Doragha

Far in the future, war is fought entirely through simulations. No land is ever taken, no lives are ever lost. Like a game no one wins or loses. To be honest, it's basically just peace with games. It's pretty boring. Sorry for starting this off saying the galaxy was at war.

But you see, not too long ago the galaxy was at proper war. DORAGHA, that period was called. Terrible weapons were constructed to fight this war. Atrocities were commonplace. It all became too costly. In lives lost, but more importantly, in money. Hence the switch to simulations.

Which never sat well with the veterans of DORAGHA. One of whom, Major Bresden Lardenoy, resigned, vowing to take no part in this soft new simulation war. A vow he keeps for decades, until financial hardship forces him to begrudgingly re-enlist for an easy paycheck.

Doesn't seem like an especially momentous decision, does it? It certainly doesn't seem like the sort of decision that'll kick off a series of increasingly dire diplomatic crises, roping in warriors and royals and bureaucrats and revolutionaries from an ever-expanding number of planets, threatening to plunge the entire galaxy back into the chaos of DORAGHA, or perhaps something even worse.

But, well...it is. Otherwise this book would be a lot shorter.