Warlord

WARLORD

Raj Whitehall was a young noble of the Civil Government, the last remnant of galactic civilization on the planet Bellevue. Possessed of an unparalleled strategic genius, Raj dreamed of leading his people's armies to victory against the barbarians who threatened to engulf them.

Yet it was not exterior enemies who were Raj's greatest challenge, but the Civil Government itself. Its bureaucrats had become corrupt extortionists. The ranks of its armies were filled with barbarian mercenaries ready to turn on the paymasters they despised. Those at the highest levels sank their knives into each other's backs even as the barbarians closed in. And the Governor himself, the man to whom Raj has sworn and given absolute loyalty, nourished a paranoid envy and mistrust that grew with every victory Raj won....

Luckily for Bellevue, Raj had a hidden asset beyond the worship of his troops and his own genius for war. Raj was possessed of—or possessed by—a "guardian angel" that guided him inexorably toward the goal of planetary dominion. But could even a battle computer of the Galactic Age be enough to counter the fury of Raj's enemies ... and the treachery of his "friends"?

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

S.M. Stirling instantly became known as a talented new writer of military SF for his highly acclaimed, widely-read "Draka" series, which began with Marching Through Georgia, His collaborative novel with Anne McCaffrey, The City Who Fought, was a national bestseller. In addition to his popular General series, written in collaboration with David Drake, he has also collaborated with Jerry Pournelle on both the best-selling Man-Kzin Wars series and the Falkenberg's Legion series, recently collected in one volume as The Prince. His alternate history series which began with Island in the Sea of Time has also been very popular. He lives with his wife in Santa Fe, NM.

Vietnam veteran, former lawyer, former bus driver, and now bestselling author, David Drake tells a military story like no other. His readers recognize that he can take them where no one else can, with gut-wrenching description that puts them face-to-face with the enemy, and in the midst of the action right on the battlefield. He helped create the audience for mercenary military science fiction with his bestselling "Hammer's Slammers" books. Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history (with honors) and Latin. His stint at Duke University Law School was interrupted for two years by the U.S. Army, where he served as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam and Cambodia. Drake has a wife, a son, and various pets.

Illustration by David Mattingly
Cover design by Carol Russo Design

Hardcover

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, February 2002

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stirling, S.M.

Warlord / by S.M. Stirling & David Drake.
p. cm.
"The General series was originally published as five separate novels: The Forge,
The Hammer, The Anvil, The Steel, and The Sword. Warlord contains half of
the Raj Whitehall saga, which will be concluded in the second omnibus
volume, Conqueror."
ISBN 0-7434-3587-7
1. Life on other planets—Fiction. 2. Space warfare—Fiction. 3. Generals—
Fiction. I. Drake, David. II. Title.

PS3569.T543 W37 2003
813'.54—dc21 2002034190

ISBN: 0-7434-3587-7

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com

The General series:

Warlord with S.M. Stirling (omnibus)
Conqueror with S.M. Stirling (forthcoming)
The Forge, with S.M. Stirling
The Chosen, with S.M. Stirling
The Reformer, with S.M. Stirling
The Tyrant, with Eric Flint

BAEN BOOKS by DAVID DRAKE

Hammer's Slammers

The Tank Lords
Caught in the Crossfire
The Butcher's Bill
The Sharp End
Paying the Piper

RCN series

With the Lightnings
Lt. Leary, Commanding

Independent Novels and Collections

Seas of Venus

Foreign Legions (edited by David Drake)
Ranks of Bronze
Cross the Stars
The Dragon Lord
Birds of Prey
Northworld Trilogy
Redliners
Starliner
All the Way to the Gallows
Grimmer Than Hell

The Undesired Princess and The Enchanted Bunny
(with L. Sprague de Camp)

Lest Darkness Fall and To Bring the Light
(with L. Sprague de Camp)

Armageddon
(edited with Billie Sue Mosiman)

Killer
(with Karl Edward Wagner)

The Belisarius series (with Eric Flint):

An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
The Tide of Victory