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Ridan and its logo are copyrighted and trademarked by Ridan Publishing. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual persons, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.
A Ridan Publication
Copyright © 2010 by Marshall S. Thomas
Cover Art by Michael J. Sullivan
Starcharts by Hatton Slayden
Editing by Carol Woods
Layout Design by Michael J. Sullivan
ISBN: 978-0-9825145-7-3
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
First Printing: May 2010
Dedicated to:
Kim Lien
Praise for Marshall's Soldier of the Legion Series
"It's been a long wait for the second in this exciting series of sci-fi books. I must admit that the attraction for me is Marshall Thomas's writing style and story telling ability. This book picks up where the last left off, with the Legion facing a scourge that threatens all life forms throughout the universe — the Omnis. Once again, the action is heart pounding, the characters believable and well developed. This time, adding interest to the plot, the Legion juggles political intrigue and betrayal along with fighting the Omnis…
"Readers experience breath taking action and frightening battles on alien worlds…Sci-fi fans or readers who enjoy good writing should love this book. This series is highly recommended."
— Midwest Book Review
"…a deep, rich story that captures the heart of Sci-fi…a perfect story…captivating…moving. I highly recommend SOLDIER OF THE LEGION, one the best books I've read this year!"
— MyShelf.com
Books in the Soldier of the Legion Series
Soldier of the Legion
March of the Legion
Slave of the Legion
Secret of the Legion
Cross of the Legion
Curse of the Legion
An Introductory Note from the Author
I have been gratified by the popularity of the Soldier of the Legion series since the publication of the first book, Soldier of the Legion, in 2002. Now the series is complete, in 2010, with the recent publication of the sixth and final book in the Series, Curse of the Legion.
Why, then, am I republishing the second book, The Black March, as a new volume, March of the Legion: The Author's Cut? Two reasons: first, my new publisher, Ridan, is re-releasing all my previous books with attractive new covers and artwork. Second, this gives me a chance to fix a historical problem with my first two books. What happened is that my first publisher decided that Soldier of the Legion was too long and so I was forced to cut the story back and repackage the last part of it as The Black March. That was fine, but the cut was made at an awkward point in the story. I didn't like it much, but as a new author at the time, I had no choice.
With the latest edition of Soldier of the Legion: The Author's Cut, the problem is fixed. And with this latest edition of March of the Legion: The Author's Cut, you now have the new version of The Black March, and it too now appears as it was originally created.
I look at The Black March/March of the Legion as Soldier of the Legion's little brother.w
My thanks to my new publisher, Ridan Publishing, for all their work. I am thrilled to see my creations reflected accurately as they were first written.
Crista Cluster, 1,400 light years from Sol
When the first Outworlder refugees approached the Outvac fleeing System oppression, the Crista Cluster beckoned them onwards with a view that appeared to form a starry cross in the vac. ConFree's ancestors settled those worlds as a free people and vowed in a Constitution written in blood to uphold liberty, justice and freedom, no matter what the cost, and to remain eternally vigilant against all forms of tyranny and slavery. The ConFree Legion was formed to accomplish those objectives.
Black March: "Black March" originally referred to the Diaspora of Outworlder and Assidic refugees fleeing System slavery and oppression by seeking new worlds and a new life in the unexplored reaches of the Outvac frontier. Here they discovered and settled scores of uninhabited but primeval virgin worlds in the Crista Cluster. When System forces threatened to intrude, they declared their independence, forming the Confederation of Free Worlds in Year One, CGS. The successful but costly efforts of Fleetcom and the ConFree Legion to drive System DefCorps units from the Outers were also referred to as the "Black March" because of the terrible casualties suffered by our forces during the campaign.
Veltros Training Command—Basic—Intro—History.
Date: 312 CGS.
PART I:
THE FORGE
Chapter 1:
The River of Doom
"We're in the at!" There was no need to announce it—the assault carrier shook scarily in the atmosphere, vibrating all the way into our bones. In armor, strapped down in the aircar, we felt helpless in our death suits, black armor and red faceplates. Our assault carrier fell nose first, punching out a deep, hot combat drop into the atmosphere of Andrion 3.
All of Atom's strike force accompanied us, falling into the black skies of this unholy world like a plague of fireflies, a meteor shower of tiny hot sparks in a hostile night. Four squadrons of fighters from Atom's cruisers: the Spawn, the Spider, the Sparta, the Specter, supported us, thirty-two fighters in all, with another thirty-two from Atom's four organic squadrons, tacships and assault craft filled with aircars and the aircars filled with Legion troopers, more than five hundred and sixty of us praying to Deadman, scouts and transports and swarms of recon probes and thousands of deceptors, falling, burning, glowing, shaking, still on Atom's Road, doing Atom's will.
The O's awaited us. The Omnis were deadly alien warriors with immense psychic powers, invulnerable mag fields, and lots of experience in killing humans. We had never had any success in killing O's, but their intrusion into ConFree vac had to be countered. And there we were.
I listened to the music of the stars, roaring inside my helmet, incredibly beautiful, the stars hissing and booming as the assault craft bounced and shook, carrying us down to an unknown fate.