Into the Fire Part I
Requiem of Souls
Christian Kallias
Universe in Flames Book 9
Contents
Also by Christian Kallias
Acknowledgments
Copyright
Dramatis Personæ
The Story So Far
Prologue
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
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Afterword
Also by Christian Kallias
Captain’s Log
About the Author
A Word from the Author
Damocles Fall
Acknowledgments
Copyright
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
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Also by Christian Kallias
The Universe in Flames Series
Book 1: Earth - Last Sanctuary Book 1.5: Ryonna's Wrath (Novella) Book 2: Fury to the Stars Book 3: Destination Oblivion Book 4: The Beginning of the End Book 5: Rise of the Ultra Fury Book 6: Shadows of Olympus Book 7: Armageddon Unleashed Book 8: Twilight of the Gods (Released June 27, 2017) Book 9: Into the Fire (Part I) (New Release October 17, 2017)
Book 10: Into the Fire (Part II-Final Chapter) (Tentative Release Fall 2017)
The First Universe in Flames Trilogy Box Set (Books 1-3)
The Second Universe in Flames Trilogy Box Set (Books 4-6)
Rewind Series
Book 1: Rewind 717
Anthologies
Collateral Damage (Coming Soon)
The Expanding Universe 3 (December 15, 2017)
Beyond the Black Volume 1 (mid-December 2017)
Acknowledgments
Cover artwork by Christian Kallias
[email protected]
www.christiankallias.com
www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias
www.twitter.com/kalliasx
Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead
Paula Lavattiata Lopez
Editors
Paula Lavattiata Lopez
Proofreaders
Paula Lavattiata Lopez
Miliana Chipaila (Thank you so much Millie!)
Alpha Readers & ARC Team (Thank you!)
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by Christian Kallias
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
First Printing, 2017
Dramatis Personæ
Earth Alliance
Admiral Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)
Captain Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)
Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid
Commander Daniel Tharraleos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)
Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)
R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance - deceased)
Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)
Cedric – Earth Alliance Human Engineer
Olympians
Aphroditis – known to humans as the goddess of love
Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft & war
Ares – known to humans as the god of war (deceased, living as pure energy form)
Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus (deceased)
Hades – known to humans as the god of the Underworld
Poseidon - known to the humans as the god of the seas
Furies
Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies
Oryn – Zeus’ daughter (Arakan’s adoptive daughter)
Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)
Menelas – Chase and Argos’ father (deceased)
Asgardians
Thor – Fleet Commander, son of Odin.
Kvasir – Asgardian scientist
Other characters
Emperor Altair – Obsidian Empire Emperor (now part of the Earth Alliance)
Gaia – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet
The Story So Far
Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.
This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (it’s free).
Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary
Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.
Volume II: Fury to the Stars
Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.
Volume III: Destination Oblivion
Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forc
es with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.
Volume IV: The Beginning of the End
Argos’ reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth, Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth - Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near the end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.
Volume V: Rise of the Ultra Fury
Sarah is about to give birth to Chris when he warns her of things to come using the Fury powers Sarah has acquired as part of her pregnancy. Chase is brought back on board the Hope and put in suspended animation until Ares can procure an Olympian elixir with the help of Argos who is starting to question his allegiance with the Furies. Chase wakes up in the Underworld, his soul trapped in between the world of the living and the dead. There, he meets Hades who trains Chase further while his son Chris is born and ages at impossible speed. Argos starts feeling remorse for his actions and agrees to help Ares recover the banished Olympian Asclepios from his prison. Argos defeats the Titan Menoitios and frees Asclepios with Ares and Apollo’s help. On their way back to the Hope, a Fury assassin by the name of Timoros tries to kill Chase while he’s still trapped in the Underworld. Every one of Chase’s friends risks their lives to try and stop Timoros but he’s too powerful. Eventually Chase returns from the Underworld when he feels Sarah is in mortal danger. He drinks the elixir and obliterates Timoros while reaching a stepping stone power-wise in becoming an Ultra Fury. The first Fury super-destroyer is dispatched as part of a fleet intent on destroying Earth, currently protected by a powerful planetary shield. When it looks like all hope is lost, an unknown fleet going by the name of Gaian Defense Force enters the fold and forces the Furies out of Earth orbit. Their leader, also named Gaia, demands of Chase that the Earth Alliance also leaves orbit within the hour or they’ll be destroyed.
Volume VI: Shadows of Olympus
Chase and what’s left of the Earth Alliance are forced to vacate Earth space. Spiros, Cedric and Gaia stay behind in order to try to stop Gaia 2 from taking control of planet Earth. Meanwhile, the Alliance splits up, with Saroudis and the Destiny battlegroup going back to Alpha Prime, where the Obsidian Empire helps them get more ships and resources at a time of need. Chase, Ares and Argos meet Zeus on Olympus, but are not welcomed as friends. After battling one another, Chase and Zeus come to an agreement. Zeus reveals to Chase that he fell in love with Arakan’s wife during the first Fury War, and that’s what led to the conflict escalating. He also told Chase that Oryn is his daughter, not Arakan’s. He tasks Chase to bring her back to him and, in exchange, Olympus will join the Earth Alliance in their fight with the Furies. Sarah and Chris are sent on a mission of their own to try to make contact with the Asgardians. They find an armada of frozen Star Alliance ships, as well as Kvasir, a banished Asgardian engineer who could be an asset in defeating the AI scourge back on Earth. But Miseo is sent to recover him, and a battle ensues. Chris fights Miseo and nearly gets killed, but Chase intervenes. When he’s about to kill Miseo, Oryn arrives on the scene and the two of them fight, resulting in a draw. Kvasir is rescued and so is the Star Alliance armada. Meanwhile, on Earth things go from bad to worse. Gaia 2 is about to take control of the planet, so Gaia unleashes a planet-wide EMP to ensure Gaia 2 doesn’t get her hands on all of Earth’s computing power. Gaia 2 invades Cedric’s body and turns him into her new avatar cyborg. After executing Spiros, Gaia 2 gives Chase a warning, to stay away from Earth or face the consequences of humans dying by the millions.
Volume VII: Armageddon Unleashed
Chase decides to ignore Gaia 2’s warning and he sets a course for Earth. With the help of Gaia and Kvasir, he trains and learns how to fight inside an AI matrix in order to defeat Gaia 2 once and for all. But fighting Gaia 2 on her own turf proves more difficult than he anticipated. Chase fights with Gaia 2, making her use too much of her CPU so she can’t retaliate against the population of Earth, and also to help the Earth Alliance attack the armada of Gaian ships in orbit. When Chase loses consciousness, Argos and Chris take his place in the matrix while the Earth Alliance enters Earth orbit and fight the largest space battle the Alliance ever fought until now. Meanwhile, Oryn uses Miseo as her guinea pig to test a mind control device. She plans to use that technology on her father Arakan when the time comes to take control of the Fury throne via proxy. But her experiment takes a wrong turn and Miseo turns against her and tries to have her killed. She decides to bring Miseo to Earth so he can deal with Chase in his crazed state. The two of them are forced to ally themselves to bring him down, but at a cost. When a gigantic moon-sized Gaian ship threatens to destroy planet Earth, Commodore Saroudis decides to sacrifice himself and his ship to save the planet. Chase has to choose between saving Oryn or saving his friend; but following Aphroditis’ council he reluctantly decides for the former in order to ensure a much needed alliance with Olympus and Zeus. Chase, Oryn, Argos and Chris all team up to defeat Miseo. When Gaia 2 feels her end is near, she directs her moon-sized monstrosity of a ship to crash on Earth in order to destroy the planet. That’s when three Asgardian ships with Thor in command enter the scene and help the Earth Alliance permanently destroy the crazed AI. To Chase’s surprise, Thor requests the immediate transfer of the war criminal Kvasir to his ship.
Volume VIII: Twilight of the Gods
Chase and his friends manage to convince Thor to delay Kvasir’s return to Asgard and his execution. With Droxia under attack, the Asgardians open an even faster hyperspace route to allow the Earth Alliance to intervene and counter the Furies’ plans. While Athena, Sarah, and the rest of the Alliance wage a powerful battle in orbit, Chase and his friends fight elite Fury ground forces that use new tactics to bring Chase down. When all hope seems lost, Sarah intervenes with the help of Ares and unleashes a small taste of her own powers. In doing so, she worries about what the future holds for her, but Chris and Chase help her train to restore her confidence. Once the battle in Droxia is over, it’s a time to mourn the passing of Commodore Saroudis. During the wake, Emperor Altair himself promotes Chase to Admiral. Ryonna, Tar’Lock, and Keera are sent to the Gorgar homeland to undo the inhabitants’ mind programming, only to discover Tar’Lock’s people are doing way more than just providing resources. In fact, they’ve been assembling Fury super-destroyers at an alarming rate thanks to their large population. When Oryn receives a summons to rejoin Arakan’s elite forces of assassins to target Odin, the Alliance rushes to
Asgard. They put their lives in danger to save both Thor’s home world and his father, while Arakan uses this large-scale diversion to face the person he hates the most in this world: Zeus. After an epic fight involving Poseidon, Arakan not only mortally wounds Zeus, but also destroys Olympus. Chase tries to save Zeus, but a deceptive Arakan counters his healing powers. He and Oryn barely have time to say goodbye to Zeus before Olympus, and its ruler, are swallowed by a black hole. Back on Asgard, and still under shock from the terrible loss, Chase learns his father might still be alive as a prisoner in a dungeon under Arakan’s palace on Erevos.
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