Forsaken Commander (The Aternien Wars Book 1)

FORSAKEN COMMANDER THE ATERNIEN WARS BOOK #1 G J OGDEN Copyright © 2023 by G J Ogden All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. These novels are entirely works of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. Illustration © Tom Edwards TomEdwardsDesign.com Editing by S L Ogden Published by Ogden Media Ltd www.ogdenmedia.net CONTENTS Prologue The Incident Chapter 1 The hunt Chapter 2 Unwanted guests Chapter 3 Past meets future Chapter 4 21 out of 30 Chapter 5 It’s worse when you’re older Chapter 6 Out of uniform Chapter 7 Heightened perception Chapter 8 The grouchy patient Chapter 9 Old classics Chapter 10 Are you with me? Chapter 11 Diplomatic relations Chapter 12 First contact Chapter 13 We are at war Chapter 14 TESS-961S Chapter 15 Sword of titans Chapter 16 Native dangers Chapter 17 Weapons of war Chapter 18 The armory Chapter 19 Electronic grudges Chapter 20 Ship of ghosts Chapter 21 Move and countermove Chapter 22 The Overseer Chapter 23 Rose and Thorns Chapter 24 Extreme boarding actions Chapter 25 Unto the breach Chapter 26 Glory or death Chapter 27 Sword vs. Star Chapter 28 Hard choices Chapter 29 Master Commander Also by G J Ogden About the Author PROLOGUE THE POST-HUMAN REVOLUTION In the year 2257, people from across the Planetary Union of Nine witnessed the creation of the first digitally immortal human - a being whose very existence would challenge the limits of life and revolutionize the fate of humanity forever. The Aternus Corporation, the wealthiest and most powerful consortium in the Union, succeeded in creating a neuromorphic brain, into which the consciousness – the soul – of the Corporation’s President and CEO, Markus Aternus, was uploaded. Together with a synthetic body many times stronger and more resilient than flesh and bone, Markus Aternus showed the nine planets that human beings could transcend mortal boundaries and become as eternal as the cosmos itself. It was humanity’s greatest achievement, and its most deadly mistake. Within the first decade alone, hundreds of thousands of human beings had been ‘ascended’, beginning with Markus Aternus’ closest friends and advisors, quickly making the Aternus Corporation wealthier than the superpowers combined. To his people, collectively known as Aterniens, Markus Aternus became more than merely a visionary leader. He became a god. Driven by prejudice, fear and jealousy, billions of organic humans demanded an end to the practice of digital transference. Protests erupted across the Union, sparking riots and violence that engulfed the nine worlds. The Aterniens fought back, defending their god-king and their new, superior society. Lives were lost on both sides, but humanity suffered the first of what would become a series of bruising defeats. Tens of thousands of organic humans were killed, while the resolve of the Aterniens merely grew stronger. Soon the conflict had spiralled far beyond a clash of ideals – it became a fight for the very survival of humanity itself. The Union’s response was decisive and punishing. In partnership with other planetary leaders, the President acted swiftly to implement the Aternien Act. Post-human practises were immediately outlawed across the Union of Nine, and all research and development pertaining to artificial intelligence and human-machine interfaces was banned. A segregation order was ratified, forcing the Aterniens into permanent exile on a distant world deemed too hostile to support organic human life. The Aterniens resisted, led by their god-king, Markus Aternus. Isolated pockets of rebellion quickly evolved into organized terrorist attacks on a city-wide scale, killing tens of thousands. But the Aterniens numbered too few, and before long the Union had beaten them back. Markus Aternus called for a cessation of hostilities and the Aterniens were allowed to voluntarily go into exile. A border outpost was built on the demarcation line between Aternien and Union space, to allow for the possibility of future diplomatic relations. But while the Union always sent a representative, year after year, the Aterniens never came. After a decade without any contact, the Union took a risk and decided to send a probe across the demarcation line, to the planet the Aterniens had been exiled to. The probe arrived but found only abandoned cities, inspired by Egyptian culture and mythology, and the remnants of a civilization that was long gone. Further searches were conducted, but no sign of the Aterniens was ever discovered. Soon, they faded into history, becoming a distant memory. For a time, there was peace in the Union of Nine. But the Aterniens were merely biding their time. Lured by the prospect of eternal life, flocks of human beings risked their lives in a continual migration across the demarcation line, in a desperate effort to find the Aternien home world and attain immortality. The convoys were never seen again, but unbeknownst to the Union, the Aterniens had received the refugees with open arms, and before long they had transferred enough minds to build a vast army. The war began in 2297 and lasted for thirty-five years. Outgunned and out-matched by superior Aternien forces, led by twelve Solar Barques – warships of incalculable destructive power – humanity turned to the technology and practices it had outlawed to survive. An elite force of bio-engineered and technologically-augmented humans were created, along with a fleet of twelve Longswords; the most powerful and advanced warships ever devised by human minds. The Longswords and their bio-engineered, post-human Master Commanders were instrumental in turning the tide of the war, but eventually the losses, both human and Aternien, became too gruelling to bear. An armistice was declared, the cost of peace being a mass and permanent demilitarisation on both sides. The five surviving Union Longswords were decommissioned, and their post-human