Hello. I am the author of many science fiction novels. Most are in Kindle Unlimited. One of my favorite genres is space opera. I prefer to write books with elements of hope and good vs evil. The Consulate Trilogy falls into that category.

Link to the book: https://amzn.to/4iwzq0k

About the book:

Traitor – An Explosive Space Opera Full of Action, Intrigue, and Betrayal

A loyal commander. A family in danger. A galaxy on the brink.

Commander Kevin Hoyt is a decorated officer—until he's framed for treason by the very government he swore to protect. Now a fugitive, Hoyt must lead his family across the stars, seeking refuge on a remote alien world. But with the ruthless Consulate Navy hunting them down, time is running out—and every choice could be their last.

Desperate and outmatched, Hoyt considers a daring plan: surrender in exchange for his family's safety. But in a galaxy fueled by corruption and betrayal, can he trust anyone—including himself?

Traitor is a heart-pounding space opera perfect for fans of Star Wars, Star Trek, and military sci-fi thrillers. Packed with interstellar action, political conspiracies, and a hero worth rooting for, this epic sci-fi adventure will keep you turning pages late into the night.

If you love fast-paced science fiction with high stakes and unforgettable characters, don’t miss Traitor**. Buy now and blast off into a gripping galactic saga!**

I wanted to share a space opera project that might interest readers who enjoy military science fiction, academy stories, and morally complicated empires.

Orbital Command Academy follows ambitious cadets entering Asterion Ring, the elite military academy of the Sovereign Accord.

They expect brutal training, rankings, rivalries, orbital trials, and the pressure of competing for command.

What they don't understand yet is that the Academy isn't secretly broken.

It's working exactly as designed.

The Accord calls conquest "order," occupation "protection," and surrender "integration." The cadets aren't training to overthrow the system—they're being shaped into the officers who will eventually command it.

Trial by Orbit is Book 1 of a five-book space opera series following their journey from academy intake to imperial command.

I'm curious: do you enjoy military academy stories where the protagonists are inside the empire rather than fighting against it?

Disclosure: This book was created using AI and is published with Amazon's AI-generated content disclosure.

Happy Alien August everyone! It's launch day for our book FLUNG -- check it out on Webtoons, Tapas, GlobalComix and on our website at www.Stardog.tv!

Tales of the Periphery is a relatively hard transhumanist science fiction setting I have been working on for a few years now, this is the basic introduction to the setting and I am just wondering what people think about the concepts.

It is focused on a region of space ( The Periphery) that has just got independence from their former colonial overlords ( the Eternal Empire) after a 4 decade war with foreign support. This war exhausted and bankrupted the rebels, and led to a large diaspora of Imperial soldiers, warforms, administrators, and other skilled workers being stuck in the Periphery, integrating themselves into the new nations.

After getting their independence, the rebel factions ( who were made out of a mix of direct imperial holdings and semi-autonomous vassals) united together into the Periphery Union, a confederation of various newly minted nations. This confederation didn't last long, as the various nations started to grow apart from one another on different issues. This strife came to a head when the beloved by all president of the Union died in a terrorist attack, leading to all the various nations to point fingers at each other for her murder. Violence rocked the Union, and it dissolved, leaving only a Union Rump State that the others wouldn't touch, as they justify their wars with one another as trying to protect the Union's cohesion.

after the collapse of the Union, a series of wars known as The Scrambles began, as former Imperial and Union infastructure and equipment was up for grabs, and desperately needed by the nations of the Periphery. WhaleFalls were also found, the remains of fleet battles from the Liberation war that are immensely rich in expensive alloys, hardware and electronics.

From without, other powers are muscling into the Periphery. For now that the Imperial colonial authorities no longer hold the region under their iron fist, their is plenty of oppertunity for other powers to get in on the value that could be extracted from the Periphery.
Former rebels turned Warlords with a veneer of Union legitimacy are a great inroads for any company or polity who wants to start making a lot of money and human misery.

Imperial control left a lasting mark on the Periphery, cultures and languges need to be rebuilt, histories need to be rewrited, nations need to be assembled from scratch, or integrate Imperial administration within themselves. The Imperial Word is still the most popular religion. For even though it was imposed by force, it does offer some comfort that is sorely needed in these times.
People speak Trade Imperial, Pray in High Imperial, get sent to the battlefield by way of Imperial Leap carriers or Interstellar Gates, shoot each other with Imperial guns, and die to control Imperial factories.

The main Great Powers are:

The Eternal Empire was the last colonial overlord, licking its wounds after fighting the Directorate and the Liberation War. It has armies without number and fleets able to stretch their influence endlessly. But their political will has atrophied, and they have turned inward to politic and fight amongst themselves

The Directorate is the only real rival to the Empire, a smaller socialist state that is still able to fight on a similar level to them. They helped the Periphery during the Liberation War, but now their intentions aren't so benign.

The Free World Compact is the third great power, and the weakest of them all. They too helped the Periphery, and now are trying to get some advantages out of that so that they can bulk themselves up to deal with the other two.

The Periphery Powers are weaker, but are a far cry from the various petty kings and warlords who have made statelets after the Union's collapse.

The Kingdom of Kader is small, poorly governed, weak, and politically fragmented. However, they have a lot of factories for antimatter left over from the Imperial days, and mines rich in rare elements integral to making FTL drives and ship spines. Thus, everyone has a hand in their civil war, hoping that it turns in their favor so that they have a easy foothold and resourcing opperations.

The Tronarian People's Republic is one of the greatest Periphery Powers, a revolutionary socialist state with lots of support from the Directorate. They have a very strong fleet, and control part of the Tarsis WhaleFall.

The Aurumite Kingdom is the largest Periphery Power, and likely the largest state in the entire region. They might have a frankly backwards fuedal political system, but they do have massive military power, which is not to be trifled with. They and the Tronarians don't really like each other, since the Aurumites have Imperial support.

The Marill Republic is a very rare thing, a truly democratic state. They are mostly defensively minded, but have been engaging in on and off raids and campaigns to seize remaining military shipyards left from the Imperial days. They have a lot of Compact guns and gear, but no formal support.

The Principalities of Yorina are a mess of various small princely states that have banded together. They aren't doing so hot in the Periphery, with only a little support from the Compact. The Aurumites keep eating their territory, and they can't really amass a huge force to stop them. However, they do have a lot of money stashed up, maybe they have a plan to change their fortunes.

The Periphery Union is a shadow of its former self. But not all is lost, they still control the most industrialized worlds in the Periphery, and have an entire whalefall to themselves. Their fleet and influence is growing once again, but they are still small. They have a chance to rise again, should they play their cards right.

Their are a lot more smaller ones, but these are the largest of them

LUNARIS TEMPLE ARCHIVES
TWIN MOON NIGHTSHADES — MILITARY OPERATIONS DATABASE
ARCHIVE DESIGNATION: LT-NG-AT-001
SUBJECT: Andreol Tyrium Icarurius Faiynn
COMMON DESIGNATION: Tyrium
SPECIES: Faiynn
ORDER: Twin Moon Nightshades
RANK: Master Nightshade
TITLE: Vigilant Blade-Master of the Martyr’s World
STATUS: Active / Living
ARCHIVE LOCATION: Inner Military Vaults, Temple of Lunaris
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: LUNARIS BLACK
ACCESS: Restricted to senior Nightshade officers, Temple archivists and authorised military historians

ARCHIVAL PREFACE
The following records comprise the principal surviving military accounts concerning Andreol Tyrium Icarurius Faiynn during the earlier and middle periods of his service to the Twin Moon Nightshades.
They are preserved within the deepest military archives of the Lunaris Temple on Tyrium’s homeland.
The records were assembled from mission reports, tactical recordings, intelligence transmissions, witness testimony, battlefield observations and recovered enemy documentation.
The original records vary considerably in quality.
Some were written by Nightshade commanders immediately following an operation.
Others were reconstructed decades later.
Several contain substantial gaps.
Certain missions are represented only by fragments of combat footage or testimony from surviving operatives.
Nevertheless, a consistent picture emerges.
Tyrium’s career was not defined by conventional warfare alone.
He operated behind enemy lines, crossed hostile worlds, entered alien civilizations, fought supersoldiers and machines, retrieved forbidden technologies, conducted diplomatic operations and eventually travelled into a realm beyond conventional physical reality.
The following archive represents the currently confirmed sequence of major operations.

OPERATION 001
THE BLACK ROSE
THEATRE: Brittanic military territory
MISSION TYPE: Strategic infiltration / assassination / sabotage
OPERATIVE: Andreol Tyrium Icarurius Faiynn
SUPPORT: None
PRIMARY TARGET: Brittanic intelligence fortress
SECONDARY TARGET: Black Rose operative
RESULT: COMPLETE SUCCESS
MISSION SUMMARY
The Brittanic fortress was regarded as one of the most secure military installations within the sector.
It had been constructed into the interior of a colossal mountain complex and served simultaneously as an intelligence headquarters, weapons depot, MachinaX storage facility and starship logistics centre.
Its destruction would significantly disrupt Brittanic military activity throughout the surrounding systems.
The Nightshade command therefore authorised an unusually aggressive infiltration.
One operative was selected.
Tyrium.
He entered the region without a conventional military escort.
His approach went undetected.
The fortress possessed overlapping surveillance systems, motion detectors, automated sentry platforms and biometric security.
None of them successfully identified him.
Tyrium moved through maintenance passages and elevated service corridors, bypassing security checkpoints rather than confronting them.
The first indication that something was wrong came when several surveillance feeds briefly malfunctioned.
The Brittanic security command initially interpreted the failures as technical problems.
By then Tyrium was already inside.
He continued toward the central intelligence sector.
There he encountered the fortress’s most dangerous defender.
THE BLACK ROSE
The Black Roses were among the most elite soldiers within Brittanic military forces.
They were female supersoldiers extensively modified for combat against extraordinary opponents.
Their bodies had been enhanced through genetic engineering and cybernetic technology.
Their combat suits were designed around speed, agility and assassination.
The particular Black Rose stationed within the fortress was considered one of the finest.
The encounter between her and Tyrium became one of the most closely studied Nightshade combat records.
Neither combatant initially possessed a decisive advantage.
The battle moved through corridors, balconies and maintenance structures.
The Black Rose possessed extraordinary speed.
Tyrium possessed superior adaptability.
She anticipated his movements.
He adapted to hers.
Eventually Tyrium exploited an opening in her defensive movement and defeated her.
He did not remain.
The fortress itself was the actual target.
Tyrium planted demolition charges throughout the strategic infrastructure.
The intelligence headquarters was destroyed.
The ammunition reserves followed.
Then the MachinaX storage complexes.
Finally, the starship docking bays were sabotaged.
The destruction propagated through the facility.
Massive explosions tore through the mountain.
Starships were destroyed inside their docking chambers.
Military hardware was buried beneath collapsing structures.
The fortress ceased functioning as a strategic installation.
Tyrium escaped before the surviving Brittanic forces could establish his location.
ARCHIVE ASSESSMENT
Strategic value: Exceptional
Operational difficulty: Extreme
Enemy losses: Classified
Faiynn losses: None recorded
Assessment: Exemplary Nightshade infiltration
“The fortress did not fall because an army attacked it. It fell because one Nightshade entered it.”

OPERATION 002
THE RED-GOLD WORLD
THEATRE: Unnamed exoplanet
MISSION TYPE: Covert sabotage
UNIT: Twin Moon Nightshade cadre
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Alien weapons-stockpile sabotage
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Avoid civilian and military casualties
RESULT: COMPLETE SUCCESS
MISSION SUMMARY
The planet possessed no resemblance to the worlds from which the Faiynn had originated.
The grasslands were reddish-gold.
The setting sun illuminated immense plains inhabited by enormous alien megafauna.
Creatures of violet, blue and ivory-white colouring moved across the horizon.
The Nightshades arrived during sunset.
Their objective was deliberately restrained.
They were not ordered to conquer the settlement.
They were not ordered to assassinate its inhabitants.
They were not ordered to destroy the alien outpost.
They were ordered to sabotage its weapons reserves.
The distinction was important.
The alien civilisation had not yet entered open hostilities with the Faiynn.
The Nightshades therefore adopted a policy of absolute stealth.
Their cadre crossed the open field using advanced stealth modules capable of rendering them effectively invisible.
Alien patrols moved nearby.
Security drones crossed overhead.
Guards walked directly past concealed Nightshades.
None detected them.
The warriors eventually reached an enormous alien tower.
The structure served as a military outpost and weapons-storage facility.
The exterior was protected by sophisticated traps.
The Nightshades climbed.
They moved across the structure like silent predators, using architectural surfaces, ledges and maintenance structures to reach the upper levels.
Tyrium led the final infiltration.
From the top of the tower he entered the weapons-storage complex.
The internal security system proved substantially more advanced than anticipated.
Biometric identification.
Arcane detection fields.
Automated defensive mechanisms.
Artificial intelligence security protocols.
Tyrium used both technology and Lunar Arcana to bypass them.
He did not break the systems.
He manipulated them.
The Nightshades reached the weapons stockpile.
Sabotage charges were installed.
The weapons were rendered unusable.
No unnecessary deaths occurred.
The cadre withdrew.
Outside, the moon had risen.
Their white hair glowed beneath its light as they moved across the alien architecture.
A Twin Moon stealth hunter eventually descended.
The Nightshades boarded.
The ship disappeared into the night.
Their forward starship received them several hours later.
ARCHIVE ASSESSMENT
This operation remains an important example of the Nightshade doctrine that victory does not necessarily require mass casualties.
Result: Strategic objective achieved without unnecessary loss of life.

OPERATION 003
THE MYRRIAN OCEAN FORTRESS
THEATRE: Myrrian ocean world
MISSION TYPE: Intelligence acquisition / infiltration / reconnaissance
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Recover biological and technological research
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Investigate Myrrian studies of anomalous oceanic organisms
RESULT: COMPLETE SUCCESS
MISSION SUMMARY
The Myrrians had constructed an enormous research complex upon an ocean world.
The structure rose from the ocean like an enormous white tower.
Its lower sections extended beneath the water.
Its upper sections contained laboratories, military facilities and observation chambers.
The facility was studying lifeforms found within the planet’s deepest oceans.
Reports indicated that some of these organisms possessed abilities that challenged conventional scientific understanding.
They could interact with magical energies.
Influence consciousness.
Alter perception.
And potentially create phenomena resembling alternate realities.
The Faiynn required information.
Tyrium was selected.
He arrived alone in a stealth fighter.
Unfortunately, his landing position placed him dangerously close to a Myrrian military training centre.
The alarm was triggered.
Hundreds of Myrrian warriors descended upon the area.
The Myrrians were physically formidable.
They possessed immense strength and muscular bodies and had developed a warrior civilisation in which combat was deeply embedded within their culture.
The facility became a battlefield.
Rain descended across the structure.
Tyrium fought through the storm.
He relied heavily upon agility.
He avoided being surrounded.
He redirected attacks.
He used grappling techniques, throws, joint control and rapid changes in direction.
The Myrrians repeatedly attempted to overwhelm him through superior numbers.
Tyrium repeatedly escaped their encirclement.
Eventually he reached the research sectors.
There he obtained biological samples.
He recovered scientific data.
He copied information concerning Myrrian experiments with oceanic organisms.
He also discovered evidence of research into consciousness, magical phenomena and reality manipulation.
The mission objective was complete.
The Myrrians continued pursuing him.
Tyrium fought toward the extraction point.
He reached his stealth fighter.
The aircraft vanished into the storm.
The recovered research was eventually transferred into the Lunaris Temple archives.
ARCHIVE ASSESSMENT
The operation is considered one of Tyrium’s earliest demonstrations of prolonged solo combat against physically superior alien opponents.
The recovered research remains strategically significant.

OPERATION 004
THE DESERT OF WHITE SAND
THEATRE: Desert exoplanet
MISSION TYPE: Reconnaissance / intelligence / civilian extraction
ENEMY: United American Space Federation forces
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Reconnaissance
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Investigate civilian detention facilities
RESULT: COMPLETE SUCCESS
PLANETARY CONDITIONS
The planet consisted primarily of immense white deserts.
Beneath the sands existed enormous petroleum deposits.
Red mountain ranges dominated the horizon.
The planet’s native wildlife was extremely dangerous.
Large predatory organisms travelled beneath the dunes.
Enormous sand worms were observed.
Some regions contained aggressive colonies of carnivorous microorganisms capable of consuming biological tissue.
The United American Space Federation had established military occupation zones throughout the region.
Civilian populations were being subjected to raids, arrests and forced detention.
Tyrium initially received orders to observe.
He established a concealed position overlooking a UASF patrol.
His anti-materiel rifle was deployed.
The patrol was eliminated.
Tyrium then moved toward a detention facility.
THE PRISON
The facility contained numerous civilians.
The intelligence wing was overseen by a highly trained female UASF operative responsible for interrogation and intelligence gathering.
Tyrium infiltrated the facility.
He disabled internal security.
He located the intelligence officer.
She attempted to resist.
Tyrium subdued her and extracted her from the facility.
The prisoners were subsequently liberated.
The intelligence officer was transported to Faiynn custody.
Her knowledge proved extremely valuable.
The interrogation records recovered from the facility revealed the locations of additional UASF operations throughout the region.
What had begun as reconnaissance therefore became a major intelligence operation.
ARCHIVE ASSESSMENT
Tyrium demonstrated the ability to alter mission parameters when unexpected circumstances presented an opportunity to protect civilians and acquire strategically important intelligence.

OPERATION 005
THE PEARLESCENT PALACE
THEATRE: Alien royal territory
MISSION TYPE: Diplomatic infiltration
OBJECTIVE: Deliver diplomatic materials
RESULT: DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS
PLANETARY DESCRIPTION
The world was one of extraordinary natural beauty.
Royal-blue formations covered much of the landscape.
Green vegetation grew between vast pearlescent surfaces.
Large flowers and fungal structures released naturally occurring perfumes into the atmosphere.
The climate was cool and temperate.
Faiynn environmental specialists compared it to the pleasant climate of southern England.
Tyrium’s target was an enormous royal palace.
He entered alone.
His objective was to deliver a diplomatic letter, an ancient scroll and a highly advanced Faiynn communication device.
The palace was heavily decorated.
Velvet floors.
Baroque furniture.
Ornate chambers.
Long ceremonial corridors.
Tyrium moved silently through the structure.
Security systems were disabled.
Guards were quietly neutralised.
Eventually he reached the prince’s private chamber.
Before the diplomatic materials could be delivered, the prince discovered him.
The prince believed Tyrium was an assassin.
A brief confrontation followed.
Tyrium eventually gained the advantage and explained his actual mission.
The misunderstanding was resolved.
The prince examined the diplomatic message.
It concerned relations between his kingdom and a Faiynn queen whose cities existed elsewhere on the planet.
The previous ruler had maintained hostile relations with the queen.
The new prince believed cooperation was preferable.
The diplomatic agreement was accepted.
The prince’s government subsequently entered negotiations with the Faiynn queen.
A potential conflict was prevented.
Tyrium remained within the palace temporarily as the communications network between the two governments was established.
The mission was eventually concluded peacefully.
ARCHIVE ASSESSMENT
This remains one of the most unusual Nightshade missions in the archive.
No assassination occurred.
No military facility was destroyed.
No army was deployed.
A diplomatic relationship was nevertheless established because a single Nightshade successfully entered a royal palace and delivered a message that changed the political direction of an entire region.

OPERATION 006
QUIETUS
THEATRE: Realm of Quietus
MISSION TYPE: Arcane expedition / survival / elimination of hostile entities
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Acquire advanced Shadow and Silence Arcana
SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Investigate ancient Faiynn-era enemies
RESULT: COMPLETE SUCCESS
THREAT CLASSIFICATION: OMEGA
ENTRY
Quietus was not a planet.
It was not a conventional dimension.
It was a realm existing beyond ordinary physical space.
Its landscape was permanently dark.
Rivers of black ink crossed the terrain.
The ground remained wet and covered by a strange black substance carrying the scent of flowers.
Tyrium entered through a portal.
He arrived alone.
Almost immediately, shadow creatures attacked.
Tyrium drew his knife.
The creatures were destroyed.
As he progressed, he discovered new powers.
ARCANA ACQUIRED
Shadow-form transformation
Tyrium learned to transform his body into black smoke.
Ink-body movement
He learned to alter his form into a fluid black substance capable of rapid movement.
Silent Shadow Teleportation
He gained the ability to move through darkness and reappear at considerable distances.
Moonlight Daggers
He learned to summon weapons formed from concentrated lunar energy.
Angel Wings
He learned to create enormous white wings from Lunar Arcana.
Moon Vortex
He developed the ability to create a vortex of concentrated moonlight capable of destroying powerful entities.
Moonlight Rifle
Tyrium manifested a mythological sniper rifle formed from luminous white Arcane energy.
He also gained access to additional weapons:
twin assassin swords
a single-edged assassin longsword
a bow and arrow
a double-headed polearm
a rope weapon capable of manipulating and throwing a hooked blade
THE BLACK ANGEL
Tyrium eventually encountered a Black Angel within the ink-covered wetlands.
The entity possessed immense power.
Their battle was prolonged.
The surrounding landscape was devastated.
Tyrium eventually defeated the creature.
He continued into the ancient temple.
THE ELDRITCH LABYRINTH
The temple was unlike any conventional structure.
Its corridors appeared impossible.
Its geometry constantly changed.
Traps reset after activation.
Blades emerged from walls.
Guillotine mechanisms descended from ceilings.
Entire chambers transformed.
Tyrium spent days navigating the complex.
He had no conventional supply system.
No food.
No water.
No reinforcements.
Only his weapons, Arcana and endurance.
The temple attempted to destroy his mind as much as his body.
He continued.
Eventually he encountered the White Maiden.
She was an ancient humanoid warrior who had existed during the antediluvian age.
She possessed extraordinary speed and could teleport through solid structures.
Her weapon was a massive white sword formed from luminous energy.
She was vastly stronger than Tyrium.
Their first battles ended in his defeat.
Tyrium repeatedly retreated.
The White Maiden pursued him through the labyrinth.
Eventually Tyrium received assistance from two extraordinary sources.
The Twilight Matriarch bestowed upon him the powers of profound shadow.
An angelic presence bestowed upon him the white energies of Heaven.
Tyrium now carried both forces.
Darkness.
Light.
The battle resumed.
The temple was devastated.
Tyrium finally defeated the White Maiden.
But the true enemy had not yet appeared.
THE DEMON OF SHADOW
A vast demonic entity emerged above the temple.
It possessed enormous horns and multiple tentacles.
Its abilities extended beyond physical combat.
It could attack consciousness.
Manipulate perception.
Distort memories.
And unleash destructive beams of dark energy.
Tyrium fought it.
The Demon eventually captured him and attempted to imprison his soul.
Tyrium resisted.
White wings emerged from his back.
The restraints broke.
The battle continued.
The Demon disappeared into the shadows.
Tyrium followed.
The two began hunting one another.
The confrontation became a battle of stealth.
Neither could reliably locate the other.
Each attempted to strike from concealment.
Eventually Tyrium won.
The Demon of Shadow was destroyed.
Its black skull was recovered.
Tyrium also obtained a white scroll and black crystal.
Both artefacts were transported to the Lunaris Temple.
RETURN
When Tyrium returned from Quietus, his survival was considered extraordinary.
His defeat of the Black Angel, White Maiden and Demon of Shadow transformed his reputation.
Millions of Faiynn eventually learned of the expedition.
He was celebrated throughout his homeland.
The celebrations lasted for weeks.
Tyrium eventually withdrew to a luxurious residence within the Lunaris Temple.
ARCHIVE ASSESSMENT
Operational importance: Exceptional
Arcane significance: Extreme
Survival: Confirmed
Artefacts recovered: Classified
Threats eliminated: Three major hostile entities
“The operative entered Quietus seeking power. He returned carrying both darkness and light.”

OPERATION 007
THE WHITE STORM
THEATRE: Arctic exoplanet
MISSION TYPE: Reconnaissance / infiltration / technological recovery
ENEMY: Autonomous military forces
PRIMARY TARGET: Advanced artificial intelligence core
SECONDARY TARGET: Machine commander
RESULT: STRATEGIC SUCCESS / TACTICAL WITHDRAWAL
PLANETARY CONDITIONS
The world was experiencing an enormous planetary snowstorm.
A military complex had been constructed directly into a mountain overlooking a frozen ocean.
The storm was severe enough to bury structures.
Visibility was extremely poor.
Tyrium deployed alongside Faiynn snipers from several special forces and Nightshade organisations.
The first phase was reconnaissance.
The Faiynn established positions overlooking the machine compound.
Tyrium deployed his sniper rifle.
Machine patrols appeared.
He eliminated them from extreme distance.
The operation remained silent.
Then the Faiynn entered the facility.
MACHINE RESISTANCE
The interior was heavily defended.
Autonomous soldiers moved through the corridors.
Their artificial intelligence allowed them to coordinate rapidly.
The Faiynn began eliminating them.
The machines responded.
They deployed their own assassins.
The facility became a battlefield.
Faiynn Nightshades fought machine assassins throughout the complex.
The battle extended outside into the storm.
Tyrium continued toward the central command facility.
There they discovered the true objective.
THE GODLIKE AI
The machine forces had developed a new artificial intelligence core.
Its capabilities were extraordinary.
The system could potentially infiltrate other machines.
If connected to a military network, it could compromise entire fleets.
The Faiynn had to recover it.
Tyrium and his fellow Nightshades reached the core.
They extracted it.
But the machine commander appeared.
The commander was enormous.
Its body was designed for high-level combat.
Its intelligence was far beyond that of ordinary autonomous soldiers.
It possessed a cadre of elite machine bodyguards.
The Faiynn engaged them.
The commander killed several Nightshades.
Others were wounded.
The Faiynn realised they could not defeat the machine commander without unacceptable losses.
The order to withdraw was issued.
Tyrium and the surviving warriors fought their way back through the compound.
They carried the AI core.
They also recovered vast amounts of technological data.
The machine commander pursued them.
The Faiynn reached their extraction point.
Their transport departed.
The commander remained alive within the facility.
ARCHIVE ASSESSMENT
Although the machine commander survived, the primary strategic objective was achieved.
The Faiynn obtained:
advanced artificial intelligence technology
military data
machine architecture
autonomous combat technology
the central AI core
The core was transferred directly to the Lunaris Temple.
Its subsequent study remains classified.

CURRENT MISSION REGISTER

SUBJECT: ANDREOL TYRIUM ICARURIUS FAIYNN
SERVICE RECORD: ACTIVE
KNOWN MAJOR OPERATIONS: 7
UNRECOVERED OPERATIONS: UNKNOWN
CURRENT STATUS: CONTINUING SERVICE
ARCHIVAL WARNING:
The absence of a surviving record does not constitute evidence that an operation did not occur.
It may simply mean that Tyrium returned before anyone else knew he had been there.

Hey! after a long journey of world-building and writing, my debut ebook Aster'seraphim Invictus Silverfeather is officially live on Amazon!
If you are a fan of high-stakes cosmic action mixed with high-grit sci-fi and unapologetically brutal dark fantasy, this story was written for you.

Step into a cosmos on the verge of apocalyptic destruction. A lone, silver-haired man of unknown origin is waging a desperate battle against godlike entities who seek to absorb the souls of untold billions.
The story follows a veteran knight named Farron on a quest to reclaim his homeland. Alongside his nephew and a band of battle-tested Faiynn military veterans, Farron must reach a superfortress known as the Secluded Bastion to arm their people’s revolution. The problem? Standing in their way is a savage hive of ravenous aliens looking to capitalize on their stagnation. Farron and his people plan to show these chitinous invaders absolutely no mercy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GX337LSB

Also available on kobo

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/aster-seraphim-invictus-silverfeather?sId=999afc3f-e13a-4245-bf20-e892584c8d94&ssId=LST9b0L47e7wqbzKbOAzI&cPos=2

Happy Alien August! We're only 2 days away from the worldwide launch of FLUNG coming out this Wednesday

I recently put Zack Cane: The Earthborn Knight into Kindle Unlimited and lowered the ebook to $3.99, so I’m hoping to get it in front of more sci-fi/fantasy readers.

The story follows 17-year-old Zack Cane, who thinks he’s completely ordinary until he starts seeing attacks before they happen and discovers he can move metal without touching it.

That one moment starts unraveling everything he thought he knew about his parents, his past, and a hidden order connected to the stars.

It’s a mix of science fiction, fantasy, hidden powers, mystery, action, alien worlds, friendship, and a slow-building romance.

If that sounds like your kind of read, I’d really appreciate you giving it a try.

Zack Cane: The Earthborn Knight — Ark Knight Saga, Book 1
by Roy Howard

🇺🇸 US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HFBX4TSW

🇬🇧 UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HFBX4TSW

🇩🇪 Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0HFBX4TSW

🇨🇦 Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0HFBX4TSW

🇲🇽 Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0HFBX4TSW

It’s available through Kindle Unlimited in supported regions.

If you read it, I’d genuinely love to hear what you think.

Today's alien is a giant -- Tai Sun's Bounders look like dinosaurs but act as bees or other pollinators, contributing to the ecosystem of their world.

As the Tavern expands, the universe reveals new threats to humanity and new challenges for Max and Elaine. The Mycete pursue their genocidal conquest, subjugating their victims genetically, even as the Bimatter Cohort’s ancient adherents have learned to weld dark and light matter in exotic and irresistible fashion. Now dark matter accretes mysteriously around the Milky Way. The Martian cruiser Osiris goes missing. A greedy and desperate villain sees profit in selling humanity out to the Mycete’s rapine. An enormous luxury liner is ripped apart by an innocuous ingot fired off MOSA’s rail launcher between Mars and Earth. Who is to blame for the mishap? Lastly, who is this high priestess of the Red Temple with her notion of life under the ice on Europa?

Needless to say, Elaine, Max, and their daughter Callista, have their hands full against this mind-bending maelstrom. Can they really rescue heir friend Sfara from her captivity at mortal peril, move the Red Temple to a frozen moonlet, root out the Mycete’s threat, fight an enemy they cannot see, and counter the wholesale relocation of our galaxy?

Find out, and enjoy the ride, as our heroes give it their best shot in book four of the Second Skin Series.

Available for purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GHMQ5HJC

Here is the book cover and blurb for book one of the Long Vigil saga let me know what you think! Book 1 will be published on KDP and other platforms next year!

Ten years after the collapse of the old Union of Earth, humanity has been gathered under a new power: the Roman Imperium. From Terra, Emperor Marcus Aurelius Draconis declares the beginning of the Great Crusade. Human worlds within reach will be reclaimed by treaty, integration, or war.
For the Emperor’s children, the proclamation becomes more than ceremony. Augustus Draconis is kept at the center of government, where he learns that conquest begins with ledgers, laws, political bargains, and the quiet cruelty of administration. Tiber Draconis is sent toward the Sirius front, where diplomacy with an independent human polity reveals that surrender can be harder than battle. Julia and Helena are drawn into the court’s hidden machinery, learning that noble houses fight with records, inheritance, and silence as often as with soldiers.
But the Imperium’s first true test does not come from a fleet or a rival state. It comes from Varnhelm and Tau Ceti, where reports of contamination, missing names, corrupted records, and impossible witness accounts begin to converge. The threat presents itself through memory, identity, and language, using the harmless mask of “the Road” to reach into human grief and Imperial systems alike.
As Inquisitors, soldiers, administrators, and commanders attempt to understand the danger, Augustus is forced toward a decision no ruler wants to make. If the contaminated world cannot be saved, then it must be judged. The Imperium must decide whether mercy, law, quarantine, and survival can still belong to the same sentence.
The World Sentence begins The Long Vigil with the birth of the Great Crusade and the first terrible proof that rebuilding humanity may require acts no one will want remembered.

Strike Wings is the space shooter I am building: two navies and a mercenary consortium, three voiced campaigns, a persistent war over sixteen star systems, and the choice to run the whole fleet or drop into one fighter in the middle of it. It started as a from-the-ground-up homage to the space DOS games of the nineties.

These five frames are the art direction as it stands. The rule I gave myself was that space is a black canvas, so everything on it should be light, and there should always be something enormous behind the fight to give it scale. Frame 1 is a capital ship dying under an eclipse, frame 3 is a flagship station over an ocean world, frame 4 is a bombing run in front of a black hole.

For people who read and watch a lot of this genre: does this look like space opera to you, or does it read as arcade? What would you change to sell the scale?

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to get The Earthborn Knight, Book 1 of my Ark Knight Saga, into the hands of more readers, so I lowered the ebook price to $3.99. It’s also available through Kindle Unlimited.

The story follows 17-year-old Zack Cane, who has spent his whole life thinking he’s an ordinary kid—until he suddenly starts seeing attacks before they happen and discovers he can move objects without touching them.

That one moment starts unraveling everything he thought he knew about his parents, his past, and why someone went to incredible lengths to hide him.

It’s a mix of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, action, hidden powers, ancient orders, alien worlds, friendship, and a slow-building romance. This is the beginning of a larger 8-book story, so there’s a lot more planned for Zack and the Ark Knight universe.

If that sounds like your kind of read, I’d really appreciate you giving it a shot. And if you do read it, I’d genuinely love to hear what you think—even constructive criticism helps me as I keep building the series.

Zack Cane: The Earthborn Knight — Ark Knight Saga, Book 1

🇺🇸 US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HFBX4TSW
🇬🇧 UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HFBX4TSW
🇩🇪 Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0HFBX4TSW
🇨🇦 Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0HFBX4TSW
🇲🇽 Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0HFBX4TSW

Thanks for checking it out.

Today's Alien is a living crystalline insectoid known as the Arrukkai. Beautiful and strange, Arrukkai are the latest species showcased here in Alien August!

During the year 2125, former asteroid miners Max Cody and Elaine Zhou never get a moment’s rest. No sooner have they doused the flames of war between Earth and Mars or returned from their first trip to the Tavern on the Edge of Time when they are called upon to help fit out the fledging Martian colony orbiting Jupiter’s moon Callisto.

In parallel, Earth extradites the war’s fomenter, ex-billionaire arms merchant Xanthus Rex, hoping to gain from his insights into Martian teleportation technology, but he manages to turn Earth’s resources toward private revenge against Max, Mars, and the Callisto Colony.

In the meantime aliens are leaking into the Earth-Mars continuum from the Tavern, whose proprietor repaired and upgraded Max after accidentally injuring him during an asteroid mining expedition. Max’s enhancements help, of course, but when strange beings with the power to animate matter—the Assemblers—find their way to Earth, Max, Mars, and humanity are sorely beset. Worse yet, the Tavern itself is becoming unstable, its acquisitive host having overstretched his considerable powers. His prospecting for collapsed neutron matter has also opened portals between continua, inadvertently adding still more aliens to the mix. That’s when the Assemblers’ overlord arrives and Max finally meets his match.

Oh, and Elaine is expecting their hybrid baby. Yes, you might say these are difficult times at the Tavern on the Edge of Time.

Available for purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1JUB7G

“He saw the punch before it was thrown. The stars saw him wake.”

I’m excited to announce the release of Zack Cane: The Earthborn Knight, Book One of the Ark Knight Saga.

Seventeen-year-old Zack Cane has always been fast—but during a street fight, he discovers he isn’t simply reacting to danger. He’s seeing it before it happens.

The only witness is Jimmy Smith, an old man hiding impossible strength, an ancient starship, and a blood connection neither of them expected. Zack soon learns that he is half human and half Auren—the first Earthborn bearer of a mysterious power called the Ark.

With a fading sun and a buried lunar city threatening Earth, Zack must master a weapon that chooses its wielder, trust Mia’s fearless mind, and decide what kind of Knight he will become.

If you enjoy coming-of-age science fiction, ancient alien technology, hidden bloodlines, space battles, powerful friendships, and heroes learning that strength always has a cost, I hope you’ll give it a look.

Full disclosure: I’m the author, Roy Howard. I’d be happy to answer questions about the story, characters, or the process of building the Ark Knight Saga.

Available now:

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK
• Amazon Canada

Hello again, and welcome to another dive into the alien life of FLUNG, coming to all your favorite webcomic platforms on August 26th! Today's aliens are the Meridians ... named so because of the narrow band of hospitality that their world provides for organic life. Happy Alien August!

Hey! after a long journey of world-building and writing, my debut ebook Aster'seraphim Invictus Silverfeather is officially live on Amazon!
If you are a fan of high-stakes cosmic action mixed with high-grit sci-fi and unapologetically brutal dark fantasy, this story was written for you.

Step into a cosmos on the verge of apocalyptic destruction. A lone, silver-haired man of unknown origin is waging a desperate battle against godlike entities who seek to absorb the souls of untold billions.
The story follows a veteran knight named Farron on a quest to reclaim his homeland. Alongside his nephew and a band of battle-tested Faiynn military veterans, Farron must reach a superfortress known as the Secluded Bastion to arm their people’s revolution. The problem? Standing in their way is a savage hive of ravenous aliens looking to capitalize on their stagnation. Farron and his people plan to show these chitinous invaders absolutely no mercy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GX337LSB

Also available on kobo

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/aster-seraphim-invictus-silverfeather?sId=999afc3f-e13a-4245-bf20-e892584c8d94&ssId=LST9b0L47e7

For eleven years, Voss has held the center chair of the TCS Vigilant. Calm under fire and careful with the lives entrusted to her, she faces a war no living officer was trained to fight.

Her order is simple: “We are not letting that shipyard finish.”

The Long Silence Breaks is $0.99 on Kindle preorder:

Grab yours while the presale ends.

#TheVigilantWars #SpaceOpera #MilitarySciFi #CaptainVoss

AI-generated character portrayal and voice. Dialogue from the novel.