Star Soldiers (Star Rangers & Star Guard)

"Only as interstellar mercenaries can humans go to the stars; the aliens who already dominate the galaxy allow no other recourse. But when Swordsman Third Class Kana Starr and his comrades-in-arms are betrayed and abandoned on a hostile world by their alien masters, the warriors from Earth begin a desperate but glorious march across a planet whose every sword is against them. Their actions may doom humanity's future...or lead the way to an empire of their own!". "Four thousand years later, galactic civilization is collapsing, and the under-funded crew of an exploration starship is forced to set down on an uncharted planet: a mysterious, abandoned world that is achingly beautiful - and hauntingly familiar. Ranger Sergeant Kartr, telepath and stellar Patrolman, searches with his crewmates for the source of a beacon which may mean escape for them all. What he finds is far stranger: the first clue to what may become the greatest revelation in galactic history!"--BOOK JACKET. The galactic civilization that considered Earthmen fit only to be their mercenaries in their constant conflicts - and Earthmen were not allowed to go into space in any other role - which wound up with the Earthmen rebelling against the galactic oppressors. After long centuries the last vestiges of the Galactic Union is falling apart and Earthmen are out to make their own stamp upon the galaxy In doing so, one underfunded ship lands on a new world that seems weirdly strange and familiar at the same time. A good read. Intersteller mercenaries traveling to the outer reaches of the universe find themselves under the control of an alien race that is trying to conquer Earth "The first starships from Earth have burst out into the universe ... only to run straight alien federation known as Central Control."--Jacket