The Great Betrayal — Michael G. Thomas

The Great Betrayal is the fourth book in the epic series set in the Star Crusades universe that chronicles humanity's first steps away from Alpha Centauri and beyond.

The ancient prophecy spreads to the colonies of the Alliance and ignites a public debate on the rumor of the coming comet. The origins of the rumor revolve around the dark days of the last war fought on Helios. The prophecy speaks of the return of the ‘Great Enemy' that will be signaled by the coming of a burning star, when its beasts and machines will devour entire worlds. Although many see it as no more that a fleeting superstition, the Alliance Senate decides that preemptive measures must be taken to prepare for the return of the Enemy.

Meanwhile, the revolution on Helios has slowed to a stalemate, worsened by a bloody military coup led by Dictator Lyssk and his private security forces. News that they have turned on the civilian population force the Alliance Senate to act. Yet it is not only the Alliance that has an interest in the events unfolding on Helios. Even as the Senate argues on intervention a large alien fleet with more than twenty capital ships and a substantial fighter escort appears and sets course for the planet. With the Narau fleet of dubious loyalty it falls to the newly formed 4th Heavy Strike Group and the elite 2nd Marine Corps Regiment to save the day.

Star Crusades Nexus is a classic work of realistic military science fiction set against the background of the Centauri Alliance's expansion into the Orion Nebula. Also available is the prequel series, ‘Star Crusades Uprising' set two decades earlier and covers the events of the Great Uprising that brought humanity to the brink of destruction.