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First Command

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First Command

By: Michael Simon
Narrated by: Ryan Kennard Burke
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About this listen

An alien attack leaves them adrift in space.

Survive, rebuild, and rejoin the war.

Fresh out of the Academy, Ensign Cole Jackson’s first posting to Freedom couldn’t have come at a worse time. All over the Alliance, planets and colonies are suddenly under attack by the vicious Coven Empire.

Freedom and her sister ship, Hood, are ambushed by alien warships, leaving Hood drifting dead in the void.

Cole is ordered to salvage parts from the powerless Hood, but when he arrives on the unpowered hulk, Freedom is called away, marooning him and a group of malcontent techs in deep space.

With the timer on survival ticking down, Cole must find the confidence to take control, whip his tiny crew into shape, bring Hood back to life–repairing communications, propulsion and even weapons.

He's got one chance to transform the derelict ship into a combat-ready vessel. One he can take into battle and alter the course of the war.

Don't miss the start of this science fiction thrill ride about a crew of young soldiers mustering the courage to fight back against both a vicious alien enemy, and the terrifying void of being stranded in space. It's perfect for fans of Daniel Gibbs, J.N. Chaney, and Vaughn Heppner!

©2025 Aethon Books (P)2025 Aethon Audio Hard Science Fiction Military Science Fiction Survival War
All stars
Most relevant
The narrator is good except his lack of different voice change for characters. Female characters are the worst and before people cry, 90% of the authors I've listened to can do a much better. Moving on.

I love the description during the attacks, but I cannot stand how stupid it is at the same time. Why are there no seat belts or safety harnesses in the seats or stations. So many dead from that. Not enough seats in... any place. Engineering is a death trap from the above. It isn't hard to ensure the safety of your ship, especially when you have so many redundancies. It does ruin the immersion as you cannot get past the issue. So many dead for no God damned reason.

Why do they not remove the air from the ship!!!! Air = fire and Fire = bad, especially on a ship in space. It wouldn't be that hard to achieve.

No power, everything is dead? So... Whats with all the wires sparking? Yes, I understand capacitors, but not to the extent it has happened.

Gases, explosive... whatever, wires that go boom... Why are they running around the bridge? Power? Too many sparks, too many fires.


All the explosions seemed excessive, and given the damage of the ships, Fires, oxygen in ships, the needless deaths and the considerable ways that it could all be avoided detract from the story.



But, when this is not happening, the story is captivating. Regardless of the above, I highly recommend people to listen to this.

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