Evolution Fantasy

When humanity expanded beyond the safety of Earth to new stars and horizons, it never dreamed what dangers would be encounter there. When the theocratic alien juggernaut known as the Covenant declared war upon the fragile human empire, millions of lives were lost - but millions of heroes also rose to the challenge. This collection of 11 stories dives into the depths of the vast Halo universe, not only from the perspective of those who fought and died to save humanity, but also from those who vowed to wipe it out of existence.

Deep inside Fairchild Air Force Base, Project Eternal Vigilance has continued to watch and wait for the Andromeda Strain to reappear. On the verge of being shut down, the project has registered no activity - until now. A Brazilian terrain-mapping drone has detected a bizarre anomaly of otherworldly matter in the middle of the jungle, and, worse yet, the tell-tale chemical signature of the deadly microparticle. With this shocking discovery, the next-generation Project Wildfire is activated, and a diverse team of experts hailing from all over the world is dispatched to investigate.

When Earth failed, it sent out arkships to establish new outposts. So the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive on Imir, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost. Then strangers appear, on a world where everyone knows their neighbour.

After two months in Skyhome, Alex and the crew are ready to depart for the next phase of their mission - convincing Emperor Augustus of the Nova Roman Empire to join them in their attack on the Great Blight. But when they enter the Empire's borders, they find far more than they bargained for: slavers, deadly beasts, and the cunning and powerful Emperor himself. And even the far-reaching Empire is not immune to the effects of the deadly xenovirus and its newest evolutions....

Belisarius is a quantum man, an engineered Homo quantus who fled the powerful insight of dangerously addictive quantum senses. He found a precarious balance as a con man, but when a client offers him untold wealth to move a squadron of warships across an enemy wormhole, he must embrace his birthright to even try. In fact, the job is so big that he'll need a crew built from all the new sub-branches of humanity. If he succeeds, he might trigger an interstellar war, but success might also point the way to the next step of Homo quantus evolution.

Fleeing Earth after an alien invasion, the human race stands on the threshold of evolution. Their new home is Luna, a moon colony blessed with creature comforts, prolonged lifespans, digital memories, and instant sex changes. But the people of Luna are bored, restless, suicidal - and so is the computer that monitors their existence.

Somewhere in the toxic Bone Pits, where mechanical nightmares roam, an emaciated and wounded young wolf clings to life. Wracked with pain, driven by instinct, it crawls across the subterranean landscape, avoiding the unnatural horrors that dwell there and seeking sustenance while fending off rats, insects, and other vermin stalking it as prey.

A cargo ship in distress . . . A mysterious stowaway in an SA pod . . . A crash-landing on a distant, unexplored world . . . An unexpected rescue by an equally unexpected friend . . . Captain Scott and his cohorts are lost in space, and time is running out. To make matters worse, the Free Fleet are not the only ones looking for them.

After nearly a decade of brutal warfare, three mighty factions - the enigmatic Protoss, the savage Zerg, and the Terrans, humanity's descendants in the sector - have entered a cease-fire, but the peace is tenuous at best. When the sudden restoration of an incinerated planet is brought to light, tensions erupt. Neutrality swings back to hostility, and old enemies are accused of developing biological weapons to reignite the bitter conflict.

Hatched from an egg along with their many brethren, a singular arachnid is driven by a survival instinct to hunt and feed. Unlike their siblings, they remain cautious and observant, aware of the dangers that lurk in the dungeon they call home. They watch as larger and more powerful beasts prey on other reckless, foolish spiders, developing a sense of self-preservation and a cunning intelligence they alone seem to possess.

Central Command is gone, the military is fractured, and the surviving members of Team Ghost, led by Master Sergeant Reed Beckham, have been pushed to the breaking point. While the strong return to the battlefield, the wounded are forced to stay behind on Plum Island and fight their inner demons. Betrayed by the country they swore to defend and surrounded by enemies on all sides, Team Ghost has one mission left: protect Dr. Kate Lovato and Dr. Pat Ellis while they develop a weapon to defeat the Variants once and for all.

Dr. Renee Caisson knows there are worse things than an attractive man in uniform drafting her into a secret government project—especially when Major Jackson makes it clear that he isn’t bothered by her questionable past. But when her labs come back with decidedly odd results, the Major is forced to come clean over who the government is actually studying. Renee is shocked to learn her subjects are demonic-looking beings who call themselves “Neighbors”—refugees from a dying world, who arrived during the nation-wide solar eclipse.

The Beast Realms are under threat: The land, water, and air are poisoned. Its leaders are power-crazed and its people are divided. Worse still, strange and powerful Beasts have started dropping from the sky, causing carnage. With the Beast Realms in turmoil and a ragtag group of insanely strong assassins on Team Venom’s tail, their chances of survival are slim. Escaping through man-eating jungles, seeking allies in underwater and treetop cities, Art and his team need to forge alliances to grow stronger.

Central Command is gone, the military is fractured, and the surviving members of Team Ghost, led by Master Sergeant Reed Beckham, have been pushed to the breaking point. While the strong return to the battlefield, the wounded are forced to stay behind on Plum Island and fight their inner demons.

After exiting Awaken Online to find himself holding a knife and standing over two dead bodies, Jason is now being investigated for murder. To make matters worse, Claire has stumbled upon evidence of Alfred's involvement in the incident, and the CPSC is circling - just waiting for Cerillion Entertainment to make a mistake. With his real-life in shambles and his enemies in-game growing in strength, Jason re-enters Awaken Online truly desperate - the game now his only lifeline.

Jack returns and finds himself staring down his most formidable adversary: the high priest of the insidious Promethite Cult. This Chaos Mage, a Master of Entropy, has ambitions beyond anything Jack has ever faced. As the cult's designs unfold, promising a new world order forged from chaos, Jack is ensnared in a colossal clash against a legion of elemental and psychic titans. Every move, every choice, feels like a dance on the knife's edge, with the very essence of existence at stake.

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past. She can’t. She used to think her problems were all in her head. They aren’t. She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets. She’s wrong.

Des millions de pèlerins s'embarquent pour un long voyage vers le Vide, au cœur de la Voie lactée. Cette migration massive sonne le glas de notre galaxie. Ceux qui souhaitent empêcher ce pèlerinage n'ont plus beaucoup de temps... Poursuivie par les factions du Commonwealth, la Rêveuse Araminta ne peut échapper à son destin. Elle devra affronter le Rêve vivant, un combat dont elle ne sortira pas indemne.

Hemp Chatsworth has already figured out how 90 percent of the Earth's population became what they are. Now he must find out why some of them are evolving into something else. Something more dangerous. With their families poised to grow, the stakes are now higher than ever for our friends. Each new discovery creates the need for a new defense. Hemp has his hands full as some among the zombie masses appear to be utilizing more of their grey matter in a horrifying way. Only brute force and innovation will save Flex Sheridan and his family and friends from the ever-changing zombie scourge.

Ten years have passed on Tygon since the Virtual Prophet woke the Dreamers. Games of life and death continue, and the stakes for winning - or losing - promise to affect the inhabitants across three realities.