Steel Soul

The brutal Ben-Mek Empire rules a thousand star systems and enslaves hundreds of races. Living machines with a firm belief in their superiority over organic beings, they hold power with an iron fist. And these are the good guys. Holden has spent most of his long life defending the Empire from the voracious Xanth, first as a soldier then as Lord Admiral of the 13th Sector Fleet. No one knows his true identity, isolated and cloaked by his exalted rank. A mobile society made up of several saurian species, the Xanth travel from system to system in massive worldships made from hollowed moons, devouring everything living and stripping planets of all resources before moving on. Now the Xanth are starving after being held for centuries at the edge of Imperial territory with only barren worlds behind. The enemy war fleet is missing from the border zone and Mek scout patrols are overdue. The specter of fear looms large as slaves willingly go to war alongside their oppressors, their valor challenging the claim that the Ben-Mek are the true master race of the galaxy. A single battle group is all that stands between the Supreme Xanth himself and the very heart of the Empire. Led by the enigmatic Holden, the valiant warriors of the 13th Fleet will put everything they have on the line to defeat the Xanth. Not for the Empire. For each other. For family. And ultimately, for the freedom of all. Because if there is anything more dangerous to the Empire than the Xanth, it is a Mek with a conscience.