Embers of the Void Short Stories

Vivian Kingsley has earned her reputation the hard way-through blood, loss, and survival on the front lines of a galaxy at war with the Advent. When she's unexpectedly pulled from active deployment on the war-torn world of Mimdune and reassigned to a classified military installation on the desert planet Jeptarr, she arrives expecting answers-only to find something far more complicated.Kept under the watchful eyes of the Union military lies an ancient relic: a mysterious weapon that has eluded understanding for ten thousand years. The Union believes it could turn the tide against the Advent invasion, but unlocking its secrets requires cooperation from an unlikely source: Admiral Earox of the Chieftain Kingdom. Earox has the knowledge to wield the weapon, but has refused to share it without a price that could reshape the balance of power across the galaxy.As her unit fights for survival on Mimdune, Vivian faces an impossible choice. She can walk away and return to the front lines empty-handed, or accept a role in a dangerous political gambit that places her at the center of an ancient rivalry. The weapon could save them all-or become the catalyst for a conflict that tears the galaxy apart from within.

Captain Jorm Velemn has made a career out of keeping his head down, hauling cargo across the galaxy, and staying far away from the Galactic Union he turned his back on so many years ago. But when he accepts what seems like another routine transport contract with a payout too large for him to refuse, Jorm unwittingly becomes the centerpiece of a covert prisoner transfer that the Union has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep secret.The mission unravels when hostile forces attack, and as his ship becomes a battleground, the truth behind the Union's deception finally surfaces. His crew, his vessel, and his tarnished past have all been manipulated by powers he thought he'd escaped. Caught in a firefight he never asked for, Jorm quickly realizes that someone he trusted has been working against him all along-orchestrating a betrayal that reaches deeper than he could have ever imagined. Now, Jorm must decide how far he's ready to go for answers-and what he's willing to sacrifice for the one person in his life who still matters.