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** At the end of the final battle of the first book, Geary ends up unintentionally coining the Alliance CatchPhrase "For the honor of our ancestors" that his descendant would bring back into common usage.
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* DudeWheresMyRespect: After Geary saves Glenlyon, the government realizes that they need a full-time navy to protect it, so they buy some ships, hire some officers from other systems, and then offer Geary, the hero who saved the planet, the position...[[spoiler:of being their office gofer. Geary refuses, and three years later, their new navy is screwed up and they come crawling back to beg Geary to save them again.]]
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* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Once the Scathans realize that there is an experienced hacker on Glenlyon, they take steps to deny her access to their systems, so the initial surprise isn't repeated.
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* SettlingTheFrontier: The series is set in this time. Specifically, this is the second wave of expansion, with first wave being done using sublight, and the recently-invented jump drive allowing
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* SettlingTheFrontier: The series is set in this time. Specifically, this is the second wave of expansion, with first wave being done using sublight, and the recently-invented jump drive allowing humans to spread out ever farther, taking only weeks instead of years.
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* MeaningfulName: Mele (hmm, "melee"?) Darcy is very good at kicking ass.
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* MeaningfulName: Mele (hmm, "melee"?) Darcy is very good at kicking ass.ass and getting into bar fights.
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** The Glenlyon Council deciding to name the captured corvette ''Squall' instead of using a person's name, since they couldn't agree who should receive such an honor, mirrors TheAlliance naming ships after qualities rather than people or places for the same reason.
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** The Glenlyon Council deciding to name the captured corvette ''Squall' ''Squall'' instead of using a person's name, since they couldn't agree who should receive such an honor, mirrors TheAlliance naming ships after qualities rather than people or places for the same reason.
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* AuthorTract: The author once again expresses his deep dislike for politicians, turning most of them into self-serving bastards, who have no compunction about stabbing someone in the back when it's convenient. But just like in the main series, there are one or two good ones.
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* RammingAlwaysWorks: During the climactic SpaceBattle, the ''Squall'''s EscapePod is damaged, so that it can no longer be used to evacuate the crew. Geary comes up with a plan to [[spoiler:launch the pod at the Scathan destroyer during the next "joust", hoping that even if the destroyer's automated weapons blow the pod apart, the debris will still impact the destroyer's shields with enough force to temporarily disable them. He programs the ''Squall'''s firing computer to time it with the impact, thus giving the ''Squall'' a clear shot at the destroyer's exposed hull. The gamble works, and the destroyer is crippled]].
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* RammingAlwaysWorks: During the climactic SpaceBattle, the ''Squall'''s ''Squall''[='s=] EscapePod is damaged, so that it can no longer be used to evacuate the crew. Geary comes up with a plan to [[spoiler:launch the pod at the Scathan destroyer during the next "joust", hoping that even if the destroyer's automated weapons blow the pod apart, the debris will still impact the destroyer's shields with enough force to temporarily disable them. He programs the ''Squall'''s ''Squall''[='s=] firing computer to time it with the impact, thus giving the ''Squall'' a clear shot at the destroyer's exposed hull. The gamble works, and the destroyer is crippled]].
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* BoardingParty: Early on, Geary leads a group of two dozen volunteers on a space jump between a freighter and a corvette to take board and take control of the latter. It succeeds only because a PlayfulHacker remotely shuts down the corvette sensors, cuts its engines, and opens the doors. [[spoiler:During the battle between the ''Squall'' and the Scathan destroyer, Geary manages to pull a Hail Mary and seriously damage the superior enemy ship, but the destroyer's final pass destabilizes the already barely-stable core of the ''Squall''. With no EscapePod, Geary comes up with a desperate plan to take the destroyer. It works, but many, including his NumberTwo, are killed.]]
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* BoardingParty: Early on, Geary leads a group of two dozen volunteers on a space jump between a freighter and a corvette to take board and take control of the latter. It succeeds only because a PlayfulHacker remotely shuts down the corvette sensors, cuts its engines, and opens the doors. [[spoiler:During the battle between the ''Squall'' and the Scathan destroyer, Geary manages to pull a Hail Mary and seriously damage the superior enemy ship, but the destroyer's final pass destabilizes the already barely-stable core of the ''Squall''. With no EscapePod, Geary comes up with a desperate plan to take the destroyer. It works, but many, including his NumberTwo, are killed.killed, and the destroyer is too damaged to be repaired.]]
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* RammingAlwaysWorks: During the climactic SpaceBattle, the ''Squall'''s EscapePod is damaged, so that it can no longer be used to evacuate the crew. Geary comes up with a plan to [[spoiler:launch the pod at the Scathan destroyer during the next "joust", hoping that even if the destroyer's automated weapons blow the pod apart, the debris will still impact the destroyer's shields with enough force to temporarily disable them. He programs the ''Squall'''s firing computer to time it with the impact, thus giving the ''Squall'' a clear shot at the destroyer's exposed hull. The gamble works, and the destroyer is crippled]].
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Currently, only one novel (''Vanguard'') has been released.
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Currently, only one novel (''Vanguard'') has been released.
released. The author appears to break his ThemeNaming trend, as there is no ship called ''Vanguard'' in the novel.
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* StunGuns: Shockers are used by the Glenlyon police to subdue unruly colonists. They fire non-lethal ammo (although it's stated that a shocker fired at point-blank can be lethal) that uses electrical shocks to knock out the target. This becomes a problem, when Scatha lands a hundred well-armed troops on Glenlyon, as all Mele has to work with are a few dozen shockers and a handful of hunting rifles.
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* ActionGirl: Mele Darcy, which makes sense, given that she's an ex-Marine. Surprisingly, Carmen Ochoa as well due to her growing up on [[WretchedHive Mars]].
* BavarianFireDrill: In order to gain favor with the government of Kosatka, Carmen hints that she was unofficially sent by Old Earth to resolve their conflict with a rebellious city. Of course, given the travel distances between Kosatka and Old Earth, it's not like her credentials can be disproven any time soon.
* BavarianFireDrill: In order to gain favor with the government of Kosatka, Carmen hints that she was unofficially sent by Old Earth to resolve their conflict with a rebellious city. Of course, given the travel distances between Kosatka and Old Earth, it's not like her credentials can be disproven any time soon.
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** The Glenlyon Council deciding to name the captured corvette ''Squall' instead of using a person's name, since they couldn't agree who should receive such an honor, mirrors TheAlliance naming ships after qualities rather than people or places for the same reason.
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* OrbitalBombardment: As Lochan and Carmen arrive to Kosatka, they're shocked to discover that a city on the planet has just been attacked by an unknown destroyer.
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* OrbitalBombardment: As Lochan and Carmen arrive to Kosatka, they're shocked to discover that a city on the planet has just been attacked by an unknown destroyer. Luckily, when the destroyer returns for round two, Geary is there to chase it off (apparently, the destroyer is far older than the ''Squall''), earning him the gratitude of the government of Kosatka.
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* PunchClockVillain: Several characters working for Apulu and Scatha turn out to only be doing it because they've been lured in by false promises and can't see a way out. One crewmember on the Scathan corvette readily switches sides and becomes the NumberTwo on the rechristened ''Squall'', although few in the Council actually trust her.
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* LostColony: It's mentioned that a number of colonies in the opposite galactic direction from the current expansion have deliberately cut themselves off from any contact with Old Earth or any other colony for ideological reasons. Additionally, a number of corporations have sent their own colony ships in order to establish corporate utopias out in the unexplored space, far from any oversight. Those readers familiar with the main series and the first spin-off series will know that the former eventually form the Shield of Sol and the latter become the Syndicate Worlds.
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The series is set during the second wave of human expansion into the galaxy, triggered by the invention of the [[FasterThanLightTravel jump drive]] several decades prior. Before that, all interstellar travel was done using sublight ships. As humanity is rapidly expanding outward, the influence of [[EarthThatWas Old Earth]] and the old colonies is rapidly waning. The once-mighty Earth fleet is being decommissioned, as the various Earth governments are no longer interested in protecting the outlying colonies, and the old colonies' fleets are hardly up to the challenge. In fact, many of them are also cutting back on their militaries. The new colonies are forced to fend for themselves, as pirates, slavers, and hostile colonies are taking advantage of this.
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The series is set during the second wave of human expansion into the galaxy, triggered by the invention of the [[FasterThanLightTravel jump drive]] several decades prior. Before that, all interstellar travel was done using sublight ships. As humanity is rapidly expanding outward, the influence of [[EarthThatWas [[EarthThatUsedToBeBetter Old Earth]] and the old colonies is rapidly waning. The once-mighty Earth fleet is being decommissioned, as the various Earth governments are no longer interested in protecting the outlying colonies, and the old colonies' fleets are hardly up to the challenge. In fact, many of them are also cutting back on their militaries. The new colonies are forced to fend for themselves, as pirates, slavers, and hostile colonies are taking advantage of this.
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* EarthThatUsedToBeBetter: Old Earth is no longer what it used to be. Prior to the invention of the jump drive, all colonies compared themselves to Earth. Geary mentions that the Alfar SpaceNavy saw Earth's SpaceNavy as the ideal. Then he's told that Earth's fleet has been so thoroughly bureaucratized that its officers couldn't do anything without going through a checklist. Initiative was frowned upon. Any situation that's not in the checklist should be first added to the checklist. By the time ''Vanguard'' is starting, Earth's fleet is being decommissioned, as the planet's many nations no longer wish to maintain it. In fact, Earth is making a deal with some of the old colonies, asking ''them'' for protection. It doesn't help that Earth also went through a number of devastating wars, as mentioned in the first spin-off series.
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* OneWorldOrder: Most colonies have a single planetary government, although various cities and regions may have some autonomy. Averted by Old Earth, which still has the old nation states, and Mars, which is a bunch of city-states run by gangs. In fact, whenever settlers set out for a new planet, they file for an exclusive colony right. So when Scatha suddenly unloads hundreds of civilians with a military garrison on Glenlyon, clearly set to establish a colony on the planet, the people of Glenlyon are shocked at this clearly illegal move. But then there's no longer anyone there to enforce those rules.
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* OneWorldOrder: Most colonies have a single planetary government, although various cities and regions may have some autonomy. Averted by Old Earth, which still has the old nation states, and Mars, which is a bunch of city-states run by gangs. In fact, whenever settlers set out for a new planet, they file for an exclusive colony right. So when Scatha suddenly unloads hundreds of civilians with a military garrison on Glenlyon, clearly set to establish a colony on the planet, the people of Glenlyon are shocked at this clearly illegal move. But then there's no longer anyone there to enforce those rules. Meanwhile, Kosatka is experiencing separatist tensions from its second city, whose people desire independence from the main city. Carmen suggests a simple solution: allow the second city to have limited autonomy and self-governance, while the planetary government will retain control over the larger issues.
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* OneWorldOrder: Most colonies have a single planetary government, although various cities and regions may have some autonomy. Averted by Old Earth, which still has the old nation states, and Mars, which is a bunch of city-states run by gangs. In fact, whenever settlers set out for a new planet, they file for an exclusive colony right. So when Scatha suddenly unloads hundreds of civilians with a military garrison on Glenlyon, clearly set to establish a colony on the planet, the people of Glenlyon are shocked at this clearly illegal move. But then there's no longer anyone there to enforce those rules.
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* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: Jump space being relatively new, people are still freaked out by the grayest gray you can find all around the ship, plus those weird lights. Also, most people get nauseous after more than a week in jump space. Then there are stories of ships never coming out of their jumps and continuing to drift in jump space forever.
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* WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture: When Lochan learns that the people of Apulu practice slavery, he's shocked. After all, why use manual labor, when machines are much more efficient? He's told that this may be true in the old colonies, but out here on the frontier, there aren't enough machines yet to make this true, so manual labor is still necessary.
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* PlayfulHacker: Lyn "Ninja" Meltzer, who casually breaks into computer systems, most of which are either too old or barely secured.
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* PlayfulHacker: Lyn "Ninja" Meltzer, who casually breaks into computer systems, most of which are either too old or barely secured. She runs a consulting firm and occasionally accepts contracts from the Glenlyon Council.
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* LoveInterest: Ninja to Geary. When she first suggests they have some fun, while clearly indicating his bed, he's shocked, as he had no idea that she was interested in him. Unfortunately, at that moment, he's her superior officer, so he feels it necessary to decline. Eventually, with some prodding by Mele, Geary asks Ninja out, and they become an item. [[spoiler:She gets pregnant just before Geary goes out on what is expected to be a suicide mission, but he survives (barely). After a three-year TimeSkip, they're mentioned to be married]].
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* SequelHook: ''Vanguard'' ends with a three-year TimeSkip, after which [[spoiler:Mele informs Geary that the flagship of Glenlyon's SpaceNavy has just blown up, killing the Commodore, and the Council once again wants Geary's help]].
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* MeaningfulName: Mele (hmm, "melee"?) Darcy is very good at kicking ass.
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* TheCaptain: Geary becomes the provisional commander of the ''Squall'' after its capture with the [[InsistentTerminology provisional]] rank of lieutenant. That's right, the Council's not even willing to give him the rank of captain. At least his NumberTwo is willing to call him that near the end of the novel.
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* MajorlyAwesome: Mele is promoted to major before the assault on Scatha's base. [[spoiler:She's promptly demoted back to sergeant afterwards [[UngratefulBastard despite her success]]]].
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* SergeantRock: Mele Darcy is a former sergeant in the {{Space Marine}}s of one of the old colonies. After being tasked with assaulting Scatha's base on Glenlyon, she is quickly promoted to major [[spoiler:and then just as quickly demoted back to sergeant after the successful assault]]. As befits a sergeant, she's proud of not being an officer (i.e. she works for a living).
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* {{Cult}}: Ancestor worship is still a new thing on the new colonies, but it's slowly spreading. As humans spread farther out from Old Earth, they start to appreciate where they have come from more.
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* UsedFuture: Most of the warships in ''Vanguard'' are old, typically surplus from the SpaceNavy of either Old Earth or one of the old colonies. The ''Squall'' is an old ''Buccaneer''-class corvette (or "Bucket", as they're known). It's a bucket of bolts that's barely holding on together, and her reactor is always on the verge of overloading. The corvette only has two weapons: a grapeshot launcher and a particle beam projector. The computer systems run on a language that requires all commands to be inputted ''in reverse'' (i.e. if you want to input a sequence of commands, you have to start from the last command and work your way backwards). It's also easily hackable by anyone, who knows the code. Luckily, Ninja manages to reinforce the firewalls, so others can't do it that easily. The destroyers encountered by the ''Squall'' aren't that much better. One destroyer is a century older than even the ''Squall''.
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[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vanguard.jpg]]
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* CoversAlwaysLie: Surprisingly, averted with ''Vanguard'', whose cover depicts Robert Geary making a space jump between a freighter and the Scathan corvette with Glenlyon in the background. This happens fairly early on in the novel.
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''The Genesis Fleet'' is a hard science fiction series by [[Creator/JohnHemry Jack Campbell]] (actual name John G. Hemry). This is a prequel to his ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' series and focuses on the formation of TheAlliance.
Currently, only one novel (''Vanguard'') has been released.
The series is set during the second wave of human expansion into the galaxy, triggered by the invention of the [[FasterThanLightTravel jump drive]] several decades prior. Before that, all interstellar travel was done using sublight ships. As humanity is rapidly expanding outward, the influence of [[EarthThatWas Old Earth]] and the old colonies is rapidly waning. The once-mighty Earth fleet is being decommissioned, as the various Earth governments are no longer interested in protecting the outlying colonies, and the old colonies' fleets are hardly up to the challenge. In fact, many of them are also cutting back on their militaries. The new colonies are forced to fend for themselves, as pirates, slavers, and hostile colonies are taking advantage of this.
Robert Geary is a former lieutenant in the Alfar SpaceNavy, now just another colonist on a newly-settled (and as-yet unnamed) planet at the very edge of known space. Just then, he's informed that a warship from a nearby colony called Scatha has arrived and is demanding protection money from the planet. With no military forces of their own, the newly-named colony world of Glenlyon tasks Geary with protecting it. Geary gets together with two other ex-military colonists, one of whom is a master hacker named Lyn "Ninja" Meltzer (who has a thing for Geary). Ninja figures out that the old ''Buccaneer''-class corvette used by Scatha is still using an easily-hackable system. Thanks to Ninja hacking the "bucket"'s (as these corvettes are called) sensors, hatches, and engines, Geary and a group of a few dozen volunteers manage to perform a space jump from a freighter to the corvette and capture it. The Glenlyon Council names the ship ''Squall'' and temporarily puts Lieutenant Geary in command of her. As told by a former member of the ship's crew, Scatha has two other warships (destroyers) and relatively numerous ground forces, and they're not going to stop.
''Vanguard'' also focuses on three other characters: Lochan Nakamura, an ex-politician; Carmen Ochoa, whose specialty is conflict resolution; and Mele Darcy, an ex-Marine. Mele eventually ends up on Glenlyon and is put in charge of the nascent ground forces, as Scatha makes another attempt to impose its will on the planet. Lochan and Carmen, meanwhile, head to Kosatka, the most developed of the new colonies, hoping to convince the locals to cooperate with the other colonies for mutual protection.
----
!!''The Genesis Fleet'' provides examples of:
* BoardingParty: Early on, Geary leads a group of two dozen volunteers on a space jump between a freighter and a corvette to take board and take control of the latter. It succeeds only because a PlayfulHacker remotely shuts down the corvette sensors, cuts its engines, and opens the doors. [[spoiler:During the battle between the ''Squall'' and the Scathan destroyer, Geary manages to pull a Hail Mary and seriously damage the superior enemy ship, but the destroyer's final pass destabilizes the already barely-stable core of the ''Squall''. With no EscapePod, Geary comes up with a desperate plan to take the destroyer. It works, but many, including his NumberTwo, are killed.]]
* ContinuityNod: Oh, so many.
** Several characters mention another group of colonies in the opposite direction from Earth, who have cut off all ties with the homeworld. Hmm. Shield of Sol, maybe?
** Several colony ships sent out by corporations into unknown space are mentioned, and Lochan muses on how might those worlds end up, and what they would be like if they joined together.
** Lochan reads up on a local myth about a destroyer that has never come out of jump space a few decades ago. Some speculate that aliens have captured it and are now using it to harrass human colonies. Naturally, everyone finds the idea of aliens existing, much less interfering in human affairs, ridiculous. But anyone who has read the main and the first spin-off series might assume that there is some truth to that myth.
** The Glenlyon Council fears a military commander becoming so popular he or she might wish to usurp power from the civilian government. Given how screwed-up TheAlliance ends up centuries from then, those fears actually make some sense.
** Geary thinks that, as villainous as the Scathans might be, even they wouldn't stoop so low as to shoot at an EscapePod. In the main series, both sides degrade to [[SinkTheLifeBoats shooting down enemy escape pods]], until Geary's descendant puts a stop to the practice.
** Someone mentions the freaky lights in jump space and is sure that the mystery will be solved in a matter of years. It's still unsolved centuries later in the main series.
* FamousAncestor: Averted. John Geary's ancestor might be brave and heroic, but thanks to politicians, he's relegated into obscurity. Additionally, Tanya Desjani's ancestor is just a sergeant in Kosatka's ground forces, who only appears in a single chapter.
* HumanShield: Scatha leadership isn't above using its own civilians as shields, gambling that Glenlyon sailors and soldiers aren't going to attack ships and shuttles with innocents on board. They're right.
* JustFriends: Lochan just can't catch a break. He meets two strong, attractive women (Mele and Carmen), who see the potential of a great leader in him, but neither finds him romantically or physically attractive. Oh, and this is just latest in a long string of failures in his life (marriage, political career, business).
* MultiethnicName: Lochan (Indian) Nakamura (Japanese). The audiobook narrator makes him sound more Indian than Japanese.
* OrbitalBombardment: As Lochan and Carmen arrive to Kosatka, they're shocked to discover that a city on the planet has just been attacked by an unknown destroyer.
* PlayfulHacker: Lyn "Ninja" Meltzer, who casually breaks into computer systems, most of which are either too old or barely secured.
* SettlingTheFrontier: The series is set in this time. Specifically, this is the second wave of expansion, with first wave being done using sublight, and the recently-invented jump drive allowing
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Almost happens with [[spoiler:Geary and Ninja. Ninja sends Geary a message, informing him of her pregnancy, about an hour before he's about to engage a Scatha destroyer in what looks to be a suicide mission. Averted, since Geary survives, but barely]].
* SpaceMines: Handled realistically. During their second arrival to Glenlyon, Scatha sends unarmed freighters, gambling that the corvette will not fire on civilians. Instead, the freighters get in orbit around the planet, and then start to periodically change it, with Geary having the ''Squall'' match the trajectory each time. Something seems off, and he veers off, just as nuclear detonations go off where the ''Squall'' would have passed. Turns out, the freighters dropped mines and hoped to lure the ''Squall'' into them.
* SpaceMarine: Mele Darcy is an ex-Marine. However, most of what she does in the book has more to do with ground forces rather than boarding enemy ships. That does get done, but without her.
* SpacePirates: With colonies fending for themselves, piracy is rampant.
* SpaceStation:
** When Lochan and Mele's transport ship is attacked by SpacePirates, they and a group of survivors end up on a space station, where they're told they'll be picked up by another transport ship. However, the station's doctor secretly reveals that the transport ship in question is from the Apulu system, which deals in slave trade. Thanks to Lochan and Mele, the would-be slaves manage to flee on a shuttle and end up getting picked up by another transport ship.
** At the end of ''Vanguard'', [[spoiler:Geary and Darcy quit and get hired as administrator and chief of security, respectively, aboard a fleet support station that's towed into Glenlyon's orbit]].
* UngratefulBastard: The majority of the Glenlyon Council at the end of ''Vanguard'', who [[spoiler:choose to screw over Geary and Darcy, after they save Glenlyon from invasion, due to a mix of political favor (Old Earth offers some of its decommissioned ships to Glenlyon but only with their own officers), personal dislike (apparently, Geary and Darcy should have been kissing ass, while saving them), and fear of military commanders becoming too popular (to be fair, a very real threat in the main series)]]. Only one council member stands up for them.
* WretchedHive: Mars in a case of GoneHorriblyWrong. The first planet to be settled by humanity, many wanted Mars to be free from Earth's interference. As a result, the planet is ruled by gangs. All Martians are automatically seen as thugs and criminals on other planets, derogatorily called "Reds". Carmen has worked hard to lose her Martian accent and to questions on her origins always replies that she's from Albuquerque. Based on the first spin-off series, things don't improve much in the following centuries.
Currently, only one novel (''Vanguard'') has been released.
The series is set during the second wave of human expansion into the galaxy, triggered by the invention of the [[FasterThanLightTravel jump drive]] several decades prior. Before that, all interstellar travel was done using sublight ships. As humanity is rapidly expanding outward, the influence of [[EarthThatWas Old Earth]] and the old colonies is rapidly waning. The once-mighty Earth fleet is being decommissioned, as the various Earth governments are no longer interested in protecting the outlying colonies, and the old colonies' fleets are hardly up to the challenge. In fact, many of them are also cutting back on their militaries. The new colonies are forced to fend for themselves, as pirates, slavers, and hostile colonies are taking advantage of this.
Robert Geary is a former lieutenant in the Alfar SpaceNavy, now just another colonist on a newly-settled (and as-yet unnamed) planet at the very edge of known space. Just then, he's informed that a warship from a nearby colony called Scatha has arrived and is demanding protection money from the planet. With no military forces of their own, the newly-named colony world of Glenlyon tasks Geary with protecting it. Geary gets together with two other ex-military colonists, one of whom is a master hacker named Lyn "Ninja" Meltzer (who has a thing for Geary). Ninja figures out that the old ''Buccaneer''-class corvette used by Scatha is still using an easily-hackable system. Thanks to Ninja hacking the "bucket"'s (as these corvettes are called) sensors, hatches, and engines, Geary and a group of a few dozen volunteers manage to perform a space jump from a freighter to the corvette and capture it. The Glenlyon Council names the ship ''Squall'' and temporarily puts Lieutenant Geary in command of her. As told by a former member of the ship's crew, Scatha has two other warships (destroyers) and relatively numerous ground forces, and they're not going to stop.
''Vanguard'' also focuses on three other characters: Lochan Nakamura, an ex-politician; Carmen Ochoa, whose specialty is conflict resolution; and Mele Darcy, an ex-Marine. Mele eventually ends up on Glenlyon and is put in charge of the nascent ground forces, as Scatha makes another attempt to impose its will on the planet. Lochan and Carmen, meanwhile, head to Kosatka, the most developed of the new colonies, hoping to convince the locals to cooperate with the other colonies for mutual protection.
----
!!''The Genesis Fleet'' provides examples of:
* BoardingParty: Early on, Geary leads a group of two dozen volunteers on a space jump between a freighter and a corvette to take board and take control of the latter. It succeeds only because a PlayfulHacker remotely shuts down the corvette sensors, cuts its engines, and opens the doors. [[spoiler:During the battle between the ''Squall'' and the Scathan destroyer, Geary manages to pull a Hail Mary and seriously damage the superior enemy ship, but the destroyer's final pass destabilizes the already barely-stable core of the ''Squall''. With no EscapePod, Geary comes up with a desperate plan to take the destroyer. It works, but many, including his NumberTwo, are killed.]]
* ContinuityNod: Oh, so many.
** Several characters mention another group of colonies in the opposite direction from Earth, who have cut off all ties with the homeworld. Hmm. Shield of Sol, maybe?
** Several colony ships sent out by corporations into unknown space are mentioned, and Lochan muses on how might those worlds end up, and what they would be like if they joined together.
** Lochan reads up on a local myth about a destroyer that has never come out of jump space a few decades ago. Some speculate that aliens have captured it and are now using it to harrass human colonies. Naturally, everyone finds the idea of aliens existing, much less interfering in human affairs, ridiculous. But anyone who has read the main and the first spin-off series might assume that there is some truth to that myth.
** The Glenlyon Council fears a military commander becoming so popular he or she might wish to usurp power from the civilian government. Given how screwed-up TheAlliance ends up centuries from then, those fears actually make some sense.
** Geary thinks that, as villainous as the Scathans might be, even they wouldn't stoop so low as to shoot at an EscapePod. In the main series, both sides degrade to [[SinkTheLifeBoats shooting down enemy escape pods]], until Geary's descendant puts a stop to the practice.
** Someone mentions the freaky lights in jump space and is sure that the mystery will be solved in a matter of years. It's still unsolved centuries later in the main series.
* FamousAncestor: Averted. John Geary's ancestor might be brave and heroic, but thanks to politicians, he's relegated into obscurity. Additionally, Tanya Desjani's ancestor is just a sergeant in Kosatka's ground forces, who only appears in a single chapter.
* HumanShield: Scatha leadership isn't above using its own civilians as shields, gambling that Glenlyon sailors and soldiers aren't going to attack ships and shuttles with innocents on board. They're right.
* JustFriends: Lochan just can't catch a break. He meets two strong, attractive women (Mele and Carmen), who see the potential of a great leader in him, but neither finds him romantically or physically attractive. Oh, and this is just latest in a long string of failures in his life (marriage, political career, business).
* MultiethnicName: Lochan (Indian) Nakamura (Japanese). The audiobook narrator makes him sound more Indian than Japanese.
* OrbitalBombardment: As Lochan and Carmen arrive to Kosatka, they're shocked to discover that a city on the planet has just been attacked by an unknown destroyer.
* PlayfulHacker: Lyn "Ninja" Meltzer, who casually breaks into computer systems, most of which are either too old or barely secured.
* SettlingTheFrontier: The series is set in this time. Specifically, this is the second wave of expansion, with first wave being done using sublight, and the recently-invented jump drive allowing
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Almost happens with [[spoiler:Geary and Ninja. Ninja sends Geary a message, informing him of her pregnancy, about an hour before he's about to engage a Scatha destroyer in what looks to be a suicide mission. Averted, since Geary survives, but barely]].
* SpaceMines: Handled realistically. During their second arrival to Glenlyon, Scatha sends unarmed freighters, gambling that the corvette will not fire on civilians. Instead, the freighters get in orbit around the planet, and then start to periodically change it, with Geary having the ''Squall'' match the trajectory each time. Something seems off, and he veers off, just as nuclear detonations go off where the ''Squall'' would have passed. Turns out, the freighters dropped mines and hoped to lure the ''Squall'' into them.
* SpaceMarine: Mele Darcy is an ex-Marine. However, most of what she does in the book has more to do with ground forces rather than boarding enemy ships. That does get done, but without her.
* SpacePirates: With colonies fending for themselves, piracy is rampant.
* SpaceStation:
** When Lochan and Mele's transport ship is attacked by SpacePirates, they and a group of survivors end up on a space station, where they're told they'll be picked up by another transport ship. However, the station's doctor secretly reveals that the transport ship in question is from the Apulu system, which deals in slave trade. Thanks to Lochan and Mele, the would-be slaves manage to flee on a shuttle and end up getting picked up by another transport ship.
** At the end of ''Vanguard'', [[spoiler:Geary and Darcy quit and get hired as administrator and chief of security, respectively, aboard a fleet support station that's towed into Glenlyon's orbit]].
* UngratefulBastard: The majority of the Glenlyon Council at the end of ''Vanguard'', who [[spoiler:choose to screw over Geary and Darcy, after they save Glenlyon from invasion, due to a mix of political favor (Old Earth offers some of its decommissioned ships to Glenlyon but only with their own officers), personal dislike (apparently, Geary and Darcy should have been kissing ass, while saving them), and fear of military commanders becoming too popular (to be fair, a very real threat in the main series)]]. Only one council member stands up for them.
* WretchedHive: Mars in a case of GoneHorriblyWrong. The first planet to be settled by humanity, many wanted Mars to be free from Earth's interference. As a result, the planet is ruled by gangs. All Martians are automatically seen as thugs and criminals on other planets, derogatorily called "Reds". Carmen has worked hard to lose her Martian accent and to questions on her origins always replies that she's from Albuquerque. Based on the first spin-off series, things don't improve much in the following centuries.
