The poorest people in the universe, the inhabitants of New Kashubia live underground in tunnels drilled through a thousand feet of solid gold, but things change when the New Kashubians combine virtual reality with tank warfare to give their warriors a symbiotic relationship with their intelligent tanks. Reprint.
Colonel James Raytak is about to die. The 93-year-old combat veteran is living his last days in a nursing home; his only hope for survival is an experimental Medpod life support system controlled by an Artificial Intelligence.
Co-developed by the world’s largest gaming company, Qualitranos the Artificial Intelligence will also control the soon to be released game Limitless Lands. Without its creator’s knowledge, the Artificial Intelligence decides the best course of treatment is to import its patient’s consciousness directly into the game.
Colonel Raytak must dust off his military training and lead his virtual troops in a fight to repair his broken body and mind while exploring the Limitless Lands.
Humanity pushed its way to the stars - and encountered the Gbaba, a ruthless alien race that nearly wiped us out.
Earth and her colonies are now smoldering ruins, and the few survivors have fled to distant, Earth-like Safehold, to try to rebuild. But the Gbaba can detect the emissions of an industrial civilization, so the human rulers of Safehold have taken extraordinary measures: with mind control and hidden high technology, they've built a religion in which every Safeholdian believes, a religion designed to keep Safehold society medieval forever.
800 years pass. In a hidden chamber on Safehold, an android from the far human past awakens. This "rebirth" was set in motion centuries before, by a faction that opposed shackling humanity with a concocted religion. Via automated recordings, "Nimue" - or, rather, the android with the memories of Lieutenant Commander Nimue Alban - is told her fate: she will emerge into Safeholdian society, suitably disguised, and begin the process of provoking the technological progress which the Church of God Awaiting has worked for centuries to prevent.
Nothing about this will be easy. To better deal with a medieval society, "Nimue" takes a new gender and a new name, "Merlin." His formidable powers and access to caches of hidden high technology will need to be carefully concealed. And he'll need to find a base of operations, a Safeholdian country that's just a little more freewheeling, a little less orthodox, a little more open to the new.
And thus Merlin comes to Charis, a mid-sized kingdom with a talent for naval warfare. He plans to make the acquaintance of King Haarahld and Crown Prince Cayleb, and maybe, just maybe, kick off a new era of invention. Which is bound to draw the attention of the Church...and, inevitably, lead to war.
Playing by the book? That’s not how we do it! In his attempt to delay his appearance in Emperor’s court, Crown Prince Georg triggers an alien invasion of his own star system. The whole of the Empire watches the live broadcast with bated breath as his fleet battles the awesome invaders. The Iseyeks - gigantic sentient praying mantises - are suitably impressed too, so they promptly remind the Crown Prince of his allied duties. The Sector Eight Fleet hurries to the Swarm’s aid… but sadly disregards the insects’ hive mentality.
Adam has one mission: Hunt down the Magate Order and recover his kidnapped crew before they are lost forever.
Unfortunately, his life has been bound to the Prime Valkyrie, and if Adam doesn’t submit to her powerful father, he’ll be executed.
But the genetically engineered Marine submits to no man, and the king of the Vaish Overlord Clan is about to find out what happens when you try and kill a tiger.
Two centuries ago, the First Expansionary Fleet set off to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, hoping to explore, colonize, and conquer new worlds in the name of humanity. But when the fleet was violently and unexpectedly thrown off course, the colonists found themselves trapped in an unexplored region of the galaxy—and caught right in the middle of a bloody interstellar war.
Now, after generations of relentless fighting, a tentative truce has finally ushered in an era of growth and prosperity. Yet as hardline forces on all sides conspire to break the ceasefire, humanity finds itself in need of a new type of soldier—one who can win the peace even while the galaxy arms for war.
Major Kal Zeris is the next generation of Dominion trooper, a powerful psionic soldier capable of withstanding—and dishing out—superhuman amounts of punishment. Born naturally on a crime-infested border world, Kal has learned to do whatever it takes to survive. But when he finds himself paired up with a sheltered young fleet cadet, he quickly learns that despite what her flawless, genetically engineered body may have given her in looks and smarts, there is no replacement for good, old-fashioned experience. And luckily for her, Kal is eager and willing to help.
Together, they must unravel a conspiracy that threatens to end the peace—and destroy the Lost Fleet before it can find its way home.
Devious Criminals, Bloodthirsty Aliens, a Colony in Despair, and One Hardened Veteran!
Vesta Colony has a problem, aliens are snatching men until they disappear for good. Humanity's defensive forces are stretched too thin to help a distant outpost, and so, the desperate founders, as well as their investors, are given the bad option of recruiting the worst while bribing the rest.
When Alex's wife was murdered, he turned full vigilante. After years of having a sterling record, he found himself willingly incarcerated to exact his vengeance. His incarceration eats at his soul until an offer too good to refuse from Vesta Colony changes his fate. While he's more than happy to get out from behind bars, the fact colonies treat humans like cattle means he understands what he's signing up for.
Except...
There's more to this situation than a hardened veteran anticipates. Life won't be easy, issues won't stop rearing their ugly heads, and the lovely beauties who need his protection make Alex's head spin. Oh, and the rumor is, there's an army of testicle eating aliens trying to turn him into a snack.
Join Alex as he crosses the void to become the Guardian of Vesta Colony!
He doesn't know it yet, of course. Reidon was born weak, sickly and small. Afflicted with a painful disease and abandoned by his parents because of it, he has had to fight tooth and nail for every minor advantage life has allowed him.
His perseverance has not gone unnoticed, however, and when the most powerful artificial intelligence in human history takes an interest in him, things began to change quickly. Granted a CAD—a Combat Assistance Device—with awful specs but an infinite potential for growth, Reidon finds himself at the bottom of his class at the Galens Institute, one of the top military academies in the Collective. Along with his best friend, Viviana Arada, Reidon will have to start his long climb through the school rankings, and on to the combat tournament circuits that have become humanity's greatest source of excitement and entertainment.
So begins the rise of a god. So begins the ascent of the Stormweaver.
Wayne dreamed of piloting a thirty-foot-tall walking robot that was closer to a battle-tank than anything else.
They were called Walkers.
They were armed with laser cannons, rockets, missiles, and heavy kinetic weapons more similar to artillery pieces than guns, and everything that went with that.
Unfortunately, he had been declined military service.
His only avenue left to become a Walker Pilot was to make it happen all on his own.
Under his own power.
With his own hands.
Literally.
Working his fingers to the bone, saving all he could, and digging through junkyards and salvage pits, Wayne made it happen.
One part at a time.
He was now, finally, at the starting line.
Having built a very rough Walker that he had cobbled together himself, he scavenged a few weapons that were perfect for starting out and had just enough money to afford ammunition. His long-term dream was just about to start.
Perhaps even forming his own Walker Mercenary company and hiring people to work with him.
Except just as he finally moves forward, his home world is about to take a gigantic leap backward.
With Wayne at the center of it all, without ever truly realizing it.
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