On their first anniversary, Yulen is making plans to surprise Atty with a celebration unlike anything she's ever experienced. All of Alta Novis is preparing to honor their Battle Lord and Lady with pomp and pageantry never before seen. Representatives from Wallis and West Crestin are expected to attend, as well as the Battle Lords from other neighboring compounds. Word has spread for miles, attracting well-wishers and the curious to make the journey to join in the festivities. News of the couple has also reached the ears of the Battle Lord of Alta Seran. And for the first time in his life, he is determined to win back what is rightfully his by birth. What's more, he will see to it that the treaties forged with the Mutah compounds are destroyed forever. Before the week is over, Rafe D'Jacques will become the new Battle Lord of Alta Novis, even if he has to kill his half-brother to own it. And Atty... Well, everyone knows that the only good Mutah is a dead Mutah.

Not all who are bitten are turned. After World War III, better known as the Nuclear War, survivors were forced to move underground, where they had a better chance of survival. Those who were caught above ground in the aftermath inevitably died of exposure. However, the animals and vegetation were not so lucky. Although most species survived, they also mutated. And sometimes those mutations reached the remaining human population. Shaddoe March lives in one of those subterranean bunkers, called SubForty. Her life is nowhere idyllic. No one’s is. But she’s healthy, and that means she has a future. Until, one day, her nightmare becomes reality, and she’s infected. She is thrown out of the bunker, above ground, unarmed and alone to face the hideous creatures and other Condemned who’ve been discarded to face their inevitable deaths. As she prepares herself for the worst, she finds redemption. Chyler Comstock was also infected, but he didn’t turn, and he’s not dead. Yet. Neither are the thirty-two other souls who’ve banded together for the sake of survival. When he meets Shaddoe, he’s more than willing to let her join their group, but not until the critical thirty-seven-hour window is passed. If she remains human after that, then she’ll be welcomed. But, for now, it’s a waiting game, and the world ran out of patience decades ago.

As an intergalactic cop gifted with psionic abilities, Maurra instinctively went to the Ellinod's defense when she saw the immense and bestial-looking alien being attacked by a group of vicious Kronners. Little did she know what the Kronners had planned for her and the Ellinod until she woke up naked in a cell inside their ship. And it wasn't long before she found out a translation device had been implanted against her spine, debilitating her and making her helpless with pain whenever she tried to use her psi powers. Neither she nor the Ellinod had any idea how twisted their captors were, but they soon discovered that she and the beast were at the mercy of someone who expected them to "entertain" his "customers", and entertain them well regardless of the consequences. (Note: This book was previously released as Captive Surrender. It has been restored to its original content, including more than 7K additional words, and re-edited.)

Captain Rylee Crockett, a member of the Galactic Force, is well-respected among her peers, and damn good at her job. Despite the hurdles of being a female captain, she has a loyal crew who see her as strict but fair, and with the newest additions, her crew makes her the best ship in the fleet. She’s especially curious about the newest expert on board. Dr. Beck Graham, a xenobiologist who specializes in alien species, specifically the Purej, who the Galactic Forces have been fighting for some time now. When Rylee’s ship is ordered to provide backup for a warship in the middle of a battle with their alien enemy, a mistranslated communique is intercepted, and Beck helps her decipher its true meaning. She fears they’re being set up for an ambush, along with everyone else ordered to assist. What was thought to be proposed peace talks with the Purej is not at all the situation they find themselves involved in. Rylee’s ship is overtaken, and she awakens alone on an unrecognizable planet, and is soon taken to an arena where it is kill or be killed. Every confrontation becomes a fight to the death, gladiator style—against alien creatures, or other Galactic Force members—purely for their enemies’ entertainment. If Rylee lives through this, she vows to get her revenge for the devastating number of crewmen she’s lost. And for the man who had given her a glimmer of hope when it came to being loved.

Confined in a small shipping container for weeks on end, Taru was starving, dehydrated, and close to death. When she was given the option of remaining in the container until her owner could turn her in for the reward, or being one of fifteen females going to a mining moon to pleasure the drillers who were willing to pay for her services, she chose the latter. At least there was the possibility she could escape from there and get back with her people. Kirby Luka agreed to pay the astronomical sum to have his own woman, if only to have a companion. Someone to talk to and maybe to share a bed with. He never expected to have to contend with having to take the last female in the group. What was left over. A female Gyra who not only was a feared and dangerous humanoid, but a deadly enemy. Their initial meeting is contentious. But when a deadly disease infiltrates the close community, Kirby knows the only way he and Taru can survive is to get off that rock. That means working together and sacrificing what they both wanted. They never anticipated the consequences of their actions.

An anthology of Space Marine Battle stories by some of the best and some of the up and coming 40K authors The best and brightest 40k authors provide new material for upcoming Space Marine Battles books.