it, SargentoT Gomez mocked.
Stark bared his teeth. "No, it wouldn't. I'll kill you all from drill before I let one of you get killed because I didn't push you hard enough."
"We got any say at all in that?" Carter half joked.
"No. Anybody want a transfer?"
A long silence stretched, then Billings pointed toward an outside display monitor. "Hell, Sarge, if we transferred we'd have to leave here, and I'm starting to like this place."
The joke brought a scattering of laughs from the rest of the Squad, before the soldiers turned back to conducting maintenance on their battle armor. True to form, the Mark IV's were displaying their malfunctions in manners ranging from uncomfortable to potentially lethal. However, in a highly unusual development, spare parts flowed in an abundant stream whenever requested. While unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth, Stark had been on too many underfunded and undersupplied operations not to be suspicious of such apparent wealth.
Billings, still grinning at her own joke, gestured to indicate a vague direction. "Seriously, Sarge. Any chance of seeing that colony? The one they're building out on the plain?"
Stark shrugged. "They're building it. Or digging it. Probably both. I doubt they need any sightseers hanging around."
"Are there people there yet?"
"Yeah. I hear a bunch of civs have already come up to help build and run the thing."
"Families?" Gomez wondered.
"Probably. Already or soon."
"So they maybe going to build a fort up here, too? Maybe have mil families around?"
"Maybe." Stark kept his response cautiously positive. He wouldn't dismiss the question out of hand, because having those families within reach, having a mil community within reach, would be very important to a lot of soldiers. "Too early to tell. I guess they'll get the civs settled in before they think about bringing mil families up."
"Any bars yet?" Billings asked eagerly.
"None that I've heard of," Stark stated. "And any that do exist are probably unofficial and illegal right now." That wouldn't last, he knew, not if the mil stayed up here. Stark had long since stopped being amazed by the many means people could find to manufacture booze or drugs out of any available materials. Somehow, some way, those who preyed on the needs of soldiers would set up shop to happily assist those soldiers in spending every dollar they could shell out. It was always that way, probably always had been that way, and probably always would be that way. "If any of you happen to visit that colony, you stay away from the civs, just like usual. That keeps them happy and you out of trouble."
"Speaking of civs, you know what?" Chen stated, drawing attention. "I heard from my folks yesterday. Back home the civs watched our attack here on the vid. Almost real time."
Stark stood silent, not willing to compromise the information he'd received from Reynolds and the command circuit during the assault.
"You're kidding," Carter replied. "You don't mean the news programs, do you?"
"No," Chen denied, shaking his head for emphasis. "It was special programs. Just a little time delay, and they showed us going through objectives and everything. Except when commercials ran."
"They made our attack a program?" Gomez spat. "With commercials?"
"That's not the worst," Chen added, reveling in the attention. "You know the guys in Second Division? The ones who are still committed all over the place back home? They're showing them, too. In battles and stuff. Soldiers getting wounded, dying, the whole thing. My folks say everybody's watching the shows on the vid. Better than that new no-rules hockey, they said. I guess there's more blood on a mil vid."
"I'm gonna shoot the next public affairs officer I see," Gomez vowed.
"They gotta just be following orders," Billings objected. "But why would the brass make our operations into a vid show to entertain the civs? Sarge, why would they do that?"
"I don't know," Stark admitted. "There has to be some reason,
Stark bared his teeth. "No, it wouldn't. I'll kill you all from drill before I let one of you get killed because I didn't push you hard enough."
"We got any say at all in that?" Carter half joked.
"No. Anybody want a transfer?"
A long silence stretched, then Billings pointed toward an outside display monitor. "Hell, Sarge, if we transferred we'd have to leave here, and I'm starting to like this place."
The joke brought a scattering of laughs from the rest of the Squad, before the soldiers turned back to conducting maintenance on their battle armor. True to form, the Mark IV's were displaying their malfunctions in manners ranging from uncomfortable to potentially lethal. However, in a highly unusual development, spare parts flowed in an abundant stream whenever requested. While unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth, Stark had been on too many underfunded and undersupplied operations not to be suspicious of such apparent wealth.
Billings, still grinning at her own joke, gestured to indicate a vague direction. "Seriously, Sarge. Any chance of seeing that colony? The one they're building out on the plain?"
Stark shrugged. "They're building it. Or digging it. Probably both. I doubt they need any sightseers hanging around."
"Are there people there yet?"
"Yeah. I hear a bunch of civs have already come up to help build and run the thing."
"Families?" Gomez wondered.
"Probably. Already or soon."
"So they maybe going to build a fort up here, too? Maybe have mil families around?"
"Maybe." Stark kept his response cautiously positive. He wouldn't dismiss the question out of hand, because having those families within reach, having a mil community within reach, would be very important to a lot of soldiers. "Too early to tell. I guess they'll get the civs settled in before they think about bringing mil families up."
"Any bars yet?" Billings asked eagerly.
"None that I've heard of," Stark stated. "And any that do exist are probably unofficial and illegal right now." That wouldn't last, he knew, not if the mil stayed up here. Stark had long since stopped being amazed by the many means people could find to manufacture booze or drugs out of any available materials. Somehow, some way, those who preyed on the needs of soldiers would set up shop to happily assist those soldiers in spending every dollar they could shell out. It was always that way, probably always had been that way, and probably always would be that way. "If any of you happen to visit that colony, you stay away from the civs, just like usual. That keeps them happy and you out of trouble."
"Speaking of civs, you know what?" Chen stated, drawing attention. "I heard from my folks yesterday. Back home the civs watched our attack here on the vid. Almost real time."
Stark stood silent, not willing to compromise the information he'd received from Reynolds and the command circuit during the assault.
"You're kidding," Carter replied. "You don't mean the news programs, do you?"
"No," Chen denied, shaking his head for emphasis. "It was special programs. Just a little time delay, and they showed us going through objectives and everything. Except when commercials ran."
"They made our attack a program?" Gomez spat. "With commercials?"
"That's not the worst," Chen added, reveling in the attention. "You know the guys in Second Division? The ones who are still committed all over the place back home? They're showing them, too. In battles and stuff. Soldiers getting wounded, dying, the whole thing. My folks say everybody's watching the shows on the vid. Better than that new no-rules hockey, they said. I guess there's more blood on a mil vid."
"I'm gonna shoot the next public affairs officer I see," Gomez vowed.
"They gotta just be following orders," Billings objected. "But why would the brass make our operations into a vid show to entertain the civs? Sarge, why would they do that?"
"I don't know," Stark admitted. "There has to be some reason,
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