Showing results by author "Scott Baron" in All Categories

It seemed the unthinkable had happened. Someone had actually targeted the Ghalian, an order of assassins known and feared across the systems. It was madness. Only a fool would go after the likes of them. But, it seemed, the galaxy had no shortage of fools. Retaliation most bloody was in order, and one man stood ready to spring into action. Hozark was his name, and he was no ordinary man. He was a Master Ghalian, an assassin skilled in the ways of death. Practical, mechanical, magical, to him it made no difference.

As if nearly burning up in a freak accident on her way to Earth wasn't bad enough, Daisy had a whole mess of other trouble on her plate. Big trouble. And she was going to get to the bottom of it if it was the last thing she'd do, which it was starting to look like it very well might be. The thing is, Daisy had a simple rule for space travel. Don't blow up, and so far she'd been managing to abide by that, but mere survival wasn't enough.

Sucked through a wormhole, Charlie's spaceship crash landed on a distant world, yet somehow he survived. But survival was about to get a lot harder as he found himself not just stranded on a new planet, but in another galaxy entirely. One ruled not by the laws of technology, but by magic. A realm of space pirates, deadly assassins, alien gladiators, and even dragons. For the spaceman from Earth, it was enough to make his head spin.

When your luck just plain sucks in not one galaxy, but two, most people would throw in the towel. But not Charlie. In fact, it almost seemed like he was a glutton for that sort of misery.

A magic wielding astronaut fighting off an alien invasion with his dragon friend? Charlie thought they might actually pull it off...that is if Lady Luck decided to play nice for a change. Unfortunately, knowing his fortunes, the odds of that were slim to none.

As if the creepy cyborg and the mechanically-enhanced human crew weren't bad enough, what was supposed to be a simple flight home to Earth was going horribly wrong. A deadly plot was unfolding. One that could jeopardize the entire human race. And Daisy found herself stuck in the middle.

With interstellar victory behind him, his greatest enemies vanquished, and two galaxies now at peace, Charlie and his friends had settled into a happy life of contented normalcy on the beaches of Earth. Even his dragon companion had made new friends and found a fulfilling life. And with Leila's first child on the way, Charlie really thought the universe was smiling on him at long last.

It was looking like Lady Luck had quite a grudge against him. In fact, at this point merely crashing the multi-billion-dollar ship he had helped design would have felt like winning the lottery compared to his current dilemma. If only he were so lucky. Things had started off all right - that is, until a freak wormhole unexpectedly swallowed his ship, leaving him stranded on an unknown planet far, far from home.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Bawb knew he would face the latter far more often than the former. But this was his life now. His destiny. Surviving his indoctrination into the elite order of assassins had been a challenge unlike any he had ever faced in his young life. It had been brutal, violent, and painful, but he’d made it past those initial hurdles. If he wanted to excel, however, to reach his true potential, he would need something more—a competitive edge of some sort.

Revenge was the sort of temptation a master assassin would never succumb to. But when one decides to make an exception things can get very ugly. Many years had elapsed since Bawb ascended to the ranks of the elite Master Ghalian, but his upward climb was not yet complete. A mysterious hint of greater things to come lingered, but despite his best efforts and all manner of challenges, he was still in the dark as to what exactly that might be.

Underestimating an opponent is a common mistake made by people wielding power. And when the most elite sect of assassins are involved, that blunder could prove to be a particularly fatal one. In times of subterfuge and plotting, though, it is clear they are not the only ones with tricks up their sleeves, and sometimes death is a two-way street.

Years of training flew by in a whirlwind blur of sweat and blood, and Bawb had excelled like no other in recent memory, shaped into a Ghalian of extraordinary skill under the tutelage of one of the finest their order had ever produced. But even the most talented were not invulnerable. A traitor was in their midst, and the elite assassins found themselves on the defensive, working hard to unearth the lurking rot and excise them with brutal efficiency.

Even the deadliest assassin in the galaxy had to start somewhere. Yanked from a quiet life and thrust into a harsh existence of brutal training of both mind and body, subjected to a harsh regimen that could cause not only injury, but even death. That was young Bawb’s shocking new reality, and it was only the beginning.

Escaping from deranged cyborgs and a malcontent artificial intelligence had been the run of Daisy’s life, but one from which she had miraculously come out the other side, and in one piece, no less. Unfortunately for her, she had survived that ordeal only to find herself in a far deeper mess. With an even more dangerous turn of events throwing her in harm’s way, Daisy’s original plight was now dwarfed by the new issues at hand.

He had survived a spaceship crash, alien slave traders, space pirates, and fierce gladiatorial combat. Hell, he’d even faced an actual fire-breathing dragon and lived, but now, he was presented with an even greater challenge. Domestic living, captive on a strange world. Charlie almost had to laugh at his changing circumstances, having seen it all since a wormhole spat him out in a distant galaxy. He learned to fight, he learned to use magic, he even learned to kill - to survive at all costs.

Only a fool would target the deadliest order of assassins in the galaxy. The galaxy had no shortage of fools. Someone had attacked the Order, and done so with both blades and magic. It was utterly unheard of, but even the most elite of killers sometimes faced the unexpected, and on this occasion, that could even mean their demise. That is, unless they could get to the bottom of the nefarious plot.

Charlie thought building a spaceship had been tough, so being king should be a piece of cake. Unfortunately, it was like a cake made of cement. Hard to swallow, and just might kill him. It was good being king, or so Charlie had believed. After an abrupt crash arrival, people had finally stopped trying to kill him - for the most part, anyway - and his new subjects respected him. Or feared him. It was sort of hard to tell, what, with the ginormous dragon who had eaten the previous king standing right behind him.

Charlie had already managed to overcome alien mercenaries in two galaxies, miraculously saving his own neck as well that those of his dear friends. But things were getting complicated, and fast. Very, very complicated, in fact. With their forces in the dark as to the true nature of their enemy, Charlie and his band of rebel pirates and resistance fighters would have to dig deep if they hoped to find a way to overcome the deadly foe.

Charlie had a constant companion everywhere he went. Unfortunately, its name was trouble. Space portals to another galaxy were just the beginning of the worries piled high on Charlie's plate. Not only was he facing a hostile band of alien mercenaries, hell-bent on capturing his home and enslaving his people, but now, it seemed, there was something more afoot. With his homeworld, solar system, and even the entire galaxy at risk, Charlie and the great AI minds of Earth had to make a decision.

Someone had Charlie in their crosshairs. A war-like race hell-bent on galactic domination. But unlike Charlie’s enemies of the past, this new threat had a few tricks up their sleeves, namely, using technology and magic interchangeably. Suddenly, what was once Charlie’s biggest advantage had been negated. Worse yet, his own magic, as well as that of his friends, wasn’t quite working right in this new corner of space. In fact, they learned the hard way that if they weren’t careful they could just as easily harm their allies as well as their enemies. Strike two for Team Charlie.