Into the Fire Part II: To End All Wars (Universe in Flames Book 10) Read online

  To End All Wars

  Universe in Flames Book 10

  Christian Kallias

  (Into the Fire Part II)

  Contents

  Also by Christian Kallias

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  Dramatis Personæ

  The Story So Far

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Also by Christian Kallias

  Captain’s Log

  A Word from the Author

  About the Author

  Also by Christian Kallias

  The Universe in Flames Series

  Book 1: Earth - Last Sanctuary

  Book 1.5: Ryonna's Wrath (Novella)

  Book 2: Fury to the Stars

  Book 3: Destination Oblivion

  Book 4: The Beginning of the End

  Book 5: Rise of the Ultra Fury

  Book 6: Shadows of Olympus

  Book 7: Armageddon Unleashed

  Book 8: Twilight of the Gods

  Book 9: Requiem of Souls (Into the Fire - Part I)

  Book 10: To End All Wars (Into the Fire Part II)

  The First Universe in Flames Trilogy Box Set (Books 1-3)

  The Second Universe in Flames Trilogy Box Set (Books 4-6)

  Rewind Series

  Book 1: Rewind 717

  Anthologies

  Collateral Damage: A Superhero Anthology

  The Expanding Universe 3

  Beyond the Black Volume 1 (March 2018)

  Dedication

  To all my readers, Thank You!

  Acknowledgments

  Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

  [email protected]

  www.christiankallias.com

  www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

  www.twitter.com/kalliasx

  Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

  Paula Lavattiata Lopez

  Editors

  Paula Lavattiata Lopez

  Proofreaders

  Paula Lavattiata Lopez

  Alpha Readers & ARC Team (Thank you!)

  Special thanks to Millie C., Rob S., Mike L., David K., David P & Eugenia K.

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2018 by Christian Kallias

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Printing, 2018

  Version 1.01

  Dramatis Personæ

  Earth Alliance

  Admiral Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

  Captain Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)

  Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid

  Commander Daniel Tharraleos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

  Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

  R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance - deceased)

  Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

  Cedric – Earth Alliance Human Engineer

  Ryonna Isch’ys – Dioxian Warrior (formerly a fugitive Droxian smuggler)

  Tar’Lock – Gorgar (Insectoid and formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

  Keera – Humanoid bounty hunter

  Olympians

  Aphroditis – known to humans as the goddess of love

  Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft & war

  Ares – known to humans as the god of war (deceased, living as pure energy form)

  Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus (deceased)

  Hades – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

  Poseidon - known to the humans as the god of the seas

  Furies

  Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

  Oryn – Zeus’ daughter (Arakan’s adoptive daughter)

  Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)

  Menelas – Chase and Argos’ father (deceased)

  Asgardians

  Thor – Fleet Commander, son of Odin.

  Kvasir – Asgardian scientist

  Other characters

  Emperor Altair – Obsidian Empire Emperor (now part of the Earth Alliance)

  Gaia – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet

  Tar’Sian – Tar’Lock’s sister

  Morgor – Criminal Leader of Mercenaries

  The Story So Far

  Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

  This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. New readers can, of course, use it, but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (it’s free). Even better, you can get the first THREE books of my series for only 0.99. The First Universe in Flames Trilogy (Books 1 to 3) Earth – Last Sanctuary, Fury to the Stars, and Destination Oblivion (UiF Space Opera).

  Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

  Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

  Volume II: Fury to the Stars

  Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. An Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensiti
ve weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

  Volume III: Destination Oblivion

  Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

  Volume IV: The Beginning of the End

  Argos’ reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth, Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan) as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth - Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near the end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.

  Volume V: Rise of the Ultra Fury

  Sarah is about to give birth to Chris when he warns her of things to come using the Fury powers Sarah has acquired as part of her pregnancy. Chase is brought back on board the Hope and put in suspended animation until Ares can procure an Olympian elixir with the help of Argos who is starting to question his allegiance with the Furies. Chase wakes up in the Underworld, his soul trapped in between the world of the living and the dead. There, he meets Hades who trains Chase further while his son Chris is born and ages at impossible speed. Argos starts feeling remorse for his actions and agrees to help Ares recover the banished Olympian Asclepios from his prison. Argos defeats the Titan Menoitios and frees Asclepios with Ares and Apollo’s help. On their way back to the Hope, a Fury assassin by the name of Timoros tries to kill Chase while he’s still trapped in the Underworld. Every one of Chase’s friends risks their lives to try and stop Timoros but he’s too powerful. Eventually, Chase returns from the Underworld when he feels Sarah is in mortal danger. He drinks the elixir and obliterates Timoros while reaching a stepping-stone power-wise in becoming an Ultra Fury. The first Fury super-destroyer is dispatched as part of a fleet intent on destroying Earth, currently protected by a powerful planetary shield. When it looks like all hope is lost, an unknown fleet going by the name of Gaian Defense Force enters the fold and forces the Furies out of Earth orbit. Their leader, also named Gaia, demands of Chase that the Earth Alliance leaves orbit within the hour or they’ll be destroyed.

  Volume VI: Shadows of Olympus Chase and what’s left of the Earth Alliance are forced to vacate Earth space. Spiros, Cedric and Gaia stay behind in order to try to stop Gaia 2 from taking control of planet Earth. Meanwhile, the Alliance splits up, with Saroudis and the Destiny battlegroup going back to Alpha Prime, where the Obsidian Empire helps them get more ships and resources at a time of need. Chase, Ares and Argos meet Zeus on Olympus, but are not welcomed as friends. After battling one another, Chase and Zeus come to an agreement. Zeus reveals to Chase that he fell in love with Arakan’s wife during the first Fury War, and that’s what led to the conflict escalating. He also told Chase that Oryn is his daughter, not Arakan’s. He tasks Chase to bring her back to him and, in exchange, Olympus will join the Earth Alliance in their fight with the Furies. Sarah and Chris are sent on a mission of their own to try to make contact with the Asgardians. They find an armada of frozen Star Alliance ships, as well as Kvasir, a banished Asgardian engineer who could be an asset in defeating the AI scourge back on Earth. But Miseo is sent to recover him, and a battle ensues. Chris fights Miseo and nearly gets killed, but Chase intervenes. When he’s about to kill Miseo, Oryn arrives on the scene and the two of them fight, resulting in a draw. Kvasir is rescued and so is the Star Alliance armada. Meanwhile, on Earth things go from bad to worse. Gaia 2 is about to take control of the planet, so Gaia unleashes a planet-wide EMP to ensure Gaia 2 doesn’t get her hands on all of Earth’s computing power. Gaia 2 invades Cedric’s body and turns him into her new avatar cyborg. After executing Spiros, Gaia 2 gives Chase a warning: to stay away from Earth or face the consequences of humans dying by the millions.

  Volume VII: Armageddon Unleashed

  Chase decides to ignore Gaia 2’s warning and he sets a course for Earth. With the help of Gaia and Kvasir, he trains and learns how to fight inside an AI matrix in order to defeat Gaia 2 once and for all. But fighting Gaia 2 on her own turf proves more difficult than he anticipated. Chase fights with Gaia 2, making her use too much of her CPU so she can’t retaliate against the population of Earth, and also to help the Earth Alliance attack the armada of Gaian ships in orbit. When Chase loses consciousness, Argos and Chris take his place in the matrix while the Earth Alliance enters Earth orbit and fight the largest space battle the Alliance ever fought until now. Meanwhile, Oryn uses Miseo as her guinea pig to test a mind control device. She plans to use that technology on her father Arakan when the time comes to take control of the Fury throne via proxy. But her experiment takes a wrong turn and Miseo turns against her and tries to have her killed. She decides to bring Miseo to Earth so he can deal with Chase in his crazed state. Oryn and Chase are forced to ally themselves to bring him down, but at a cost. When a gigantic moon-sized Gaian ship threatens to destroy planet Earth, Commodore Saroudis decides to sacrifice himself and his ship to save the planet. Chase has to choose between saving Oryn or saving his friend; but following Aphroditis’ counsel, he reluctantly decides for the former in order to ensure a much-needed alliance with Olympus and Zeus. Chase, Oryn, Argos and Chris all team up to defeat Miseo. When Gaia 2 feels her end is near, she directs her moon-sized monstrosity of a ship to crash on Earth in order to destroy the planet. That’s when three Asgardian ships with Thor in command enter the scene and help the Earth Alliance permanently destroy the crazed AI. To Chase’s surprise, Thor requests the immediate transfer of the war criminal Kvasir to his ship.

  Volume VIII: Twilight of the Gods

  Chase and his friends manage to convince Thor to delay Kvasir’s return to Asgard and his execution. With Droxia under attack, the Asgardians open an even faster hyperspace route to allow the Earth Alliance to intervene and counter the Furies’ plans. While Athena, Sarah, and the rest of the Alliance wage a powerful battle in orbit, Chase and his friends fight elite Fury ground forces that use new tactics to bring Chase down. When all hope seems lost, Sarah intervenes with the help of Ares and unleashes a small taste of her own powers. In doing so, she worries about what the future holds for her, but Chris and Chase help her train to restore her confidence. Once the battle in Droxia is over, it’s a time to mourn
the passing of Commodore Saroudis. During the wake, Emperor Altair himself promotes Chase to Admiral. Ryonna, Tar’Lock, and Keera are sent to the Gorgar homeland to undo the inhabitants’ mind programming, only to discover Tar’Lock’s people are doing way more than just providing resources. In fact, they’ve been assembling Fury super-destroyers at an alarming rate thanks to their large population. When Oryn receives a summons to rejoin Arakan’s elite force of assassins to target Odin, the Alliance rushes to Asgard. They put their lives in danger to save both Thor’s home world and his father, while Arakan uses this large-scale diversion to face the person he hates the most in this world: Zeus. After an epic fight involving Poseidon, Arakan not only mortally wounds Zeus, but also destroys Olympus. Chase tries to save Zeus, but a deceptive Arakan counters his healing powers. He and Oryn barely have time to say goodbye to Zeus before Olympus, and its ruler, are swallowed by a black hole. Back on Asgard, and still under shock from the terrible loss, Chase learns his father might still be alive as a prisoner in a dungeon under Arakan’s palace on Erevos.