Book excerpt: After intercepting a convoy containing crucial intelligence and decrypting the data, the Kionic Pirates now know their time of plundering the seas may come to an end. An alliance has been formed between the various factions they prey on. With little time to spare the Kionic Pirates begin their own defensive preparations which include sending out various special forces teams to perform recon and sabotage missions. An area of the world that has not seen major conflict is about to erupt. Run by powerful politicians, kings, warriors, spherists, assassins and underground networks, chances for personal gain are rife. Spherists, people who are able to draw upon and control the energy of ethereal realms, are utilized in everything from encrypting information, communicating long distance, spying and contract killing. Everything is about to go down and the Kionics are right in the middle of it. One Kionic spec ops team, lead by Exphasia, a spherist, is sent to the city where she grew up. Followed by her brother Merritt and her hard-headed friend, Rezen, they soon learn that there is far more going on than initially perceived. Aided by an assassin, who partly shares in the Kionic's own goals, they must recover as much intel as possible and destroy what they can before the Alliance fleet leaves dock. And there's something else... Communication and other spherical activities are being scrambled and hampered by an unknown storm brewing over the mountains to the east. Something is wrong. And Rezen's nightmares are getting worse...