This series has gotten better in this second book. I didn’t dislike book one, but the concept of bringing back killed Marines was not very well presented. Yes, I said “bringing back” which actually means resurrecting dead Marines. Not just any Marines, but special operators that have a proven track record. Sergeant Pax Alejo is a very capable Marine, a special operator that has been to and successfully completed four rigors courses designed for special operators. He’s one of a very few that have done that, but all the Marines he now associates with have accomplished something equal or at least partially equal to what Pax had done. You don’t get to become one of the “Immortals” unless you’ve proven your worth to the League of Humanity.
HIs unit is engaged in another fight with the Tucanans (Tucs) and operating with other normal Marine (freshies). Freshies are those Marines who haven’t been killed in combat and those who probably won’t be resurrected if they do get killed. The fact that Pax and his 31st General Maintenance Group Marines are the undead is a top secret and can’t be shared with freshies or anyone not part of the program. Unfortunately, being part of the undead isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. During his first resurrection, he found out very bluntly that he was no longer on the active roster of the Marines. He was considered dead and was also now considered a non-citizen without any rights! That’s not set very well with most undead Marines, but there’s not much they can do about it. If they make too much of a fuss, the next time they get killed, they won’t be revived and will remain permanently dead. So, there is some motivation to follow the rules as they now have been explained to him and all the Marines of his Group.
The other interesting situation he has to deal with is that none of his Officers are or can be part of the undead. For some reason well above Sgt. Alejo’s pay-grade, Officers of any type or abilities are not resurrected, ever! Still, they have leadership in a Lieutenant Platoon Leader, a Captain on charge of the Company and even a full Colonel in command of the Group. Oh, and another thing, none of the undead Marines get paid nor does it appear they will ever get promoted. These kind of issues with the program are grating on these Marines, but they still do the mission as assigned. And the war with the Tucanans still goes on.
In this book, they will take on a new mission that’s different from all the past ones. This one is a direct attack on a planet held by the Tucs and will be the first offense against them since the war started. Up until now, the Tucs have been attacking and taking over human settled colonies. The League of Humanity doesn’t actually know where the Tucanans come from but they have actually located a planet on the fringes of human space where it seems that the Tucs have setup a population of their own. The LoH Marines are going to take it back and capture a lot of Tucanan civilians and equipment they have never seen before. Of course this operation has to be successful and it will require the commitment of the entire Group which is right now just a very large company sized element. Other Marines will be fighting alongside the undead, but it’s still going to be a secret as to who or what these undead Marines are.
You’ll read that Sgt. Alejo is very capable and he’s in charge of a small squad that will follow his lead in combat without question. He’s going to get an assignment to establish an OP (Observation Post) high on a hill some distance away from the main body of Marines. His job is to report any Tucana activity especially if they seem to be headed directly his way. The initial landing force is busy setting up an assembly area for the main body and that takes some time. They had some advanced fortifications capabilities that are being erected by the engineers, but the majority of the engineers were killed when their shuttle was shot down. Command has found one engineer Sergeant who is sent to Alejo’s Platoon to setup their part of the defenses. This will be the last link in the defensive line and it must be established before the Tucs attack or the main body can land.
While Sgt. Alejo and his squad are on the OP, he’s informed that the fortifications are taking longer than anticipated. Alejo has seen the Tucs assembling and preparing to attack but he’s told that he and his squad has to create some diversion that will slow their advance. It doesn’t look good for Pax and his squad. There are only eight of them and thousands of advancing Tucs with their armored vehicles. Still, he does his job until he can no longer do it because he’s once again dead.
This won’t be the only time Alejo and his Marines are killed in this book. It’s known that after about eight such resurrections, you been to lose your mind. Sergeant Pax Alejo just hopes he can avoid being killed as much as possible, but each mission makes that an almost impossible task.
Again, this book does a great job of explaining what the Undead program is about and why certain individuals aren’t selected for resurrection. Even those that were resurrected once aren’t guaranteed to resurrected a second, third or even a fourth time. Still, he fights on because he’s a Marine and he took an oath which he will uphold at all costs. I’ll be reading more in the next book, “Mission Creep”, available on Amazon as of 8 September 2024.