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2%% Zero-context examples are not allowed on wiki pages; all such examples have been commented out.
3%% Please add proper context before uncommenting them -- a good example should explain *how* it's an example.
4%%
5%% Word cruft like "'nuff said", "full stop" and "natch" isn't context and should be avoided.
6%%
7[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Heart_of_Valor_7107.jpg]]
8[[caption-width-right:350:Cover art of ''The Heart of Valor'', by [[http://www.paulyoull.com Paul Youll]]]]
9
10->'''Torin:''' And the moral of the story: Never call a two star general a bastard to his face.\
11'''Captain Rose:''' I'm a little surprised you didn't already know that.\
12'''Torin:''' You and me both, sir. You and me both.
13-->-- ''The Better Part of Valor''
14
15The Confederation of Valor is a science fiction book series by {{Canad|aEh}}ian author Creator/TanyaHuff. The lead character is Torin Kerr, a non-commissioned officer in the Confederation Marines. Alongside her fellow humans, the Confederation has recruited the [[OurElvesAreDifferent Taykan]] and [[ExtremeOmnivore Krai]] to fight their battles as they've [[PerfectPacifistPeople completely outgrown the desire, or even ability to fight]]. This becomes a problem when The Others, a war-like collective of various races, slowly start to attack Confederation space. The books follow Torin Kerr and the Marines serving under her as they face down various threats to their society and their lives.
16
17Written with a sharp sense of humor and a lot of strong characterization, the series is well-worth reading, especially since Torin Kerr stands out as a true ActionGirl who still manages to avoid [[RealWomenDontWearDresses any unnecessary sacrifices to the altar of Badass]]. It also manages the delicate balance between glorifying the combat and condemning it, often presenting the battles (and lives lost in them) as something that is a necessity, but not something anyone really enjoys.
18
19The stories, while possessing a chronology, are very much self-contained in their own right as well and do not necessarily need to be read in order to enjoy them, though occasional {{Brick Joke}}s will make the experience more enjoyable.
20
21The original ''Confederation'' series contains five books:
22# ''Valor's Choice'' (2000) -- Staff Sergeant Kerr, along with a platoon of Confederation Marines, are sent on a diplomatic mission which turns out to be anything but diplomatic when their transport ship shot down.
23# ''The Better Part of Valor'' (2002) -- Staff Sergeant Kerr, along with a hand-picked squad of marines, investigate a ship of unknown origin in a previously unexplored area of space alongside Craig Ryder, the civilian salvage operator who found it.
24# ''The Heart of Valor'' (2007) -- Gunnery Sergeant Kerr escorts a newly rehabilitated major to training grounds for a field exercise which does not go as planned.
25# ''Valor's Trial'' (2008) -- Gunnery Sergeant Kerr must escape from an underground POWCamp.
26# ''The Truth of Valor'' (2010) -- Kerr has retired from the Marines after learning the real reason for the war with the Others and is trying to build a life with Craig Ryder. Instead they're attacked by SpacePirates; Craig is taken prisoner and Torin is left for dead. Their biggest mistake? Not killing her outright.
27
28In 2015, Huff began a sequel series, ''Peacekeeper'', starring Kerr after her retirement.
29# ''An Ancient Peace'' (2015) -- Taking off from her adventure in ''The Truth of Valor'', Torin Kerr forms a team of independent troubleshooters that can go outside the law to handle postwar problems the Confederation can't. First on the list is black market H'san grave goods that people fear could lead to the recovery of lost superweapons.
30# ''A Peace Divided'' (2017) -- Officially inducted into the Confederation Wardens, Torin Kerr and her team are sent to intervene in a HostageSituation at an archaeological dig, opposed by former soldiers from both the Confederation and the Primacy.
31# ''The Privilege of Peace'' (2018) -- The GrandFinale. "Big Yellow" returns amidst unrest involving the Silsviss.
32----
33!!''The Confederation of Valor'' series provides examples of:
34
35* ActionGirl: Boy howdy, does this series feature this in spades. Aside from the obvious example of Torin Kerr herself, a few of the female marines in Sh'quo Company certainly qualify. If a marine is given more than a handful of lines, expect them to do something awesome or heroic at some point in the story.
36%%* AlienBlood: Most of the other races have very different physiologies.%%And?
37* AlienCatnip: {{Inverted}}. The Krai drink a beverage called ''sah'', which for them is the equivalent of a hot cup of tea. For humans, it's the equivalent of a hot cup of PCP with an amphetamine chaser. The law requires that anyone buying it be a Krai, and holds the Krai in question responsible if a human gets any.
38%%* AlienGeometries: Big Yellow, at least.
39* AliensAreBastards: The whole reason the Confederation had to recruit the humans to fight for them in the first place. They sent diplomats to point out to The Others that SpaceIsBig and that there was no reason whatsoever for them to fight the Confederation for territory. The Others sent back the dead diplomats with a bomb.
40* TheAlliance: The Others are a collective of races bent on destroying the Confederation. The Confederation are a collective of pacifist races who were forced to recruit several war-like races to help avoid extinction. [[spoiler:Except in reality, neither one is really any worse than the other: the Big Yellow aliens tricked the two sides into fighting as a sociology experiment.]]
41* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The general belief by the Confederation about The Others. It certainly seems to apply to their leadership. [[spoiler:Turns out not to be true: the two federations were being manipulated into fighting each other by the Big Yellow aliens.]]
42* AnyoneCanDie: Don't get too attached to the well-characterized marines introduced at the beginning of each book. Some of them are going to die.
43* ArmourIsUseless: Completely averted. Marines have armor and it's generally the only thing between their fragile flesh and a lot of pain. In fact, their armor is highly ''useful'', containing survival gear and beneficial functions which generally keep the marines alive far longer than they'd be without it.
44* ArtificialLimbs: Mentioned, but when one marine is informed his legs will have to be replaced, it's noted that it'll mean a medical discharge.
45* AtopAMountainOfCorpses: Pretty much the end of the first book. It is treated as horrifically as it actually is.
46* AttackAttackAttack: Again, the first book. Two thousand Silviss against roughly forty marines in a fortified position.
47* AuthorAppeal: Much like many of her other stories, pretty much everyone is bisexual as well as sexually active. The BetaCouple is even a male-male Krai pair.
48* BackForTheDead: Torin serves in Sh'quo Company during Book One, is on detached duty for the next two books, and returns to her unit in Book Four just before it is destroyed in battle.
49* BadassInANiceSuit: The first book finds Torin and her marines fighting a last stand in dress uniform. Thankfully, the Marine Corps was smart enough to realize that dress uniform should probably still offer some decent protection, and thus they're not entirely helpless.
50* BadassNormal: Again, Torin Kerr and her marines, but applies especially to Torin. She's not especially tall or heavy, yet she'll go up against the worst horrors The Others have to offer.
51* BangBangBANG: Subverted with the Marines' [=KC-7=] rifles. The Confederation has the ability to make the weapons completely silent, but research showed that the soldiers preferred to have their shots be audible.
52* BarBrawl: A memorable scene in the first book, when some of the Marines sneak out of barracks for a night on the town. Torin uses it as an opportunity to see how the Silsviss and existing Marines react to each other off-duty.
53* BecauseISaidSo: Often used by Torin or other Sergeants serving with her to get their marines doing something when not actively being shot at.
54* BelligerentSexualTension: Torin and Ryder spend much of ''The Better Part of Valor'' sniping at each other and are the OfficialCouple by the end of it.
55* BetaCouple: Torin has two different Krai squadmates in books one and two, straight-up grunt Werst, and computer tech Ressk. The two meet in book four and marry in ''A Peace Divided''.
56%%* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: Big Yellow.
57* BizarreAlienBiology:
58** The Taykans become physically and sexually mature (the "di'" stage) years before they actually become fertile, at which point they essentially go through a second puberty (the "qui'" stage).
59** Krai have extremely efficient digestive systems that can break down just about anything remotely carbon-based
60** The Big Yellow aliens are [[spoiler:a HigherTechSpecies [[TheWormThatWalks colony organism]] made of plastic]].
61* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Big Yellow aliens [[spoiler:started an interstellar war between the Confederation and the Primacy as a ''sociology experiment'']].
62* BoringButPractical: Most Confederation military technology and practices. The Marines are armed with [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter chemical-propelled bullets]] and use hand-carried stretchers because they aren't vulnerable to EMP, unlike energy weapons and antigravity. The Navy uses [[SpaceIsAnOcean wet-navy logistical and command structures]] because they work just as well for it. The Others are similarly pragmatic.
63* BreastPlate: The first cover. Torin's armor is different from the di'Taykan and Krai marines, presumably to hold her tits for some reason. Averted in the actual text of the book.
64%%* BulletProofVest
65%%* BugWar
66* ButtMonkey: In the first book, Haysole stands out as equal parts this and PluckyComicRelief.
67* ChekhovsGag: In ''The Truth of Valor'', both Torin and Craig touch basically any piece of plastic [[spoiler:because the Big Yellow aliens are sapient plastic, and during ''The Better Part of Valor'' they left a protein marker in them that can reveal [=BYAs=] masquerading as inanimate objects]]. Usually nothing happens, but at the end of the book, [[spoiler:it turns out there ''were'' [=BYAs=] on the space station, and they helped Torin and Craig escape]].
68* ChunkySalsaRule: The Krai have several descriptive words for the impact of an anti-personnel rocket on a soft target.
69* {{Cliffhanger}}: In several books, usually on the last page.
70%%* ClusterFBomb: Nearly every single non-commissioned Marine.
71* CombatPragmatist: In ''Valor's Trial'', the Others apparently say "screw this" and hit the ground battle from space with some kind of strategic warhead that fuses the entire battlefield into volcanic glass. [[spoiler:According to the Primacy lieutenant Torin and company team up with later on, members of their own ruling council considered this weapon horrific.]]
72* ColdSniper: Binti Mashona. Granted, she's perfectly social when she's not shooting things in the face at extraordinary distances, but put her behind the butt of a rifle and she's more likely to be annoyed at the inferior equipment she's using than anything.
73* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Nutrient tabs for the three Younger Races. Blue are for humans, pink for di'Taykan, and yellow for Krai.
74* ContrivedCoincidence: Discussed in-story. By the time of ''An Ancient Peace'', Torin is paranoid about how many coincidences have started to pop up in her life. Given the [[spoiler: revelations about the Big Yellow Aliens and their manipulations behind the scenes]], her concerns [[ProperlyParanoid are not unwarranted]].
75* CoversAlwaysLie: Averted in the second through fourth books, and even the first book's cover is fairly accurate... except for the landscape. [[http://www.lucifer.tw/fantasy/artist/luis/evolution/65_valors_choice.jpg This]] does not look like the dense jungle described. (But it does look like the landscape at the Battle of Rorke's Drift, a real life battle in what is now South Africa, and which the events of the book were explicitly based. In fact, the cover bears a strong resemblance to many famous paintings of the battle.)
76* DeadpanSnarker: Several characters, including Torin. Ryder is prominent example, as well.
77* DeathFromAbove: Marine dropship pilots employ this method of attack to get the troops on the ground before anything goes amiss.
78* DeathGlare: Torin has one that, by all indications, can curdle milk.
79* DecliningPromotion: At the end of ''Valor's Choice'', the general offers Torin [[UpThroughTheRanks a commission as an officer]] for more-or-less singlehandedly getting the Silsviss to join the Confederation. Because she's still pissed about the near-UriahGambit the brass pulled to put her in that position[[note]]They arranged for her company to be shot down in hostile territory and have to hold off blindly aggressive Silsviss adolescents for several days of battle, to prove to the Silsviss that they were worthy allies.[[/note]], she turns him down saying she could never be an officer because [[YouBastard "my parents were married."]] She ''does'', however, accept a RankUp to gunnery sergeant between ''The Better Part of Valor'' and ''The Heart of Valor''.
80* {{Determinator}}: Torin Kerr is certainly one, though several minor characters prove to be this as well.
81%%* DropShip:
82* DoubleEntendre: Di'Taykan are automatically prone to these; they miss no chance to respond to ''anything'' that could be taken in a sexual manner, often suiting action to words, and when they don't it's a sign that there's something seriously wrong with them.
83* ElvesVersusDwarves: The Confederation thought there'd be a huge problem with Humans learning to get along with Taykan (genetically slutty space-elves) and Krai (ExtremeOmnivore hairless ape people). The fact that all three are similarly-sized mammals beside the more bizarre anatomies of the elder races of the Confederation meant these fears fell short.
84* EnemyMine: [[spoiler: Torin's marines join up with a group of Others to escape a shared prison camp.]]
85* EnergyWeapon: The "Bennies" used in battles taking place aboard ships fire a beam which does not do nearly as much damage to a purely inorganic substance as it does to an organic substance. This is because putting holes in a space ship is a very bad thing.
86* EnsignNewbie: Lieutenant di'Ka Jarret is this at the start of ''Valor's Choice''. He grows out of it by the end thanks in part to Torin's tutelage.
87%%* EthicalSlut: Every di'Taykan.
88* EverybodysDeadDave: The Others' orbital bombardment in ''Valor's Trial'' kills everyone involved in the ground battle on both sides, including several named characters from previous books. [[spoiler:Torin and a few others are "rescued" by the Big Yellow aliens.]]
89* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Most of marines in the books do demonstrate valor quite a bit.
90* {{Expy}}: In the first book, Ressk is a somewhat irritable Krai who has a bit of a superiority complex about his computer abilities. Remove the computer abilities and add Recon. Meet Werst in the second book. Which gets interesting when Ressk ''meets'' Werst in book four. In the first book of the ''Peacekeeper'' series, they even get married.
91* ExtremeOmnivore: The Krai as a race have the most efficient gut in the galaxy and can eat pretty much anything (including plastics and metal)... and often do. Upon being integrated into the budding Taykan and Human military, a rule about not eating the bits which might fall off fellow soldiers had to be established.
92* FamedInStory: Torin eventually becomes widely recognized by many civilians across Confederation due to what she's accomplished, and within the military has become somewhat legendary.
93* FantasticNamingConvention: Taykan names go [life stage]'[family name] [given name], and having a shorter family name indicates a higher-class family (e.g. di'Ka Jarret). They usually go by their given name rather than their surname. Krai use OnlyOneName, which typically has lots of 'r's and 's's and is usually but not always monosyllabic.
94* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The author admitted to basing the final battle of ''Valor's Choice'' on the Battle of Rorke's Drift during the UsefulNotes/AngloZuluWar.
95* FantasticRacism: Prominent in the ''Peacekeeper'' series. The elder races of the Confederation have a tendency to think of the formerly war-fighting races as primitives, even though the difference between them really isn't that big (they've outlawed ''war'', but interpersonal violence still happens). There's reportedly a movement to reverse the uplift of the humans, Taykans, Krai, and Silsviss (who had only just entered the war when it ended), and Torin's mission to keep graverobbers from digging up old H'san weapons in the first book is partly motivated by a desire to keep that movement from gaining steam. On the flipside, Torin also tangles several times with a group called "Humans First", a [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic human-supremacist terrorist organization made up in large part of war veterans]]; a Primacy team Torin works with in book two tells her they have some of the same problems.
96* FascinatingEyebrow: Torin's weapon of choice whenever asked what she considers a particularly stupid or obvious question. She mentions buying an app to teach her the technique then spending hours practicing; judging by the in-story reactions, she got her money's worth.
97* FasterThanLightTravel: Susumi space. Enter it, and you can emerge on the other side of the galaxy exactly when you departed, though for the people on the ship it does take hours to get there.
98%%* TheFederation: It's called a Confederation, but it matches the trope based on its description.%%How?
99* ForeverWar: The Confederation, as a whole, wishes for a pacifist solution. The Others, as a whole, wish for everything that is not them to die. ''Valor's Trial'' reveals that [[spoiler:the Big Yellow aliens have been manipulating things for the entire length of the war, to keep their sociology experiment going. The Others, who call themselves the Primacy, are actually a lot like the Confederation and thought ''they'' were the unreasonable ones. Soldiers from both sides, Kerr included, end up telling the Big Yellow aliens to stop screwing with them and the soldier species open peace negotiations.]]
100* GoingForTheBigScoop: Presit, who not only risks herself and her crew, but also the entire ''Berganitan'' and everyone aboard following it into Susumi space in her quest to get the story on whatever top-secret thing the ship must be doing. She then promptly insists on being escorted into unknown territory, relying on the marines to keep her safe.
101* {{Heavyworlder}}: Torin is from a world with 1.2 times Earth's gravity, which comes in handy during a BarBrawl in the first book since the Silsviss homeworld has about 0.8 gravity.
102%%* HeroWorshipper: Kichar to Torin.
103%%* HeroicSacrifice: Happens in a few places.
104%%* HiveMind: The Big Yellow aliens.
105* HollywoodHacking: Ressk indulges in this as one of two defining character traits. In the ''Peace'' trilogy, Alamber becomes the team hacker. Both of them constantly break military-grade encryption, usually against orders, and it often saves the day.
106* HollywoodTactics: One character is implied to use these, on the grounds that everything he's been decorated for has ended with most of his team dead. Unfortunately for everyone else, he's their commanding officer. None of the marines are happy about this.
107* {{Homage}}:
108** Tanya Huff based the major battles of the first book on the battle of Rorke's Drift.
109** The prison break sequence in ''Valor's Trial'' bears a strong resemblance to the Crematoria sequence in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick''.
110* HumanOutsideAlienInside: A fairly subtle example: the Taykans become mature physically, sexually, and (to a limited extent, at least) socially long before they become fertile.
111* HumansAreAverage: In the sense of Humans Are Adaptable. This is particularly the view of a speciesist terrorist group that Torin fights in the ''Peace'' trilogy, but it's also the case when you consider that even the other bipedal mammal "younger races" are basically humans-with-technicolor-"hair"-and-huge-sex-drives and humans-but-short-apelike-and-eat-everything.
112* HumansAreWarriors: {{Downplayed}} in the back story. The Confederation offered humanity membership because they hadn't yet evolved past violence (unlike the rest of its member races), and thus could fight the Others. The Taykans, Krai, and Silsviss were brought in later for the same reason.
113* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: Susumi Space requires very specific calculations in order to successfully traverse it. Making even a tiny small mistake can destroy a ship completely. ''Valor's Trial'' adds that it also exposes travelers to severe irradiation (though ships are built to withstand it) such that spacers and military personnel typically bank reproductive material just in case.
114* IntrepidReporter: Presit, especially in the third book. Although her motivation may be more that 'verse's equivalent of a Pulitzer rather than the truth.
115* IntroductionByHookup: ''Valor's Choice'' opens with Torin waking up with a pheromone hangover from the di'Taykan she went to bed with. At the briefing she discovers that said di'Taykan happens to be her platoon's [[EnsignNewbie new second lieutenant]], di'Ka Jarret.
116* {{Jerkass}}: Presit. She's a reporter with a superiority complex, an inflated sense of entitlement, and a ''lot'' of dislike for the military in general. Even her own news crew doesn't like her in the novel she's introduced.
117* KillItWithFire: Heavies in each squad have flamethrowers, though the use of it on sentient beings is generally regarded as completely outside of acceptable battlefield practice.
118* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: {{Justified|Trope}}. Both sides explicitly have the ability to use EMP to knock out high-tech weapons, so all tech used by the Marines is designed to work just as well in its ''primary'' function when its electronics have been disabled. Explosive-propelled bullets don't need electricity to fire.
119** Also averted somewhat in shipboard combat, where bullets run the risk of causing a hull breach. The Marines are issued cellular disrupters nicknamed "Bennies" in such situations.
120* KlingonsLoveShakespeare: Humans are apparently the only species in the galaxy to develop cheese, which incredibly popular with the H'san (it's the only major thing we're told about them until ''An Ancient Peace'').
121* LanguageEqualsThought: We're informed by the narration in ''An Ancient Peace'' that the Taykans have multiple words for "touch", mainly correlated with how much sex, personal connection, and comfort is involved.
122%%* LastStand: The first book nearly becomes one.
123* LivingShip: Big Yellow, which is mostly made of organic material, heals damage to itself, reconfigures its interior architecture, and [[spoiler: is secretly testing both sets of alien species that have landed on board. As it turns out, it's not really a ship, but rather a group of molecule-sized aliens with a HiveMind]].
124%%* MilitaryScienceFiction:
125* MirroringFactions: What Torin discovers of the Others once she has a chance to interact with them in a non-combat setting in ''Valor's Trial''. [[spoiler:"The Primacy" actually has almost the same style of government as the Confederation and thought ''they'' were the ones defending themselves, just like the Confederation did. This ultimately leads to the war-fighting races on both sides effectively mutinying and refusing to continue the war, forcing their governments to open peace talks (this time without the Big Yellow aliens' interference). In ''A Peace Divided'', Torin's Strike Team works alongside an equivalent Primacy team, who inform her that the Primacy is having some of the same postwar political problems as the Confederation.]]
126* AMotherToHerMen: A stern as hell parental figure to be sure, but Torin certainly gets pissed off whenever one of the marines under her command dies. Everyone serving under her is very aware of this fact, as well as the people who rank higher than her. Her marines have complete confidence in her abilities, too.
127%%* TheNeidermeyer: Captain Tarvis.
128* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: The Marines to Ryder after Torin is declared KIA. He doesn't really believe it, and neither does Torin's father.
129* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: A rule of the Corps. If there's a body, it gets brought back. If only a trace of DNA or a speck of blood on someone else's clothing is all that's left, it gets brought back. If there's an injured marine, there is no such thing as too injured to bring along. Played with a little, though, in that Marine body bags are designed to cremate the remains and dump them into attached canisters, which are hooked to the web gear of the senior NCO (meaning Torin, usually).
130* NotStayingForBreakfast: Torin, in the very first chapter, with a di'Taykan she shacked up with. Although in this case, it's more her sneaking out so that he won't ask her for "once more before breakfast", making her late coming back from leave.
131* OurElvesAreDifferent: Taykan are essentially SpaceElves with pastel hair, superior senses to a human, and the ability to produce pheromones which can get any mammal in the mood. {{Lampshaded}} in that the Taykans have been compared to elves in-universe and find said comparison amusing. Torin's even met a di'Taykan named [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Celeborn]].
132* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The last line of defense [[spoiler: the H'san use to defend their ancient weapons cache from intruders are preserved corpses animated by cybernetics and robotic implants and contaminated with a biowarfare agent. And for good measure, they'll do the same to the bodies of any intruders who are killed.]]
133* PardonMyKlingon: Aside from the obvious pun, the races in the Marines learned to get along by learning to swear at one another in their native languages.
134* PerfectPacifistPeople: {{Zigzagged}}. In the backstory it's {{justified|Trope}}: for the most part only species that evolve past violence achieve FasterThanLightTravel, because species that don't have a tendency to blow themselves up first. {{Deconstructed}} when the Others show up and begin attacking, and the Confederation has to uplift first {{human|sAreWarriors}}ity, then the Taykans, Krai, and Silsviss because they ''haven't'' evolved past violence. [[spoiler:Arguably {{Reconstruction}} as of the latest books. The war turned out to be a giant sociology experiment by SufficientlyAdvancedAliens operating under BlueAndOrangeMorality, and it turns out the Others, who call themselves the Primacy, have the same arrangement as the Confederation. The war promptly ends.]] And then later {{subverted}} in ''An Ancient Peace'': the elder races have given up ''war'', but more minor interpersonal violence still happens (including a FantasticRacism-motivated back-alley ambush on a pair of Krai on Torin's team, which doesn't end well for the attackers).
135* PleasurePlanet: Any Taykan world, very likely.
136* PlotArmor: Torin, to a degree. Forgivable since she's the main character. Averted for every other marine.
137* PoweredArmour: Fairly low-key, though the fatigues are quite protective and can even be stiffened to splint broken bones. They also have built-in lights, and medical trackers that can transmit detailed information about their wearer's injuries. Played a little more straight with Heavies, who wear powered frames to carry their weapons, and with boarding parties, who wear spacesuits in case of decompression.
138* ProperlyParanoid: Torin more than once. In the third book she thinks that she really doesn't care if people call her paranoid so long as it saves her people's lives.
139** With the reveal of the [[spoiler: Big Yellow Aliens]], her paranoia cranks up a notch. When they visit a military Intelligence facility in ''An Ancient Peace'', it's noted that there's no visible plastic, and an offhand remark indicates that natural materials and fabrics are making a comeback. She also notes [[{{Foreshadowing}} that the H'San grave goods they find in the crypts are made of metal, wood, ceramic, fabric...essentially every type of material except plastic.]]
140* PsychicPowers: Hinted at in the first book, with Jarret informing Kerr that "there's a reason mind-reading races in the galaxy are universally despised" when she is able to read his body language and use her experience with other new second lieutenants to accurately guess his thoughts.
141* PunctuationShaker: The Taykan language is a mishmash of this. (For example, [[BizarreAlienBiology mature but not yet fertile individuals]] of the race are called "di'Taykan.")
142* PunyEarthlings: Taykan have superior senses and the Krai are, in some ways, ridiculously durable compared to humans.
143* PuppeteerParasite: [[spoiler: The Grey Ones]], although they more often tend to only be observers. [[BodyHorror From your brain.]]
144* RankUp: Torin starts as a staff sergeant and is promoted to gunnery sergeant after book two.
145* RedemptionEqualsDeath: During the second book, [[spoiler: Torin uses this to make her useless, fatally-injured superior look good for the Katrien reporter who's been watching the "war-hero" be a useless JerkAss.]]
146* RubberForeheadAliens: Both averted and lampshaded. The reason that the humans, Taykan, and Krai get along is because they're all bipedal mammals with two arms and legs. The rest of the Confederation are vastly more alien:
147** The Dornagain are absolutely massive furry cat-bear things.
148** The Katrien are small CatFolk.
149** The Miktok are large spider aliens renowned throughout the galaxy for the beauty of their art.
150** The Rakva are feathered, bipedal birds with hands.
151** The H'san are different ''somehow'', but their appearance was [[NoodleIncident carefully avoided]] in the original series. The only thing mentioned, usually as an [[in-series quip IsTheAnswerToThisQuestionYes]], is that they like cheese. According to ''An Ancient Peace'', they're large, non-bipedal at least some of the time, and have oversized eyes that make their faces look child-like. Also, they smell good, and sing to the dawn.
152%%* SacrificialLamb: Several of each in each book.
153%%* ScaryDogmaticAliens: The Others absolutely refuse to back down.
154* SergeantRock: Torin, of the stereotypical type. She struggles to put it away once she's out of the military, but her voice can still make civilians and criminals take notice.
155* ShellShockedVeteran: As a civilian, Torin is eventually required to go through mandatory counseling because of all she's been through, and she regularly runs into other military and former military personnel who have suffered because of combat service, some irreparably. She's functional and mostly healthy, but among other things has developed a tic of reaching up to where the cylinders that carried cremated marines' remains would hang from her web gear.
156* ShoutOut: There are a few subtle nods to other science fiction works. Some less subtle than others: the prison escape sequence in ''Valor's Trial'' is basically a shot-for-shot homage to the Crematoria escape sequence in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick''.
157* SssssnakeTalk: In an unlikely occurrence, Torin hears the Silviss this way due to her translator being broken.
158* SpaceIsAnOcean: The Confederation still uses wet-navy command and logistical structures for its SpaceNavy (because they work), but the rest of the trope is averted.
159* SpaceMarine: Who actually operate in space, unlike many other examples; they are trained for zero-grav and have specialized weapons for ship-board use that won't decompress the hull when fired.
160* SpaceNavy: Mostly depicted from the point of view of Marines, which means lots of rivalry.
161* StandardSciFiArmy: The series mainly deals with line infantry wearing PoweredArmor, but we've also seen tanks, artillery, and aircraft.
162* StandardSciFiFleet: Mostly ignored, but present. The battleship ''Berganitan'' is most commonly seen, but cruisers and destroyers are mentioned, while surplus patrol boats are popular among civilians and criminals.
163%%* StandardSciFiSetting:
164* StandardTimeUnits: A ten-day week and twenty-eight-hour day, implied to be an average between all species and worlds.
165* StarfishAliens: Aside from the entries mentioned under RubberForeheadAliens, [[spoiler:the Big Yellow aliens are sapient plastic colony organisms]].
166* SwissArmyWeapon: The Heavies have a weapon which allows them to swap between various guns.
167* VitriolicBestBuds:
168** In the second book, Werst and Guimond quickly grow to be this. Pretty much all of the vitriol is on Werst's end of the relationship.
169** By the start of the Peacekeepers series, Torin admits that Presit has become this with her.
170%%* WarIsHell
171* WeNeedADistraction: Used several times, particularly in ''The Truth of Valor'' when both Ryder and Torin are running low on time. It's easy to get Marines to break out into a fight when need be, and villainous Di'Taykan are easy to distract with ShowSomeLeg.
172* WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture: Justified. Both sides of the conflict can use EMP to knock out a lot of the fancier gear, so the Marines quickly realized that they needed to
173* WholePlotReference: The battle in ''Valor's Choice'' is [[WordOfGod explicitly modeled on]] [[UsefulNotes/AngloZuluWar Rorke's Drift]].
174* XtremeKoolLetterz: Fuk you, it's awesome to swear like that.
175* YourHeadASplode: This is what happens when you combine a sniper like Binti Mashona with a rifle round titled an "impact boomer".

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