endless hordes of alien aggressors. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was found wanting. Humans were not strong enough, tough enough or fast enough to compete with the countless xeno breeds that desired the eradication of the human race. Humanity was saved by two technologies: the ability to grow an engineered human body to maturity in a few months and the ability to transfer a consciousness from an old body to the new one (provided that the brains are identical). This tech is the foundation of the Colonial Defense Force, allowing them to recruit senior citizens from Earth and transfer their minds to new super-soldier bodies. The most noticeable features of the engineered bodies include chlorophyll enhanced dermis for energy absorption, the above-mentioned brainpal, and yellow eyes that appear like a cat's eyes for enhanced vision. Nanotechnology The Colonial Defense Forces use nanotechnology in almost every aspect of their military operations. Combat armor is made from interlinked nanobots, medical nanobots perform surgeries and help to regrow limbs, and the very blood of the CDF soldier has been replaced by a nanotech solution called "smartblood" that does everything that blood can do, only better (such as holding one's breath for over six minutes), and a few things that blood can't do (like explode on command). The primary infantry weapon, the MP-35 or "empee", assembles its ammunition on demand from a block of raw materials (with six types of ammo: rifle, shot, grenade, missile, flamethrower and microwave beam), and can use its ammunition block for self-repair. Alien species Consu The Consu are a fierce, technologically advanced, and strongly religious alien race. They believe in helping deserving races reach "Ungkat", a state of perfection for a whole race. The Consu are the most advanced alien race presented in the Old Man's War. Their home system is surrounded by a Dyson sphere, which harnesses all the energy output of its local sun's companion star, a dwarf star, to make it impenetrable to the weapons and technology of every other known species. The Consu possess technology so advanced that even the CDF is unable to reverse-engineer or even fully understand it, such as tachyon detectors. Despite being the most technologically advanced out of all the alien races presented in the novel, in any conflict the Consu will scale their weapons technology to that of their opponent in order to keep the battle fair. Unlike