It’s always good to star a new series with a new author. You don’t know what to expect until you read the book. This one is kind of unique in that the main character(s) aren’t really military. Oh, they’re in the military, but they are part of an elite society that was once governed by Dukes and Lords and such, royalty in other words. They are serving their obligatory time in the military so as to look good for the common people of the Union, but they aren’t really trained for battle.
Captain Tim Oberon and Major Mason Oberon are the royal brothers who are somewhat rich and have been throughout their short lives. They have gone to the most prestigious schools while growing up and not just fancy Union schools. No, they managed to get themselves into Empire schools that were much more prestigious than any mere Union school. They are also members of the Guild of Juuvlin. This was the Guild that ruled the entire planet of Udeba VI now know as Planet Hell!
As Guild Officers, Major Oberon and Captain Oberon had received very limited military training. They did have some. The could shoot farily well, although Captain Tim Oberon was an excellent shot. But, they were never expected to get into an actual firefight. Tim had joined the Guild only because of his younger brother. Yes, the Major is the youngest of the two. Tim didn’t want to have anything to do with the military, but he volunteered just to make sure his younger brother stayed alive. That was not working out so well. Because of brother Mason, they found themselves stationed aboard a huge floating space station above the Planet Hell.
Planet Hell was so named because of the Druk. This is an alien species that suddenly appeared in the human galaxy and began to take what it wanted. Their technology allowed them to do so without much push back by the humans. When they took over a planet, the destroyed everything, including the people that lived there. And that’s what happened to Planet Hell. Still, the Union knew that a lot of equipment was left on the planet so they were attempting to recover/salvage what they could. The Druk didn’t seem to care as long as they weren’t fighting. Any kind of weapon discharge would immediately bring a Druk cube and that would be the end of everyone.
There were still some people living on Planet Hell, if you can believe that. They came after all the fighting and went deep into caves on the planet. They stayed to themselves and so did the Druk. Still, you didn’t want to run into one of the “Returners”, because they tended to be very territorial.
Tim Oberon hoped that he and his brother could just do their admin duties on the space station and then leave when their service time was up. His brother had other ideas. Mason couldn’t sit still. He wanted action! So, he devised a way to get sent on a mission to the planet’s surface looking for plasma weapons. Tim didn’t want to go, but he still had to protect Mason, so he grudgingly went with the squad of Union convicts conscripted into the Army. These were the “grunts” who did all the work. Tim didn’t believe he was a leader and certainly not of this veteran squad.
But, they did get to the planet and all Hell breaks out. This little adventure might cost him dearly, especially if his brother got killed. Things happen when the fighting starts. Some happenings don’t turn out so well.
Good story, but I’m not sure if there is a sequel. It would have to go off in a completely different tangent, but I guess the author could make a sequel. I mean this is science fiction, right?