History Literature / TheAux

A MilitaryScienceFiction series by David Gunn, also known as the ''Death's Head'' series.

"Aux" is short for "Auxiliaries". Namely, Sven Tveskoeg's auxiliaries, an elite squad in an elite regiment of Emperor Octo V's army. Sven himself is a super-powered AntiHero / PunchClockHero with a bad temper.

Octo's glorious empire battles the Enlightened, watched by the United Free who drastically enforce UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar when they feel like it.

[[AC:Three books have been published so far:]]
* ''Death's Head''
* ''Maximum Offense''
* ''Day of the Damned''

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!!This series provides examples of:

* TheAgeless: Octo V has been thirteen years old for centuries.
* AllCrimesAreEqual: Well, maybe not ''all'', but there are quite a lot of capital offenses in the Empire and the Enlightened.
* BlingOfWar: Played straight in various armies, subverted in the Empire's [[EliteMook Death's Head]].
* {{Cyborg}}: The Enlightened.
* DropPod: used in the first book.
* EmpathicWeapon: The SIG.
* TheEmperor: Octo V
* GlassWeapon: Glass knives. Their brittleness is a feature, so you can leave the blade inside your enemy's body. The first-person narrator mentions glass knives early in the second or third book. They can be bought by the dozen and the user can easily break the handle off after stabbing, making the blade hard to dislodge. The narrator contrasts them with his opponent's big rusty knife, "a poser's weapon".
* TheGoldenRule: In the third book: "Do unto others as they would do unto you. But do it first and harder."[[note]]Backtranslated from the French version[[/note]]
* HealingFactor: Sven's 1.8 percent of "something else".
* HonorBeforeReason: Well, not actually honor, but ''loyalty'' before reason: Sven fights ''very'' dirty, but once he has picked a side, he will just. never. leave. it.
* PenalColony: In the first book.
* PsychicPowers / {{Technopath}}: The Enlightened's biotechnology is centered about this. A few select citizens in the Empire have access to it, usually top servants of the Emperor, but it's a capital crime.
* TakingYouWithMe: Sven convinces [[spoiler:A whole artificial world]] to do that to an Enlightened ship in the second book.
* TokenEnemyMinority: Haze.
* WakeUpFighting: Sven's "first second rule" is that if it happens in the first second, you shouldn't fault the wakee for it.
* YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo: A deep part of book 3's plot in a nutshell. [[spoiler:The United Free]] pressured [[spoiler:Emperor Octo V]] into betraying [[spoiler:General Jaxx]], with the promise that violence would be limited to a few targeted assassinations. What happened instead was a reenactment of Saint Barthélémy.
* CommandRoster:
** TheCaptain: Sven
** NumberTwo: Neen
** TheSmartGuy: Haze
** TheBigGuy: Franc
** The Security Officer: Shil
** ColdSniper: Rachel
** TheMedic / NewMeat: Iona
** TheBigGuy: Ajac
** SixthRanger / WildCard: Emil
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** TheMarine: Franc

Octo's glorious empire battles the Enlightened, watched by the United Free who drastically enforce TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar when they feel like it.

* GlassWeapon: Glass knives. Their brittleness is a feature, so you can leave the blade inside your enemy's body.

* AManIsNotAVirgin: Subverted. In the first book, Sven admits before the date with a [[HighClassCallGirl high ranking courtesan]] that he had previously a very poor sexual experience - hardly surprising for a soldier conscripted from youth and assigned to a desert outpost.

* GlassWeapons: Glass knives. Their brittleness is a feature, so you can leave the blade inside your enemy's body.

* DontSneakUpOnMeLikeThat: Sven's "first second rule" basically says that you can, but if it gets you hit, it's your own fault.

* TheGoldenRule: In the third book: "Do unto others as they would do unto you. But do it first and harder."[[hottip:*:Backtranslated from the French version]]

"Aux" is short for "Auxiliaries". Namely, Sven Tveskoeg's auxiliaries, an elite squad in an elite regiment of Emperor Octo V's army. Sven himself is a BadassAbnormal AntiHero / PunchClockHero with a bad temper.

* BadassAbnormal: Sven is only 98.2% human.

A MilitaryScienceFiction series by David Gunn.