The disaster on Platmore Five isn't adding up. Scientists and engineers on both Skywatch bases and warships are finding evidence of everything but a disrupted fusion reactor, and that can only mean someone or something fully intended for Sarn forces to create a much bigger disaster than originally thought.

Meanwhile, stories of demons and wizards are being whispered between commands. Admiral Powers and his staff have discovered what looks very much like destructive magic spells being used against security marines aboard the warship Curacao. Without raising a potentially panic-inducing alarm, the admiral quietly gets word to Captain Hunter to be on the lookout for treachery where he might least expect it.

It turns out the captain is well into planning some magic of his own. With the help of executive officer O'Malley, the unorthodox ideas of DSS Argent's officers just might find a way to put the interstellar range of the fleet pinnace together with the altogether unexpected power of the conversion drive and create a new battle doctrine that nobody, including the Sarn coalition, is prepared for!

After the destructive events of the Fox Racer Gate engagement, humanity needs a counteroffensive. The battleship Argent just might be the vessel that delivers it just in the nick of time!

The Largest Military Mobilization in Human History?

For the first time since the first war, all four banners of the Skywatch Fleet have been activated. Captain Hunter believes the Core Alliance may field a total of a thousand starships to fight back against the aggression of the Sarn Coalition, including lance dreadnoughts, space control bases and the new commando frigate.

With the help of the new Aeter faction, Hunter also believes there may be a way to reinforce Alliance formations with an additional one thousand warships.

But first, the showdown of the war may have already taken place in the Siege Island Three deflection zone. Multiple starships are down, including what may be the wreck of the battleship Argent. DSS Minstrel is first on the scene. What Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Islington discovers could change the course of the war, and things may not be in the Alliance's favor.

Mission Kill is the surprising, unexpected, no-holds-barred fifth book in Shane Lochlann Black's landmark military science fiction collection - Destroy All Starships!

Jason Hunter has never had more enemies. Between the Sarn, the Xzev and now the virtually invincible Heretics, his ship and crew are in the crosshairs and facing overwhelming firepower. But the Argent officers have a few weapons of their own. One of those weapons is about to become sentient, and it lives inside a brand new generation of Tarantula Hawk gunship.

Lieutenant Talia Isari is the newest hot shot on the Argent team. She is brilliant, knowledgeable and hails from a race called the Shalay that tends to produce rather attractive women. She has advanced the GS-87 experimental warship program to unexpected heights. But before she can test her new weapons, she learns the shocking truth about DSS Tae San and the murderers responsible for its destruction.

Now Isari must make the biggest decision of her young life. Will she put her creations to the ultimate test, or watch helplessly as Jason Hunter's enemies close in?