Revelations

By TJ Hudson

Feohu Prime and its Colonies have been waging a never ending war of survival against a savage and feared alien race: The Voloth'Tai. An elite force called the exo-marines were created to combat the deadly threat.
After her elder siblings are killed in action, Julia Augusta enlists with the exo-marines so she can avenge their deaths. Julia embarks on her first mission, during which she encounters the toughest challenges of her life. Just as she thinks her situation cannot get any worse an aurora appears in the night sky, which changes everything she knows about her life and her world.
Can Julia and her allies adapt to this new reality?

Revelations is Book 1 in the exo-marines trilogy. It is a 71,000 word novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TJ Hudson
• Release date: Sep 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301802135

TJ Hudson

TJ Hudson lives in Yorkshire, UK. Although his body resides there his mind can often be found wandering away to who knows where.He decided it was about time these meanderings into the land of imagination were written down, and just maybe make some sense of it all.To find out more visit tjhudson.net.

Book preview

Book 1

Exo-marines: Revelations

By TJ Hudson

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 TJ Hudson

TJ Hudson's Website

TJ Hudson's Newsletter

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. This book does not contain DRM, thus allowing you to lend it out. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for supporting and respecting the hard work of this author.

This book was produced in the UK and is written in British English.

Table of Contents

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

Author's Note

About TJ Hudson

More Books by TJ Hudson

Thank you Monique

Blurb

Feohu Prime and its Colonies have been waging a never ending war of survival against a savage and feared alien race: The Voloth'Tai. An elite force called the exo-marines were created to combat the deadly threat.

After her elder siblings are killed in action, Julia Augusta enlists with the exo-marines so she can avenge their deaths. Julia embarks on her first mission, during which she encounters the toughest challenges of her life. Just as she thinks her situation cannot get any worse an aurora appears in the night sky, which changes everything she knows about her life and her world.

Can Julia and her allies adapt to this new reality?

Revelations is Book 1 in the exo-marines trilogy. It is a 71,000 word novel.

Exo-marines: Revelations

Chapter 1

Feohu Colony One: Hill View Springs District

'Don't worry, this will all be yours one day,' Carl shouted to Julia as she looked out across the low level, sprawling suburban landscape.

'City Administrator? Nah, she's going all the way to Planet Admin or Prime world. Aren't you?' Sarah added. The young college student grinned, she knew how much it would embarrass the outwardly modest Julia Augusta.

'No no, any level would be fine,' Julia said quietly as she turned back towards the path they were following; she frowned at Sarah. Carl was walking away from the two girls and did not hear Julia's reply.

Julia, Sarah and Carl always walked home together. Their journey took them up a wide and rolling hill. At the crest Carl would leave them and the path to go to his house, which was down a side street. The two girls were neighbours and so would walk together along the hilltop for several minutes more before they too turned off the path and walked down their comfortable and affluent cul-de-sac. The walk along the hilltop gave them a view over their neighbourhood to one side. On the other they could see playing fields and beyond those: the local military academy.

On clear bright days the view of the academy's imposing buildings could be an inspiring sight. Well, what passed for an inspiring sight where they lived. Their homes were in a district made up of sprawling suburbia. There were many thousands of districts that together made up a vast suburban landscape which wrapped itself around the planet. The only gaps in this insipidly pleasant sprawl were caused by mall complexes, country clubs and highways.

Occasionally, a district would have places or buildings of relative interest; the military academy was one such place.

Julia felt equally blessed and cursed to be living near the thing. Yes, it did provide plenty of gossip for the local area. There were the entertaining, though mildly illegal, incidents which took place every time first and second year cadets were given leave to visit the nearby mall and its nightclubs. It was an attraction for spaceship enthusiasts as shuttles often came and went from the place. Then there was also the outdoor military training that could be watched from certain vantage points. Life in Hillview Springs District would be very boring indeed if it were not for the academy.

On the other hand, Julia could never forget what the interesting place actually was: a training centre for sending young people off to war. Somehow those around her appeared to gloss over that particular fact.

Julia felt herself staring at the academy as she walked along with Sarah. This particular day was not clear and bright, instead it was overcast and muggy. The academy's main building, a large black monolithic structure, looked like a monument to death in the dull grey light. It towered over everything around it.

When (not if) I am city administrator that place will be moved to another district, she promised herself. It was a promise she would never dare say aloud; for she was too embarrassed to admit her lofty personal ambitions.

'I'm just joking, why do you have to be so sensitive?' Sarah asked.

'Sorry,' Julia meekly replied.

Sarah groaned, 'Yeah yeah, this stupid amount of college work is getting me down too. They never told us back at school there would be this much.'

The girls left the path, at the brow of the hill, and walked along their cul-de-sac. A minute later they ambled round a bend and saw their homes. Julia froze.

Her aunt Christina was waiting on the porch, which was something she never usually did. Julia realised instantly what this meant as she knew her aunt all too well. Christina could be apprehensive, nervous and outwardly emotional; especially when she did not know what to do with herself or how to handle a delicate situation.

Julia's kind and caring aunt would have been on the porch, pacing up and down, waiting for Julia since she first heard the news. She could have sent a message, but she would have wanted to tell Julia the news in person. Christina, however, never got the chance.

As Julia stared at Christina, tears started to roll down her face and she felt herself start to shake. Sarah was talking to her but Julia could not hear what her friend was saying. The world began to gently spin.

It has not happened, not again, please no, it is not possible. But Julia knew the truth. She knew in that moment that her older brother, Robert, had been killed.

She threw down her bag and sprinted back the way she had just been walking. Julia reached the hilltop breathless and shaking. It started to rain.

The downpour plastered her long, dark hair onto her skin and across her face. Strands of it got into her mouth, but she did not notice. She grabbed hold of the railing, which circled the playing fields, and looked out. Her eyes settled on that dreadful dark building.

Julia rocked back and forth, not taking her hands off the rail, then screamed and cursed at the academy. Her knuckles turned white and her fingers hurt from gripping so hard, but she did not care.

Eventually Julia found that she had stopped screaming; in her mind she did not know if seconds or hours had passed. She kept her eyes fixed on the building as caring arms gently hugged her and then pulled her away from the railing. Finally she relinquished her gaze.

In that moment Julia committed herself to her new future.

Four Years Later - Voloth'Tai Swarm Planet: Exosphere

'Alright then, this is it. This. Is. It!' The platoon sergeant bellowed out. His voice carried loudly down the narrow interior of the Dragon Fly Class drop shuttle.

Julia sat perfectly still, but hated the fact she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. You are supposed to be calmer than this, she inwardly scolded herself.

She was relieved when the shuttle hit the atmosphere and started buffeting around; the cacophony of her heart became drowned out by the violent shuddering of the craft.

The sergeant roared again, 'Remember: this is a swarm planet!'

Julia saw the other three members of her fire-team roll their eyes. Yeah, like they didn't know that already. She gave them all a knowing smile.

The platoon sergeant and his pointless bellowing did bother her though. Julia had never met him personally and she had only seen him for the first time yesterday. Yet here she was, under his seniority, along with the rest of her platoon. No one from her platoon knew their commanding officer, a Lieutenant, either. Apparently that was quite normal.

Lieutenant Smith sat silent, not taking his eyes off a small computer in his lap. There had been zero interaction with him. It was as if he did not want to even acknowledge their existence. The man was from another world, and it showed,

Eventually the shuttle stopped shaking, it extended its wings and started to glide to the landing zone. As soon as the wings had finished deploying and the full effects of gravity were felt, the Lieutenant stood up and addressed the thirty six exo-marines over the intercom.

'We're going to dump our packs, establish an initial perimeter, and engage with all haste. We cannot allow the Voloth'Tai to start nesting. You should all know their life cycle. This will be a relentless search and destroy mission.' He finished, nodded at the seated exo-marines in the modified cargo hold and then went through a heavy door into the cockpit.

The platoon sergeant bellowed out again, 'Weapons ready Marines! This could be a hot landing!'

The bolt of realisation hit Julia as the NCO finished shouting. He was trying far too hard: the sergeant was more nervous than she was. That was disturbing. Was this his first combat mission too?

Two seconds later she was hit again, this time physically. Something smacked into the side of the shuttle, which caused a section of pipe to break, swing down and then hit Julia hard across her left temple. Her helmet took the brunt of the blow, though part of the pipe managed to slide down and make contact with her flesh.

The strike did not knock Julia out; but it did disorientate her and blur her vision. She lost all sense of where she was and what she should do. For all intents and purposes she might as well have been unconscious.

Julia tried to look around; people were shouting and moving, the shuttle was spinning, or was that just her?

She tried to raise her head but doing so made her see white spots and feel nauseous. Hot blood ran down the side of her face, that must be her own, surely?

The spinning grew more intense; she vomited. Emptying her stomach felt like a blessed relief. Julia tried looking up again, but she could not. She was just about able to glance at the exo-marine sitting next to her. He too was pinned down in his seat by the centrifugal forces.

Lights were flashing, alarms were wailing and somewhere in the distance she could hear the platoon sergeant; he was screaming incoherently.

No one could get up or move from their seats, no one could do anything.

Finally there was a crashing sound and rapid deceleration as the shuttle fired emergency thrusters and smashed through the canopy of giant trees, followed by an almighty slam as it hit the soft, boggy forest floor.

Air bags exploded and rapidly deflated inside the hold. All lights were off. Julia could hear groaning and then people asking each other if they were all right. A moment later the marines' training kicked in. Access doors were forced open, personal lights were lit and a rapid evacuation commenced.

Julia felt someone unbuckle and then start to carry her out, 'Backpack... My backpack,' she managed to utter as she feebly grabbed for it under the seat.

'Yeah yeah, we got it, we got 'em all,' someone said.

She was carried out and laid down on the soft ground outside as another marine assessed her.

'Bad concussion. That pipe just about managed to clip you. You were damn lucky, it could have killed you. Scanner says there's no internal hemorrhage, but just make sure you stay awake.

'Yeah, you're lucky,' he said. It sounded as if he was talking more to himself than to Julia.

She managed to briefly focus on his face. It was Fisher, another marine. Why was he tending to her? He was not the platoon's bearded medic: Mallory.

'Medic? Mallory?' she managed to ask.

'You don't need him. He's busy,' Fisher said, shaking his head.

Julia looked around in the half light as best she could: what could be salvaged from the downed craft had been placed into a pile, around which a perimeter had been established. No one else appeared to be badly injured. She tried to raise herself up on one arm but could not; the nauseous feeling returned. She retched but nothing came out.

Fisher laughed, 'Hopkin wants to thank you later for that present you covered him with on the way down.'

Despite her pain she managed to laugh with him. Julia finished laughing and relaxed for a moment too long, she let the soothing tiredness take her. She did not care that Fisher was shouting in her face to keep awake. The world around her faded to nothing.

Voloth'Tai Swarm Planet: Temperate Forest Region

Three rapid bursts of rifle fire echoed through the forest. Julia jolted awake and quickly sat up. It made her feel light headed, but the sensation was no where near as bad as it had been earlier. Her vision had returned to normal and she no longer felt as if she would throw up. The cool forest air was like an elixir to her unsettled body.

Julia still felt a lot of pain in and around her right temple, but she could live with it. There was still daylight; so she had not been out for too long she hoped.

More rounds were let off in the distance. There were multiple exo-marines firing now.

She heard cries of 'Contact,' both in the distance and not too far away.

Marine Augusta looked over and saw the platoon medic, Mallory, listening in on his scanner. Lying next to Mallory was the platoon sergeant. The sergeant's torso was naked except for bloodied bandages. Next to him lay a section of piping with dried blood smeared over one end. A drug pack was clipped around his right biceps. Julia was tempted to get a painkiller for herself, but decided a clear, though painful, mind was for the best.

Mallory noticed that Julia had risen and went to her. He took one look and nodded, 'You'll be okay.'

She asked if the sergeant was going to make it, Mallory just gave her a grim look and went back to monitoring the firefight. It was growing in intensity. He knew his services would soon be required.

The sounds of clicking and screeching joined the noise of the gunfire: Voloth'Tai warriors. Julia shivered and fear paralysed her for a moment, then she found her resolve and went to orient herself and get battle ready. Today she would start her revenge.

Three of the four platoon sections plus the mortar specialist had gone. This left just the seven other exo-marines of Julia's section, Mallory the medic, Silver the tech-specialist and the dying platoon sergeant. Lieutenant Smith was no where to be seen.

Julia walked over to her immediate NCO, the well built and confident Corporal Bishop, and asked 'Situation report?'

The Corporal replied, 'We sent a section to go and do an initial patrol. It wasn't long before they reported back that they had found a Voloth'Tai pre-nest cluster. It was agreed to send out two more sections to clear out the immediate threat. Sounds like they have just started.

'Our section was to wait here to look after you two and guard the kit.'

'Is the Lieutenant with the others?' she asked.

'Take a look over there,' Bishop replied.

Puzzled, Julia turned back to face the crashed shuttle. Looking with a clear head she saw that only the cargo hold remained of it. The wings and cockpit were both gone.

'What happened?'

'We don't know. That is what Silver is trying to figure out. She is also trying to make contact with the other shuttles of Epsilon Company. No luck so far.'

Silver had set up a link to what remained of the shuttle's computer system but was unable to acquire any relevant data.

'How long was I out for?' Julia finally asked Bishop. The worrying thought that she had been unconscious for the night had crossed her mind.

'Only about half an hour. Come on, gear up. It's now more important than ever we remember our training.' Bishop, just like Julia and everyone else present, was on his first combat mission.

Julia found her pack and weapon. She put on the rest of her light infantry armour and clipped spare ammo and grenades to it. She checked over her Nemesis SG82 Assault Rifle. Okay, good to go she told herself. But she paused, looked back at her pack and considered its banned contents; no, too risky she decided.

She joined the rest of her section and proceeded to patrol the immediate vicinity with them. The eight marines listened to the rifle fire as they walked. Conflicting emotions ran through their minds: equally happy they were not putting their lives at risk on the front line and resentful at being stuck at the crash site where they would gain no honour, and not knowing what was going on.

After five excruciating minutes the calls starting coming in: screams for medic and backup. The section sergeant ordered them into tactical positions and they moved out with Mallory following close behind. Silver was given the choice to come or not; she elected to stay behind so she could continue trying to make contact with the rest of Epsilon Company. The tech had taken her helmet off and was visibly frustrated and disturbed by how cut-off their platoon was.

Julia psyched herself up and set off as lead scout.

The last explosion ripped a Voloth'Tai warrior apart directly in front of its brethren, but still they kept coming, unrelenting. The small group of six exo-marines had just used the last of their grenades. They were all that remained of the platoon. The rest had been torn apart by the Voloth'Tai during the preceding five hours.

Initially the assault had been against Voloth'Tai workers, but then the tide of the battle had turned as soon as the warriors made their appearance.

'Single shot only, they have got gaps in that armour, make those bullets last,' Julia whispered.

A single grenade could kill a warrior instantly with a direct hit. The secondary blast wave would only slow down other nearby warriors. The alien lizards had a type of exoskeleton that took a lot of bullets to penetrate, though a well aimed bullet between the armour could seriously injure or even kill.

The six marines all now carried Heavy Nemesis SG82-XL Assault Rifles, all of which had been acquired from their fallen comrades. Although the Heavy Rifles used the same ammo as the regular assault rifles, these particular weapons gave a higher rate of fire and had better penetration of the Voloth'Tai warrior armour. The platoon's support machine guns, with their more abundant but lighter ammunition, had turned out to be pretty much useless.

The marines kept falling back, they had no option but a continual tactical retreat. They had been doing just that for the last hour. The Voloth'Tai numbers appeared to be unlimited; however Julia noticed they never encountered more than eight at a time. Just enough to give the marines constant grief but not so much that the humans were rapidly wiped out.

Five well placed shots took out the final two of the warrior group and for a moment the marines were alone. They crouched and listened, there was no sound except for the gentle falling of leaves and bark fragments which had been ripped into the air by the fighting.

Corporal Bishop gave the hand signal for them to move out. They ran as silent as possible in the twilight. Their feet made little noise as they landed on the soft damp ground. After several hundred feet another hand signal was given that told them to sprint at full speed. The exo-marines desperately wanted to lose the Voloth'Tai, hide somewhere secure and try to formulate some sort of plan.

'There,' Marine Grange called out softly to Julia and pointed to a ditch. The pair of them sent out the relevant hand signals to halt and regroup, then they went down into the ditch. The two marines sank down to the middle of their shins in the muddy ditch water, but wet feet were the least of their worries. The others joined them in quick succession. At last, they had cover and were on their own.

Marine Grange looked up to the taller Julia and said, 'We'll get through this,' smiling as he did so.

Julia just blankly looked at him in return. Oh you idiot, why are you here?

He frowned when she gave no reply.

She forced herself to speak, 'Yes Carl. We will.'

They were about to start a quick situation report when Corporal Bishop spoke, 'No. It can't be.'

A second later the others saw what he was looking at: a pair of triangular glowing