1.10

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 10

By the time the Ombra Prime Sunkeepers disappeared into subspace, the Federation’s 11th fleet had done the same, leaving the battlespace around Thalassar to the PDR. Only the scattered remains of Starlancers and Wraith Reiters gave any indication of the conflict.

Vae remained motionless, hands frozen over her gaping mouth, eyes unblinking, watching the black void where Ombra Prime ships had just been seconds earlier. 

She had never before seen a Sunkeeper in person.

Few ever did outside the Ombra star zone. Fewer still ever forgot the moment they did see one. The sleek lines, sharp curves, built as tall as they were wide. Like an exotic flower held in an insect’s mandible – four curving pincers aimed forward. Strength and beauty as one. The bright white trimmed in glimmering gold looked as Vae had imagined a star in its main sequence up close.

1.09

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 9

“Signal jamming engaged,” Banks called from the comms station.

Andar turned to her and said, “Connect to fleetwide comms.”

Within moments, the Chrysalis was linked to every other Starlancer in the 17th fleet, on a comms line the Federation couldn’t access.

From the Captain’s seat, Vae hoped there were no codebreakers on board in the Federation fleet before her.

1.08

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 8

With comms shut down by the Fed, there was no way of knowing if the city garrison had received the signal that the Congressional Building’s power had been cut. 

“Devana, we need you back up in the communications center,” Sorenna said. “Find out if the garrison has been deployed.” 

Standard emergency protocol dictated that they should have been, but nothing was certain under enemy occupation.

1.06

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 6

“Hell of a day to miss work!”

Hollace hurried back to the corner of the library where she’d been sitting for uncounted hours, lifted the empty coffee cup one more time only to find it still empty. It probably wasn’t a great idea to be slamming caffeine so late in the day, she admitted, and the most monumental political earthquake of her entire life had her buzzing with a shock of adrenaline regardless.

1.05

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 5

Hollace awoke hours before dawn.

She had spent the previous two days researching Maren Whitlock, a Progress Party challenger to the incumbent Halden Thorpe, reading as many articles as she could find, digging into as much of Whitlock’s political history as time allowed. And since Hollace wasn’t working until Monday, she had all the time in the world. She’d immersed herself so deeply into the life and work of Whitlock that she forgot to eat the previous day. She even dreamed of Whitlock. 

After a traditionally quick shower, Hollace sat on the cool countertop beside the sink and dove back into her project, not even stopping to put on clothes. Across the room situated on her bedside counter, Martin’s TV played the news. It provided a bigger picture than her old model. She kept the volume just loud enough to be heard over the industrial trucks loading and unloading cargo twenty stories below. 

“Alright, Maren…Let’s get to know each other even better.” 

1.04

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 4

Vae Rova could not take her eyes off the little orange ball that hung in the desolate void of the Federation’s interior space.

“Do you think anyone down there will be happy to see us?” she asked Andar, who stood beside her likewise gazing out the main observation window of the Chrysalis.

“Hardly,” he said with a chuckle.

Vae turned to face him. “No, I mean it. What do you think would be going through the minds of the prisoners when they see PDR Strix in the sky?” 

1.03

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 3

Burning orange flashes of astral firelight saturated the bridge of the Chrysalis between stygian blinks.

Vae gripped the central command console with fingers that now ached. Vibration shot through her arms and down her spine. The whole ship jostled on its unsteady trajectory straight through the galactic core.

If this was to be her last moment, Vae swallowed hard and accepted her fate.

1.02

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 2

The resupply of the Dreadnaught at Erania took so little time that Rane did not even have the chance to go planetside on his own homeworld.

Not that he wanted to. The first priority in Rane’s mind was Thalassar and Vice Admiral Roland Scothern. The plan required a delicate balance and he couldn’t let Scothern blunder into a moment of accidental competence and ruin the whole operation. 

The details had been kept to a select few higher in the chain of command – outside of the Security Council, Fleet Admiral Hammersley of the Federation Space Armada, and the President and Vice President, only Rane knew how the Thalassar operation was meant to play out.

He liked it that way. 

1.01

Omega's Edge — Volume 1: Shattered Parallax — Chapter 1

Executing a new mission had always been Rane Dryden’s favorite part of being Vice Admiral, with its preparation and planning coming in a close second; it was like putting together a puzzle whose final and completed form revealed another victory for the United Empyreal Federation.

His least favorite part was what happened after.