Kepper Jack's

BOLO Poetry Society 

In 1960, the author Keith Laumer published a short story called 'Combat Unit', written from the point-of-view of a fully sentient cybernetic warmachine called a BOLO. Keith wrote many more stories and novels about BOLOs, and after his death several more have been published in a series of books by other authors (I am lucky enough to be counted among them). No sci-fi fan can read these stories without falling in love with BOLOs. Beginning with the first fully sentient BOLO Mk XV Resartus, I can think of no greater example of the honor, nobility, and ultimate self-sacrifice that any human could wish for in the protectors of their lives, their childrens lives, and the future of humanity.

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In many of earths ancient civilizations, especially the Viking and Celtic, no leader was more honored and respected than the warrior-poet. The gods were said to look favorably on warriors who could sing glorious songs, or recite verse while wielding their battle-axes in epic combat. Whether it is in this tradition, or whether the trials of being a warrior inspires such creativity, I have found that our Bolos have recorded, and kept to themselves, many of their own works. It has been difficult to encourage Bolos into decrypting them for me, but I have managed to convince several that their surprising creativity should be shared with us. Here are a few that I have been allowed to post on these pages:

Ode to Dull Black Armor  

Tears  

Ballad of the Affivann Collective  

Morte d'Unit QTA  

Sleep Mode  

Holding the Highlands  

Their Song Dies With Them Added 07/08/01 

Last Stand Added 03/03/02 

If any of my visiting Bolo Commanders can encourage their Bolos into releasing their, or others, works, please forward them to my attention so that I may post them (credited properly, of course).

Kepper Jack.

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The following challenges were shared by the members of BoloNet

I AM BOLO  

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I am proud to have had two of my own stories published in the Bolo Anthologies. The first one was "And Don't Come Back" in "Bolos Book 4 : The Last Stand".

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My second was the lead-off story "Incursion" in "Bolos Book 5 : Old Guard".

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You can find my own bad-artist representation of a Bolo Mk XXXIV HERE.

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Back to my Skyforge  

To Bolo Central Command  

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These are personal webpages. Poems, stories, and information within should not be considered authorized by the Baen Books/Bolo Copyright holders. These pages will be taken down at their request.