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Very nice, where can i find books 1 & 2?

November 7, 2768
Star League Special Intelligence Services Auxiliary Command
North America, Terra
Empire of Amaris (Terran Hegemony)

 â€œUh-oh,” said Penny, interrupting the discussions of Antonius, Liz, and the command staff of the Ghosts as they were discussing how best to assist the landings.

Antonius Zalman frowned.  “I do not like the sound of that uh-oh, Penny.  What exactly does it mean?”

“I have been monitoring the communication taps that Chief Hancock installed, Antonius.  It seems that pig Amaris has issued new orders to the divisions holding the line of the Cascades.  Sending them to your terminals now.”

Liz frowned as she read the orders appearing on her display and then she looked back up at the large wall screen—and its projection of the area surrounding Unity City.  “Penny, dear,” she said, “zoom out and show the projected defensive lines, please.”

“Certainly, Captain Hazen,” the AI replied.

The projections changed and Mal winced as the red lines quickly appeared.  “Damn, he’s plugging every gap in the mountain with at least a division.  And setting these demo charges—atomic demo charges—to catch the attackers.  That is going to be hell to bull through.”

Liz bit her lip as she considered the map.  “And when Timmons gets here . . .”

Mal snorted.  “Jan Timmons is a political officer, Liz.  He doesn’t have the sense God gave Zach.  But some of his division commanders are real good, and most of them are committed to Amaris lock, stock, and barrel.”

“The SLDF outnumbers the defenders at least a hundred to one, Mal, even after Timmons gets there,” Antonius commented.  “He can’t just push right through them?”

“No, Mal is right, Antonius,” Liz answered.  “The passes are where the troops have to go, and they are all too narrow to let more than a brigade through at a single time—which means it is a shooting gallery for the Rim Worlds forces on the defensive side.  And once those nuclear firecrackers start popping off, our infantry can’t use the passes—the radiation will be too high for weeks.  The vehicles will be stopped by the debris, which leaves only the ‘Mechs.  And they will be scattered, no longer in formation after they get through the area, their sensors degraded and they will be walking right into the sights of the enemy.”

“It’ll be a bloodbath,” Mal chimed in again, glumly.

“Penny, did they leave any openings at all?”

“No, Antonius.  In this instance, Stefan Amaris has used what little brains he was born with.”

Reuben shook his head.  “They have already taken out SDS sites in the southeast and Alaska.  Can’t they do the same thing here and land behind the lines?”

Now both Liz and Mal winced in unison.  “The Unity City defenses are a whole different story than a normal SDS base, Reuben,” Liz answered.  “There are four of them covering the capital—and the entire area west of the Cascades.  And each has got twice the firepower of a standard SDS base, and is far too close to civilians for the Fleet to take them out.  Kerensky could do it, but he’d kill a quarter of a million of our own people trying to bombard those sites from orbit.  Which Amaris knows, and because of that Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton, and Victoria haven’t been permitted to evacuate.  Those cities are simply packed with civilians, which narrows the Fleet’s options dramatically.”

“Can’t he just go around the mountains?” asked Bernie.

“He could, but the Columbia is at least two thousand feet wide at it narrowest point after it meets the defensive lines.  That is a major obstacle, Bernie,” said Liz.  “And it goes from there up to fourteen miles at the mouth.  Only ‘Mechs could cross, and the current and the bottom mud would make it very hazardous.”

“I can’t believe this!” snapped Vince.  “There is no other way through?”

“No,” answered Liz.

“No,” said Antonius.

“Yes,” replied Penny.

Everyone froze and looked towards the rotating camera on the wall.  “What do you mean, yes?  Penny, dear?” asked Liz.

“There is a way through the Cascades that Amaris has not guarded, Elizabeth Hazen.”

“And what exactly is wrong with it that he considers it so secure he hasn’t stationed troops there?”

“Nothing; well, nothing except the passage of time.  You see, in the final days of the Terran Alliance, there was a local project to build a new rail tunnel through the Cascades, from Greenwater in the west—behind the Amaris lines—to Quincy in the east, on the Columbia Plateau, General Kerensky’s side.  But the tumult of the times killed the project and after James McKenna formed the Terran Hegemony, the project was terminated and the ends of the tunnel were sealed.”

“So we have an incomplete rail tunnel.  Some help that is!” barked Bernie.

“Bernard Patella, I did not say the tunnel itself was incomplete—the final segment of the tunnel was bored in late 2314.  Construction on the rail head itself was suspended, along with the final stages of finishing off the power supplies, smoothing the tunnel walls, and installing air-flow systems.  When James McKenna finally killed the project in 2316, he ordered that the tunnel be sealed at both ends in order to prevent accidents at the construction site and it has since become quite forgotten.  It is almost fifty miles from one end to the next and passes below the Columbia River and was designed to handle four separate Maglev trains at a single time.  The tunnel is twenty meters tall and sixty meters wide.”

Liz watched as a bright green line began to flash on the large wall monitor.  And she smiled.  “Does General Kerensky know about this?”

“Liz, dear,” the AI answered, “those computers aboard WarShips are so dull and dumb that unless anyone specifically asks for such ancient history, it would take a miracle for an analyst to uncover it, especially in the limited time-frame we are looking at here.”

“In that case, Penny, dear,” Liz replied with a broad grin, “could you warm up the transmitter so that we might tell them?”

“Online and waiting, Captain Hazen.  Oh, and I decided to cut through all the military bullshit and have set up a link directly to the First Lord’s vessel.  I thought he might be interested to know a member of the Royal Black Watch is alive, well, and running a guerilla campaign in that Pig Amaris’s backyard.”

Your Books are Great. Seyla

The world is collapsing all around Stefan and his goons. Surprised he just didn't order some sustained orbital fire to prevent them from reaching the capital. Still difficult choice and more good stuff!

Why do I smell 1945 in the "I have plenty in troops available and I will trap my opponents" part?

As the holographic projection faded away, Stephen heard Admiral Matasuke clear his throat.  “First Lord Cameron, we are receiving a transmission on the Star League Emergency Communications Circuit—they are requesting to speak with you, First Lord.”

“Who is requesting to speak with me, Admiral?”

“They say they are the people who sent the heads-up warning on Amaris’s possessions of the Ragnarok plans, First Lord.”

Stephen considered and then he nodded, “Very well, on speaker, if you please, Admiral.”

Matasuke bowed and gestured to his communications officer.

“First Lord Stephen Cameron speaking.  Who is this?”

The holographic picture stabilized and Stephen saw two figures, a old man and a young woman standing there, the woman snapped to attention and saluted.

“Sir.  Captain Elizabeth Hazen, commanding officer, Echo Company, Royal Black Watch Regiment, reporting, sir.”

“Captain Hazen, you don’t know how relieved I am to discovery that at least some of the Black Watch have managed to survive for this long.  And your companion?”

“Antonius Zalman, First Lord, special against of the Special Intelligence Services, retired,” the old man said with a grin and a bow.

“I take it that I have you to thank, Special Agent Zalman, for the timely report on Amaris’s deployment?”

“Oh, heaven’s no, Sire.  For that you have our capable, daring, and most lovely young Captain here.  I was a guest of Lord Stefan under just recently.”

Liz frowned.  “Come off it, Antonius—you were scheduled for execution.  Until my Ghosts smashed the place flat and absconded with you.”

“Details, my dear, only details.  But a most exciting rescue it was indeed, First Lord.  Made my old heart beat a bit stronger.”

“Ghosts?” asked Stephen.

Liz blushed, and Antonius laughed.  “Her intrepid band of guerilla warriors, First Lord.  They are a most motley collection of the worst villainy and scum in the galaxy.”

“They aren’t that bad, Antonius,” Liz protested.

“Indeed.  But they are neophytes at this entire business and more than willing to attempt to intimidate an old man who has only opened up his home to offer them a safe haven.”

“After you took us on a swim in freezing water instead of using the nice, warm, dry, tunnel that extended to shore!”

“Ahem,” said the First Lord as he cleared his throat, but he was smiling despite his attempts at keeping a straight face.

Liz blushed again.  “My apologies, First Lord, but Special Agent Zalman knows what buttons to push.”

The old agent shrugged.

“And these ‘Ghosts’ are, what, exactly?”

“As Antonius said, my Lord, they are a band of civilian resistance fighters that I have collected.  We have been waging a guerilla war against Amaris for the past year.  They are . . . rough around the edges,” she continued with a wince, “but they are dedicated to kicking that bastard off of Earth.  Mostly civilians, that is—and we have a few defectors in our ranks as well; Rim Worlds folks that realized just how bat-shit crazy Stefan Amaris really is.  They are good people, Sir, and without them we would never have learned about the Rimmers having your plans.”

“And why do you call them the Ghosts?”

She looked pained for a moment.  “The civilians . . . all of us, my Lord, we decided we needed a name.  And so we became the Ghosts of the Black Watch.  It seemed to fit.”

Stephen nodded.  “In that case, Lt. Colonel Hazen, you and your Ghosts have my thanks.”

Liz jerked.  “Lieutenant Colonel?!?” she squeaked.  “I only made Captain three months before the Coup!”

“Promotions come fast and furious during wartime, Lt. Colonel.  And you are—to the best extent of my knowledge, the only pre-war active service member of the Royal Black Watch to survive.  I have reformed the unit, but we could certainly use you—after some sorely needed R&R, of course.”

Antonius smiled and shook his head.  “This housekeeping aside, First Lord, we rang you for a reason.  I am transmitting a burst stream to your flagship now,” the old man paused and then he grinned at the First Lord of the Star League.  “And I am not even going to ask why your flagship is a Draconis battleship, my Lord.  Although I am quite certain that story will be very interesting to hear in full.”

Stephen chuckled.  “Long story, Director Zalman.”

“Oh, good show, old boy.  Now I shall finally have the chance to institute those changes I have harped about for decades.  Hopefully, I shan’t have to rebuild the entire organization from scratch?”

“No, one of your agents—an Agent Hart—has been working very closely with my Black Watch.  And there are still others ferreting out Rim World cells in the CapCom, FedSuns, and Taurian Rim.”

“Hart!  That miserable scoundrel survived!  Man doesn’t have a sense of humor or a proper appreciation of drama!”

Stephen glanced over the data streaming across the terminal and frowned.  “I think we can put this to good use.  But it appears that your hidden base is in the middle of Amaris’s perimeter, so you might want to sit tight until we wrap this up.”

Liz shook her head.  “If you have a spare ‘Mech, First Lord, I can join the assault once they pass through the tunnel.  I am a Mech-jock, and I desperately want to get one shot at Stefan Amaris from a cockpit, Sir.”

Stephen met the young woman’s fiery gaze, and then he slowly nodded.  “I think we can spare a ‘Mech for the last of the Old Black Watch, Lt. Colonel . . . can you pilot an Orion?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then would you do Lord General Kerensky the honor of piloting his ‘Mech in this engagement, Lt. Colonel?”

She actually jumped.  “Sir, isn’t the General leading the assault himself?”

Stephen closed his eyes—they haven’t heard.  “Aleksandyr was shot by an assassin nearly a year ago, Lt. Colonel Hazen.  He survived, but he is paralyzed from the waist down.  General DeChevilier is now the Commanding General of the Star League Defense Forces.”

Her face went white and then she nodded.  “It would be an honor, Sir.”

“And Colonel Hazen?”

“Yes, sire?”

“Try not to get yourself killed—I am going to need every smart, resourceful officer I have to deal with the aftermath of this.”

“I’ll do my best, First Lord.”

I think so too Six.