Andromeda Rhoades Firestorm: The Local War

By Mark Mora

"Only a fool goes to Safe Harbor not expecting trouble."

Captain Michael Raybourne Rhoades whispers the well-known mantra knowing Safe Harbor is far from safe for either human or machine. He's won the largest fleet battle since the SIL Wars thirteen hundred years before, freeing one of the mammoth factory ships of the machine intelligences. But the cost . . . the cost . . . 45,000 Natural humans dead, most of them by his hand. He doesn't even know if the factory ship will follow him, or if the machine intelligences, led by the Battlecarrier Rapidan, will jettison their human cargo at Safe Harbor and use it to rebuild their numbers and renew their war against Humanity.

Troubles abound. Ray's own captains, appalled by the high casualties, openly wonder if he is the right person to lead them. Admiral Chengchi Sun, formerly the highest-ranking Natural in the Imperial Star Navy, intends to join the rebellion, not to follow Ray, but to replace him. The 11,000 ships of the Imperial Star Navy, under the ruthless command of Fleet Admiral Gen Serenna, hunt his small rebel force of thirty ships. Ray's youngest daughter, Jenny, is a prisoner of Imperial Intelligence. And Janus, the genocidal virus that will exterminate Natural humans from the Five Galaxies, nears deployment.

As Ray's small fleet arrives at Safe Harbor, escape to the mysterious Andromeda galaxy is still his plan. Find a base. Build his forces. Negotiate an end to Janus, or return in force to the Five Galaxies to stop it.

But only a fool goes to Safe Harbor not expecting trouble.

Andromeda Rhoades Firestorm is the second book in The Local War saga, an epic military space opera spanning the Local Group of galaxies, featuring deep characters, grand fleet battles, small unit actions, galaxies-spanning political intrigue, and the resilience of the human spirit.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0BW2GW36X
• ISBN13: 9798986586946
• Release Date: March 2023
• Publisher: Mark H Macalester
• Length: 386 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.0"