julie

Fighting her way through the dark underbelly of civilization, Juliet Bianchi has become a top-tier mercenary with a heart of gold and a killer smile. A shadowy, high-priced operative embedded with high-tech AI, she goes by the moniker "Lucky," and the life she once led as a metal scrapper seems eons behind her. Now, armed with her very own formidable monoblade and fresh ink warning all others not to mess with her lest they become very dead, she's taking a step away from business to handle something personal.

Juliet Bianchi has evolved from a lowly scrap cutter to a fully-loaded, combat-ready dark side operator. Known as "Lucky," she takes high-risk jobs for high-tech upgrades (you know, like weaponry, super reflexes, mind reading, etc.) that make her nearly invulnerable. Juliet is looking forward to some downtime to recover, recoup, and reunite with her mates from the space salvage trawler Kowashi. But after a while, she gets that old itch she can never quite seem to scratch: to infiltrate, and hopefully subvert, the all-powerful WBD megacorporation that created the AI that changed her life.

When he was first torn from his Earthly home, Victor Sandoval was as good as dead, alone and powerless in a reality where kills equal skills and losing a fight means losing your life. But he's much more than who he used to be. Now a warrior of near-legendary status and strength, Victor is leading his very own army into the Untamed Marches, where countless hordes of horrors await. This means more Energy and treasure for him and his allies when they go up against a slew of undead, reavers, and good old-fashioned bloody vampires.

Juliet Bianchi used to be a lowly scrap scrounger in Arizona. But when she was accidentally implanted with a beyond-awesome AI chip, her life changed dramatically—what with all the nanotechnology, bodywork, and other badass enhancements. Now, she's a high-powered weapon-for-hire in hiding as . . . what else? A not-so-lowly scrap scrounger!

It feels like a lifetime ago that the irreverent young Victor Sandoval was pulled from Earth into an existence of battle and brutality in a mystifyingly magical world where the more one fights, kills, and survives, the greater their levels, class, skills, and attributes. And right now, things are pretty freaking great for Victor. After causing the usual amount of mayhem elsewhere, he and his warrior-maiden ally, Valla, have finally taken a portal back to Fanwath—loaded up with more powers and treasure than they know what to do with.

Once a scrap-wrangling nobody from Phoenix, Arizona, Juliet Bianchi's life was forever changed when fate handed her a hyper-advanced AI chip that launched her into the arena of high-powered, high-stakes operators. To her surprise—and everyone else's—she had a natural talent for cybernetic-enhanced mayhem and mercenary work. Now, that work will take Juliet where she's always wanted to go: off world. Unfortunately, the reason is that her faithful friend Honey and a child prodigy she was caring for have been kidnapped.

When young Victor Sandoval was snatched from his abuela's home and thrust into a brutal existence as a pit fighter in the land of Fanwath, it took a long time—and a heck of a lot of acquired skills and levels—to survive and become a formidable warrior with anger issues to spare. And now he seems to be right back at the bottom of the barrel.

Juliet Bianchi was once just another working drone, struggling to survive in a world where megacorporations reigned, information was power, and that power was worth killing for. Then she stumbled upon a kidnapping gone wrong and ended up with a stolen AI chip that took her from the bottom of the barrel to a top-tier realm of mercs, freelancers, and assorted unsavory folk.

Victor has seen better days. He just barely survived a savage showdown with the lethal warrior woman Rellia, which left her minus a foot and apparently cost him the life essence of his trusted magical axe, Lifedrinker. Then, much to Victor's surprise, Rellia asks him to visit her. And she does so not as an enemy but as an honorable opponent who owes him for sparing her life. Rellia wishes Victor's aid in claiming her family's land stake in a dangerous far-off realm. In return, he'll receive his own land and a place among the elite.

In the year 2107, the world has both made astounding leaps forward and reduced humanity to its most basic existence. While the megacorps and those who rule them enjoy lives of extraordinary comfort and ease, most people barely scrape by, doing whatever they can to keep going. Juliet Bianchi is one of the latter. She works cutting metal in a scrapyard and doesn't have much to show for it except for a small group of equally bereft, fiercely loyal friends. Still, she maintains a bright disposition, possessing more hope and optimism than anyone would expect her to—and she's going to need it.