Showing results by author "Fred Hughes" in All Categories

Empress regent Hiroko and Britannia stand on the brink of civil war. Meanwhile, a thousand light years away, President Julie Adams and the Federation face a technologically superior foe in the Sol Sector. Both empires need a hero. And when workers discover a damaged escape pod pinned in the wreckage of a shot-to-pieces dreadnought, it turns out the Deities weren’t done with its sole living occupant. A man from the past—a hero—waits to return. But the perils are grave. Can one man solve these issues? If he can’t, who can?

Empress Regent Hiroko gave Admiral Julie Adams a simple order. Go to the Zenkarr system and solve the Teddy Bear problem. But like all things in life, simple orders don’t always mean simple solutions. Even before entering the home system of the devious race, Julie was forced to fight a pitched battle against the Zenkarr fleet.

Hazard King finally managed to win peace with the Swarm, and he stabilized the Marxist Federation and helped create a more democratic new government on Lenin. The Black Dragon virus, though, continues to kill thousands there, and Imperial Scientists have finally admitted that antidotes are beyond their ability. Worse, it is only a matter of time before the virus makes it off planet, an event that is sure to kill billions and bring down the empire. But there is hope. If they can find the original virus, the creation of a vaccine may be possible.

The empire defeated the Swarm at the Battle of Iris, but it came at a great cost. To win, Hazard King needed to reveal he was Crown Prince Henry and take command of the Imperial Fleet as War Leader. Now their enemy is suing for peace, something many in the empire don't want to give. There are even officers in his own fleet that wish to restart the war and eradicate the Swarm. Hazard and his mother, Empress Elizabeth, face not only issues in the Isis System but across the empire.

Awakening from cryo sleep after barely surviving the Tarrant System Battle, Captain Hazard King begins working on restoring the wrecked Imperial Fleet. The Swarm forces smell blood and press their victory, sending a strike fleet to attack the Fleet base at Icarus. In the past, the Empire had ten years between attacks. This time, they'll only have two. Even worse, the Empire doesn't have the forces or the technology needed to stop the massive Swarm fleet, and Hazard is stymied at every turn by an entrenched bureaucracy that is unable to give Hazard the resources required to win the war.

Hazard King had always wanted to be an Imperial Fleet officer, just like his father. But he’s a Prince of the Realm, which make things a bit more… complicated. And when Hazard’s parents tell him that they don’t trust his older brother and want Hazard to be the Crown Prince—the heir to the throne—things go from bad to worse. Just when it seems they can’t get any worse, the Empress is attacked.

Hazard King was ready to get back to a normal life… Well, as normal a life as the next emperor of the Brittania Empire could expect, anyway. Hazard wanted to continue his naval career—to grow and take on positions of higher responsibility—because he knew the Swarm would be back, and he intended to be there to fight them when they returned. He had learned how to delegate, though, and while he was training, the rest of Team Hazard was tasked with eliminating the Marxist spy network, which they had discovered was mostly made up of rogue Imperial spies.

Alone and unafraid, the former Earth colony of Serenity is safe from the Mordorian Horde…for the moment. Hazard King’s expeditionary force, battered and bruised, stands guard, protecting the system. But to complete his original mission—to get to Earth and obtain the Black Dragon information he needs to save the kingdom—Hazard will need reinforcements. His mother, Empress Elizabeth, is willing to organize that help, but it will take time.

Hazard King, AKA Prince Henry, was a prince with a problem. Oh sure, he’d defeated the Mordorians in the Sol System and had landed his Marines on earth. His landing parties had even found samples of the original virus used to develop Black Dragon, which—hopefully—could be used to develop an antidote, so the main objective of his mission had been fulfilled.

The empire’s assault on the Sol System is imminent, but scouting reports reveal the Mordorians have nine of their hard-to-kill dreadnaughts protecting the system. It took everything the imperials had to defeat three of the powerful ships in the Pegasus System, but Marshal King, aka Crown Prince Henry, has finally gathered a sufficient force to make the attempt. Events back home have forced his hand, as what Hazard feared most has happened—they’ve lost control of the Black Dragon Virus.

Hazard had promised his mother that he would return and accept the crown. He just needed one last trip to the front to re-organize the Sol Fleet, then he would return home to rule. When he arrived, though, he found himself in the middle of a battle.

Peacemakers. The Galactic Union’s most capable enforcers and resolute negotiators, their name alone elicits fear and awe among the Union’s citizenry. It doesn’t happen often, but when a Peacemaker can’t solve a case, it goes to the Peacemaker Archives, as all Peacemaker cold cases reside within “Bureau 42,” as it’s also known. Cases dealing with ghost ships, missing Peacemakers, mysterious killers, and even a few cases that aren’t even really cases can all be found in the files of Bureau 42. Fourteen authors present thirteen all-new stories from the depths of Bureau 42.

The Empire of Britannia is in trouble. Not everyone is happy with Admiral Julie Adams’s solution to the Teddy Bear problem, and there are issues with the imperial senate. With the Black Dragon Virus under control, Empress Regent Hiroko had to end the Imperial emergency and restore them to power. Unfortunately the Senate wants more than their share, and it’s conspiring with elements of the fleet to overthrow the crown.

Emperor Hazard is Dead! When the Teddy Bears ambush the ship carrying Emperor Hazard to a peace conference in the Zenkarr system, Britannia once again finds itself at war. The Teddy Bears have a plan, but Gathii Kong, now in command of the Imperial Force, doesn’t take the bait. He follows Hazard’s last order to fight smart and foils the Zenkarr Intelligence Minister’s plan to destroy Britannia’s fleet by not charging deeper into the system. But now Kong has the lion by the tail—he can’t follow the enemy fleet into the gravity well, nor can he let them out to terrorize the nearby systems.

Kapitän Hazard King erwacht aus dem Kryoschlaf, nachdem er die Schlacht im Tarrant-System nur knapp überlebt hat, und beginnt mit der Wiederherstellung der zerstörten imperialen Flotte, doch die Schwarmkräfte wittern Blut und drängen auf den Sieg, indem sie eine Angriffsflotte zum Flottenstützpunkt Icarus schicken. In der Vergangenheit hatte das Imperium zehn Jahre Zeit zwischen den Angriffen. Dieses Mal werden es nur zwei sein.

Nun, so normal, wie es der nächste Imperator des Imperiums von Brittania erwarten konnte, jedenfalls. Hazard wollte seine Marinekarriere fortsetzen - sich weiterentwickeln und verantwortungsvollere Positionen einnehmen - denn er wusste, dass der Schwarm zurückkehren würde, und er hatte die Absicht, sie zu bekämpfen, sobald sie zurückkehrten.

Aber er ist ein Prinz des Reiches, was die Dinge ein wenig... komplizierter macht. Und als Hazards Eltern ihm sagen, dass sie seinem älteren Bruder nicht trauen und Hazard zum Kronprinzen - dem Thronfolger - machen wollen, wird es noch schlimmer.

Hazard King ist es endlich gelungen, den Frieden mit dem Schwarm zu gewinnen, die marxistische Föderation zu stabilisieren und eine neue, demokratischere Regierung auf Lenin zu schaffen. Der Virus des Schwarzen Drachen tötet dort jedoch weiterhin Tausende, und die imperialen Wissenschaftler haben schließlich zugegeben, dass sie kein Gegenmittel finden können. Schlimmer noch: Es ist nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis das Virus den Planeten verlässt, was mit Sicherheit Milliarden von Menschenleben fordern und das Imperium zu Fall bringen wird.

Das Imperium besiegte den Schwarm in der Schlacht von Iris, aber der Preis dafür war hoch. Um zu gewinnen, musste Hazard King sich als Kronprinz Henry zu erkennen geben und als Kriegsführer das Kommando über die kaiserliche Flotte übernehmen. Jetzt bittet der Feind um Frieden, den viele im Imperium nicht wollen.

Alleine und ohne Angst...Die ehemalige Erdkolonie Serenity ist vor der Mordorian Horde sicher... für den Moment. Hazard Kings Expeditionsstreitkräfte, angeschlagen und zerschunden, halten Wache und schützen das System. Aber um seine ursprüngliche Mission zu erfüllen - zur Erde zu gelangen und die Informationen über den Schwarzen Drachen zu erhalten, die er zur Rettung des Königreichs benötigt - braucht Hazard Verstärkung. Seine Mutter, Kaiserin Elizabeth, ist bereit, diese Hilfe zu organisieren, aber es wird Zeit brauchen.