Challenger Rising

By Paul Sanderson

Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to ours, is Humanity's next frontier. But it’s a race to get there as every nation wants to claim the best colonisation sites.

The Star ship Challenger is the first colony sized vessel to be fitted with the new jump drive, a device allowing them to break the light barrier. Though there are those who don't want the Challenger to get there first, and are willing to do whatever it takes to get their way.

Sabotage plagues the Challenger from day one, leaving the vessel crippled and alone in deep space. With those on board determined to make sure the ship never reaches Alpha Centauri, the crew have to fight not just to accomplish their objective, but to survive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Sanderson
• Release date: May 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370195923

Book preview

Challenger Rising

b

y Paul Sanderson

Text copyright © 2015 Paul Sanderson

Cover art copyright © 2015 Alex Price

Contents

Prologue

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

11

12

Prologue

High calibre slugs slammed into the concrete slab tearing great chucks out of the cover Alpha team was hiding behind. Fragments of concrete rained down on them as their cover was slowly eroded by the intense barrage. Colonel Marco kept his head to the ground, his body laid prone against the soft Earth whilst the marines around him mimicked his action.

Their target was just one hundred metres away, the outpost that was currently raining fire down on their position. The wall was twenty metres in height, its metal surface pitted with bullet dents and plasma burns. Enemy forces manned the walls, some wielding the same assault rifles as the attacking marines, though two heavy gun emplacements also occupied the ramparts. A single gate house led into the outpost. The gate was one metre wide and two high, its design allowing personnel through, whilst being too narrow for vehicles.

Smoke grenades on three! Marco commanded to the three members of his team laid down beside him. Then on my mark, me and Brozlin break right, Robert and Larry break left. Acknowledgement runes lit up on his visors heads up display as they each confirmed his orders. Unclipping a smoke grenade from his belt, he counted to three before pulling the pin.

Three! he ordered before tossing the smoke grenade over the concrete barricade into the killing field between them and the outpost. Three other grenades joined his, each thrown at a slightly different angle to cover the large area. Almost immediately smoke gushed from the grenades quickly obscuring the outpost from sight.

Mark! he shouted as he broke from cover, the rest following suit. Bullets whipped aimlessly as the defenders fired into the smoke cloud. One clipped his ankle and another hit his upper thigh. His battle armour held, the gel layer underneath helping to soften the impacts. Ploughing through the smoke towards the outpost, Marco reached the high wall. The flashes of gunfire could be seen above him as the defenders kept up their barrage, the smoke still obscuring their vision.  

Though he couldn’t see them through the smoke cloud, his visors head up display told him the rest of his marines had also reached the outpost wall.

Robert and Larry, you have the wall, Brozlin you’re breaching with me. Brozlin unclipped a breaching charge from his belt and attached it to the outpost gate. Robert and Larry each withdrew their grappling hooks and laid in wait for the others to breach the gate.

The breaching charges detonated ripping the gate off its hinges, their helmets automatically blocking out the blinding flash and roar of the detonation. Marco was the first one through the breach, walking across the ruined remains of the gate. He entered into a wide corridor which branched off into many more. The corridor was empty save for them, the defenders still manning the wall above. A fact he hoped would change very soon.

Robert and Larry fired their grappling hooks upwards towards the ramparts aiming for a previously occupied section. After waiting for several seconds to check if they had been spotted, they activated the grappling guns motor. The motor was almost silent, rapidly reeling the wire in to pull the two marines upwards. Robert pulled himself up level with the rampart edge first, before flipping himself over, weapon held ready. His weapon panning left and right, he found himself to be alone on the ramparts. The plan had worked. The defending forces had all headed down to the lower level thinking they had entered via the gate house gate. He leant Larry a hand, pulling himself over the rampart edge. Robert sent a message to Colonel Marco visor display before they both headed into the outpost interior.

A light flashed in the corner of Marco’s heads up display at almost the same time the defending forces hit the lower levels. He ducked back around the corner as bullets ripped down it towards their position. He and Brozlin returned fire turning the wide corridor into a firelight. The defender’s fire intensified as they brought their superior numbers to bear forcing Marco and Brozlin to stay in cover, preventing them from returning fire.

What’s your position up there? Marco called into his mike, his helmet automatically blocking out all external sounds so he could be heard over the roar of gun fire in the confined space. We can’t hold this position for ever! Though he couldn’t hear them over the constant barrage of gun fire, he knew some of them split off in an attempt to flank them. It’s what he would do if the positions were reversed.

Robert and Larry crept slowly down one of the upper level corridors towards a stairwell heading in both directions. The roar of gunfire and muzzle flashes could be seen as the reached the stairs. They moved several steps down the stairs until they came to a bend. Robert unclipped the mirror from his belt, the moved it around the corner. At the bottom of the stairs stood two of the enemy soldiers, their backs to him as they fired bursts down the corridor. He assumed the others were further down, the roar of machine gun fire echoing up to him. Withdrawing the mirror and clipping it back on his belt, he signalled Larry to fall back to the top of the stairs. He fixed his rifle to the webbing on his back and withdrew two frag grenades from his belt. He tossed them both round the corner letting them roll down the stairs towards the defending forces. Retrieving his rifle from the webbing on his back, he mentally counted to three.

The two grenades detonated simultaneously filling the stairway with lethal shrapnel. Robert waited a second for the blast wave to dissipate before advancing down the stairs, Larry following quickly behind him. As they reached the bottom of the stairs they stepped over the corpses of the two fallen defenders. They hit the last two further down the corridor with burst after burst of fire from their assault rifles. Pinned between the two advancing groups of attackers, the defending forces didn’t stand a chance.

SIMULATION OVER! the voice blared over the area from the control room located above. The outpost walls vanished leaving both the attacking and defending forces in a flat plain room three hundred metres across. The walls were lined with thousands of holographic projectors whilst the use of shield technology made the surfaces projected feel solid. They each wore standard Marine assault armour which consisted of a full body covering gel layer that was capable of offering protection against projectiles, regulating the bodies heat output, as well as protecting the wearer from the vacuum of space. Over the gel layer they wore a series of moulded ceramic plates that offered increased protection and a fully enclosed helmet. Tiny transceivers, less than one centimetre across, covered their armour. These provided feedback to the multiple super computers that ran the combat simulation about the damage the user would receive if it was real life conditions.  Whilst the holographic rounds fired from their guns wouldn’t cause any major damage, the shield technology that made them solid still caused nasty bruising, making the use of full Marine combat armour essential.

Colonel Marco clicked the button on his assault rifle folding it up before attaching it to the magnetic holster on his thigh. Opposite Brozlin did the same. The fallen defending forces rose to their feet, moving slowly due to the impacts.

Fair enough Marco, I wasn't expecting that, Sergeant Jason, commander of the defending forces said as the two teams met up.

That's what we planned, Marco replied adjusting his armour where he could feel a bruise starting to form. Though looks like our time is up, he said indicating the approaching officer.

Colonel Marco saw head engineer Gary Laroe approaching him from one of the simulation room entrances. He wore his standard uniform, the same as his, save for the rank and department insignias.

Gary Laroe, Marco said stepping forward to shake his hand. what brings you down here?

Work I'm afraid, he replied taking his hand. The simulations need shutting down for the jump. 

Then your timings perfect, we just finished, Marco stated glancing at his watch, the hour fast approaching their launch time. The rest of you get to your positions, we will been departing soon, he ordered to his men before turning back to Gary. I presume we will be expected on the bridge when we launch.

Of course, he replied, his gaze cast over the holographic scene before him. It’s the power requirements, he explained. We don't want something like this running during the jump drive, not to mention the processing power it takes up. 

Marco nodded. Changing rooms are just through there, he said indicating a side door. I will be five minutes behind you.

1

The transport shuttle roared skywards through the Earths atmosphere, quickly accelerating to escape velocity. Its hull was painted almost completely white, the suns rays glistering off its surface as it broke through the cloud layer. The transport was military in design, stretching over one hundred metres from nose to tail, and half as wide. Its two wings ran almost the entire length of the foliage making the shuttle look like a giant arrow head soaring straight upwards. As the shuttle finally broke through Earth’s hold, it altered course towards the two largest artificial satellites in the night sky.

Captain Stoneguard gazed through one of the shuttles many viewing portals as Galileo station came into view. The station was huge, hanging in the sky as if to challenge the moon itself. Spanning over five thousand metres across at its widest point, Galileo station was by far the single largest construction ever built. The superstructure was roughly rectangular in shape, its hull dotted with observation portals and sensor spines. Galileo station had its own artificial gravity generators which produced a gravity field throughout the station that felt just like Earths own.

Above the station in relation to the Earth below, hung twenty massive solar panels, each one larger than the shuttle. They looked like huge sails held to the station by thick cables, each one going towards the stations colossal energy demands. Along one end sprouted massive arms which incorporated the stations shipbuilding yards. Currently hanging onto those arms was the second largest construction ever built – the Star ship Challenger.

Spanning two thousand metres from nose to tail, the challenger dominated much of the viewing screen as the transport shuttle flew towards Galileo station. The huge vessel’s body was long and wide, with four larger sections sticking out diagonally from the centre. At the centre of its rear the jump drive was located, surrounded by four powerful plasma rocket engines. Its hull shape was designed partly like a thick giant flat arrow head, closely resembling the stealth bombers built back during the twentieth century. Gun emplacements ranging from missile point defence to large calibre rail cannons dotted across the hull. Transparent docking tubes ran from the Challenger to Galileo station, in which transport trucks could be seen ferrying supplies. The Challenger had taken five years and cost several billion pounds to construct, at the orbital shipyards of Galileo station                           

As Galileo station’s docking clamps latched onto the shuttle with a distinctive thud, Captain Thomas Stoneguard unlocked his flight restraints and rose from his acceleration chair. Around him the other passengers, many of who belonged under his command, also made ready to depart. He quickly scanned their faces finding no-one he recognised, hardly surprising with a crew of almost three hundred personnel. Their uniforms marked them out as fleet engineers, the sign of a spanner piercing the Earth marked on their left shoulders. They each saluted as he walked past, even though they were off duty, he nodded to each in turn.

Quickly ducking into a nearby washroom, Stoneguard washed his face in the sink and straightened his uniform. The face staring back at him in the mirror was thirty years of age, though it looked slightly younger. His light brown hair was slightly longer than the standard short hair cut, his fringe neatly parted. Making sure his uniform looked presentable, he stepped out of the washroom and headed for the docking ramp located at the rear of the shuttle. Putting on his hat, Stoneguard descended the shuttles ramp and onto the hanger floor.

The hanger spanned around three hundred metres before Stoneguard as he stood under the shadow of the shuttles fuselage, beside him on each side stood multiple other vessels of different sizes and designs. A few were similar to the shuttle he arrived in, whilst the majority looked like massive cargo haulers. This was confirmed by the mass of fleet engineers and other personnel hovering around the vessels, supervising unloading whatever cargo they carried. The sound of hydraulic pistons accompanied the heavy lifters and the faint smell of engine lubricants hung in the air.

Stoneguard spotted the familiar figure of Commander Hakiller walking towards him between the file of marines. He wore his standard fleet uniform, the numerous medals gleaming under the hanger lights. Commander Hakiller was German, and previously to this assignment, had spent seven years in the Germans military intelligence division. He stood over six feet tall with a wide frame and thick corded muscles. The commander, whilst being his second in command, was also in directly in charge of the Challenger's internal security force, whereas the marines were under Colonel Marco.

Captain Stoneguard had spent most of the journey to the station going through the staff briefing files. He had chosen Hakiller, along with the rest of his command staff, from thousands of talented candidates, some of the finest minds the coalition had to offer.

Following slightly behind him came a small drone, hovering just over head height above the floor on a small anti-gravity generator. Stoneguard couldn’t help but frown slightly at the sight of the drone, though he knew there was nothing he could do about it. Hakiller had the drone set to follow him at the moment, and could be redirected by any of the many media crews aboard the Galileo or Challenger. The decision to have the media crews aboard was out of his hands, the launch being expected to be watched by over half the world, the largest media event since the launch of the first jump drives. Whilst Captain Stoneguard didn't have the authority to dismiss the drone, that didn't mean he had to like its presence.  

Captain Stoneguard! Hakiller greeted, stopping two paces before the Captain and saluting. Welcome to Galileo station. The hovering camera stopped just behind the Commander, the faint hum of its anti gravity generator just audible at this distance.

Commander Hakiller! Stoneguard replied returning the salute. Great to finally meet you.