Unfortunately for him, the secrets of the giant machines appear to have been lost to antiquity. Still…he has to try. After returning from a lucrative contact, he secures a base of operation for his Cavaliers in the Karma system, then he sets off toward the galactic core. It’s something he feels he needs to do by himself, so he leaves his over-protective mentor Hargrave behind. Can Jim and Splunk find the answers to their questions on their own? They need to know how to maintain the massive Raknar, and where they can find more—and they need the info now! The towering 20,000-year-old war machines could give humanity an edge against the contentious Mercenary Guild…but only if he can get the information he needs. Jim’s heading for more trouble than he bargained for, though, and there are many people who want to stop him and see his quest fail. Few answers await, and there are many new adversaries in his path. At the end of his journey, war looms, as well as a long-lost mystery from his past. Come along on Jim Cartwright’s Raknar Quest. Author's Note: This book represents a collection of short stories but is not an anthology. Five of the shorts were written as the parts of an overall story—chapters if you will—of this book. These stories are from the Jim Cartwright—At Large serial: “Karma Upsilon 4,” “Valley of Loss,” “Empire of Machines,” “Eye of Minerva,” and “Hunted.” However, this book isn’t merely a reprint of these stories. They have all been modified to fit into one longer novel. Some of these modifications are cosmetic; a few are not. I wove in a few details which were left out of the originals to save length and make each serial a short, self-contained story. These additions provide more meat to the story. Overall, I’ve added more than 8,000 new words to this book to provide a more fulfilling story. Finally, this book also has the short stories “Emancipation” (first seen in For a Few Credits More, in 2017) and “Inked” (first seen in The Good, The Bad, And The Merc, 2017). The inclusion of these stories carries Jim Cartwright’s quest right up to the beginning of Omega War in A Fiery Sunset and provides the backstory for what Jim did in the time after Cartwright’s Cavaliers and before Omega War. You also are gifted with more than a few glimpses into Splunk as a character, her personal motivations and abilities, and some of the deeper mysteries behind the ever-growing Four Horsemen Universe. I hope you enjoy it.

    Ravenous, insatiable, and completely merciless — in decades of space exploration and expansion, nothing like the Swarm has ever been encountered. They swept across the colony world of Cannis One, devouring every resource. Humans, working to build a new outpost on the small world hidden in the binary star system Sirius, were helpless to stop them. Even with the help of the Colonial Space Fleet, every effort to destroy the aliens has failed. Angela Murphy has spent the last decade training to make the National Gymnastics Team. She has the skill, the passion, and the dedication to be an olympic athlete, but she’s outgrown the preferred body shape of most gymnastic competitors. Still, she won’t give up on her dreams, not when there’s still a chance that she could find success. Staff Sergeant Jonathan Cashman leads a fire team of highly skilled Marines in the Colonial Space Fleet. Stationed on Mars, they are ready to face any threat at a moment’s notice. Yet inexplicable orders have them returning to Earth for a top secret assignment at the CSF Research & Development testing grounds. ARC - Assisted Rapid Combat is a breakthrough in military technology, making the extraordinary possible, and forging the ultimate weapon against the Swarm. But it will take the right kind of soldier to become a weapon and prove that the ARC suit can make a difference in the war for Earth’s colonies. Time is running out, and so are humanity’s options for survival. ARC Angel is the latest Military Space Opera from prolific author Toby Neighbors. Combining elements from gaming, strategy, and classic storytelling, ARC Angel is an absolutely riveting novel that will have you on the edge of your seat from the very first page. With his ability to build believable fantasy worlds and authentic characters you can’t help but love and cheer for, Toby Neighbors has created the ultimate Space Marine novel, a story full of Action & Adventure that will keep you turning pages. This book will be your next obsession.

    

    

    Calidore alive on the Allan Corporation Voyager Manhattan. The spaceship was run like a pirate vessel, part of a multi-corporation fleet racing to claim an alien asteroid vessel that had just appeared beyond the moon. None of us knew the Chin Corporation Voyager had nuclear-tipped torpedoes and planned to murder the lot of us. Well, no one knew but Calidore, and the little genius decided to skip out on a shuttle and take over the alien asteroid for himself. He screwed up bad, so bad you wouldn’t believe me if I told you what happened. The point is, I have to fix the problem, me, Jason Bain the bodyguard, or the Earth can kiss its tush goodbye.

    For the men and women on the colony of Hayden's World, it started with a night of terror. For all of humanity, it was the confirmation that we were not alone in the universe... A long history of solitude in the galaxy, shattered. War had come, from the stars. The call would be answered.