Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1)
Page 40
Around the same time the Radiance Union fleet arrived on Earth, the Abyssal Explorer entered orbit around Lejorania Sanctum. Human refugees were deposited on the planet to begin anew. Many of the Radiance races living on Lejorania Sanctum took the time to learn as many human languages as they could. Having Javnis greeting in an Earth-based language the first humans to arrive brought tears of joy to the eyes of many.
Tears of sadness were brought to Alisha as she found herself alone, with neither husband nor daughter seen stepping off the transport ships. It took awhile, but in time she learned to let go and became a scientist working with the Radiance Union. Chloe, Sarah, Chris, and Gavin found themselves as the most combat-experienced humans in deep space. There was still fear that the Hashmedai might launch a counterattack, and humans now living on two worlds meant both needed to be on alert. An organization known as the Extrasolar Defense Force (EDF) was formed. The plan was to be a human-led military force to defend all humans living outside Earth's solar system. The Radiance Union were glad to assist and provide technology to help them develop it.
Hilemei was removed from cryo once a team of doctors was selected to treat his injuries. Nodevar’s blade, however, prevented the procedure from going forward, since it had removed Hilemei’s head from his body.
Back on Earth, surviving Hashmedai found themselves with no rights to anything. If they weren’t lynched in the streets, they were forced to live in poverty. Meanwhile, Earth’s human population and slowly growing Radiance Union demographic lived in a high-tech, stress-free world. As time went on, Earth-born Hashmedai children struggled to be accepted in the world. Since they were Earth-born, a few institutions did allow them to attend school, but the Radiance Union disagreed with this practice.
Humanity, fearing that the Radiance Union would cut ties with Earth, encouraged people to let Hashmedai take care of themselves. Those who repeatedly aided the Hashmedai were punished. Underground resistance forces were formed across the world to defy the UNE’s and Radiance Union’s choice to turn their backs on the Hashmedai, especially those born on Earth.
Earth’s military expansion became a hot topic as well. The new tech brought to humans resulted in Earth’s first starships being built. Colonies shortly afterward were constructed on Mars and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Dozens of space stations were built in the asteroid belt and in orbit around other planets across the solar system.
All Earth battleships and fighters were equipped with nuclear weapons. After the invasion, people were OK with the idea of nuclear weapons being built and advanced. There was no need for the president to order a nuclear strike. If a Hashmedaian ship were to pose a threat, the captains of those ships had full power to launch nukes. The new-world nukes had lockout devices to render the warheads useless if aimed at human interests. There was no other country to go to war with, however. The Hashmedai provided the only major threat.
Twenty-one years after the invasion of Earth, the Voidwrath entered the Cerbillon system or Epsilon Eridani as known by humans. A space bridge then teleported them to Paryo, the capital of the Hashmedai Empire. Empress Y’lin was ecstatic to hear the unexpected news that her daughter Kroshka was alive. She wasn’t pleased, however, to see Jake, a human. Kroshka came to his defense, claiming he was Earth’s greatest warrior who had protected her from start to finish. Her advisers went on to explain that not all humans were a threat and that a counterattack against Earth was unwise.
Information regarding the Celestial Order was omitted out of fear that more associates could be lurking in the shadows. Taking down this group would require Jake and his friends to play it smart and be discreet. Besides, revealing that another group was aware of the existence of the gems was news that would have made Kroshka’s mother…very upset.
………
Noylarlie and Parcisei awoke from their long cryo slumber onboard the Crimson Arrow. Noylarlie connected her mind with the ship’s system. Before traveling through the space bridge, she accessed the Hashmedai knowledge network. Twenty-eight years had passed, and she was curious to know what happened during that time.
She discovered that over twenty years ago, the command ship was destroyed in orbit around Earth. What is Earth? Her psionics ran a database search within the network. She learned that Earth was the home world of humans. They were close allies of the Radiance Union, and their planet was ruled by a power called the United Nations of Earth. That primitive race isn’t so primitive anymore. More searches revealed that Akeia was killed by humans, which triggered a war between the Hashmedai Empire and Earth.
Noylarlie’s fist slammed against the wall repeatedly in a fit of psychotic rage. Her outburst caught the attention of Parcisei.
“Are you OK?” Parcisei asked.
“No,” she replied.
She continued to sift through the information. Chidorli was listed as a casualty. Even Whigli somehow made a brief appearance there. Jerut never did speak much about his plans for him, and now she knew. Whigli’s current status was “missing and presumed dead.” She had read enough and propelled her body toward the cockpit. Parcisei followed behind, taking his usual backseat.
“Why do I get the feeling there’s been a sudden and inevitable change of plans?” Parcisei said.
“There has indeed been a change of plans,” Noylarlie said. “We’re going to Earth, the human home world.”
“Do humans have vegans within their society by chance?” Noylarlie shot back a stern look. “What? I’m Aryile. We are a herbivore species, my friend!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eddie R. Hicks is a Canadian science fiction author of the Splintered Galaxy series. All thought he enjoys his work in the culinary arts industry over the last few years, his true passion since he was a very young age has always been story telling.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it! As this is my first published work, I’d love to read your feedback on this story. Feel free to contact me at any time with the info below. Or if you’re a book reviewer and wish to be added to my ARC list.
Rest assured this isn’t the last of the adventures of the courageous actions of Chloe, and the take charge anti-hero motives of Jazz. They will return in Uprising of the Exiled, coming spring 2017. Once again thank you for reading!
Twitter - https://twitter.com/EddieRHicks
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/EddieRHicks/
Blog - https://eddierhicks.wordpress.com
FAQ
Interesting story, though it was hard to figure out who was the villain at times especially since Chloe and Jazz clashed a lot.
- The idea was to tell a story via the view points of a hero (Chloe) and Anti-hero (Jazz.) As more books get released the true villain will slowly unveil themselves to the galaxy.
You’re Canadian yet use American spelling. Why is that?
- My original draft was done using Canadian spelling (Colour not color) however my editor is American and I forgot to mention to them the way we spell things up here. As such everything got changed to US spelling and I just went with it.
Some of those sexy scenes caught me off guard! What’s up with that?
- I like to keep things real. I’m not a fan of censorship either, so if feel a certain bit of dialogue or scene would happen, then it happens. If this book were to be made into a movie it needs to be rated R. If it isn’t then it was made wrong.
Where did you get the idea to write this?
- Believe it or not, this story was originally conceived to be the plot to a videogame I had in my head. Then I remembered I’m not a game developer, and so I re-worked the idea into a novel. Some scenes from this book, like the battle at O’Hare airport drew inspiration from videogame boss battles.
Lots of characters, it was tough keeping up.
- I may consider adding a character glossary to address this in future works, especially since some characters have nicknames or hidden identities.
When is the next book coming out? How
many books are planned?
- Book two is expected to be released spring 2017. As for number of books planned I’m looking at least six and a possible spin off series as well.
Vancouver
An Aryile man sat on a chair, his hands and legs tied up, while the home invaders overturned his furniture and belongings. His house was located in a peaceful suburb in the heart of Vancouver. Tetsuya Ishihara, a man wearing a black shirt and pants launched a flurry of punches across the Aryile’s face.
“You come to our world teaching about your gods, trying to get people to give up their beliefs, all because you can’t accept the fact that someone might have a different religion than you!” said Tetsuya.
“Please don’t kill me!” the Aryile begged. “We’re just missionaries.”
“You’re forcing the oppression of innocent Hashmedai on this world!” Tetsuya said. “But don’t worry—I’m not going to kill you.”
Tetsuya turned to a woman in her early forties with long red hair and wearing a black skirt with black top. She held a razor-sharp katana. Below her was an Aryile female who was on her knees, tied up, blindfolded, and gagged. It was the Aryile man’s wife.
“Destiny, kill her,” the man in black ordered.
The Aryile man screamed and begged for mercy as Tetsuya held the Aryile’s head toward his wife, forcing his eyes to stay open with his fingers.
“With pleasure,” said Destiny as she stood toward the left side of the Aryile woman. Her hands raised the blade up as she chanted, “Manltanco-lota Poutio-Imaliv!”
The blade came down—a clean cut. The carpet? Not so clean. The Aryile man was then pushed onto the floor next to his deceased wife, blood from his wife’s splashed across his face as he hit the floor.
“Finish him,” Tetsuya requested to Density.
The Aryile man said in a panic, “Wait! You said you wouldn’t—”
“I lied.”
Destiny’s blade rose up once more as she chanted, “Manltanco-lota Poutio-Imaliv!”
Another clean cut, with the same results.
A Hashmedai man off to the side watched the executions take place with a grin on his face. He had purple hair, orange eyes, and psionic cybernetic implants visible from his black open trench coat.
Destiny faced him and asked, “Whigli, did you find it?”
“Indeed,” he said. “Hannah’s prediction was right as always.”
“That woman is something else,” said Tetsuya.
“She sure is,” said Destiny. “She’ll be pleased to know we are one step closer to finding him.”
Whigli glanced at the data pad in his hands, and a photo loaded of a man with silver hair and a goatee. “Human-Hashmedai hybrid—those fools holding him won’t know what hit them.”
The uprising had begun.