Sordidbagel
A starship is not merely it's hull, it's engines, or it's weapons. It is the souls who serve within it. And when a ship dies, those souls are scattered, lost... or forged anew.
Captain Kim Min-Jun is a living legend, and a ghost. The youngest captain in Starfleet history, hailed as the "Hero of Cygnus Reach" for a desperate retreat that saved countless lives, he carries a secret truth: his victory was bought with the annihilation of his ship, the USS Tsukuyomi. What is a Captain without a ship? A Soul without it's vessel? Now, haunted by the echoes of the Iconian War, he is given a command that is both a tribute, and a torment: the new, revolutionary explorer, the USS Tsukuyomi (NCC-80808-B).
It's mission? To explore the recently discovered silent, pocket dimension - the Andromeda Cordellius Rift. An impossible pocket galaxy hidden in dark-space between the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies. But the Rift is not empty. It is a prison.
To fulfill his oath to the Federation, Min-Jun must now confront an enemy unleashed by his own quest for understanding. He must lead his fractured, brilliant crew into a war against a nightmare they can barely perceive, fighting not just for their lives, but for the soul of their ship and the future of two galaxies. To protect everything, he may have to make the same sacrifice he has spent a lifetime mourning.
From Its Ashes is a sweeping novel of starship diplomacy, cosmic horror, and a profound resilience. It is a story about the legacy of trauma, the weight of command, and the deep fragile, defiant light we carry into the deepest dark. It asks: what do you become, when you are raised from the ashes of all you loved to stand guard over the void?