Foreign Legions

Lots of Soldiers Work for Civilians They don’t Like,
but these Romans had It Worse than Most—
Their Commanders were Blue-Skinned Aliens!

The guilds of star-traveling merchants had strict rules to prevent their technology from falling into the hands of the natives of planets they were exploiting: military operations had to be carried out with weaponry no more complex than swords and bows.

That was no handicap to merchant princes with a galaxy to scour for military slaves to do their fighting for them. Some came to Earth for soldiers and returned to the stars with the best the planet had to offer. For over two thousands years the aliens thought they’d succeeded brilliantly—but then things changed!

Set in the universe of Ranks of Bronze, masterful new novellas by:

David Drake

Eric Flint

S. M. Stirling

Mark L Van Name

and David Weber

explore the bleeding edge between human courage and the science of alien slavemasters. The right man with a sword is just as deadly as a technician with a laser—

And not all the blood spilled is red!

Yesterday they were the best infantry on Earth—
Now they’re going to take on the whole galaxy.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Vietnam veteran, former lawyer, former bus driver, and now famous author, David Drake tells a military story like no other. His readers recognize that he can take them where no one else can, with gut-wrenching description that puts them face-to-face with the enemy, and in the midst of the action right on the battlefield. He helped create the audience for mercenary military science fiction with his bestselling “Hammer’s Slammers” books. Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His stint at Duke University Law School was interrupted for two years by the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and Cambodia. Drake has a wife, a son, and various pets. In addition to his celebrated novels of Hammer’s Slammers, his works for Baen include With the Lightnings, the prequel to Lt. Leary, Commanding, as well Starliner, RanksofBronze, Redliners, the “General” series (with S.M. Stirling) and the “Belisarius” series (with Eric Flint), the latest of which is Fortune’s Stroke, and many more.

Illustration by Dru Blair
Cover design by Carol Russo.

Hardcover

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, January 2000

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-671-31990-6

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
https://www.baen.com

Typeset by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com

BAEN BOOKS by DAVID DRAKE

Lt. Leary

With the Lightnings
Lt. Leary, Commanding

Hammer's Slammers

The Tank Lords
Caught in the Crossfire
The Butcher's Bill
The Sharp End

Independent Novels and Collections

The Dragon Lord
Birds of Prey
Northworld Trilogy
Redliners
Starliner

All the Way to the Gallows
Foreign Legions (created by David Drake)

The Belisarius series:

(with Eric Flint)

An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory (forthcoming)

The General series:

(With S.M. Stirling)

The Forge
The Chosen
The Reformer

The Undesired Princess and The Enchanted Bunny
(with L. Sprague de Camp)

Lest Darkness Fall and To Bring the Light
(with L. Sprague de Camp)

Enemy of My Enemy: Terra Nova
(with Ben Ohlander)

Armageddon
(edited with Billie Sue Mosiman)