Download Chereads APP
Chereads App StoreGoogle Play
Chereads

Sulis/Starfire: The Brotherhood

🇺🇸Airstorm
7
chs / week
The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
--
NOT RATINGS
180
Views
Synopsis
This was a simple job. Rescue a high value target and bring her home. But if there is one thing the boss hates more than anything, is a liar. Thanks to that liar, we are now caught in the middle of an interstellar conspiracy and a brewing civil war. Us, the crew of The Brotherhood, now have a new job, and it will be the hardest one we have ever encountered...survive
VIEW MORE

Chapter 1 - Light the Fuse

If there is one thing my boss hates more, more than anything in the entire galaxy, more than anything in the universe, is a liar. He despises them. It destroys goodwill, it tears apart homes and families, and if the lie is big enough, it can tear apart a nation from the inside out. If there is anything I have learned from my travels is this, a good lie is like a giant tinderbox. All it takes to set it off...is a simple match.

And so, here we are. Five against one. Oniv waits to give the signal, patient enough to see who will make the first move. He doesn't want to make a mistake this time. Carla stands across from him, flanking our target. If they move, she would be ready to strike with her rifle. Dern stands with his gun at the ready, and I stand opposite of him, my hammer in hand. Who is out target? The one who lied, who started this whole shit show in the first place. The cities are burning, and we are about to be eaten by an interdimensional monster. But let's not get to ahead of ourselves. We got here for a reason, so let's back up a few weeks.

It starts on a nice and sunny day. The star is shining over the planet's horizon, and everyone is up and about on our ship, "The Brotherhood." A large cargo ship retrofitted to be a battle-ready tank. Its firepower is modest, but it is not meant to take on a battleship in one-on-one combat. We use it for our job. We are bounty hunters. We take on odd and dangerous jobs in places no one wants to go.

I wake from my bed and do my morning stretches. Afterward I search through my wardrobe. Pretty standard affair. I grab a blank white shirt and loose-fitting cargo pants. It should help bring out my darkened skin tones and my lovely black hair, or what's left of it. I'd like to think of myself and toned and bulky. I am young, about 27, I lift every day and weld a rocket propelled hammer. Yeah, you heard what I said.

I put on some boots and exit my room. The halls were long and stale. A blank grey color filled every corner of the halls with nothing but windows to draw your eyes. The taste of recycled air fills my lungs. Damn, this ship is boring! As I turn the corner another man runs up behind me. He must have spotted me a long ways away because he was completely out of breath as he caught up with me.

 "Ax!" He says, "Ax! There you are!"

"Sturn. Did you run all the way over here?"

"Never mind that, are you heading to the war room?"

"Heading there right now."

"Good, I need..."

"I am going to stop you right there. I am going to leave and ignore whatever you are about to ask me."

"But Ax, its about..."

I am already halfway down the hall and turn the corner before I yell back out to him.

"And I am not giving you her number!"

"Ahh come on."

"Bye Sturn."

I exit the crew deck and board a tram toward the bridge. The top of the tram has an open window, allowing us to see out into space and admire the stars at the same time. We arrive at the bridge. The control tower stands about the tram before it is lowered off the tracks by a large mechanical arm, so people can leave, and other trams can pass by. I exit off the tram and head for the war room in the back. Carla is already standing at the door. She is tall with dark skin and long black hair. Her eyes are a dark brown, almost like looking into a black hole. She was tone in the legs and had a small chest but she's actually quite beautiful in my opinion. She's a bit older than me, about six years, last I checked and not quite my type, but I can see why Sturn fell for her.

She spots me as I walk down the hall, and she is not happy.

"Axton, you are late." she says.

"Sorry I overslept."

She shakes her head.

"Did you at least sleep well?"

"Uh. No."

She takes a deep sigh.

"You disappoint me."

"Come on, give me some credit."

"Sure. Whatever."

She opens the doors and allows me in. Everyone else is already here. Oniv stands over the hologram in the center of the room. The room itself consisted only of a long brown table and a few chairs. Oniv is quite the fellow. He huge and strong with red eyes. He has dark skin like us and his hair is cut in a buzz. At least he has a mustache. He's much older than me, at least by ten years.

Dern is the next one here. He's sitting on the end of the table away from the door. He's the same age as me but has no hair and no mustache. He does have the same dark complexion and is much skinner than me.

Then there is the standout in the room. Rom, the captain of The Brotherhood, who is ten years younger than me. How does that work? Supposedly he is a child prodigy, but I don't see it. His black hair is cut low, and he has no mustache. Last there is his A.I companion. She goes by the name Angel. Why is her visual representation a damn hottie? Holy crap, like I droll just looking at her. Her hair is long and white. Her ears sat utop her head, colored white like her hair. Her skin is a dark but lighter in tone compared to everyone else, and her curves are perfect and large. I would drool just staring...

"Axton!" Oniv yells.

"Huh?"

"Pay attention, I am talking."

"Oh, uhh sorry sir."

I shake my head and take a close look at the hologram.

"Ok, here is the deal. We got a new job. It's very simple, and very easy if everything goes to plan."

"What's the job?" Dern asks.

"A high value target was discovered to be on a dangerous planet. We are to go in, scoop her up, and bring her home. Simple."

"A snatch and grab, really? Maybe too simple." Carla says

"They paying a lot?" Dern asks.

"Oh yeah?"

Rom looks through the paperwork as everyone talks. Angel, in her miniature form, stands over the papers.

"I don't understand, we don't know who the client is?" Rom asks. 

"We are speaking through an intermediary."

"Why?"

"Client doesn't want to be known."

"I don't like that."

"I concur." Angel says. "How do we know this is not someone trying to send us to our deaths?"

"Because...this is someone very important to them, their daughter."

"It says here they are a child." Rom continues.

"So, it's someone important then?" I ask

"Seems like it. Wait a minute."

Rom looks at the paper more closely.

"It says here they are in Coradon, Meklar."

"The Meklar Sector? The one with the crazy ass queen?"

"Enough!" Oniv yells. "We are doing this, end of story."

"Fine then."

"You and Angle set a course for Coradon. Everyone else, get ready. We leave in 5 hours!"

"Yes sir." We all haphazardly say

As everyone exits their seats, Oniv charges quickly through the doors. I approach Carla who just stands from her seat.

"The hell was that about? Why is he so obsessed with this?" I ask.

"I have no idea."