Full Secret Black

A Messenger Corps Standalone

When he was twenty, Conover joined Dash Sawyer, the man who would be the original Messenger, in fighting for humanity's future against an implacable alien foe.

Two brutal wars later, Conover had proven himself a skilled mech pilot, flying the mighty Pulsar and helping win ultimate victory for Dash's newly-formed Cygnus Realm.

Nearly a century-and-a-half later, an aging Conover now bears the mantle of Messenger, leading the Cygnus Realm through a long age of peace and prosperity. But Dash and Conover both knew this serene stability would not last—that ambitious powermongers, driven by pride and greed, would seek to dominate and control the Realm. And, sure enough, a weary Conover sees it happening around him, the first dark stirrings of eventual megalomania.

In the wake of a vicious battle against an ancient foe, Conover realizes his time to take action is growing perilously short. Can he find a way to put the deadliest weapons of the Realm, its titanic mechs, beyond the reach of those who would turn them into unstoppable instruments of cruel oppression—or is it already too late?

Full Secret Black introduces a thrilling new series, Messenger Corps, a sequel series to The Messenger!

©2024 Variant Publications (P)2025 Podium Audio

Hoping For More

I feel this story could have been so much more! Since reading the Messenger Corp series, and the reference in that series to Conover hiding the mechs, I thought - here we go!! I thought this short story would be an insight as to how he he chose to hide the mechs and why. You get the why, but you don't quite get the how. I've always liked the Conover character and his growth so this really intrigued me, but it also left me a bit disappointed.