The Terran Gambit: The Pax Humana Saga, Book 1 (Unabridged‪)‬

Lieutenant Jacob Mercer likes fast motorcycles, faster women, and screamin' space fighters. As a reckless fighter jock in the Resistance fleet battling the Corsican Empire, he lives solely for the thrill of taking out as many Imperial bogeys as he can.

A rebel victory is looming on the horizon when the Imperials abruptly change tactics and, in a surprising show of devastating force, incinerate the city of Dallas with a thermonuclear blast - killing millions - and delivering a merciless example of what happens to upstart worlds in the Pax Humana.

But the Resistance will not be cowed so easily. In retaliation the rebel leadership devises a daring plan to strike at the Empire's heart in a final, desperate bid for freedom, a plan that will put Jake Mercer in the captain's chair of the most advanced warship in the galaxy. In a life full of crazy moves, this one might just be the craziest, but Jake jumps at the chance anyway for it means a possible end to the war.

To succeed, all Jake has to do is face down a psychopathic Imperial Admiral bent on utterly destroying the Resistance and even Earth itself. What could be so hard about that?