TO THE VICTOR GO THE SPOILS ....

And this Victor is fully capable of raking them in, a Bolo Mark XXXIII of the 4th Regiment, Second Brigade, First Confederation Mobile Army Corps, in the vanguard of an all-out Bolo strike against the planet Caern. The enemy is the Aetryx, shadowy, unknown beings who enslave other species with nothing less than the promise of immortality. As a savage, interstellar war begins, Colonel Jon Streicher prepares to lead Victor and the rest of his regiment in that most difficult of tactical evolutions—planetary invasion.

But D-Day turns into a disaster, and Caern is a deadly trap. Colonel Streicher and his command team find themselves stranded on the target planet, desperately attempting to survive the hellfire chaos of modern warfare, as Bolo faces Bolohuman hybrid in a cataclysmic showdown that will uncover unexpected truths, reveal hidden secrets, and even call into question the loyalty of the Dinochrome Brigade itself.

For just what will happen if the Aetryx aren't slavers after all, but literal gods who can make good on their promise of eternal life

The Dinochromes are about to find out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William H. Keith, Jr. has published over 50 novels, both science fiction and military techno-thrillers. Among his popular series are the "Warstrider" and "Seals: The Warrior Breed" series for Avon Books. His Tactics of Duty for the "Battle Tech" series (Roc) won the 1995 Award for Best Game Related Fiction. His Baen novels include the genre bestsellers Bolo Brigade and Bolo Rising, and, in collaboration with Babylon 5 star Peter Jurasik, the science fiction comedy adventure Diplomatic Act.

Keith Laumer was renowned as a master of exciting fast-paced action stories and novels. A former Air Force officer and also at one time a Foreign Service Officer, Laumer's experience led to his two most popular series: the hilarious adventures of Retief, the galaxy's only two-fisted diplomat, and the Bolos.

KEITH LAUMER'S POPULAR
SAGA OF THE BOLOS CONTINUES

Controlled by their tireless electronic brains which were programmed to admit no possibility of defeat, the gigantic robot tanks known as Bolos were almost indestructible, and nearly unstoppable. Their artificial intelligences were designed to make them selflessly serve and protect humans throughout the galaxy and made each Bolo the epitome of the knight sans peur et sans reproche, and often far more noble than the humans who gave them their orders.

Now, David Weber, New York Times best-selling author of the Honor Harrington series, continues the history of the Bolo, in four short novels, one of them published here for the first time.

One Bolo is driven over the edge by the very humans it is pledged to protect. Another Bolo must decide whether or not to disobey when it is given an order that constitutes genocide. A third must hunt one of its own kind whose robot brain is damaged and rescue two children which the deranged Bolo thinks it is protecting from a nonexistent enemy.

And more, including as a bonus, David Weber's own authoritative technical history of the Bolo, all in a volume that will be irresistible both for David Weber's huge readership and Bolo fans everywhere.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Weber is best known for his New York Times bestselling Honor Harrington series, arguably the most popular series in science fiction, which has led to reviewers comparing him to C.S. Forester , celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower. Weber's work ranges from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, The Apocalypse Troll, Empire from the Ashes) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the Honor Harrington novels). With John Ringo, he inaugurated the Prince Roger series of space adventures with March Upcountry and has continued it with March to the Sea and March to the Stars. Weber and his wife Sharon live in South Carolina with their three children.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Keith Laumer, creator of the Bolo series, was renowned both for his fast-paced stories of science fiction adventure, and for his comical stories of Retief, the only two-fisted diplomat in the galaxy. His novels and story collections have gone through printing after printing for nearly four decades. Laumer was a Captain in the US Air Force and later an officer in the Diplomatic Corps, serving all over the world, giving him a solid background both for his fast-moving action stories, including his Bolo series, and his satirical Retief adventures, which deftly skewer the bureaucratic mentality, whether human or alien. Among his other books, all from Baen, are The Compleat Bolo, The Lighter Side, Retief, Future Imperfect, and A Plague of Demons.

FOR THE HONOR OF THE REGIMENT

My forty-seven pairs of flint-steel roadwheels are in depot condition. Their tires of spun ber~yl~lium monocrystal, woven to deform rather than compress, all have 97% or better of their fabric unbroken. The immediate terrain is semi-arid. The briefing files inform me this is typical of the planet. My track links purr among themselves as they grind through scrub vegetation and the friable soil, carrying me to my assigned mission.

There is a cataclysmic fuel-air explosion to the east behind me. The glare is visible for 5.3 seconds, and the ground will shake for many minutes as shock waves echo through the planetary mantle.

Had my human superiors so chosen, I could be replacing Saratoga at the spearhead of the attack.

The rear elements of the infantry are in sight now. They look like dung beetles in their hard suits, crawling backward beneath a rain of shrapnel. I am within range of their low-power communications net. "Hold what you got, troops," orders the unit's acting commander. "Big Brother's come to help!"

I am not Big Brother. I am Maldon, a Mark XXX Bolo of the 3rd Battalion, Dinochrome Brigade. The lineage of our unit goes back to the 2nd South Wessex Dragoons. In 1944, we broke the last German resistance on the path to Falaise—though we traded our flimsy Cromwells against the Tigers at a ration of six to one to do it.

The citizens do not need to know what the cost is. They need only to know that the mission has been accomplished. The battle honors welded to my turret prove that I have always accomplished my mission.

BOLOS

Two new powerhouses of science fiction, David Weber and Linda Evans, continue the amplified history of the Bolo, the nearly indestructible tank/artificial intelligence that changed the shape of the galaxy.

David Weber tells the story of a Bolo, theepitome of the knight sans peur et sans reproche; who is driven over the edge by the very humans he is: pledged to protect.

Linda Evans give us the tale of the "Little Lost Dog" in which a bored young woman on a frontier planet tinkers with a mothballed Bolo and revives it, only to discover that the artificial intelligence that ran it is hopelessly brain-dead ....

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

The onslaught of the Melconians was not the last conflict that humanity's interstellar Concordiat would have to face. For now the Kezdai-a newly encountered species with war at the center of their philosophy-have taken to arms against the Concordiat and its colony worlds. For war, the Terrans have only one answer:

Break out the Bolos!

Self-aware robotic tanks, the Bolos have fought bravely and well since the days when humans fought each other. Now they battle across the stars to defend us all ... and though the times are perilous, we've never been in better hands than those of our old metal guardians: Keith Laumer's greatest creation, the Bolos.

Praise for the Bolos Series:

"Well worth your interest and money. . . .
Recommended." -Tails of Wonder

"If you're a Bolo fan, buy this...." -StarQuest

"A good addition to the Bolo mythos.... fun,
entertaining. . . . " -Heliocentric Network

THE THIN STEEL LINE

Spreading throughout the galaxy, the human race finds that some of its new neighbors are very unfriendly. But when threats arise, the humans know what to do: Break out the Bolos!

Gigantic tanks, with enough firepower for an army, controlled by a human-level artificial intelligence, and programmed to defend their creators at all costs, the Bolos have been decisive factors in battle since the time centuries ago when humans still warred with each other. Now they battle on star systems across the galaxy to defend us all.

The dangers are great, but the Bolos are faithful and fearless. And though Bolos can sometimes be destroyed, they never surrender! The saga of Keith Laumer's greatest creation, the Bolo continues. And though the Bolos are formed from cold steel, they have warmer hearts than many of the flesh-and-blood creatures they protect.

"If you're a Bolo fan, buy this. . . ."—StarQuest

"Well worth your interest and money . . . Recommended." —Tails of Wonder

"A good addition to the Bolo mythos . . . fun, entertaining. . . ." —Heliocentric Network

Keith Laumer's Celebrated Saga of the Bolos Continues in this New Novel by The New York Times Best-Selling Author of the Honor Harrington Series.

Captain Maneka Trevor was the sole human survivor of the Dinochrome Brigade's 39th Battalion . . . but she hadn't wanted to be one.

The Bolo known as "Lazarus" — Unit 28/G-179-LAZ — was the 39th's sole surviving Bolo . . . but he hadn't been hers.

The doctors and the Bolo techs have put them both back together again, yet there are wounds no doctor or technician can heal.

And now Maneka and Lazarus must serve together once again, in a war whose stakes are literally the survival or extermination of the human race. They are all that stand between a desperate, secret colony of humanity and destruction: a Bolo commander torn by survivor's guilt and a Bolo whose very existence reminds her of all she has lost.

The odds against them are heavy, the stakes are huge, and surrender is not an option. The Dinochrome Brigade is used to that, but can Maneka and Lazarus survive their own shared past to defend the present

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author of nine New York Times best sellers, with over five million books in print, David Weber is the science fiction phenomenon of the decade. He is often compared to C.S. Forester (the celebrated creator of Captain Horatio Hornblower) and is the recipient of critical praise worthy of Heinlein or Asimov. His novels range from epic fantasy (Oath of Swords, The War God's Own, Wind Rider's Oath) to breathtaking space opera (Path of the Fury, Empire from the Ashes) to military science fiction with in-depth characterization (the celebrated and nationally best-selling Honor Harrington series, the upcoming At All Costs being the latest installment). Reviewers call Weber "highly entertaining," (Booklist), "outstanding . . . superb . . . excellent" (Wilson Library Bulletin), "remarkable" (Kliatt), "the best" (Dragon), "worth shouting about" (Philadelphia Weekly Press), "great" (Locus), and "the best writer around today" (FosFax). Readers call Weber similar things, but mostly they call the Baen offices several times a week demanding more from their main man. Weber, his wife Sharon, and their three children live in South Carolina.

ABOUT THE CREATOR

Keith Laumer, creator of the Bolo, was renowned both for his fast-paced adventure stories, and for his comical stories of Retief, the galaxy's only two-fisted diplomat. One of science fiction's most popular authors, his novels and story collections have been constantly in print for nearly four decades. A Captain in the US Air Force and later an officer in the Diplomatic Corps, Laumer served all over the world, giving him a solid background both for his fast-moving action stories, including his Bolo series, and his satirical Retief adventures. He died in 1993.

Keith Laumer's Bolos are Back
—and New York Times Best-Selling
Author John Ringo has Signed on
with the Bolo Brigade!

When a ruthless political regime seizes power on a world struggling to recover from alien invasion, a former war hero finds herself leading a desperate band of freedom fighters. Kafari Khrustinova, who fought Deng infantry from farmhouses and barns, finds herself struggling to free her homeworld from an unholy political alliance, headed by the charismatic and ambitious Vittori Santorini, which has seduced her young daughter with its propaganda and subverted the planet's Bolo, using the war machine to crush all political opposition. To free her homeworld, Kafari must somehow cripple or kill the Bolo she once called friend. Unit SOL-0045, "Sonny," is a Mark XX Bolo, self-aware and intelligent. When Sonny's human commander is forced off-world, Sonny tries to navigate his way through ambiguous moral and legal issues, sinking into deep confusion and electronic misery. He eventually faces a dark night of the soul, with no guarantee that he will understand—let alone make—the right decision. And caught in the middle of this volatile battlefield is Yalena Khrustinova, Kafari's young daughter. Will she open her eyes in time to save herself—and millions of innocents—or will Santorini's relentless brainwashing campaign continue to blind her while the tyrant engineers the ultimate destruction of a helpless and enslaved population

Praise for the Science Fiction of John Ringo

"MARVELOUS!" —David Weber

"As much action as you could hope for. . . . And then there's that quirky sense of humor running like a vein of gold under the mayhem." —Eric Flint

"Explosive. . . . Fans of strong military SF will appreciate Ringo's lively narrative and flavorful characters. . . . One of the best new practitioners of military SF." —Publishers Weekly

". . . since [Ringo's] imagination, clearly influenced by Kipling and rock and roll, is fertile, and his storytelling skill sound, [When the Devil Dances] is irresistible." —Booklist

"[Ringo demonstrates a] flair for fast-paced military sf peopled with three-dimensional characters and spiced with personal drama as well as tactical finesse." —Library Journal

"If Tom Clancy were writing SF, it would read much like John Ringo . . . good reading with solid characterizations—a rare combination." —Philadelphia Weekly Press

"Ringo provides a textbook example of how a novel in the military SF subgenre should be written. . . . For those who have read everything David Drake has written or who may have wished that Tom Clancy, Larry bond or Harold Coyle would write SF, Ringo provides what's needed. . . .Crackerjack storytelling." —Starlog

LIKE A ROCK
(But then, the first Bolos were GM products....)

Controlled by their tireless electronic brains which were programmed to admit no possibility of defeat, the gigantic robot tanks known as Bolos were almost indestructible, and nearly unstoppable. Almost. Nearly. A sufficiently determined enemy armed with nearly limitless firepower and willing to sustain terrible losses could destroy a Bolo. But even a terminally damaged Bolo is still an opponent to reckon with. And as long as a Bolo's artificial intelligence retains a flicker of consciousness, its indomitable drive to defend the human race against all enemies will propel it forward. Bolos can be destroyed—but they never surrender!

Featuring two stories by David Weber, S.M. Stirling, William R. Forstchen, William H. Keith, Steve Perry, Linda Evans, and more . . .

SEMPER BOLO

Freddy and Ferdy were obsolete, which was why they'd been stationed on the planet Muir as part of a defense treaty between the Strathan Cluster and the Concordiat. Even in their obsolescence, however, they possessed incredible and devastating firepower. Possibly that was why the military high command insisted on tying the two Mark XXIV Model FRD Bolos down with rules of engagement designed to cripple their initiative, and guarantee the safety of Muir's human population. It wasn't, after all, as if they would actually have to fight . . . .

Unfortunately, the high command hadn't counted on the Malach, a deadly alien race descending on Muir from the uncharted Gulf between the galaxies. A race that looks and acts remarkably like pack-hunting dinosaurs, the Malach destroy everything in their path. All that stands between them and the population of Muir is two obsolete Bolos with their weapons locked down . . . .

"DEFEAT" DOES NOT COMPUTE

The Unconquerable continues the Amplified History of the Bolo: From the earliest entries in the Bolo saga comes the account of a besieged American platoon and their experimental robot tank facing an enemy who controls a live volcano and inundates his opponents with molten lava. In the more distant future, Bolos must survive alien computer viruses infecting their electronic brains, repel attacks on their assigned planet by space pirates, outmaneuver alien battle machines with firepower and robot intelligence equal to their own, and challenge their own programming when that programming requires them to slaughter an enemy even though the war has ended. Throughout the galaxy, in the millennia to come, the formidable Bolos stand guard as the faithful and tireless protectors of the human race.

Featuring: S.M. Stirling, William R. Forstchen, Christopher Stasheff, S.N. Lewitt, Shirley Meier, Jodd Johnson and more!

The future of war, from the Creator of Retief!

The classic military dilemma: can you trust those who are your servants not to turn on you? In the years of the Terran Empire the servants protecting humankind are machines endowed with artificial intelligence, and the most powerful of them all are the Bolos. They started out as simple tanks-now, the Mark XXX Bolo controls the galaxy. But is the Bolo mankind's worst enemy-or mankind's only hope? When the implacable alien Deng expand into human space the strategic mastermind-machine that is the Bolo leaps to the offensive. But the Bolo seems to have a war plan all its own, one that doesn't take humanity into account . . .

The parts of The Compleat Bolo have appeared previously as Bolo and Rogue Bolo.
This is their first publication in a single volume.

THIS TIME, SPARTACUS IS ARMED WITH HELLBORES....

The enemy has struck the human colony of Cloud with merciless precision, an attack so deadly that even the world's sole Bolo, a Mark XXXEH Mod HCT named Hector, was overwhelmed. Within days, the survivors of Cloud's shattered military had been herded into slave camps, while Hector, recognized as kin by the alien machine invaders, was "repaired," his loyalties electronically suborned as he became a slave camp guard in the service of the !*!*! masters....

One human, however, refuses to accept defeat. Major Jaime Graham will free his companions or die trying. All he needs to do is find a way to bring Hector back to the side of humanity, stop the enemy's bombardment from orbit, and defeat an ancient, cold, and highly advanced machine intelligence utterly hostile^ to organic life . . . all without tools, without weapons, and with enemies even among his fellow slaves.

It's the story of Spartacus reborn in steel and hellfire, a daring slave revolt against impossible odds. But if Jaime can win Hector over, it will be payback in storm, fire and blood, as the masters face Bolo Hellbores in a savage . . .

Controlled by their tireless electronic brains which were programmed to admit no possibility of defeat, the gigantic robot tanks known as Bolos were almost indestructible, and nearly unstoppable. Their artificial intelligences were designed to make them selflessly serve and protect humans throughout the galaxy and made each Bolo the epitome of the knight sans peur et sans reproche, and often far more noble than the humans who gave them their orders.

Created by Keith Laumer, the saga of the Bolos has been extended by several of the best writers in science fiction. Now, the best stories of the saga are collected in one Omni-Trade volume, including work by New York Times best-selling writers David Weber, Mercedes Lackey and S. M. Stirling, military science fiction grand master David Drake, and Laumer himself, who recount the exploits of the dauntless Bolos in Their Finest Hour.