DRAMATIS PERSONAE
in order of appearance:
Patricio Carrera. Dux Bellorum, or Duque. Born Patrick Hennessey. Former officer in the Federated States Army, retired, moved to his late wife’s—Linda Carrera de Hennessey’s—native country of Balboa, raised an army to avenge the death of her and their children at the hands of Salafi terrorists. Currently commander, or Dux Bellorum, Legion del Cid, a former private military corporation, now the armed forces of the Timocratic Republic of Balboa
Juan Sais. Sergeant, Fourteenth Cazador Tercio, (Top Secret, Special Compartmentalized Information) Maniple. In charge of a small team tasked with arming a Volcano FAE following an enemy landing.
Virgil Rojas. Sergeant, Deep Recon Maniple, Fourteenth Cazador Tercio. Leads a small team of stay-behind scouts, in Cristobal Province, consisting of himself and Cazadores Domingo and Flores.
Xavier Jimenez. Senior legate commanding Fourth Corps, charged with the defense of Cristobal and the Shimmering Sea side, near it.
Sarita Asilos. Corporal, Headquarters, Fourth Corps. A rather beautiful junior non-com, a signaler, with a more than casual interest in Jimenez.
Jan Campbell. Major, intelligence officer from the Anglian Army, seconded to the Tauran Union Defense Agency. Female, highly decorated, and “more deadly than the male.” Prior to her capture, Campbell authored a report, the Campbell Report, which advised, correctly, that the legion was dangerously tough and large. Ignored then, her star had risen, along with her rank, upon sudden and shocking discovery that her report was, if anything, conservative. Released, after capture, for reasons not entirely understood.
Jamey Soult. Warrant officer, Carrera’s driver, confidant, and friend.
Bertrand Janier. Commander, Tauran Union Expeditionary Force, Balboa. Effective commander, Tauran Union Defense Agency. Former chief of staff, Tauran Union Combined Staff. Former commander, Tauran Union Security Force-Balboa. Janier was once rather overbearing and arrogant. Events have muted those defects, leaving a superior general officer in their wake. He has, though, in light of a couple of sharp and unpleasant lessons, become something like paranoid on all matters Balboan, Legionary, or Carrera-related.
Denis Malcoeur. Major. Aide de Camp to Janier.
Omar Fernandez. Legate in the Legion del Cid. Chief of Intelligence, which includes counterintelligence. Crippled and wheelchair bound by a would-be assassin’s bullet. A widower, Fernandez’s only child, a daughter, was killed in a terrorist attack. Utterly ruthless and utterly loyal to his country and its war chief.
Achmed al Mahamda. Warrant officer, Legion del Cid, Fernandez’s chief interrogator. A Sumeri immigrant to Balboa.
Alfonso Ramirez. Tribune. A battery commander of a light, eighty-five-millimeter, artillery battery.
Avilar. Centurion. One of the better centurions of Ramirez’s battery.
Werner Verboom. Sergeant. Thirteenth Company, Royal Haarlem Commandotroepen.
Van der Wege. Reluctant private, Thirteenth Company, Royal Haarlem Commandotroepen.
Nadja Felton. Hauptmann (captain), Sachsen Luftstreitkräfte. Pilot and recalled reservist, would just as soon be back in Sachsen with her husband and family.
Marguerite Wallenstein. High admiral of the United Earth Peace Fleet, a fleet of observation in orbit above the Planet of Terra Nova. She acquired her position largely through the actions and intervention of Patricio Carrera. The high admiral is of the Reformed Druidic Faith, repentant for her previous (“and they were many, oh, many”) sins. Still, she has a duty to her home planet to keep the barbarians of Terra Nova from breaking into space and trashing her system of government, even though she detests that system. She has a plan for Terra Nova, too, though that has proven, to date, somewhat problematic of execution. Lover of Xingzhen, the Empress of Ming Zhong Guo
Xingzhen. Of indeterminate age but painfully beautiful. Empress of Xing Zhong Guo, or New Middle Kingdom. Real ruler of the Kingdom. Rather despises most men.
The Khans. Referred to as Khan, the husband, and Khan, the wife. They are members of Wallenstein’s staff, highly valued, very capable. They have some rather odd views of marriage and sex, by Terra Novan lights, but are still quite within the mainstream culture of Old Earth,
Ricardo Cruz. Sergeant major, Second Cohort, Second Tercio. Highly decorated. Battle hardened. Rather young for his job, in years, anyway.
Francois D’Espérey. Major General, Gallic Army, Chief of Staff to Janier.
Wanyan Liang. Fleet admiral, Zhong Empire, commanding the Zhong invasion force. Defeated in his bid to grab the Isla Real from Balboa, Wanyan has done the best thing remaining; he has succeeded in effecting a landing on the coast east of Balboa’s capital.
Digna Miranda. Former restauranteur in Ciudad Balboa. Quite aged. Volunteered, along with two of her great-great granddaughters, to cook for Ramirez’s battery.
Blue-eyed Rodriguez. A gunner in Ramirez’s battery.
Khalid. Druze assassin and spy working for Fernandez, on assignment to the Tauran Union. Like Druze, generally, Khalid is loyal to his adopted homeland of Balboa. Pretends to be a Moslem, most of the time. Good friend of Ricardo Cruz and Rafael Montoya.
Anton Pavlov. Medically retired Volgan sergeant, formerly of the Twenty-second Tercio, now working for Fernandez in Volga.
Vera Dzhugashvili. Sergeant. Long Range Bombardment Group. Currently in Volga.
Esmeralda Miranda. Ensign, United Earth Peace Fleet. A former slave girl, slated for human sacrifice and cannibalism before being rescued from a slave pen by High Admiral Wallenstein. Now effectively Wallenstein’s aide de camp and quasi-daughter. Also, a very distant Old Earth relative of, and dead ringer for, Carrera’s late first wife, Linda.
Jesus Villalobos. Legate, commander, Tercio la Virgen, seconded to the Santa Josefinan Liberation Army.
Claudio Marciano. Tuscan general officer, retired but called back to duty as a compromise candidate to command the Tauran Union Security Force in Santa Josefina. Capable and cynical, he detests most things about demilitarized Santa Josefina and rather admires his official enemy, Balboa. Much loved by the soldiers of the multinational TUSF-SJ, his task is a forlorn one.
Ernesto Aguilar. Tribune, Escuela de Cazadores, seconded to Fernandez for a special project.
Martin Robinson. Former high admiral of the United Earth Peace Fleet, now prisoner, along with the Marchioness of Amnesty, of the legions.
Stefano del Collea. Operations officer, Task Force Jesuit.
Friedrich Rall. Executive officer, Task Force Jesuit.
Esteban Sanchez. Corporal, Second Cohort, Tercio la Virgen, serving as a guerilla in the Task Force Jesuit rear area.
Richard, earl of Care. Captain of the UEPF Spirit of Peace. Foisted on Wallenstein as a sop to the ruling class of Old Earth. Fairly competent but advanced too young and knows it. In love with the ex-slave girl, Esmeralda. Much cared for by Wallenstein, because fundamentally decent despite the class that bore him and raised him.
Cass Aragon. Warrant officer, intelligence, assigned to Santa Josefina. Female, tall, slender, and light skinned, she blends in perfectly with the Santa Josefinan norm.
Rafael Montoya. Flight warrant officer, though former infantry. Marginal graduate of Cazador School, hence selected for flying rather than leadership. Fine, but very unlucky, pilot.
Alena Cano. AKA, “Alena the Witch.” First Pashtian of her tribe to recognize Hamilcar as Iskandr. Married into the Legion at a young age. Husband is Tribune David Cano. No one, least of all she, knows if she’s a witch or just supremely insightful. Dedicated to her Iskandr.
Johannes Litten. Left-wing lawyer prosecuting, along with his firm, the legal action to persuade the Global Court of Justice to grant an injunction against Tauran Forces damaging the rain forest in both Santa Josefina and Balboa, as well as to order to release of guerillas being held by Task Force Jesuit. Believed in some circles to have been hired by Carrera or his staff judge advocate.
Ignacio Macera. Tribune, commanding an almost tercio-sized cohort of the Tercio la Negrita, waging a mostly guerilla campaign in southwestern Santa Josefina.
William Ruiz-Jones. Centurion, 94th Engineer Tercio. Inventor of the Diana, a form of camouflage for anti-personnel land mines.
Roderigo Fosa. Legate and admiral, commanding the classis, or fleet, of the legion, currently interned in Santa Josefina.
Alfredo Ramirez. Sergeant Major, BdL Dos Lindas. Brother of the artilleryman.
Antonio de Lagazpi. Legate, commanding, initially, Fifth Mountain Tercio, and then the Santa Josefina Liberation Army.
Moya, no first name, no last name, just “Moya.” Indian corporal, doing piece work for the legions.
Pablo Carrasco. Legate, commanding Tenth Artillery Legion, “Terremoto.”
Paul Cheatham. Sergeant and squad leader, Fifth Mountain Tercio.
Richard Halpence. Squadron commander, Royal Anglian Air Force. Seconded to Task Force Jesuit and, later, moved to Cienfuegos.
Marqueli Mendoza. Wife of Warrant Officer Jorge Mendoza. Ph.D. Author and philosopher in her own right, and, with her husband, one of the two main intellectual architects of the Timocratic Republic. Seconded to the propaganda ministry for some educational work in support of the war effort. The essence of pure feminine charm in a very compact package.
Juan Ordoñez. Tribune. Mosaic-D Fighter Pilot with Legion Jan Sobieski.
Conrad Chu. Captain (Warrant Officer), Coast Defense Submarine (SSK) Megalodon.
Achmed Qabaash. Sumeri, brigadier, Army of Sumer. Legate, Pro Tem, Legion del Cid. Qabaash commands a brigade in the Presidential Guard of the Republic of Sumer, which brigade, sent to help Sumer’s ally, Balboa, was appointed Forty-third Tercio, Legion del Cid. Most Balboans who know him would agree, “Qabaash . . . mean motherfucker . . . glad he’s on our side.”
Aaron Brown, AKA “Sancho Panzer.” Legate. Formerly of the Federated States Army, Sancho commands the Legion’s heavy corps, First Corps.
Alexander Constantinescu. Dacian senior non-com. POW camp guard force.