The aliens seek retribution against Cross, his executive officer Kate Flynn, and their crew for their trespass into sacred space. The humans will need to use every trick in their arsenal to stay one step ahead of Xroeshyn vengeance. Cross and Flynn’s leadership will be tested as they dodge death on every side. As the mighty Floating Fortress enters the field, humanity is outgunned and outnumbered. Desperate tactics may be all that can save them from defeat and death. Can Cross and Flynn remain unbroken long enough to blunt the force of the alien incursion?

Commander Anderson Cross can only watch as Kate departs to find something - anything - that can stem the tide of the Xroeshyn holy war before it reaches Earth. His own ship is held together by hasty repairs and good thoughts. He imagines this is the worst moment of the entire war. He has never been more wrong. The aliens are ready to strike at the soft underbelly of the human fleet. The aliens have found the way to Earth. It will take all that Cross and his crew can give to delay the enemy in hopes of Kate’s arrival.

It’s finally time to end the danger. Time to take the war to the aliens. But is it a trap? Captain Anderson Cross and Commander Kate Flynn scored a win. But now it’s time to secure that victory. Naturally, the enemy has a different idea. Cross and Kate know they will be separated again. They know their dreams are on hold until they can find a solution to the aliens’ holy war. Civilians are in danger, and the human forces must make a choice. Do they defend their people, or do they strike at the homeworld of the alien force? Either way, the risks are immense.

Anderson Cross knows command is his destiny. But a seemingly victorious engagement turns deadly as his ship catapults through space into alien territory. As it escapes, an errant torpedo destroys a relic sacred to the aliens. A holy war starts with one lit match, then explodes. Now, Cross and his executive officer, Kate Flynn, face the might of an alien invasion bent on the destruction of all Earth’s children. Their solitary ship now bears the hatred of an entire species. Can they survive long enough to save humanity?

Commander Scott McNabb, of the science vessel Hermes, is three years into a five-year-long survey of the asteroid belt. It’s an excruciatingly dull mission, yet it keeps him far away from the agencies that are chasing him down. However, his fortunes change, along with the other four crew members, when they discover a derelict spaceship in orbit around a binary asteroid. Scott’s share of the salvage would be enough to clear his name and start a new life.  

Across the six-planet expanse of the Gaia System, the Earthlike Gretia struggles to stabilize in the wake of an interplanetary war. Amid an uneasy alliance to maintain economies, resources, and populations, Aden Robertson reemerges. After devoting fifteen years of his life to the reviled losing side, with the blood of half a million casualties on his hands, Aden is looking for a way to move on. He’s not the only one. A naval officer has borne witness to inconceivable attacks on a salvaged fleet. A sergeant with the occupation forces is treading increasingly hostile ground.

The science vessel Hermes has been urgently recalled from its mission to survey the moons of Saturn, just as First Officer Miranda Lee receives bad news from home - her mother is dying so she must leave the ship and return to Earth - for good. Commander Scott McNabb is so distraught by her sudden decision to leave that he pays little or no attention to the parameters of the new mission being requested by the Council of Europa. Big mistake. Powerful forces on Earth are now moving to resume inter-AI communications, risking the development of an all-out war.

There is a personal price to pay for having aligned with the wrong side in a reckless war. For Aden Jansen it's the need to adopt a new identity while keeping his past hidden. Now he's integrated himself aboard the Zephyr, a merchant ship smuggling critical goods through dangerous space. But danger is imminent on planet Gretia, as well. Under occupation, torn between postwar reformers and loyalists, it's a polestar for civil unrest.

The last thing Sanda remembers is her gunship exploding. She expected to be recovered by salvage medics and to awaken in friendly hands, patched up and ready to rejoin the fight. Instead she wakes up 230 years later, on a deserted enemy starship called The Light of Berossus - or, as he prefers to call himself, 'Bero'. Bero tells Sanda the war is lost. That the entire star system is dead. But is that the full story? After all, in the vastness of space, anything is possible.

Aliens exist...and, as it turns out, most of them aren’t that friendly. Jacob Brown wasn’t even born yet the first time they attacked Earth. He was only 14 the second time it happened. When Earth finally came together and fielded its first spaceborne military, Jacob didn’t hesitate to volunteer. Serving aboard a mighty starship, he’d be able to defend his planet - and his family - when, inevitably, they came again.