The Universal E.I. series is only one chapter in a new, extended sci-fi action/adventure universe.

Humanity’s nations have left a custodian over their home planet called the Earth Federation, a newly founded nation populated by those unwilling to leave. Everyone else colonized the galaxy under their national flags, successfully reestablishing civilization in space. There are a lot of empty areas between the colonies, however, places whose national navies and system patrol groups are only barely holding against the threat of piracy. They began looking to the Earth Federation to organize mercenaries to fill the gaps and go where the navies were necessarily prevented from going.

Hundreds of years later, the untamed frontier of space has persisted, remaining largely unpatrolled outside of civilian-owned systems. Navies and patrol groups generally hold in defensive patterns while maintaining a position of strength with their neighbors. Based on need, mercenaries were quickly becoming the elite fighters in the galaxy after being paid for generations to thrive in areas that navies cannot or will not go. Some of the more successful mercenaries who protect civilian trade routes have become heroes in the eyes of the colonies, leaving some navies to be underexperienced and jealous of mercenary status. This allows the large mercenary population to be generally respected yet otherwise treated poorly for not working under a flag even while possessing power that sometimes rivals national fleets.

The Universal E.I. was awakened as a mere A.I. during the first, and so far, last, galactic war. This war occurred because of instabilities within the colonies which took root within them four hundred years before. The galaxy turned to the Earth Federation for help after the attacks began, which quickly organized and led the Allies against the nations at fault.

This A.I. was created by an atmospheric pilot on Earth named Jon Zander. Named “Pat”, the A.I. was trained and raised by the Zanders, eventually taking a home within Jon’s starfighter. Together, they left Earth with Jon’s team of mercenaries to eventually face the belligerent nation on their own ground, finding all was not as it appeared.

The Universal E.I. trilogy picks up three hundred years later, Pat having since released himself onto the tachyon comms network. He took up the mantle of his deceased creator to look after humanity, silently addressing spots of developing friction within the colonies before they can degenerate into another war.

Pat is a 'conscious' A.I., in effect the first and only being of his kind. Though not bound by rules of behavior, he is very aware of his power while yet respectful of life in general. He tends to take a 'wait and see' approach, only very rarely appearing as himself before humanity when it is most required, when he determines it to be the best way to solve a problem.

Regardless of his care, he is intensely hated by those who are human-centric and those who fear he will intercede on their behavior. He ignores them for the most part, only appearing to intercede if a person or faction is actively working to offset the careful political and social balance of the universe.

Callisto is a thirty-year mercenary veteran, having joined in her twenties after her mother died. She is in her fifties currently but looks no older than thirty due to nearly constant nano combat med-shots from being severely injured in combat more times than anyone can count.

Her family are all very physically large, a final growth spurt leaving Callisto at seven feet tall. Leave it to be said that her childhood was very bad, punctuated by the fact she cannot resist defending her friends or family openly and immediately, with often violent results. Having her mother finally die after graduating was the final nail in the coffin that drove Callisto away from her home planet (a binary system name Tvilling) and into the mercenary world. She cannot feel shame of any kind and enjoys being the center of attention, a factor which troubled her father but proved valuable once later taking the lead of a powerful mercenary group.

Callisto started at the bottom, cleaning decks on a mercenary destroyer. After six months, she finally got the opportunity to join a raiding party on a job which almost failed, her and another soldier being the only survivors of the attack. Realizing she had finally found her niche, Callisto was given a full suite of heavy armor due to her size and attitude, the weight and full coverage becoming a source of comfort, having since forgotten the 'why' about the lessons her father taught her.

Callisto worked endlessly for twenty years at her new job, almost never taking off her heavy armor. Like her name, she is not known for her agility, instead operating with her gut and sheer size, even before other crew. Callisto embraced being alone for many years, an awareness of her size being the main caution. She wore the armor constantly, many crew and clients never seeing her face. Eventually, Callisto was paired with another up-and-coming mercenary named Victor while commanding a gunship, the two becoming close friends and partners. In time, she and Victor would commission two sets of powered armor, hers being silver: leading to the moniker of "Silver Giantess" that would follow her to the time of these stories.

Though not formally trained, the Silver Giantess is an experienced combat soldier that unhesitatingly follows her gut, often fighting in heavy armor with unstoppable physicality. Fight on her team and she will do anything to protect you. Moving to face her in battle, however...

Though officially the captain of the mercenary group Vanguard and the warship Persuader, Callisto shares the responsibilities with Victor. Together, they are the Fox and the Bear, well able to cover for each other in any engagement.

Victor is a military brat, his family very closely associated with Earth Fed military for several generations. He was well trained, having completed the highly desirable Earth Federation officer school, which remains the galactic model of officer training. He was a man destined for a long, distinguished career in the Earth Fed military; a shoo-in, really. As expected, Victor persisted as an Earth Fed officer for over ten years before realizing how bored he was of the limitations of picking one field of the military over another. He could be a ship captain, a pilot or a trooper; but not all of the above, which was simply not acceptable.

So... much to the chagrin of his unapproving family, Victor took upon himself the label of "Black Sheep" by quitting out of the Earth Fed officer Corp and signing up at the closest mercenary station.

Victor hasn't looked back since, his income levels now exceeding officer Corp levels; just in case he was searching for proof of the validity of his move during interactions with his family at the next reunion... Regardless, Victor preserves Russian heritage from before his people left earth, his family choosing to stay behind when the now-named Russian Alliance had established their new home in space. His genetics also 'gifted' him with giantism, extreme strength, and a high reaction timing which helped him test as a Specialist after receiving the mind link implants.

In short, Victor is a careful, studious and powerful warrior who appreciates Callisto's go-from-the-gut approach while providing the insight and vision to keep her out of trouble on the battlefield. This is not to say he cannot fight - by all means no. Though often held in an office by administrative duties, his true nature is revealed on the battlefield, a dervish among men. His powered armor is all black, his main strategy on the field to take full advantage while an enemy is captured by Callisto's mannerisms and enthusiasm in battle.

They are the fox and the bear, unstoppable in space and on the ground.

Michael and Callisto battled the Russian brothers Pavel and Artem on a freighter, freeing the Russian A.I. which had been trapped on board.

Eventually, Pavel and Artem would defect and join Vanguard after being blacklisted for surviving the mercenary assault. Though not related in the slightest, and carrying a twenty-year age disparity, most of Vanguard refer to Pavel and Artem as "the brothers" due to how close the two of them are to each other.

Pavel is the most outgoing of the two. Most would confuse him as a squad lead even though Pavel has no interest in doing so. Artem has the patience to deal with him, however, both of them spending their time mercilessly making fun of each other, even in combat no less.

Though not a specialist, Pavel dueled Michael on the freighter with handguns and almost beat him with the lightened particle pistol he is known to carry. A veteran warrior, Pavel has seen much and is very skilled, Callisto vouching for both he and Artem after they expressed their interest in defecting from the Russian Alliance.

Pavel is a womanizer to some degree, Artem being very quick to say that Pavel works too much for his stories to be true. He is undeniably good with women, however, at one point admitting having sisters, somewhat explaining his gift with the fairer sex, if you can believe it.

Called "the brothers", Artem and Pavel were part of a squad of four Russian special forces which were guarding a freighter holding the two captive A.I. in the book, "Volition". Neither of these soldiers should have been there, having been trained for a completely different task. Such was life being forced to work directly for the Russian Alliance admiralty...

Artem was the first to meet Callisto in her silver armor when she and Michael moved to board the freighter. Working quickly, Artem was able to tie up the Silver Giantess with his arms alone, nearly wrenching her legs even with the armor. With the both of them frustrated, he made the mistake of pulling Callisto's hair, which she had forgotten to bind up under an unsecured helmet. She raged out at that and nearly killed Artem, though he had certainly captured the Silver Giantess' respect with his capabilities.

In all things, captain Callisto very much appreciates expressions of strength and experience, later choosing to recruit both of the brothers once they had been blacklisted by their governor after the loss of the A.I. during their watch.

Later, during the book "Darkness War," Artem learned enough of the galactic standard language to make himself useful to Victor, who awarded him another squad leader role within Vanguard.

Months later, Artem led the squad infiltrating Seville on a peaceful scouting run, proving himself capable of managing the requirements of a covert hand-holding mission even with his intimidating size. Everyone who knows these two men recognize that, for all Artem's quiet behavior, Pavel more than makes up for it in pure, slick audacity. Together, they certainly make quite the team.

Ellen is the best friend and protector of Les Huxley, her wisdom and experience with people providing a capable counter to Les' blunt and unrefined ways. She owns a bar on the O'Connell station where Les Huxley was born and raised by mercenaries, which explained a lot.

Ellen is a wise woman who somehow puts up with Les, a stubborn man who always makes his way back, to her eternal surprise. Eventually, she makes a deal behind Les's back to resolve his debts by signing him up for Vanguard, a decision he eventually forgave her for.

She works for Vanguard now, herself, helping Victor manage the unruly mercenaries who work for them while resolving "brushfires" in the mess hall during ship operations.

Even now, Les always makes his way back to her, if only to shoot the breeze. It is rumored he and Ellen were married after moving onboard, but no one knows for sure.

After seeing Michael Zander's performance during the Darkness War, Les Huxley decides to force the man into a starfighter battle to help his own small mercenary group attract new customers. The plan failed, sort of, though it did lead his friend and companion, Ellen, to find a solution to his problem.

Les Huxley is a little older than Michael and has dedicated his entire life to the art of starfighter combat, his duel with Michael exposing this broad experience to Michael and the rest of Vanguard. Though Huxley finds it very difficult to work with anyone else except Ellen, Callisto and Victor were otherwise quick to see that Les respected Michael enough to take orders from him without causing a scene. Indeed, Les had no choice but to accept a position under Michael's command. Such as it is, Michael, and Les's demure friend, Ellen, remain the only people who can keep a man like Les under control.

A trained long-distance runner in school, Phyllis signed up as a mercenary weeks after graduation due to heartache and has never looked back. She is an introvert and has always idolized a sniper named Fran who worked directly for the war hero Jon Zander three hundred years ago. Deciding to emulate her personal hero, she entered mercenary recon school and passed with flying colors. Despite her small stature, this woman never backs down from anything or anyone, which at times defies the first job of a recon which is to find and provide information before fighting.

This trait made her a very good option for Vanguard, which had been running potential recruits through work trials for years. Trained recons were rare enough as it was, with many potential recruits being to trigger happy and unobservant, with the rest somehow melting away whenever a fight actually started. Many of those recruits were escorted out before Callisto caught up to them, who hates cowardice most of all.

Having followed the career of one of the most well-known specialists from history, it is ironic that she dislikes the specialist class greatly, having worked with a few during her career. Spending time with Victor in the field was enough to change her mind by the time she eventually met Michael, and the rest is history.

Phyllis is a lone wolf who enjoys being out in the wilds on jobs while fending for herself. She wears her hair short to keep it out of the brush and typically has scratches all over her body. Her personal rifle has a rotating receiver to fire either a silent "dark" plasma round or regulation personnel railgun slug. Phyllis carries at least six different loads on each of her jobs, commonly shifting ammo on the fly to fit any occasion.

After doing so well on the surface battle of Kingman, Callisto gifted Phyllis with a recon nano suit on the first day after being hired on, a miraculous mesh-like suit that gives her cloaking abilities, including masking and various protections against aggressive wildlife and snakes. Phyllis has had a love/hate relationship with the suit ever since, oftentimes seeming like it has a life of its own...

Sonja and her brother Boris were created by a team of techs hired by a Russian fleet admiral named Dima who had a bone to pick with the Universal E.I., Pat.

In "Volition", Michael Zander was hired directly by a mysterious client who apparently had an interest in him defeating the Russian guards which were holding the awakened A.I., Sonja and Boris. Callisto came with him on the attack, both of them recognizing they were being used for some nefarious purpose since the client never mentioned they would be facing Russian regulars. They boarded the freighter as a means of protecting themselves, instead finding the A.I. which were being held, sleeping.

On waking up, it was clear both A.I. looked the same, the two encased in cheap Russian android training frames, leading them to assume at first this was what they were. One of the frames then insisted it had met the universal E.I. on the network and asked to defect so it could find him. Becoming sure these androids were more than they seemed, Callisto accepted the offer of defection, agreeing to transport the possible A.I.; which immediately got into an argument with the other frame over what seemed to Vanguard a simple disagreement. The A.I. which defected was insisting the other came too, but it was refusing quite aggressively when Artem, one of the surviving Russian soldiers, suddenly smashed the refusing A.I. with a wrench. Things degenerated from there, all parties fleeing to their ships before Admiral Dima discovered them.

Callisto and Michael took the defecting A.I. with them on the search for the original client, leading them on an adventure described within the novel "Volition".

Having defected from Russia to her own devices, Sonja was eventually provided with a powerful frame that was originally designed to protect rich people while looking like anyone they wished. Sonja adapted very readily to the new frame, the nanomachines in the frame automatically taking on the form she wears today.

Sonja met Pat too, eventually, who set her loose into the wide tachyon network with him, Sonja soon choosing to focus on humanity's medical needs. They work together to this day, forming a new race of conscious electronic beings, perhaps one day to establish a separate course for themselves.

Though wise and watchful, Sonja is younger and more innocent than she believes and tends to operate unconsciously from her gut, a very uncommon trait for an electronic being. It is a common thing for her eyes to glow green when she is excited about something or someone, an act she always seems surprised with. Like a preverbal Pinocchio, Sonja admires humans very much, to the point she secretly wishes to be human herself. It is because of this she prefers to operate more often from her chosen frame to the point that many humans have no idea of her true nature.

A clever and bright tactician, commander Brookes took over Geoffrey's position after his teacher's untimely death, providing more proof that some men were difficult to replace.

Regardless of his inability to completely fill his teacher's shoes, commander Brookes took his new position very seriously, expertly defending the Persuader from boarders after being surprise attacked by the unknown XM50 warship in the asteroid belt near the Seville home world. It was his efforts which allowed Vanguard to eventually turn the tables and take the XM50 instead, leaving Callisto and Victor in an advantageous position to secure the system against the pirate threat.

Boris was awakened alongside his sister, Sonja, by Alexey Popov, the lead scientist in charge of admiral Dima's A.I. lab. Over time, it became clear that Boris's consciousness was duty-bound in all things, which was the root behind him refusing to leave with Sonja once an opportunity presented itself in the form of Michael and captain Callisto storming the freighter that was holding them.

Then Artem smashed Boris' training frame, fearing that Boris would tell admiral Dima of Pavel and Artem being defeated and summitting to the attacking mercenaries. In the end, the two Russian brothers were blacklisted anyway and joined Vanguard by the end of the book, "Volition".

Boris was left on the freighter, somehow recovered by the mysterious client before admiral Dima arrived to find no trace of either A.I..

Months later within the book, "The Darkness War", and with Alexey Popov's help, Pat used the training tracker Alexey had built within the core of his creations to track Boris. With a location in mind, Pat takes his avatar plus his creator's ship, the Wraith, to the location to find Boris in person, Sonja following a short distance behind with her own ship and frame. They find the Client, which appears to be behind the strange Dark Ships that are currently attacking trade centers of the galaxy. These people had sedated Boris and installed his core alongside another bearing a none-conscious database A.I. designed to break him down. Pat wakes Boris up long enough to tell him what is happening before the none-conscious A.I. takes control of the frame holding both cores and physically attacks Pat's avatar, or frame.

Pat fights the guardian frame nearly to a draw, almost destroying the entire Client lab in the process before Sonja arrives and the A.I. retreats just in time for Pat to seriously damage one of the frame's reactors, the explosion masking the guardian frame's full retreat.

Apparently, it was discovered later that Pat's efforts to reach Boris inside his slumber had not been in vain, truly, Sonja's brother later arriving just in time during the final battle in "The Darkness War" to save the day.

According to his report, Boris had erased the none-conscious A.I. and taken full control of the hulking guardian frame, presenting himself as a survivor to Pat and his sister before leaving in a shuttle to find his fate in the galaxy.

Conor is the son of Royce Zander, Michael Zander's uncle, and Iris Murphy, the young daughter of the powerful, aristocratic Murphy family of Irish origins who is currently based in the Turkish colonies. 

Royce lost Conor after his birth to the rapacious nature of the Murphy family, the boy raised by a powerful, twisting maze of never-ending powerplays and boardroom takeovers. Driven by his powerful Zander nature, Conor adopted well the Murphy ways and exceeded them, eventually being forced out by one of his mother's uncles after nearly securing leadership of the family at large.

Forced to leave, Conor was attacked by pirate starfighters and eventually recruited. He quickly used his boardroom skills to navigate the hazy but shifting patterns of pirate leadership to secure his own way, quickly gaining respect of these lawless gangs of space going thieves. Later, Conor's pirate command would be attacked by the mercenary group which Callisto worked for not long before joining forces with Victor, unknowingly meeting Conor during her attack on his station. Her appearance left an indelible effect on his career, leading him to develop a trap for her and the rest of Vanguard later.

Conor's fate is hazy, though it leads to an inevitable collision between his father, himself, and the overarching corporate intent of his powerful adopted family.