Astral Empire

By Strachan Coutinho

In the 1st century AD, Rome is a superpower with a vast empire, countless military victories and numerous enemies. But it is about to face its greatest threat yet: an invading species from another galaxy, known as the Hagrans.

This race of beings has been observing Earth for decades and is more advanced than any adversary Rome has ever encountered. With their eyes set on eventually claiming Earth as their prize, they invade Rome and enslave its citizens, using them to transform the city into a Hagran capital, with the intent of decimating all the humans on Earth once they have fulfilled their purpose.

But the Hagrans underestimated the resolve and ingenuity of their prey. Now the fate of Rome and of the world, lies with an unlikely hero: an ordinary blacksmith, named Gannicus.

Blending science-fiction, historical fact and inventive creativity, Astral Empire is a thrilling, action-packed saga that will take you on a wild journey to brave new worlds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Dec 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398414891

Strachan Coutinho

This is Strachan Coutinho’s debut novel, although he has always had a knack for writing exciting and suspenseful stories. He currently works as a veterinary nurse and lives in Chelmsford, Essex, UK.

Book preview

About the Author

This is Strachan Coutinho’s debut novel, although he has always had a knack for writing exciting and suspenseful stories. He currently works as a veterinary nurse and lives in Chelmsford, Essex, UK.

Dedication

This is dedicated to my mother, Marguerite, who has enjoyed proofreading and marking my work, like I’m one of her students. Anyone else that has proofread any chapters and given me feedback. Anyone that has asked me how the book is going. To all the café and pub staff that have put up with me whilst I wrote at their establishments; literary agent, Juliet Mushens, for her constructive feedback. And God.

Copyright Information ©

Strachan Coutinho 2022

The right of Strachan Coutinho to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398407800 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398414884 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781398414891 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2022

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Prologue

The beings regarded the planet from the observation chamber of their mothership, the Surgo, with a mixture of disdain and anticipation. It was beautiful and tranquil, shrouded in sparse streaks of white, a perfect sphere of deep blue, interrupted with expanses of green. They were called Hagrans, named after their home planet, Hagro, which was one of a million planets in the galaxy, Naksatra. And they were a long way from home.

There were a dozen scouts in the chamber, along with the overlord, each one with their eye fixed on the rotating hologram of the planet in the centre of the chamber. It was miniscule when viewed from the window, but the hologram generator allowed for much closer inspection, so much so that various features such as mountains and deserts could be discerned.

The head scout addressed the overlord in their own arcane tongue. This planet has a high level of waste gas emissions, my lord, it said. High enough to be an indicator of life, but not high enough to destroy it.

Then a second scout spoke, Yes, my lord, our sensors detect the optimum conditions for life to flourish. Temperature, humidity, vegetation—we have not seen a planet like this since we colonised Boleara. It seems to support more life than even Boleara!

The overlord remained silent whilst he pondered the findings of the scouts, various statistics and measurements of this planet appearing around the hologram. Finally, he replied, Prepare to deploy the implant droids. We shall begin gathering intelligence on this planet. Phase one of our occupation commences.

The Forge

Gannicus was only five years old, but his imagination knew no bounds. He took great pleasure in turning everything into an adventure. When playing with the other children in rivers and lakes, he would imagine that he was a titan splashing about in the ocean, that the minnows and water beetles were leviathans. A trip to the market with his mother, Myrcella, became a quest to retrieve various items to build a brand-new pet that did not need feeding, that could breathe gold dust and could fly to the clouds with him on its back, and he would name it Dormy.

And something else that stoked his curiosity was the small building adjacent to the family home that his father spent a lot of time in. For most of the day and sometimes even throughout the night, Aereus, Gannicus’ father locked himself away in that room, emerging only for food and to use the privy. He was always topless, always sweating and usually looked like he had run a marathon. Gannicus had been forbidden from entering that room, being told that it was dangerous, which only served to pique his curiosity.

Maybe the room being dangerous was not a total lie because he could hear lots of metallic clanging, thumping and the searing rasp of metal scraping against metal. He could also see a pulsating orange glow oozing through the boarded windows, end through the gaps between the roof and the wall. On top of this, his father’s skin was covered in all sorts of scars and welts on his hands and torso.

What was in that room? What was his dad doing that made him looked so exercised? Maybe he was refereeing fighting matches between the cooking utensils? Or maybe it was a portal to Hell where his dad would go to drink wine with Pluto and his lackeys?

He could bear it no longer. He had to see what was in that room. His mother was just outside, under the marquee that sheltered the back entrance, gutting and preparing fresh fish for supper. As far as she was concerned, her little boy was taking his afternoon nap, as she had put him to bed barely an hour earlier. He crept out of the bedroom and sneaked down the hall, crouching low so that his mother would not see him through the window. He then slowly made his way to the main entrance of the house and scuttled over to his father’s workplace. The building was disconnected from their house, but it was right beside it, so it was not a very long walk.

There were two entrances to the building. There was the main entrance, the threshold that was sheltered by a canopy, adorned with potted plants and paintings. This was the entrance that led to the atrium where Aereus displayed his wares and handiwork to would be buyers. The other entrance was on the side of the building, towards the back.

This was the entrance that Aereus used to enter and exit the building when he was crafting items to sell. The shop was only open on certain days of the week, and these were days when Aereus focused on selling his crafts with some help from Myrcella. But today it was closed, which meant that he was crafting items. But for some reason, it was silent. Perfect for snooping around.

Gannicus crept to the main entrance of the building and checked the latch on the door, which was unsurprisingly locked. He then went to the side entrance and was thrilled to find it unlocked. He pressed his ear against the wooden door, trying to listen through the cracks between the timbers for any sounds indicating that his dad was inside. Nothing.

Standing on his toes, he reached up and unfastened the latch, and slowly pushed the door open. Peering into the room, he could not really see much, as it was fairly dark, and there were dust particles floating around in the slivers of light shining through the cracks in the shutters. He fully opened the door and stepped inside, leaving the door open to allow more light into the room. As his eyes grew accustomed, the layout and contents of the workshop became clearer.

It was rectangular and the size of the entire living quarters. At the far end, built so that it was a part of the wall, was something that looked like a stone furnace, like the one in the kitchen, but much bigger. Beside it, resting on a table was a strange device that Gannicus hadn’t seen before. It consisted of two pear-shaped wooden boards that were joined by a hinge at their tapered ends, with a nozzle at the end that fitted snugly in an opening in the side of the furnace.

A sheet of leather was fixed all the way along the outer edges of the boards, creating a sort of webbing. At the broad end on each board was a handle, although the handle of the upper board was much longer than the lower one. The function of this device appeared to be blowing air into the furnace the fan the flames.

Close to the furnace was a deep, heavy, stone trough that was taller than Gannicus, and near it was a large, solid iron object that was shaped rather like a bird’s head, perched on top of a stone block. Hanging from a rack on one wall was all manner of tools such as hammers, tongs, pokers, and shovels as well as a few pairs of thick elbow length leather gauntlets. The side walls were lined with wooden benches and tables topped with wooden crates, whose contents Gannicus could only imagine because they were out of his reach.

There were a few sacks and wooden crates beside the furnace and Gannicus walked over to them to investigate further. They were filled with various metal objects, some of which looked similar to the tools hanging from the wall, but there were also old goblets, bowls, jewellery and other curious trinkets, made out of bronze, silver and gold, along with scraps of metal that appeared to be nothing more than junk.

What was Daddy doing with all these things? These must have been the dead and defeated cooking utensils after they had been smashed to bits. Or maybe they were gifts from Pluto that Daddy did not like. Pluto would not be happy.

He then noticed other, more impressive, objects mounted on brackets and shelves displayed on the two side walls, and the wall with the entrance leading to the atrium at the front. There were silver platters, wide and shallow, gleaming bronze goblets and miniature keepsake chests, necklaces and pendants, bangles, bracelets and keys.

He was so enraptured with this discovery that he did not notice someone enter the building from the same entrance that he did. He felt two strong, large hands lift him up from under his arms, cradling him into a tight embrace and a gruff voice speak softly into his ear.

What have I told you about coming into here? said the voice.

After recovering from his miniature heart attack, Gannicus realised that it was his father that had picked him up. He also realised that he was in a lot of trouble.

I can’t leave this place unattended for fifteen minutes whilst I fetch more water, without you snooping around!

I’m sorry, papa! he whimpered. I couldn’t help it, I was curious!

Aereus lowered him back to the floor, turning him around so that they faced each other. Then, crouched so that their eyes were level. With a stern, but loving demeanour, he said, There are a lot of dangerous things in here that could have hurt you really badly. That’s why you weren’t allowed in here alone.

I’m sorry, squeaked Gannicus again, humbled and embarrassed, unable to meet his father’s glare.

Aereus’ tough expression slowly softened into a tender smile. I was going to show you my forge when you were older and more sensible! he said. But now that you’ve managed to break in by yourself, you might as well stay and watch me work.

Gannicus felt the excitement building up in him, beaming through his face. He was finally going to discover exactly what occurred in this building.

But you must sit in one spot and do not move or touch anything, or you can go and become a tanner like your uncle!

img1

On a tripod stool near the entrance to the atrium, at the far end opposite the furnace, Gannicus sat sheepishly, watching his father working. He did not understand anything that his father did, but it was fascinating nevertheless.

Aereus lit the furnace by rubbing the end of a twig into piece of tree bark, generating hot ash that rapidly ignited a pinch of kindling. After about ten minutes and a few pumps of the air-blowing device, the fire of the furnace was raging at its fullest capacity.

He then took a few metallic ingots from the crates that were on the shelf and, using a pair of tongs placed them right in the midst of the furnace where the heat was at its most intense, and left them for a few minutes, occasionally pumping the air device to enrage the flames.

Using the pair of tongs again, he removed the first ingot from the heat and Gannicus was amazed to see that the ingot was glowing with a yellowish-white incandescence bright enough to allow mild visibility in the dark. He placed it on the heavy iron object, and started hammering it, whilst holding it in place with the tongs. Deftly and skilfully, he turned the glowing ingot and methodically and repeatedly smote it with the hammer, although Gannicus was unsure what he was hoping to achieve by this.

Eventually, he abruptly stopped hammering the ingot that now no longer had a perfect cuboid shape and plunged it into the trough of water. The water hissed and fizzled, releasing a light plume of steam and once the hissing subsided, he removed the ingot from the trough and inspected the object that he had crafted. From where Gannicus was sitting, it looked like a heavy nail. He tossed it into another empty crate and proceeded to work on another ingot.

Gannicus! shrieked a woman’s voice, coming from the house.

I suppose we should have told your mother you were in here! quipped Aereus with a smirk. For the second time today, Gannicus was in trouble.

Myrcella burst through the door, her face contorted into an apprehensive scowl. When she saw Gannicus sitting in the corner, she sighed and relaxed a bit, but she was still very annoyed.

You almost gave me a heart attack, I thought you had been kidnapped! she said sternly to Gannicus.

I’m sorry, my love, it was my fault, interjected Aereus, much to the relief of Gannicus. Being defended by one parent from the wrath of the other was a rare occurrence that had to be savoured.

What’s he doing in here anyway? We weren’t going to show him this place until he was at least ten!

Well, his curiosity got the better of him. He discovered the forge all by himself. Last I checked, you were the one who was meant to be watching him! When he’s older, he’ll be slipping past you to pursue more adult pleasures!

Myrcella bristled at this joke, whilst Aereus sniggered at his own wit. Gannicus, meanwhile, was too embarrassed to say or do anything.

Fine, said Myrcella. You can babysit him for the rest of the day then!

She then turned on her heel and marched back to the house. Aereus returned to his craft and Gannicus continued to observe. He was going to learn the art of blacksmithing a lot earlier than anticipated.

The Surgo

The Hagran mothership was a wonder. It had been built by the Hagrans on their home planet and was their home away from home. It had numerous different chambers and departments that each served a different purpose, but all of them worked together in harmony. The Surgo was basically a sentient being.

All the control panels on the Surgo, in every chamber and every department were non-physical, holograms that could be interacted with. They were activated from counters with a wave of the distal appendage, popping up from the counter in the form of a screen, with mobile diagrams, instructions and thumbnails, which could be manipulated by the appendages: a touchscreen without the screen.

Communication on the Surgo was enabled by an intercom system. Every single chamber and every department had a mouthpiece and speaker, which allowed communication between every one of them. The Hagrans could select the receiving department, displayed on a touchscreen, allowing for multiple departments to communicate with each other simultaneously. If needed, they could select an option to broadcast announcements to the entire Surgo.

As well as the intercom system, the Surgo also had a highly advanced teleportation system for efficient transportation within the ship. Every room had a physical entrance to allow entry from the corridors, but also had a portal for teleportation to distant departments. Small chambers had four portals each two for entry and two for exit, creating a one-way path so that no portals could be used for both entry and exit and larger ones had four each for entry and exit. The throne room only had one for each.

These portals were as tall as the Hagrans themselves and were like a cylindrical pod. They worked by dis-assembling their atoms and beaming them to the destination pod, where the atoms were re-assembled in the same order that they were dis-assembled from the summit to the base.

When transport to a distant department was needed, they simply stepped into the portal pods, brought up the controls and selected the destination room. Before the portals teleported the Hagran, the system had to make sure that there were no other Hagrans going to the same destination at the same time. Once the way was clear, the portal’s transparent sliding door would shut, and the teleportation would initiate. This was known as teleportation traffic control. It was automated and totally efficient. As if the Surgo had sentience of its own.

There was the observation chamber, occupied by the scouts, where stars, celestial bodies, planets and galaxies were observed from the window, and analysed from a distance. A radar monitor was present in this chamber that displayed noteworthy obstacles around the Surgo on a scaled down map of the universe. All items were detected and displayed on the screen as icons that resembled the item itself.

The Surgo’s icon was in the middle of the screen and remained stationary, whilst the other icons moved around it. The scouts could then project the radar through the hologram generator where all obstacles’ positions were shown in relation to the Surgo in the vertical, horizontal and backwards/forwards planes. From the radar, any item could be selected to appear as a rotating, multi-dimensional image and various descriptions of the item, such as size, gas emissions, magnetic fields, temperature, gravitational pull etc, all appeared as statistics on the hologram.

The observation room also housed the cockpit of the Surgo, where locomotion was controlled. There was no fuel needed, although reservoirs were kept in case of emergency. There was not really a propulsive force as the Surgo used an ingenious method of harnessing the gravitational pull of nearby planets. The sensors of the Surgo could detect planets within a 360° radius of quarter the distance of the Naksatra’s span, displaying their icons on the radar.

There were millions of planets in that space. The pilot could then select a planet to harness its gravitational pull, and either attract the Surgo towards it to move forward, or repel against it to move backwards. Closer planets allowed for a stronger pull, and therefore faster movement. Simply selecting a planet on either side of the Surgo allowed it to turn and bank, left and right. At the touch of a button, the pilot could neutralise the force from all planets, allowing the Surgo to remain stationary.

The laboratory of the Surgo was situated directly above the observation room and both of them were oval in shape, situated towards the fore of the Surgo, protruding out from its top, allowing for an unobstructed view of the vastness of outer space. This was the chamber where data, terrain samples and organism specimens collected from target planets by the scouts, were processed, dissected and analysed by the scholars, drawing up evaluations and conclusions about target planets.

Although the Surgo itself did not have its own weapons, it possessed a cloaking ability, rendering it invisible to enemy ship and eyes. All personnel on the Surgo were trained in basic combat and defence, with the ability to use Hagran weapons as well. But Hagran soldiers were on another level when it came to combat and warfare.

Hagrans were not a muscular race, but their soldiers were stronger, faster and more agile than average Hagrans. They resided in the barrack areas, situated near the armoury, where weapons and combat gear were stored. Adjacent to the armoury were the hangars, where their attack crafts, named Avions, were housed. These were smaller vessels that were deployed when target planets were being invaded and if the Hagrans had to go into battle with enemy ships.

If a threat was detected, the scouts would inform the overlord who would then give the order to attack if necessary. The scouts could select the icon of the hazard on their radar and send it to the monitor in the armoury, which the general could then broadcast to their own hologram generator. The soldiers would don their combat gear, then receive a briefing from the general about the mission or target. Then, they made their way to the hangar and climbed on board the Avions, two soldiers on each one, so that it could be co-piloted.

Whenever an enemy ship was detected, at the command of the overlord, the ship was put into alert mode which was activated on a control panel from the observation room. The cloaking feature was activated and all non-vital systems, including teleportation, were powered down and all the doors were sealed shut. This made it more of a hindrance for enemy races to get around the ship if they were able to infiltrate it.

Alert mode was also activated automatically if the structure of the Surgo was breached by enemy weapons. Of course, this meant that personnel would be trapped in the room that they were in when alert mode was activated, but at least they would be safe from invaders. Automatic turrets were attached at regular intervals to the ceilings of corridors, on both sides. They lay dormant until alert mode was activated, at which point they constant scanned the surroundings and rained bullets on enemies within their range. Once any threats were neutralised, repairs could begin.

The intellectual prowess of Hagrans was beyond that of all the other beings they had encountered, but they were physically inferior. They were delicate. Fragile. And like all living organisms, they needed medical care when injured or sick.

The infirmary was staffed by scholars that specialised in medicine and was equipped with pods that were able to perform diagnostic procedures, surgery and treatment, operated by the scholars. Ailing and injured Hagrans would simply lie in the pod, which was shaped like the teleportation pods, but they lay horizontally. Once inside, the pod would close with a transparent cover and a full body scan would commence, automatically diagnosing and prioritising the ailments. The appropriate treatment was then carried out, administering a powerful gaseous sedative if necessary for surgery to commence.

Medicine was so advanced that Hagrans could regrow severely damaged tissues and even severed limbs, as long as the Hagran was still alive. More serious injuries took longer to repair, but with time, the Hagran would be able to return to service as normal. Without these pods, injured Hagrans would perish quickly.

Hagrans breathed oxygen, which was present on the Surgo in abundance and waste gas was constantly recycled by the air filtration system, pumping fresh oxygen back into circulation, allowing exhaled air to be re-breathed. If oxygen levels ever dropped, the Surgo was able to extract the atmosphere from nearby planets.

The pilot simply had to approach the planet with the optimum gaseous composition and suck in enough of the planet’s atmosphere through external vents, extracting the nitrogen and expelling impure gases. The harvested oxygen was then stored in pressurised tanks that kept it in a stable liquid state until it was need for use.

Like all organisms in the universe, Hagrans needed water to survive. Water was present in abundance on the home planet, but on the Surgo there was a finite supply, kept in reservoirs. Fortunately, the Surgo had a sophisticated filtration system that constantly recycled water. The water treatment chamber was situated on the lower level of the Surgo and was comprised of a series of storage tanks, filters and pipes.

Excretory products from the organisms on board were collected and channelled through pipes to the chamber, where solids were filtered and expelled into space, until the remaining water was clear, then it was collected in a transparent tank that emitted low energy pulses of radiation to denature any pathogenic micro-organisms. From here the water was safe for consumption, where it was added to the reservoir tanks and pumped to every chamber on the Surgo. If needed water molecules could be collected from nearby uninhabited planets and purified through the filtration system.

Nutrition to Hagrans was a necessity rather than a pleasure. Their diet was made up of vegetation and fauna from their home planet. One particular type of edible vegetable was called the Lobak, which grew on a bush that was made up of nothing but blue, tapering, curving branches. This vegetable had a deep red colour, roughly spherical, a smooth skin and a lumpy appearance.

Another crop, the Pratiphalam, grew underground, a root vegetable that had a strange irregular lattice appearance, pale yellow with black dots, and an inedible shoot that grew above the ground that looked like the pale claws of some hideous beast. Plant specimens were kept in the garden chamber, where they were cultivated in troughs filled with soil from Hagro. An irrigation system that infiltrated the soil kept the plant nourished and hydrated.

The Lobak plant was incredibly resilient and could live for an extremely long time if it was not damaged by the elements or herbivores, and of course these were absent in the shelter of the garden chamber. After the Lobak vegetable was harvested, more continued to grow. The Pratiphalam root was also cultivated in irrigated troughs, growing from their shoots, however, unlike the Lobak bush, the shoots were more delicate and would perish after growing roughly five vegetables, at which point they were discarded.

Using tissue from other roots, the Hagrans were able to genetically clone more vegetables, however these were nutritionally inferior to naturally grown roots.

There were numerous fauna that were reared for food back on Hagro, but only two species were kept on the Surgo for practical reasons, since they were small and low maintenance. One animal was the Ayam, a small, herbivorous, hexapedal creature. They had two orange eyes on the front of their square-shaped face, two slitted nostrils slightly below, and a purple beak-like oral structure,