COBRA (novels)
COBRA was the name for two unrelated book series, one by Joseph R. Rosenberger and one by Timothy Zahn.
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Rosenberger Novels
COBRA was a short-lived series of action-adventure novels by Joseph R. Rosenberger, who also created the series The Death Merchant. The series was published in the late 1980s.
COBRA profiles the adventures of a top-secret covert operations team led by a man named Jon Skul who have no qualms about using the same methods as their enemies in order to complete a mission, following the philosophy "the end justifies the means." COBRA novels often include acts of intentional collateral damage by the lead characters, including the killing of police officers and innocent bystanders, as the COBRA team, led by Jon Skul, fight drug smugglers and terrorists. Only a few novels were published in the series, but they remain controversial nearly 30 years after their release.
Novels
- The Heroin Connection
- Paris Kill-Ground
- The Red Dragon Operation
- Nightmare in Panama
- Project Andromeda
- Belgrade Underground
- Romanian Operation
Zahn Novels
COBRA also refers to a series of science fiction novelsby Timothy Zahn. In these books, a group of soldiers, known as Cobras, are augmented with bionic technology that enables them to carry powerful weapons. At the same time, these enhancements improve their reaction time, and many of their natural abilities (including perception). These modifications to the human body are concealed, and allow the soldiers to appear as ordinary unarmed civilians, when in fact the bionics are actually permanent. This allows Zahn to examine the position these individuals might fill in a society during peace-time. Their weaponry includes small lasers implanted in the little finger of each hand, an antiarmor laser that runs down the calf muscle of one leg and exits through a lens in the heel of their boot, plus an "arcthrower", capable of delivering a high-voltage pulse able to disrupt nearby electronics. In addition they are armed with two different types of sonic weapons- all of their weaponry is controlled by a "nanocomputer" that is implanted inside their skull. This computer also helps run the auditory enhancers, targeting computer, automated reflexes, etc. Each COBRA also has had significant surgical modifications, including ceramic laminae over all of their bones (essentially rendering them unbreakable), as well as servomotors at the major joints which act as strength (and speed) multipliers.
Categories
Articles to be split | Novel series