Genesis of War Page 5

  He fired back, taking out the other guard. The alien flopped to the ground. The commotion would most certainly draw attention. It wouldn't be long before the base was teaming with patrols, looking for the prisoners.

  Ronan grimaced, wincing from the pain of his burned ear and cheek.

  Jessica's face was wracked with worry. "Are you okay?"

  "I don't think I'll be competing in any beauty pageants, but I'm fine."

  Ronan peered around the corner. There was another dropship about 100 yards away. The odds of successfully sprinting across the base to reach it were slim.

  More plasma bolts streaked in Ronan's direction, impacting the nearby structures.

  Ronan fired back at the platoon of Tarvaax warriors that were approaching. They had taken cover behind a series of supply crates and were unleashing a torrent of weapons fire in the prisoners’ direction.

  Ronan hugged the wall of the barracks and peered around the corner. He was outnumbered and outgunned. And more troops were sure to be on the way.

  Ronan caught sight of something that made him grin.

  He recoiled as plasma bolts slammed into the corner of the structure. The building’s armor plating kept the plasma bolts from penetrating the wall. They left shallow black pits that smoldered.

  Ronan readied his weapon and slung the barrel around the corner, taking aim at the crates the Tarvaax were hiding behind. From what little of the Tarvaax language Ronan spoke, he was able to decipher the crates contained thermal grenades. A well-placed plasma bolt could detonate them.

  Ronan unleashed a flurry of plasma fire.

  The crates exploded in a thunderous roar.

  One after the other, the crates exploded, unleashing a series of blinding explosions. The blast was deafening, and the concussion rattled the entire base.

  The ground rumbled, and Ronan could feel the vibrations through his boots.

  The entire platoon had been incinerated.

  "Go, go, go!” Ronan commanded.

  He motioned the prisoners to run toward the dropship. He waited until the last prisoner had cleared the barracks, then brought up the rear.

  Two mechanized units marched toward them. Ronan could see their massive plasma cannons take aim.

  The prisoners were sitting ducks. They were only halfway to the dropship. They were out in the open, completely vulnerable. These mechanized units were going to cut them in two.

  Ronan grimaced, feeling like he had made a tragic mistake. They were all going to die because of him.

  Just as the units were about to fire their weapons, a dropship swooped down from the clouds and unleashed two rockets that slammed into the walking tanks, turning them into molten carcasses.

  The dropship banked around and landed in front of the prisoners. The group ran up the back ramp into the cargo hold. Ronan was the last one aboard. As soon as he cleared the ramp the dropship lifted from the ground.

  The Tarvaax base was swarming with soldiers. They unleashed a torrent of weapons fire at the dropship. But the small arms did little against the heavy armor plating.

  Ronan’s face was a mix of relief and anger. He glared at Ian.

  "What's the matter? Did you think I left you?" Ian said with a sly grin.

  "You did leave us."

  "I know. And I felt bad about it, so I had to come back. Sue me.” Ian angled the vehicle toward the upper atmosphere. The massive engines rumbled, and the ship quaked as it soared through the turbulent sky.

  Ronan saw to it that Aidan, Jessica, and Jax were securely strapped in their seats, then he made his way forward to the cockpit. He strapped into the copilot’s seat.

  Within minutes, they had reached space. Ronan's eyes widened at the sight of the Tarvaax fleet in orbit around Zeplovia.

  Dozens of warships encircled the planet. Ronan had a sinking feeling in his stomach. There was no way the Zeplovian Navy could fight off an invasion of this scale. Zeplovia was going to need assistance from the Federation. But their recent secession was making that seem unlikely.

  Ian angled away from the fleet and plotted jump coordinates.

  "Where are we going?" Ronan asked.

  "Beta Epsilon 7. Maybe we can seek asylum?" Ian said.

  Just as he was about to engage the quantum drive, the engines went dead. The controls became non-responsive. The dropship drifted through space.

  A stream of attack fighters launched from the flight deck of one of the carriers. They were like angry hornets buzzing through space. The squadron lit up as red icons on the scanner. Ronan watched with concern as the icons headed toward the dropship.

  "What the hell happened?" Ronan asked.

  Ian shrugged. "They must have remotely disabled the ship."

  Ian tried to restart the engines, but couldn't.

  Aiden and Jax unbuckled their safety harnesses and glided their way to the cockpit.

  "It's a kill switch." Aiden said.

  "What?" Ronan said.

  Aiden rolled his eyes.”A kill switch. Remotely activated. An anti-theft device. Look, if someone steals a ship, or a car—“

  “Or a sport-bike,” Ronan added.

  “Or sport-bike,” Aiden continued, "a signal can be sent to a transponder to disable the vehicle."

  "Can you override the transponder?"

  Aiden flashed a confident smirk. “Of course I can. How do you think I got away with stealing that Samurai?"

  “You didn’t get away with it," Ronan reminded him.

  “That's not why I got caught."

  Ronan's eyes narrowed at him. “Stealing vehicles is not a skill I would be proud of."

  "Yeah, but it's a skill that's going to save our asses right now."

  "Hey, watch your language."

  Aiden made his way to the control console and examined it. He asked Ian to move out of the way so he could get underneath the dash. Within a few moments, Aiden found the transceiver, and rewired the console.

  “Reboot the system,”Aiden said, still fidgeting under the dash. He slipped aside and Ian climbed into the pilot seat. He restarted the vehicle.

  The lights on the control panel flickered and came to life. The system ran a self-diagnostic, then came online.

  “Might want to hurry," Ronan said, watching the swarm of fighters approach.

  “I’m working on it," Ian said as he programmed in jump coordinates. An instant later, he engaged the quantum drive. The bulkheads rippled and warbled as a quantum distortion washed through the ship.

  Ronan felt time and space dilate. He felt like his body was made of putty, and it was being stretched in all directions.

  The dropship vanished from orbit.

  An instant later, time snapped back to normal. It was an awkward sensation— one Ronan had experienced many times. He glanced over at Aiden. The kid didn't look like he felt very well. His face had a green pallor to it. Quantum jumps could make you a little queasy until you got used to them.

  A slight grin crawled up on Ronan's lips. He couldn't help but feel proud of his son, though he wasn't too thrilled about how he had learned the skill. “Nice work, Aiden."

  "Thanks, Dad."

  “Just promise me you’re not going to steal anymore vehicles. Deal?"

  “Deal."

  The jump to Beta Epsilon 7 would take several hours. Ronan still held Federation citizenship. He may have lost all his worldly possessions, and all his finances, but he still had the most valuable thing in the galaxy—his son. Perhaps they'd start a new life on Beta Epsilon 7, or some other Federation colony. But wherever they settled, he knew they were never going to be truly safe until the Tarvaax were stopped. Zeplovia was just the first step in the aliens’ quest for galactic domination.

  Ronan knew he wasn't going to stay retired from the military for long. One way or another, he was sure he was going to find himself back in the fray.

  Ronan unbuckled his safety harness and made his way into the cargo bay. He drifted to Jessica and buckled in next to her. “I don't suppose you know
of any good deals on an apartment on Beta Epsilon?"

  Jessica shrugged. “I have connections. I can probably find us something.”

  “Us?”

  “Yeah, us.” She smiled.

  Read The Tarvaax War Series

  Pursuit of Valor

  Search for Honor

  Thank You!

  I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you enjoyed reading, be sure to grab a copy of Pursuit of Valor and Search for Honor on Amazon!

  —Tripp

  The Planetary Defense Force Wants YOU!

  Join my newsletter and never miss a new release. No spam. Ever. Just cool stuff. (All the cool kids are joining up.)

  See All of My Books!

  Tripp Ellis Catalogue

  The Galactic Wars Series

  Starship Scorpion

  Starship Desolation

  Starship Revenant

  Starship Guardian

  Starship Valor

  Starship Insurgent

  Starship Exodus

  Max Mars

  The Orion Conspiracy

  Blade of Vengeance

  The Zero Code

  Connect With Me

  I'm just a geek who loves sci-fi and horror. I was abducted by aliens and forced to travel the galaxy as the official biographer of an evil galactic ruler. This is where I learned to hone my craft. Fortunately, I escaped and made my way back to Earth, and now I write about my adventures. I hope you enjoy!

  www.trippellis.com