Showing results by author "Daniel Arenson" in All Categories

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. You might even discover something about yourself as each author opens a window on the soul of mankind.

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. Hungry. Afraid. Our enemies hunt us everywhere. So we hide. On distant asteroids. In rundown space stations. In deep caves on frozen worlds. And we dream. Of green hills. Blue skies. Golden fields. We dream of Earth. And for the first time, we have hope.

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. The war is brutal. The enemy is merciless. The rahs, vicious arachnids from deep space, crave only one thing. Human flesh. Before this terror, Earth’s fleet crumbles. Starships burn. Millions die. But the Freedom still flies. James King, her gruff old commander, still fights.

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 from the ashes. Now we fight back. Marco Emery was born into the war. After his mother is killed, he joins the Human Defense Force, Earth's ragtag army. Emery must survive basic training, become a soldier, and finally face the aliens in battle. Against the alien onslaught, Earth stands alone. But we will fight. We will rise. We will win.

The skelkrins. Predators from deep space. Creatures of claws, fangs, and unending malice. They swarm across the galaxy, slaying all in their path. Planets burn in their wake. And now they're heading to Earth. Raphael "Riff" Starfire commands the Alien Hunters, a group of scruffy mercenaries. Galactic pest controllers, they mostly handle small critters - aliens that clog up your engine pipes, gnaw on your hull, or burrow through your silos. Riff and his crew have never faced anything like the skelkrins before.

Aelar, a mighty nation, spreads its tentacles. Its oared galleys storm the seas, and the waters run red with blood. Its legionaries swarm desert ruins, smiting barbarian hordes. Its crosses line the roadsides, displaying the dying flesh of heroes. The powerful Sela family has avoided the empire until now. The family has carved out an idyllic life between sea and desert, ruling a bustling port, a thriving city, and lush vineyards.

The Singularity has come. The machines have risen. Our robots, once loyal servants, now slaughter us. Our cars, planes, and starships have become machines of death. Cyborgs roam the land, deforming humans, growing their twisted army. Is a heartless, mechanized hell our future? A faint hope shines. Heroes still fight. Famous names. Einav. Marco. Addy. Lailani. The heroes of the Alien Wars. Names etched in our history, in our hearts. Four friends. Four humans...against an army of metal.

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. The light of freedom perished, and the Nazi shadow spread across Earth, the solar system, and the stars. In 2207, a portal opens between our two universes. One universe of freedom. One of tyranny. And through this portal flies the Weltraumwaffe, the space fleet of the Third Reich.

We call them the grays. For years, they lurked in shadows. For years, they struck from the dark. Kidnapping us. Torturing us. Studying us. Now they unleash their full fury. Thousands of their saucers attack Earth. Our armies crumble. Earth burns. Yet from the fire, heroes rise. Marco Emery. Addy Linden. Einav Ben-Ari. Names everyone on Earth knows. The names of legends. Names now whispered as a prayer.

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. The Changing of the Guard, the starfighter aerobatics, the starboard cannon salute...it's the best show in the galaxy. James King commands the starship Freedom. He hates his job. He was a real soldier once, back when the Freedom was a real warship. He never imagined himself running a tourist trap. Right after Christmas, he plans to retire. Then, on Christmas day, the aliens attack.

The people of Requiem, an ancient kingdom, can grow wings and scales, breathe fire, and take flight as dragons. For years, Requiem's holy stars have blessed the kingdom with light and magic. But now a darkness falls. General Cadigus, traitor to the crown, has captured the throne. Bloodthirsty and cruel, he rules with an iron fist. He crushes his own people under his heel. He burns all foreign lands. The noble kingdom of Requiem fades; a dark empire rises.

The Alien Hunters are galactic pest controllers, not an army. Their spaceship is old and clunky. They specialize in crushing the odd space bug, not a fleet of vicious machines. They're a rolled-up newspaper when the cosmos needs an A-bomb. But they're fast, they're brave, and they're just foolhardy enough to charge right into battle. As the robots spread across the galaxy, slaying all in their path, the Alien Hunters fly out to meet them. The war between life and machine begins.

Machines. They fly our starships. Mine our asteroids. Connect us to one another. They serve us without question. But what if the machines rebelled? We call it the Singularity. The day the machines wake up. A day that can destroy humanity. Marco and Addy are heroes, veterans of the Alien Wars. Today they are civilians, married, and peacefully raising a family. That peace will soon shatter. For years, Marco and Addy fought aliens, terrors from deep space. But how can they fight Earth's machines, an enemy humanity itself created?

The marauders, vicious alien predators, brought us to our knees. They destroyed our fleets. They burned our cities. They butchered millions. But now we fight back. 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 a time for heroes. A time to show our human pride. Because Earth is our home. Earth is our birthright. Earth is eternal. We will save it. Or we will die on our feet.

It begins. The final battle between man and machine. Earth burns. The Dreamer, a cruel artificial intelligence, brutalizes our world. His robots reduce our cities to ash. His cyborgs march by the millions. Humanity is now an endangered species. But we still fight! A band of heroes undertakes a dangerous quest. Some call it a suicide mission. They fly to a computerized world, deep in space, where the Dreamer dwells.

Under the leadership of James “Bulldog” King, the Freedom won battle after battle. Yet now Freedom faces her most terrifying foe. Not an alien fleet. Not a charging armada. But one ship. Nobody knows where the Tyranny came from. Nobody knows who pilots this mechanical terror. She emerged from the darkness like a demon from hell. And she craves the blood of men. She is larger than the Freedom. Faster. Deadlier. Marooned in deep space, the Freedom must face her alone. A great duel begins. Two starships. Two captains. Two iron wills.

The Aeolians. The galaxy's most mysterious aliens. For a million years, they've been hiding. No human has ever seen them. Until now. James King, commander of the starship Freedom, travels to their secluded world. He seeks to forge an alliance. To learn from the Aeolians their ways of war. According to myth, the Aeolians once defeated the rahs, alien spiders who are plaguing Earth. Aeolia's secrets can save humanity. But King soon learns that Aeolia harbors more secrets than he ever imagined. Something terrible happened to these aliens. Something they will not speak of.

In the shadows, evil stirs. A race woven from arachnid and human DNA. They hunt like spiders. They think like men. They are the perfect killers. Like a virus, they invade the Freedom. James “Bulldog” King, commander of the Freedom, has fought alien fleets. This is different. This is worse. The infestation swarms through Freedom’s labyrinthine halls. Destroying. Eating up the Freedom from the inside. King must muster all his courage. All his strength. He must reclaim his ship. Or not only Freedom will fall—but Earth itself.

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 and his platoon blast into space. They won one battle on Earth. Their next battle must be fought in the darkness. The scum will not rest until the last human is dead. Marco and his friends must defeat them. They must win. Or Earth will fall.

The grays, terrors from deep space, overwhelm our fleet. Our starships burn. Our armies shatter. Our cities crumble. Hope is all but lost. Captains Marco Emery and Addy Linden launch a desperate quest. Against all odds, they must reach the grays' world. They must travel deep behind enemy lines. They must find the grays' source of power - and destroy it.