It's the most wonderful time of the year! Illness and injury abound. Allergies, chills, snakebite, curses, and... cake? Whatever will the Rats and Dietrich do to preserve their health?

What begins as a simple trip to Greece to learn of his ancestors' homeland quickly turns to a race against time for Sam Troy when he and Jack Moffitt learn of a seer's vision involving jackals and vampiric owls from folklore known as the strix. It also becomes a battle against himself, as Troy once more faces the hurdles of his past that he wishes would disappear.

Set directly after the the events of the Rat Patrol's final episode, the story follows Dietrich's path into an unsteady future, joining his ways with the Rats and even less expected individuals. Reunions with former friends and foes included. (CHAPTER 1-14 revised!)

The journey of coming to terms with his family is not yet over for Dietrich, when a relative he never thought existed shows up at his brother's doorstep with a dark history and difficulties to match.

Hitch's journals contain stories of his life in the Army and his exploits with the Rat Patrol.

One is interested, the other is not.

Whether the Rats were blowing up an ammo dump, or chasing down a convoy, it was always there, the Steel Soldier.

Dietrich makes the long journey to New Zealand in order to help a new friend of Jules's get on a path to success, which is not something Dietrich ever thought he would be doing. This proves to be more challenging than he initially expected, but after everything else Dietrich has undergone over the years, what's one more challenge in his life?

'It wasn't every day that Sergeant Troy met other commandos, but whenever he did, he always felt a little strange about it.' And what happens when Troy finds these commandos mistreating a prisoner of war with a familiar face?

A mission to capture an uncharacteristically aggressive sea krait sends Jack Moffitt, his son Jules, and Egyptian cobra companion Anah on a trip to New Zealand. While Moffitt is off rescuing the krait, Jules finds himself facing an unwelcome visit from his past in the form of temperamental Australian magpies. For Janna12.

Months after Dietrich has reconnected with his older brother, an unexpected visit from Troy results in numerous events being dredged up from everyone's pasts that they must work together to address.

For the month of March: a series of shorts as time MARCHES on for our favorite Rats.

Troy makes a grave mistake and Dietrich pays quite dearly for it, ending up gravely injured in an Allied field hospital. This is a pre-story to "Change of Ways" introducing some of the characters and providing a background for them, but can also be read separately.

Missing Rommel by inches, the Rat Patrol leave him something … unforgettable.

Hitch wakes up a prisoner in a German hospital. Since he is a lady's man, he starts flirting with a nurse. But things don't go quite the way he wants them to go.

Tully attempts to help Dietrich make a difficult decision in regards to reconnecting with his blood family.

A bit of household cleaning leads to Moffitt recounting the time his schooling was delayed due to a bout of serious illness.

For Jack Moffitt, few things could be worse than having to watch someone's dog. He's never particularly liked dogs, and having to share his own house with one seems like the stuff of nightmares for him. Perhaps the lovable Siberian husky stuck with him for the next two weeks can change his mind.

The magpie prophecy comes to its conclusion as the final battle rages between man, snake, and bird. It's all that stands between the Rats, Dietrich, and their families resuming normal, quiet lives, but the magpies and their lust for control over luck and misfortune aren't going to make it easy for them to attain.

A series of 14 vignettes about love and relationships. Since Hitch is my favorite, there are more featuring him than the others but I can live with that. Enjoy.

Love is in the air for the Rats and Dietrich.

Whoever would have thought that a simple knife-fight could decide the outcome of WW II?

The threat of mad magpies continues hanging over the Rats, Dietrich, and Anah as the search begins for a magic sword and adder-stone, but internal conflicts and past traumas may prove to be just as destructive as the magpies themselves.

Troy drags a less-than-willing Dietrich into a quest to secure a century-old cache of gold bullion said to be hidden in a cave near his ranch in Wyoming. They're not the only ones in search of the gold, though.

David Troy is used to being the older brother of the The Rat Patrol's leader, be the ramifications good or bad-but this time, he's not the only one being used as bait.