Echoes of the First Star

Earth did not fall to laser fire, but to the silence of the Void. For a century, the United Human Front has waged a desperate, losing war against the Phage - an elusive alien collective that consumes stellar energy, leaving worlds to freeze in darkness. Leo Vance, a disgraced star-pilot, survives on the desolate outer rim by scavenging dying dreadnoughts. His life changes forever when he salvages a sentient, ancient star-core that merges with his nervous system, granting him the unique ability to map and manipulate the Phage's own bio-energy pathways. Suddenly, Leo is thrust from the fringes of space to the vanguard of humanity's final counter-offensive. But using the core slowly burns away his human memories, and the alien collective is now hunting him specifically. To save a fracturing human alliance from total extinction, Leo must navigate political betrayal among the high command and lead a suicide mission into the heart of the enemy hive, risking his very humanity.