This is actually two books in one although it does show that in the table of contents or anywhere else. But, the two tremendously different mission for our main character should have probably been developed in separate books. And I’ll have to admit, I didn’t care for the second part of this book!
As you’re aware, Titus Briggs is one tough soldier, although he doesn’t have any legs. That’s hasn’t stopped him from taking Colonel Reid’s offer to become MOCOM pilot (i.e. mech pilot) and he excels at the job. His team of 10th MOCOM Division veterans are currently involved in up-training a whole new group. Of course these newbies aren’t as proficient at their jobs as are the veterans on Briggs’ team, but they’re getting close to graduation so the training has intensified accordingly.
Then the Briggs’ team, lead by the way, by Captain Poe, are told to shutdown the training and prepare for an immediate mission. Briggs, as you know, has no legs. He’s was lost in action a long time back and he wasn’t a viable candidate for regen so now he’s using him CMP (Combat Mobility Platform) to get around when outside his MOCOM. Colonel Reid meets Briggs at the TOC and takes him back to the secure Vault. He wants Briggs’ initial impressions on their next mission. It seems that the Thephari have begun creating a proxy army of humans on Janus-3. Briggs doesn’t understand how humans can even think about supporting humanities greatest enemy, the Thephari lizards, but they do have a following. Janus-3 was the first human colony that fell to the Thephari invasion and it still holds out even after the Thephari were kicked off Earth.
The humans fighting for the Thephari are called Moonies, as you should know by now. They treat the Thephari as some kind of gods and as a religious sect. It’s all very strange to Briggs and most other sane humans! Still, a lot of the humans that are with the Thephari are former Solar Defense Forces (SDF) and they know how to fight, especially when given advance weapons by the Thephari. So, this mission is going to be a reconnaissance run to determine the strength and disposition of the Moonies on Janus-3. If it turns in to something more, well, that’s not strictly authorized, but Briggs knows that self defense is always authorized!
So the A Flight of the 10 MOCOM Division gears up. They will be traveling aboard the *Bellerophon* which will act as the Tactical Operations Center while the MOCOMs deploy to Janus-3. Oh, prior to Colonel Reid dismissing Briggs while in the Vault, he drops a bombshell on Briggs. He tells him that he can get authorization for Briggs to have his legs back in the form of advanced bionics. These are almost just as good as getting regenerated legs so Briggs is very eager to get this done. It will mean he’s whole again and won’t have to rely on CMPs or anything else. But, as always, there’s a catch. Col. Reid tells Briggs that if he accepts his regen legs, he won’t be allowed to stay a MOCOM operator. He’s too good of a Special Forces Operator to allow him to continue doing what he can do without legs when he gets his bionic legs under him. Briggs obviously doesn’t like that condition, but Col. Reid gives him a month to make a decision.
So this new recon mission goes off, but it turns into much more than just recon. On the way to Janus-3, the MOCOM operators are given new surgically inserted bio-implants. These are going to allow the MOCOM operator the advantage of remaining in contact with its MOCOM AI even when they are out of the MOCOM itself. It also will allow almost a seamless melding of the operator and the MOCOM not before experienced. To Briggs, after the initial learning experience, he feels like his MOCOM is almost a part of him or him a part of it. Now when he drops into his MOCOM, his leg stumps just fell into specially prepare harnesses and he learned to operate using that setup. Now it feels like he actually has legs and he begins walking around in his MOCOM as though it something he has always done. Still, this new development really complicated his decision that will have to be made probably at the end of this mission.
That mission concludes and the MOCOM team goes back to their base. Not everyone has made it back so there’s some very tough recovery times ahead. But, most everyone gets through it. Then Briggs is called in again by Colonel Reid and he’s once again exposed to another mission. This is where the book goes haywire. This new mission is totally beyond the scope of anything Briggs has ever done. Why they think he’d be a good candidate for this mission is beyond me. He’s certainly not physically capable of such a mission and only does it because the book wrote it that way. This second part of the book also seems to drag on for far longer than it should. He’s also promised support which never shows until the very last. And to top it off, the SDF already has an operative on the same mission Briggs was not assigned. Why that operative wasn’t sufficient, is never explained.
So, this completes book 2 which I’m still not sure I like the story. They make Briggs out to be far more capable than someone with his physical limitation can actually be no matter how macho or physically fit they say he is. I’m not sure I’ll continue with this series, I’ve got to think about it, but for those interested, book 3, “Able-Bodied Soldier – 3”, is available on Amazon right now.