Skypunk Princess: Liminal Wars, #1

By David Colello and Ecopunk Press

If you like badass female leads, far future nanotech, and lots of battle scenes, then you've found your next series!

In a world ravaged by climate disaster and the fall of human civilization, a group of rebels must fight to survive against the threats of AI cities and terrifying new creatures. Eliana Skybound, an elite Sky Ranger, and Leva Kailani, a Mer princess, must put aside their differences and join forces to protect their loved ones and fight for their cause. But as they journey across a dystopian landscape, they must also confront the growing attraction between them. Can their love help them to survive and change the course of history? Find out in "Skybound," a heart-pounding tale of adventure, romance, and survival in a post-apocalyptic world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Colello
• Release date: Feb 22, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224111886

Book preview

For my north star, Meghan

Works By

David Colello

Mission Cerex Series

Trillion Dollar Sky

Diamond Disaster

Occator Unleashed

Rebel Uprising

Skypunk Princess Series

Episode 1 (Mer Rescue)

Episode 2 (Paris Underground)

For a complete list, go to www.davidcolello.com.

Sometimes it takes a Princess with a plasma sword to pick up the pieces of a failed world. In the aftermath of climate disaster and the fall of human civilization, a brave few have formed new societies in harmony with nature. Now the AI cities are moving to eradicate these rebels.

Eliana Skybound is an elite Sky Ranger, who charges into a swarm of drones with no fear. Her nanofabric wingsuit makes her a powerful force, but even she has her weaknesses.

Leva Kailani is a Mer princess who has yet to fully choose her biohacked form, which makes her a fierce crystalline scaled distraction of the best kind.

After tragedy strikes, their love has a chance to remake the course of history, but only if they have the strength to endure.

Chapter 1

Eliana Skybound, among the first Sky Rangers, lived in the network of floating platforms her people had launched since the collapse of the Globalcorps Hegemony, and now she floated down calm ocean breezes holding a gleaming metallic dandelion.

Her feet stretched out to test gravity as she came to a stop on a floating spit of a raft scoured clean of debris. She flicked a button, retracting all of the strands of her transport back into a two foot long stem that had a viciously sharp edge to its top half.

Her nanoenhanced secondskin deflected the sunlight, making her appear almost like a moving mirage. Attached to the corner of the driftwood was a paddle of sorts, which Eliana promptly began smashing loudly against the nearby wave crests.

After several seconds of splashing, she placed the paddle down and kneeled. From her wrist slid out a narrow chrome and blue tube, which she brought to her lips before drinking from the middle Atlantic. Such nanofilter straws were now commonplace, even among the scattered tribes.

The sea was calm, with ripples of foam drizzled between the slowly rolling waves. As Eliana was almost finished slaking her thirst, she focused in on the human face swimming up at her rapidly from the depths.

The humanoid sliced through the water like an eel, stopping ten feet from the surface to assess the situation. Each of his legs was flattened into a thick oar, kept separated for increased agility, and ended in wide fanned out feet. This was an outdated biohack, crude by current standards, raising her suspicions.

While she watched, a series of massive bubbles began spewing from the sea merchant, floating up to where Eliana crouched.

'Damn bubble talk,' she thought, 'even their words are wet.'

As the bubbles popped, a garbled message emerged. Friend of Mer?

Eliana rolled her eyes. If she had wanted to kill the wet noodle of a creature, she could have already. In an exaggerated display of condescending slowness, she wiggled her dandelion stem blade and put it into a thigh sheath.

The Mer was unconvinced, flicking his legs to back down deeper while keeping his eyes locked on the surface.

Eliana reached into her pockets and pulled out a small stack of gold coins, letting one drop into the water and drift down to its target. She tapped a foot impatiently, eager to get on her way, but grinned as the Mer snatched the sunken coin and swam up to meet.

The Mer's close cropped dark hair broke the surface first, lifted with infinite control up from the water by expert and effortless leg kicks.

Trade? the Mer got down to business.

She nodded, saving time by showing him a small piece of paper with a few items listed. He grabbed the paper from her hands, to her dismay, reading through the list before his wet hands made a mess of the ink. Most of it was standard resupply, except for the last item, which made the merchant smile.

She wanted to wrap things up already, so she asked his price in sign language. The merman was shocked, but recovered and named a price. Not many Sky People still spoke the Mer's preferred language, which may have inspired him, since the given price seemed fair. The merchant held two fingers up, then disappeared into the darkness.

The clouds stretched out to the horizon, beckoning her home. Trips down to the Soup always made her feel tired.

Hollow clacking of boards perked her ears up, coming from the far end of the platform. It was a new Mer, this one a child, and she had gathered Eliana's list into a small cavity in the gnarled driftwood. The child stared at her, clearly never having seen a Sky Ranger before.

Eliana held up her mesh coin pouch in question, not wishing to scare the child by advancing closer. Suddenly the child sunk down below without warning, leaving the items behind. In the next breath, the original merchant returned, taking the place of the child, likely whom was his daughter.

These open sea traders were a hardy group, but very isolated, so she dare not let her guard down. The trader appeared to be doing the same, and they did nothing but stare at each other for a