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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

He tapped his com again. “Fritzie, the rest of the fighters are back…”

“I’ve got alpha bay open now, sir…though God knows it shouldn’t be. Just tell those hotshot pilots they’re in for a rough ride. If one of them comes in too hard and wipes out, he’d going to trap the rest of them out there. Beta bay is depressurized wreck, we’ve got no hope of getting it functioning, not this side of base.”

“Fritzie, you’re a miracle worker.”

“That’s a good thing, sir…because we’re going to need a few down here.”

Barron cut the com and turned back toward Travis. “Bring the squadrons into alpha bay, Commander. Fuel status priority.”

“Yes, sir.”

Barron leaned back and wiped his hand over his face. He was exhausted, and he had a headache he’d have sworn should have killed him by now. But his people were still in the fight…and that was something.

Now he just had to decide what to do next.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

From the Journal of Commander-Princeps Katrine Rigellus

I leave these words here for you, my children. I am in a battle as I write this, and though I believe I can win, a warrior never knows when death is stalking her. I write this for you, as I have each time I go into action, because I would tell you some things before I leave you…because I always wished my father would have left me a final message.

We are Palatians, of a strong and noble house. Our wealth, our position…comes with responsibility, with duty. We have talked of this before, and if I should fall, the retainers and allies of the Regulli will teach you what is expected of you. That, at least, is well-handled. For this moment, I would write not as your matriarch, concerned with duty, but as your mother, who has loved you both since you were newborn.

I have ever placed duty first in my life, as you will both do, I am sure. It is the way. It demands much from us. Yet I would have you both know, had it been within my control, I would have spent more time with you. There is no greater joy in my recollections, even among my victories and the supplication of the Alliance’s enemies, than autumn with the two of you at Litora Montis, and it is my great sadness that our times together are usually only a brief few days.

I would never ask you to shrink from your duties, nor do I believe it is within either of you to do so. But I urge you both: find the time to be there for each other, to appreciate each other…for when I am gone, you will be all that remains of the Regulli.

AS Invictus

7,800,000 kilometers from Santis, Krillus IV

Alliance Year 58 (307 AC)