Daniel Arenson

Earth burns. We call them the scum. They came from deep space. Creatures of claws and endless malice, they ravage the world. As the war flares, as cities crumble, Private Marco Emery....

We hide in shadows. Our planet is lost. We are the last humans, and we must go home. Two thousand years ago, aliens destroyed Earth. Our fleets shattered. Billions died. The last humans fled a burning planet, heading to the stars. Today we are still refugees....

Long ago stood the kingdom of Requiem, a land of men who could grow wings and scales, breathe fire, and take flight as dragons. Requiem ruled the sky....

They emerge from shadows. Hungry for flesh, they scurry forth. They are the marauders, the galaxy's deadliest predators. And they crave Earth....

War flares between man and monster...between Earth and the terror from the stars....

They came from deep space. They came to destroy us. Fifty years ago bloodthirsty aliens devastated the Earth. Most of humanity perished. We fell into darkness. But now we rise....

In 1944, a secret Nazi experiment split the universe in two. In our universe, we won. Hitler died. Freedom prevailed. But in a parallel universe, the Nazis discovered the atom bomb first... and conquered the world.

In this anthology, you'll find 17 tales of conflict and heroism, exploration and discovery, endurance and triumph. Flee the apocalypse of modern-day Earth, fly a fighter in the cold emptiness of deep space, and find new life on the distant shores of an alien world....

Aelar, a mighty nation, spreads its tentacles. Its oared galleys storm the seas, and the waters run red with blood....

We are the last humans. We are hunted. We are refugees. We must return to Earth. The alien scorpions attack us across the galaxy. They butcher millions. Humans are now an endangered species. But we have not given up....

The starship Freedom was once a mighty warship. Today, she's a tourist attraction. The space wars ended long ago. The Freedom is now a flying museum; the tourists love it. Then, on Christmas day, the aliens attack....

Earth burns. After generations in exile, we returned to our long-lost planet. Scarred. Haunted. Survivors. We - the last humans - are finally home. But our enemies still crave our blood....

The galaxy burns. The enemy, a race of alien scorpions, storms from star to star. Planets smolder in their wake. Across the galaxy, they hunt humans. Long ago, we humans had a planet of our own. Long ago, we could have resisted the scorpions. But today we are refugees....

The basilisks, cruel alien serpents, attacked our world. They bombed us. Hunted us. Butchered us without pity. But now we will be the hunters. We will assemble a fleet. We will cross the vastness of space. And for the first time, we will strike the enemy on his own soil....

Not long ago, the starship Freedom was a museum ship. A relic of a bygone era. A rusty old warship converted into a tourist trap. Then the aliens attacked. Now, once more, the legendary Freedom flies to war....

Across the ruins of Earth, we rise in rebellion. In the depths of space, we seek allies. And our last warship prepares for one final battle....

It's all-out war. Our cities fall. Millions die. The scum, these cruel aliens from deep space, are determined to kill us all. So we must kill them. Humanity musters its greatest fleet....

The Empire burns. The old emperor is dead. His daughter, the sadistic Porcia Octavius, has won a bloodthirsty battle for the crown. But she will not rest easy on her throne....

The final battle is here. The final stand of the starship Freedom. The final hope for Earth. Two galactic civilizations face off....

A noble leader is dead. His five children, once heirs to a bustling port, are scattered around the Encircled Sea....