The First Dawn (The Sci-Corp War Saga Book 1)

by Justin Alexander

  Nathan pushed past Vincent and to another secure terminal. “Batteries, one through ten are online and engaging now.” As he finished the sounds of weapons firing shock the control room, as the facilities built in defence platforms began to engage the incoming ships and missiles.

  “INCOMINING ORDINANCE, HAS BREACHED THE DEFENCE GRID, IMPACT IN FIVE, FOUR, THREE.”

  Vincent peered over and saw the brute wrestle the Agent to the ground, shielding her with his own immense frame.

  “TWO, ONE.”

  Vincent barely had time to react as the ordinance ripped into the facility, the shockwave knocked him off his feet. Sparks and broken glass burst forth from exploding monitors and screens. For a moment he just lay on the ground, his vision clouded by a thick haze of mercury smoke. He forced himself to sit up, the first thing that hit him was the silence, then he felt liquid running out of his ears, he reached up and found blood on his fingers. He grasped his walking stick and wrestled to get back to his feet. People were running in all directions, most caked in filth and soot; some in gore, either rushing to help the injured or to seek assistance themselves. His eyes found Robert, now a headless frame slumped at his desk, hands still stretched out towards the screen, as if in his dying seconds he had wanted to feel close to the machines that he cherished so much. Dark, crimson liquid still pumped from what was left of his neck. Vincent turned away in disgust, and saw Nathan dragging himself to his feet, his weapon in his hand.

  Then Clarissa was next to him, she coughed and attempted to wipe filth from her face. Her mouth was moving but he couldn’t hear her.

  “I can’t hear you!” he exclaimed, not able to monitor his own volume, he didn’t know if he was whispering or shouting.

  The brute was next to her now, they spoke and then Clarissa took a small device from him and came forward. Again she was speaking and shaking her head.

  “I don’t understand,” Vincent replied, as she danced next to him and held her hand against his ear, he felt a shooting pain, like a red hot poker had been stabbed directly into his brain.

  He stumbled back grabbing hold of his head, he shuttered his eyes, as pain fizzed across what felt like every neuron and synapse he possessed. Then he was hearing voices, it seemed like thousands of them all at once.

  He felt hands pulling him up and he found himself face to face with Clarissa, she was speaking but again he couldn’t make it out, the number of speakers within his mind was just too much. She turned to Raylan, who said something and once again she was shaking her head, then she struck Vincent clearly across the face.

  He stumbled back, but Clarissa seized him and kept him on his feet.

  “I am sorry Doctor, I hope you will forgive me.” She spoke and this time Vincent heard her.

  “I can hear you now,” he sighed as he spat out a mouthful of debris and dust.

  Clarissa beamed, “Good I am glad Doctor, we gave you a Sci-Corp auditory implant, it will make what is going to happen next easier.”

  “And what is going to happen next?” Vincent queried.

  “We’re going to fight,” the agent whispered.

  “What do you mean?” Vincent spluttered.

  The smile came again, “The war has begun.” Then she turned and drifted over to Raylan, who held her close and kissed her forehead, fondly.

  Vincent glanced around at the chaos and carnage and once again he was back in the moments after the bombing. He was laying on the transit platform and watching the mother of the child, trying to dig through the rubble with her bare hands. He could still remember the claret pouring from them and her delirious screams. He thought his war had ended that day, yet now another one was just beginning. The question that haunted him though was, if the Sci-Corp weren’t behind this attack, then who exactly were they at war with?

  “ALERT ONE, ALERT ONE, DEFENCE’S BREACHED. INTRUDERS IN THE COMPLEX, REPEAT INTRUDERS IN THE COMPLEX, ALL PERSONNEL ARE TO MOVE TO.” The computerised voice cut out abruptly.

  A drone came hurtling towards him, a thin tendril of smoke trailing from it. “Doctor?” April stammered. “Intruders are pouring into the facility, my wireless systems are down we must reach the defence control room in the substructure or we are all lost.”

  Vincent looked over at the Agent, she favoured him with a smile, “Go, good doctor, we will manage the defence here.”

  “We get all the great jobs.” Raylan sniggered as he brought his firearm up.

  “Let’s go April.” Vincent said, turning to the drone.

  “Follow me doctor I will keep you safe.”

  Vincent set off into the gloom after the robot, his own mind clouded with fears and doubt.

  EPILOGUE

  Karolina eyes, fluttered open slowly, at first every muscle in her body screamed out as she tried to move. Yet slowly she forced herself to sit up. Gradually the haze that shrouded her vision lifted and she found herself lying in a small field of glorious poppies. Above her head a startling, dawn sky was bursting to life, shades of orange and rose commingled to create something she thought could only have been captured correctly by oil on canvas. It was then she noticed that the flowers that surrounded her seemed to dazzle, as if the plants themselves had been brightened in some way.

  “You shouldn’t try to move too fast.”

  She glanced around, yet she couldn’t see anyone, she tried to speak but the words caught in her throat. Her mouth was like sandpaper and it seemed like she hadn’t drunk for weeks.

  “You don’t have to speak, just think,” The voice came again, it was soft and gentle; a child’s voice.

  For a minute Karolina was stumped, then she allowed her mind to relax and the words flowed. “Who are you? Where am I? What happened?” The questions continued, yet she discerned that would be enough for now.

  The air shimmered next to her and a small figure emerged. She was definitely a child, no older than five and her miniature frame wrapped in a simple summer dress, blazoned with lucid petals. Her face was drawn and painfully insipid. “Those are too many questions and we have little time.” The girl fastened her gaze on Karolina and she felt immense power behind the frigid eyes. “Who I am, is of little importance, my name was Sophia, however that was long ago and matters little now. As for where you are, let me just say, you are everywhere and also nowhere. This is somewhere that I have been able to create and hide. There is much I would like to tell you, however that is not how this all works. There are rules, which I must follow. I don’t fully understand them, but I am at least allowed to guide you.”

  Karolina managed to struggle to her feet, her whole body shrieked out in agony and she thought she may well collapse. Yet she forced her mind to centre, “The Dark ones had me?”

  The girl glanced away towards where the largest sun Karolina had ever seen was cresting the horizon, and a new day was being borne. “No the Dark ones tried to take you, they underestimated your power, your ship was able to escape them, and now you lie in their medical quarters. However the Dark ones are not what you have to worry about. They are simply pawns moved around at the direction of another, and it is this party that you must fear.”

  “The king behind the throne,” Karolina purred.

  The girl turned and beamed, it contained no warmth within it, no feeling or even the most rudimentary sentiment. “Yes, that is exactly right, before the universe was borne in the fires of the big bang, a place existed and it was here that the creation of that reality was decided. However there was a disagreement, a shift in factions and it is one of those factions that now wishes to wipe all life from the universe. To reset the life that has been created within this plane of existence. To put it simply, this being aspires to extinguish all light from the cosmos, and remove the plane of reality that you exist upon.”

  Karolina looked upon this tiny child and allowed her abilities to reach out.

  “Do not try your mind games,” the girl sneered. “You could not truly comprehend me, even if you were able to perform your parlour tricks.”
>
  “What is it you want then?”

  The girl pirouetted back to the sunrise. “My desires are not for you to know, what you are to know is this, there is a war coming, not like the one you have just witnessed, as this will not just be about the humans or the council. This war will decide the fate of all life in the universe. If you fail, the reality that you exist upon will be destroyed and everything you know, everything you are or were or ever will be; will no longer exist.”

  Karolina shook her head, “How am I supposed to stop this force you talk of, if the council couldn’t stand up to it, what am I supposed to do?”

  “You will need your own race, the humans will hold the key, yet they will need your help, to unlock the gifts they possess.”

  “How will I know how to do that?”

  The girl answered with hollow laughter, which made Karolina’s skin crawl.

  “Well I am glad that you find this funny,” She exclaimed.

  “I am not laughing at you, I cannot tell you how to accomplish your goal, it is forbidden and the others wouldn’t.” The girl seemed to stop herself mid-sentence and drew in a shallow breath. “I have said too much, I cannot keep you here any longer.”

  Karolina tried to think of a response, yet she was unexpectedly exhausted, she felt her legs turn to jelly and she wilted on to the ground. Gloom overtook her vision and she found herself slipping away.

  “You will know where to go and what to do when you get there. Remember if you fail then everything will be lost and only the darkness will remain.”

  Sophia stood alone for a moment, simply surveying the sun rise in the distance, of course she could mould the world here as she wished. It was one of the few freedoms she had earned from her years of service. Yet she had always liked the dawn as a child, the creature had allowed her to keep hold of some of her memories and it was how she had been able to keep her brother. For a moment she called his image out and she saw him, alone, and abandoned on the escape pod apart from the wolf. She smirked as she thought of the animal, how clever and brazen to hide in the open like that.

  Abruptly the air next to her shimmered and the shapes appeared. Seven of them in total, and at once voices began to clamber within her mind.

  “You said too much.”

  “If you reveal all to them, then we are already lost.”

  “The others will find out.”

  “You have doomed us all.”

  Then there was a boom, like the clap of thunder just after the lightning and the voices quietened.

  “I said only what was necessary,” The girl whispered. “They will do what is needed or not, there is nothing else that can be done now.”

  This was greeted by a collective murmur.

  “Leave me!” the girl screamed and the shapes vanished.

  She sat down amid the poppies and watched the sun come up. Tears stung her cheeks as she thought of all she had already lost, and all she was about to.

  Behind her the demon stood in silence and watched her, a sly smile spreading across his face.

  “Yes,” he hissed. “Everything is going exactly as it is supposed to.”

  Next to him the old man smiled and began to strum involuntarily on the guitar. The melancholy tune, carried upon the light breeze. “It is not over yet.” He sang gently.

  The demon turned to his old adversary and sneered. “You always did have too much faith in them, more than even she did, when she gave them life.”

  “You have always had too little faith my friend, which is why you were cast out, you never could understand her love for them, why she gave them so much and asked for nothing back.”

  “And look at how I have been proven right,” The demon bellowed, vitriol and rage, bubbled just beneath, his charming exterior. “Look at what they have done with the gift they were given, look at how they have squandered everything that she gave them. Look at how they betrayed the freedom, how they spit on her love.” He waved his arms dramatically, “They were never worthy of anything that she gave them, and they will prove it all soon, they will destroy themselves and I would not have even lifted a finger. They will unleash the storm that will bring about the end.”

  The old man continued his haunting melody, “They still have a chance to surprise even you, my friend. She always believed in them, even when they had turned against her, she still loved them above all others.”

  The demon interjected, “And that doesn’t anger you, she chose them over all of us, those that had only loved and served her. She rejected us and gave all her love to them, to the beasts that walk on two legs.”

  The old man chuckled slightly, “You never did understand, my friend, she never rejected us, she loves us and even now after all you have done she loves you still.”

  “Really and how long has it been since she has even spoken to you?” The demon hissed furiously.

  The old man shock his head, “She doesn’t need to speak to me, for me to know these things. I feel her love even now, within this prison that you have constructed.”

  “Be careful my old friend, remember the rules, I did not construct this vile place, I only gave someone the idea”

  “Always the lawyer brother, which is what got you in trouble the first time.”

  The demon clenched his teeth, “Do not talk to me about that brother!” the last word injected with a visceral disdain.

  “There is still time for them to put right all you have tried to destroyed, there is still time for them to see the errors of their ways. To find the humanity and empathy they have abandoned. To find the light that will save them.”

  The demon sniggered, “What will you do brother, when this universe is aflame and everything she built has been torn down?”

  The old man stopped playing for a minute and glanced off towards the distant horizon. “I will remain here and die with them.”

  “You really would give up everything for these beasts, even after all they have done?”

  “I would rather burn with them, than to see the universe that you wish to create.”

  “There would be a place there for you brother, you know that.”

  The old man started up his song anew and his own smile puckered his wizened skin. “They will stop you brother.”

  The demon turned away and began to wander towards the girl, his voice little more than a murmur, “Don’t say I didn’t give you a choice, my brother, if you wish to stay here and die with these bags of meat that is up to you. I will watch you smoulder with all of them.”

  The old man watched as his brother, shimmered out of existence and he was alone again. He began to strum on the guitar, seeking out the correct harmony. “There is still hope for you too brother, maybe you will finally feel her love again. The light isn’t extinguished yet.”

  THE END

  THE STORY WILL CONTINUE IN BOOK TWO OF THE SCI-CORP WAR SAGA: WELCOME TO THE VAULT

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  I hope you won’t mind me taking up just a little bit of space here just to put down a few thoughts. Firstly I would just like to just say thank you for taking the time to read this, it has been a dream of mine for about as long as I can remember to write my first novel and to actually have people read it. I hope you enjoyed this first part of what I envision to be a much larger tale, if there is any interest in more stories from this world. There is much more still left to discover and much I still do not know about these characters and the war they now find themselves drawn into.

  Writing has been something that I have always done and in fact the basic framework of this novel, was started when I was still at school and supposed to be studying for my exams. Although it has changed quite dramatically over the years, some parts remain the same. Particularly the Eclipse One, whose haunted corridors I have lived with for so long, it was hard to say goodbye to them, yet that is how the story went and as with all good stories this one wrote itself. I was merely along for the ride.

  Anyway I hope you enjoyed the book and even if you didn’t, maybe think
about writing a quick review for it, just to let other people know what you think, if you would like to know more, you can like my Facebook page, or my Google+ page and also follow me on Twitter, which is probably easier if you have any questions or comments.

  So thank you again for taking the time to read this and spend just a brief while in this dark world that I have created, if there’s interest I would like to return to this tale. I already know that most of the second book would take place within “The Vault” a secret, underground Sci-corp City, where some of our heroes at least will come face to face with a disturbing evil made flesh. As well as see whether Clarissa and Raylan can save the facility and the weapon it contains. We will also begin to gleam more information about the true enemy and about Sophia’s nature and her motives and that of the mysterious song smith, with his haunting melodies, yet that is still a mystery even to me.

  If you have any questions or queries please don’t hesitate to contact me, all the information follows.

  Justin Alexander

  TWITTER: https://twitter.com/reddeadlives

  GOODREADS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1237677.Justin_Alexander

  FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/JustinAlexanderPublications

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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