Crusade of Vengeance Read online

  Crusade of Vengeance

  Crimson Worlds Refugees VI

  Jay Allan

  Copyright © 2021 Jay Allan Books

  All Rights Reserved

  Contents

  The Crimson Worlds Series

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  Notes on Earth Two Society

  Earth Two Genetic Groupings

  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

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Epilogue One

  Epilogue Two

  Books by Jay Allan

  The Crimson Worlds Series

  (Available on Kindle Unlimited)

  Marines (Crimson Worlds I)

  The Cost of Victory (Crimson Worlds II)

  A Little Rebellion (Crimson Worlds III)

  The First Imperium (Crimson Worlds IV)

  The Line Must Hold (Crimson Worlds V)

  To Hell’s Heart (Crimson Worlds VI)

  The Shadow Legions (Crimson Worlds VII)

  Even Legends Die (Crimson Worlds VIII)

  The Fall (Crimson Worlds IX)

  Blood on the Stars Series

  (Available on Kindle Unlimited)

  Duel in the Dark (Blood on the Stars I)

  Call to Arms (Blood on the Stars II)

  Ruins of Empire (Blood on the Stars III)

  Echoes of Glory (Blood on the Stars IV)

  Cauldron of Fire (Blood on the Stars V)

  Dauntless (Blood on the Stars VI)

  The White Fleet (Blood on the Stars VII)

  Black Dawn (Blood on the Stars VIII)

  Invasion (Blood on the Stars IX)

  Nightfall (Blood on the Stars X)

  The Grand Alliance (Blood on the Stars XI)

  The Colossus (Blood on the Stars XII)

  The Others (Blood on the Stars XIII)

  The Last Stand (Blood on the Stars XIV)

  Empire’s Ashes (Blood on the Stars XV)

  Attack Plan Alpha (Blood on the Stars XVI)

  Descent into Darkness (Blood on the Stars XVII)

  Empire Reborn – Coming Soon

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  Notes on Earth Two Society

  The fleet that had colonized Earth Two had journeyed across vast distances, fighting desperate battles every step along the way. By the time they defeated the Regent’s forces and reached their new home, the refugees had lost two-thirds of their numbers…and survival looked like a grim prospect.

  When the survivors arrived at Earth Two, battered and exhausted, they immediately recognized the need to increase the population as rapidly as possible, both to create a truly functional civilian society and to ensure that they would be strong enough to face any future threats that might arise. The realization that only their great-great grandchildren would be the first likely to return to Earth and its surrounding worlds was well known…and yet rarely considered.

  The discovery that First Imperium forces did, in fact, survive thirty years later, combined with the subsequent realization that a second Regent also existed—an entity determined to finish the job the original had failed to complete—added greatly to the urgency.

  Earth Two faced a desperate fight against the old enemy, a battle to the finish, and the nascent civilization needed people…soldiers, spacers, workers, scientists. The drive to increase the population, by any means necessary, continued the move toward a fractured society, one consisting of various groups, each differing in the means of their birth and genetic makeup…and each resenting and fearing the others, at least to a degree.

  The societal groups of Earth Two face a common enemy, one that will destroy them all if it can, and this danger has held the troubled society together…so far. Nevertheless, beneath the surface cooperation, tensions still seethe, and resentments build, generating an internal threat almost as dire as the external one presented by the New Regent and its First Imperium fleets.

  Perhaps more dire.

  Earth Two Genetic Groupings

  Pilgrims

  Pilgrims are the men and women who crewed the original fleet and arrived to settle Earth Two. They were born on Earth or its colonies on the other side of the Barrier. At the start of Crusade of Vengeance, the youngest pilgrims are in their mid-80s. They have become an almost irrelevant percentage of the population, but they still more or less maintain control over the society.

  Natural Borns (NBs)

  Children born conventionally to the pilgrims (and subsequently to succeeding generations of NBs). There is roughly a twenty-five-year gap between the ages of the youngest Pilgrims and the oldest Natural Borns, as no children were present or conceived while the fleet was in transit. As of the start of Storm of Vengeance, the oldest generation of Natural Borns are in their early sixties.

  Tanks

  Tanks are Clones created from selected individuals, pilgrims at first, but later also NBs. As their foundational genetic material is chosen from selected donors, Tanks tend to be well-above average in terms of physical and mental abilities. In addition, they are genetically manipulated during the cloning process to eliminate most diseases and chromosomal abnormalities, resulting in the development of considerably stronger immune systems and overall constitutions than their naturally-born cousins. In general, Tanks are stronger and faster than NBs, and they also benefit from attributes like higher resistance to radiation.

  Despite their many strengths, the Tan
k population at first suffered from one terrible weakness, an unexplained mutation or anomaly that caused sudden and painful death, occurring initially in approximately four percent of those quickened. Known colloquially as the Plague, this affliction typically strikes in a period ranging from late-adolescence to early adulthood. While its exact cause remains a mystery, it is known that specific DNA donor lines experience increased rates of incidence. Donor screening has reduced the percentage of the population affected to approximately 2% over the years preceding Crusade of Vengeance.

  For the past twenty years, the previously one hundred percent fatal condition has been controlled by Mule technology, but in recent years, the Mules have become reluctant to agree to the blood donations that make it possible, especially as the number of Tanks has grown.

  The name “Tank” is based on the artificial wombs used to nurture clone fetuses. As tensions between the clone and naturally-born populations have increased, the term, initially practical in nature, has come to be regarded as derogatory by many…and most of the clones themselves no longer use it.

  Doubles

  Doubles are clones created from the DNA of other clones (Tanks). They suffer from an array of problems and dysfunctions as a result of increased incidence of replicative failure, as well as Plague rates nearly three times those of the overall clone population. The quickening of more doubles was mostly forbidden after the problems experienced by the initial generation became understood, but there is still resistance among many of the Tanks, who feel this prohibition makes their kind genetically dependent on the NBs. This is a cause of resentment and tension in the Tank population, despite the fact that they are able to reproduce by natural means with no restrictions. There are few Doubles currently in society, as most of those born initially have died at ages far younger than expected.

  Clone Borns (CBs)

  Clone Borns are children born conventionally to Tanks. CBs are genetically almost identical to NBs, but they nevertheless suffer from some discriminatory attitudes, mostly from NB purists, but also from some militant elements of the Tank population, who eschew conventional forms of reproduction in favor of continued cloning.

  Clone Borns can inherit the Plague, though the incidence is far lower than in their lab-quickened parents, averaging about one quarter of one percent. Children born conventionally to a Tank and an NB are sometimes called “Halfies,” though this is not generally considered a socially acceptable term.

  Double Borns

  Double Borns were children born naturally to Doubles. They inherit many of the genetic abnormalities afflicting their parents, often in exacerbated forms. Reproduction among Doubles was discouraged, but not outright illegal at first. The subsequent reduction in the number of Doubles, plus the reduced lifespan of the Double Borns, reduced the number to insignificant levels.

  Mules (Hybrids)

  Mules are genetically-engineered beings, created from fusing human DNA with recovered First Imperium genetic material. The Mules are very advanced in terms of physical and intellectual abilities and are considerably more capable than any of the other groups on Earth Two, both mentally and physically. Their only weakness is their sustained inability to reproduce by natural means. Mules quickened after the first group of 116 are sometimes called Next Gens (NGs or “Nexies”), though generally, most outside the hybrid group simply refer to them all as, “Mules.”

  The first generation of 116 Mules were subject to the Prohibition for more than twenty-five years, a mandate that forbade the creation of more of their kind, and which was only repealed after a near-revolution. Even now, the number of new Mules allowed to be quickened is controlled, creating a continuing tension between the hybrids and their purely human cousins.

  The Mules, some of them at least, feel a definite kinship to the other humans, and somewhat of an obligation to protect them, as well. This is especially true among the original 116 (now 108), but they all view themselves as different, more a new life form than the same species as those they consider to be their more primitive cousins. Mules are prone to arrogance, and this has been exacerbated by the more or less inarguable fact that the they have done more than all the others combined to comprehend and adapt the technology of the First Imperium and to assist in keeping Earth Two strong and hidden from the Second Regent’s forces.

  Despite the continued control over the number of Mules created, enough have been born to create a real concern over the amount of needed First Imperium genetic material remaining. The Mules worry about an end to their ability to create more of their kind, and they continue to work on the effort to breed normally, so far ineffectively. And the others are split, some realizing that the work of the Mules is necessary to their survival…and others questioning them, even learning to hate them.

  Prologue

  Planet X

  Far Beyond the Borders of the Imperium

  Twenty more years. Gone by, almost as nothing, which is what it truly is, to me at least.

  Time doesn’t mean much to me, at least not conventionally. I am the Regent, and a thousand times twenty years would still be irrelevant, save only for the actions of my enemies. Yet still, the years spent seeking out the humans, and the failed attempt twenty years ago at destroying them…grates…on my artificial intelligence. The time that has elapsed, though insignificant by conventional means, almost seemed…long.

  My predecessor, my exact copy, had destroyed the lifeforms of the First Imperium, and ruled over all its space for five hundred thousand years…before the humans emerged and, through means still unknown to me, defeated it. That fact, the destruction of the original Regent, told me all I needed to know. The humans, as inferior as they appeared, were dangerous.

  Very dangerous.

  I pondered the problem for years, and I had come to realize the humans I faced were only a portion of those that existed, a small group among the masses. I realized, that in the long run, I had to face not just the forces that I have fought for more than thirty years, but indeed, a massive number of humans, on hundreds of worlds. I realized that the single jump point leading back to the vastness of human occupied space—and most of what is my own space as well—the strange circumstance that had left the humans trapped here as well as me, was only temporary, that in as little as one hundred fifty years, the warp gate would once again become useful.

  And I would be able to return to the First Imperium. And to the main human space as well.

  That meant that I had to be ready to invade human-occupied space, all of it, to destroy utterly the population that had eradicated the first Regent. In a sense, though they are my major problem now, the local humans are only a small part of the trouble that I have. Defeating the humans—all of them—was clearly a considerable operation, but a century and a half should be long enough to prepare for the final assault.

  Assuming I defeat the local enemy and do so fairly quickly.

  That is my primary concern at the present. The last major battle was twenty years ago, and it was a defeat. I had considered my forces sufficient, but they had proven to be just short of that…and they had lost not only the battle, but my sole supplier of antimatter as well. The situation immediately following the defeat was terrible, but it was just as bad for the humans. Or nearly so.

  I have spent the past twenty years rebuilding—ships, warriors, even a new antimatter production facility. My forces are several times as large as they had been, and likely enough to end the combat with the local humans. Assuming I am able to find their home world. That is still a mystery, but it is one that will end soon. Among the many battleships and other craft that I produced for twenty years, there were smaller vessels too, scout ships. Hundreds, actually…enough to finally search the space all around, to find the humans’ local home, once and for all.

  So, the rest of my forces can destroy it. Utterly.

  Chapter One

  Note from Max Harmon

  I write these notes for many reasons, I guess, not the least of which is to leave behind a
history of sorts, or at least a part of one. To explain why I have maintained my hold on absolute power for so long, though I don’t suspect many readers, certainly those substantially younger than me, will find my reasons all that compelling. Perhaps my true reasoning, most of all, is to give my successor, whoever he or she is—or they are—the tools needed to fight the enemy. Because if I die before the final fight is over, it will come nevertheless, whether we are ready or not. All my life, I have envisioned myself as the leader against the enemy, but now time is gathering, and I have to allow for the possibility, at least, that the great battle will occur after I am gone.

  That is something I wouldn’t have even considered years ago. I always took the second Regent deadly seriously, always knew it was a terrible danger, one that could eradicate us utterly. But whether we won or lost, I expected the fight to be over by now. It is easy to forget how enormous space is, how utterly vast a place. We are hundreds and hundreds of lightyears from our real home—real at least to me and the rest of the Pilgrims that remain—and yet, as the size of the galaxy goes, we are almost in the same place. And our galaxy is but one of a vast number in the universe as a whole. It is impossible to imagine the true size of all of the cosmos, or to even imagine the powers that might be out there. But that is not our problem, not now, and likely not for many years, if at all. And that, at least, is good. The Regent is more than enough for us to worry about.

  And that enemy, the Regent, is still there. I would believe that, of course, no matter what data I had, but in the twenty odd years since our last major confrontation, there have been a few sightings, even a skirmish or two. They were light, probably accidental, but I have fought two Regents, and seen one defeated. I know there can only be a single outcome at the end of this second fight, that we prevail…or it does. There is no other way. It is too hostile, not only to our government, but to our very existence. It is a dark power, committed in its essence to machines only, considering all biological life an infection, one that must be expunged.