Rebellion (Rebel Wars Book 1) Read online

  Every Inquisitor was given the same armaments to make them a unified force of destruction, a regular hand of the almighty god should they need to be. Their left hands had been replaced with the wiring and technology to create burst of raw electromagnetically controlled plasma. They could shape the bursts into spheres, or beams, or even just sprays of the incredibly hot energy. The humans and even the Corp (though they hated to admit it) had never been able to narrow down a proper defense to plasma weaponry. Lasers could be deflected or defended against, but plasma would stick and burn to materials and vaporize flesh. It was considered cowardly, cruel, and unethical for most Corporation soldiers. To the Demon it was considered the wrath of the divine and perfectly acceptable. In the right hands of every Inquisitor was a staff that stretched from ground to head and possessed the facsimile of a lantern at the tip. The lantern was made of an opaque material that allowed the viewer to gaze upon a flame within its core. Artfully and tastefully created, the lanterns of an Inquisitor were an effective staff in melee range and burned with heat comparable to plasma on touch. The glass-like appearance echoed the scalding temperatures beneath and conflagrated any material it came into contact with when activated. If the plasma weapons on their left hands were not practical, they could simply use the staves in their right by hitting a switch, the lantern would drop down on a chain and become a swinging ball of fire to annihilate any who opposed them. Oh how proud of them the Demon was. His children, his army, his avenging angels.

  The desk he stood up from was a rare and dark red wood that he had salvaged from a ruler he had dethroned. The chair was the throne of a former queen, and the deliciously red carpet he stood one came from the luxurious castle of a duke. He was a conqueror and it was time the Corporation remembered that. The Demon made his way down the broad staircase before him, flanked by his magnificent children. Chandeliers hung from the elegantly painted palace he resided, casting their natural light upon him and his hand-crafted castle. There was no joy on his face as he approached the bottom level and made his way to the smooth wall before him. He tapped the wall and summoned before him the video screen that held the most direct access to his library. In front of him, the control panel opened up to reveal a place for his hand, which he shoved unceremoniously into it. Blades eviscerated pieces of his flesh as the machine dug into his scarred hands, heat transferring through his nerves to his brain where he dived into his Library. Over the years he’d developed better, less painful ways for him to collaborate with the overloaded database, but none were as personal as this. He could feel his brain spilling information and drinking it in all the same. He was adding a file, creating a new entry for this Alice woman. He was a bit disappointed to find he had never entered her into the Library before. Maybe he had not seen her as important, but she was and he knew that now. After all, she was going to be his next victim his coming-out-of-retirement gift to the old bastards at the Corporation headquarters. He was the only Commander retiring this year, and he wasn’t going to let them push him out. Not when such amazing victories remained to be won and magnificent songs had yet to be written about the battle of The Tower. Oh no, The Demon didn’t want just Alice he realized, he wanted Tate and he wanted the Tower. It would be his masterpiece, the best gift any of the Commanders would be able to present to the Corporation Headquarters.

  He withdrew his hand and a grin plastered his face as he saw what he had written under Alice’s entry.

  “Fought the Demon, was killed by God.”

  He loved it. He had no idea what it meant, but he loved it. His to-do-list was becoming longer every moment he thought about it.

  Kill Alice.

  Kill Robert Tate.

  Storm the Tower (By no particular order must these be done)

  Take over the Birthplace Forge (And see what goodies he could give his Inquisitors)

  Deliver the heads of the rebellion leaders to HQ

  He smiled a smile of pure sincerety and joy. He hadn’t felt joy like this in a long while, or at least since they’d informed him of their plans to decommission him and his inquisitors. They’d even told him they’d want to take Dungeon from him. And this was just not acceptable. He thought for a moment longer and added another line.

  “Take the heads of whichever HQ member denies him active duty.”

  Which, he thought of then scratched out.

  “Take over HQ.”

  This caused him a chuckle that evolved into a full bellied laugh. Screw it, he thought. Time to take over the galaxy. Why not? They’d let him create the Library because they were too busy and information was second to violence, so why not show them just how violent information could be? The historian laughed again, though the only listeners didn’t care about jovial things. They watched him as he bathed in his own delusions, content that their master was the best judge of whatever emotions he was experiencing. They didn’t care and apparently, neither did the Demon.

  Chapter 11

  Within a week’s time, Alice had recruited soldiers to replace the civilians that had decided to stay in the metropolis of the Tower and had overseen the preparations of her ship, Stormbreaker. The cargo containers had been replaced with drop pods to allow her to bring her men into the battle with relative ease and the weapons had been upgraded. The ship was faster, deadlier, and complete with orbital bombardment weapons. She wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of an A.I. joining her on her mission, but she had to accept that Project was a useful addition. She just wasn’t a fan of having a sentient computer telling her what to do. She was still in charge, but she knew how A.I.’s acted and thought. They always believed themselves to be superior to fleshlings like herself and one imprinted with the thoughts and patterns of a Corporation commander gave her even further pause. The plan was fairly simple, they’d approach the dungeon and dock, killing the radar systems and dispersing her drop pods throughout the facility. The soldiers would begin to cause chaos and sew discord throughout the station while her team made their way to the Demon’s castle and infiltrated the high tech base. They’d capture an Inquisitor and use it to steal the Library’s files and retreat back to the ship. The drop pods would launch themselves and the surviving soldiers back into space where a rebellion capital ship would pick them up and cover the retreat of the Stormbreaker. Afterwards, they’d head back to the Tower and prepare for their assault on the Ceremony where she’d lay the Demon open in front of all of his men and in full broadcast of the rest of the Corporation. The thought brought her some joy, but the adrenaline was already cold in her veins at the thought of the kill.

  Alice looked over the inventory for her ship with a bit of pride. The Tower’s engineers and the Tillman sisters had done a fantastic job at outfitting the vessel for her needs and it was beginning to feel like an extension of herself. Every once in a while the sisters had asked her a few questions about this project that they were working on for her, though she still didn’t understand it. She didn’t understand why they were focused on her desires for strength vs. speed and what weaponry she preferred to use. She was outfitted with her apparatus tuned the way she wanted, so if they were building her a new suit she didn’t really feel it was necessary. Whenever she asked them what it was they were doing exactly, they never gave her a full answer as if she would pull permission from it at any given moment. This made her nervous, but she trusted the girls with everything she had. Fiora had replaced Hero as her Paladin commander, finding a set of armor that would work well with her unique physical requirements as well as a few volunteers from the Tower’s on Paladin force. Hero told her he would prefer to play fire-support and had recruited some of the soldiers to form his squad.

  She reviewed the build of every team, their composition of weapons and skills and couldn’t help but be impressed that her crew had been able to come up with such a solid strategy. Heavy weapons, guards, and assault teams made up each of the small squads in every drop pod. They were outfitted perfectly for firing support and objective capturing. The plan couldn’t be to use th
e soldiers as just distractions, a masterful tactician like the Demon would see through that. Instead they had to make him sweat, make him distrust what it was he was seeing and give them the edge. They’d chosen parts of the station for drop pod access that would allow the fire teams the appearance of conquerors, to take over the Dungeon. From food supplies to power stations they would sweep in and subdue the Corporation soldiers at every point. For a moment Alice considered simply taking over the Dungeon and executing the Demon there, but she reminded herself that goal wasn’t going to get her the same result she wanted. The public execution as they’d given Alex had to be done in order for her semblance of justice to be worth the amount of lives and resources they were going to throw away on this plan.

  Every weapon they had was replaced with military grade, even the old rifle that Hero carried with him received an upgrade but retained the spirit of the mods he’d requested. Milly would be the only sister to go with them on this mission, as Lisa and Andreya were too busy with various projects in the Birthplace Forge to deem it necessary to accompany Alice. But Milly couldn’t be convinced it wasn’t worth it for her to go, and her usefulness on the ship’s data displays was irreplaceable. Steven had been put through more advanced courses and guidance sessions to learn to be a better pilot and Alice was confident in his skills, especially with Project backing them. Her crew had grown to number a thousand spread across soldiers, engineers, mechanics, and every other possible profession needed. The Stewman’s had evacuated their positions on the ship in return for a quieter life as plumbers aboard the Tower.

  Alice drank the protein-laden sludge in her hand down with a hard swallow, the sugary taste sticking on her tongue. Councilman Robert Tate had requested a meeting with her, and she’d declined. They’d spoken rarely since the request was granted and she saw no need to go back and forth with him again. If there was an actual council involved she’d have obliged but Robert was the only one. She always wondered why they hadn’t elevated other members to the council seats, but it was nothing she wanted to spend too much thought with. She had hated politics, though the thought had occurred to her that if she’d understood politics better then Alex may not have had to die. Robert had handled the political side then, and it had resulted in their survival at Alex’s cost. She couldn’t blame Tate for it though, could she? She was the one who had finally lured Alex into the trap they’d placed for him and she had been the one to carry the burden of betrayal to her late husband. Her heart used to ache at this thought, but it was still as unresponsive as it had been since she left the colony. Medical checks by Andreya had come back clean. The Tower hospital staff had tried to see her, Andreya’s cold glare had stopped them dead. She was very protective and guarded her patient like a jealous lover. This could have been something strange, but Alice defaulted to trusting the sisters as always.

  She sat the mug in her hand down on the flat rail as she gazed out over the repair bay. The Tower’s architectural genius didn’t stop for practicality here. Elevators of all shapes, sizes, and directions allowed movement throughout the myriad of ships and vessels that lay dormant in the bay without difficulty. Stormbreaker looked even more ferocious than ever, like a shark with sharpened teeth and blades for fins. She smirked as she thought about the new weaponry that lined the vessel like a bomb waiting to go off. She was going to give the Dungeon one hell of a surprise after-all. She could care less about the Library for what it was, but it did give her satisfaction to know she was going to be the one to rob the enemy of the data stored within it.

  Preliminary scouting teams informed her of the schedules kept by warships and transports alike, the Dungeon was very isolationist and not well defended in space. It had a few guns orbiting it in case someone tried something foolish, but the set of weapons it deployed would be useless without radars. They had no blockade or fleet to speak of, as if just begging for the kind of attack Alice was going to unleash upon it. Maybe the Demon was getting old and had simply forgotten that basic protection went a long way, or maybe it just never occurred to him that they were involved in a legitimate war. That was going to change, one way or the other.

  Alice’s hips no longer hurt as she stepped down from the platform leaving the empty mug to bother someone else with its disposal. Her knees no longer screamed at her, the gentle pulsations of the apparatus’s stimulators keeping her nerves and muscles at ease. The strength it generated in her was refreshing and vivid, she felt like she’d never been injured before. It was a shame she couldn’t offer that comfort to Cal. His lover, or so she thought, Fiora had taken up the crimson mantle and everything that came with it. She would be her second-in-command and launch her team straight at the castle while Alice moved her team through the network of tunnels below the construction and up into the bowels of the monstrous residence. She never liked Fiora much, but it had nothing to do with her looks. She was a child and had always pawned for Cal’s affections and Alice was certain the man hadn’t possessed the conviction to turn down such a luscious young prize. She shook the thought from her head, how could she stay jealous of a dead man’s affection? Alex had been three times the man Cal had been anyways, so let him be dead she thought.

  Alice approached Andreya who was punching numbers into the ship’s computer from a terminal at the base of the impressive vessel. Andreya gave her a “gimme a second” look that struck Alice as somewhat concerned. Alice did as she was requested, saying nothing while she admired the denser armor in the plates of her ship. It would take less than a week to fly to the Dungeon, and the entire siege had to take less than a half-day in order to get out of the airspace in time to avoid any ships answering the Dungeon’s distress calls. If they weren’t able to pull out before the Corporation sent in warships, the rebellion capital ship wouldn’t be able to safely extract them. A capital ship had twice the assault capabilities of a warship, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be brought down by focused fire from the warships. Capital ships were extremely expensive and the rebellion only possessed three of them. They couldn’t afford to lose one to rescuing Alice and her team. In some ways, once the data from the Library was uploaded it made sense for Alice and her team to be left to die. She hated that thought, but it was obvious. If Tate got what he wanted, then Alice could die in glorious battle and be made a martyr next to her husband. She wouldn’t get the chance to slay the Demon in cold blood on galaxy wide broadcasts, no open war would be declared as the Councilman could disavow any knowledge of the raid, and they’d have all the information they ever wanted to continue the ridiculous chess-match they were having with the Corporation. She trusted the sisters, but did she trust Robert Tate?

  “What can I do for you Alice?” Andreya said, no smile or joy on her face.

  “You look rough. What’s going on?” Alice said

  “Project is being a pain in the ass. Like always. He doesn’t like any of the maps I’ve uploaded or any of the charts, he wants to form his own calculations.”

  “That’s because I’m better than you at navigating the stars.” Project said.

  “Oh gods. Enough. Come on you two, we have important things to do. Project, you promised to let the girls do their work and let me do mine. Is this how you’re going to be all trip?” Alice said

  “I only interject when I think there is a better path. That’s why I’m such a valued resource at the Forge. And if you can come up with a better way to do things, you wouldn’t need me.”

  “Project, shut up. Fine. Do all the processes your way, I have more important things to create and do.” Andreya said with a little bit of resentment evident in her voice.

  “Like that secret project for Alice?” Project said.

  “Speaking of which what is that exactly?” Alice said

  “Uhh..I don’t have time. I told you already. Gotta go.” Andreya quickly turned and left stepping on an elevator to speed her across the repair bay before any further inquiries could be tossed her way.

  “Well. That was wonderful. You really pissed in her
tea, huh Project?” Alice said.

  “I suppose that’s one way of putting it. The truth is, she was typing like an uneducated ape and missing obvious results in the astrometric data. If she were to navigate the Stormbreaker through certain areas of space it’s incredibly likely we’ll get picked up by something and give away our position. If I am correct, my assumption is that you do not wish to engage or be noticed until we’re right on top of the station?” Project said, the tone in his melodic voice was recognized as condescending.

  “Yes. But why would she make such egregious errors when she never has before?”

  “She’s distracted. By war, by love, by you. By that abomination she’s making in the lab.” Project said.

  “Yes about that. What is it?”

  “You signed off on it.”

  “I sign off on dozens of research requests a day. That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

  “Well, you better inquire when we get back. As of now, I think its best you turn your attention to debriefing and educating your men on the proper etiquette of blowing things up.” Project said, his body-less voice drifting off as the communication array he was using powered down. Great, Alice thought. The concern for everything going on burying the concern for this nameless science project the girls were working on. It didn’t really matter, she doubted it would be of any real consequence. It was also looking like the odds for Alice’s survival were dropping anyways. Assuming she did survive this mission, she had no intention of surviving the execution of the Demon anyways. She shrugged her shoulders and signed on to the terminal. A click and buzz later, the message to meet at the ship for preparation was sent out. She looked over at her empty mug sitting 40 feet above her on the guard rail and wished she’d brought it with her. However much she hated the sludge, she knew she’d need more of it before the day was over.