This series is getting a little fusing and this book seems to be a lot confusing. I’m not sure what the Prologue was about nor the 1st chapter. When we finally reached the 131st Legion, that got me clued in on what was going on. The 131st Legion is commanded by General Chhun who stepped down as Legion Commander so he could get into the actual fighting. Now his Legion is on Kima fighting a resurgent MCR (Mid-Core Rebellion) army. The MCR has paired with the native Kimbrin to expel any Republic presence which is represented by the Legion. General Chhun isn’t going to let that happen, but he now feels that something else is going on.
He feels that way because he’s getting reliable reports about Donks now on Kima and more recently, the Gomarii are now involved in the fighting. The Gomarii are slave traders and he doesn’t quite understand why they are fighting instead of just capturing Kimbrins for their slave trade. Still, regardless of who they are fighting, General Chhun is vowing to get them off the planet and restore Kima to Republic control.
One of the people his Legionnaires have been highly interested in finding is Master Sergeant Masters. He’s a Dark Ops Legionnaire that got separated from his team when all this fighting started. He’s been roaming around by himself for quite awhile and hasn’t been able to make contact with this former team. Yet he has made contact with the Legion and they are seeking him out. They hope to find Masters alive but that’s not a given.
Then we swing over the Captain Keel to find out what he’s doing. He and his crew aboard the Indelible VI are currently searching for Prisma Maydoon. With him are Leenah, Makaffie and Wild Man as well as Skrizz. Garrett is also here although his recovering some some pretty serious injuries. They have a lock on a downed scout ship that was supposed to have contained Prisma and her mother, Reina. Keel directs Leenah to set his ship down near the wrecked scout ship which she does. Keel was planning on just going out to inspect the scout ship, but his whole crew insist they go along too. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones around the downed scout ship. Supposed Nether Ops Legionnaires are there too and they have orders to bring Captain Keel and his crew in. They are almost to the point of doing that when the mysterious Ravi shows up! Can he get Captain Keel and his people out of this predicament?
Now we focus on Prisma who was no where near the crashed scout ship. She and her Mother had been picked up by the minions of the Golden King! Now this is where everything is getting confusing. Who is this guy? I mean, it’s explained that he’s a Savage and maybe the leader of the Savages, but I’ve not read any of the books on the Savage Wars. Anyway, he’s almost mystical with mystical powers, but I don’t have a clue as to why he has to have Prisma other than her supposed Mother, Relina wants her by her side. I think the Golden King is going to try and conquer the galaxy, but I’m not sure who he’s going to used to do that since most all the other Savages have been killed by now.
This book goes from one place to the next, but I was hoping to read about more Legionnaire fighting. That’s not happening. Back in the days when Chhun was a Sergeant and very suspicious of the Kublars, there was fighting all the time and that I understood. All this other stuff is getting a little strange and, for me, it’s hard to follow.
Uh, oh, it looks like I’ve really messed up this series. I went back to Amazon and looked at how they have these books numbered and I’ve kind of missed some. Book 5, “Imperator” is new to me, guess I’ll have to go back and read that. And I also apparently just skipped Book 16, “Last Contact”. Man, I hate doing that. Could be why I’m confused with this book. Oh, well, I’ve got more reading to do. But for you who are caught up, Book 18, “KTF – Part Two” is up for pre-order and should be available on/about 15 Dec 2022.