Disposable Heroes

When Penal Marine X is deployed in a second-hand clone with broken ribs and head-to-toe bruises, he knows something is amiss. Gang warfare ravages Brasenose, capital of the remote colony planet, and the police are leaning hard on the small Marine company for support.

Ten's new colleagues don't trust him. His commanding officer doesn't want him on the planet. And everywhere he turns, there's a sense of corruption — confirmed when a British intelligence officer makes contact and seconds him to her investigation: Operation Shadow Hammer.

Can Ten unravel the conspiracies and root out the corruption before his enemies put him on ice?

Penal Marine X — Ten to his friends — is dropped onto the jungle planet Welling to track down a gang of kidnappers and free their victims. But from the moment he lands, things go wrong: an obstructive police force, unhelpful colleagues and a conspiracy of powerful local businessmen turn the idyllic planet into a war zone as Ten digs for the truth.

Chases, shootouts and assassinations stalk Ten and his team as they blunder through the undergrowth to root out the powers behind the plot — and over everything looms a deteriorating political situation and the threat of all-out war. Can Ten stop the rogue company before it's too late?

Carnus is a riot of colour, jungle, extravagant excess and destructive conflict. Sent to help the loyalists stave off imminent defeat, Marine X finds the relief mission falling apart before the troop transports even reach their docking bays. Thrown in with a mismatched crew of conscripted soldiers, he faces zero-gravity combat, inhospitable jungle and overwhelming odds — and that's before anyone's bothered to tell him what his mission actually is.

Can Marine X survive long enough to make a difference? Will anyone even notice? And what exactly is the Hanson Protocol?