The Progenitors War

Lieutenant Commander Shawn 'Calvin' Hobbs and the crew of the Vella Gulf went back in time to find the technology they needed to beat their Enemy in the present, but it doesn't exist. They only have one option.Fight the Enemy in the past and destroy them there.Unfortunately, the Enemy has overwhelming numbers, and-while the Enemy doesn't have the technology the Terrans have-quantity has a quality all its own. And then there is the Enemy's 25-mile-wide command ship. If the Enemy should finish it, they will have an overwhelming force with which to sweep the Terrans from the galaxy.The Terrans must build-must establish the Warrior Cartel Admiral Sheppard has been placed in charge of-if they are to defend the people of the past and destroy the Enemy for all times. The Emperor hasn't funded the Cartel, though, and Sheppard will have to figure out how to do it on his own.Although the Terrans are initially able to hold back the Enemy forces, when the Enemy steals a jumping missile, all bets are off. The ability to run to the Jinn Universe is the only advantage the Terrans have. If the Enemy unlocks the secrets of the Jinn Universe, there will be nowhere else for the Terrans to hide, and no way that they can win the Progenitors' War.

The Road to War is the second in a series of five episodic-collections, chronicling the adventures of one Hunter Jusenkyou. The Road to War tells a story in an unusual way; instead of the traditional linear novel, this book, like the last, is divided into a series of short stories. Stories appear in chronological order, and tell an over-arching plot that is the story of the whole book.

It is half a century before the events of The Progenitor Trilogy. The newly formed Commonwealth has united the disparate colonies of humanity into one interstellar union. After making first contact with the ancient and sophisticated Arkari, mankind has discovered that the galaxy is teeming with life. A new pioneering age of prosperity, discovery and progress now beckons. Yet already the Commonwealth is imperilled. The rush to the stars has created undreamed of wealth for some, yet there are many less fortunate have been left behind, alienated by the rapid pace of change, exploited or trampled underfoot by ruthless corporations and left to fend for themselves in frontier systems where death or destitution can come quickly to the unwary. As resentment grows beneath the surface, there are those who would exploit the forgotten and the dispossessed for their own ends. However, there is a much greater threat from without: the K'Soth Empire. Ruling over a vast domain, the reptilian K'Soth have conquered, exterminated and enslaved all in their path in the name of their all powerful Emperor and their fanatical religion. Their legions and fleets are almost without number, their methods brutal in the extreme, and their authority maintained by oppression, terror and force of arms. In a desire to avoid a conflict, the Commonwealth concocts a secret diplomatic mission to initiate contact with the K'Soth using their one ace in the hole, Doctor Marcus Cuvier, the very man who was the key to humanity's successful encounter with the Arkari.

PART I The superpower and asymmetry PART II Jus ad bellum, jus in bello, jus post bellum PART III Leadership and accountability PART IV Soldiers perspectives PART V Ethical Education and Decision-making for the Military PART VI Stress and trauma PART VII The media PART VIII Democracy under Scrutiny PART IX In Hindsight

Catholic pacifists blame the just war tradition of their Church. That tradition, they say, can be invoked to justify any war, and so it must be jettisoned. This book argues that the problem is not the just war tradition but the unjust war tradition. Ambitious rulers start wars that cannot be justified, and yet warriors continue to fight them. The problem is the belief that warriors do not hold any responsibility for judging the justice of the wars they are ordered to fight. However unjust, a command renders any war "just" for the obedient warrior. This book argues that selective conscientious objection, the right and duty to refuse to fight unjust wars, is the solution. Strengthening the just war tradition depends on a heightened role for the personal conscience of the warrior. That in turn depends on a heightened role for the Church in forming and supporting consciences and judging the justice of particular wars. As Saint Augustine wrote, "The wise man will wage just wars. . . . For, unless the wars were just, he would not have to wage them, and in such circumstances he would not be involved in war at all."