Legion Rescue!

The New Series from Jason Anspach & Nick Cole

By Walt Robillard

When it came time to jump in and do an Order of the Centurion Book with Jason and Nick, I wanted to do something with the legion, but show off that not all special forces in the same service are the same thing.

For example, when we look at the army, we have the special forces who hold a certain job, the ranger regiment whose job differs from the green berets, and then guys like Delta and the Activity who are different still. But using our own military as a basis, we could assume the Legion itself would have unique job rolls that would differ from those who kick down doors in a Koob village or taking on Savage Marines.

Enter the Wreck Jumpers.

Initially, they were called Legion Recovery and Rescue Operations, which the legionnaires shortened to REC-Teams. Of course, like any service, this came with several nicknames. Rescue Rickies, Wreckers (which came from REC-R—RECovery and Rescue) and the one they preferred but often got in trouble for, was Valkyrie teams.

It was a nod and wink to our previous administration back then to show off how timid the government was, even though they held the leash on some of the finest war dogs ever trained. In the first book, the operators often get berated for using the term Valkyrie because the term dates back to a religious figure and the House of Reason’s Military Affairs Department didn’t want to offend anyone.

It was around 2020, and I needed a pitch to move Callsign Valkyrie forward, so I called my buddy Rob, who worked as a PJ.

USAF Pararescue Jumpers conducting field training.

“Hey man. I was wondering if I could pick your brain. I have a book to write and I want to make the main characters sort of like space marine Pararescue Jumpers. Could you help me smooth out the rough edges?”

His response was pure military pal. “Of course, bro. Not even a question, other than, how’d Army Monkey learn to write if he can’t read?”

Well, picking myself off the floor after that one, I wrote the book with Jason and Nick’s help (along with frequent check ins with Rob), and it got enough attention where Jason started asking folks if they wanted to get in on a Wreck Jumpers series.

The original pitch for the Order of the Centurion story.

All that to say, that’s where Wreck Jumpers started. And now we have three books in the launch window (one already being released) ready for you to ride along. But we thought we’d drop a note and answer a couple of questions.

Who are the Wreck Jumpers?: The book takes place in the Galaxy’s Edge universe. The Wreck Jumpers are a special operations group composed of two teams. The Alpha Section, which are spies, agents, and slicers who act to support The Bravo Section—Legionnaires with advanced medical and tactical training to support different missions than the line legions.

The wreck jumpers have three mandates that can launch a REC-Team.

• Rescue / Recovery of lost / downed personnel

• Recovery of mission critical intel or assets.

• Asset denial of critical intel or assets that can’t be recovered.

When does Wreck Jumpers Take Place?: After Legionnaire and before Kill Team. The events of the trilogy take place during a time the bad guys in the galaxy are setting things up for their big reveal, and the wreck jumpers stumble into the middle of it.

Do I have to read the original series to get in on this?: NOPE. We wrote it so if this is how you want to start, finish, or sample GE, we got you fam. No need to read the books before, but with all the links to Season 1 of Galaxy’s Edge… you’re going to want to.

Will there be any more Wreck Jumpers after Book 3?: That depends on you. If you like the books, leave a review. Recommend it to friends. Talk it up online. If it sells well, we can jump back in with a quickness as we have 3 more books outlined. But if you want to see Mack and his team of Wreck Jumpers get deep into the inner workings of GE, then please go out and let everyone know what you thought of the books.

It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, which is fine, because we just so happen to like coffee.

And just a call out to the man who Callsign Valkyrie was dedicated to. Air Force Master Sergeant John Chapman. He wasn’t a PJ, but we wanted to give the books the same grit, determination, and refusal to quit, even when the situation looked hopeless.

He inspired one of the key battles in the OotC book, and many interactions that ended up in the new series.

We hope you like it and that you’ll raise a glass to MSG Chapman after you drop a review to tell us how we did.