Showing results by author "Jonathan Brazee"

Human slavers attack. Despite trying to fight back, there is nothing the young Leefe can do to save his family and friends. But he doesn't have to. The Imperial Marines arrive in the nick of time, and they hate slavers. Three tri-years later, when the new emperor issues a proclamation to integrate the imperial military with non-human citizens, Leefe is among the first to volunteer. Integration to resurrect the empire as a force for good is challenged by centuries of prejudice against the "dung races." 

Lance Corporal Hondo McKeever is a peacetime marine. Humanity is hooked into a limited war with the alien Klethos, where gladiator-style combat decides the fate of worlds. Hondo's career has consisted of training hard but never seeing actual battle. All of that changes when a new enemy invades the galaxy. One that forces humanity and the Klethos to forge an unlikely alliance. But can the Klethos be trusted? Mankind hasn’t fought an all-out war in centuries, but they’re about to. And the Grub invaders are bent on running the galaxy. 

Esther and Noah Lysander are the twin children of General Ryck Lysander, Commandant of the Marine Corps, leader of the Evolution and Chairman of the Federation. When they are told that their father and mother have been assassinated, they are both devastated. Cut adrift, they each decide to enlist in the Corps - but for different reasons.

After a successful initial tour as a Marine rifleman, Lance Corporal Gracie Medicine Crow volunteers to become a scout-sniper, one of the deadliest - and most dangerous - military specialties in the United Federation Marine Corps. Gracie comes from the Apsáalooke Nation, a people with a long history of military tradition. Small in stature and considered stunningly beautiful, she is often underestimated, but that merely drives her to be the best sniper in the Corps.

Major General Lysander has spent 38 years of his life dedicated to the Corps and sworn to perform the duties assigned to him by the Federation. In the process, he has become the most decorated Marine in its history. Ryck is faced with a situation that so horrifies him that he cannot accept it. Can he just stand by and let it proceed, or will he become an oathbreaker and put not only his life, but more importantly, that of his family, his fellow Marines and sailors, and the citizens of the Federation in peril?

Private First Class Aiden Kaas has enlisted in the Marines for all the wrong reasons. Now deployed to Iraq at the age of 19, he just wants to put in his time and serve out his enlistment. However, after being bitten by a seemingly rabid mujahideen, he finds himself suffering from a strange illness, one with consequences beyond his wildest imaginings. As the disease ravages his body and exposes him to dangers far darker than active combat, Aiden discovers what it means to come of age.

Ryck has proven himself as a warrior, a fighter, and sometimes, in a peacetime corps, that can get a marine into trouble. Ryck's temper gets the best of him, and because of that, and with a heavy heart, he resigns his commission. As an old enemy comes a-calling, a new threat surfaces, and Ryck's services are once again needed. Given a second chance, Ryck answers the call, determined to make good.

As a lieutenant colonel, Ryck is given command of the Second Battalion, Third Marines, the Fuzos. Along with one other battalion, 2/3 is designated as a new assault battalion, with its own armor, artillery, and air assets. With the Marine Corps anxious to certify the resurfaced concept of integrated operations units, the battalion is thrown right into the fire. With his new command, Ryck has the opportunity to prove his ability to be a true combat leader and not just as a warrior.

Noah Lysander, son of the former Marine Commandant and Chairman of the Federation, followed his twin sister in enlisting as a Marine. While Esther excelled, getting commissioned as an officer, Noah is not so driven, and when he proposes to Miriam, he makes a pledge to be a better husband and future father than his own father had been. Reenlisting for armor, Noah becomes a crewman on an M1 Davis, the most powerful tank ever developed. He quickly finds out that despite nominal peace within the Federation, the deployment demands placed on his platoon are heavy.

A marine major is one of the orphan ranks, too senior to command a line company, but too junior to command a battalion. Newly promoted to major, Ryck reports for duty as the assistant naval attaché to the Confederation of Free States, the same government whose troops he'd recently fought in the Telchines. Ryck isn't happy about the assignment, but he buckles down for a long and boring tour of duty. But action seems to follow Ryck, and this is no exception.

Ryck Lysander has proven himself as a Marine, as a warrior. As he is promoted to sergeant, though, his responsibilities expand beyond merely fighting to leading other Marines into battle. When an old ally becomes a new enemy, one well-equipped and trained, Ryck is pushed to his very limits as he tries to keep his Marines alive while fulfilling his mission of defeating the enemy on the field of battle.

As a captain, Ryck Lysander is given one of the most sought-after billets in the marines: an infantry company commander. His new battalion commanding officer, however, is not impressed with Ryck's past accomplishments, and Ryck finds himself struggling to fulfill the CO's expectations. Used to his "hero" status within the corps, his new position of having to prove himself grates on him. Now, as his company marches to the sound of gunfire, Ryck must find it within himself to be an effective combat commander.

Desperate to escape a life of poverty on his desolate home planet, Ryck Lysander enlists in the United Federation Marine Corps, hoping to make a better future for himself. However, Ryck soon discovers that the Corps is more than a means of escaping his former life as he is pushed beyond the very limits of his strength and willpower.

Esther Lysander, the driven, professional Marine ever-conscious of the heavy weight of her father's legacy, is selected to become an officer. She has high goals for her career - very high goals - and she believes the best method to achieve success is to be a complete hard-ass, keeping emotions at bay. This outlook has resulted in some notable achievements, but at the cost of friends and her relationship with her twin brother Noah, a price she is willing to pay.

As a certified Federation "hero," Sergeant Ryck Lysander is offered a commission as a second lieutenant. Only, he doesn't feel like a hero, and his tendency to jump into a fight himself is at odds with his mission as a junior office. Accepting his commission might have been a big mistake. When contact with an alien species is finally made, that contact is not peaceful, and Ryck is thrust back into combat, combat that does not end well and plunges Ryck into an emotional crisis.

Jasper van Ruiker is an elderly algae farmer, drafted into the local militia to defend his village from the invading Tenners. Lieutenant Castor "Mountie" Klocek is a Navy pilot, shot down during an air-to-ground mission. Lance Corporal Javier Julio Gregory Portillo and Sergeant Gary Go are Marine combat engineers, the only survivors of a deep-recon mission to destroy a bridge.

Noah Lindt heard the call of duty after the tragic events of 9/11. Despite a hampering medical condition that kept him on the outskirts of his high school class, he was accepted into the Marines where he found out he had a singular skill. He could outshoot almost anyone. Marksmanship alone is not enough to be a successful scout sniper. Teamwork and mental discipline are paramount, and the self-professed loner has problems adjusting to his spotter as well as the rest of his platoon when they deploy to Ramadi, "the most dangerous city on earth".

Nova Esperança offers no future for Liege Neves as a gangrat and daughter of the favelas. With one goal in mind - to save her younger sister and ailing grandfather from a difficult and hopeless future - Liege's only option is the Federation Navy. Scoring higher on her entrance exams than anyone had expected, Liege enlists as a corpsman and hopes for a safe career that will allow her to get her Avó the help he requires.

Zachary Cannon joined the Navy to get trained as a radiology tech, a skill he could use to get a job and support his family after his enlistment. But the needs of the Navy take priority, and much to his surprise, he was given orders to the Fleet Marine Force as a corpsman to an infantry battalion deploying to Iraq. As part of a rifle squad in Ramadi, Zach joins the Marines on patrol, in assaults, and on security duty, facing the same dangers and hardships.

This is all three books of The Return of the Marines Trilogy. Faced with tremendous odds, Gunny has to lead his Marines in an almost impossible task. That is nothing new to the US Marines. Impossible tasks are the Corps' forte. But can his small detachment keep up the tradition of the Corps and succeed despite tremendous odds?