Congratulations! You have graduated high school. Your financial obligation is 67,879 credits. Please visit our loan officer as you exit."Tanner Malone never bought into military myths of honor and glory. He never wanted to wear a uniform or medals. Yet when family upheaval brings his otherwise stellar performance in school to a disastrous end, Tanner's plans for university lie in ruins. Facing homelessness and a mountain of debt, Tanner enlists in his home planet's tiny navy.It’s a hell of a time to sign up. Vicious pirates stalk the space lanes, claiming to fight an oppressive economic system even as they shed innocent blood. Civil war looms beyond the borders of Tanner’s home star system of Archangel. Corporate security fleets are nowhere to be found when trouble arises.In response, Archangel begins ambitious military expansion. Basic training becomes six months of daily bare knuckle brawls, demanding cross-training and constant stress. Brutal as it is, Tanner will need the preparation. The pirates grow more audacious with every attack. As if that’s not enough, Tanner is assigned to a small ship whose disgruntled crew has no patience for cerebral new recruits, and they’re on the front lines of all of Archangel’s woes.Tanner soon learns there is only one way to deal with his bullying comrades, their ruthless foes and the unforgiving void of space, and that’s to get up close and personal.

    Even the man who raised him, his paternal grandfather, was a question mark. Beyond the love, understanding, and nurturing lay the unanswered question of why a disgraced ex-Royal Naval Admiral would pulled himself out of a bottle and take upon himself to bring a one year old child home as raise him as his own. The question of why his family, the Tregallion clan, refused to come to his aid went unanswered. Even so, between them they build a life for themselves until the fateful day he died. After that, Mike fled across the stars, swearing he would never again take the responsibility for another person’s death. Fate and destiny had other ideas, plunging him into one situation after the other where he had to take command, and decide the fate of others. With war on the horizon, and the future of the free stars hanging in the balance, Mike reluctantly accepted his destiny, and the part he must play. For better or worse, he would find the answered to his question, and make those responsible pay a terrible price.

    Surrounded by a fortress of steel walls, and protected by a fierce and loyal Council of Royal Knights, Tisaia seems relatively safe to the average State worker and citizen. A plentiful supply of Biomass powers the cities, and food is abundant, but security has come at a terrible cost. The State will do anything to protect its resources, even if it means suppressing the rights of its citizens and deporting immigrants into the Wasteland - a virtual death sentence.Captain McNeill is one of the most respected Royal Knights in Tisaia. Plagued with scars, a robotic arm and cancer, his men call him the Bionic soldier. For two decades he has hunted the rebels inside the great Tisaian steel walls and in the tunnels snaking deep beneath the cities. He has followed them into the Wastelands and the skeletons of cities from the old world. But the one rebel he can’t seem to kill is Obi Hepe, the leader of the infamous Squad 19. After the death of three of his men, McNeill receives a unique opportunity to capture Obi. As he leads his men into the tunnels beneath Tisaia, he finds there may be more to the mission than he was told. And quickly he finds himself fighting in the battle of his life.

    He leads massive fleets in great battles, but once he was a new captain leading his tiny attack ship on it first mission.The young Garret was driven by ambition and the quest for glory. But war in space is brutal, and the consequences of command decisions can haunt even the strongest commanders. Garret will win his glory, but will he be prepared to pay its cost?Bitter Glory is not a full length novel - it is a prequel novella set in the Crimson Worlds universe.

    The greatest warriors, engineers and scientists of the age blaze a path to the worlds of T'Karan and Helios, far away from the human worlds of the Alliance. There they will meet alien races and become embroiled in intergalactic politics and conflict. Characters such as Spartan, the illegal pitfighter turned war hero of the Great Uprising, Teresa Morato, senior commander in the Marine Corps and a deadly warrior and Gun, the synthetic warrior giant turned General, a figure with a burning desire to hunt time and destroy the enemy's of his tortured people. All of them will play their part in shaping humanity's future in the galaxy.This compendium edition contains the full text of books four to six and includes the Great Betrayal, Prophecy of Fire and Call to Arms.The Great BetrayalThe ancient prophecy spreads to the colonies of the Alliance and ignites a public debate on the rumor of the coming comet. The origins of the rumor revolve around the dark days of the last war fought on Helios. The prophecy speaks of the return of the 'Great Enemy' that will be signaled by the coming of a burning star, when its beasts and machines will devour entire worlds. Although many see it as no more that a fleeting superstition, the Alliance Senate decides that pre-emptive measures must be taken to prepare for the return of the Enemy.Prophecy of FireThe fragile Centauri-Helion Alliance is being tested to the limits as Alliance ground forces under the command of General Daniels deploy on Eos, a strategically placed moon. Three complete regiments, including whole units of Jötnar and Vanguards assist Helion government troops against Dictator Lyssk's insurgents and their violent mercenaries. Jack Morato and his comrades are thrown into the bloody insurrection that is filled with suicide bombings, improvised explosives and roadside ambushes. The weeks of battle has cost both sides many lives, but it is a battle that must be fought if the worlds of Helios are to be ready.Call to ArmsThe Great Biomech War is now inevitable and the citizens of the Alliance ready themselves for what is to come. Ships and soldiers from a hundred worlds set their eyes on Helios, some looking to defend it and others making their plans to bring about its destruction. As each day passes, the defenders around Helios grow, and each day brings the prophetic comet closer to them. The remaining Biomechs have their own plans, and worlds as far away as Earth now feel their wrath.The 15-book Star Crusades series includes:STAR CRUSADES NEXUSLegions of Orion (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 1)Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2)Heroes of Helios (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 3)The Great Betrayal (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 4)Prophecy of Fire (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 5)Call to Arms (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 6)Battle for Helios (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 7)Wrath of the Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 8) ETA Q1 2014The Black Rift (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 9) ETA Q3 2014STAR CRUSADES UPRISINGSiege of Titan (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 1)Tears of Kerberos (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 2)Fires of Prometheus (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 3)Battle for Proxima (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 4)Fall of Terra Nova (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 5)Slaves of Hyperion (Star Crusades Uprising, Book 6)These titles are also available as combined trilogies including:STAR CRUSA

    In these two SF short stories from the world of San Iadras, find out what happens when the cloned supersoldiers of the future are emancipated, integrated into society, and treated like human beings — whether they like it or not.War Dog: Eschowitz Estian, a genetically engineered dog-soldier, is unleashed on the world... but he's only seven years old. Martial training is abruptly replaced with family life when he's freed and emancipated, but being expected to act like a normal child isn't something his training has prepared him for. In a world where he can become anyone except the soldier he was born to be, growing up and finding his place will be a war, but not the one he was designed for.(~15 000 words)Marginalized Populations: Scheuen Estian's adoptive parents always called him 'Shaun', because they couldn't fit his real name into their lives. They couldn't fit his real nature into their lives, either. But he can make a place for himself, in the society of his clone brethren, and in societies broken by repression rocked by a crowdfunded civil war that need him to be exactly what he was made to be: a soldier.(~6 500 words)

    With Center's vast fund of knowledge and strategic calculating abilities, Raj could defeat the barbarians threatening to engulf the Civil Government, and start Bellevue on the road back to the stars. But the Governor, to whom Raj has sworn absolute loyalty, nourishes a paranoid envy and mistrust that grows with every victory. Can even a battle computer of the Galactic Age be enough to counter the fury of Raj's enemies . . . and the treachery of his ""friends""?A young hero overcomes implacable foes to lead a planet fallen into a dark age back to the high point of its lost technological civilization.At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).

    The name's Ethan Riley and I guess you could call me a merc. That's right – an underpaid, hyper-stimmed gun-for-hire working the periphery of the free-enterprise food chain. I spent over a decade piloting an APEC rig in countless proxy wars and hit jobs. In those days, I was a trash-talking heartbreaker, and could take a punch a whole sight better than I could throw one. Bottom line. I was working a freelance hit on Mars, and everything went south. Next thing I knew I was a prisoner of Lunaris, a ruthless moon-mining corporation that'd stop at nothing to undercut their competition. They gave me a choice. I could face criminal charges or take on a suicide mission to ghost a rival company's claim. Either way, I was screwed, but I at least wanted a fighting chance. With a skeleton crew that could barely get along, I got sent to Triton – the coldest moon in Neptune's orbit. All I had to do was make the drop, waste the target, and get back to my ship alive. If I could pull it off, they'd let me walk. I should've known better. Now if you wanna read about how I made it out alive, you need to cough up a single credit and give me a few hours of your time. In return, I'll immerse you in a tale of pulse-pounding combat, back-stabbing betrayal, and all the dangers of our perilous solar system without any risk to you or any other planet-sider. I should warn you I swear a lot, and if you ain't got the backbone to handle some violent situations, you might wanna steer clear of my story. It's DRM-free, in case you were wondering.

    But when he discovers a shocking secret, Herrold finds himself a prisoner of Sanguinius’s most dangerous sons, and his audience with the Master of the Flesh Tearers proves more perilous than he could have ever imagined.This story was originally published in the Black Library Weekender Anthology 2012: Saturday.

    The team, introduced in Book 4 of the A Galaxy Unknown series, and with small roles in subsequent books, is now featured in their own story as this AGU: SCI series kicks off. This story is a mix of low-tech and high-tech as shootouts in saloons and city streets vie with spaceship chases and space battles to dominate the pages of this book. Space Command Intelligence operates to the full width and breadth of Galactic Alliance space— and sometimes beyond. Intelligence gathering is a dangerous profession, and most agents operate alone, or with a single partner, but there are exceptions. Trader Vyx, originally a lone field agent, was saddled with two information gatherers when he left the Gollasko Colony, but mutual bonds of respect soon grew between the three men. When two female operatives were rescued from Tsgardi slavers by Vyx, Byers, and Nelligen, SCI temporarily assigned the women to Vyx's team. Now, years later, the team is still together, and operating as one of the most effective groups in SCI.With the defeat of the Uthlaro Dominion, their former territory has fallen into anarchy. Space Command doesn't have adequate resources to bring the region under control while facing other enemies on multiple fronts in Regions One and Two, so SCI agents have been sent in to do what they can.Trader Vyx and his team are on the planet Bleadalto, two hundred light-years from Uthlarigasset. Their mission is to assess the situation there and learn everything they can about the slavery problem, but the once out-of-control-violence situation on Gollasko seems like a tea social compared to everyday life on Bleadalto. Within hours of arriving on the planet, Vyx is forced into a gunfight with a Brotherhood thug. The large crime organization is not pleased.

     Though more than a quarter-century has passed since the end of the last war, the Galactic Confederation is still busy picking up the pieces. Whole sectors of the galaxy remain lawless, rife with corruption and greed. The criminal element has a well-established foothold on these sectors. It is a good time to be a bounty hunter. Jesse Forster and the crew of the STARHAWK are some of the best bounty hunters in the business. Kayla Karson is a young independent hunter out to make a name for herself. Their paths collide as both take up pursuit of the leaders of the Nexus Gang, the galaxy's most brutal crime syndicate. An uneasy alliance is formed as the two undertake the most difficult hunt of their careers. Great rewards are to be claimed, if they don't kill each other in the process.