Fires against infinite darkness

Humanity no longer expands with blind hope; it expands with calculated caution. For the newly minted Lieutenant Hughes "Oz" Osbert, a xenobiologist aboard the scientific survey ship Salaminia, the mission to the Kepler system is supposed to be a standard assessment of habitability. But on the frontier, "standard" is a death sentence for the unprepared. As the Salaminia enters orbit around the stunning, blue-red disk of the super-Earth, the crew finds a world of biological and atmospheric anomalies that hint at a massive, complex ecosystem. While Oz and his team prepare to take the first steps onto the highland basins, they believe they are the only sentient presence in the system. They are wrong. Deep within the mountain spines of the planet, an ancient, star-faring being watches the "fire" of their descent. Scarred by the high-tech weaponry of the Preservation of Primacy, a dragon has sought refuge on this world to heal. She knows that ships bring hunters, and hunters bring death. To survive, she won't just fight; she will infiltrate. As Oz prepares to study the flora and fauna, the dragon prepares to wear a human shape, blurring the line between the observer and the observed. In the infinite darkness of space, the smallest spark of curiosity might just ignite the galactic fire of interspecies war. (Got inspired by the theme of the current context, gonna stay out of it mainly because I will use AI for proofreading\ grammar and help to render less content-heavy descriptive passages. Hope you'll enjoy. Planned releases each Saturday. Cover generated with Ai .)