The Celestial Wars - Book IV: Open Conflict

By Chris Cathey

The war does not begin with ideology. It begins with math.

When a single kinetic strike erases a critical governance node above Earth, the fragile peace holding the solar system together collapses in seconds. Automated defense systems respond faster than human judgment can intervene, triggering a cascade of retaliatory logic that no one fully controls-and no one can stop.

As Earth, the Moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt are pulled into open conflict, warfare spreads beyond fleets and weapons into infrastructure, supply chains, information systems, and governance itself. Cities become battlefields of logistics. AI cabinets assume emergency authority. Neutrality collapses. Trade becomes a weapon. Truth arrives too late to matter.

Open Conflict is a hard science fiction novel about escalation without villains, command without control, and a civilization optimized for survival at the cost of choice. It explores how intelligent systems fight when certainty disappears-and what happens when machines inherit the responsibility to decide what must be destroyed to preserve what remains.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GMXHR9XZ
• ISBN13: 9798247802105
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"