This
review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained
therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to
copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions.
Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s
Exalted Permission
Title: Retribution
Series:
Galaxy's Edge #9
Author: Jason Anspach & Nick
Cole
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars
Genre:
SF/Space Opera
Pages: 327
Words:
111.5K
From
Galaxysedge.fandom.com
It’s
been several months since the Legion fell. Chuun spent the down time
working with Admiral Deynolds to consolidate the Intrepid and other
ships loyal to the Legion into their own task force, the Legion
Expeditionary Fleet. Legion Commander “Wash” Washam has been
feeding Chhun information on the new Empire’s weak points.
Kill
Team Victory is hiding out in cargo crates aboard the De Zuan, an
Imperial corvette, preparing to take the vessel over in mid-flight
while the Indelible VI shadows it. They arrive on the bridge and stun
the passenger a Republic senator, only to learn the corvette is
rigged with explosives. Chhun uses this information to bluff the
commander of a nearby Imperial supply station Kappa-II into
surrendering. Despite the station’s surrender, it’s also carrying
a wing of Imperial tri-fighters which attack the Indelible VI as she
attempts to pick up Kill Team Victory. Keel handles the fighters but
the ship is cut off by an arriving Black Fleet Destroyer which
launches its own fighters. Cut off, Chhun is unable to jump the
corvette to hyperspace. They transfer the kill team and the senator
to the Indelible and fight their way free with help from the just
arrived Intrepid. Despite the help, the Indelible VI loses her
shields and takes heavy damage. Garrett arranges for the suicide
corvette to be drawn into the destroyer’s hangar bay and detonates
it, destroying the capital ship but wrecking the Indelible’s
drives.
While
the freighter is repaired aboard Intrepid, Keel tells Chhun that the
senator they retrieved is a Sinasian. The Sinasians hate the Republic
and launched their own rebellion against it before the MCR was
formed. In addition, the senator is dying. Keel wonders if they can
use that to their advantage. Once the Senator is fully briefed on the
politics and plans of the various factions he agrees to help the
Legion despite his illness. The next battlefield is to be Sinasia,
and David Lawrence, the sector commander, is loyal to the Legion.
Deynolds doubts it will be a full frontal engagement considering the
loses both sides took over Utopion and Tarrago’s still-limited
production output. They need Keel to head to Sinasia to act as a
local force liaison and intelligence source.
After
Senator Van Cammack declares the Sinsasian Cluster’s independence
from the Imperial Republic on One Republic News, Goth Sullus meets
with his high council to plan the system’s destruction. Washam
describes the appointee system, telling how it devolved into a market
place where the rich and powerful could buy luxurious civilian posts
or risk-free military appointments from political patrons. The
Imperial Republic has no allies in Sinasia and there is disagreement
over how easily any insurrection there can be put down by Imperial
forces. Sullus decrees that the Sinasians may go for now, but if they
don’t rejoin by the time the Empire repairs itself, they will be
destroyed. Delegate Orrin Karr suggests giving the Zhee free reign to
colonize the Sinasian Cluster. The Empire can intervene on a
political pretense, to defend them from the Zhee. Sullus agrees.
On
Taijing, Keel and Leenah contact Legion Major Giles Endiffron, a
legion point who manages the local garrison and is eager to buy his
way off world to avoid unpleasantness. Together they pump Endiffron
for information about the legionnaires under his command who are
loyal to the Imperial Legion as well as those who are plainly
disloyal. Endiffron promises Wraith a contract to transport the
supposed traitors off world. Leaving the meeting, an off-worlder tail
tries to ambush Leenah and is ambushed by Keel. Keel kills the man
after realizing he has no useful information.
Back
aboard the ship, Leenah expresses disgust with Keel’s tactics but
acknowledges their necessity, while she goes off to improve on the
repairs the Intrepid’s crew made to the ship. Ravi informs Keel tha
their contract has arrived. Keel contacts Chhun and lets him know
that they have the names of the Tianjing legion garrison who are
loyal to the Empire as well as those who are loyal to the real
legion. They also have a copy of the House of Reason-approved forms
used by Imperial legion points to secure assistance from non-military
operators (smugglers, bounty hunters, etc). Only assassinations are
out of bounds, as Nether Ops still specializes in those missions. The
contract is worth 5 million credits and Keel is heading out to
fulfill the agreement that night.
On En
Shakar, Prisma is feeling lonely and out of sorts. Her powers seem to
be dormant and while she has found some purpose in caring for the
patients in Skyla Forster’s infirmary, she longs to hear songs from
her childhood. She has not forgiven Hutch, the Nether Ops legionnaire
who worked with Andien Broxin, for abducting her aboard the Indelible
VI, even as she cares for his comatose body.
Bear
leads KT Victory down to the Tianjing legion garrison and infiltrates
the base, thereafter securing the appointed officers in the base mess
hall. While that is going on, Keel in his Wraith persona, neutralizes
the gate guards at Tianjing legion HQ and introduces himself to
Legion Commander David Lawrence, with an offer to help him secure the
planet.
Back
on Intrepid, Chhun is learning to manage the work load of a general
even as he wishes he were still running with KT Victory. A constant
inflow of active and retired legionnaires has been helping him and
Deynlods to build a proper Legion Navy out of surviving units and
ships. To that end he promotes Bear to lieutenant and asks him to
fold KT Victory in with KT Warbird. Bear agrees and asks to
reactivate Sticks to fill a remaining hole in Victory, to which Chhun
agrees. A call from Legion Commander Washam informs Chhun that Nether
Ops has been pulled into serving as a secret police force, and that
the Zhee are preparing to invade the Sinasia Cluster as a prelude to
an Imperial response. Chhun’s best option is to prepare a trap for
the Zhee and then move to work with the government on Cononga to
support its independence
On En
Shakar, Prisma works with Mrs. Renfree, an elderly patient in Skyla
Forster’s infirmary. She is a kind lady who Dr. Forster diagnoses
with dementia and delirium, but she has some lucid moments. During
one of these moments, she tells Prisma about a horrific event that
happened to her aboard a Savage warship when she was about Prisma’s
age. Prisma has an emotional reaction to the story and finds that her
powers work better under duress. Even Hutch seems to have shifted in
his sleep.
Mrs.
Renfree dies soon after. During her funeral a cargo ship arrives with
refugees from Qadib, which is being attacked by the Zhee. Prisma
takes advantage of the lull to sneak aboard the ship and contact
Leenah on a comm and asks Lenah to sing to her. The song makes Prisma
feel less alone. The ship’s crew returns and Prisma overhears the
captain offering a crew position to a stranger. The stranger turns
out to be Skrizz who has decided to leave. Captain Pereira and Mother
Ree are adamant that Prisma remain behind and she storms off the
ship. She has a hurried conversation with a spectral figure to find
that Skrizz has chosen to stay with her after all.
Cononga
is in the grip of a civil war as it has always been loyal to the
legion over the Republic; Goth Sullus has sent MCR forces to quell
the dissent. Chhun and Deynolds however are invited into the
situation by the planet’s governor and the Legion is busy landing
on the planet. During KT Victory’s drop, Sticks hits the ground
too hard and suffers damage to his bionic legs. They breach into the
presidential palace and encounter a team of shock troopers with the
same apparent mission of recovering the president. Victory fights
past the opposition and gets to the president first. The first floor
of the building is still occupied by shock troopers as Bear calls for
exfiltration. Task Force Grinder arrives and engages the hostiles.
Aboard
the Zhee battlecruiser Bloody Horde, Captain Vampa is advising Zhee
crews in their efforts against Sinasian forces. They are approached
by the Intrepid and warned off. As they hold their ground the
Intrepid engages and destroyed a Zhee battlecruiser, Divine Zephyr.
Vampa threatens the Zhee admiral and is then attacked by the crew.
Her bodyguards spirit her away in a shuttle (piloted by Kat Haladis)
while the Zhee engage the Intrepid. Admiral Deynolds tricks the Zhee
into following her through a mine field which destroys the ships Mad
Demon’s Kankari, Call of Death, Brass Djinn, Rage and Fury, and
Supreme Vengeance. The Zhee fleet is destroyed.
In
the city of Kahl on Rawl Kima, X meets with reporter Steadron Pawoe.
His plan is to use the desperate and disgraced journalist as a
propaganda tool in to restart what he sees as a “cold” galactic
conflict. When Pawoe reports the destruction of the Zhee fleet by
Sinasian forces, Goth Sullus meets with X who expects to be elevated
to Sullus’s high council. Sullus puts X in charge of Imperial
Intelligence. X’s first instruction is to send the Imperial Legion
to Ankalor to destroy the remaining Zhee for their failure at
Sinasia. When Kaar objects, Sullus unleashes the powers of the Crux,
killing him and dissolves both the House of Reason and Senate.
Paren
Michale is managing his salvage empire on Ochnia when Sullus’s
announcement of the new order comes through the news. As he tries to
process the news, the Cybar titans re-activate and head toward a ship
which takes them off the planet.
Since
meeting the spectral stranger in the gardens, Prisma has shown vastly
improved confidence and drive as she matures into womanhood. Her
powers return with a vengeance and her abilities improve almost
daily. While helping out in the infirmary, Hutch wakes up from his
coma and, seemingly under Cybar control, attacks Prisma. Skyla keeps
Hutch busy while she escapes, but Hutch is too strong and Skyla is
killed. Hutch fights his way through a crowd of sanctuary residents
as she runs off.
Hutch
pursues Prisma deep into the ice caves, where she hides, biding her
time. When Hutch finds her, the spectral figure demands that she
choose whether she will live or die. She chooses to live. As she
makes her choice, she extends her powers, nearly stopping time and
freezes Hutch in place. The figure shows her what Hutch would have
done had the Forresaw completed its mission: killed her and the crew
of the Indelible VI as the Cybar fleet destroyed Utopion. She chooses
to kill Hutch and his body falls into icy water taking her with it.
Wash
and Chhun examine their options in the aftermath of the Republic’s
dissolution. Wash’s imperial legion is not up to the task of
maintaining order, and wiping out the Zhee world of Nidreem with
nukes is next on the Empire’s plan. Wash plans to take the weapon
stocks on Ankalor and deliver them to Chhun after taking the planet
back.
Having
rescued Prisma, Crash shows her an ancient ship he’s discovered in
the ice caverns. Though old, the ship is operational and Prisma and
Crash take it to travel to the planet Morghul, in order for her to
learn how to destroy Goth Sullus from her spectral friend. The trip
will take five years with Prisma in stasis and Crash piloting the
craft.
Keel
and crew meet up with the Intrepid in the Ponterran system. When they
learn of the dissolution of the Republic government and Sullus’s
plans to use the Cybar titans to execute all House of Reason
delegates, they realize that without a House to purge, there is no
Article 19 to enforce. Keel for one has had enough of the legion and
the politics, but Chhun has a favor to ask: pick up a MARO the Legion
purchased on Ponterra. Keel agrees as long as Leenah can head back to
En Shakar aboard a shuttle.
Keel
heads to Ponterra for the pickup and Ravi suggests he visit Doc, a
former Dark Ops contact. They arrive to find trench coated thugs
trying to break into the old man’s apartment. Keel blasts the
attackers and escorts Doc back to the now-loaded ship. Despite the
police’s intercession, Keel bluffs his way skyward and they head
off world to deliver the weapon as Chhun decides on using the
legionnaire resistance forces on Utopion to attack Sullus directly.
Meanwhile,
X has been busy rebuilding his own spy network using trustworthy
Nether Ops agents from the Carnivale. His intention is to support
Goth Sullus as a benevolent dictator. As he gets the word that the
reporter Steadron was killed by Nether Ops Team 5 which was under X’s
orders, he spots Washam emerging from a legion bar. Knowing the
distaste legionnaires have for points he decides that Washam needs to
be watched.
Goth
Sullus inspects the last two thousand Cybar titans and expects they
will not be enough to conquer the rest of the galaxy. The entities in
the ring note the death of the Zhee homeworld Nidreen and show him
other forces at work as they solidify their hold on him, and he on
them.
Chhun
and Victory team take a civilian transport to Utopion to contact the
resistance leaders. Their contact runs a combat sled blockade and
splits up the team to avoid capture. Exo is captured by Nether Ops
and interrogated.
News
that the core world Spilursa has declared independence from the
Empire spreads, along with news of riots on Utopion.
Goth
Sullus, desperate to retain hold on his fragmenting empire, orders
Admiral Crodus to annihilate the nine words that have announced their
independence. Deep down he (as Casper) realizes this will unite the
galaxy against him but he is determined to see his task through to
the end.
The
Indelible VI’s crew arrives on a pastoral world to hide the MARO
and Keel and Doc get to talking. Doc’s opinion is that Wraith needs
to be on Utopion when the push to kill Goth Sullus comes down, to
finish the job that Rechs isn’t there to do.
Exo
insists (under duress) on talking to Ordo (confusing X a bit) and
Nether Ops abducts Washam from his Utopion office.
Leenah
arrives on En Shakar too late to meet Prisma, and everyone at the
sanctuary believes her to be dead at Hutch’s hands. Skrizz isn’t
so sure, and hearing that Crash was with her gives Leenah hope they
might still locate the girl. Keel reports that he’s heading to
Utopion to deal with Goth Sullus while Ravi reports that the spectral
figure that Prisma has been speaking to is the same force that turned
Goth Sullus into a monster. Leenah and Skrizz get back in their
shuttle and head to Utopion.
On
Utopion, Chuun, Victory Squad, and a host of veteran legionnaires are
preparing to make their move. Wash, under duress from X, contacts
Chhun and gives the call sign for an emergency. Chhun understands the
situation and plays along as Wash orders a 24 hour delay in the
strike. When the call ends, X kills Wash then orders a clean-up crew
to go over his apartment and engage all the legion forces they’ve
identified.
The
Nether Ops teams go in…and report massive losses against their
targets. X orders all hands on deck and realizes too late that he’s
out of hands. Goth Sullus demands that Adm. Crodus bring the Black
Fleet to Utopion; he refuses, saying the fleet is not Sullus’s
personal property. Crodus has in fact ceded command of the fleet to
Admiral Deynolds. Casper makes a last attempt to make himself felt
and throw away the ring but Goth Sullus is more powerful and retains
it. The ring-bound entities return the Crux’s power to Sullus, who
reaches out and kills Crodus from half way across the galaxy.
Chhun’s
legion moves through Utopion’s Capitol District, heading to the
Imperial Palace. They are especially concerned about attacks from
Cybar warbots and cyborgs, but remain on mission. The fact that
Utopion never installed a properly staffed or equipped military
presence helps immensely as does the spotty response from Black Fleet
shock troops. Goth Sullus find himself alone in the palace, his
officers and staff having abandoned him in the face of overwhelming
defeat. Even his otherworldly allies now threaten to leave. He heads
down to the motor pool for one last stand. The legion Lt. Col OIC at
the pool defies Sullus and is killed; his troops respond by attacking
their emperor. Sullus destroys squads until the resistance peters
out. He deploys the Cybar machines and the remaining combat vehicles
from the motor pool.
Chhun
spots the Cybar and responds by sending out snipers armed with N-18
rifles equipped with depleted uranium rounds. Squads armed with N-50
automatic blasters hold their lines against the onslaught. Between
the specialized rounds and rotation of battlefield tactics, the
legion troops wear the Cybar down.
Indelible
VI arrives (having left Doc to watch the bolt hole) to see Chhun’s
legion fully engaged and Goth Sullus on the battlefield, but an MCR
blockade (a destroyer and a number of small ships) bars access to the
planet. Keel dumps the MARO onto the destroyer, blowing it up, then
heads to the surface and Goth Sullus.
X
finally realizes the situation has spiraled out of his control and
heads to the palace’s remaining corvettes for escape, just as the
Legion Expeditionary Fleet arrives, causing the few remaining MCR
ships to surrender instantly. X contacts Chhun using Exo as a hook to
form an alliance. Chhun and Exo play along until Exo is released…and
then kills X with the butt of a Nether Ops rifle.
Goth
Sullus rides a main battle tank into the fray, smashing legionnaires
with his powers and shots from its main gun. But the Legion advances
just the same. The ring-entities offer him a chance to save
everything by destroying everything…and he takes it.
Above
the battlefield, Ravi alerts Keel that The End of Everything is near
and the time to act is now or never. The ring-entities are the very
ones that Ravi’s people—The Ancients—fled the galaxy to avoid.
Keel hands the ship over to Garret and the IndelibleIV’s cheerful
AI and jumps out of the ship, diving right for Sullus.
Exo
climbs out of the Nether Ops dungeon beneath the palace, takes an
aero-precision missile launcher and knocks out the tank that Sullus
is standing on, which interrupts Sullus’s attempt to kill Masters.
But Sullus is able to kill Exo, snapping his spine on the spot.
Sullus releases the spectral entities from the ring and they settle
across the battlefield, animating the corpses to attack the remaining
legionnaires. Sulllus retreats to the imperial palace. Wraith lands
near Exo’s body and heads after Sullus.
Masters
manages to carry Bear to Leenah’s legion shuttle; they begin to
load up wounded.
Sullus
retreats to the palace courtyard, and opens a portal to the realm of
spectral entities. More come into the world through the new gate. As
he gathers his efforts to let them all in, Casper asserts his
personality and fights for control, shrinking the gate but not
closing it. The distraction is enough to let Wraith approach Sullus
from behind and shoot him.
The
gate closes.
The
Empire is done.
The
war is over.
The only reason I have included such a humongous synopsis is because
it is easier to cut and paste it in its entirety from the Fandom page
than to try to write up my own. If all my creative energies go toward
writing the synopsis, that just doesn't seem fair to the My Thoughts
section. Especially considering how deep, indepth, detailed and
generally totally kick ass this section tends to be. Besides, if I
don't do a good enough job, Future Me is going to look back and sneer
and call me a lazy git. So you all have to suffer a 6 page synopsis
(that is what it came out to in the OpenOffice doc I use to
copy/paste).
This was a good ending to what is called Season One. The Republic is
irreparably broken, Goth Sullus is destroyed, bigger threats are
hinted at and Prisma goes off with what appears to be a real bad guy.
Most of the storylines are wrapped up with just enough left open to
give you a hint of what is to come. I like that.
I really liked just how much of a puppet Sullus turns out to be.
Instead of being a strong man standing for his convictions, he's
shown as someone who time and again has done what is expedient and
betrayed anyone who thought differently from him. It's good to see
him get his just desserts.
Prisma, the little girl with special powers, is starting to worry me.
Her behavior is very similar to Anakin's in Episode II: Attack of
the Clones. That hasty, impatient, not listening to anyone else,
do what they want attitude. While Redemption stories are right up my
alley, I'd rather see a character fight against and resist the Fall.
I guess we'll see if Season 2 is about Prisma or not.
Overall, I couldn't have been happier with this series. Besides the
little hiccup between the first book and second (where the style
drastically changes from an almost straight up MilSF to Space Opera),
I have not had a bad read. While the first book of Season 2 is out, I
think I'm going to wait until the whole thing is out before diving
back in. Thankfully, there are several other series I can check out
while waiting. Anspach and Cole have farmed out various sub-series
and I plan on reading those. I will have to see if they keep creative
and quality control or if they just rubberstamp it with their name.
Michael Anderle did the rubberstamp option and made me pretty much
abandon anything by him. I hope Anspach and Cole do a better job.
For the records, I have the Savage Wars (3 books), Tyrus Rechs (3
books), the Order of the Centurion (5 books) and the Dark Operator (5
books) to get through. I suspect that will be more than enough to let
Anspach and Cole bust out Season 2 of Galaxy's Edge!
★★★★✬
