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  Galactic Judge Copyright © 2020 by Variant Publications

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  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from JN Chaney.

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  Galactic Judge

  Book 2 in the Galactic Law Series

  J.N. Chaney

  James S. Aaron

  Book Description

  Galactic Judge

  Galactic Law #2

  Vigilante justice is on the rise.

  Criminal attacks across Taurus Station have left the casinos, clubs and heavy industry in freefall.

  Deputy Gage Walker is sent on a mission to stop attacks on local mining rigs. On the edges of a vicious space battle, Walker finds a criminal operation beyond anything the local law had imagined.

  With the help of Renegade Fratley Oxonos, a rogue with contacts across a hundred systems, Walker will take on a new threat that could bring Taurus station to its knees.

  Racing across wild space, Deputy Walker must prove he's fit to wear the badge and issue his own form of justice...one body at a time.

  Experience this exciting second installment in a brand new series set in the Renegade Star universe. If you're a fan of Judge Dredd, Renegade Star, or Borderlands, you'll love this epic, scifi thriller.

  Contents

  Previously on Galactic Law

  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

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Epilogue

  Characters

  Renegade Star Universe

  Get a Free Book

  About The Authors

  Previously on Galactic Law

  Taurus Station is where tourists, criminals, and industry pioneers come for relaxation as they travel through the Deadlands, a region of space that rests between two warring empires. Keeping the peace is a thankless job and the law often seems like a suggestion. It falls on deputies to enforce the Sheriff’s justice however they can.

  Gage Walker was about to graduate training when he was tasked by Sheriff Nagel with the security of a mining magnate’s daughter for her bachelorette party. What should have been an easy duty went to hell when a gang kidnapped the woman. Kiren Carthage didn’t go without a fight, though, and the battle followed her back to her wedding, which ended in a brawl.

  The wedding was a failure, but incidents tying Carthage Industries to the Ice Crew hinted at deeper conspiracies on Taurus Station. Walker was sworn in as a Sheriff’s Deputy just in time for a violent crime wave to grip the station.

  1

  The face of the Hidden Cards casino exploded in a shower of slagged metal and dust.

  Tourists in the street screamed and ran for cover. The blast caught the tail of an open bus rolling past and knocked it sideways. The transport tipped over, dumping people into the street before its safety systems could engage.

  I slid to a cover position behind a nearby vehicle and surveyed the smoking ruin.

  “What do you see, Ellie?” I asked, tapping my earbud to make sure I hadn’t lost it in the blast.

  “Deputy Walker,” Ellie said. “I have notified emergency medical services. We have a mass casualty incident. Based on internal surveillance at Hidden Cards, I estimate six hostiles inside, including Kallaver’s second in command, an individual known as Red.”

  “Oh, I remember Red. He doesn’t like me.”

  “Records show he nearly killed you during your last interaction.”

  I chuckled. “But he didn’t, and that’s the important part. I thought the initial report said ten hostiles?”

  “I am only tracking six currently.”

  Ellie-DB, short for Law Enforcement Database, was the limited AI that took care of everything I couldn’t, allowing me to focus on the important things, such as tracking gang members as they tried to escape through the smashed wall of the casino. She provided dispatch for every deputy in the Department, maintained and filed record requests, and generally took care of most other administrative tasks during my patrols. I’d worked with her program for over eight months, ever since my first assignment. So far, she’d proven to be the most valuable asset I had.

  “Copy, so that’s four unaccounted for,” I said. “Should keep things interesting.”

  “Stay safe, Deputy Walker.”

  The sensors in my helmet outlined the new hole in the side of the building as the dust drifted. More of Red’s people hid just inside, hunting for an opportunity to run out. They were carrying small arms and some handheld explosives like grenades and claymore mines. Minimal armament for a military unit but dangerous enough in the hands of an urban gang.

  Most residents of Taurus Station weren’t packing weaponry on this scale. I had my service pistol and patrol armor, neither of which were going to stop a claymore. Ellie had already called for assistance as soon as I verified an armed robbery in-progress at the Hidden Cards. Unfortunately, backup from Tactical Division was late as usual, which didn’t help the situation.

  I slid around the front of the vehicle, my HUD outlining bodies in the
dust cloud as they fit movement profiles. As Ellie had estimated, there were six thermal outlines to contend with. The reports had said ten, and there had already been a gun battle with casino security before I got the call.

  “Setting target priority,” I told Ellie. “Moving.”

  “Waiting for backup is recommended, Deputy Walker.”

  “These guys are going to hurt even more people if they get out in the street. I need to stop them here.” We’d already locked down the vehicles they used to get across the station, so their only option was to steal a transport.

  Or kill me and take mine.

  I set my external speakers and shouted into the dust cloud: “Attention, this is Deputy Walker of the Taurus Station Sheriff’s Office. You are hereby ordered to drop your weapons and stand down. Anyone who exits now will be afforded all possible legal protections. This is a lethal force situation and I am authorized to enact the Sheriff’s justice if you do not obey.”

  “Tell the Sheriff to stick it up his ass,” a familiar voice yelled. “I know you, Walker. I’ve been looking forward to cracking your head on the street.”

  I recognized the voice of Red Arturi, the largest of my targets. His outline looked like he was carrying something--possibly the belt with the explosives that had knocked the hole in the front of the casino.

  Red was second in command of Kallaver's Ice Gang, a name they'd only taken on recently with the increasingly frequent attacks on Taurus. Apparently, they’d been operating out of an old ice processing station in the Chop Zone.

  “I take that as a no,” I told Ellie. “Moving to engage.”

  “Moving to engage. Likelihood of success, twenty percent.”

  “What are we using to measure success here?”

  “Your survival.”

  “Aren’t you a ray of sunshine.”

  In the seconds since Red’s helpful answer, none of my other targets had moved to surrender. Instead, two looked like they were trying to flank me at the edge of their opening, while the others maintained their covered positions. I sighted in with the service pistol and fired.

  My nearest target dropped. I fired more rounds and caught the second in the shoulder, slamming him back and out of view. As the gang member screamed for help, I moved behind a civilian transport in the middle of the street and reloaded.

  “I can see your pretty face, Walker,” Red called. “I’m going to enjoy tearing off your little cop helmet and driving my thumbs into your eye sockets.”

  “You can do better than that,” I shouted. “Why don’t you come out here so we can talk about it?”

  “I show movement inside,” Ellie said.

  Two gang members sprinted toward me as the others laid covering fire. I ducked and shifted to the rear of the vehicle, hitting the nearest runner. The gangly man grunted and hit the asphalt face-first, sliding in the street. Dust floated over his body. The second dropped behind a fragment of wall and opened fire with an automatic rifle.

  “Kallaver’s coming for you all, little deputy,” Red shouted. “He’s coming for this whole station. We’re outgrowing the Factory. Going to own every slip tunnel into the system, and then we’ll grow from there. Maybe I’ll wear your skull as a pinky ring.”

  Kallaver was the gang boss I’d had the misfortune of meeting on my first major assignment: protecting Kiren Carthage in the days leading up to her wedding. The wedding was a bust, and Kallaver eluded conviction after an unknown party made a large political contribution to the magistrate presiding over his trial.

  I picked off another runner as they moved into the opening. The dust was almost cleared now. I had a good location on Red and was picking my shot at his head when someone opened fire to my left.

  “You have been flanked,” Ellie said.

  “I see that. Those would be my three unaccounted-for assholes.”

  I hit the street and crawled back behind the cruiser. I was taking fire from two directions at once now. The heavy report of Red’s automatic rifle paused, and I heard the slap of an explosive charge hitting the street on the other side of the vehicle providing my cover.

  After scrambling to my feet, I sprinted back to my patrol cruiser. A heat wave washed across my back as the street behind me buckled and exploded. I lost purchase and flew forward.

  I hit the sidewalk on the far side of the street, but my armor kept me from breaking any bones—maybe. It wouldn’t do much for bruising or even internal bleeding if something hit me hard enough. I’d have to worry about that later.

  I rolled, getting my bearings, and stumbled to my feet against the building. My vision was blurry and my HUD seemed damaged. My faceshield was cracked and icons glitched in the display.

  “I have Tactical Division on scene,” Ellie reported. “Sending your location.”

  “Send them the hostile locations, not mine!”

  “Walker!” Red shouted.

  Glancing back, I found the big man facing me just down the sidewalk. Red was the hulking menace I remembered, dressed in black armor but without a helmet, his wild red hair and beard gray with dust. He had an automatic rifle in either hand and was setting himself in a firing stance.

  There was no cover in sight. I’d used up my full armor capability, so I couldn’t ride this out once he opened fire.

  “Hey, Red,” I said. “You messed this up, didn’t you?”

  His nose twitched. “I didn’t mess anything up. I’m going to kill you. Kallaver will be pleased.”

  I shifted, not raising my pistol but readying my finger near the trigger.

  “Why? Because you blew up an old casino? What good did that do anybody?”

  Weapons barked nearby as Tactical engaged the remaining members of Red’s crew. A grenade exploded and rubble rained over us. Red was unfazed.

  His people might be dead soon, but this guy wasn’t going down without a fight.

  Red’s scarred face broke into a smile, a scarlet gash across the gray dust. “You think I haven’t done my job? I’ve done exactly what I was tasked to do. I kept you all busy.”

  The Ice Crew bandit flashed a wild grin and opened fire with both rifles.

  I ran back into the street, returning fire. A few of his rounds pinged my back and glanced off my helmet before his aim went to shit.

  “It’s a diversion,” I yelled at the Tactical Commander. “Kallaver’s hitting another location on the station. We need to withdraw.”

  “You just called for backup,” the sergeant shouted back at me. “We’re clearing this area first. We’ve got wounded to secure so medical can get in here.”

  Red’s laughter followed me as I cut around the smashed transport.

  I waited, listening for the big man’s footsteps. Reloading was going to be a problem for him unless he dumped one of his guns. Sure enough, I heard the clatter of a weapon hitting the street and a new magazine clicking into place. I leaned around the barge to fire and Red was gone.

  A roar filled the air above the burning casino as four military style transports dropped on the street thirty meters away. I came around the barge with my weapon ready and spotted Red and two remaining gang members sprinting toward their exit. The nearest transport rotated and two canons on either side of its nose leveled on the street.