The Triumphant's Return: The Merged Wars, #2

By Chris Thompson

It had been only a few days since the Merged had launched their attack; with no signs of further incursions, Lincoln and her team had been staying on the planet Asro while preparing for whatever their next mission might be.

When the transponder signal of the Triumphant - the ship Lincoln had begun to think of as home until it was lost in the first battle against the Merged - is located in a nearby star system, an urgent mission is undertaken to find out just what happened aboard the vessel.

Once aboard, the situation becomes increasingly dire as the mystery of the Merged deepens and new, more terrible forms of the aliens present themselves. Soon, Lincoln, her team and Victoria are embroiled in a desperate battle for survival.

Please Note: This book contains adult langauge, scenes of violence and sci-fi battle horror; it is intended for mature audiences and reader discretion is advised.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Thompson
• Release date: Nov 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386511274

Book preview

Prologue

LINCOLN, HER FIRETEAM and Victoria remained on planet Asro while the Sovereignty and Alliance brought their forces to what was designated as the forward base of operations. Probes had been sent to the sector of space where the Merged had entered the galaxy, but none of them had transmitted any information back or returned with any data; possibly because the Merged were using a high frequency signal to interfere with the electronic components or simply because they’d been destroyed instantly. Victoria had offered some insight into what was likely to be happening there: the Merged would first take control of the planets in the system and then begin heavily fortifying them. Fortunately, there hadn’t been any indigenous life, other than foliage, so they wouldn’t be expanding their ranks. She had also correctly guessed they would quickly have assumed control of the system containing the mining station; again, there were no life forms, but Victoria assured the various commanders that this wouldn’t slow them down as they had more than sufficient forces to bring through the dimensional gateway.

Victoria had spent most of her time downloading the schematics stored in the memory of her nanorobots so that both the Sovereignty and the Alliance could attempt to replicate her technology. It wasn’t so advanced it would be impossible for them to replicate, but it would certainly take time – time, Victoria promised them, that was in limited supply. When asked to describe the Merged, she did her best to explain that the Merged weren’t a single type of entity; they were a horrifying amalgamation of pieces and parts of various other races, mutated and, in some cases, augmented through horrific surgical processes. Some were humanoid sized, some were as big as tanks, while others were so terrifyingly large they were dropped from orbiting Merged vessels and stood close to a thousand feet in height. The more difficult it was to capture a region or secure a specific area, the more varied and dangerous types of Merged were deployed. Victoria also explained that there was another alien race that had only been glimpsed which seemed to be in control of the Merged, but there was no real data on these entities. And she recounted as much of the early days of the war between her people and the Merged as she could recollect. More of her memories returned every day, but still there were no firm details on what the weapon was in their galaxy that could be used to defeat the Merged. However, a distinct series of events seemed to unfold when the Merged attacked Victoria’s people, and she relayed this knowledge as she remembered it.

First, they took a system, fortified it and created an almost impenetrable stronghold to allow them to keep bringing in reinforcements from other dimensions. A dimensional gateway would be constructed - although it wasn’t strictly necessary for them to send their ships between dimensions, but it would reduce the power requirements considerably and make the transition faster. Victoria knew very little about how they were constructed, other than they brought the materials with them, as these were both rare and required specific preparation before being used in the construction. After they had created a hardened point, they would then begin probing attacks, hoping to learn any weaknesses in the indigenous species they could exploit. These attacks would have varying degrees of savagery; some would result in the absolute annihilation of all population centres while others would have survivors to spread a message of fear, which would destabilize the surrounding regions. This wasn’t necessary in Victoria’s opinion, as defeating the Merged was virtually impossible, so she surmised it was simply for malicious satisfaction by the aliens in control of the Merged. The scope of the Merged forces was something of a continuing surprise, and the fact that at the head of these creatures was a species that neither she nor her people had ever truly encountered was deeply unsettling.

Nearly a week passed without an incident with the Merged. All forms of long range scanners were reflected and it was decided that sending a ship into Merged space was a waste of life and resources. Instead, the Sovereignty and Alliance agreed to continue building up forces for a full scale incursion. Combined, there were nearly fifty ships from both factions in the Asro system, and tension between the two groups were running high. There were no serious incidents however, other than a few brawls - yet. Lincoln very much doubted it would stay that way if there wasn’t some action soon. Having seen the Merged first hand though, she wasn’t overly keen to meet up with them again. She was having nightmares - terrifying situations involving her friends and comrades aboard the Triumphant. Lincoln would picture strange experiments and awful mutations being performed on them, turning them into the monstrous, awful constructs she’d fought. She would picture their ships appearing in orbit and raining down death upon the planet of Asro, and then the sun would darken as the massive, hulking form of the Planet Killer passed in front of it. She would wake just as the nightmare ship fired, disintegrating the planet and everyone on it. Lincoln would jolt upright, sweat soaking her undergarments as she moved out of her bed to look around the dark room. In those early moments she found comfort in the silhouette of Victoria in the bed across from hers. They’d been sharing a room in a residential building the Sovereignty had claimed, with the rest of her team sharing rooms on the same floor. Lincoln never said anything, but she found Victoria a calming presence. Perhaps it was because she was so capable when fighting the Merged, or maybe it was because she reminded her so much of her late sister. Or, just as likely, because of the fierce loyalty she’d shown when the Sovereignty had demanded Lincoln’s surrender for trial. Whatever the precise reason or culmination of reasons, Lincoln was glad to have Victoria around.

Ten days after the Merged invasion began, an excited Hershel came to collect Lincoln and her fireteam. She hadn’t interacted with the somewhat mysterious scientist other than during the debriefings he’d attended with Victoria, so for him to seek them out, with such animated glee, was a surprise and also slightly disconcerting. Lincoln, Sauer, Kelso, Dempsey and Stitch had followed him to an open air observation platform above a landing pad, with Victoria in close pursuit, where they saw a ship that bore a strong resemblance to the Ulysses.

You managed to clean your ship off? Sauer asked gruffly.

Not quite. She is the Hypatia and she’s far more suited to our task than the Ulysses. Better armaments, better facilities; she will make a perfect mobile base for us to carry out whatever tasks are assigned to us. Hershel explained. Lincoln cast a critical eye over the vessel and saw that while the Hypatia was a similar class of ship, it had definite visible improvements. The dark blue hull was slightly more streamlined and the engine housing was larger. A pair of gunports could be seen on the side facing them, with another pair likely on the opposite side; otherwise they would have limited broadside capabilities. A single gun hung from the front of the ship, with the curved reinforced hull section for the bridge sitting above and not far in front of it.

What’s she capable of? Lincoln asked simply.

She’s currently the fastest ship of her size in the Sovereignty fleet. She has prototype starship killers that fire concentrated energy bolts which should, broadly speaking, have the same kick as those on a Hypercarrier. Hershel elucidated animatedly. There are also a few smaller cannons that are more effectively used for engaging fighter craft.

Impressive. Lincoln commented approvingly.

And that’s not all, Captain. He told her with a proud, almost smug, expression. The Hypatia has a prototype stealth generator that makes it invisible to all known sensor types.

That might not be effective against the Merged sensor systems. Kelso told him.

True, but given the data Victoria has given us we’re hopeful that the device has been tuned correctly. If not, we can recalibrate it in the field.

So this will allow us to move around undetected. Lincoln reiterated. You’ve got something in mind, haven’t you, Hershel?

You’re correct, Captain Lincoln. We have detected something - something that I imagine you and your team will be quite eager to investigate.

A lead on the weapon? Sauer questioned.

No, this is of a more personal nature. Hershel answered.

Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Doctor. What is it?

Outside of the Merged assembly area, we’ve detected the Triumphant’s transponder signal.

Lincoln looked at him quickly, her eyes widening in surprise.

What? Where? When? Lincoln asked in quick succession.

The Triumphant’s transponder signal has been detected three star systems from here; well outside anywhere we’ve detected the Merged. Long range scans and attempts at communication have not yielded any results, so we’re going to take a look.

When did they reappear?

About two hours ago, around the time my... our new vessel arrived.

Lincoln, this is very suspicious. This could easily be a trap set by the Merged to lure some of our forces away. Victoria announced.

We considered that possibility and as a result we’re going to be investigating it alone. The combined forces of the Sovereignty and the Alliance will remain here for two more days, to gather a few more vessels, and then they will launch an assault on the Merged’s entry point to our universe.

That is unwise. They will be heavily entrenched already and a fleet of the size you describe will have no chance of defeating the Planet Killer. Victoria declared firmly.

I understand your reservations, Victoria, but we cannot afford to wait for more ships as they are days out at best and, in any case, neither side is willing to pull too many vessels from their border defences until the threat has been confirmed. Hershel told her. The fact is this decision is beyond any of us here. They will be launching an assault on the Merged two days from now.

Unless we find something of use on the Triumphant. Lincoln stated, realizing why they were leaving so suddenly. You don’t think they should launch the assault with the facts we have accumulated so you’re hoping that, if the Triumphant survived, they will have additional information or, if they’ve been taken over, we can learn something which will help in the forthcoming battle.

You have a keen insight, Captain. Hershel told her with a smile. Have your team ready to go within the hour. Captain Fallon and his team will join us then. He instructed, moving away and leaving them standing on the platform. Lincoln looked at the ship and then at her team. Victoria looked hesitant - and rightfully so. If the Merged were only half as dangerous as she had led them to believe it seemed unlikely the Triumphant had escaped.

What do you think we’ll find? Kelso questioned.

Nothing good. Sauer responded, shooting him a look over his shoulder. You saw what those things did on the mining station.

Maybe they managed to get away? Dempsey suggested with an unmistakably hopeful hint in his tone.

Don’t get your hopes up, kid. Sauer returned.

You must all understand that the Triumphant has likely been taken over by the Merged. You will find creatures aboard that wear the faces of your friends; you may even find loved ones. No matter what you see, you must be prepared to kill. Victoria told them severely, her words heavily laden with a sorrow indicating she’d seen this kind of thing before.

She’s right. Lincoln added. But it’s a good opportunity to get some real data for the science teams here - something that can be examined until we get a lead on the weapon.

More than that, Sauer stated, it’s a chance for revenge.

Lincoln nodded. It was time to discover the answer to the question: what had happened to their friends, once and for all.

Chapter One

AFTER STEPPING INTO their power armour and ensuring they all had their weapons primed and ready to use, Lincoln and her team boarded the Hypatia through the cargo bay. Fallon was already aboard with a six man squad of Alliance soldiers, all of whom were busy storing spare ammunition and equipment in crates. They greeted each other in a cursory fashion as they passed by, with Lincoln and her team travelling straight on to the living deck. Hershel had sent a message to her wrist computer informing her they had a private barracks on that deck, where the six of them could rest. Fallon and his men had a similar set up, leading Lincoln to believe this craft had been designed with large complements of soldiers in mind. She had to admit, it was a perfect vessel for covert operations, and imagined that was its original design purpose.

Lincoln had been hoping to speak with Hershel, but as he was nowhere to be found while boarding, she decided to call him on his communicator. Now out of her armour, she fished out the long, thin device that resembled a smartphone from an earlier point in human history, which functioned in a similar way, and likewise, was used to contact individuals. Military personnel would hear the person they were communicating with through their subdermal ear implant - unless the device was set to speaker mode. After a few moments, Hershel answered.

Captain Lincoln? Can you be brief? I’m overseeing the loading of our supplies at the moment.

Where’s the Sovereignty scientist we were supposed to be picking up? I’ve not heard a mention of him or her.

Ah, well, Doctor Chen has had some trouble making the transition. I’ve been informed she will rendezvous with us before the actual offensive begins, but I’m afraid I don’t know exactly when.

I see. So the Hypatia is going without her?

Time is a factor in this operation, Captain.

"I agree. I also remember that I have to stick pretty closely to the terms of the compromise