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Chapters (44)
  1. The Crimson Worlds Series
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  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Epilogue

Federov felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Here she was with her people, out scouting when the rest of Dauntless’s fighters were in battle.

“Yes, Captain. At once.” She flipped back to the main frequency. “Attention, Red squadron. We have been ordered to abort the current mission and return to base as quickly as possible. Form up on me in thirty seconds, and prepare for maximum thrust.”

She reached out to her console, flipping a row of switches, sending maximum power to her engines. She looked down at symbols the on the display, watching her fighters maneuvering into formation. Her eyes froze for a moment, fixed on the empty spot. Red nine’s position.

No time for that now…

She waited, watching the numbers count down on the chronometer. Ten seconds. Five.

Her hand tightened around the throttle…and then she pulled back, blasting forward at full thrust. Back to Dauntless. Back to join the fight.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Interplanetary Space

Between Krillus IV and Krillus V

307 AC

“All right!” Stockton’s finger was still on the firing stud, his lasers blasting away. But the enemy was gone, nothing left but a cloud of expanding plasma. “That’s three!”

Somewhere below the surface, “Raptor” Stockton was as scared as anyone in battle facing the prospect of death. But three kills later, his blood was up, his cockiness and bravado fully in charge. Stockton was the stylized ideal of a fighter pilot, skilled, deadly, relentless…and for all practicality, fearless. But he was also an officer, a squadron commander, and he was responsible for fourteen other pilots.

Twelve, he thought, grim reality forcing its way through his aura of invincibility. Two of his birds were gone. One of the pilots might have had time to eject. Blue four had been crippled before the final shot came in and vaporized the fighter. But Hendricks was dead for sure. Blue seven had strayed too far from his wingman, and he’d gotten in a nasty head to head fight, alone and too far from any support. Hendricks had been a good pilot, and he’d handled his fighter well…his enemy had simply been better. The shot that wrecked his ship had obliterated the cockpit. Stockton doubted his pilot had even had time to realize what was happening. He certainly hadn’t been able to eject.

“Keep up the pressure, Blues. The Greens are hurting bad. We’ve got to hit these bastards hard in the flank before they wipe out our center.”