Showing results by author "Terry Maggert" in All Categories

When Van Tudor returns to his childhood home, he inherits more than the family farm. His grandfather used to tell him fantastic stories of spacemen and monsters, princesses and galactic knights. Little did Van realize, the old man's tales were more than fiction; they were real. Hidden beneath the old barn, Van’s legacy is waiting: a starship, not of this world. With his combat AI, an android bird named Perry, Van takes his first steps into the wider galaxy. He soon finds that space is far busier and more dangerous than he could have ever conceived.

High in Earth's orbit, the Fist of Orion has been busy. With new Shrike attack craft, Van decides it's time to go on the offensive. Despite bringing peace to many of the stars, the war has turned—and come home, bringing with it a new kind fight that Van knows all to well. Politics. With that...

Drifting in the intergalactic deep, Dash begins the final push toward peace. From the depths of Realm lore, the Kingsport takes shape, one component at a time. But the war isn't over, and the Deepers aren’t done. The space beyond our galaxy is far from empty. The Arkubators, Deeper worlds, and other secrets begin to reveal themselves as the Realm forces fight their way, gate to gate, into areas never seen by humans. Dash will journey farther than any other human has ever gone - or so he thinks. What awaits him is a secret that will change everything humans know about their origins.

When Master Yewlo is abducted by unknown forces, the Peacemakers are thrown into chaos as the rescue mission begins. Finding Yewlo will be hard, but the search reveals secrets the guild might not survive - secrets about a system so corrupt, it will take Van and his team's best efforts to untangle the truth.

Out among the stars, his cousin, Carter Yost, drags Van and his team into a criminal ring run by the High Doctor—a dangerous con artist with delusions of grandeur. Working from the abandoned world of Pathway, the High Doctor has created a cult, stealing a fortune from the fearful, sick, and scared. If there’s one thing Van hates, it’s a bully, and the High Doctor has his full attention. But in order to crush the criminal cult, Van needs bigger, better armor—and that comes with a price.

Money and power. Van knows it makes the stars go around, but in the wrong hands, it can lead to disaster. Armed with new ships, new fighters, and an iron will, he'll lead the Fist of Orion to one last fight against an ancient enemy—the Stillness. For three generations, the Tudors have battled an organization dedicated to power at any cost, but as the war heats up, the Stillness have partnered with a race who regard humanity as more than an enemy. Humans are... an opportunity. It's going to take more than ships and guns to beat the Stillness—the job requires money. Lots and lots of money.

After taking a Peacemaker job to find missing fuel, Perry finds something far more sinister than simple theft - a voice, crying out in a forge of heat and flame, and the discovery reveals a series of acts so vicious that nothing short of revenge will suffice. Following leads across the stars, Van, Perry, and Torina discover the wealthy elite are doing more than just taking fuel.

When Van gains rank as a Peacemaker, he becomes a bigger target for the criminals scattered among the stars. And he wouldn’t have it any other way. On a distant world under an alien sun, hunters and their companions—the Rovan—bond in a ritual as old as their civilization. But one of the hunters is missing, and Van, along with his growing crew, knows where to look. Climbing up into the rarified air of the super-rich, Van uncovers a new enemy: The Fade. And they are as cruel as the stars are many. 

With the Stillness and their Wulgor allies growing in power, Van and the Fist of Orion reach a crossroads of epic proportions. Who will lead the charge for justice? Will it be Van and his friends, or will the former GKU demand a seat at the table in a universe where nothing is ever settled, and old grudges don't die—they just linger? Old problems require new solutions, and Van sees the need for soldiers as an opportunity. From the growing ranks of the Shrikes, elite young leaders emerge, ready to answer the call when the Fist of Orion decides that sometimes, the best defense is a good offense.

Get ready to experience two more origin stories in the Backyard Starship universe.

The Haiksos War wages on. The galaxy is in a state of flux, and defeat seems inevitable. The Unity Alliance military forces scramble, Shining League militias run rampant, and a rogue Hardshell remnant unleashes nihilistic carnage across the stars. The Vuan'at remain an unknown in the equation. But Cullen Bright will not accept defeat. He has built an elite team of ex-marine operators that rivals the capability of conventional forces. The Haiksos are ruthless, and Cullen knows what he is up against, but he will not accept defeat.

The Galactic Knights Uniformed was never meant to be a paramilitary organization. If anything, it was supposed to be the opposite. Advocates for justice. Unbiased by the major galactic powers. But few things corrupt as quickly as power, especially when its being fueled by the Sorcerers' digital...

The Afterfall was just the beginning. The Sorcerers struck their killing blow. The galaxy has collapsed. With communications and logistics crippled, trillions of souls are left adrift in the dark—isolated, abandoned, and desperate. This isn't just a blackout, it's a catastrophic reset...

Cullen Bright no longer wears the uniform, but his capacity for violence is unchanged. The Unity Alliance has declared an end to the Hardshell War, but the true threat remains hidden in plain sight. The Haiksos continue to build their genetically modified armies, intent on consuming human systems to feed their hideous plans. With the Unity Marine Corps caught in a political stranglehold, who will stand in their way? Cullen Bright thinks he has the answer. Bright Applied Technologies.

After two decades of learning at the Nexus, the children of Van and his crew are ready to take their first steps out in the big black. Aboard their new ship, the AnaDarko, the young officers begin unraveling a mystery that goes beyond the depths of time—where did Gabby's people come from, and why does life, scattered across the gas giants, all sound so familiar to her? Under the capable guidance of Rab, a seasoned Peacemaker, the young crew pursues science and knowledge—even as Van and Torina push back against a threat that originates on earth itself.

Not every visitor to or from Earth has good intentions, and the Peacemakers are faced with an uncomfortable reality. The Earth is about to meet aliens. Some of the aliens are bringing goods to trade. And among those items are weapons. When a secret cabal of humans who want to exploit the Earth is revealed, Van has to decide how and where to fight this threat. Along the way, he reveals a secret history that began in the Great War—and ends with mass chaos on his home planet.

Disturbing the established order will mean kicking over a fair number of rocks, although Mark, Valint, and the others might be surprised by what scurries forth underneath—and what uniform it's wearing when it steps into the light. Mark Tudor will make the title Peacemaker mean something once again, but to do that, he'll have to face the worst the galaxy has to offer. Death waits in the quiet moments. And sometimes, it is a soldier's loved ones that pay the greatest price.

When the Equal Grasp and other unsavory aliens launch their plot to open humanity up to the stars—in the name of profit, of course—Van and his crew spring into action, fearing the fallout of a world gone mad. With each passing event in his career, Van continues to unravel locked memories, held by Perry, that explain a family history far more violent than he ever imagined.

With Veteran pay comes veteran problems. And the Guild, more often than not, is the issue. He’s become an effective enforcer of the law, but unfortunately, crime is growing a lot more complicated. Someone is slaving artificial beings to ships, running contraband across the stars in a fatal practice that marries murder, theft, and kidnapping. Even as Mark’s crew grows, he discovers these crimes aren’t just horrific—they’re common. And he means to stop it.

Null Stellarium is more than a shipyard. It's a proving ground steeped with science and engineering designed to push warships faster than ever before, and armed to confront the growing menace of a universe where everything is influenced by a hidden evil. As Van and his crew grow into their new roles, Perry unlocks a memory that reaches into the very beginning of the Tudor family's service nearly a century earlier. But sometimes, the truth is hidden for a reason, and Van must decide—How much does he really want to know? And how far can he take his ship, knowing there's a price on his head?