Beacon of War (The Augment War Book 2) by Ben Hale

Author:Ben Hale [Hale, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2023-12-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

With Ravel’s help, Siena located Genysium, the secret Imperial research planet. When they arrived at the system, they dropped out of hyperlight and coasted to an asteroid belt, where they hid the ship and settled in to plan their assault.

Siena examined the planet through the long-range sensors. Small and volcanic, the class four planet was a legend. It was the place krey had first perfected their genome, the place of scientists and mysteries. The birthplace of immortals. She’d heard countless rumors about the place as a slave and knew little beyond the fact that they contained the machines that turned dakorians into Bloodwalls. Inside the Empire, there were few secrets more closely guarded than the technology to perfect a genome.

Volcanoes lined the surface, and lava flowed down the slopes into oceans of fire. Smoke and ash dominated the atmosphere, its lethal sulfuric content making it toxic even with minimal exposure. Its proximity to a dwarf star made it unstable, and only the world engine built into the planet’s core kept it from tearing apart. Shield domes dotted the landscape, some on islands in the lava, others on the mountains. Inside the domes, lush greenery grew among stark grey structures.

Six orbital defense platforms surrounded the planet, each positioned so no ship could land without being seen. And that didn’t include the small fleet that patrolled the system. It was a planetary fortress, whose very location was kept off Imperial star charts.

“Well, we found it.” Ravel leaned back in the copilot’s chair. “How do we get in?”

“Can you find the schematics?” Siena asked.

“The military vid network has nothing on the interior.” Ravel lifted the holo and spun it around. “I doubt they keep the designs off world.”

“We can’t go in blind,” Siena said.

“Hopefully, Visika will have an idea,” Ravel said.

Siena opened a beamcast. “You really think she’ll show up?”

“I’m not sure we can do it without her,” Ravel said.

Siena sent the message that they had arrived. Then she and Ravel left the cockpit and headed to the galley. Ten steps later, her personal holoview pinged to indicate Visika wanted to Gate onboard.

“That was fast,” Siena confirmed the request and veered to the Gate chamber. Just as it whisked open, Visika and a second dakorian arrived through the portal.

“This is Thrawn.” Visika brushed past Siena and headed to the cockpit like she owned the ship.

The second Ghost looked like an Imperial soldier in his exo. Then he removed the helmet. Red tattoos lined his face like a beast had raked its claws from one side to the other. His eyes were jet black and his horns extended from the side of his head and forward. He had yet to speak, but Siena fully expected his voice to make seracrete shrivel. Then she noticed the duty tag on his exo.

“Did you serve on Genysium?” Siena asked.

The dakorian leveled his black eyes like they were blighted lasers. Thrawn was probably used to his appearance instilling fear, but Siena returned the gaze without flinching. Finally, he sniffed and rumbled an answer.

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