Shining World, page 1
Copyrighted Material
Shining World Copyright © 2024 by Variant Publications
Book design and layout copyright © 2024 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.
www.jnchaney.com
http://www.scottmoonwriter.com
1st Edition
CONTENTS
Don’t Miss Out
Previously in Homeworld Lost:
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
Culture & Ceremonies
Organizations
People
Places
Races
Ships
Technology, Artifacts, & Other Small Miracles Of The Reach
Words & Phrases
Join the Conversation
Connect with J.N. Chaney
Connect with Scott Moon
About the Authors
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PREVIOUSLY IN HOMEWORLD LOST:
Homeworld Lost (Homeworld Lost, Book 1)
Major Noah Gantz volunteered to test the United Earth’s revolutionary warp bubble technology and found himself grievously injured and stranded galaxies away from home. Kayan, a living starship, rescued him and used her biomass to heal his wounds, thus forging a physiological and neurological bond previously unknown to either life-form.
With the ship stressed and functioning poorly, Noah ventured into unexplored sections of the vessel and learned Kayan had a passenger, Hoyon, that had stayed too long and was adversely affecting her internal biome. Noah and his new friends fought off a swarm of parasites, then helped Kayan deliver Hoyon to a seed world to fill it with life.
Throughout his struggles to find his place in the Reach galaxy, he discovered what he had feared from the beginning was true.
Noah learned the first test pilot, Tate Collins, not only survived but had risen to power in the Gavant Reach and embarked upon a dangerous scheme to return to United Earth as a galactic conqueror.
Forsaken Crown (Homeworld Lost, Book 2)
After his first close call with Collins, Noah journeyed to a forgotten world to save one of his new friends, the legendary warrior Wozim of Tyton VII. He discovered his friend was in line to rule the warrior race but had been fleeing the responsibility. If Wozim took up the crown, he may have had to kill a slew of challengers, including his nephew, Kyldan of Tyton VII.
Noah was faced with a devil’s bargain and eventually submitted to wearing a piece of alien technology that was equal parts a blessing and a curse. When push came to shove, he used its power to stop Collins from embarking on his ruthless conquest of United Earth. While this worked, it drove Collins to new levels of madness. Once Noah and his friends discovered that Collins had captured a living warship thought long dead, their showdown led them on a race to a temple on Ryyth to secure the last pieces of dangerous technology standing between the Gavant Reach and United Earth.
Though they did escape with artifacts that remained on Ryyth, one was missing, and they suspected it was the master key for all the ancient technology. Furthermore, Noah believed these devices were created to stop a worse threat than any of them had imagined. Their journey was far from complete, but he became stronger than ever, and his friends had his back.
Leviathan’s Bane (Homeworld Lost, Book 3)
In Leviathan’s Bane, Noah accompanied Wozim to Tyton VII, where the battle lord faced Kyldan, other detractors, and his pregnant wife—Mizow. She straightened him out and set him on the path to doing his duty. Noah’s appreciation for Tyton culture deepened, and he learned more of their ability to use planet-stepping to defend their homeworlds. Battle lords of each of their seven worlds have the ability to take a limited number of troops and material directly from one planet to another to aid in defense (of Tyton worlds only). He also learned that the ability was misused for civil war in past eras of Tyton unrest.
With Collins still at large, Noah and Solen ventured back to Milyn station, which was recovering from the Gavant crackdown there. Solen Far’s informant shared information about Collins and his fleet, but they were beset by a dangerous shadow calling himself 12X before they could act on it. Hash, the Mavik guard captain from Jyko Fortress, helped them, but all three were cast back to Jyko when 12X forced Noah to use the Seer boots.
Noah took the opportunity to speak with Zyzocal at Jyko Fortress in hopes of learning if there were similarities between the Tyton ability to planet-step and what the Seer boots had just done to him and his friends. He learned that the Seer devices weren’t what they seemed, and that he shouldn’t have assumed he knew what the alien technology was for.
Once Noah, Solen, and Hash made their way back to Milyn, they were reunited with Kayan and the others and set out to locate Collins and rescue Montow and Leana from Azok. This harrowing encounter with the living warship set the stage for a future conflict none of them would forget.
The race for the master key began in earnest. At a pivotal turning point in the mad dash across the Reach, Noah realized three United Earth ships had arrived in the galaxy. He decided to continue his pursuit of the master key rather than allow Collins to get it first.
In the system of Essal Aon, Noah and the others fought Collins and his best troops for the master key and obtained it. Azok turned on Kayan and nearly killed her before they learned to use the true abilities of the master key to star jump to Earth. Contrary to what they had assumed and hoped, the master key did not control the other Seer devices but unlocked star routes between balanced galaxies, such as the Reach and the Milky Way.
Collins pursued them with Azok and none of the rest of his fleet. Even with the odds improved, Noah, Kayan, and the others faced the fight of their lives to capture Collins and send Azok running.
Noah briefly reunited with his grandfather and learned he had become an important political figure in the United Earth and that the UE Deep Space program had been building technology and ships as fast as possible.
He accepted orders to find the three UE ships, guide them through the dangerous political situations in the Reach, and do whatever he could to protect Earth now that the fate of the two galaxies was entangled. 98X, the Monitor, warned him to avoid 12X, who he called Talcordor.
Paragon’s Fall (Homeworld Lost, Book 4)
With General Tate Collins and Kilis Ryg in a United Earth maximum security prison, Noah Gantz and his crew scrambled back to the Gavant Reach after learning the UEDS mission lead by Colonel David Patricks was in trouble.
Noah and his friends headed for Destinia, the world where they left a Hoyon seed ship behind early in their adventures. The last distress call from Colonel Patricks conveyed that they were hiding on the planet while a mysterious force of aliens invaded the system. Noah and his friends believed these creatures matched the descriptions of the Taliz bodies they saw in the debris field around Essal Aon.
Noah and his crew faced a major loss when Solen was forcibly recalled to the ROSPM service due to her lack of progress reports and general cooperation with her supervisors. Neither Noah nor any of Kayan’s crew realized she had been going so far out on a limb to remain with them. Now her quiet loyalty to the team was going to cost her. They learned she would be given the hardest jobs possible by her superiors in order to break her or prove her worth to the ROSPM.
Hash received news that his family was in danger from a natural disaster and a sudden invasion of strange aliens. Kayan’s crew helped as much as they could on his homeworld, Mavik Prime, but were forced to leave the Mavik guard captain there. After losing Solen and Hash, Noah and the others were starting to feel the pressure of a mission going wrong.
They pressed on, aware that the UEDS crew was on borrowed time.
In the Destinia system, they encountered Celia Kilis, the new captain of the Kayan hunter, the Kon, who had found the developing planet and wanted her brother back immediately—almost as much as she wanted answers about what the Ka
Unfortunately, that wasn’t their worst problem. The Taliz swarm had launched a second invasion and seemed determined to destroy Kayan’s crew. Noah and his friends learned the Taliz were tools of the Seer. Noah resisted the Seer demands to return the devices he was just learning to use. He discovered that the five Seer devices were left in the Reach on purpose, and he refused their promises and manipulation even as he attempted to use the weapons against their creators, the Seer.
Noah and his friends rescued the UEDS crew, made a bargain with Celia Kilis of the Gavant Kon, and fled to Tyton VII.
When the Taliz swarm reached Tyton VII, Wozim’s homeworld, they banded together and drew the wrath of the Taliz to a world that had been explored by Tytons but never colonized, T89 Byko. The Taliz armadas and an ominous fleet of Seer world ships arrived with a captured Pya, and the stakes rose far higher than anyone thought possible. There was never more than one Pya, and last Noah knew, 98X was hunting her in the Milky Way. The living starship was the one that allowed all others to travel greater and greater distances. Pya was the oldest of the living ships, and she urged Kayan to shelter deep within the oceans of T89 Byko.
The danger of the Taliz and Seer home galaxy, Calaxa, loomed larger due to their apparent control of Pya. Neither the Gavant Reach galaxy nor the Milky Way could survive direct warfare from these allied conquerors, which the capture of Pya provided them access to. If the Seer and the Taliz continued to control her, they would establish the shortest possible access to any galaxy they wished to attack.
In a desperate attempt to choose the battlefield best suited for Tyton warriors and make it a place without risk of collateral damage, Wozim declared T89 Byko to be Tyton VIII, thus opening his people’s ability to planet-step and defend the place.
Wounded and out of options, Kayan dove into the expansive oceans of T89 Byko in hopes of escaping Taliz pursuit. On the ocean floor, she found the three ancient Hoyons who had seeded the planet ages ago then settled to the bottom of the deep.
For the first time, Kayan became the healed instead of the healer. The Taliz swarm and the Gavant grand armada, which arrived late, fought each other to a standstill. No one believed the Taliz were finished, however, as they had a tendency to just keep coming—like they truly were a swarm.
Noah stood as Wozim’s second during the ceremony to officially make Tyton VIII part of the Tyton commonwealth. His friend was reunited with his family, and Wozim convinced Noah to mentor his oldest son and daughter aboard Kayan.
Earth Rising (Homeworld Lost, Book 5)
Noah Gantz and his friends learned the young Azoks they’d encountered earlier were a new breed that could export violence without causing themselves damage. He also developed a lead on what had happened to Celia Kilis and Maxtin Kilis Ryg’s mother (suspecting she was part of a secret Gavant research project involving the new Azoks). With the threat of a full-scale Taliz/Seer invasion, and Wozim struggling to establish Tyton VIII, Kayan and her crew were dragged back to the Milky Way before the new Azoks could attack the United Earth forces.
During their voyage, they discovered a wounded Kayan, who was transporting a Hoyon. Montow and two of the UEDS ships stayed to help the mortally wounded leviathan while Kayan and crew took the Hoyon to the Milky Way and Earth out of necessity.
They weren’t just protecting Noah’s homeworld but delivering a Hoyon ready to seed worlds. Noah and Kayan understood this was part of Pya’s larger plan to defeat the Taliz, the Seer, and the Gavant overlords, though they struggled to convince the rest of Kayan’s crew how or why this would work.
The Hoyon, they learned, was the key to revitalizing Earth and jump-starting an important coalition between living starships and humanity. More importantly, this very unique Hoyon had more than the regular collection of terrestrial creatures and planetary biome material. Noah met the Jykeen, a sentient race who had long sheltered in the Hoyon vault and were now committed to helping their new friends, humans.
Kayan’s crew had also dealt with the disappointing fact that Tate Collins and Maxtin Kilis Ryg had slipped through the justice system. The moment they were acquitted of galactic conspiracy, they disappeared with a group of the new smaller but more dangerous young Azoks.
After a desperate reversal to drive back the first of the Taliz invasion of the Sol system, Tate Collins became a hero and was granted too much power over the growing United Earth Deep Space Fleet. The moment he was put in charge of the UEDSF, he convinced each leader they were needed elsewhere to strike back at the Taliz and thus stripped Earth of all her newly built defenses.
Noah and the others learned the Taliz were only serving the Seer overlords because their most sacred families were being held hostage on an AI-controlled ship known as the Sa-erlon. Noah led the mission to free these individuals. Afterward, he contacted the only Taliz officer who would speak with him, Noc’to doc Taliz 287.
They hashed out a peace agreement, and many UEDSF prisoners the Taliz took from engagements with Tate Collins’s new armada were exchanged for the Taliz families.
The Taliz withdrew their attack from Earth and the Reach worlds. It was unknown what they would do next.
Noah returned to Earth and spent some time with his grandfather, who had become the President of the UE. He learned that the Hoyon now living in the South Pacific and the Jykeen were helping humans develop powerful new technology that should give them a chance against galaxies full of sentient races.
The problem was where Tate Collins went and how much of the UEDSF he had managed to control. There were questions about the Taliz. Would they retaliate against the Seer, or resume their aggression for their own reasons? Lastly, the Tyton election date loomed near, and Wozim still wasn’t ready.
United Nexus (Homeworld Lost, Book 6)
Noah and Kayan’s crew set out to find Tate Collins and bring him to justice. The Kilis clan tagged along and caused no end of problems because they felt he stole everything they had worked for. Noah was forced to work with enemies of his enemies more than he liked.
During their search, they not only learned that Pya was still being held by the Seer and was the secret to a larger invasion, but that she was also dying. If the important leviathan wasn’t freed from the Seer and taken to the Hoyon Cove on Earth, she would perish and doom all other leviathans to a similar fate.
Noah continued to suffer greatly from the mutations of the Seer devices and sought to be free of them. He returned with his crew to the Sa-erlon and learned the history of the ship, and how she saved her crew (Arloni) by tricking the Seer and the Taliz.
Noah agreed to help her find the lost Arloni colonies. In return, the Sa-erlon said she would help defeat the Seer drone fleets. Noah faced constant problems with the Kilis family dragging their feet each time they tried to save Pya from the Seer dread fleets. Eventually, they parted ways and later combined forces.
Noah found himself a prisoner on one of the Seer world ships and learned they were not only building an unstoppable drone fleet but also had another project involving involuntary use of cyborgs. Essentially, the Seer had developed machines that needed a living host and had ways of forcing humans or other similar beings into them. This turned out to be a horrifically painful process leading to years of torture and death.
While trying to escape, he encountered a human scientist, Doctor Daniel Osher, who revealed the truth about Tate Collins’s dealing with the Seer and offered a possible chance to hack into the Seer’s supercomputers. The Seer ship demanded that Noah become part of his ship’s circuitry, but Noah escaped.
He learned there was a secret that might save Pya. He also fought against several attempts of Seer agents who wanted to strip him of the Seer artifacts and use them for their own political gain within the Seer hegemony. While he wanted to be free of them, he didn’t care for their methods—since they would have ripped him apart body and soul if they had their way.
