Make No Martyrs: Book 1 of the Eichi Testaments

Mankind has spread across the galaxy but struggles to remain united. The latest incarnation of civilization, the Second Empire, is held together by means both official (the doctrines of the Church Universal) and unofficial (squads of Church-sponsored assassins, called Tawiin). The Tawiin, each led by a Missionary, conduct purges of those opposed to the Church dogma, ensuring the ideological and genetic purity of the only intelligent race in the galaxy.

Now a self-styled preacher has arisen on an insignificant planet on the edge of the Empire. He's likely another in a long string of charlatans, but the Church's most creative Tawiin, led by Missionary Paul Guthrie, is assigned to evaluate and neutralize the threat. A few surprises await them. The planet Demeter is located near the galactic hub, an ancient region extremely poor in metals. As a result, the most basic metals are incredibly valuable, and the settlers from Earth fight a constant battle against indigenous life for them. Demeter has a red giant for a sun, limiting the amount of energy available to the planet's ecosystem. The planet's minimal tilt causes very stable weather conditions, which means monsoon rains for all but a few weeks of the year. And because of its unique conditions, Demeter happens to be the only source of a key component of the rejuvenation drugs used throughout the Empire.

The Tawiin wants to complete the purge on Demeter and return to civilization as soon as possible, but things begin to go wrong almost immediately. The preacher may be the genuine article and has a rapidly growing following. Paul Guthrie is having second thoughts about the ethics of purging Church enemies and threatens to go native. Said natives are definitely growing restless. There's a girl who may turn out to be Paul's greatest ally, if she doesn't kill him first. The Church appears to have a hidden agenda that it hasn't shared with its Tawiin or the several battalions of Imperial Marines waiting for an invitation to restore order. The battalions are led by a general legendary for all the wrong reasons. Amidst all this activity, it seems everyone has forgotten the cardinal command of the Tawiin, "Make no martyrs."

Make No Martyrs is the first in a new series, the Eichi Testaments, focusing as much on the challenges of biology, ecosystems, and sociology, as those of physics that face humans in a future galaxy-spanning civilization.