Prelude to War — T.S. Paul

Many of the galaxy's governments were in a state of shock. Earth's United Nations still existed as a political entity, and its goal was galactic domination! For many planets, Old Earth was a near-forgotten fantasy world that didn't matter anymore. The fact that they had sent out a massive dreadnought and space fleet changed all that. The Cabal was now acting in the open and the Empire was tearing itself to pieces as civil war broke out. The biggest news was that independent Mars had a bigger fleet than anyone had known and had successfully defeated the best that Earth sent at them. But the war with Old Earth was far from over. In fact, it was just starting to heat up. Over Mars, burning wreckage was still falling from the skies. Martian space tugs and salvage crews barely managed to prevent the larger chunks from entering the atmosphere. The planetary city protection shields flared repeatably as they caught some of the debris. I was standing on the roof of our Embassy watching the shields. The technology required to build something like that boggled my mind. Maybe with Mars joining the Alliance they would be willing to share some of the tech? Athena Lee is still Ambassador to Mars. Her position and relationship to the Martian Leader, Amalie, gives her greater access to the galaxy at large. She has come a long way since she was out on the rim in a homemade space station. She sets out to prove that might doesn't always mean right! Join Athena Lee, Wilson, and the CATTs as they prepare to fight the war of their lives.