in our universe.”

  “You have let us down on too many occasions to entrust you with the secrets of piercing the shroud of the universe. Besides, we have developed shield technology on our own. You also never told us about replicators, and they are quite amazing things…”

  Chapter One

  Bridge, Harvest of Flesh, Sssellississ System, December 12, 2021

  All eyes turned toward Calvin as he strode onto the bridge of the Ssselipsssiss ship. Although he’d been onboard for over a week, Terran time, it was the first time he’d been allowed on the bridge. Or pretty much anywhere else. Considering the lizard-like creatures had invited, no, demanded Calvin come with them, they really weren’t making him feel very welcome. None of the Ssselipsssiss said a word; the only sound was a hiss from the lizard sitting in the central chair.

  Calvin’s only companion during the journey had been the Aesir Farhome, wi
th infrequent visits from Ssselipsssiss Ambassador Gresss. The elf-like Farhome was only partly sane, on a good day; he was not the best traveling companion. After a week, Calvin was starting to doubt his own sanity.

  Lieutenant Commander Shawn Hobbs, or ‘Calvin’ to his friends, still wasn’t sure why he was even on the disgustingly-named battleship. Certainly, he was a hostage the Ssselipsssiss were using to make sure the crew of Calvin’s ship, the Terran Space Ship (TSS) Vella Gulf, didn’t bring a Mrowry invasion force with them when they returned. The lizards had already lost most of their territory in the current war, including their capital, and they were desperately clinging to their last few systems. A Mrowry invasion would have wiped them out.

  Based on what Calvin had seen so far, though, it didn’t look like the Ssselipsssiss would be able to hold their remaining systems without outside help. Given that they’d fired on the Terrans unprovoked the first time the two races met, Calvin wasn’t sure that their annihilation was such a bad idea.

  Unless their enemy was worse and, in this case, it looked like it was.

  Based on the enemy’s tactics, it appeared the Ssselipsssiss were fighting the same alien race, the Shaitans, that the Terrans were. If so, the Ssselipsssiss could almost be seen as Terra’s friends. Well, probably not ‘friends,’ but maybe they could be considered allies…at least until their war with the Shaitans ended.

  The Terrans and the Ssselipsssiss would probably have to redefine their relationship after the war, assuming they were both still around. That appeared unlikely, as no one had been able to stop the Shaitans’ advance; so far, the best the Terrans had been able to achieve was a stalemate with them in the Aesir’s home system.

  The Shaitan race lived in another universe and only jumped into the Terran universe to fight. The ability to jump back to their own universe made them hard to fight, because the Shaitans could determine where and when to accept battle. The fact that they had weapons which distorted time also caused…issues.

  “I think what Captain Skrelleth meant,” Ambassador Gresss said, “was, ‘Welcome to the bridge.’” At seven and a half feet tall, the ambassador was an impressive sight. Maroon in color, the bipedal lizard wore a red velvet robe with black trim, along with what looked like black stretch pants. The robe had a small golden patch on the left side that announced his ambassadorial rank, as well as a large amount of gold jewelry around his neck and wrists.

  The ship’s captain turned to glare at Calvin, his eyes glowing like the ends of two lit cigarettes. He hissed again and said, “What the captain really meant was, ‘Your presence pollutes the sanctity of my vessel and is an affront to everything I feel is good and holy.’”

  “Out of curiosity, Captain Skrelleth, how many times have you fought the enemy?” Calvin asked.

  “I have fought them twice,” the captain replied.

  “I see,” Calvin said. “And how many of their ships did you destroy in those encounters?”

  “We haven’t been able to destroy any of them,” Captain Skrelleth admitted, “although we did get a couple of laser hits on one last time. We were close to destroying it, but then it disappeared.”

  Calvin nodded. “And during those two battles, how many ships did you lose?’

  “We lost nine ships, including four battleships,” the captain said.

  “And your capital planet?”

  “Yesss. It fell in the last battle. Its loss was unavoidable.”

  “So let me get this straight, captain. You’ve lost nine ships in two battles, your capital planet has been captured by the enemy and you have only succeeded in hitting an enemy ship twice. You didn’t destroy two ships; you just scored two hits on a single enemy ship. Is that correct?”

  Captain Skrelleth hissed. “Yesss, that is correct, but that is because they are able to vanish. We can’t get them to fight us.”

  “You want the enemy to fight on your terms, when theirs are working so well?” Calvin asked. He turned to the ambassador. “I think I’ve found your problem.”

  “Careful, Terran,” the captain warned, jumping from his seat. He was even larger than the ambassador, standing nearly eight feet high. He pointed a claw at Calvin, his tail twitching. “Another word about me, and I will be forced to kill you, despite what protection the ambassador offers you. Be very careful about what you say next.”

  Calvin turned back to the ship’s commanding officer. “I do not mean to be disrespectful, but my point is, so far, your race is losing this war. Badly. Not only are you losing, you are being systematically eliminated as a race. At the moment, the only way you can stay alive is to run from them; every time you fight you lose.”

  “What do you expect?” Captain Skrelleth asked. “They can disappear at will and pop up and hit us with weapons we can’t defend against. I suppose you can do better against them?”

  “Absolutely,” Calvin said. “I have fought them twice, and I have destroyed two of their ships. The second time, we boarded the ship and fought them hand-to-hand, prior to setting explosive charges which we detonated once we were clear. Can we do better? We already have.”

  “You boarded one of their ships?” the CO asked. “I do not see how this is possible.”

  “Yes, I led a team that boarded one of their vessels. If we are fighting the same enemy, which I think we are, I have not only been aboard one of their ships, but I have fought them up close. I tell you this not to brag, but so you will see me as an asset to use in your fight against the Shaitans and, hopefully, treat me with a little more respect. I can help you, if you will let me.”

  Captain Skrelleth shook his head, retreated to his command chair and sat down. He turned his gaze to the view screen, which showed a chart of the system. After a few moments, the twitching of his tail slowed. When he spoke, his voice was calm and under control. “I do not like you, nor do I want you onboard my ship,” he said; “however, if you have information on how to defeat the enemy, I am willing to listen.”

  “We could fight them better if my ship were here,” Calvin said, “but there are some things I would recommend to help defend this system.” He paused to look at the view screen. “Is that status correct?”

  “Yesss, that is everything we have in the system, and where it currently is positioned.”

  Damn; the lizards were even worse off than he had thought. “Is there any reason why all your ships are around the planet?” Calvin asked.

  “The enemy could appear anywhere, and we must protect the planet,” Captain Skrelleth answered. “We only have three planets left; we cannot afford to lose this one.”

  “The enemy’s forces can’t appear anywhere,” Calvin corrected; “they have to use the stargate to come into the system. If you position your ships around the stargate, and mine it with everything you’ve got, you will stand a better chance of keeping them out. If nothing else, at least you will get a chance to shoot at them before they can jump to their own universe.”

  “Do you know that to be truth, or are you just guessing?” the captain asked. “You are asking me to leave the planet undefended. We cannot lose it.”

  Calvin paused a few seconds, debating whether to tell his enemies everything he knew. Giving away your own capabilities to a culture that would rather eat you than talk to you was…complicated. He sighed. In for a penny; in for a pound.

  “I know this to be true. I have been to their universe; they do not have stargates there.”

  Captain Skrelleth’s eyes snapped around to glare at the ambassador. “The Terran has been to their universe? Why was I not made aware of this?”

  Ambassador Gresss made a shooing motion with his hands. “I have told you several times that the Terran had information on the enemy and urged you to talk to him. We would be better prepared right now if you had listened to me.”

  “You talk too much,” Captain Skrelleth replied. “You politicians always talk too much. How was I to know that this time you actually had something useful to say?”

  “What’s important is
I have been to the other universe,” Calvin said. “I know they don’t have stargates, so they have to use the ones in our universe. When they come through, there will be a few moments while their systems stabilize when you can shoot them. System entry is your best, and probably your only, chance to defeat them. Once they get loose and can jump to their own universe they are very hard to bring to battle…as you have already found out.”

  The captain scratched a scar on his shoulder while he looked at the display. “Sometime, you will have to tell me how you were able to travel to the universe of the enemy,” he said. “I would dearly like to fight there and have the wreckage of their ships fall onto their planets.” He turned back to Calvin. “I take it we cannot do it without some sort of equipment that is only aboard your ship?”

  “Unfortunately, that is true,” Calvin admitted. “I wish we could jump this ship to their universe, but it isn’t possible. We will have to fight them here.”

  “If that is the case, do you have any other suggestions for how to fight them?”

  “You have to fight them at the stargate. Move every ship you have to the gate and put every mine you have in front of it, set to detonate automatically when a ship comes within range. You have to stop them there; if you don’t, I don’t think you can hold this universe against a massed assault.”

  “Perhaps you are more than just prey, after all,” Captain Skrelleth said, his gaze returning to the status display. “I will do as you suggest, Terran, but you better not have lied to me. If I find out you have, I will kill you myself, before the enemy has a chance.”