Her First Command, Their Last Chance.
For years, Velal dreamt of reaching the top ranks, but her first mission as Executive Officer becomes a nightmare when her battleship, the Patient Watchman, is ambushed by pirates in a chaotic asteroid field.
As missiles tear through their defenses and the captain falls, Velal suddenly finds herself in command. Every choice she makes pulls her ship deeper into the pirates’ web. Abandoned by a cowardly superior, Velal and her multi-species crew find themselves alone, outnumbered, and trapped, surrounded by ruthless pirate ships and their deadly alien allies.
Facing wave after wave of missiles, with her ship’s shields weakening and the crew teetering on the edge of panic, Velal faces the impossible choice: flee to safety or risk everything to free the hundreds of desperate slaves held hostage by the pirates.
With a relentless enemy targeting them from every side, Velal must rely on her tactical skills and the loyalty of her crew to survive. With survival on a knife edge, it’s a brutal test of courage, where one misstep could doom them all.