I present to you the complete version of Iron Five (Book 1, published) & (Book 2, the newest installment) in one full novel. If you crave spaceports, docking & undocking from them, jumping to hyperspace, Mech (In this case, flying battle tanks/walking fighter jets) within a realistic-ish environment, this might actually be the book for you. Welcome to my Earthfront Universe, I hope you enjoy.
The events in this book happen eight hundred and ninety-five years into the future, in a time when man has colonized much of the galaxy, where powerful governments and corporations control star systems throughout known space.
Keden and Earth have a history of bad blood, making their alliance solely one of convenience. Iron Five is a military unit under the control of Earthfront, one of the leading powers-that-be, powers engaged in an intergalactic race to bridge the gap to a new galaxy. The Raiku Dynasty, another titan in the political hierarchy of the Milky Way, in an attempt to seize resources that will further their progress, invades the territories of Earthfront and Keden.
Iron Five, led by Captain Richard Gant, on mission to find those responsible for hijacking a top-secret shipment, discover that they are after the wrong people, and while foes become unexpected allies, Raiku operatives within Earthfront and their plans of an invasion are exposed. Gant and his team must now battle alongside Kedeni forces to repel the invasion on Keden and return to Earth where a greater challenge awaits…to find and destroy the enemy’s jump gate before their main fleet uses it to arrive in Sol. There, in a nearby star system, they will stop the Dynasty’s war machine.
While Iron Five battles for survival thousands of light years away, Prince Akata Kumasi, a pilot and special agent of West Afrika, is on a mission that places him at the heart of Gena, the core world of the Raiku. Along with insurgents and disloyal heads of state, he becomes a part of an uprising that will dethrone the ruling Lord and secure an end to the war.
Excerpt:
My MAV is part of a five-man team on patrol across this barren Kedenian dunescape. I am Alpha Dog, call sign Huski. On my right, is Dachshund and Pitbull and to my left, Akita and Terrier; names chosen by us based on what breed of dog we have on our respective home planets, it is one of the worthwhile things we all have in common.
MAV’s are the most widely used gear when it comes to military operations, Mechanized Armored Vehicles; walking tanks so to speak, and just like the rest of the team, mine is a Light-Class Mecha.
We are Legs Dangling at forty feet above Artificial Ground Level and heading east at seventy miles per hour. My Heads-Up-Display shows me the sandy terrain and all its contours as they intersect with the computer’s generated lines. These lines keep us clear of obstacles but below dune peaks and off enemy radar. Our mission is simple. Patrol the Outlands and report any anomalies, lifeforms and or threats. We are to remain on our side of the fence. For no reason, are we to go beyond the digital and imaginary lines, which separate us from the locals. At no point are we to go weapons hot unless fired upon and some more blah, blah, blah. Personally, this being an unfriendly world and all, I think this is bullshit, but it’s our mission according to SysDef, the System Defense Administration; our Diplomatic Relations Bureau stationed on this rock, eight thousand light-years from Earth.
Our Unit is here to assist these slackers because these weekend soldiers wouldn’t know what to do if the Local Guerillas stood on the borderlines and stared them down, let alone declared a full-scaled attack. The only solace these pushovers have is the fact that the Kedenians know the repercussions of such an act but as history has taught us so very often; it only takes one maniac to take the plunge.
So here we are, servants of SysDef for the time being however, we don’t take orders from them. Our directives come from General, Alexander ‘Hawk’ Madison; one of the many heads of Earthfront Galactic, the military might and arm of our home planet spread out across the Milky Way. Our real mission, as far as our General is concerned, is to confirm that an Earth Based contingent of rebels is here along with their leader and if they are, we are to eliminate them. According to our most recent intelligence report, a few months ago, someone attacked an Earthfront military base on Venus and all of the evidence links our targets to the crime.
Another chill runs through my body as my combat suit, the mechanical and biological link to the machine, cools my skin with filtered air. My communication module lights up.
“Iron Five…one bar to lights out, Link and rep live, over.”
Our unit is Iron Five. One bar to lights out means one hour till sunset. Link and rep live means to contact base and report what is happening. The voice in my ear is feminine yet devoid of femininity. Her name is Mirana O’Canon and she is a genuine hard-assed, straight-laced, battle-axe woman who kicks butt and takes no prisoners.
How in the galaxy can a woman be so unwomanly?
I respond “…Huski to base, nothing but sand and rock out here. We’re runnin’ one bar after lights out before headin’ back, over.”
“Roger that Captain, squawk on ret.”
The com goes dead.
