Mission: Levity is a monthly German Science Fiction serial published since 2015 in e-book, audiobook and printed format.
Captain Cheb Fantas had it all: a brilliant career in the United Security Enforcement, a loving girlfriend, a steady supply of crackers... and an inability to think before talking. Jobless and washed up, he gets hired by the mysterious Irsil, who offers him a job as captain to a crew she is assembling.He refuses, but is soon forced to rethink when he realizes that somebody is trying to assassinate him. Barely escaping with his life, he finds out that he has been branded as a traitor and terrorist by the USE. Now a fugitive both from his old employers and whoever is trying to kill him, he has to deal with a crew of renegades, a ship that has seen better days, and a mission that will change his view of the world as he was taught it.
The book series provides examples of:
- Ace Pilot: The Hat of Hika's race, the Dorsalians.
- Asteroid Thicket
- Justified in Gute Leute, Schlechte Zeiten, as the dense debris field is likely a result of Terraforming or a recently broken moon.
- Character Tics: Irsil rearranging her tentacles.
- Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much everyone in the crew at some point, but especially Ace Pilot Hika.
- Dirty Mind-Reading: Caused by Power Incontinence on Irsil's side.
- Fantastic Racism: Humans against everyone else, humans against anyone with Psychic Powers.
- Faster-Than-Light Travel: Done via wormholes.
- Fish People: Irsil's race are even called Nauticae.
- Gray-and-Gray Morality: Despite being a Space Opera, the book is either there or leaning towards Black-and-Gray Morality.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Irsil's race is blue, amphibious, have tentacles on their heads and a scaled skin that needs to be kept moist.
- Hangover Sensitivity: Cheb realises quickly that he was drugged because his hangover feels different.
- Hostile Terraforming: Said to be at least part of the reason humanity's terraforming has enabled them to take over the known universe.
- Humanity Is Superior: Humans rule the known universe.
- Inertial Dampening: The Levity's dampers can be quite laggy.
- In-Series Nickname: Irsil likes to call Cheb "Hitzkopf".
- Jailbait Taboo: Balady has weaponized this.
- Magic Staff: It is not quite clear how much Irsil's staff falls into this territory.
- The Mole: Atrona turns out to have been one even before her return.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Gute Leute, Schlechte Zeiten, Balady prematurely shoots at a ship that would probably have let them pass by if they had provided their cover identity. The crew is understandably unhappy. It gets worse when they figure out that she almost killed a lot of innocent prisoners of the kind of people they are trying to help.
- No Such Agency: Implied Information, short II.
- Old-School Dogfight: Of course. Complete with High-Speed Missile Dodge, Wronski Feint and Smoke Shield.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Cheb clues on to that Scratch is in serious trouble when he sees her cry.
- People Jars: One method of transporting prisoners cheaply and effectively.
- Personality Chip: HD-AB has a black-market emotion chip that caused him to go renegade.
- Psychic Powers: Irsil and the people the crew is hired to rescue from the USE.
- Reentry Scare: Causes quite a lot of heat (and lost communication) in Gute Leute, Schlechte Zeiten.
- Shout-Out: Balady mentions "three laws" to a robot at one point, a trope created by Isaac Asimov for his Robot Series.
- Sinking Ship Scenario: Gute Leute, Schlechte Zeiten deals with one of those.
- Soylent Soy: The crew expresses its distaste for the cheap "protein puddings" Cheb buys in order to tide them over until their next paycheck.
- Space Navy: The USE.
- Space Pirates: Supposedly feature in Scratch's past.
- The Alleged Ship: The Levity, especially in the beginning.
- The Federation: Die Planeten-Vereinigung.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Cheb realising he's outnumbered, drugged and about to get the beatdown of his life.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Crackers for Cheb, chewing gum for Balady.
- You Killed My Father: The reason for Balady's grudge with the USE.
