hmmmmph.
what's so hot about them?
improved. how?
mmmmmm. weeell, you know my old daddy was in maintenance and he had a saying.
he used to say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
well, the soldiers we've got now, they've been through all kinds of heavy shit. and they've always got the job done. now these new ones, these "hot shots" of yours. what kind of action have they seen? they are battle-tested, aren't they?
the sweep is just routine, not even police action. i'd like to see some sort of. meaningful evidence.
maybe we could run some tests. kind of a comparison, the old and the new.
what about endurance?
our man has been out there fifteen minutes now. shouldn't you send one?
what's the price of all that speed? is he tired?
todd here ran the pace he's been taught to run. he's still strong. send him up the chain, rube.
what about. spirit?
whatever the latest jargon is.
at ease, lieutenant. what if they fought?
go ahead, rube. tell todd to take him.
"no"?
mmmmmmm.
oh, i wouldn't worry about that. "training accident." paperwork.
incinerator.
they're very. impressive.
it was our best man who got his eye.  todd, a real tough one. survived police action in montana, fought in the argentine sector, and in the saudi campaign to say nothing of --
we got it all right. this is an outpost here, not the third army! you've got us securing thirty-four locations and erecting monitor units in one month and --
what if we do run into people.  say squatters or refugees?
eliminate them, you mean.
down there. is it snowing?
we brought you a little christmas tree.
christ, i wish we were on earth.
sloan's already on it.
next one's going to be a real pain in the ass.
how about a "gaseous currents" and "urgent convections" pain in the ass.
it's a dump. literally.
the crawlers are low enough and heavy enough, they won't blow. the men should wear armored vests and carry double weapons and ammo for the weight. they may have to use lines too, like mountain climbers.
"people"! "people"? what do you mean "people"?
damn! did they ask for assistance?
like my daddy used to say, "nothing's ever as simple as it's supposed to be. except shit."
good point.
there's resistance?
humph. sounds reckless, three against fifty. the old ones, the veterans, they would have called for support. just in case.
a "growl"! he heard a growl?
my god! who are we fighting here!
i knew mekum's hotshots were green. no reinforcements, then they walk right into an enemy stronghold.
absolutely not. those bastards are just waiting in there for us. no more of this fancy super-soldier shit. we do it with the hammer.
my daddy always said, "when you want to insert a nail in a piece of wood, you don't do nothing fancy or glamorous, you don't finesse or play the hero, you just pick up your damn hammer and hit that sumbitch till it's in."
take the whole unit, both crawlers, and tell 'em to pound that place with rockets, cannons, mortars, everything we got. from a safe distance.
it may not be heroic, and we may waste some ammo, but by god we'll get the job done.
whaaaaat?
what about number one? try number.
you should have waked me sooner! this is bad, very bad. i never should have let that clown mekum test his wonder boy army on me. "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." shit! we don't even know what we're up against. how many?
we're sitting ducks here! there could be a couple of divisions! more! we don't even have the weapons to arm the old soldiers.
not only are we apparently out twenty of your fancy new soldiers, your supermen, we're out both crawlers and all the weapons. so we can't arm the old soldiers, the ones you "improved" on, to defend ourselves.
well, how's it gonna look when we lose the ship too? how's that gonna look on the old record? 'cause that's what's gonna happen if we don't get our ass outta here. we can't defend ourselves with no weapons and --
good plan, colonel.
meaning?
doesn't matter. for once mekum's on the ball. this is a very dirty bomb! that wind will churn the radioactivity around like soap in a washing machine. this is gonna be one clean place in a very short time.
right horizontal?
all right we're "go." i'm allowing us three minutes to clear the atmosphere and get out of range. that means we can wait seven more minutes.
i guess they wouldn't want to get old anyway. go ahead, lock the hatch. rube, punch up the port power cluster and --
huh? what was what?
i'm your superior officer, don't you understand that?
don't you realize you're violating the chain of command? i'm giving you a direct order to. to. to.
s-sergeant? s-sergeant t-todd? it.  you! how? how?
we have to get out of here! all of us! you need us! you need us to operate the ship.
down! lie down! flat!
there it is! i see it!
twenty seconds. hurry.
try one! try it!