I’ll tell you right up front, this book doesn’t end the way I thought it would. And, I’m not sure what happens next!
We’re back aboard the Indelible VI with Captain Aneson Keel, a.k.a. Captain Ford, a.k.a. Wraith. He’s with Exo, a former Dark Ops squad member and a Shock Trooper (former Legionnaire) Okimbo Bombassa. They are preparing to make a deal whereas the Dark Fleet gets the DNA key from Captain Keel and Keel gets the location of the mystery fleet supposedly built by the House of Reason in total secret. Keel believes his former crew members have been kidnapped and held hostage aboard the flagship of that fleet. He wants to rescue them especially the little girl Prisma, Leenah, the Endurian Princess and the kid named, Garrett (a code slicer). It was given that the Dark Fleet wanted this mysterious fleet for their own. Capt. Keel didn’t care. Once he got his crew back, they’d high-tail it out of the area and forget all about the Republic, Black Fleet and the MCR. Things don’t workout so well.
First off, Capt. Keel had a hunch that Exo and certainly Bombassa were going to double-cross him at some point along the way. So he had given them some bogus DNA while getting the location of the fleet provided to Ravi his AI/Holographic navigator. They were about ready to take off with more of the Black Fleet showed up and the doubl-cross was fully reveled, except Exo and Bombassa didn’t make it back to their ship. They were stuck on the Indelible VI and it wasn’t sticking around.
They soon find the mysterious fleet although it’s really one huge starship and they land in one of it’s hangers. From there all sorts of bad stuff start happening, but Capt. Keel is still able to free all those he came for. It wasn’t easy and there was a lot fighting and I was surprised that all of this took place in the first twenty-five percent of the book! There was a lot more to this book than usual.
We leave Capt. Keel and his ship for awhile and head back to Utopian. It looks like Article Nineteen, which Legion Commander Keller finally implemented isn’t going over so well. The House of Reason and Senate were tipped off by this guy who only goes by “X”. We don’t know who he is, but he’s sure playing everyone against everyone else. One moment he’s telling Goth Sullus everything that the Legion is planning and then he’s telling the Legion what the Republic and Dark Fleet will do and then, finally he’s telling the House of Reason everything! We later find out that he’s been a major player in all of this setting some of this stuff up a long time ago. It will be interesting to find out who X really is but we don’t do that in this book.
So, the war of all wars starts off right over Utopion. The Legion is sending troops down to the planet, but they are meeting a lot of resistance since the Republic Army was waiting for them. Then the Black Fleet decides to show up and that really intensifies the fight. Meanwhile the Republic Fleet, what’s left of it after the battle at Terrago, is there to protect the planet except the Admiral in charge doesn’t support the House of Reason. She’s aligned herself with the Legion and that will help matter greatly. So, it doesn’t look that good for the Black Fleet which chooses this time to start their invasion and conquest of Utopion which would be the end of the Republic. It seems to be a pretty even fight with the Legion and Republic fleets seeming to get the advantage early. Then, out of no where, a huge alien ship arrives and begins tearing through everyone and every thing. Nothing can stop it. Could this be the end of everything?
And while all this was going on, Capt. Chhun gets called in to see Major Owens. It seems Major Owens is going on a mission which he doesn’t believe he’ll come back from so he’s turning everything over to Capt. Chhun. Chhun will eventually get promoted to Major, but he has an immediate mission right off the bat. He’s ordered by the new Legion Commander to rescue all the Legionnaires and Dark Ops members being held at yet another Republic prison. Chhun gathers the five remaining Kill Teams and heads to the planet Gallobren. They work up a plan that rescues the capture Legionnaires and as kidnaps a key House of Reason Representative that should be on trial. The plan works great until another mystery ship arrives and starts deploying hugh Titan battler bots! It’s doesn’t go well for anyone on the planet.
As I said at the start, this book doesn’t end as I thought it might. I’m not sure where the authors are taking us, but I do know that it’s going to be a different universe once this whole series is over. Very interesting!