Literature / Space Academy Miscreants

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Space Academy Miscreants is a Affectionate Parody Space Opera by C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus. It is the third book in the Space Academy series.

Vance Turbo has successfully saved the entire galaxy from the Primordials and been rewarded with promotion to the status of High Protector by the Community. However, he has no time to celebrate because he receives an ominous warning that tells him his daughter (who he has never met) is in danger from the sinister Department Twelve.

Deciding he can't bring the Ares or its crew to deal with personal business, Vance decides to take a ride on a pirate ship to the far-off planet of Crius. On the way, the pirates are themselves subject to attack by pirates and Vance discovers a long thought dead relative is among them. Can Vance renconcile himself to the reasons for becoming a Space Fleet Captain in the first place were based on a lie? And if he does, can he face up against an army of slavers and genetically engineered supermen?

Space Academy Miscreants was released on October 24th, 2024.

This book contains the following tropes:

• Actually Pretty Funny: Jack reacts to Vance cleaning out his billions of stolen credits and donating them to charity with amusement rather than anger..
• Abusive Parents: Vance Turbo's father and mother, Jack and Tomo Tagawa, faked their deaths in order to escape from their lives as spies for the Earth.
• Archnemesis Dad: Jack Tagawa is a Big Bad Duumvirate with Joseph Allenway. Jack, notably, being Vance's presumed dead father.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: The nobility of Crius are a bunch of geneticists and corporate bigwigs who gave themselves titles before setting themselves up as lords of slave plantations with cloned servants.
• Bad Boss: Jack has the entirety of the Siege Perilous crew executed after they mutiny.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Joseph Allenway III AKA Karl the Conqueror is the driver for the majority of the plot, being the ruler of Crius and a mutinous Space Fleet captain. Jack Tagawa also plays the role of both antagonist and ally in equal measure, serving as a Wild Card
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Jack Tagawa has no loyalty to anyone or anything, including his own family.
• Clones Are People, Too:The Slave Lords of Crius use their creations status as clones as justification for their enslavement and the Community reacts to it as disgusting nonsense.
• Consummate Liar: Jack Tagawa is arguably better than Leah Mass as he is able to fool even telepaths. May be related to being The Sociopath.
• Did Not Think This Through: Karl the Conqueror blowing up The Jovial Empress results in the Community, a galactic superpower, declaring war on Crius and crushing it within an hour.
• "Die Hard" on an X: The second half of the book is Vance Turbo and company trying to take back their starship from Karl the Conqueror.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The Crius Slave Lords defend themselves with a lot of rhetoric similar to the Confederacy.
• Faking the Dead: Jack and Tomo Tagawa faked the infamous accident that haunted Vance his entire life.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The High Priestess gives her life in order for Vance to live.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Jack believes his son, Vance, is exactly the same as him as an uncaring user and disposer of people. Anyone who has followed the books will find this ludicrous.
• Hypocrite: Joseph Allenway III believes it's perfectly alright for him to steal starships and raid Community shipping (not to mention lord over genetically engineered slaves) but that the Community coming in to crush his forces is tyranny.
• Karma Houdini: Jack Tagawa gets away with mass murder, piracy, and faking his death among many, many other crimes. Vance points out that he's The Sociopath so trying to make him feel bad about it is pointless. Subverted in that Vance does make sure that his father is left penniless as he exploits his status as High Protector to empty out all of Jack's accounts.
• La Résistance: The Community has been funding an anti-slavery movement on Crius through Leah Mass the entire time that they have been negotiating with them.
• The Mutiny: Joseph Allenway III AKA Karl the Conqueror successfully carried out one of these during the Notha War and gained himself an Olympic-class space cruiser. It resulted in him becoming one of the most wanted men in the galaxy, though.
• Occupiers Out of Our Country: The attitude of the Slave Lords of Crius with them treated as thoroughly unsympathetic for it. After all, the reason the Community is occupying the planet is because it is practicing slavery and piracy against the Community's people.
• The Reveal: Jack Tagawa reveals that Admiral Bendo is the head of Department Twelve and that he's working with High Protector B'Vash.
• The Sociopath: Jack cares about no one but himself and doesn't even seem to realize this is abnormal.
• Space Pirates: The primary defense force and economic aid of the planet Crius due to the fact it is a pariah state.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: The Slave Lords of Crius genetically engineer massive numbers of slaves and sell them as their planet's primary economic export. Vance and the Community believe this is worth crushing them for.
• Slave Race: Crius has spent its entire existence manufacturing these for interested buyers and themselves. The clonemasters of the planet make sure that they are obedient, strong, and customizable.
• That Thing Is Not My Child!: Vance and Shelly strongly disagree over whether Astrid is their child or not since she was made with their DNA without their concept. Vance immediately bonds with her while Shelly rejects her as a product of Stalker with a Test Tube.
• Trans Tribulations: Pink the Pirate grew up in a religious cult that rejects trans identity. Vance reacts to it as its a completely normal outpatient procedure in the 24th century.
• Villain Has a Point: Joseph Allenway III says the Community has been funding terrorism on his home planet and trying to force the local government into giving up its culture under false pretenses of friendship. Subverted by the fact that the local culture is based on slavery and Joseph Allenway III is the infamous mutineer as well as pirate, Karl the Conqueror.
• Villainous Respect: Jack comes to respect his son despite the fact that he wiped out his fortune and forces.
• Wild Card: Jack plays everyone against one another in order to come out on top. Until he comes up against his son.
• Worthy Opponent: Jack considers Vance, his son, to be this at the end of their encounter.