Ok, so we get back to what the first book in the series was supposed to be about and that’s the Legionnaires and Marines. The preface to the main story tells you something of what’s going on, but you’ll have to pay attention. Captain Ford. a.k.a. Wrath, is getting himself back to the fleet aboard a shuttle that’s under attack. He barely makes it out, but does find Lieutenant Chhun on the flight desk of the Mercutio. A lot of their unit has died on the planet that they had been treating as a possible ally and doing a diplomatic mission until all hell broke loose. Captain Ford grabs Lt Chhun and takes him towards another shuttle that is loading with Marines. Wraith isn’t finished killing MCR (Mid- Core Rebels) who overran Camp Ford and destroyed the Chiasm. They weren’t supposed to be that well equipped, but that’s history and now he wants some payback. So, the Cpt. and the Lt. head for another shuttle that’s loading with Marines. They wiggle their way on-board and it takes off. It’s going to spear another MCR starship. When I say shuttle, this is really just a rocket or missile with Marines inside and it will crash into an enemy starship, penetrate the hull and then unload the Marines to create havoc for the enemy starship.
Let’s just say that Wraith and Lt Chhun do a spectacular job of killing MCR soldiers. The job is done so well, that they’ve come to the attention of another Captain named Owens. He’s a Dark Ops operator. Now, there’s a bunch of different of different military in this book. You’ve got the Repub Army called Basics, then the Marines, and lastly the Legion with Legionnaires. Captain Ford and Lt Chhun are Legionnaries and you knew them in the first book as a Lt and Sergeant, respectively. They both have earned battlefield promotions/commission and they’re looking to have the made permanent. After their recent activity, they’re going to meet with the Legion Commander, but not for the reasons they think. He slowly introduces the two to Captain Owens another Legionnaire, but a very different kind. As I said, he’s Dark Ops and nobody knows what he does except other Dark Operatives. What he needs now is to form a new Kill Team and he’s selected Capt. Ford and Lt. Chhun for the job. They accept and are allowed to start drawing from the surviving members of their old unit to fill the six slots on the Kill Team. They even select a Repub Army Basic named Kags, but he’ll need some additional training. Still, all three already know how to do what a Kill Team does and that’s kill the enemy.
While this is going on, we’re introduced to X. He’s running another group of warriors who work under the name of Nether Ops. These people are probably less restricted about what the do than the military. They are assigned a mission and it gets done no matter the cost. We’re to meet a Nether Ops operative named Tom, who had gone deep underground to infiltrate a know weapons dealer organization. His ultimate assignment is to find out who provided this weapons dealer with some very power nuclear weapons, and then find out what the MCR plans on doing with them. Little does X know that he might be directly involved in the procurement of the nuts and their delivery. If he doesn’t stop this stuff from happening, nothing is going to get him back to his old life. He’ll be very dead.
So the book follows these various story lines, hopping back and forth until they all meet over the Repub capital of Utopian and specifically, the location of the House of Reason. This is where the body of politicians that are driving the Republic to do what it does and the MCR doesn’t like what it’s doing. So, if they can wipe this group out, it could end the war. It could also destroy the planet, but that’s only considered a bonus! Can the Legionnaires of the Dark Ops reach this bomb in time and stop the madness or is this another major step in the war?
I like the writing because it’s easy to read and flows well. Even the jumping around to different story lines isn’t that confusing in my opinion. Some of the story that Tom is involved with seems too detailed and he seems to be too concerned as to what he’s turning into that getting his mission done. I don’t think he is also as sold on getting the mission done at all cost like most Nether operators would be. He has a conscience which might cause him a great deal of trouble in the future.
There are a whole bunch of books in the Galactic Edge series. I’m not sure why I stopped reading it, but I’m back now and I’m going to be reading, “Attack of the Shadows”, book 4, real soon.