Tales From The Sonali War: Year 1 of 5 (Pax Aeterna Universe Book 4) Read online

  Tales From The Sonali War: Year 1 of 5

  Trevor Wyatt

  Pax Aeterna Press

  Tales From The Sonali War

  Year 1 0f 5

  By Trevor Wyatt

  Copyright 2017 by Pax Aeterna Press

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental.

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  Description

  The Earth-Sonali War was the most destructive conflict of it’s time.

  Nine billion lives were lost.

  By the end, those left alive came to view the dead very simply.

  Lucky.

  It was a time of fear and turmoil.

  Heroes were made. Villains were created.

  The conflict changed the political landscape of known space.

  It had reverberations for decades to come.

  Now, for the first time, come explore the stories from the war.

  From the Sonali soldier who spared a human child during a colony raid.

  To the human intelligence operative who fell in love during war.

  Eleven stories that detail the horrible atrocities of the first year of the war.

  A collection that highlights the fruits of war...

  Suffering for the victims.

  Damnation for the survivors.

  To the ever helpful Kboards community.

  Contents

  Historians Note

  Explore the Pax Aeterna Universe

  Connect with Trevor on Facebook

  1. State Of The Union

  2. First Engagement

  3. Phantom

  4. Dark Harvest

  5. The Beruit Massacre

  6. Last Survivors

  7. Loving No One

  8. Division 51

  9. Atonement

  10. TUS Terror

  11. Strike Back

  The Pax Aeterna Universe

  Encyclopedia Aeterna Volume 1

  Timeline of the Terran Union

  Terran Union

  Terran Armada

  Encyclopedia Aeterna Volume 2

  Political Maps of the Orion Cluster of the Milky Way Galaxy

  Timeline of the Earth-Sonali War

  Sonali Combine

  Tyreesian Collective

  Irivani Hegemony

  Seyshallian Nation

  Reznak Empire

  Children of Zorm

  Kurta Colonies

  About the Author

  Historians Note

  The Earth-Sonali War, sometimes referred to as The Sonali War was declared in 2197. It lasted for five brutal years and concluded in 2202. Prior to this, humanity had believed through almost 150 years of space travel that they were the only living beings in the galaxy.

  They were wrong. And the Terrans paid for this conceit in blood and treasure.

  But the Sonali faced losses as well. Over the course of the war, some 9 billion lives perished. Roughly 4 billion Terrans and 5 billion Sonali. The Terran Union was more spread out and far flung in its holdings – exploring, settling, and terraforming worlds with the naivete of a child. The Sonali, having made contact with other races were more compact in their territory with denser settlements.

  For the first two years, humanity suffered as the better equipped Sonali exacted ruthless pain upon the Terran Union. The tide began to turn in the third year and by the fourth and fifth year, a desperate stalemate had settled in.

  Both sides mustered large fleets. They clashed in space and carried the war to each other’s civilian populations. Atrocities were committed by both powers. The result was widespread death and suffering for the victims. And anguish of the damned for the perpetrators.

  The conflict itself led to a political realignment amongst all powers both during the war as humanity made contact with other races, and afterwards as the war and its effects significantly altered the course of galactic history for generations to come.

  Here now, are eleven tales encapsulating the horrors of the first year.

  Explore the Pax Aeterna Universe

  Homefront by Trevor Wyatt

  The Omarian Gambit by Trevor Wyatt

  Homefront by Trevor Wyatt

  Phantom by Trevor Wyatt

  The Mariner by Simone Le Rouge

  Connect with Trevor on Facebook

  https://www.facebook.com/trevor.wyatt.3154

  1

  State Of The Union

  I know I’m dreaming because life is not as beautiful like how I see it in my dream. I am on a pastoral land in the summer. It’s breezy but quiet.

  I am free of worry that a political rival may be plotting my downfall or fear that the Terran Council may not pass my Intergalactic Water Transportation Bill or distrust for my advisors who I am beginning to suspect may be saboteurs. I am not weighed down by the pressures of the most important office in all of the Terran Union.

  I am most importantly not bogged by the Outer Colonies, who seem to be itching for another round of engagements.

  In this dream, I am just Joshua Harmon…not President Joshua Harmon.

  Just Joshua Harmon.

  I am standing barefoot in the soft shrubby hilly area, looking through the lowly cut meadow at a barn. I am dressed like a farmer in a button down shirt made with a cotton material that allows the air to seep into my pores. My pants are baggy and rolled up to my shins.

  My heart is full of joy and happiness, and the sun shines down upon me with kindness.

  “Honey,” calls a voice behind me.

  I turn to look behind me, where a huge forest spreads across the lands until the horizon is covered. My wife Sarah Harmon is standing at the edge of the trees, looking as though she’s about to do something terrible or have something terrible happened to her.

  I feel a frown spread across my face and squeeze off the look of happiness that had previously dominated my expression. There is something foreboding about this forest. As this thought takes root in my heart, there is a strike of thunder that causes me to go for the ground. I look up as I go down, seeing the streak of lightning across dark skies.

  Shock pierces through into my heart. I turn to see the meadow and the barn, but instead, all I see are ghostly apparition wadding through a sea of blood towards me. They heft sharp objects, their eyes glazed over as though in death. They are uncountable, every one of them heading to my direction like zombies with only one goal; to kill me.

  My heart is pounding now. I am about to bolt in the other direction when I recall that Sara is around. It is then that her shrill scream pierces through the darkness, chilling me to my core.

  I swivel around on my heels as I see my wife in the clutches of a ghastly terrifying creature. I hear a heavy pounding from above.

  “Josh!” my wife screams even as she is dragged against her will into the dark eerie trees.

  I start to go after her, when I feel sharp, cold, bony fingers grab my arms. It wriggles me senseless as the icy feeling of terror spreads across my heart.

  Another pounding in the sky.

  “Josh!”

  And then another.

  “Josh!”

  My breathing is erratic.

  My pulse is out of control.

  “Josh!”

  Another pounding.

  I bolt right out of bed and smack into my wife’s face.

  “Ouch
!” she cries, grabbing her nose and rolling over. I am still panting and alert, adrenaline coursing through my veins. My night robes are thick with sweat and so are the bed sheets.

  I glance at my wife at my side. She’s holding her nose and looking at me with concern.

  The pounding comes again…this time at the door.

  Sara says, “I’ve been calling your name out loud.” She glances at the door. “And they’ve been knocking on the door for you. It seems to be urgent.”

  I’ve left strict instructions never to be woken from sleep by any matter except if it’s war with the Outer Colonies or the highly improbable event of an alien invasion of the Terran Union. The last I heard of the Outers, they were facing some serious economic troubles—I could hardly think this was the time to fight the high and mighty Terran Union. This means the reason why my bedroom door is being knocked on does not deserve my attention.

  Someone’s head will roll.

  Sara sees the frown on my face and says, “It must be very important,” she says, her kind eyes drilling through the terror that still clouds my mind and the anger that is building steam to take its place.

  Her smile and kind words vanquishes the darkness, leaving me calm and mellow.

  The pound on the door comes again, reminding me of my dream.

  “Cut it out!” I yell.

  “Mr. President, it’s urgent,” says my principal secret service agent, Curtis Mann.

  “I’ll be right out, soon,” I reply. “Cut it the hell out and that’s an order.”

  “Yes, sir!” he replies.

  I return my attention to my wife. I reach for her face, but she withdraws, guarding her nose delicately.

  “Did I break it?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “Almost, but not quite there. Nothing a little ice can’t fix. Now go. You’re needed elsewhere.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I say instead. “I didn’t know you were on top of me.” I say that last bit with a questioning look.

  “I was trying to wake you up, honey,” she replies. “You seemed like you were having a nightmare.”

  I nod. I remain silent.

  “Care to share?” she asks.

  I think back to the dream. I remember how my joy and gladness had turned instantly to terror and imminent death. I remember how daylight and peace had turned to darkness and destruction. I remember the intense feeling of threat, like something terrible was about to happen.

  Even right now, in the large, plush bedroom in Geneva, the feeling is still tight in my muscles.

  I force a smile on my face, knowing that there is no merit in Sara worrying with me. I’m not psyche, at least not to the best of my knowledge. I can’t predict the future. I’m sure it’s just a dream.

  “It’s nothing, Sara,” I reply. I pull myself out of the bed and head into the shower. Ten minutes later, I am dressed in a casual wear. I’m wearing a magenta colored sweatshirt over a grey vest and a faded blue track suit.

  The most I can do after attending to this disturbance (and causing heads to roll for the disturbance) is to take advantage in the break in my cycle and go for a run.

  “Go back to bed, hon,” I say, kissing my wife on the forehead. She lies in bed after that and I draw the duvet over her body.

  “I’ll be back soon,” I say. “I promise.”

  She smiles.

  I walk out of the bedroom into a wide square-shaped lobby. Beautiful Persian rug covers the ground. Soft incandescent lights in a chandelier adorn the high ceiling. Portraits of past presidents—five of them—decorate the walls.

  The lobby is truncated ahead by a corridor that is unusually heavily trafficked at this ungodly hour.

  Standing there in the lobby are seven of my security detail. The head of my security team and my principal, Curtis Mann, is standing at my side. The Minister for Earth and the Minister for Defense are both in the lobby.

  There are three other people I don’t know, but from their uniforms I can tell they’re from Terran Armada.

  Seeing the looks on their faces brings the feeling of foreboding from my dream and into my heart.

  “What’s going on, gentlemen?” I ask.

  Minister of Defense Admiral Josef Ivanovich who is the Chief Admiral of the Council of Admirals that oversees the Terran Armada speaks first.

  “We’ve been attacked, sir,” he says.

  “What?” I say. “By who? The Outers?”

  The Minister of Defense glances around at the secret service agents and then at the open corridor.

  “Go on, talk to me,” I say.

  “Sir, this information is highly classified,” the Minister for Earth says. “It’s better we talk somewhere private.”

  “Look, guys, whatever you want to tell me, you can tell me here,” I reply. “Who attacked us?”

  The Minister of Defense heaves a deep sigh, a grim look casting a shadow on his face. “Sir, we now have irrefutable evidence that suggests that we are no longer alone in this galaxy. Unfortunately, we were attacked by aliens, sir.”

  I can see the faces of the security agents change from passiveness to expressed fear. I am impressed with myself that I remain passive…at least I think so.

  I refrain from speaking for a while. Two reasons. If I speak, I will betray my fear. Two, maybe if I don’t answer they’ll scream ‘April Fools!’ and then go bog someone else.

  No one speaks.

  The three Captains are all expressionless behind the Ministers. They probably already knew about the attack. Were they involved?

  “Sir?” says the Minister of Defense.

  “How sure are you of this?” I say, working through the lump in my throat.

  The Minister of Defense motions for the only female among them, who is carrying a large screened tablet, to show me a video.

  She approaches me and is stopped by the security agents.

  “Let her through,” I say.

  She comes to my side and raises her tablet for me to see.

  “This log was sent by Captain Jeryl Montgomery after which contact was lost. It could be due to the distance that his ship was that we have yet to receive another transmission, but it was escalated as soon as we received it,” she says. Then she taps the play button and the dreadful clip begins to play before me. It’s a TUS named The Seeker. Then, there is another ship that’s many times larger than The Seeker. Seeing the vessel chills my heart, and I almost believe my heart has stopped beating.

  The video switches to the CNC and then to the view screen, where I see a horrifying blue skinned creature sitting on what looks like another CNC. He’s visage is unfavorable and he or it looks enraged.

  Terror stabs at my heart.

  The video ends. The woman returns to her place beside the other two captains. I look up and look between the two Ministers’ faces.

  “What happened?”

  “We’ve prepared a full briefing, sir,” the Minister for Earth says, “I think we need to assemble the War Council for a joint briefing.”

  I can feel my heart running out of my control again.

  “I want everyone assembled within the hour,” I command.

  The Minister of Defense and the three captains snap off a salute. The Minister for Earth, who is not a soldier, only gives me a curt nod. They all leave.

  “Curtis,” I say, “Get ready. I’m leaving for the Terran Armada Headquarters in Vancouver.”

  “Copy that, sir,” he says and begins to issue instructions via his comm. I return into my bedroom, which is dark and cool and pleasant. The door to the porch is open, cool breeze sweeping into the room and casing the diaphanous curtains to wrap and wriggle in the doorway.

  I check on my wife. She’s fast asleep. I kiss her again.

  I walk out into the porch, it’s a private porch and only accessible from my bedroom. Before me is a lowly-cut garden that spreads for a long area before it’s cut short by a forest. From this far, I can see Marines patrolling the forest with attack dogs and hovering sentinel drones.


  I look up at the night sky. The moon is full and bright with vigor and power. There is a splatter of stars and around one of those stars are our enemy.

  I heave a deep sigh. I am having a multiplicity of emotions. I can’t really tell which is which. I am happy that I am the president that gets to usher the human race into that consciousness that we know we are no longer alone in the galaxy.

  But then I’m also afraid that I will be remembered as that president that led the Terran Union to war with aliens. More so, I am terrified that I may very well be the one who led to the extinction of the human trace.

  There’s no way we can defeat that ship I saw The Seeker face. I wonder if Captain Montgomery made it back alive. I never got the chance to ask Josef.

  I begin to feel a migraine headache develop in my frontal lobe. I knead my temples hoping it’ll abate. It doesn’t.

  I look up to the skies and say, “Couldn’t you just wait one more year? One more year is all I have before I’m out of this office and then it’ll be someone else’s trouble?”

  The skies remain silent, so I look away from it.

  When I go back to my bedroom, a knock comes on my door. My wife stirs with a soft grunt.

  I tiptoe quickly to the door to prevent Curtis from waking up my wife. I open the door and peer out into the lobby.