Betrayal! The Rask have launched a surprise attack against their former allies, plunging the territories of Borealis into a bloody war. The tyrannical Matriarch deploys her pirate legions to seize control of the planet’s trade routes, while a UNN Assault Carrier lands a battalion of armored vehicles on its surface to restore order. The Coalition forces must drive across the Dune Sea, thousands of kilometers of inhospitable desert, fighting off the Rask army as they go.
When a council meeting on the Pinwheel is interrupted by an assassination attempt, Security Chief Moralez is given seventy-two hours to unmask the culprit, all while under the watchful eye of two mysterious intelligence operatives with an unknown agenda. The suspects range from hostile aliens to shady special forces operatives, even elements of his own government are not above suspicion. Only by piecing together the clues can he uncover who carried out the attack, and why.
An advisor to the Coalition Security Council travels to an uncharted territory of Borealis in order to evaluate its inhabitants for admission into the alliance, but what he finds there goes far beyond the scope of his assignment.
A UNN fleet on routine patrol near the outskirts of Coalition space encounters a previously uncontacted civilization, but while the aliens seem friendly, the Betelgeusian hive fleet that’s sizing up their homeworld is not. Undersupplied and months from the nearest reinforcements, the fleet must coordinate with the locals in order to organize a last-ditch defense of the planet.
When Miller meets a Polar Borealan named Kofe, she takes an immediate liking to him. After the surly engineer rejects her advances, the giant alien makes it her mission to change his mind, using every dirty trick at her disposal.
A cartographer sets out on a mission of discovery, mapping a strange, foreign continent full of exotic beasts and mysterious natives at the behest of his employer. The further he heads Westward, the more bizarre his journey gets, the very land itself somehow twisted and blighted. Despite the danger, he is compelled to press on by a plea for help from a stranger who believes that he may be her people’s only hope of salvation.
When a survey vessel stumbles upon an undiscovered Earth-like planet, the UNN scrambles to lay claim to it. Unfortunately, a Betelgeusian hive fleet also has its eyes on the rare prize.
A freighter pilot is plunged into a fight for his life when Borealan pirates board his vessel, but their sadistic captain may have more on her mind than just his cargo.
James is new to the Pinwheel, and the first place he finds himself is the bar, where he meets a friendly Borealan named Datz. As he gets to know the rowdy alien, they’re interrupted by her acquaintance, a Polar Borealan named Railha who seems intent on showing Datz up. James soon finds himself moderating a drinking competition between the two rival species.
Raz travels to Earth with Stanley to visit the farm where he grew up, and to meet his parents, but how will they react to his giant alien companion?
