Hellworld

A third-generation Naval officer, Captain Scott Hunter was raised to be a captain in the Imperial starfleet. His career is soaring until he panics during a skirmish with the rebellion, a moment of weakness that gets half his crew killed. The Empire gives him a choice—quit the service, or join a Hell Squad. For Russel Corbie, it was prison or the Hell Squads. Megan DeChance was an ESPer, so for her the only other choice was death.

The Hell Squads are one-way planetary scouts—outcasts sent to explore new worlds and determine whether or not they are habitable. Their task is simple: either survive or die. For one whose whole life is the Navy, this was never a choice at all. On his first Hell Squad mission, Hunter leads a motley team of hard-nosed rebels to the volcano planet of Wolf IV. After a bumpy landing, they find that what was supposed to be a hospitable planet is actually completely barren. On a world that was meant to hold new life, why does there seem to be death all around?