Books in Star Crusader series

The Alliance Navy's renowned assault carrier ANS Relentless is sent into action for the first time in more than a year. She’s been significantly enlarged, upgraded and improved with Byotai armour and heavy weaponry. But most significant of all, Relentless is the first carrier to embark a squadron of the alliance’s newest fighters, the deadly F26 Firehawks.Nate and Billy have completed their Academy training and are thrilled to find they’re to be returned to their old home, the Alliance assault carrier Relentless. They are to bolster the ranks of the enlarged Knighthawk Squadron, as two of its most famous pilots. What they find in the Rim will stun every soul in the Alliance and threatens to bring an old enemy back into the fray. With the Alliance on the brink of a new civil war, only Relentless and her band of plucky pilots can make the difference.

Nate has a talent for space combat after hundreds of victories in the Star Crusader videogame simulation. His skills are unique, enough to gain him a rare privilege. The chance to join five other Alliance cadets and escape the dull routine of the classroom. They will enter a fierce competition light-years away in the ancient Byotai Empire. Yet days after their arrival a rebellious faction begins a bloody mutiny that spreads like wildfire. The time for competition has ended; the time of war has begun.A handful of capital ships attempt to avoid the massacre, but only Relentless escapes. Nate and his friends are aboard, part of the few to make it out alive. Relentless is a heavily armoured assault ship, a relic from another age, but most of her crew members are dead or missing. Nate and his fellow cadets have to face the unthinkable. Under the guidance of Lieutenant Higgins, the ship's last fighter pilot, the six cadets have just days to practice operating the ship's fighters. There are no others. Only they can defend the ship, or face death at the hands of the enemy.

Nate and his friends are expert gamers, and now veteran combat pilots. They have proven their skills by inflicting defeat on the enemy and saving their ship in the process. The passengers and crew regard them as heroes, yet after their violent escape, they are to be sent home to a life of study and boredom. Their ship, ANS Relentless, sets off to join the fleet to embark on a secret operation. A new battle is about to begin, and Nate and his gamers are unwilling to be pushed aside so easily. The dangerous assignment for Relentless is one that will require every pilot onboard to join the fight.The Orion Battlegroup assembles under the command of the war hero, Admiral Churchill. Desperate for pilots for the coming fight, Churchill gives Nate's unit their chance. They will reform the defunct Knighthawk Squadron, and join with their comrades in the battle to help their Byotai allies. Churchill's fleet is heads into hostile territory, a place where the enemy will outnumber them ten to one. As Nate climbs into the cockpit of his Bullnose Gunship, he still has no idea of the suicidal risks they are about to take. The Empire has already fallen, and the flames of revolution are spreading fast.

The invasion of the Centauri Rim has begun, and Knighthawk Squadron leads the way. They fight in both the real and virtual worlds, where they use their unique skills to throw the enemy off balance. This last battle will be fought against the mighty stronghold of the separatists, an impregnable fortress hidden inside the Rim known simply as The Rock. And in their path lies a vast array of warships, pirate vessels, thousands of soldiers and a secretive leader who promises a future freed of alien influence. A grim future where Humanity can realise its destiny as masters of the known universe.What should be the final battle of the war threatens to spread the conflict to encompass every corner of the Alliance. As the crisis reaches its inevitable climax, the Knighthawks discover a dark secret. A secret that could bring the Alliance to its knees, even in its moment of ultimate victory.

It is a dark time for the Alliance, with their forces scattered before the advancing legions of the unstoppable Star Empire. Further disastrous news arrives that General Makos and his loyal Byotai warriors have been utterly routed in battle, leaving the Alliance no option but to fall back to Helios.Nate returns home with Battlefleet Victorious, only to find the entire Alliance fleet gathered to give battle. Admiral Churchill has assembled many squadrons of cruisers, destroyers and battleships for the inevitable arrival of their undefeated foe. Princeps Tahkeome and his grand fleet is just days away, and soon he will arrive at Helios, the gateway to the Alliance and beyond.There will be no rest for Nate and his friends, and they are hastily mobilised for battle. Heroes of the past and present reunite, bringing cadres of warriors and mercenaries from a dozen worlds to stand up to the invasion. Nate will face a battle unlike any he has seen before as the combined might of three great powers join battle in a fight that will change the galaxy forever.

Nate and his videogamer friends are given the chance of a lifetime, a six-month tour aboard the Alliance’s newest battleship, ANS Dreadnought. She’s the first in her class, and is the most powerful ship in the sector. Bigger and better protected than any ship before her, Dreadnought carries an arsenal of deadly weapons that can annihilate a small armada and can travel between the stars in a matter of days. There is no deadlier vessel in existence.Two years at the Academy has tested Nate’s flying, combat and technical skills to the limit. But nothing will come close to his greatest test. Captain Gaunt, one of the Alliance’s most decorated officers plans to use Dreadnought to start a war, one that will engulf the region and cost many lives. As Dreadnought rolls out her guns to engage the very people Nate calls his friends, he has to make a decision. Does he stand by and let war spread through the sector, or will he lead the cadets in a mutiny against a beloved hero of the Alliance?

Nate faces his greatest challenge when his squadron embarks on a near impossible mission. Of the hundreds of pilots in the fleet, only they have experience operating alongside the alien pilots of the Byotai Imperial Fleet. Even if this experience was gained only in simulation. Over the past weeks, the videogame pilots have proven their mettle in battle. Now they will face the ultimate test, and join the elite Byotai pilots aboard the battleship Furiosa. Ahead of them lies the most critical phase of the conflict.A battle looms between the two superpowers, and the combined strength of the Imperial military and Alliance stands a small chance against the might of the marauding Star Empire. The vast squadrons of enemy warships, and unstoppable legions of Techno fanatics, acknowledge no borders or laws. Their sole aim is a cynical crusade to win glory for their half-blood leader, the Princeps Tahkeome. With time running out, only the mythical battleship Furiosa and her brave crew and pilots can make the dangerous run to locate the missing ships. They must rally every vessel and bring them to Helios Prime. The alternative, to face annihilation in the devastating battle that is to come.

Nate and his friends undertake their greatest adventure yet, when their squadron joins BATTLE FLEET VICTORIOUS on a top-secret mission. The elite group of powerful ships makes up the fastest and deadliest Battle Fleet in the entire Alliance. They are heading deep behind enemy lines, to where the Star Empire has located an ancient and deadly weapon. One that would give them the means to defeat the Alliance in a single overwhelming battle.As the pilots of Ironclad Squadron arrive on board the massive assault carrier, Nate discovers this is no conventional military force. Their commander is the infamous Colonel Gun, and the assault teams will be led by no other than Major Spartan, the Alliance’s greatest warrior. Nate must leave the safety of the simulator videogame, and use his skills to prepare the fleet’s rookie pilots to provide fighter cover for the entire mission. This is Nate’s greatest challenge, and the fate of the fleet, and the entire Alliance lies in his hands.

Nate and his friends in Ironclad Squadron are returning to the fleet when they detect a mysterious signal. Sensing a trap, Colonel Gun sends Nate out alone in his captured fighter to scout the source. The signal is emitting from inside the heart of the abandoned Kalar Anchorage. This massive facility was once the Byotai Empire’s greatest shipyard, but now it lies cold and lifeless. Or does it? Upon arrival Nate runs headlong into the centre of a fierce battle. On one side are the numerous forces of the insidious Orion Interstellar Empire. On the other, the powerful attack cruisers of the Byotai outlaw, Warlord Katanga.Kalar Anchorage has become a refuge for the lost and the damned. The former facility is populated by displaced people and wounded soldiers that have fought, and lost against Star Empire incursions. As well as the exhausted crews of a number of ships. Yet the forces of Katanga, though weakened by the fighting, still wish vengeance upon those that seek their utter annihilation. Katanga’s desire for further violence may come earlier than expected. An entire fleet along with numerous ground forces has entered the system, and they will not leave until every defender is dead or captured. With no time to fully abandon the station, the preliminary skirmishes erupt into a major battle. The last stronghold that stands between the Orion Interstellar Empire and the hastily mobilised fleets of the Alliance. The Siege of Kalar has begun.

Nate had never expected to see a real war, but that was a month ago. Back when he'd been a videogamer with dreams of space combat. Now he was a pilot in Knighthawk Squadron, and in the middle of a violent warzone. The Star Empire and its vast legions are utterly committed to the elimination of the shattered Byotai Empire. They are ruthless, and ambitious beyond measure. As the terror spreads, millions of loyalists flee to the borders, desperate to avoid the violence while pursued by ruthless militias bent on destruction and enslavement. There is a faint glimmer of hope for the Empire, and it takes the shape of the fifteen ships of the Orion Battlegroup. Safely hidden inside this fleet is the sole survivor of the Byotai Royalty, and with him, the only chance of peace in the region. With time running out, Admiral Churchill and his officers hatch an audacious plan. It is a plan that could allow them to escape the clutches of the Star Empire, and rally all remaining loyalists to this last prince. If they fail, nothing will stop the spread of the insidious new enemy its quest for total domination.