Sect War (ePub)

On a world where trees are hundreds of feet tall with leaves more than a dozen feet wide, the inhabitants are dwarfed by the underlying vegetation of the immense forest floor. The forces of good and evil pair off in small-scale battles to determine the destiny of a colony, whether they live free of tyranny or succumb to the will of a brutal oppressive regime. The difficult terrain made wheeled vehicles impractical and limited designs of military craft to those that closely resemble the only creatures capable of efficiently traversing the terrain--insects. All flying craft received the default name of sects and often incorporated design features too complex for most pilots to master. The first conflict using fragile unreliable sect craft ended in a bitter stalemate. It was more a pause in the fighting while both sides labored to reconstitute. Much has changed since then with technological advancements in flying craft design and complexity. The Feroci are in the preparatory stage of carrying out the final offensive to annihilate the last remaining colony of the descendants that left the Grand Hive generations ago to seek prosperity. The Feroci have developed secret advanced crafts and a cunning strategy. Weary of war, the last colony has become complacent in limiting engagements to small scrimmages and mostly defensive operations. The colony leadership suspects the Feroci are planning a major offensive but have no idea where or when. They began dispatching scouts to find clues, but colony pilots hesitate to fly close to the Feroci homeland for fear of encountering the enemy's leading ace in a craft called the Sect Slayer. A new sect crew chief encounters the enemy ace on his first combat mission and manages to survive after the pilot is incapacitated. In the process, he discovers love, a jealous new foe that wants to ruin his career, new allies, an old friend that wants to even the odds, and a determined enemy ace that wants to exact revenge against him and lead the Feroci forces to assured victory. So begins the Sect War.