Jovian Insurrection (A First Steps Novella)
When Gravity Bends, Revolution Follows
Foreword
Welcome back to the First Steps Universe for book 2—a vision of humanity’s first true expansion into the solar system, where ambition, ingenuity, and conflict collide at the edge of the possible.
When I began First Steps, my goal was simple but ambitious: to create a future that feels lived-in, plausible, and emotionally real. These stories take place at a pivotal moment in human history—when our species begins to stretch beyond Earth’s cradle and claim its place among the stars. It’s a time of great promise, but also one of uncertainty, risk, and moral complexity.
Each book in this series explores a different facet of that journey. Ceres Crisis marked the first spark—the clash between vision and control, commerce and conscience, that will define humanity’s next frontier.
Now, with Jovian Insurrection, the story widens. The struggle that began in the asteroid belt reaches the vast, storm-tossed realm of Jupiter’s moons. Here, the balance of power between the Inner Core Systems and the outer colonies teeters on the brink. What began as political tension has become open rebellion—a conflict fueled by revolutionary idealism, advanced weaponry, and the human need to be free, no matter the cost.
This book deepens the themes that run through the series: the intersection of technology and morality, the cost of loyalty, and the fine line between heroism and fanaticism. It’s both a continuation and an escalation—a step further into the storm.
First Steps is, at its heart, a passion project—an evolving universe built from a lifelong love of science fiction and the belief that the best stories don’t just imagine the future; they make us question who we are and what we might become.
Thank you for taking this next step with me. I hope Jovian Insurrection carries you deeper into the mystery, danger, and wonder of humanity’s first great leap beyond Earth.
— C L Broogle
Creator of the First Steps Series
Chapter 1
Fleet operations in space represent the most complex undertakings in all of warfare.
— ICS Fleet Operations Officer Manual
Captain Asilia Ali of the Inner Core Systems fleet turned to her first officer. “Curtis, what happened?”
“Looks like they’ve acquired or slapped together some kind of CIWS. They splashed or deflected all ten rounds.”
“Anything flashing on sensors to give us an idea of what or where they might have placed these close-in weapons systems?”
“We’re in targeting mode. Switching to tracking now. If they’re kinetic, we should get a trail off any loose ordnance. We can then trace the trajectory back. If there’s no trail, we can assume energy-based.”
“Helm, bring us head-on with them. Line up the pulse laser array.”
“Roger that,” came the voice of the young lieutenant. He was seated in a slightly sunken pilot pod near the front of the Command and Control deck, known colloquially as CNC.
Lt. Commander Arlo Curtis gave the captain a curious look. “Lasers? We better have a good shot given the gas infrastructure over there and this range.”
“I know. We can’t risk blowing the station up, but we’ve got to do something to clear a path,” she said, motioning towards the tactical display.
A perfect visual reproduction of their immediate area of operations floated just off the wall to the right. Most prominent was their target, Minerva Station. It had originally been three massive vessels sent from Earth decades back to harvest gases and minerals from Jupiter and its moons. Most of this was shipped back to Mars for processing and manufacturing, but they still had an impressive stockpile of highly flammable gases onboard.
Drifting away from the station were the ICS destroyer Gibraltar and frigates Hasta and Barcha. Strikes to their port side had nudged them towards Ganymede’s gravity well. Occasional flares from the reaction control system (RCS) thruster indicated they could still manage simple maneuvers. Hopefully, they could achieve an orbital entry path around the moon to wait out the battle.
On the display, the ICS cruiser Fujin could be seen rotating its bow towards the station.
Turning back to Curtis, she continued, “We lose either the Samjoko or Gumiho during their assault runs to those drones or whatever they used—we’ll end up having one hell of a time trying to recover our people from those ships if they can’t manage sufficient repairs.”
“Agreed, but we might want to send forward some fire control drones to help with the aim points. It’s a big target. Also, a mess given their decades of operations and the combination of on and off-book upgrades they’ve done. Clearly, we don’t have a full picture of their modifications and Gibraltar’s feed is weakening. We hit the wrong spot with a pulse, none of us will make it back.”
“Flight, you heard the XO. Get us some close-in eyes,” she said. Her voice was directed towards one of the stations behind where she and Lt. Commander Curtis were standing.
“Acknowledge. Six drones away on alternate vectors,” said the flight operations officer.
“Main laser array coming to bear,” the voice of a weapons officer announced.
“Flight ops, prioritize targeting of any drones, operational support infrastructure, or identifiable point defense systems we ID,” Lt. Commander Curtis ordered as he looked down at the smaller holographic display.
“Captain, Command Hasta reports their RCS system has just gone down. Their chief engineer has an idea of cycling their airlocks to adjust their course but advises that there is a better than 25% chance this will slam them into Ganymede. However, if they don’t, there is a 70% chance they will shoot past with a small gravity boost, with no engines.”
“Advise Command Hasta to do what he thinks best. He should coordinate with Command Gibraltar and Barcha on contingency planning. We’re too far away.”
“They get that boost from Ganymede…”
“I know. We’ll need to send either Sam or Gum after them. However, that could offer us a tactical opportunity if they think we are splitting our forces to play search and rescue.”
“Command, I’ve located at least one point defense emplacement,” flight operations announced.
“Is it near anything that might not react well to a laser pulse?”
“Negative, XO. Looks like it is near the outer edge of the upper mechanical shop disc section.”
“Weapons, fire as soon as you have a targeting solution. Maintain until you can confirm that it’s disabled or destroyed,” the captain ordered.
“Roger that. Target acquired. Starting my pulse now.”
There was a slight dimming of the already relatively darkened command and control deck. They were buried deep within the ship itself. This positioned them at the central nexus of all core systems and transit corridors. More importantly, it maximized their survivability.
As the laser began its cycle, the supplemental fusion reactor could be heard and felt kicking on to support the base energy load demands on the ship.
“Captain. Target destroyed,” the weapons officer announced.
“Confirmed, Command,” the flight operations officer said. “Moving to acquire next target.”
“Any verification of what hit our people?” Lt. Commander Curtis said. He had directed his question towards his left, a little forward from his position where the main sensor command station was located.
“Best guess is still drones based on the damage to the forward element. Nothing in any of our sensors to confirm it, though.”
“That’s not the news I’m looking for. Keep digging,” Captain Ali said. “Could they have some way of shielding their drones from our sensors?” she asked, turning towards the XO.
“Anything is possible, but such systems tend to be bulky and energy-intensive. I can’t imagine they could rig up one of their extraction or maintenance bots in such a way and still give it sufficiently powerful ordnance to do that damage,” he nodded towards the tactical display.
“New target identified. Possible drone command and control transmission site.”
“By all means,” Captain Ali said with a nod.
“Starting my pulse,” the weapons officer announced.
“Flight operations, any chance you have caught sight of one of their drones yet?”
“Negative. But…”
“Captain, something’s wrong,” the weapons officer said.
Lt. Commander Curtis turned, moving towards the weapons station. “What is it?”
“Focus and jittering are well outside of norms. Also seeing a reduction in output and increase in system temperature.”
“Are they hitting us with beams?” Curtis asked.
“I don’t think so, sir. It’s more like the array is rapidly degrading.”
“Shut it down,” Captain Ali ordered.
“Roger that. Powering down pulse. System is still showing increasing heat and sensors are going offline.”
“Ship operations, what’s going on?”
“No idea. Engineering is showing systems across the bow are blinking out.”
“Could they have rigged up a laser or particle weapon?” the captain asked.
“Captain—helm is starting to be sticky.”
“Explain sticky?”
“Only way I can describe it,” the lieutenant in the flight pod said. “Response time is slowing. I am seeing a drift to starboard. If I didn’t know better, I’d say we’re hitting some kind of headwind.”
“Ideas people?”
“Sensors showing increasing degradation of the outer hull. Whatever’s going on, we need to get the bow out of the way.”
“Laser array is gone, sir.”
“Port bow RCS system gone.”
“Helm—get us moving.”
“Where?”
“I, I don’t know. Away from the station. Get us out of whatever their engagement envelope might be.”
“Roger that. Main engine coming online now. I am going to try to rotate our orientation. Whatever is hitting us seems to be pushing us to starboard. I am going to use it to help give us a boost out of here.”
“Command. Ranseur is reporting similar damage.”
Both the captain and XO shifted their focus to the tactical display wall. ICSS Ranseur, another frigate in the delta, was a little further back from their location off to their port.
“Tell Command Ranseur to begin maneuvering.”
Curtis moved back towards the flight ops station. “Sensor and flight ops. Any chance you can use the impact zones on us and Ranseur to triangulate back to the source of whatever is hitting us? Maybe even identify something we can shoot back at?”
“Working,” came a chorus from both locations.
“Coms,” Captain Ali said, turning around to face the appropriate station. “Send to Command Samjoko and Gumiho. We and Ranseur are under attack from an unknown weapon. It’s the possible source for the strikes to our lead elements. Recommend withdrawing further from Minerva for safety.”
There was a sudden shudder across the whole ship.
“Hull breach. We’re venting atmosphere. Rate of hull degradation is up fivefold.”
“Helm, get us the hell out of…”
