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At sunset, burning wreckage streaks down over a coastal city of towers; uniformed figures watch from a rooftop as smoke rises from a ruined district below and emergency vehicles crowd its streets.

Chronicles · Volume III

The Price of Survival

The Price of Survival follows humanity after its first devastating encounter with an unknown fleet. As Terran Reach mourns its losses, questions about the opening battle compete with the urgent demand for stronger defenses. New warships rise from the orbital shipyards, and a civilization determined never to be vulnerable again begins carrying its fight beyond the borders of home.

4 chapters · 14 min read

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Contents

  1. Chapter One · 3 min read The Names We KeptOn the third morning after the battle, the wreckage began to fall.
  2. Chapter Two · 3 min read What the Record SaidCommander Ilya Renn had written the same sentence twelve times before she found one she could bear to sign.
  3. Chapter Three · 4 min read A Different Kind of FleetThe shipyard workers had been building merchant hulls when the emergency orders arrived. The first contracts told them to convert cargo cradles into interceptor berths. The second told them to stop asking what the ships would carry.
  4. Chapter Four · 4 min read The Line BeyondThe visitors’ last known position lay beyond the outer survey buoys, in the darkness where the Wayfarer had once turned toward home and hoped the great ships would lose interest.