War Core, Book 3: Earth Siege, page 1
Copyright © 2022 by Dean Henegar
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.
Contents
Recap
Introduction
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
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Epilogue
Afterword
“In war, you win or lose, live or die—and the difference is just an eyelash.”
– Douglas MacArthur.
★
Recap
If you haven’t read the first book in the War Core series, you can find a copy here on Amazon:
https://amazon.com/dp/B09CHG5GK9
Should you decide not to, or if it has been some time since you’ve read Book 1, here’s a quick recap.
Hugh Logan is teaching an IT night class when a group of government officials arrives to inform him that he is being recalled to active duty despite having retired some time ago. Reluctantly, Hugh joins them and finds himself in a secret military facility. It turns out that, since shortly after World War II, the world has been fighting a secret war to keep alien invaders at bay—a war humanity is losing. Hugh has been selected by the seemingly omnipotent Galactic Conflict Authority (GCA), the group that controls these battles, and he will become something called a war core.
Hugh is placed into the war core, and his consciousness is transferred into the machine. Only after the fact does he discover that his body has been destroyed. Furious, Hugh learns the officials had no choice in the matter and the GCA requires their silence, lest humanity face severe repercussions. He meets his advisors, a combination of military and civilian personnel who will help him polish his skills and prepare for his various battles.
Hugh must come to terms with his new life but is given little time to do so; he is immediately whisked away to participate in an abbreviated training mission. It turns out that he is transported to an abandoned world to fight out battles. The GCA claims it prepares old planets to use as its battlegrounds in an effort to prevent unnecessary loss of life and the destruction of resources. Hugh is connected to a structure called a command post and instructed on how to build up his base and create combat units. After an introductory training mission, Hugh is rushed into battle to face an alien race called the Krixnas.
Once his mind is transferred to the battle world, Hugh discovers that the mechs he can create will be piloted by actual human soldiers placed in a device called a combat pod back on Earth. His military advisors join him and help him out with the battle, but their advice is limited by the GCA, which filters out much of what they tell him due to a restriction his opponent has purchased. The Krixnas turn out to be an insect-like race, their mechs resembling their real bodies.
The human mechs that Hugh uses to fight his battles resemble vehicles from World War II. It turns out the GCA pulled their designs from that period since the entire planet was embroiled in conflict and rapid development of weaponry was occurring. Heavily armored, the mechs use a plasma-based weapons system, and the humans prove to be excellent ranged fighters, but the Krixnas are deadly up close, using plasma-enhanced tentacles to tear through the human mechs.
Hugh loses his first battle, returning home briefly to review his mistakes and plan how to defeat his foe. The need to win becomes even more important when Hugh learns that some of the soldiers piloting the mechs can be killed during the battle and that his performance influences their survival. With renewed motivation, Hugh uses a gamer strategy in his second battle and emerges victorious. Some aspects of the battle are eerily similar to the real-time strategy types of games played around the world. One of his advisors, a young woman named Maddison, is his gamer liaison, and she informs him of her theory that the GCA is using war cores and conflict between species for entertainment purposes. Coming back from his first loss, Hugh wins the next few battles, securing a section of human space from invasion . . . for a time.
Victorious, Hugh is granted the opportunity for leave and is sent to Harmony Station, a GCA facility in an unknown portion of the galaxy. There, cores can spend the reward points they’ve earned on various upgrades. While on the station, Hugh is given back his human body, and he meets up with the Russian war core, Valery Akalov. Valery advises Hugh that if he gathers an obscene number of reward points, he may even have his body rebuilt permanently back on Earth. Before his leave is over, Hugh runs into a new race, the dinosaur-like Ssath. The Ssath core gets angry at Hugh, going so far as to attack and consume him. Hugh’s body is rebuilt and he finishes out his stay, but he fears that Hssim, the Ssath core, might carry a grudge.
The Krixnas aren’t done with Hugh just yet and challenge his forces to another campaign for a different portion of human space. After a series of long battles, Hugh wins the fight and returns home to find that the Krixnas have surrendered. They were being pressed by the Ssath, who were closing in on their homeworld, prompting them to attack humanity in a desperate attempt to gain lost ground. Now they’ve placed themselves and their homeworld under Earth’s protection, and humanity has been granted a short-term exemption from attack by the Ssath. The war with the Krixnas is over, but Hugh knows that war with the Ssath, a much more powerful foe, is looming on the horizon.
In Book 2 of the series, Hugh continues to battle with other aliens that seek to invade human space and holds his own against more experienced foes. Many of his opponents are locked into rigid fighting styles based on their species’ histories. Hugh gains some rewards and continues to improve under the guidance of his fellow cores and Maddison’s gaming chops. With the secret of the GCA out in public, the human cores work together to share information about the various foes they have encountered.
A desperate call is made from humanity’s former enemy, the Krixnas, who are under assault by the Ssath. Earth is asked to assist the Krixnas as the Ssath close in on their homeworld. Several of the human cores, including Hugh, are assembled into an expeditionary force to assist in the defense of the Krixnas homeworld, which will become a feeding ground for the Ssath if it falls, driving the Krixnas into extinction. They face a single Ssath core, one of the most powerful ones the Ssath possess. It later turns out this Ssath core is none other than Hssim, the Ssath that killed and feasted on Hugh back on Harmony Station.
A long series of battles ensues for Hugh, the other human cores, and their Krixnas allies. The enemy’s forces push them back and are finally poised to take the capital city. Evacuation of the city is underway, and while the Krixnas no longer have any hope of holding the planet, they have a chance to save most of their civilians if they can hold back the Ssath long enough. Rings of defenses around the city are assigned to the various cores, and they fight like devils to hold on. One of the human cores, the German core Stephan Wagner, leads a desperate charge to disrupt the enemy attack, sacrificing himself and his men to buy everyone more time.
Hugh’s troops hold the line long enough to ensure the evacuation is a success, but the cost is high. Two human cores, the German and British cores, have been terminated, and in the end, the Krixnas homeworld is lost. The performance of the defenders is enough to secure a bit of a breather, as the Ssath are banned from attacking human space for a time. Humanity is given the option to donate the planet Mars to the Krixnas as their new homeworld, and the GCA terraforms it to meet their needs. The Krixnas are now under humanity’s protection and living in Earth’s solar system, but the future Ssath invasion looms, and there are more threats than the Ssath waiting out in the dark of space.
★
Introduction
“We have won a great victory and these bugs and monkeys will continue to serve as our prey. It will take time, but the human homeworld and the homeworld of their new neighbors, the Krixnas, will become fresh hunting grounds for our people,” Great Leader Ibixan told the Senate. Claws clacked against the decision pillars in agreement, but not as many as he had hoped. The proclamation podium stood in the center of the Senate auditorium. The position still gave Ibixan a sense of unease as he stood there. It was in the open, leaving him vulnerable, surrounded by the sen ators in the circular building. The design was purposeful. No Ssath leader should ever be completely comfortable; he should always be ready to defend himself and the empire from any threat.
“I disagree, Great Leader,” Senator Shadax argued. “This human threat cannot be wistfully ignored. They have killed Hssim, defeated one of our greatest cores, and they did this after being in the great game for only a short time. We must press forward and spare no expense in our efforts to subjugate the prey. Humanity and their Krixnas allies must be completely crushed and their people sent to the hunting pens.”
Ibixan replied with a threatening hiss, brandishing his claws against the upstart young senator. Shadax represented the opposition to his rule, but it was a minor opposition, youngbloods too eager to fall into the red rage of the hunt and ignore the larger picture. They saw Hssim’s defeat as a chance to usurp more power from the elders of the Senate.
“Hssim was not defeated,” Ibixan countered. “He bested all the cores sent against him. The GCA saw fit to take him at the end of the battle, but only after his claws had ripped the victory from our foe. You sully his memory by suggesting he was anything other than a conqueror for our people. Are the Krixnas homeworld and the system it resides in not under our control?”
More senators clacked in agreement, a sound Ibixan loved. In front of each seat of the Senate was a small stone pillar, the surface covered in grooves worn by centuries of senators clacking their claws against it in approval. It was a symbol of their people. The pillars were even integrated into their currency, showing the unity of their species.
“A dead Ssath is a defeated Ssath,” Shadax argued. “For too long you and your leadership cabal have kowtowed to the GCA. Their rules don’t define what a true Ssath sees as a victory. Our rules are the standard. If you die in battle, you are defeated. This is how it has always been. The GCA making calculations at the end of the battle does not change what is right. Not only has Hssim been defeated, but he was also denied the honor of having his flesh consumed by the people.”
A smattering of claws clacked against podiums. Ibixan looked around to make note of who was supporting this upstart, a Ssath that was barely more than a hatchling. Shadax’s scales and feathers still showed the green of youth. Ibixan and the other elders had feathers and scales of deep red, with black starting to tint some of them as their age progressed. Until darkness covered the body of a Ssath, he was still considered a warrior, and the darkness had a long way to go before it claimed Ibixan.
“Enough of your posturing. The decision is made. Sit down, hatchling, and let your betters rule,” Ibixan demanded, the heat and fire of the red rage of the hunt making itself felt in his aging body. Shadax hissed in defiance but did as he was instructed. The great leader of the Ssath ruled, and his word was obeyed, at least for as long as the Senate continued to support him. Shadax’s supporters were far too few to threaten his rule anytime soon.
“Great Leader, may we continue with the session? I believe the younglings have gnashed their teeth at us long enough,” Senator Mishas asked. One of his oldest supporters, Mishas was always ready to lend aid to Ibixan. He was a rare Ssath of modest ambition, one of the few truly content to stand in the shadow of his betters. If only more of his people would behave that way, then Ibixan’s job would be much easier.
“We continue, as will our progress toward the human homeworld. A steady advance will see us to victory and see our enemies turned into feedstock. There is no need to squander resources and even more influence points to purchase what we will undoubtedly achieve in due course,” Ibixan advised.
If Shadax and his ilk had their way, the Ssath would burn through all the influence points they had acquired over the decades just for a chance at quick vengeance. No Ssath liked to wait, but it was the wise thing to do in this case. Already, the GCA had selected a replacement core for Hssim, and that one would need time to train and grow before they could resume their advance. A few more details were ironed out, some influence points were allocated to different offensives, and as the sun began to set, the session was complete, and everyone was dismissed to participate in the evening feast.
Many of his allies congratulated Ibixan on his swift drubbing of Shadax. They all loved to see the upstart put in his place. The crowd of senators, their attendants, and the great leader all waited for the shuttles to arrive and whisk them off to the waiting feast. Ibixan had heard that the chefs had outdone themselves once again, blending an exquisite combination of prepared dishes and live prey to satisfy the tastes of the Ssath elite. The thought of the feast made Ibixan salivate even as he noticed the shuttles had finally arrived to pick them up.
“What is this?” Senator Mishas shouted as the doors to the shuttles opened and a swarm of Ssath emerged. The Ssath aboard the shuttles were decked out in ceremonial battle armor, steel plates protecting any vulnerable areas of their bodies while sharp blades extended the reach of their claws.
Mishas might have been confused, but Ibixan realized what this was; this was an attempt at a coup. The Ssath had powerful weapons at their disposal, weapons that could level a city with little trouble, but a change of power had to be orchestrated through more traditional means. Shadax was making his play for control of the Senate and the title of great leader, and he was observing the traditions of melee combat to determine the leadership of the Ssath race. The Senate was supposed to be neutral ground, and challenges for leadership were made through a set method of personal combat. Shadax was showing Ibixan and the entire Ssath people that he had no respect for their laws and traditions, throwing everything away in his quest for power.
The transports held over a hundred attackers, all of whom zeroed in on specific targets. The scent markers of each senator would be known to them, and Ibixan was sure that Shadax had targeted, very specifically, the ones that needed to be eliminated to secure his claim of leadership. Several of Ibixan’s colleagues were dragged down by the attackers, but even elderly Ssath were dangerous. They all went down fighting, but natural teeth and claws were not as effective as those enhanced with steel. The Senate guards responded. They also had metal armor, but the position was mostly ceremonial, and their numbers were few. Pushing his way through the crowd, Ibixan was blocked by one of Shadax’s supporters.
“You die tonight, Great Leader,” the senator, a young fool named Quilgoth, shouted as he charged Ibixan.
“Perhaps, but not before I’ve ripped the life from you and tasted your traitorous flesh!” Ibixan replied, giving in to the red rage of combat. Quilgoth was fast, but Ibixan was a seasoned warrior, easily deflecting the bite aimed at him and accepting deep lacerations to his leg in order to land his own bite at the perfect spot on his attacker’s neck. His teeth dug deep, the taste of blood filling his mouth as he sawed his head back and forth to tear free a gobbet of flesh from his foe.
“No!” Quilgoth gurgled for a moment before Ibixan tore his throat open.
“Yes, you should have waited for your armored assassins to do your work for you, Senator,” Ibixan taunted as he and his supporters fell back to the Senate chamber. A pair of guards assisted the limping great leader. The slashes from Quilgoth had dug deep into his hind leg. A painful wound, but not a mortal one.
“Great Leader, additional forces have been summoned to help defend the Senate. They should arrive shortly,” said the captain of the Senate guard, whose name Ibixan couldn’t seem to recall. He and his supporters were pulled back into the Senate building, and the reinforced doors began to close. More of the armored assassins arrived, and the handful of available guards gave up their efforts at sealing the doors, trying instead to hold the chokepoint of the doorway.
Sparks flew as claws deflected off armor. Eventually, blood joined the sparks and the pressure of the attackers built, driving back the guards. One by one, the guards were cut down. Ibixan and the senators supporting him tried to aid in the defense, but they were sorely outclassed by the weapons and armor of their foes. Still, to be a Ssath was to be a hunter, and they brought down more than a few of their opponents.
The attackers cut down Ibixan’s supporters but refused to do more than wound him in their attacks. Bleeding from multiple wounds, Ibixan slumped against the leader’s podium in the center of the Senate chamber. All of his allies were slain, and he was surrounded by blood-soaked, armored foes. The attackers parted, allowing Shadax through, the upstart’s muzzle coated in gore, showing he had enjoyed his participation in the slaughter.
