Read Online Falco Invictus: On the Forge of War by Rodney C. Johnson - Free Book Online

Centurion armor,
complete with a gladius strapped at his side accompanied by a very
lethal coilgun. The Praetorian looked like he had stepped out of
the pages of history in his modern armor. Black hair cut in the
Roman style, worn as others long before him who bore the honor of
calling themselves “Centurion” once sported.
    “I bring orders in the name of Imperator
Romulus. What you are about to read is to be kept inside this
office.” Trajan made no attempt to hide the fact he checked the
room for monitoring devices. Satisfied the room had not been
bugged, the Centurion continued. “The crew of the DSV
Excalibur are about to take the next step for humanity.”
    Cole put his tea aside and picked up the
pouch sealed with the Imperial signet of Romulus; He broke the seal
and removed a folded letter as well as a small CD. The captain
opened the paper and glanced over the words. His eyes widened. He
could not believe what he had just read. Both Trajan and Guillaume
noticed the shocked expression on his face.
    “Sir?” asked the Frenchmen.
    Cole cleared his throat. “As of this date,
the DSV Excalibur is to proceed to region 30 by 70 by 42.
Once there, we are to await the arrival of an Iksar'rang ship and
proceed to open negotiations for the Imperium with the intent of a
treaty for common cause with the Iksar'rang Union.”
    “Who... or what exactly are these
Iksar'rang?” In the pit of his stomach LaSalle was sure that he
would not like the answer.
    “Guillaume… they... they are –”
    “Aliens,” Trajan finished. “One of our
foldships was discovered by them. My government has been in contact
with the Iksar'rang and we found that we share mutual goals. The DSV Excalibur shall cement that treaty. Finally, after years
of conflict, Mother Earth shall be united in peace under the
Imperium’s flag.”
    LaSalle had been right, he didn't like the
answer.
    Captain Braden suddenly understood his true
mission as well as why his ship had been designed as it had been.
There were plenty of armaments on board: nuclear warheads, mass
drivers and assorted railguns. Enough power to allow the DSV
Excalibur to devastate an entire planet. Braden understood that
he and his ship were to be the Imperator’s sword.
     
    “She's on the move,” Shierak Tariksar
reported from his station. “Thrusters only and breaking orbit.”
    On the holoviewer, Kulcarin watched the Excalibur head away from Primus and go into foldspace.
    Aranskrai’s voice remained low, deadly.
“Follow. Her.”
    The Tair'Aliran 's helmsmen matched
the course of their prey. They followed the collapse and expansion
of the fabric of space. This however could prove to be a problem
for Kulcarin and his crew. If they did not keep in the shadows of
the DSV Excalibur 's sensors the Imperium vessel would become
aware of the Bloodwing as itself sundered the fabric of
space. They would need to be precise when they warped out of
foldspace so as to mask the collapse of their own
gravitic-bubble.
     
     
    [Indian Ocean: Chrysanthemum Maru, 6:00 PM
Falcanian Standard Time]
    Frederika held ivory chopsticks delicately
between her French manicured nails, clutching a sushi roll. She
dipped the roll into a lacquered bowl of hot wasabi and brought it
back up to her lush pink lips to take a full bite from the colorful
rice, seaweed, and salmon creation. Dressed in a green kimono, she
sat on a bamboo mat in the ship's galley, decorated in the same
Japanese style as the rest of the ship. The girls chatted and
giggled with one another as they always did at mealtimes. Mia sat
to Frederika's left at the floor level table and both had their
legs tucked underneath them.
    “I like your nails,” Mia said.
    Frederika smiled at her companion.
“Danke.”
    Ch'Kran Traken was also among the women,
which was most unusual. He didn't eat with the dancers. Frederika
assumed that he took his meals with the Captain in his cabin. In
any event, the blonde had been stunned when the Falcanian