Invincible

By G.P. Hudson

Earth has fallen!

The brutal Juttari Empire invaded the Sol System, conquering Earth. The starship Invincible managed to escape the onslaught and has spent the last 25 years on the run. An entire generation has grown up knowing nothing more than life on board this starship. With the ship showing its age and hope running out, an unexpected discovery promises salvation for Invincible and its crew. Can they succeed, despite insurmountable odds? Find out in Invincible - A Pike Chronicles Short Story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thavma Press
• Release date: Sep 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781990547300

Book preview

Invincible

A Pike Chronicles Short Story

G.P. Hudson

Thavma Press

Copyright © 2018 by G.P. Hudson

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

ISBN: 978-1-990547-30-0

Contents

1.Chapter 1

2.Chapter 2

3.Chapter 3

4.Chapter 4

5.Chapter 5

6.Chapter 6

7.Chapter 7

8.Chapter 8

9.Chapter 9

10.Chapter 10

Also By

Chapter 1

T here are no habitable planets in this system, Ensign Spalding said. No signs of life.

Young, strong, and eager to impress, thought Captain Milburn. The new generation. All they had ever known was life on board this ship. Life on the run. Would they ever know anything else? Very well, he said. This is as good a system as any. Helm, take us out to that asteroid field. We need to replenish our resources. It will help conceal our presence if needed.

Aye, Sir, Lieutenant Taleb said, one of the original crew members. Like him, she too was sporting gray hairs now, if only a few. There weren’t many of the original crew still alive who didn’t have at least some gray. Twenty-five years on the run can do that.

They had done their job, though. They kept the crew alive. Kept things running. Soon this aging ship would be passed down to this new generation. A generation brought up to be skilled and tough. A generation with no memory of Earth, all born on this ship.

Is the jump gate activation system still down? Milburn said.

Yes, Sir. They’re still conducting repairs, Commander Johansen said, Milburn’s XO, and another of the old, graying, guard. His own son now an adult, and a promising young officer.

How long’s it been down?

Two weeks. Repair crews have been busy putting out other fires, but they’re optimistic that they can get it back online within the next few hours.

Milburn had almost forgotten what a jump gate looked like. The last time he saw one, an alien invasion fleet poured through it. The Juttari. What sins had humanity committed to bring that scourge down on their heads?

They had been docked when it happened. Most of the crew were enjoying the amenities of Sol’s largest space station. A great city in space. One of the wonders of the Sol System. By the time the crew got back on board, most of the fleet had been destroyed.

His ship, the Invincible, didn’t live up to its name that day. It had been undergoing maintenance, and its weapon systems were offline. There was nothing they could do to help. Even with weapons, they would have been impotent. The aliens were superior in every way, and the fleet was quickly wiped out.

He was a young bridge officer then, with a young wife back on Earth. He wanted to fight.