Two brilliant young men, Reinhard von Musel and Yang Wen-li, are forced to flee the countries of their birth and become refugees on opposite sides of a century long galactic war. While they both struggle to adapt to their new lives, their obvious talent propels them to the forefront of the conflict. Their choices will shape their adoptive homelands forever, and their clash will decide the future of the galaxy.

This story is broken up into volumes, each following one half of the story. You can read them in chronological order, or you can follow just Yang or Reinhard. See individual descriptions below.

Part One - Speaking in Tongues

When Yang Wen-li's father dies, the only thing that he inherits is a mountain of debt, which can only be paid off with fifteen years of his life. Wanting to escape that indentured servitude, Yang flees his homeland and takes up a false identity in the Galactic Empire, a hyper-stratified society where stepping out of line is punishable with imprisonment or death.

Yang enrolls in the Imperial Officers' Academy to study history, but despite his unusual and unmistakeable talent as both a tactician and a scholar, his classmates resent him for being a visible outsider. When tensions at the school boil over and several of Yang's classmates attempt to murder him, Yang finds an unlikely ally in the top student in the class: the aloof Oskar von Reuenthal. But Reuenthal and Yang both have secrets, secrets which could destroy both their lives and their newfound friendship.

[70k words, complete]

Part One (Alternate) - Talking Without Speaking

When Oskar von Reuenthal enrolls at the Imperial Officers' Academy, he doesn't expect to make real friends. The IOA is a competitive place, and Reuenthal has never been well liked. But when a foreign student shows up to challenge him for the top spot in the class, Reuenthal can't look away.

[77k words, complete]

Part Two - Life out of Balance

When Reinhard von Musel's mother learns that her husband is about to sell her daughter to become the concubine of the Kaiser, she takes her two children, Reinhard and Annerose, and flees to the Free Planets Alliance, where the three of them must start a new life.

[129k words, complete]

Part Three - Servants of the Pharaoh

Now an officer in His Majesty's fleet, Yang Wen-li struggles to maintain his principles in the face of everything that is expected of him. When he's unwillingly drawn into the politics of the court, he has to use all of his talents to keep himself and his new friends out of danger.

[173k words, complete]

Short - Whatever It Takes to Keep the Body Warm

After their falling out, Reuenthal and Mittermeyer are both posted to the brutal wasteland of Capche-Lanka. It's difficult to hold a grudge when you're just trying to survive.

[23k words, complete]

Short - Keep the Home Fires (Burning)

Three soldiers. Two bodies to be buried. One haunted house.

[33k words, complete]

Part Four - Lighting Out for the Territories

While his sister has joined the fierce Rosen Ritter regiment, Reinhard's fame has earned him a post stuck on Phezzan. Instead of getting to fight, he's caught up in a web of secrets, including the shelter and care of a mysterious refugee from the Empire. Separated from everyone he cares about, Reinhard is forced to make some unexpected allies, and make connections with old friends.

[147k words, complete]

Part Five - Serpent's Mouth, Serpent's Teeth

After having sacrificed his freedom to save his best friend's life, Yang must figure out how to win, and not just survive, the largest civil war in human history.

[In progress]

Part Six - Lightless Labyrinth

[forthcoming, TBD]

Part Seven - Silent Spiral

[forthcoming, TBD]

This story is crossposted on ao3 at bit.ly/wheelinsideawheel