The head spymaster from the Obsidian Empire was not happy.

  Reports from the field were coming in slower than usual, and the High Monarch and his council were demanding updates.

  Updates the spymaster didn’t have.

  Worlds that the Empire had long ago captured and processed were rebelling. Combat Force Projection planets were being systematically attacked. And those attacks were surprisingly effective.

  All threads leading to those responsible were cut off, and the spymaster was left with nothing.

  No actionable intelligence.

  No good news.

  “They’re going to have my head for this,” he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.

  He looked at the glass on his desk.

  Then at the bottle.

  Blue liquor swirled inside like it was alive.

  He swiped the glass away with the back of his hand, and it crashed to the floor of his darkened office, shattering into a thousand pieces.

  Someone would clean it up in the morning.

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  He grabbed the bottle and took a deep pull directly from it.

  The blue liquid burned as it went down, and the spymaster exhaled to soothe his throat. But he needed the pain to focus in this moment.

  He picked up the next report in the so far useless pile. It was entitled “Hyades Transit Nexus: After-Action Report.”

  The spymaster rolled his eyes.

  He almost set the report aside, but one name caught his attention, so he read the whole thing.

  ---

  After-Action Report

  Location: Hyades Transit Nexus

  Galaxy: The Milky Way

  Territory: Orion Celestial Accord

  Capture Team #12328 arrived on Hyades Station under the guise of leisure travelers searching for high level targets from the Accord.

  They filed a request to capture Candidate 2400957, named Kaela Sirova. She was traveling with Accord Emissary Ambassador Skrixx.

  This one approved the request and witnessed the attempt.

  Capture Team cloaked their target, but she escaped through a skill utilizing a dimensional portal. She then proceeded to slay all three in a brutal and rapid takedown.

  All members of Capture Team #12328 are officially deceased.

  Recommend finding and tracking Candidate 2400957.

  Proceed with caution.

  ---

  “Ambassador Skrixx, eh?” the spymaster said.

  He brought up a file on his tablet.

  Skrixx had been somewhere inside this Milky Way galaxy for some unknown purpose. His movements were always a mystery to the Empire.

  “Why was he transiting through Hyades, and who is this Kaela Sirova?” the spymaster wondered.

  He typed his notes and completed his file for the High Monarch.

  Perhaps he had something to report after all.

  Beyond Horizon's Reach.

  This concludes book four of The Ascension Framework.

  As always, it will be available in e-book and paperback, and free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

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  I will update this fiction listing as soon as I am ready to begin posting chapters.

  Here is the synopsis:

  Resistance is crushed.

  Entire species vanish beneath its shadow, used up and discarded as though they were nothing.

  But that future may be arriving far sooner than anyone expected.