Empire Uprising (Taran Empire Saga Book 2): A Cadicle Space Opera Read online

  EMPIRE UPRISING

  TARAN EMPIRE SAGA: BOOK 2

  A.K. DuBoff

  EMPIRE UPRISING

  Copyright © 2021 by A.K. DuBoff

  The Cadicle® Universe is a registered trademark of A.K. DuBoff

  All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles, reviews, or promotions.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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  Published by Dawnrunner Press

  Special thanks to Beta/JIT readers:

  John Ashmore

  Gil Forbes

  Charlie Obert

  Doug Burnham

  Steve DeBacker

  Heather Lewis

  Marc Yergin

  Leo Roars

  David Frydrych

  Kaj Fleischmann

  Louise Bishop

  Liz Singleton

  First eBook Edition: August 20, 2021

  Kindle Edition

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Foreword – The Cadicle Universe

  Map of the Taran Empire

  Key Terms, Cast, and Locations

  The Story So Far

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Also by A.K. DuBoff

  Author’s Note

  Glossary

  Timeline of Key Events

  Key Terms

  About the Author

  Foreword – The Cadicle Universe

  The events in the Taran Empire Saga are a self-contained story arc set in the larger Cadicle Universe.

  Tarans are the predominant race in the Cadicle Universe; humans are a Taran genetic offshoot. Most of the Taran sphere falls within the purview of the Taran Empire, governed from the planet Tararia by a council of High Dynasty families. Earth is one of several rogue colonies on the outskirts of the Empire, separated so long ago that they have forgotten their Taran ancestry.

  The Tararian Guard is the primary military force for the Taran Empire. Its counterpart, the Tararian Selective Service, includes a specialty branch with Agents gifted in telekinetic and telepathic abilities. The TSS is headquartered at a base inside Earth’s moon, and its iconic Agents are known in Earth lore as the mysterious ‘men in black’.

  Chronologically, the Taran Empire Saga takes place after the events in the original Cadicle series, Mindspace series, and Verity Chronicles. However, prior knowledge of that broader story universe is not required in order to read and enjoy these books.

  Map of the Taran Empire

  The following map shows key locations referenced in this book, within the Taran Empire in the Milky Way galaxy. For a more detailed map, visit: www.amyduboff.com/taran-empire-map.

  Key Terms, Cast, and Locations

  KEY TERMS

  Taran – The race of all people in the Taran Empire; synonymous with human

  Aesen – The foundational energy of the universe; pure energy capable of being shaped into any form

  Jump – Faster-than-light travel through subspace using the SiNavTech beacon network

  Beacon Network – The navigation method for subspace jumps, maintained by SiNavTech

  Independent Jump Drive – A jump drive that does not rely on the SiNavTech beacon network for navigation

  High Dynasties – The seven ruling families of the Taran Empire, collectively a governing council

  Lower Dynasties – Influential families throughout the Taran worlds, second only in power to the High Dynasties

  ORGANIZATIONS

  Tararian Guard – The primary military force for the Taran Empire

  Tararian Selective Service (TSS) – A quasi-military organization with Agents specializing in telekinesis; a complement to the Tararian Guard

  Priesthood – The former governing body of the Taran Empire

  Sovereign Peoples Alliance – Revolutionary group based on the planet Duronis, advocating for independence in the Outer Colonies; known as the Alliance

  Coalition – A suspected larger organization controlling the Alliance

  Aesir – A reclusive group of technologically advanced Tarans

  CAST

  TSS

  Jason Sietinen – TSS Primus Elite Agent; son of Wil and Saera; twin brother to Raena

  Wil Sietinen – TSS High Commander; Jason’s father

  Saera Alexri – TSS Lead Agent and head of Primus Division; Jason’s mother

  Michael Andres – Primus Elite Agent / Head of TSS Operations and lead Primus Division trainer; Wil’s close friend

  Alliance

  Lexi Karis – Informant within the Alliance providing information to the TSS and Guard

  Oren – Manager within the Alliance

  Shena – Lexi’s former friend within the Alliance

  Magdalena – Suspected leader within the Alliance/Coalition

  Tararian Guard

  Kira Elsar – Major; working undercover in the Alliance; modified with alien nanites and paired with embedded AI

  Leon Caletti – Civilian consultant, geneticist/scientist, Kira’s fiancé

  Jasmine – Sentient AI embedded in Kira

  Jakob Mathaen – Admiral of the Tararian Guard

  Taran Government

  Raena Sietinen – Sietinen Dynasty heiress; twin sister to Jason; Ryan’s wife

  Ryan Dainetris – Head of the Dainetris Dynasty; Raena’s husband

  Cris Sietinen – Head of the Sietinen Dynasty and SiNavTech executive; Wil’s father

  Kate Vaenetri – Cris’ wife and Wil’s mother; member of the Vaenetri Dynasty

  Celine Monsari – Head of the Monsari Dynasty and MPS executive

  Other Key Characters

  Dahl – Oracle with the Aesir; Wil’s main point-of-contact and longtime friend

  Darin Suro – Sole survivor of the Andvari

  Tiff – Jason’s former lover and close friend (deceased)

  Melisa – Lexi’s friend, who disappeared after joining the Alliance

  Ships

  Conquest – TSS flagship with a unique telekinetic energy weapon

  IT-1 – Classification of TSS fighters with telekinetic energy weapons

  Andvari – A salvage hauler ship destroyed in an Erebus attack near the Rift

  LOCATIONS

  TSS Headquarters – Base inside Earth’s moon

  Earth – A ‘lost colony’ of the Taran Empire, located in the remote Outer Colonies

  Tararia – The capital planet of the Taran Empire

  Duronis – A developed planet in the Outer Colonies, base of operations for the Alliance


  Alkeer Station – A former TSS base near the Rift destroyed by the Erebus

  Lynaeda – Technologically advanced central world, specializing in AI and cybernetics

  The Story So Far…

  Jason Sietinen lives in the shadow of his father—legendary war hero, inventor, dynastic heir, and TSS High Commander Wil Sietinen—and his mother, TSS Lead Agent Saera Alexri. Raised on the isolated Taran colony world of Earth, Jason didn’t learn about his highborn lineage or the galaxy-spanning Taran Empire until he was sixteen. Now, a decade later, he’s become a notable TSS Agent in his own right, living at TSS Headquarters inside Earth’s moon.

  While Jason pursued a career in the Tararian Selective Service, his twin sister Raena, moved to the Empire’s capital planet, Tararia, to train as a scion to the influential Sietinen Dynasty, one of the seven High Dynasties on the High Council overseeing the Empire. Her husband, Ryan Dainetris, is the sole heir to the Dainetris Dynasty and its corporation, DGE. They have made a good life with each other on Morningstar Isle, the former stronghold of the sinister Priesthood of the Cadicle that ruled the Taran Empire until five years ago.

  The Priesthood perpetrated great atrocities on Taran citizens over their millennium of governance, including mass genetic experimentations that led to the creation of the Generation Cycle—a corruption of the telepathic and telekinetic abilities now found in only a tenth of Tarans. The centuries of corrupt leadership have left many Taran citizens distrustful of Taran leadership, and the High Council is working hard to regain public confidence.

  One day, while on a training run with his flight students, Jason is overcome with a profound sense of foreboding—a resurgence of a past premonition about a darkness on the horizon. When he speaks about the incident with his father, he learns that there has been a mysterious attack on a salvage ship, the Andvari, in the remote area of the galaxy near a spatial anomaly known as the Rift. This tear in the fabric of spacetime was left over from the Bakzen War, a centuries-long conflict with a telekinetically gifted race.

  When Jason interviews the sole survivor of the Andvari, Darin, he learns that the ship was attacked by a transdimensional being of immense power. It appears the entity was studying the salvage crew, though no one knew to what end.

  Wil connects the attack to an incident several months prior, where the TSS encountered another alien race known as the Gatekeepers. The Gatekeepers warned that Tarans had violated an ancient treaty, and that the race in the agreement would not forgive the transgression. No one in the Empire’s leadership—not even the long-lived and powerful Oracles among the Aesir—remembered the details of the treaty, but Wil makes it his mission to track down the original document.

  Wil and Saera take a trip to Morningstar Isle on Tararia, hoping to find reference to the treaty in the Priesthood’s records that are still stored in the underground facility beneath their daughter’s estate. They meet up with Wil’s parents, Cris and Kate, who now lead the Sietinen Dynasty and family business, SiNavTech. While searching the estate, the group locates an ancient crystal tablet that they determine is the original treaty. It explicitly states that Gate technology is forbidden and violating the terms is punishable by the elimination of the Taran race.

  Since the treaty violation was perpetrated by a rogue faction within the Taran Empire who got hold of the Gatekeeper’s ancient tech, Wil hopes to be able to negotiate with the other transdimensional aliens once they make an appearance. It was an honest mistake, and no harm was meant.

  Jason is concerned about the aliens potentially coming through the dimensional veil, and he’s torn when his longtime friend and lover, Tiff, says she’s taking a new assignment that will bring her to a post near the Rift. He’ll miss her after spending nine years together, but he respects her desire to forge her own path.

  Shortly after Tiff leaves for her new post on Alkeer Station, the TSS is alerted to a strange spatial anomaly spanning from the Rift to that very base. Wil and Jason rush to Alkeer on the TSS flagship, the Conquest, to investigate and perhaps make contact with the aliens.

  Before they can figure out how to communicate, the Alkeer Station is ‘un-made’ in a matter of seconds—as if broken apart at the subatomic level like it never even existed. Jason is devastated by Tiff’s death, especially having been in direct telepathic contact with her when she was disintegrated along with the rest of the station.

  Wil and Saera begin plotting their response to the act of aggression, realizing that none of their defenses can stand up to this sort of attack. Nonetheless, word will spread, so they need to look like they’re doing something. They decide to bring Earth formally into the Taran fold so they can install a planetary shield that will hopefully also offer additional protection for TSS Headquarters in the moon; they need a secure base of operations if they’ll have any chance.

  Having been raised on Earth, Raena is selected as the ambassador to Earth, and she travels to the planet with Wil and Jason to make first contact. To everyone’s surprise, the meeting goes well.

  However, more disruption is brewing in the Outer Colonies. On the planet Duronis, Lexi Karis has been working with an organization known as the Sovereign Peoples Alliance. They claim to want independence from Tararian rule, but Lexi has begun to suspect that they’re more akin to a terrorist group. She believes that her friend, Melisa, joined the Alliance and disappeared. She thinks it might be because Melisa was open about her Gifts, so Lexi has kept her telepathic and telekinetic abilities carefully hidden.

  Lexi places a call for help to the TSS, worried that the Alliance is planning something terrible. Though she had hoped for backup to arrive, she must take action herself when she learns of a plot to attack two large cargo ships and seize the spaceport on Duronis. She takes out the Alliance’s control room with telekinesis and manages to make an escape. As she’s escaping the scene, she encounters Kira Elsar, a Tararian Guard officer that the TSS has arranged to send undercover, with Jason as her handler, to help Lexi uncover the Alliance’s broader activities with an organization known as the Coalition. Kira is uniquely equipped for the investigation, as a telepath who has been augmented with alien nanotech and is also paired with a sentient AI named Jasmine.

  The situation with the transdimensional aliens comes to a head when a spatial anomaly forms around Tararia itself and the immense beings start to come through the dimensional veil. Wil, Saera, and Jason race to Tararia with desperate hope of making contact this time. Raena and Ryan join them on the Conquest. Even the ship’s advanced telekinetic energy-focusing weapon can’t stand up to these beings encircling the planet; diplomacy is the only option.

  Wil devises a way to send a written message, using the text from the original treaty inscribed on crystal as a translation cypher. The aliens respond and give an incomprehensible name of their race, so Raena suggests the nickname ‘Erebus’. Wil, Jason, and Raena astral project to talk with the Erebus and explain the misunderstanding. The Erebus eventually agree to negotiate a new peace, and a representative manifests in the Conquest’s Command Center.

  The Erebus representative offers Tarans a ‘gift’—a new power core design. The tech is exponentially more powerful than the current model produced by Monsari Power Solutions. It is suspected that MPS is running out of the voydite material needed to manufacture their power cores, so this new design is a little bit too perfect and timely.

  Nonetheless, the TSS and Taran leaders aren’t in a position to turn down the offer. They strike a tentative peace with the Erebus and prepare to move forward. Except, the TSS won’t forget what happened to Alkeer Station. They know a future conflict is coming, both with the Erebus and more civil disruption. For now, all they can do is prepare to fight for their survival.

  Chapter 1

  They could only skirt the issue for so long, and Wil Sietinen had exceeded his patience. “I’ve made the case for the mutual benefits. All I need is your agreement.”

  When he’d called the meeting with Celine Monsari, he had expected her to jump at
the offer to have MPS manufacture the new power core design provided by the Erebus. The TSS needed a long-term production partner, and the MPS made the most strategic sense. After all, the company was the preeminent supplier of such equipment, so maintaining a monopoly was in their best interest.

  However, the disinterested look Celine gave Wil from across the glass conference table did not instill him with confidence that they were about to strike a deal. We need this to work. It would solve so many problems.

  Celine squinted at him, her tawny eyes calculating and suspicious. “Why are you coming to us now?”

  To offer you a lifeline, you ungrateful witch. He forced a friendly smile. “I know it’s delayed, but the TSS wanted to vet the technology before we put any manufacturing plans in place. We’ve spent the last seven months testing the core prototypes in DGE ships, and we are confident that they are safe. So, naturally, we thought MPS would be in the best position to scale up production.”

  “We already have a line of power cores.”

  Yes, and you’re running out of the material to make them. Wil bit back the snide retort. “Your legacy products have been a mainstay of Taran civilization, but there is no denying that this new design offers improved functionality.”

  Celine leaned back in her seat, studying him. “You aren’t being entirely forthright with me.”

  “All right. Shall we drop the pretense and speak freely, then?”

  She inclined her head.

  “In that case, Celine, what is the state of your voydite mine?”

  “Whatever do you mean?”

  “I think you understand the question perfectly. My suspicions started when we discovered that the Andvari had been running salvage for you—along with who knows how many other ships. Then your reluctance to provide power cores for planetary shields for the Taran worlds outside the Empire. And now every single conversation where you hedge. MPS has almost exhausted its voydite supply, hasn’t it?”