Heaven's Fate Excerpt

Today’s Featured Author: Andre Alan

Today I have an excerpt from Andre Alan’s book Heaven’s Fate.

Excerpt

Only thirty minutes before, Jeremiah Cek lay in his bunk reading a new novel he had picked up on his downtime. Now he sat in the cockpit of his AF-157 with a scramjet engine and smooth, rounded curves to prevent radar detection. Squadron leader Cek, tag-name: Honey Badger, a name earned through his fearless tactics. He had received the secure message on his wrist communicator from his captain, Charlotte ‘Sky’ Landry, commanding him to form up his squadron and double time it to High Garden Clearing. They approached the city; he could already see fires burning in the distance.
“The target is painted hot, Honey Badger,” said Masi Lawrence, tag-name: Wolverine, and the Honey Badger’s second in command.
Squad leader Cek and the two other fighter pilots flying in formation behind him switched their heads-up-display to view the infrared spectrum and located the large red dot that was their target flying in circles above High Garden Clearing. Fires created by the dragon’s breath had produced a thick layer of smoke that sat low in the air.
“Target in sight,” said Honey Badger. “Weapons free. I repeat, weapons free.”
“Roger that,” said Wolverine. “Let’s light ‘em up!”
“I have missile lock,” said Warthog, the last member of the team. He flew in formation to the left of the Honey Badger. “Repeat. I have missile lock. Bombs away.”
The laser-guided missiles left the airplane’s weapons chamber from a compartment underneath the wings and quickly climbed to speeds in excess of Mach ten. Each of the three pilots flying towards High Garden Clearing released two hydrogen-powered heat-seeking missiles and watched on their radar as the rockets found their target. The missiles exploded against the scaly, stronger-than-steel plates of the dragon’s green hide, brightening the night sky over the city in a burst of energy. The beast let out an agonizing shriek. Xiuhcoatl fell to the ground, sending up a plume of dust and debris.
“Our work here is done, boys,” said Honey Badger. “Let’s leave the cleanup to Captain Sky. First round’s on me tonight.” He smiled, hearing the cheers of his fellow pilots. Joyous sounds coming through his headset were abruptly replaced by an everlasting silence.
A plume of dragon fire ignited the gas tank and the other pilots watched their leader’s plane explode. Wolverine regained his composure. He knew the task to see them safely back to base had now fallen to him. “Break off,” shouted Wolverine into his helmet. “Evasive maneuvers. Stay with me, Warthog. We’re going in for another shot. We need to drop this bastard if we want to have any hope of making it out alive.”
Warthog, Sal Diamond, was a young, chubby kid that could barely grow a mustache. He still remembered vividly the day that Jeremiah Cek had come to his home town of Queens. He knew that trying to kill a dragon without the advantage of surprise on your side was suicide. He wanted nothing more than to pull back on his throttle until it was jammed and run afterburners until he arrived back home. Yet the soldier in him wanted revenge for his squad leader, his friend and mentor. Sal tucked his emotions away as he had been taught in basic training and formed up on Wolverine. They swung back around to engage the target.
Masi Lawrence sent a signal to his commanding officer on the ground.
Charlotte peered down at the two-way wrist communicator. A message beeped in her earpiece. The note from Wolverine saddened her at first. By the end of the message, she was merely angry; it read: first strike failed. SQNLDR  KIA. Engaging target. Requesting ground support. She spit on the ground in frustration, wondering how her small contingent had become involved in the never-ending war between the Ura and the people of High Garden Clearing. The capitol city of Ardile, which held the seat of political power, would no doubt hear of this ruthless attack by the Ura and demand that troops be sent to the Ura Forest. There would be an outcry from the public to destroy the main base of the demons, and their capitol city, The Ura Star. Charlotte relayed a message to the wizard resting in his tower.
Sebastian was now fully recovered from the physical and mental toll of imbuing the Tundra Sword with its rightful magical properties. He received the message from Charlotte on the communicator she left for him. His instructions were clear: should the battle turn ugly, signal the mages located in Consonance and have them open a portal to send the heavy-hitting mech-tanks for assistance.
Charlotte, along with Thame, periodically peeked around the corner of the red brick building they now hid behind. They were watching the heavy mech-tanks sweeping down the streets. The tanks were being controlled remotely by soldiers still on the large military base in Consonance.
“The reinforcements are here,” said Charlotte. “We need to pull back to Sebastian’s residence and get a portal to Consonance.”
“We can’t just leave these people here like this,” said Thame.
“They are not my responsibility,” said Charlotte. “You are. My orders clearly state that I need to get you back to the Pyramid ASAP after completion of the Tundra Sword.”
“I brought this upon these innocent people. I must see them safe.”
“If you wanna be a hero, then do it on your own time! I have orders. Orders that must be obeyed.”
Thame did not like the ominous tone in Charlotte’s voice. He looked in her direction, and the butt of Charlotte’s las-gun sped towards his face. He was rammed into unconsciousness and immediately his mind was whisked away to the Oresme Sphere.

Book Description

Thame Elliot, an expert Rietsu martial artist, is consumed with thoughts of avenging his father’s death and rebuilding the legendary Tundra Sword. Little does Thame know that his aunt, the first empress of the human continent, Eioda, Autumn Augustus, has set the nation on a course that can only lead to war with the Orcs. The mystical inhabitants on the planet, Threa have been plunged into a struggle for the ancient artifacts buried in the mysterious, Consummate of the Trust. Not only that but his aunt is hell bent on marrying him to a corrupt military admirals daughter while Thame’s spiritual guardian, Masaya from the Astral Plane tries to manipulate him in order to keep the heavens from falling apart. The fate of mankind rest in Thame’s young hands but does he even want the responsibility that goes along with being the chosen one. Or will Thame’s spiritual twin, imbued with dark powers granted by the evil one, assassinate him before he can fulfill his destiny.

Author Bio

Andre Alan was born and raised in Hartford, CT and attended college in New Haven, CT. After graduating with a degree in international business and a brief career as an IT data analyst in the insurance field, Andre Alan decided to follow his lifelong passion of creating fiction entertainment. With a small amount of artistic talent, some of his first memories are of drawing TMNT’s. After a brief, failed stint as a poet and a short lived comic book series, everything fell into place to pursue fantasy novel writing. An avid video gamer when there is time and an addict for Ramen Noodles. Andre is a sports fanatic and a lifelong student of international business; if the television is on (which it rarely is) it will be tuned into ESPN or CNBC.
You can find more about Andre on his website. You can also follow him on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.
You can get Heaven’s Fate at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.