Star Exile

 Years after Chorix 87W won its freedom, Asha Sullivan and Emrys Gardner arrive on Nichigo 97 to build another colony—only to discover that Earth Command has weaponized their success. Faced with overcrowded transports, impossible quotas, and a mandate to extract the planet's rare Zaracha oil, they watch as Nichigo 97 itself begins to resist.When the geothermal vents shut down and the perimeter fence fails, prisoners and security personnel are forced into an uneasy alliance. As the bedrock shifts beneath them and a living world refuses to be broken, Asha must choose between compliance and defiance—between those that sent her and the people Command discarded.In the warm southern corridor that Nichigo opens, a new society begins to form. But Earth Command is not finished. More transports are coming. More forces are mobilizing. And the survivors must decide what they're willing to build—and what they're willing to defend—on a world that has already chosen them.