Brutal Response Series

Mia Verick's upbringing was . . . unusual. Most young women raised in the Kerrick Confederacy of Aligned Planets go to school. Mia had daily firearms practice, tactical exercises, and pilot training. She never cared about her strange life, only about living up to the expectations of her father. His mysterious job often takes him away on secret missions, leaving her to self-training until the day she can surpass him. Now she'll never get the chance. When a messenger from the city arrives, Mia's not ready for the harsh truth. Her father has died under classified circumstances. No one will tell her the truth, leaving her with only one option. Can she ferret out the truth about her father's death by herself? Her audacious plan takes her far from home to the world's largest city. Betrayals push her to an even more surprising place. The most elite fighter training school in the KCAP is the only place she can earn the influence she needs to learn the truth about her father. Before that, she'll need to survive a true nest of vipers: a private military academy. Can a girl taught to shoot first and ask questions later learn to operate in a dangerous environment where everyone is friend and foe?

Mia escaped in one piece from the ice ball masquerading as a planet, but what now? To start, she's got a laundry list of questions about her father and her origins. It's just her luck that the answers to her questions have the potential to topple regimes. She has to tread carefully or make things worse. Before she can begin her search, she needs to make it through training. The pressure ratchets as the rivalries among the trainees become ferocious. A little bit of skullduggery can go a long way toward ending a career . . . or ending a life. Can Mia turn her crew of seemingly hopeless misfits into a flight team capable of helping her survive the program? Other factions are emerging with hidden agendas and insidious methods of achieving their aims. Mia's father trained her for almost anything that the galaxy can throw at her, but she's not sure the threat of total destruction was what he had in mind . . . She needs to keep her mind sharp and her team close as she gambles on the chance she might crash and burn before she unveils the answers waiting on the other side of the secrets and lies. Will Mia's dogged determination give her the strength she needs to rise from the flames?

Do the crime, do the time? That's how it is supposed to work. Mia is headed to Ice, the premiere military prison world in the KCP. She's going to find out firsthand that there's something rotten on this cold rock. Her stint on the frostbitten crag is only supposed to last a few weeks, but she soon discovers there are those determined to make it a more . . . permanent arrangement. She was ready for everything from brutal guards to vicious inmates, but there's something more going on beneath the surface. Mia fears that the nefarious forces in the KCP she suspects killed her father are pulling the strings. She's got to be careful because the players behind the conspiracies aren't going to give her a second chance if she gets caught in their trap. Can she survive long enough to put the pieces together? Or will making it through each night to see another bleak day take priority? Mia needs to find some unlikely allies if she's going to overcome the elements and forces arrayed against her. Luckily, even on Ice there's a chance to make alliances if you're not the type to judge manmade monsters by their appearances. Can the most ferocious pilot this side of the 10k Universe unfreeze her wings?

Mia has been on the run before, but being named a traitor to her own species means the heat is turned up to max. The struggle to keep her ship among the stars and her fighters loaded when even the criminal class won't work with her becomes her main focus. When all else fails, Mia's only choice is to pivot and get creative. Space has never been so dangerous . . . The shootouts and dogfights awaiting Mia are par for the course, but the outlaw flight captain has her work cut out for her on other fronts. It's not just her own people she's got to worry about. A sinister alien force known as the Bleakers are making their move. Add in a horde of bounty-hungry mercs and complications in her crew's dynamic, and she's got one sticky situation to navigate. As always, the way out for Mia is through. Can she claw her way out of this mess? Or is everything she's fought for about to blow up in her face?

With her name cleared and an impressive rep building around her, Mia thought things would get easier. No such luck. She can't even go shopping at her favorite used starship lot without assassins emerging from the woodwork. Dropping bodies to deal with her problems has never been an issue for Mia before. Her father's legacy and her skills made sure she would never be caught unawares, but taking her enemies out is a short-term solution at best. At worst, it could unravel all her progress. So, what's a freshly exonerated fugitive going to do? Head right into trouble again, of course. This time, Mia's aiming higher because that's where the shots are coming from. With a rogue's gallery of allies, enemies, and oddities all around, she must figure out who her enemies are before they find her first. Find them she will, and once she has what she needs? The forecast shows heavy showers of starfighter violence approaching the unlucky denizens who thought they could take Mia out from the sidelines. Will Mia solidify her reputation as someone who isn't to be messed with in yet more white-knuckle space battles? Or will the dangers of dealing in dark corridor intrigue prove to be her undoing?