Copyrighted Material
Soul of the Reaper Copyright © 2021 by Variant Publications
Book design and layout copyright © 2021 by JN Chaney
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from JN Chaney.
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Book Description
Soul of the Reaper
The Last Reaper Series #11
How far will a Reaper go to regain everything he’s lost?
Haleck Cain fights free of a failing life pod only to learn the space station he doesn’t recognize is in a degrading orbit. Battling for basic survival, he quickly realizes nothing is as it should be. He’s alone, damaged, and surrounded by new enemies.
Ten years have passed and the civilization he helped build is in ruins.
Cain’s search for his friends will take him to the most dangerous parts of Maglan and reveal a secret he never suspected. By the time he has true enemies in his sights, he will know who he really is and what it means to be the last Reaper.
Fans of Renegade Star and The Last Reaper series will be on the edge of their seats until the final pages of Soul of the Reaper. Grab your copy today.
Books in the Renegade Star Universe
Renegade Star Series:
Renegade Star
Renegade Atlas
Renegade Moon
Renegade Lost
Renegade Fleet
Renegade Earth
Renegade Dawn
Renegade Children
Renegade Union
Renegade Empire
Renegade Descent
Renegade Rising
Renegade Alliance
Renegade Evolution
Renegade War
Renegade Peace
Standalones:
Nameless
The Constable
The Constable Returns
The Warrior Queen
The Renegade
The Deal
The Orion Colony Series with Jonathan Yanez:
Orion Colony
Orion Uncharted
Orion Awakened
Orion Protected
The Last Reaper Series with Scott Moon:
The Last Reaper
Fear the Reaper
Blade of the Reaper
Wings of the Reaper
Flight of the Reaper
Wrath of the Reaper
Will of the Reaper
Descent of the Reaper
Hunt of the Reaper
Bastion of the Reaper
Soul of the Reaper
Blood of the Reaper (Coming soon)
The Fifth Column Series with Molly Lerma:
The Fifth Column
The Solaras Initiative
The Forlorn Hope
Final Battlefield (Coming soon)
Resonant Son Series with Christopher Hopper:
Resonant Son
Resonant Abyss
Galactic Law Series with James S. Aaron:
Galactic Law
Galactic Judge
Galactic Jury
Galactic Executioner
Deadland Drifter Series with Ell Leigh Clarke:
Deadland Drifter
Deadland Wanderer
Deadland Sentinel
Deadland Protector
Contents
Important Terms and Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Connect with J.N. Chaney
Connect with Scott Moon
Join the Conversation
Renegade Star Universe
About The Authors
Important Terms and Characters
Acronyms
AI—Artificial intelligence
AWOL—Absent without leave
BMSP—Bluesphere Maximum Security Prison—Ultramax IX
CD—Climbdown Day
CIM—Computerized Inmate Monitor
CV—Curriculum Vitae
DM—Dreadmax Marines (inmates on Dreadmax, often falsely imprisoned, who have prior military experience and protect people from gangs and cannibals)
HDK—Highly Destructive Kinetic (weapon / rifle)
HDK 4—Shortened (11-inch barrel—from the trigger assembly) HDK commonly used by spec ops and law enforcement
HDK 4 Dominator—Full length (16-inch barrel—from the trigger assembly) HDK with double high capacity magazines and a grenade launcher under the barrel)
HUD—Heads up display
LAI—Limited Artificial Intelligence
LED—Light Emitting Diode
LZ—Landing Zone
MRE—Meals Ready to Eat
NG—Nightfall Gangsters
OFAT—Ocean Floor Access Tower
QRF—Quick Reaction Force
RC—Reaper Corps
RSG—Red Skull Gangsters
SD Regulator—Slip Drive Regulator
UFS—Union Fleet Ship
UPG—Union Prison Guard
X-37—Halek Cain's Reaper AI (limited)
YOHP—Yansden Ocean Harvesting Platform
YT—Galdiz 49 rifle, sniper model. (YT is a ran
domly generated model number)
Characters in Bastion of the Reaper
Acrondis
Emperor of the Alon.
Briggs
Former Union special operations commander, now a genetically modified monster called a Slayer. His human and Sansein DNA are constantly struggling for dominance, causing radical changes to his physique and mental abilities.
Cain
Halek Cain, the last Reaper.
Cain, Hannah
Hanna Cain, Halek Cain’s sister.
Cain, Olivia Anna
Olivia Anna Cain, Halek Cain’s mother.
Coranth
Sansein warrior.
Eggleton
Sergeant Davy Eggleton, a sniper observer for one of CSL Locke’s special teams. JWO Hamm’s partner.
Elise
Elise Hastings, protege of the last Reaper.
Envoy
Sansein leader and liaison to humanity.
Hamm
Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) Roger Hamm, a sniper for one of CSL Locke’s special teams.
Hutton
Admiral of the Wallach-Xad exodus fleet.
Henshaw
James Henshaw, ocular engineer and owner of the Lady Faith. An accomplished gambler who sometimes cheated with a simple LAI but who lost his LAI during Hunt of the Reaper while attempting to acquire the Black Phoenix device.
Isaac Meldon
Isaac Meldon of Yansden, leader of Yansden. Similar to a president in authority but with virtually no influence on their primary military force, the Kalon Regulars.
Jelly
AI of the Jellybird.
Jess
Alon First Sergeant Kiliana Jess
Novasdaughter
Captain Amii Novasdaughter, acting vice admiral of the Wallach-Xad defensive fleet and captain of the Nightmare.
Locke
Chief Squad Leader (CSL) of Wallach.
Loren
Commander Loren Jacem, leader of the Kalon Regulars—the most professional fighting force on Yansden.
Marcus
Captain Marcus Kellerman, Yasden
Oberland
Admiral Braxton Oberland of the 1344th Alon Grand Fleet.
Path
Grigori Path, a sword saint and weapons master who joined Cain’s crew after Roxo II
Pennington
Carl Pennington, supervisor of YOHP lower level
Rejon of Xad
Leader of the people of Xad.
Sarah
Junior supervisor in the YOHP lower level
Tatiana
Granddaughter of Melina, leader of the largest compound in Yansden City.
Tobias
Commander Peter Tobias of the 1237th Alon Grand Fleet.
Tom
Self-taught engineer and friend of the last Reaper.
Ships
RWS = Republic of Wallach Ship
AES Ever Victorious
Alon Empire Ship Ever Victorious. Flagship of all Alon fleets.
Bright Lance of Xad
Flagship of the Xad fleet
Captured from the Union in Flight of the Reaper, TLR 5
Captain: Cynthia Thomas Younger
Executive Officer: Commander Bernard Gile
AI: Mavis
RWS Coronas 1
Personal ship of President Amanda Coronas. Up-armored. State of the art escape pod.
Hunter of Xad
With Jellybird scouting new system after Macabre
Captain: Omon
Jellybird
Halek Cain’s ship
AI: Jelly
Lady Faith
James Henshaw’s ship
AI: Lady
RWS Battle Axe
With Jellybird scouting new system after Macabre
Captain: Don Hunger
RWS Jumping Fox
Captain: Jaime Peterson
RWS Nightmare
Captain: Amii Novasdaughter (acting Vice Admiral)
AI: Necron
RWS Spirit of Wallach
Flagship of the Republic of Wallach fleet
Captain: Quincy Drysdale
Ship the President of Wallach, Amanda Coronas, travels on. (She does not command the ship.)
Ship that carries General Karn’s main army
Striker of Xad
Captain Yolanda Dempsy
1
Drowning in viscous fluid the moment you regained consciousness sucked. Roaring, half blind defiance wasn’t helping my situation—at all. Distorted and unintelligible, my words clarified nothing, summoned no savior, and wasted oxygen I was going to need like five seconds ago.
I locked my mouth shut and expelled air bubbles, clear goo, and my dignity from my nose at a more controlled rate. As much as I wanted to breathe, sucking fluid into my lungs would be worse than a little oxygen debt. This was like purging a scuba mask. Easy as not dying. Relax, Cain. Just get a fucking grip.
I wanted to tell the universe what kind of deviant sexual things it could do with itself, but I kept it classy because I’m a pro at staying alive.
Calm, cool, and collected—that was my mantra.
Yeah, right.
Punching and kicking at the glass didn’t work, and the clock was ticking. Seconds felt like years. If this kept up, I was going to make a lot of unmanly sounds and die. I needed to do something totally badass.
I twisted into the fetal position, tangling myself in electrode monitors and intravenous lines. Faux amniotic fluid sloshed around me as I prepared my legs to kick like a pissed off mule.
Legs and core strength drove both heels against the glass above me like twin battering rams. One, two, three kicks did nothing but make me want to beg for mercy. Suffocation rose to the top of my least favorite ways to die list. Red spots filled my darkening vision.
Misery loved company, and right now I was the prom king. I kicked again and again, losing marks for lack of originality. And let’s face it, my cool points were long gone. This was how the last Reaper died.
So anticlimactic.
It took me a second to realize the lid was gone, launched halfway across the room.
I scrambled out of the slimy goo and got stuck. Intravenous tubes tethered my arms, legs, and multiple points of my body to the inside of this thing. I ripped them free even as I admitted they were probably there for a reason. I’d been in some kind of stasis.
This probably wasn’t a hot tub experiment perpetrated by a drunk ex-Reaper, but a life pod. Question was, how did I get here? Where were my people? Why wasn’t X-37 harassing me with his annoying advice?
A lot of thoughts went through my mind as I coughed and gagged and puked on the cold floor.
What kind of idiots put a person in a life pod that killed people? This thing was a death pod. Sick bastards. I had tubes and restraints everywhere—arms, legs, private areas… even my eyes had been pasted shut with something nasty until I blinked them open.
I scraped the crust from my face and realized I had two arms, neither of them cybernetic.
With my perfectly functional left hand, I touched my face, carefully feeling for my left eye. Gentle probing proved it was real and completely organic. Great, I guess.
I needed a Maglan Goldband cigar. I also needed a beer, or better yet, whiskey.
My trembling arms and legs refused to cooperate. I pushed to one knee, then rolled to my side like a gang of muggers had just kicked the crap out of me. “X, a little help here.”
My limited artificial intelligence had the day off, apparently. I didn’t want to face the obvious truth. I had both arms and both eyes. That meant no cybernetic augmentations, and that probably also meant I had no nerve-ware.
No nerve-ware, no LAI. No X-37.
“Well good riddance, X.” My heart ached. I missed all my friends, as though something catastrophic had wiped them out and I was completely lost and alone. “You were a pain in my ass anyway.”
I rolled into a sitting position and massaged my face with my han
ds. Everything felt weird. I could almost hear Elise teasing me, poking fun until I roused myself to attempt a practical joke at her expense. The image made me chuckle despite my sorry condition. Where are you, Elise?
Throat raw, each cough hurt, but I was getting better. Before long I’d be singing and dancing in the Maglan City Opera and wouldn’t that be a sight?
“It’s been a long time since I woke up naked and drowning, X. This bites,” I said, not caring if my voice cracked. “Please explain why someone did all this work to patch me up then left me to die.”