Children of Angels recap

Rev and Tomiko begin by helping civilians escape Centaur-occupied Tenerife, then join the Perseus Union's campaign against the Children of Angels on Alafia. After Rev discovers that the enemy has forced a child named Kat to carry a bomb, he saves her by taking the device onto himself and loses his left arm in the blast. Promoted to sergeant, he accepts an experimental weapon prosthesis called Poshu and returns to the raiders. Political conflict over a concealed Centaur body leads to the expulsion of the unit's Phrygian allies, while Omega Division uncovers but does not report Rev's earlier false account protecting Sergeant Mason. Poshu kills Centaurs in its first live trial, but six Marines die, Nix is badly wounded, and the arm's main cannon fails. Kat survives and may enter Rev's family. Rev accepts continued service as his chosen life, with Tomiko and Punch still beside him.

Previously: Rev serves in the Perseus Union Marines with an implanted battle buddy named Punch. Tomiko is an established comrade, while Bundy and Nix belong to his wider raider circle. Rev and Tomiko also share classified knowledge of a Centaur body found on Roar 104, a secret with potential military and political consequences.

Rev and Tomiko infiltrate Centaur-held Tenerife under the civilian identities Hansel Minnick and Leona Galdos. Their mission is to prepare San Cristobal's population to escape before a Perseus Union assault. Lima protects their cover and links them to local organizers, while Rev discovers civilians forced to build an unexplained crystal structure under apparently automated Centaur machines. After the operation may have been compromised, Lieutenant Omastori permits the Marines to recover their hidden weapons. Rev and retired Marine Tanton McCough free the laborers and begin moving them toward Northwest Market. A Centaur courser attacks at Silver Bridge with a weapon lethal to people but not structures. McCough gives his life to divert it, allowing Rev to collapse the bridge beneath the creature with his last Moray missile. The immediate pursuit ends, but the displaced civilians still need another route to safety.

Rev reaches Northwest Market, where Tomiko is managing thousands of civilians, then returns to the exposed streets to bring in more residents as the invasion begins. A crashing Navy shuttle devastates nearby blocks, and a concealed Centaur missile destroys a fighter drawn toward visible bait, scattering debris into the refuge. Rev accepts a stimulant boost so he can continue defending the market. Union infantry finally relieves the pair after most of the city is secured. The story of Rev stopping the courser has already begun building his reputation as a Centaur killer. Tenerife is secured after fifty-two hours, but Rev and Tomiko remain for weeks while Omega Division screens the confined population for collaborators. Their evidence supports the official account and credits civilian helpers. Extensive collaboration and worsening conditions leave bitterness behind even as the raider platoon departs the liberated world.

Public release of material from Tenerife helps the Perseus Union frame the Children of Angels as a major internal enemy. After months of preparation and loyalty screening, an enormous allied force deploys toward Alafia, where the movement dominates much of the population and can draw on millions with military or police experience. Training warns Rev that fanatics may use children as bombers, a prospect he is not sure he can answer with lethal force. The raiders land without resistance and help secure a municipal command post while civilian authorities maintain a temporary legal facade. The situation changes when an armed Children of Angels mob attacks Marines elsewhere. Rev's team then seizes a high-priority target and five other detainees from an apartment. Tomiko kills a concealed bodyguard before he can shoot Rev, confirming that the occupation has become open war.

Rev and Tomiko repair a brief strain in their friendship when she makes clear that she is his equal, not someone he should protect through paternal decisions. During a later overwatch mission, an enemy sniper gravely wounds Sergeant Mason. Rev uses Mason's rifle and Punch's targeting help to kill the attacker, then falsely credits Mason with the shot to preserve his standing, creating a serious hidden disciplinary risk. Children of Angels forces launch a mass assault on the fortified spaceport at Natividad. Despite an EMP and determined attacks, Union firepower breaks the offensive, and the raiders counterattack through the city. A Centaur weapon detonates during the battle, proving direct Centaur presence or cooperation. During the ensuing sweep, Rev finds Kat, a child forced by Mr. Mark to hold a dead-man switch for a backpack bomb. Unable to disarm it safely, Rev transfers the device onto himself, shields Kat, and releases the switch.

Rev survives the bomb and Kat is brought to safety, but the blast takes his left arm and leaves him with extensive injuries. After five weeks in an induced coma, he wakes at a Navy medical center and learns that he has been promoted to sergeant. Regrowing the arm would keep him out of service for years. A civilian research team instead offers an experimental prosthesis linked directly to his nervous system and designed to carry weapons. With his stepfather supporting his right to choose, Rev enters the program. Surgeons install the structural harness, integrated sleeve, and biosynthetic interfaces needed for the arm. Initial neural testing is extremely painful, and the project staff acknowledge that further intervention may become necessary. Rev selects a durable metal social arm for ordinary use while training continues on the secret weapon system.

Rev gradually gains control of the experimental arm and moves from isolation into the Wounded Warrior Ward, where he reconnects with Bundy and other injured Marines. Tomiko returns from Alafia, also promoted to sergeant. At the same time, a Phrygian ambassador publicly accuses the Perseus Union of concealing a Centaur body, putting Rev and Tomiko's classified knowledge at risk. Rev receives the full weapon prosthesis and names it Poshu. Its main cannon uses braided energy beams intended to defeat Centaur defenses at close range, while the arm also carries conventional firepower, missiles, sensors, and a grasping hand. Poshu works during its first live range session, although its weight and stress remain difficult to manage. An Omega Division agent then extracts information directly from Rev's implant and clears him of leaking the Centaur-body secret. The agent also discovers Rev's false report protecting Sergeant Mason but decides not to report it.

Project leaders allow Rev to return to his own platoon for realistic training. Before leaving the hospital, he finds Sergeant Mason alive in long-term care with profound injuries and limited memory, and repeats the reassuring version of the sniper incident. Back at the raider barracks, Rev refuses to displace Tomiko as element leader, though he receives temporary leadership responsibility for a special mission. The political dispute over the hidden Centaur body has turned against the Phrygian personnel serving with the regiment. Ting Ling explains that they have been removed from training and disarmed despite their record beside the raiders. Poshu is then revealed to 1st Raider Platoon and senior command. Rev destroys an armed stand-in during the demonstration, and the project staff explain the cannon's unusual design and short range. The platoon is ordered to escort Rev in a live proof-of-concept attack against a real Centaur.

Shortly before the combat trial, Rev hears that future volunteers might undergo weapon-prosthesis procedures despite having intact arms. The project technician does not resolve the concern. The Union then expels its Phrygian personnel and orders them back to Fryland. Rev, Tomiko, and the other raiders remain to see their comrades off, and Rev and Ting Ling exchange military headgear in recognition of their bond. The platoon deploys to the forested world TRT-36 without its Phrygian allies. The proof-of-concept target group consists of four paladins and a reaver, and the plan calls for the raiders to isolate a trailing paladin while holding off the others. Lieutenant Omastori offers to postpone the mission, but Rev and Tomiko confirm they are ready. Hidden forest routes let the Centaurs ambush the raiders, killing Yazzie and badly wounding Nix. Rev destroys three paladins with Poshu before its energy cannon fails. Conventional weapons and supporting fire finish the remaining enemies. All five targets are killed, proving the concept, but six Marines die and two are wounded.

The Centaurs use hidden forest routes to ambush the raiders on TRT-36. Yazzie is killed and Nix badly wounded before Rev destroys the trailing paladin with Poshu. He rushes to support another team and kills two more paladins, but Poshu's energy cannon fails during the fight. Rev and supporting fire finish the remaining enemies with other weapons. All five Centaurs die, proving the concept, but six Marines are killed and two wounded. Rev receives medals for the battle and for saving Kat, who personally pins the humanitarian award on him. His family later seeks custody of Kat, who remains on New Hope under court supervision while the placement is considered. Tomiko remains Rev's close, sister-like comrade, and Punch continues to serve as his battle buddy. With his friends involuntarily extended and the Poshu program still incomplete, Rev accepts that military service is now the life in which he belongs.

Rev remains an active sergeant after proving Poshu can kill Centaurs on TRT-36. The trial destroys all five targets, but Yazzie and five other Marines are killed, Nix is badly wounded, and Poshu's energy cannon fails during the battle, leaving the secret program successful but unfinished. Tomiko remains Rev's trusted equal and sister-like friend, and Punch continues as his battle buddy. The Phrygian personnel, including Ting Ling, have been disarmed and sent to Fryland despite their service with the raiders. The international dispute over the concealed Centaur body remains open, as does the larger question of Centaur involvement with the Children of Angels. Omega Division knows Rev falsified the sniper report that benefits Sergeant Mason but has chosen not to expose him. Kat publicly presents Rev's humanitarian medal, and his family pursues custody while she remains on New Hope under court supervision. With his friends involuntarily extended, Rev concludes that the Corps is where he belongs.