An Empire in Peril (Book)

An Empire in Peril is a military science fiction novel by Nick Chang. It was the original work that started the Empire in Peril universe, and has been adapted into a feature film and several upcoming video games. The book follows the protagonist Lance Corporal Atlas Saheed, a member of a marine special forces unit, in the face of invasion by an alien Dominion whose goal is to rule all life in the galaxy using computer algorithms. It was published on October 4th, 2017, and although plans were made for a trilogy later in 2018, the production of the film caused Chang to put further novels on hold, while putting out several short stories in the interim.

Chapter 1
Lance Corporal Atlas Saheed is deployed with the rest of his company to the backwater colony Cassiopeia after receiving a distress signal about the colonial capital under attack. Expecting a terrorist insurgency, the Winged Hussars are caught off guard by strange silver fighter craft and forced to retreat. Returning to the surface, they discover the hostiles are part of an alien Dominion, who offers them and the rest of humanity an ultimatum: join or die.

Chapter 2
The Imperial Parliament is deeply divided on how to approach the threat. Certain elements want to appease the Dominion with the partial fulfillment of various economic and social concessions--for the sake of preserving the survival of humanity. Atlas and his team are called to testify, and after his squad mate Corporal Natalie Epstein convinces the assembly that the Dominion can't be trusted to negotiate in good faith, they vote a supermajority decision to declare war against the alien threat. Natalie reveals her feelings for Atlas, whom he reciprocates. Her sister, Tia Epstein, distrusts him.

Chapter 3
Hostilities begin when Atlas's team accompany the Tekkelien ambassadors to deliver the declaration of war on behalf of all the human nations. The Dominion begins to attack and occupy multiple human worlds, one of which is the Tekkelien Gagarin System. The Hussars are sent to lead the counterattack with several divisions of marines, and use the opportunity to gather intelligence on the Dominion's leadership and weaknesses. Colonel Lauder coordinates the operation with the assistance of General Pavlychko's small Colonial Defense Force.

As they retake the main city's power plant, they find a Dr. Natasha Livingsworth held prisoner to operate the reactor. She offers her scientific help in finding the Dominion's home world.

After discovering the Dominion's main operating base, several discoveries lead them to an extremely distant world outside human space. The world is supposedly the relay point into human space through which the Dominion Army transmits all communications with its supercomputer leader.

Chapter 4
Atlas's unit arrives in the alien system, orbiting a weak star that can barely support life on a single, frozen planet. The Hussars are sent on a scouting mission to identify the Dominion leader prior to an airstrike, but they merely encounter several humanoid robotic drones trying to kill them in a trap. The team narrowly survives until the Imperial Navy's fighter-bombers to create a diversion for them to escape.

Chapter 5
The Imperial government is still convinced that the frozen planet, nicknamed "the Icebox" by the marines stationed there, is a major communications relay. More human forces are committed to the planet, getting bogged down in a slow occupation as the surface was searched for the relay. Losses begin to mount, and morale drops. The team discusses an old folk story about "phantom lightning gliders," or a mysterious air force unit that was tasked with fighting off aliens, and Dr. Livingsworth hints that they may have been real. Out of disillusionment, she offers more information that incriminates the Imperial Government, which spreads and undermines the war effort with widespread discontent.

Tia's fighter-bomber crashes during the battle, and Atlas goes out of his way to help her out of the wreck. He carries her through enemy fire and mortars, barely getting her to safety. Medics manage to save her, and she reconciles her mistrust for him.

At the last moment, Atlas discovers the relay is actually a massive structure beneath the surface, using the entire city itself to transmit. After all human forces evacuate, fighter-bombers drop antimatter bombs on the city, killing everyone inside, but successfully cutting off the invading alien army from their chain of command.

Chapter 6
The disruption of communications between the Dominion Army and ATMOS-7 was a major help to the war effort, but humanity was still doing poorly. The team decides with Admiral Leminsky that they still need more intelligence on the location of the Dominion home world, and devise a plan to capture an alien cruiser now that their command is so disorganized.

They return to Gagarin I, the last sighting of a major alien fleet, to find that the entire Empire's 2nd Expeditionary Fleet has been destroyed. After going to ground to investigate, they find the planet under siege by alien cruisers now with total air and space superiority. The alien ships have no central command and are now firing indiscriminately at anything. Imperial forces are stuck in bunkers and basements, launching guerilla attacks against the enemy. The Hussars are still determined to capture an alien ship, so they use the Dominion Navy's disorganization against them.

They recapture the spaceport and fly one of the spaceplanes between two alien cruisers, causing one to shoot down the other by accident. The damaged cruiser makes a soft landing, and opens its hatches for repairs, allowing the Hussars to storm inside and capture the control room. After interrogating the ship's translator, they access the ship's data banks and find the location of the Dominion home world.

Before embarking on the final mission, Admiral Leminsky takes them back to Earth, where they meet the head of state, Premier General Yulia Chen. She reveals to them that the folk legend "phantom lightning gliders" are in fact a real unit called the Airborne Guards, activated under the Premier's direct orders and with access to highly-advanced secret equipment. Atlas's team is activated as the next ones.

Chapter 7
The nations of Earth come together to assemble one final invasion force--to the heart of the most heavily guarded Dominion world of them all. The Empire commits its entire remaining major fleet: the home fleet, leaving Earth to be guarded by fewer nations. Sergeant Reiston chooses Atlas to give a speech to the world as a representative of the new Airborne Guards.

The thousands of ships jump into the Araydnic Home System, where they find a blue giant star half-surrounded by a partial Dyson Sphere. The Battle of the Dyson Sphere commences, with the majority of humanity's ships needed to gain the tiniest foothold. Once its relatively safe, the fleets' carriers launch a wave of dropships to land marines on the surface of the home world.

The Guards' weapons and equipment are particularly effective against the Dominion, and greatly improve morale as they led the attack. After most of the city had been taken, Colonel Lauder mustered the last of his men for a final charge into ATMOS-7's mainframe building. Atlas's team makes it, but Lauder is shot to death. Inside the mainframe, they find that ATMOS-7 is actually based on a real human, who is still alive and physically connected to the building through various wires. She offers one last chance to join the Dominion, which they refuse. It is revealed Dr. Livingsworth was a traitor working for the Dominion all along as well. A major fight ensues, ending with Atlas using a stasis grenade to freeze the area around them long enough for Spc. Monroe to plant the antimatter charge and run with Livingsworth as prisoner.

No transport was supposed to be available to fly the Hussars out in time, but a dropship is waiting for them, stolen by Tia Epstein to help them. They fly off just in time to see the mainframe destroyed in an antimatter explosion. They land back aboard the Genesis to grand applause, having won the war.