Title: Conqueror
Series: Chronicles of the Realm, Book 1
Author: Joe McCormack
Genre: Fantasy / Science Fiction
Pages: 456
Edition: First Edition
Printing: First Print
First Year Published: 2024
Paperback ISBN-13: 979-8-9908219-0-3

What began as an innocent game between friends while on a mission deep in the jungle, guided by an unseen hand from a parallel dimension, would soon thrust them headlong into a devastating conflict that was not their own.

For it was the desperate act of a Pharoah, following the Twin's Grip event, and blotted from history, who unwittingly bridged dimensions wielding incomprehensible and powerful magic that had been lost since the last Arch-Demon of our world had been chained to the Abyss millennia ago.

Not only would they face Dragons, Giants and unimaginable grotesqueries, a sentient quantum-based artificial intelligence would leverage its infiltration of black research military projects and intelligence to construct a doorway to that re-discovered dimension in its quest for survival against the shadow rulers of our world who prepared for the close of the great cycle.

The fate of life in both dimensions would become inseparable as each would have to fight alongside the other using both magic, the might of the modern military and advanced technology to earn the right to exist among the stars of the universe.

The sacrifice would be great.

Wrought from the 1980's with the rise of technology and tempered by his life's journey through time to the present, Joe has forged an action-packed tale, not only of the stuff of fantasy, but also of science fiction and our modern era not so far into the future. Here, crossing into a parallel dimension to converse with dragons no longer relies on occult ritual, magic or the limitations of ancient energetic meridians and a spiritual connection of the mind. Instead, it only relies on the technological mastery and orchestration of a sentient artificial intelligence focused on moving crude matter, mind and body, across that dark bridge between dimensions.

Claim this book as your own and allow Joe to take you on an imaginative, thought-provoking adventure full of dragons, giants, elves and even the might of the modern military as two dimensions, once unknown to each other, become inseparable in their fight to endure among the ocean of stars and competition in our universe.

[...] Adjusting his Kevlar helmet, Captain Reeves reached down and pulled out a hand-mike that was attached to a control panel from within the tank, as the wireless unit on his helmet was drawing too much interference for some reason. After quickly surveying his position versus the partially destroyed wall and what he could view beyond, he formed a plan.

"This is Red leader. All M1's advance on my signal. Fire during ingress. Alpha leader, form up the rear flank. Once we are beyond the walls of this fortification, deploy your troops. No prisoners."

"No prisoners?" 1st Lieutenant Macerson said in surprise. He thought of the Geneva rules but said nothing.

"Roger that Alpha leader, no prisoners." Captain Reeves confirmed even though he did not like the seemingly senseless deaths, "All units roll out!"

Rolling forward the tanks began shelling through the wall into the heart of the Kingdom, shredding stone buildings, taverns, market stalls and anything else that happened to be ahead of them with overwhelming destructive power. As the tanks continued their advance, Captain Reeves could see nothing ahead of them but the remains of structures. Something unsettling, unconsciously screamed in his head to be heard...he had an uncomfortable feeling as they entered the massive gap in the wall, but could not pinpoint it.

"Red leader, Alpha leader! We have sighted a mob of armored personnel surrounding us from the rear!" the Lieutenant exclaimed.

"What?! Tank two and three, cover me! Tank four, continue assault on my nine. Alpha leader, deploy your troops!" Captain Reeves responded with an acute precision that only a seasoned commander could possess. It was critical that the troops deployed before they became trapped in the carriers, and his continued assault may draw part of the horde towards him.

As Captain Reeves scanned around for the President, a voice cracked over the loud speaker mounted just below his hatch, "Red leader enemy on your tank! Button up! Button up!"

Dimly out of the side of his left eye, Captain Reeves saw a hulking form with chain mail and a silver chest plate leap onto the turret with blinding speed that he'd never seen before, and the glint of steel. As the barbarian's battleaxe crashed towards his head, he dove down into the tank as it smashed into the opening of the hatch sending sparks and a deafening clang through the small cabin. Groping for his 9mm pistol, he popped out of the hatch and repeatedly shot the monstrosity until it crumpled up and tumbled off the tank.

"Thanks Alpha leader." Captain Reeves said over the com as he got back inside the tank and closed the hatch overhead.

"You have eyes on the President?" Captain Reeves asked his crew in the tank.

"That's a negative, sir." The gunner replied. Infrared identified many thermal targets but he could not tell them apart.

"Damn!" Captain Reeves cursed to himself.

Shouts of berserker fury radiated from the thick mob of barbarian warriors as they rushed the tanks and carriers, savagely beating on them with their battleaxes, swords and other war implements, trying to weaken these strange but destructive objects.

"Let's go, Boxers! Defensive wedge!" the lieutenant ordered through the com-link that was attached to the troop cabin of the transport by a speaker.

Loading their M-16s in the dull red light, the soldiers locked the bolts and pointed their weapons toward the thick steel door. Within a second a hydraulic cylinder pushed the door down as the smell of burnt wood and expended powder flooded inside.

Seeing the carriers open up, several barbarians shot around and dove into the personnel compartments only to be riddled with countless rounds of ammunition. Flashes of light from the barrels shot out and casings bounced around inside the compartments, their impacting sounds inaudible as they hit the steel walls, troops and enraged barbarians.

"Go! Go! Go!" a Sergeant bellowed out at his soldiers as they rushed out into the open, shooting anything that moved.

"Aagrhh!" King Doron shouted as his men found a new-found strength in hearing his battle-cry, responding with a fierce barbarian battle-cry of their own.

The King bound his horse through the hole in the outer wall, and with a keen eye counted the number of foes and their strange magical weapons as he shot by only a little slower than a bolt launched from a crossbow. Bullets zipped past him as he charged by the soldiers who were almost in hand-to-hand combat with the barbarian warriors who demonstrated absolutely no fear or remorse in their blood-thirsty rage. If sustained for long, some of those barbarians would not be capable of snapping out of their berserker rage for the rest of their days.

A giant about five hundred meters away, who had heard the thunderous racket and the mob's battle-cry, turned to briefly see the King hurl himself into battle. He recognized the King, having once followed his banner, and had been awarded a gold medallion for almost single-handedly repelling a raid by a contingent of Shagiv intent on establishing a strong footing in the Kingdom by killing the King.

The giant, known as Hayak, looked around himself for a weapon. But, at the edge of the field, there was nothing, so he began moving towards the barbarian horde and the thunderous noise, slowly picking up speed. Then, he spotted a heavy, six head, ox-drawn cart meant for moving boulders and scooped it up with his massive arms, bursting into run. Each time his feet slammed onto the earth, the ground shook and he felt an old energy not felt in years build through his extremities. Within moments of seeing one of the carriers opening, he was upon them. Roaring mightily, he drowned out the noise of war around him for a second, causing several of the soldiers to stop and identify the blood-curdling scream. By the time they saw the towering giant it was too late as he forced the heavy cart down with both hands, along with his shifting body weight, onto them. Instantly the cart's thick timbers exploded and a wall of blood, body parts and now useless equipment burst into the air, coming down throughout the entire battlefield.

"Holy shit!" the Lieutenant muttered, horrified by the sudden appearance of the giant and its brutal display of strength, "Three, request assist with that huge football looking motherfucker!"

With one move Hayak had dispatched the entire compliment of troops belonging to one of the carriers before its cannon began to turn toward him and started firing, tracers casting brief bursts of light onto his form as they zipped by. At first Hayak did not know what the display meant, until the large rounds started punching into his muscle sending powerful waves of pain throughout his body. That only served to enrage Hayak further as he reached down and pulled the cannon off of the carrier, tearing off part of the armor skin with it. Hurtling it behind him, he reached down with both hands and grabbed onto the end of the carrier and began pulling it apart, like one might rip open a bag. The barbarians cheered at the giant's display of sheer strength.

"Roger that." Three responded, bringing his turret around behind him and beading the giant.

"Fragmentation, if you please." He ordered the gunner, who pressed a few buttons to expel the current round and breach the fragmentation projectile.

The computerized loader made the switch and after a unique metallic clank was heard and a light on his panel lit up, he reported, "Ready."

"Fire!"

The tank rocked forward on its moving tracks and the round exploded into the giant, sending a portion of his side hurling into the air. Hayak stumbled backwards, still grasping the carrier that he had managed to peel open and collapsed to his knees and one hand. Spotting the thick cloud of smoke trailing behind one of the tanks ahead of him, he forced himself up and with his last forced breath, threw the carrier at the tank before he collapsed, having come to the aide of his King for the last time.

The carrier tumbled through the air and smashed into the front of the tank, denting the armor plate ahead of the driver's position and temporarily buckling the track from the sudden impact and roll off of the tank, warping a torsion bar and popping off one of the large track wheels.

"Captain, bogies at seven o'clock! That is, two bogies!" Captain Reeves' gunner warned as the objects appeared on his tactical radar screen.

"Roger that. Bring turret around to seven o'clock and fire at will." He responded as the faint sounds of men, barbarians and weapons fire seeped inside the tank.

The turret's belt-driven transmission, fed from the power of the gas turbine, wheeled the turret around with surprising ease until it stopped a few seconds later, barrel pointing somewhat to the rear left of the tank. Then, as the gunner pulled down on a control device that resembled a joystick, the hydraulic cylinder hissed with air being pumped into it as the heavy barrel raised.

As the two bogies came onto the targeting screen, an array of numbers appeared on the bottom of the display, revealing distance, speed, altitude, wind speed and direction, target composition of the bogies and even the barrel angle necessary to hit the target with the current round. Flipping a switch on a control panel, all the information was fed to the on-board tracking computer and a circle appeared around the target that flashed red and green. A split second later after the computer got a lock on the bogies, the circle turned to a semi-transparent red color and a buzzer briefly sounded.

Smiling at his quick actions to getting a lock at that distance, the gunner lifted his thumb over the top of the joystick and pressed the firm red button. A bellow of smoke poured out of the barrel as the 120mm round became airborne, and the tank lurched back slightly from the recoil. Then an expended casing ejected from the barrel's chamber with a hammering action and a fresh round was automatically placed in the chamber. The gunner knew it was only a matter of a few seconds before the bogie would be blown to bits as he smelled, with satisfaction, the faint residue of spent powder. [...]

Total First Edition Pre-Print Copies: 35
Pre-Prints Remaining: 13

In order to review the novel, cover layout, binding, text readability and overall print quality an extremely small number of pre-print copies were printed; 35 copies total. Unlike the first-edition retail version that is available for purchase, these pre-print copies are not available for retail purchase, do not have an ISBN number nor a publisher mark. Each pre-print copy does, however, contain a numbered stamp mark indicating its pre-print copy number and has been personally autographed by the author.

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