Bes (ePub)

The orphan planet Bes is rapidly circling the abyss of total war and every month that passes brings it closer to the rim and descent into catastrophe. Major Sara Wallace of the Army of New Highland has been selected to participate in a mission to assist the Turk Resistance of New Anatolia in destroying a murderous cult and its leader who is responsible for the threat to peace between the two nations. She has been thoroughly briefed on the difficulty of the mission, but nothing can adequately prepare her for the reality of the horrors that she will bear witness to and experience personally during the operation. The roots of the problem extend back over nine centuries to an event known as the Cataclysm during which both nations were savaged by a vicious attack from an unlikely source. That event virtually destroyed both nations and forced them into a dark age from which both have just recently begun to emerge. Sara secretly arrives in New Anatolia and meets her contact person, Saleeya, the High Priestess of the cult, who is secretly working with the Resistance. She gives Sara more critical information about the situation. They travel across the continent to the capital, Ankara, near which they are expected participate in a bloody sacrificial rite and join with the supposed sacrifice victim, Amber, in an effort to dispose of the cult leader, At Makat, a psychopathic killer and despoiler. They are not entirely alone, though. Regular military forces of both New Highland and New Anatolia are involved in land, naval, and air operations in support of the destruction of the bloody cult, but success is not guaranteed.