Showing results by author "Tom Kratman" in All Categories

War is brutal. Colonel Wes Stauer gets it. He ought to. He was once one of war's most brutal practitioners - not to mention one of its most effective and least bloody. Brutal yes; stupid no. Now, not only must Stauer command his crack outfit of former comrades and pull off yet another miracle mission, he must also harness and direct the brute within himself - a beast he will need in order to destroy an intelligent enemy who is as implacable as Stauer himself. Okay, almost as implacable.

Carrera's held off his enemies coming by sea from the north, in the process dealing the naval and amphibious forces of the Zhong Empire a stinging defeat. The Zhong won't soon forget the blood-stained waters and the heaped-up bodies on the shores of Balboa's Isla Real. Now, though, his adopted country of Balboa is under assault from the east, from the south, from the west, from the air, and from space.

Patricio Carrera has been waging what amounts to a private world war to bring to justice the murderers of his family; He's raised an army and air force and used them. He's raised a fleet and he's about to use that. He's suborned one republic and is about to undermine another. He's tracked his enemies across half a world, breaking, in the process, any notion of international law that stood in his way. Now he's deployed his legions to Pashtia, penultimate hideout of the Salafi Ikhwan who have made him what he has become.

The Posleen are coming and the models all say the same thing: Without the Panama Canal, the US is doomed to starvation and defeat. Despite being overstretched preparing to defend the US, the military sends everything it has left: A handful of advanced Armored Combat Suits, rejuvenated veterans from the many decades that Panama was a virtual colony and three antiquated warships. Other than that, the Panamanians are on their own.

1462: an alien who feasts on the suffering of sentient beings dines off the agonies of Vlad the Impaler's twenty-thousand victims near Targoviste, Romania. 1688: a woman is framed for witchcraft and hanged by the neck in Boston. 1965: a toy store that never seems to run out of special toys is suspected of being the location of a temporal portal. 2022: a grandfather, showing his young grandchildren what remains of the Boston of his youth, is shown that portal by his granddaughters. And they're off! Off through the gate that grants wishes, off to deal with time travel.

He raised an army against those who took everything from him. They should have picked their enemies more carefully. Five centuries from now, on a remarkably Earthlike planet that is mankind's sole colony in space, religious fanatics called the "Salafi Ikhwan" have murdered the uncle of former colonel Patrick Hennessey. That was their first mistake, because uncle was rich and Hennessey was rather a good colonel. But they also murdered Hennessey's wife, Linda, and their three small children, and that was their worst mistake for she was the only restraint Hennessey had ever accepted.

Carrera’s won his war, and inflicted a horrific revenge upon his enemies. But there are wars after wars. The Tauran Union is planning an attack. The criminals of neighboring states are already attacking, and threatening to embroil him in a war with the planet’s premier power. His only living son is under fire among the windswept mountains of Pashtia. An enemy fleet is hunting his submarines. His organization has been infiltrated by spies. One of the two governments of his adopted country, Balboa, is trying to destroy everything he’s built and reinstitute rule by a corrupt oligarchy.

The invaders are coming; the Posleen, a seemingly unstoppable horde who have conquered one star system after another, literally feeding on their conquests. Earth's dubious allies, the Darhel, have given the humans a number of highly-advanced technological devices, including a process for rejuvenating the aged, including trained and proven soldiers who otherwise would be too old to fight. Rejuvenation may give a critical edge, since to survive, the Earth must use every resource at hand.

The Carrera saga continues with entry number five, and the sequel to Amazon Legion. Carrera. Relentless. Machiavellian. Without compunction. Victorious. Pity his enemies. Be thankful he is on the side of freedom from totalitarian domination. On the colony planet of Terra Nova, soldier turned political leader Carrera has achieved his revenge, destroying those who killed his wife and children in a terrorist strike, and helping to establish a free country. But Carrera’s fight is not over. War with the Tauran Union is inevitable.

Contained herein are tales of the history of mankind's future first colony, from the first failed attempt at colonization, to the rise in crime, to the rise in terrorism, to its descent into widespread civil war and rebellion...and ultimately, liberation. As with most of human history, this history is messy, with good men and women turning bad, bad men and women inadvertently doing good, and blood flowing in the streets.

Balboa’s Patricio Carrera has driven the Tauran Union from his adopted country, driven them out with appalling loss and worse humiliation.That’s not enough though. To finally finish his enemies, Carrera needs to draw them back for a more telling defeat. He cannot take the battle to them because, beyond some long-range bombardment capability, he cannot reach them. But when they return, they don’t plan to come alone; they insist on having someone else do most of the bleeding for them.

On the colony planet of Terra Nova, Carrera has achieved his revenge, destroying those who had destroyed his life by killing his wife and children in a terrorist strike. And, with this help of his second wife, he has thwarted an attempted coup that would have restored the rule of the oligarchy and undone his hard-won victory. But his fight is not over yet.... The problem of the Tauran Union's control of the Transitway between Terra Nova and Earth remains, as does the problem of the nuclear-armed United Earth Peace Fleet, orbiting above the planet.

Of the once innumerable battle clans of the possess only a handful survive. And that on the sufferance of a group of despised Indowy and Himmit. Plucked from the maelstrom on Earth they are cast out into the eternal blackness of the stars with only a slightly insane Indowy and a computer virus to guide them.

Old soldiers never die...except inside, when they lack a reason to live. Old soldier Wes Stauer is dying inside, from sheer lack of purpose. And then comes the knock on the door: ''Our leader's son and heir has been kidnapped. We don't know where he is. We need you to get him back for us. The people who have him are numerous, warlike, and well-armed. But money is no object.'' And then old soldiers - sailors and airmen, too - stop fading away and come back into sharp focus.

Welcome to the Philippines outback. It's a true garden spot, if you happen to like drug running, bush-bound revolutionary movements, Balkanized tribal warfare, illegal weapons trading, and kidnapping for fun and profit. It's hostage rescue time once again for Terry Welch's special operations company. But this is turning out to be one of those missions. Starting with no clue as to the hostage's whereabouts topped off by Welch and his crew having to endure a rifle company of hated competitors supposedly sent along for reinforcement.

In the long war against terrorism, the US government had taken on extraordinary powers. And now that the war was won, powerful forces in the government had no intention of relinquishing those powers. As in 1860, the country was on the verge of civil war. And as in 1860, a leader arose to save the country - but it was not the president this time. Instead, the governor of Texas was the woman of destiny. And, though the federal government had more guns and troops, David was about to give Goliath a run for his money....

Demography is destiny. In the 22nd century, European deathbed demographics have turned the continent over to the more fertile Moslems. Atheism in Europe has been exterminated. Homosexuals are hanged, stoned, or crucified. Such Christians as remain are relegated to dhimmitude, a form of second-class citizenship.

Big Boys Don't Cry covers the creation, training, combat life, and end of a Ratha, a sentient cybernetic supertank of the far future, a multithousand ton janissary, as it faithfully wages war for its human masters on dozens of alien worlds. What will happen, though, when battle damage reveals to the creature previously sealed memories, when it discovers that man, it’s creator-god, is an idol with feet of clay? Can its programmed conscience survive the knowledge of what has been done to it, how it has been manipulated and perverted?