Co-written with M.A. Larkin the Black Ocean: Astral Prime series hearkens back to location-based space sci-fi classics like Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Astral Prime builds on the rich Black Ocean universe, introducing a colorful cast of characters for new and returning readers alike. Come along for the ride as a minor outpost in the middle of nowhere becomes a key point of interstellar conflict.

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Astral Prime Complete Collection: Missions 1-12

A station at the edge of the galaxy is about to become the center of the universe

Cedric The Brown is a wizard with a dark past. In an effort to make amends, he hides in plain sight among the residents of a space station he once nearly destroyed. Cut adrift by a bankrupt megacorp, the mobile mining station sets off to uncharted space in a desperate attempt to scrape by.

What the stumbled onto would change the course of the galaxy.

A planet.

A lost alien race.

A secret that will lead to all-out war.

How will a station filled with scoundrels and crewed by former miners handle being the fulcrum of history?

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Astral Prime Mission Pack 1: Mission 1-4

They found a planet where none belonged. They should have left it alone.

With her company bankrupt, Hiroko takes her mobile mining station as severance pay. Trekking to the edge of the galaxy in search of a way to keep afloat, she stumbles across a planet adrift in astral space.

Instead of registering the anomaly as a hazard, Hiroko embraces the opportunity to investigate. But she didn't know she'd be triggering a wild adventure of interstellar intrigue as factions vie for the ancient secrets guarded by the planet.

Calvin was just here to help out. As a wizard on the run, he felt obliged to help rebuild the station he'd almost destroyed. Posing as a lowly star-drive mechanic, he gets by performing odd jobs until an emergency exposes his true magical strength....

They wouldn't be in this mess without him. Nor are they getting out of it without him.

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Astral Prime Mission Pack 2: Missions 5-8

They'd discovered an ancient galactic wonder. Then they discovered its owners.

By becoming the gateway to the mysterious and incalculably valuable Shadow Planet, Astral Prime had become prime galactic real estate. Poised at a nexus of religious pilgrimage, scientific curiosity, and military obsession, the site could be the key to the future of the Milky Way.

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Astral Prime Mission Pack 3: Missions 9-12

The search for knowledge will be the salvation of mankind... or the destruction of the universe.

The temptation of ancient wisdom proved too much for them to resist. Now, Hiroko and Cedric must each face the consequences of the secrets they unlocked—and the terrors they recklessly unleashed.

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Grab the individual missions

Shadow Planet: Mission 1

A space station at the edge of the galaxy just found a planet that's slipping off the edge entirely.

After losing control of his magic, wizard Cedric The Brown blew up his boss and nearly crashed a space station into a planet. Determined to make amends, he pledges to help the mining station negotiate with the nearby planet's mysterious magical inhabitants.

With nothing but the bankrupt station as severance pay, Director Fujita Hiroko moves to the edge of the galaxy to keep the station afloat as an independent mining operation. When the nearby planet vanishes with her and her survey team still on the surface, hopes of mining are quickly replaced by a more pressing goal: finding a way back to her station.

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Wizard Zero: Mission 2

An ancient ruin holds miraculous technology and a deadly secret.

When a survey team unearths buildings on prospective mining planet, at first, it’s hailed as an archeological jackpot. But the ancient structures are more advanced than anyone’s seen. And the hedge against technology is a wizard.

Cedric and Hiroko lead a team to study the mysterious underground facility from a lost age. And when they discover the alien caretaker, he’s none too happy that primitives have infested his home.

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Shielded Sun: Mission 3

Most energy shields keep weapons out. This one traps everything inside.

With rival factions in orbit around Shadow Planet, the obvious threat was one another. When the defenses of an ancient alien outpost activate, trapping everyone in the star system, it becomes clear that there was more to worry about beneath the planet’s surface than in orbit around it.

As Hiroko plays peacemaker to three rival fleets, Cedric and Kane lead an effort to shut down the power source keeping the system-wide energy field operational.

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Prime Guardian: Mission 4

Magic and technology don’t mix. Now, the one exception to that rule is up for grabs.

The ancient solution to get magic and tech to coexist lies within an alien structure older than any race in the galaxy. Now, the balance of power threatens to tip. As factions reinforce their fleets for a war to claim the ultimate technological prize, Hiroko finds herself trapped between three races—one of them her own—in a quest where even victory promises disaster.

Down beneath the planet’s surface, Cedric delves into the workings of the mysterious alien technology that works like magic. Discovering the key to the untapped power it possesses may be Astral Prime’s only hope.

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Systemic Treachery: Mission 5

An old foe returns to collect a high price.

The syndicate had given her an ultimatum: disappear. Watched and wary, Fujita Hiroko obeyed for years, burying herself in work. Now one of the galaxy's most recognized faces, owner of the universe's must-see tourist trap, she can't hide any longer.

And that's going to cost her.

The Ruckers don't take kindly to loose ends, and they don't want their history with the station director coming to light. Already struggling to keep up with the demands of the massive influx of pilgrims, scientists, and tourists to Astral Prime, Hiroko won't be prepared for what's coming her way. All the new security personnel won't be enough to stop the assassin.

Because the assassin has help on the inside.

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Astral Messiah: Mission 6

Some actions can't be undone. Some can, but shouldn't.

With Astral Prime in chaos, Kendra hatches a desperate attempt to use forbidden alien technology to bring her lover back from the dead. As the struggle for control of the station unfolds, her efforts go horribly awry and plunge everyone into a strange and unfamiliar universe.

Stranded in a desolate sector of an unknown universe, the citizens of the station cling to hope and ration their supplies of food, water, and medical essentials. But what hope can there be for rescue when even they don't know where they are?

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Parallel Enforcers: Mission 7

They stared too long into the abyss. The abyss is going to do more than just stare back.

They toyed with forces they didn't understand. Now, the inhabitants of Astral Prime are going to pay the price.

Their foray into an alternate universe has not gone unnoticed.

Nor will it go uninvestigated.

While Jace Jarvis attempts to reassemble the pieces of a broken life, a new foe threatens to steal that life away yet again. With Hiroko shepherding a new flock and Cedric guarding the planet below, Astral Prime faces an invasion they might not be able to stop.

They'll have to turn to the unlikeliest of allies if there's any hope to save the station.

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Multiversal Truth: Mission 8

The search for Truth meets the fight for dominance.

In the aftermath of the station's invasion, Hiroko tries to rally the survivors around a new religion: hers. Combining her knowledge of anthropology with her alien enlightenment, she hopes to bring the galaxy together in spiritual awakening. Meanwhile, Cedric delves into the origins of the stations attackers, seeking a deeper understanding of why they came in the first place.

And while both of them are occupied down on the planet's surface, Roland Kane is poised to seize control of Astral Prime—to a chorus of cheers from the inhabitants.

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Void Kraken: Mission 9

That void kraken is out there! It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. And it eats planets.

Unleashed from an alternate universe, the space-borne leviathan dubbed "void kraken" terrorizes the galaxy. The most powerful weapons barely scratch it. Whole fleets fall before it. Its movements are erratic. Its motives inscrutable. All anyone knows for sure is that if it isn't stopped, it's going to eat its way through the galaxy.

Fujita Hiroko feels responsible for the beast's presence in the Milky Way. She tries to rally support to combat the creature, to form an unprecedented inter-species alliance to find a way to stop its rampage.

Meanwhile, Cedric tries to find out all he can, searching the vaieen archive for records of the ancient race's own encounters with the void kraken. If he can find out how those mighty techno-wizards fought them and survived, maybe there's hope for the galaxy.

But there's no time to waste. The stuunji homeworld is in the monster's path. If they don't act quickly, the peaceful refugee planet is doomed.

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Stellar Rampage: Mission 10

The enemy of my enemy... is probably hoping we weaken each other until they can finish us off.

The galaxy is in a state of panic. A horror has been unleashed, and it's a threat to every inhabited planet. Luckily, it currently rampages across a sparsely populated part of the Black Ocean. But even that callous view only holds limited hope for the fortunate species whose worlds lay safer by virtue of distance. Sooner or later, someone is going to have to destroy it.

Hiroko plays the role of diplomat. In the face of a threat to all species, she hopes to forge a multi-species alliance to combat the monster.

Meanwhile, Cedric delves into the ancient archives in the hopes that the vaieen left records of the weapons they used to fight this beast.

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Core Threat: Mission 11

To fight is to lose. Not to fight is to die.

The galaxy has gone from troubled to doomed. Now faced with a multiplying threat, the races of the Milky Way are faced with a foe who cannot be stopped, cannot be turned back. And yet, for the sake of their own survival, they fight on in the desperate hope that they can hold out long enough to prevail.

And they're running out of time. One of the ARGO core worlds may be next on the menu for the world-devouring monsters.

As Cedric frantically searches for an alternative way to combat the abominations, Hiroko attempts to halt the proliferation of ancient weapons that are only making the situation worse in the long run.

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Terminal Gambit: Mission 12

Every mistake carries a price. The worst accrue interest. All come due eventually.

Cedric has discovered the means to fight back, but the price is high. Not all species are capable of carrying out his methods. It's one thing asking ships and crews to fight; it's another to ask them to sacrifice themselves. And yet, the valiant ships of Earth Navy continue to do so.

If only the rest of the galaxy were so brave.

A dark plan unfolds to doom one universe to save another. And an old foe will have to decide where his loyalties lie: to his species, or to himself?

When the war with the cosmic horrors reaches an epic crescendo, everyone is going to have to decide how much they're willing to sacrifice for the sake of their fellow sentient creatures.

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Convocation hoodie

Wish you could live in the Black Ocean world? I can't promise you'll win an argument with the universe, but you CAN wear your own wizard hoodie (complete with Convocation medallion), disguise your boring soda or beer with the Earth's Preferred can cooler, or fly the Poet Fleet Jolly Roger.