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Retribution: S.J.4
Some things are worth fighting for.With the galaxy under the control of a corrupt and evil empire, the crew of the highly advanced alien ship Renegade feels duty-bound to help. Their presence disrupts the imperial forces that hold sway over a thousand planets, but can one ship really make a difference?
As Captain Zeke Darius leads the ship into the unknown, Master Sergeant Remmy Steel must fight to ensure the safety of the crew. But no one could anticipate what the Space Marines will find. It’s a discovery that could change everything.
Retribution is the fourth book in the Starship Jericho series. The continuing adventures of the small crew of Fleet Personnel and Special Forces Commandos will have you riveted from the very first page. It is a military science fiction epic in the vein of Starship Troopers, Terms of Enlistment, and the very best of Star Trek. If you love great storytelling, you will love Retribution and the entire Starship Jericho series.
As Captain Zeke Darius leads the ship into the unknown, Master Sergeant Remmy Steel must fight to ensure the safety of the crew. But no one could anticipate what the Space Marines will find. It’s a discovery that could change everything.
Retribution is the fourth book in the Starship Jericho series. The continuing adventures of the small crew of Fleet Personnel and Special Forces Commandos will have you riveted from the very first page. It is a military science fiction epic in the vein of Starship Troopers, Terms of Enlistment, and the very best of Star Trek. If you love great storytelling, you will love Retribution and the entire Starship Jericho series.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 22, 2025
257 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 1, 2025
I Loved it
This book four and everyone of them was absolutely fantastic. I can not wait for book five, and all others. I was holding my breath threw all the action. I hope you will love it too.
This book four and everyone of them was absolutely fantastic. I can not wait for book five, and all others. I was holding my breath threw all the action. I hope you will love it too.
May 24, 2025
==[Note: As of 12/03/2023, this will not be published on Amazon since I have been banned from posting reviews for some unknown reason. Once the ban is lifted, assuming it does get lifted, I’ll go back and post this to Amazon.]==
You’ve got a fantastically powerful starship with amazing technology, speed, power and things only a starship captain could dream about, so what do you do with it? Well, the first thing is to try and find more crew. Your original crew of about two-hundred was fine when you only had to operate the S.D.F*Jericho*, but now you’ve got this humongous starship that could reasonably hold a crew of thousands! And, not only would it contain crew, but a whole population of civilians could live aboard the Arodoni starship called *“Renegade”*. So, where do you find more crew.
Marine Master Sergeant Remmy Steel has suggested they start recruiting aliens which isn’t a bad idea since that’s all they will probably have to recruit from, but it won’t be easy. So far the only aliens they have met are definitely not warfighters. Oh, they did find and defeat the Ashi both on-board the ship and on the planet Casasil, but the Casians weren’t exactly suited for war. They resembled Earth elephants, trunk and all, so even holding a weapon was going to be difficult for them. That is unless someone designed weapons specifically for their anatomy. That wasn’t impossible considering the advance 3D printers on the *Renegade*. But, there were only a few of Casians willing to leave their homes and travel aboard a strange starship. Still, some did volunteer and it was up to MSgt. Steel and his Marines to train these new troops. Some of these aliens even volunteered to work parts of the ship in order to give the human crew some down time.
But, they had to find more willing aliens to become crew. Nurek, a Dodonus and former slave to the Ashi Emperor, and now advisor to Captain Zeke Darius suggested they head to the Olotimbo system where they might find other aliens willing to help operate the *Renegade*. So that’s where they headed. Captain Darius was apprehensive about his command since he didn’t know this new ship that well. Everything about it was almost, well, alien, and all of his crew was learning as they went. They had successfully dealt with a flotilla of Ashi ships in the Casa system, but that was because the Ashi ships didn’t really know how to operate in battle since the Empire hadn’t been attack in thousands of years! Even their Emperor who thought of himself as a great warrior was captured by the Marines on the planet and was now in custody recovering from his wounds.
Captain Darius also had to contend with the knowledge that he didn’t know this Nurek very well. Could he trust that this former slave wasn’t leading him into a trap? Well, he soon found out when they went through the portal and arrived with five slaver ships sitting behind them. Now here a very interesting and strange facts about the *Renegade*, it had no rear-ward facing weapons! Not even missile launch tubes! I’m not sure why anyone would build such a fantastic starship that had such a weak spot in its defense. But, the Captain managed to use his Marine contingent in an unusual way and eventually destroyed or disabled all but one slaver ship.
That’s when they found humans aboard the remaining slave ship. So, if humans were on this ship, then they must be others somewhere and that’s what they wanted most, either to find more humans to help or free any that were taken as slaves. The one human slave that lived through the battle used a very ancient language that even GIGI (Galactic Information and Guidance Instrument) almost couldn’t interpret. Still, they did find out where other humans might exist so that’s where the Captain wanted to go.
But first he had to get out of the Olotimbo system. Here’s where a major battle is fought. The Ashi have found where the *Renegade* is and they send a fleet of one-hundred eighteen starships into the system. They initially block the portal accessing the system so the *Renegade* has no way out. So, Captain Zeke Darius has to fight his ship. Unfortunately, as powerful as the *Renegade* seems to be, Captain Darius manages to almost get it destroyed. I don’t understand that. It seems that he outranges the Ashi ships and has greater firepower, plus his ship is much faster than even their fastest ship. Still, it’s a close call. I guess the author had to make it exciting or this would have been a boring battle.
Still, the story isn’t over. Captain Darius still struggles with whether or not he should go home to Earth. He’s afraid that he’ll just lead the Ashi Empire right to Earth if he does so, but that doesn’t make sense since the already escaped one star system and entered another one without the Ashi knowing where they were. He should be able to do the same, just leave for Earth making sure there is no tracking device aboard and then he’d be bring a lot of advanced technology back to Earth. He’s going to have to do something because all his Marines are going crazy or getting killed and his crew don’t know how to rapidly repair this huge ship quickly enough to get back into the fight.
So, there will be more to come as the *Renegade* wonders around the Ashi Empire trying to figure out how to survived or whether they should go home. If you asked the crew, I know what they would do, but that’s not going to happen. We will find out what happens in book 5, “Independence”, now available on Amazon.
You’ve got a fantastically powerful starship with amazing technology, speed, power and things only a starship captain could dream about, so what do you do with it? Well, the first thing is to try and find more crew. Your original crew of about two-hundred was fine when you only had to operate the S.D.F*Jericho*, but now you’ve got this humongous starship that could reasonably hold a crew of thousands! And, not only would it contain crew, but a whole population of civilians could live aboard the Arodoni starship called *“Renegade”*. So, where do you find more crew.
Marine Master Sergeant Remmy Steel has suggested they start recruiting aliens which isn’t a bad idea since that’s all they will probably have to recruit from, but it won’t be easy. So far the only aliens they have met are definitely not warfighters. Oh, they did find and defeat the Ashi both on-board the ship and on the planet Casasil, but the Casians weren’t exactly suited for war. They resembled Earth elephants, trunk and all, so even holding a weapon was going to be difficult for them. That is unless someone designed weapons specifically for their anatomy. That wasn’t impossible considering the advance 3D printers on the *Renegade*. But, there were only a few of Casians willing to leave their homes and travel aboard a strange starship. Still, some did volunteer and it was up to MSgt. Steel and his Marines to train these new troops. Some of these aliens even volunteered to work parts of the ship in order to give the human crew some down time.
But, they had to find more willing aliens to become crew. Nurek, a Dodonus and former slave to the Ashi Emperor, and now advisor to Captain Zeke Darius suggested they head to the Olotimbo system where they might find other aliens willing to help operate the *Renegade*. So that’s where they headed. Captain Darius was apprehensive about his command since he didn’t know this new ship that well. Everything about it was almost, well, alien, and all of his crew was learning as they went. They had successfully dealt with a flotilla of Ashi ships in the Casa system, but that was because the Ashi ships didn’t really know how to operate in battle since the Empire hadn’t been attack in thousands of years! Even their Emperor who thought of himself as a great warrior was captured by the Marines on the planet and was now in custody recovering from his wounds.
Captain Darius also had to contend with the knowledge that he didn’t know this Nurek very well. Could he trust that this former slave wasn’t leading him into a trap? Well, he soon found out when they went through the portal and arrived with five slaver ships sitting behind them. Now here a very interesting and strange facts about the *Renegade*, it had no rear-ward facing weapons! Not even missile launch tubes! I’m not sure why anyone would build such a fantastic starship that had such a weak spot in its defense. But, the Captain managed to use his Marine contingent in an unusual way and eventually destroyed or disabled all but one slaver ship.
That’s when they found humans aboard the remaining slave ship. So, if humans were on this ship, then they must be others somewhere and that’s what they wanted most, either to find more humans to help or free any that were taken as slaves. The one human slave that lived through the battle used a very ancient language that even GIGI (Galactic Information and Guidance Instrument) almost couldn’t interpret. Still, they did find out where other humans might exist so that’s where the Captain wanted to go.
But first he had to get out of the Olotimbo system. Here’s where a major battle is fought. The Ashi have found where the *Renegade* is and they send a fleet of one-hundred eighteen starships into the system. They initially block the portal accessing the system so the *Renegade* has no way out. So, Captain Zeke Darius has to fight his ship. Unfortunately, as powerful as the *Renegade* seems to be, Captain Darius manages to almost get it destroyed. I don’t understand that. It seems that he outranges the Ashi ships and has greater firepower, plus his ship is much faster than even their fastest ship. Still, it’s a close call. I guess the author had to make it exciting or this would have been a boring battle.
Still, the story isn’t over. Captain Darius still struggles with whether or not he should go home to Earth. He’s afraid that he’ll just lead the Ashi Empire right to Earth if he does so, but that doesn’t make sense since the already escaped one star system and entered another one without the Ashi knowing where they were. He should be able to do the same, just leave for Earth making sure there is no tracking device aboard and then he’d be bring a lot of advanced technology back to Earth. He’s going to have to do something because all his Marines are going crazy or getting killed and his crew don’t know how to rapidly repair this huge ship quickly enough to get back into the fight.
So, there will be more to come as the *Renegade* wonders around the Ashi Empire trying to figure out how to survived or whether they should go home. If you asked the crew, I know what they would do, but that’s not going to happen. We will find out what happens in book 5, “Independence”, now available on Amazon.
March 11, 2025
Beyond the orbit of Saturn the Artifact waited for humanity to mature.
When the Artifact awoke and began communicating, it sent plans for a spaceship. More advanced than anything humanity had yet built, the Starship Jericho's first mission was to recover the Artifact. The trip to Saturn's orbit took mere weeks with the powerful Prometheus Engines built to the specifications from the Artifact known as GIGI (Galactic Information & Guidance Instrument). Retrieving GIGI was accomplished by the Jericho's Marine Master Sergeant Remmy Steel. Once onboard, the Artifact convinced Jericho's Captain Zeke Darius to make a quick trip across the galaxy to secure an Arodoni power core. The power core converted Dark energy to unlimited power for the ship's engines and weapons.
Seizing the power core involved a brief struggle with unknown aliens, but the Marines lead by Lt. Micky Colt and MSgt. Remmy Steel were able to successfully retrieve the power core, but sustained their first loss in the process. With the Arodoni power core attached to the Prometheus engines, the Jericho sped across the galaxy to secure an Arodoni Starship hidden in a nebula. The abandoned vessel was huge and intact! Kilometers long, the Starship Renegade was large enough to comfortably fit the Jericho into one of its fighter bays. With the power core attached to the Renegade, the mighty Starship was fully functional - weapons, life support and propulsion were all comfortably supplied from the power core. Before disappearing from the galaxy, the Arodoni hid the Renegade deep in the nebula. Now it was theirs!
GIGI informed Capt. Darius and the Marine contingent how the galaxy was ruthlessly ruled by one alien race for hundreds of years. Slavery was rampant and condoned; no not merely condoned but practiced by the powerful race! Earth and humanity had to be protected from discovery by the alien scum. Did I mention how big the Renegade was? Completely self contained, Renegade could comfortably house, transport and supply thousands! The center of the starship was a huge park where wild creatures roamed and lived. Overhung by balconies leading to quarters, the park was enormous and supplied protein for the ship's manufactory where literally anything could be produced. The Captain, crew and marines were overwhelmed by the enormity of their new home.
Their shakedown cruise turned into rescue missions, freeing slaves and adding them to the crew as the huge starship tested its battle readiness and began to creep out into the galaxy at large. As they learned about the Renegade's abilities and strength, skirmishes with slavers and warships gave them hope and purpose. They couldn't return to Earth and expose their home to the alien evil ruling the galaxy, but they could explore the galaxy at large and maybe protect a burgeoning freedom movement.
The exciting characters and enormous storyline keep me coming back to this great read!
When the Artifact awoke and began communicating, it sent plans for a spaceship. More advanced than anything humanity had yet built, the Starship Jericho's first mission was to recover the Artifact. The trip to Saturn's orbit took mere weeks with the powerful Prometheus Engines built to the specifications from the Artifact known as GIGI (Galactic Information & Guidance Instrument). Retrieving GIGI was accomplished by the Jericho's Marine Master Sergeant Remmy Steel. Once onboard, the Artifact convinced Jericho's Captain Zeke Darius to make a quick trip across the galaxy to secure an Arodoni power core. The power core converted Dark energy to unlimited power for the ship's engines and weapons.
Seizing the power core involved a brief struggle with unknown aliens, but the Marines lead by Lt. Micky Colt and MSgt. Remmy Steel were able to successfully retrieve the power core, but sustained their first loss in the process. With the Arodoni power core attached to the Prometheus engines, the Jericho sped across the galaxy to secure an Arodoni Starship hidden in a nebula. The abandoned vessel was huge and intact! Kilometers long, the Starship Renegade was large enough to comfortably fit the Jericho into one of its fighter bays. With the power core attached to the Renegade, the mighty Starship was fully functional - weapons, life support and propulsion were all comfortably supplied from the power core. Before disappearing from the galaxy, the Arodoni hid the Renegade deep in the nebula. Now it was theirs!
GIGI informed Capt. Darius and the Marine contingent how the galaxy was ruthlessly ruled by one alien race for hundreds of years. Slavery was rampant and condoned; no not merely condoned but practiced by the powerful race! Earth and humanity had to be protected from discovery by the alien scum. Did I mention how big the Renegade was? Completely self contained, Renegade could comfortably house, transport and supply thousands! The center of the starship was a huge park where wild creatures roamed and lived. Overhung by balconies leading to quarters, the park was enormous and supplied protein for the ship's manufactory where literally anything could be produced. The Captain, crew and marines were overwhelmed by the enormity of their new home.
Their shakedown cruise turned into rescue missions, freeing slaves and adding them to the crew as the huge starship tested its battle readiness and began to creep out into the galaxy at large. As they learned about the Renegade's abilities and strength, skirmishes with slavers and warships gave them hope and purpose. They couldn't return to Earth and expose their home to the alien evil ruling the galaxy, but they could explore the galaxy at large and maybe protect a burgeoning freedom movement.
The exciting characters and enormous storyline keep me coming back to this great read!
April 22, 2025
Retribution was a really great book. A lot of action with the Marine’s headed by master sergeant Remmy Steel and Captain Zeke Darius . There were just a few things that I found difficult to imagine. First of all, the massive size of the renegade. I mean I went on a battleship one time, and those things are huge. But some of the facilities on the renegade went a little beyond the pale for me. You had to use your imagination as to how things inside the ship would not be completely tossed around when the ship entered hyper space. But apparently they had that law of physics covered. The descriptions of the various species on the various planets was also interesting and entertaining. It stimulated my imagination pretty good. But with those descriptions, you would have to wonder whether the species would actually have the dexterity to be able to control a spacecraft. The Dodonus for example.
But overall, it was a very good book. It moved fast and did not bog down. And the concepts of utilizing dark energy, traveling around through all these different star systems, and meeting up with all of these different, intelligent species, was very stimulating to my imagination. I guess the only improvement would’ve been if they had some illustrations.
But overall, it was a very good book. It moved fast and did not bog down. And the concepts of utilizing dark energy, traveling around through all these different star systems, and meeting up with all of these different, intelligent species, was very stimulating to my imagination. I guess the only improvement would’ve been if they had some illustrations.
April 25, 2025
No Shark Jumping Here
Toby Neighbors has the rare ability to write serial novels longer than a trilogy without “Jumping the Shark” in the vain attempt to pump more life into a story line that needs to end.
There are some sci fi greats who could not or would not pull this off, Burroughs and Card come to mind.
Hienlien could do it, Drake did it, and so does Neighbors.
Great job, Sir!!!
Toby Neighbors has the rare ability to write serial novels longer than a trilogy without “Jumping the Shark” in the vain attempt to pump more life into a story line that needs to end.
There are some sci fi greats who could not or would not pull this off, Burroughs and Card come to mind.
Hienlien could do it, Drake did it, and so does Neighbors.
Great job, Sir!!!
March 17, 2025
Excellent
And he kept me reading, practically 0 scanning. For those of you who read a lot of sci-fi.... that's saying something!!! Is there a next in the series? If there is I'll buy it. If there isn't I'll buy another of his books. I really enjoy finding a good author like him. 🙂
And he kept me reading, practically 0 scanning. For those of you who read a lot of sci-fi.... that's saying something!!! Is there a next in the series? If there is I'll buy it. If there isn't I'll buy another of his books. I really enjoy finding a good author like him. 🙂
April 15, 2025
compelling plot and great characters. hard to put down
Must read! Great plot, complex characters and a compelling story. Can’t wait to read the next in the series. Keep up the good work!
Must read! Great plot, complex characters and a compelling story. Can’t wait to read the next in the series. Keep up the good work!
May 4, 2025
Great military space opera
I'm really enjoying the creativity of this universe. This series was a happy accident, and I've enjoyed every page turn. I love the Navy and Marine aspects of the story. The character build up are very efficient. I can't wait to see if they go home.
I'm really enjoying the creativity of this universe. This series was a happy accident, and I've enjoyed every page turn. I love the Navy and Marine aspects of the story. The character build up are very efficient. I can't wait to see if they go home.
December 9, 2025
This series moves fast and is a total page turner. I'm on the 5th and final season and will miss Remmy Steele and Zeke Darius and all of the other crew members. I can't wait to see what happens next!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews