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.

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.

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 marauders, terrors from deep space, hit us hard. Our starships shattered. Our armies collapsed. Our cities crumbled. As Earth smolders, the marauders imprison us in camps. They farm us like cattle. They torture us for sport. Earth weeps. But there is hope. The Ghost Fleet, an ancient alien armada, might still exist in deep space. In a single starship, Sergeant Marco Emery and his friends seek this mythical fleet. They must find it. They must return with its might. Or the marauders will kill us all.

Five years ago, we won our first galactic war. We defeated the scum, a race of alien centipedes. But the marauders are stronger, smarter, and crueler by far. And they will show us no mercy. Marco Emery, hero of the last war, struggles today as a civilian. Shell shock cripples him. Nightmares haunt him. Yet now he must become a soldier again. Now his old platoon must reunite. Together, they must defeat the greatest threat Earth has ever known. Or humanity will fall.

On Mintari, dinosaurs live again. Brontosaurs roam the forests. Mosasaurs haunt the deep blue seas. Tyrannosaurs prowl the plains. Life thrives. Yet life is also fragile. Amissa Triplehorn, a deadly huntress, leads an army of poachers. They sweep across Mintari, armed with modern weapons. Burning. Killing. Mintari bleeds. Only one man can stop Amissa: her brother. Joe Triplehorn is a Mintari Ranger. He vowed to defend the dinosaurs. To kill poachers. But could he truly kill his own sister?

Dinosaurs. Majestic giants. They’ve captured our imagination for generations. On planet Mintari, they live again. Mintari is far from Earth. Wild. Pristine. A world where triceratops herd across grasslands, pterosaurs soar over golden mountains, and T-rexes prowl the misty forests. But these magnificent beasts might soon disappear. And only one man can save them. They call him Jurassic Joe; a semi-mythical figure, a ranger who lives in the wilderness of Mintari. He is the defender of dinosaurs and the bane of poachers. A folk hero...but is he real?

The final battle is here. The final stand of the starship Freedom. The final hope for Earth. Two galactic civilizations face off. On one side—the rahs. Arachnid predators from deep space. On the other side—humanity. Us. We have been fighting for years. Millions sacrificed their lives to bring us this far. Cities fell. Starships burned. Nations shattered. But we are still standing. Still fighting. It ends now.

War flares between man and monster...between Earth and the terror from the stars. We did not choose this war. The spiders attacked us. They trapped us in their webs. They devoured millions. No, we did not want this war. But we will win it! The starship Freedom rises. A legendary ship. A beacon of hope. A pillar of flame in the darkness. The fleet rallies behind her. All eyes gaze up at her light.

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.

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.

They called her a relic. They said she would never fly again. They said she was too old. Too large. A floating museum. But now the starship Freedom is the only hope of mankind. The aliens attack us everywhere. Vicious aliens. Bloodthirsty spiders from deep space. Our fleets burn. Our cities fall. Earth cries out for salvation. James "Bulldog" King, commander of the Freedom, answers the call. He will gather the fleet. He will lead an assault. This is the final stand of mankind.

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.

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.

War rages. Two planets fight. Neither will back down. Earth, the center of a galactic empire. Bahay, a rebellious world. Heroes and villains fight on both sides. And die on both sides. Maria, a young Bahayan, was once a humble rice farmer. Now the fate of Bahay rests on her shoulders. With her beauty and charm, she must seduce Earth's top general. It's the only way to save her planet.

Conquering this backwater planet should have been easy. But the natives are fighting back hard. The bodies pile up. The bombs keep falling. There is no end in sight. Jon is an Earthling, a soldier eager to serve his world. But now he’s bogged down in the jungles of an alien planet. Maria is a Bahayan, a native of this world of deep forests and deeper secrets. Her ancestors came from Earth, Filipino colonists seeking a better life. But Maria was born on Bahay, and she would die to defend her homeworld. Jon knows she is the enemy. Yet he is drawn to Maria like a moth to the flame.

Jon Taylor is an Earthling. He doesn't care much about space. At least until his brother dies on Bahay, a war-torn planet many light-years away. After the funeral, Jon joins the army. He learns to kill. And he flies to Bahay, sworn to avenge his brother. Centuries ago, Filipino colonists arrived on Bahay to build a utopia. But this world has become a nightmare. Jon finds himself in a dizzying dreamscape, a world of dark jungles and neon slums, of ruthless guerrillas and intoxicating bargirls, of blood-soaked battlefields and glittering brothels.

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 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.