#young women with criminal pasts who most importantly have a love of adventure and learning and form found families. you know.

[prideofduskwall]

Starting to realize that my favorite actual play characters all have similar vibes. Like no one can tell me that Sasha Rackett, Andrel Anderson, and Cord don’t have similarities.

[swipestream]

New Release Roundup, 25 August 2018: Science Fiction

Space marines, mecha knights, and keyboard VR warriors battle it out in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in science fiction.

Across the Galactic Pond (Far Beyond #0) – Christian Kallias

When young Kevin has a chance encounter with a dying alien, he discovers not only that humans aren’t alone in the universe, but that this encounter propels him into the middle of an intergalactic war.

Now at the frontlines of a massive, far far away war, he’s sent to the last remaining ship of the losing side. The crew of the ship? All dead.

His mission is simple: he must save the good guys from certain doom.

From College reject to War Master, Kevin learns he must adapt quickly or billions will die.

The Ancients (The Survivors #4) – Nathan Hystad

The threat of invaders is gone, and Earth has been bartered away as a price for peace.  Yet, the human world of New Spero is thriving and full of hope.

Joining the rank of the Gatekeepers, Dean and Mary set off to explore worlds connected by the mysterious portals. When they stumble upon a strange symbol, they are led to an ancient object, one that sets them on an unstoppable path.

The journey takes them through multiple worlds, before they can find what they’re searching for. Long ago, the ancient race called the Theos vanished without a trace, and have been next to forgotten for centuries. Do they still exist?

Dean intends to find out, but when he’s faced with the truth, he fears everything he loves will be lost.

Battle ARC (ARC Angels #2)- Toby Neighbors

Facing a horde of hostile aliens known as the Swarm is frightening. Being the only person who can stop them is even worse.

From the great domed cities of Mars, to the verdant fields of Neo Terra in the Tau Ceti system, humanity’s future is spread across the galaxy. The Colonial Space Fleet has struck a blow against the Swarm, but the aliens are far from defeated. Unless the CSF finds a way to win a decisive battle with the ever growing horde of insatiable aliens, all could be lost.

Junior officer Angela “Angel” Murphy can perform superhuman feats in the revolutionary Assisted Rapid Combat suit, but can she repeat her victory as the focal point of a Marine battalion? Can the Fleet produce more ARC suits and find suitable pilots to utilize the advanced technology? The Swarm is always evolving, adapting to its environment, and learning the tactics of its enemies. There’s a battle on the horizon, and the outcome is anyone’s guess.

The Colchis Job (The Four Horsemen Tales #3) – Kal Spriggs

Colonel Jason Azoros is having a bad year. Having taken over the Argonauts’ mercenary company when its previous owner was killed, he has arrived back at Karma to find that no one will deal with him. Blacklisted by his father, Jason is forced to do a job for him to clear his name.

The early days of humanity’s expansion into space was an exciting time, as the best of the race went to the stars. Unfortunately, some of the worst went, as well, and the Argonauts must hunt down and destroy the worst of the worst, Colchis Industries.

Colchis has powerful friends, though, and its coffers are overflowing with credits, allowing it to hire mercenaries and buy equipment beyond what the Argonauts can afford. They also meddle in genetics, and their creations range from…interesting…to unstoppable.

Outmanned and outgunned, Jason and his crew embark on their voyage short on equipment but long on attitude. One thing is for sure—win, lose, or draw, they’re going to go out in style!

Earth’s Fury (Obsidiar Fleet #4) – Anthony James

The human Confederation has provided unexpected resistance to the Vraxar invading forces, but now the price must be paid. The mighty enemy warship Ix-Gorghal has discovered the location of humanity’s populated worlds and its arrival in New Earth orbit promises death for the billions living there.

At first, it seems the invaders will have everything their own way. They send in troops and deploy a ring of satellites to isolate the planet from the main comms network. After that, it should all be plain sailing….

On the New Earth Tucson military base, there are personnel who will never accept defeat – men and women who will keep fighting even when the cause seems lost.

It won’t be easy. The Vraxar are a cruel and unpredictable foe, and at the first sign of a threat, they will surely destroy New Earth without hesitation.

Hidden Enemies (Empire of Bones #9) – Terry Mixon

Trapped between murderous xenophobes and calculating artificial intelligences, an interstellar war threatens to wash Princess Kelsey Bandar away in a tide of blood.

With her most powerful ship crippled, only a desperate mission to steal what she needs right out from under the noses of her enemies offers a way to get her people safely home.

As if that wasn’t hard enough, success requires her foes never learn of her existence and therein lies the problem. Few have ever accused Kelsey Bandar of subtlety.

If you love military science fiction and grand adventure on a galaxy-spanning scale, grab “Hidden Enemies” and the rest of The Empire of Bones Saga today!

The Last Aeon (Terran Armor Corps #5) – Richard Fox

War rages across the galaxy. And humanity is losing battle after battle.

The renegade Armor, Roland, seeks the key to victory against the enemy encroaching from all sides. An Aeon guards a secret which will tip the balance of power in the galaxy. But first, Roland, and the Ibarra Nation must defeat her guardians, the Cyrgal.

On another front and amid the tumultuous aftermath of Roland’s defection, Gideon leads a desperate attempt to assassinate a Kesaht general. He is the last hope to turn the tide of the battle, and save the world of Ouranos.

As the war against the Kesaht and their merciless allies grinds on, Gideon and Roland must summon faith and fury to survive.

Proxima Centauri (Aeon 14: Enfield Genesis #2) – Lisa Richman and M. D. Cooper

Though Jason and his team have taken down Victoria North and freed many of the kidnapped AIs, several are still missing, and it’s the team’s job to find them.

Even as they set things right, a small piece of technology procured from Norden’s crumbling criminal empire is enough to become the catalyst for an even worse catastrophe.

Jason, Terrance, and the Phantom Blade team grapple with this new threat, unaware that it is far closer to home than they ever imagined.

The struggle to bring about equality for AIs and make Alpha Centauri a home for all sentients balances on a knife’s edge. It will take everything Jason has to ensure the burgeoning civilization isn’t cut to ribbons.

Quantum Mortis #3: A Secret Love – Vox Day, Steve Rzasa, and Matvei Daniilovich

Chief Warrant Officer Graven Tower is a ruggedly handsome military policeman who hates aliens. Fortunately, as a member of His Grace’s Military Crimes Investigation Division – Xenocriminology and Alien Relations, he gets to arrest a lot of them. Sometimes he even gets to shoot them.

Chief Tower and Detector Derin Hildreth of the Trans Paradis Police Department are investigating the murder of the Crown Prince of Morchard, but they have not been able to determine a motive for the crime or identify any suspects. So when a royal assistant comes forward with information about the prince’s secret life, they don’t hesitate to pursue the lead into the heart of the wealthy interplanetary establishment.

Renegade Dawn (Renegade Star #7) – J. N. Chaney 

Welcome to the Old World.

Captain Jace Hughes and his crew have finally reached their destination: Earth, the mythical lost homeworld of Humanity. It was said to harbor great wonders, fertile land, and beauty beyond comparison, but the reality is far, far stranger than any story.

The Earth isn’t what they thought, and it must be rebuilt.

Using the newly acquired Galactic Dawn as a refitted transport vessel, Jace hopes to bring help from displaced worlds whose inhabitants can no longer sustain themselves. He’s going to need all the help he can get to jumpstart this new colony. That means farmers, workers, soldiers, and, perhaps most importantly, families, all of them working together to build a home they can call their own.

But the Earth harbors many dangerous secrets, each one more deadly than the last.

The Replicant War (Worlds at War #1) – Chris Kennedy

Billed as “the most realistic game ever,” Worlds at War was a video game unlike any other—one that promised a virtual reality experience that rivaled operating a giant mecha in combat. People flocked to the game in anticipation.

For some, the game lived up to and far exceeded their expectations—the level of graphics was indeed, “just like being there.” The game didn’t provide the experience many others had hoped for, though; for a large number of players, the game was “too real to be fun.”

For video game design majors Ryan Johnson and Noah Bowden, the game play was incredible. It made them feel like they actually were saving a foreign world from horrific enemies, and they rapidly moved up on the leaderboard of the game’s best players.

But then fatal accidents began happening to the gamers at the top of the leaderboard, including many at which men in black were seen. When Ryan sees those same men at his dorm, he realizes there is more going on in the shadows of Worlds at War than he has been led to believe…but can he determine what’s going on before a fatal accident happens to him, too?

REV: Rebirth (The REV Warriors #3) – T. R. Harris

For the past twenty years, Humanity–along with their ultimate weapons, the superhuman warriors known as REVs–have been at war with the more-powerful and technologically-advanced Antaere race. As latecomers to the galactic community, the Humans have beenplaying catch-up, proving that their innate skill at waging war can help skip a lot of steps on the way to galactic domination. That was until two years ago. Now nearly all the civilizations within the local Grid of colonized planets have turned against the Humans, resulting in the loss of nearly all the territory they once fought and died for.

But things are changing. Through recent revelations regarding the Antaere and their ultimate  plan for their alien followers, old allies are slowly returning and asking for Earth’s help in liberating their planets from the Antaere stranglehold. And the REVs are leading the way.

However, things are not always as they seem. The Antaere are diabolical in their strategy. And when a recent mission goes bust, Earth is left in an even worse position than before.

Lt. Zac Murphy and his super-REVs have their work cut out for them…if people will just let them do their job. After all, Zac is not only a new breed of REV…he’s a new breed of man….

Stand or Fall (The Four Horsemen: The Omega War #4) – Keven Ikenberry

Peacemakers. The Galactic Union’s most capable enforcers and resolute negotiators, their name alone elicits fear and awe among the Union’s citizenry.

While the occupation of Earth continues, MinSha mercenaries under the command of Major General Drehnayl have assaulted Human-held colonies in the outer rim, wiping them out completely. With the famed Four Horsemen nowhere to be found, the Mercenary Guild’s attempt to instill fear and subvert humanity is perilously close to reality. Tasked with finding the MinSha is Jessica Francis, Earth’s first Peacemaker, but the odds aren’t in her favor. Racing against time, Jessica realizes that finding Drehnayl’s forces isn’t enough—she must do something to stop their atrocities and end their reign of terror.

Upon locating the MinSha fleet, Jessica faces down Drehnayl’s armada with a band of heroes both hopelessly outmanned and under-equipped on the binary planet Victoria Bravo. Her decision made, and with MinSha Lieutenant Colonel Tirr and the near-AI Lucille at her side, Jessica charges into battle intent on stopping Drehnayl once and for all…or to die trying. A Peacemaker must set the terms, honor the threat, and know when to stand or fall. For Jessica and her friends, that time is now.

Soda Pop Soldier – Nick Cole

Gamer PerfectQuestion fights for ColaCorp in WarWorld, an online combat sport arena where mega-corporations field entire armies in the battle for real world global advertising-space dominance. Within the immense virtual battlefield, players and bots are high-tech grunts, using drop-ships and state-of-the-art weaponry to wipe each other out.

But times are tough and the rent is due, and when players need extra dough, there’s always the Black, an illegal open source tournament where the sick and twisted desires of the future are given free rein in the Wastehavens, a gothic dungeon fantasy world.

And all too soon, the real and virtual worlds collide when PerfectQuestion refuses to become the tool of a mad man intent on hacking the global economy for himself.

Tomorrow’s Spacemage (The Spacemage Chronicles #3) – Timothy Ellis

Thorn is back. He’s lost 1 civilization, and is still trying to fix 2 others.

But fixing when you don’t know how it broke, is never as simple as you thought it was.

The future is threatened by his own past, and to fix everything, he thinks he has to undo what he’s already done.

But what if what you did cannot be undone, and the future has more riding on it than anyone knows?

Yesterday’s Spacemage was the cause. Today’s Spacemage was the effect.

But can Tomorrow’s Spacemage save everyone?

Unification (Ghost Marines #2) – Jonathan P. Brazee

Human slavers attack. Despite trying to fight back, there is nothing the young Leefe can do to save his family and friends. But he doesn’t have to. The Imperial Marines arrive in the nick of time, and they hate slavers. Three tri-years later, when the new emperor issues a proclamation to integrate the imperial military with non-human citizens, Leefe is among the first to volunteer.

The Corps has been integrated by imperial decree—but that doesn’t mean everyone accepts the wyntonan Marines. Despite an impressive combat record as a grunt, Corporal Leif Hollow struggles to become an effective NCO and leader of Marines.

When then the trumpets of war sound, however, Marines forget about differences and come together to accomplish the mission. But when the odds are stacked against them, and the empire’s very existence is at stake, will that be enough?

War Mage (The Magitech Chronicles #4) – Chris Fox

The Krox have finally reached their end game, and the sector will never be the same. Their relentless fleet darkens the skies of New Texas, home of the fabled Ternus shipyards. Their only hope lies with their sworn allies, the Shayans. But the Shayans refuse to help.

Only Aran and his company can keep their leadership alive long enough for Voria to bring reinforcements and the fabled Spellship. If they fail, the entire world burns, and Ternus morale will collapse with it.

But the war is merely a smokescreen for something much more sinister. Teodros, Guardian of Krox, plans to use the distraction to resurrect his dark father. If he is not stopped, Krox will live again.

Behind it all Talifax schemes, and Nara will pay the price.

New Release Roundup, 25 August 2018: Science Fiction published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames