Greenies

those marines walk away from the lines untouched. They haven't agreed to a cease-fire, they haven't asked for terms of withdrawal. We are still in active combat with them! You can't just let them retreat to regroup in safety!'

'I can and I will,' Jackson replied. They were on a video link with the other generals in charge of the other cities' defenses. 'We will not shoot at a retreating enemy. That is MPG doctrine.'

'But they're not retreating from the war!' cried General Montoya — commander of the New Pittsburgh forces. 'They're only pulling back to regroup. You know as well as I do that they're just going to launch back up to orbit and then come down in a single group, probably at Eden or New Pittsburgh. Every one of them that we let back to their LZ is a soldier we'll face in the next battle.'

'I understand your logic, Frank,' Jackson told him. 'I even agree with it. But you're not following my logic.'

'What fucking logic?' asked General Azacan, commander of Proctor forces. 'My people beat the shit out of those fucks. They never even broke through my first line! My tanks and my APCs are more than ninety-eight percent intact while theirs are down more than seventy percent! Do you know what that means, Kevin? I can counter-attack them while they retreat and while they're vulnerable. I can use my armor to circle ahead of them and cut them off at the entrance to the gap! We'll kill or capture all of their combat units that are left! How can you possibly order me not to do that?'

'Because it would be a bloody battle that would unnecessarily kill MPG troops and because it would go against the precedent I'm trying to set for the WestHems with this unpopular order of mine.'

'What precedent?' demanded Zoloft. 'What the hell are you trying to accomplish by letting them walk away untouched? They're going to hit us again!'

'Yes,' Jackson said. 'I know they're going to hit us again. That's why I'm doing this. I want every WestHem soldier that fights in this war to know that we will not shoot at them if they retreat. I want them to know at all times that retreat means their safety, that it means an end to the death and the bloodshed. I want them to be able to walk away from a battle with us at any time because if they know that, eventually, when we push them enough, they'll do it.'

All three of them were shaking their heads in consternation.

'I'm sorry, Kevin,' said Azacan, 'but I must protest this order in the strongest possible terms. I've got enemy units retreating in disarray over here. They're clinging to their APCs like they were lifeboats. Do you realize they can't even return fire from their armor when they have men holding onto the outside of them? I can not only defeat the forces that attacked Proctor but utterly destroy them in a matter of hours! Your order makes no sense to me and I'm demanding that you rescind it immediately and fight this war like it's supposed to be fought!'

'Your demand is denied,' Jackson told him. 'My cease-fire order will stand until such a time that enemy units are advancing instead of retreating.'

'I will not accept that,' Azacan said. 'You're throwing this war away.'

'You will follow my orders, General, or you will be relieved of command and returned to civilian status,' Jackson told him. 'Is that clear?'

'Maybe you should be relieved of command,' Azacan shot back. 'You've fought brilliantly up until this point but you're making a lethal decision right now that could very well cost us this war.'

Jackson looked at the images of his other three generals. 'What do you say, guys?' he asked them. 'Are you with Azacan? Are you going to forcibly relieve me from command?' He looked directly at Zoloft. 'How about you, Matt? You're second-in-command. Are you going to take over for me?'

Zoloft shook his head immediately. 'No,' he said. 'I strongly disagree with your logic and with this decision and I implore you to change your mind, but I'm not going to disobey your order and I'm not going to advocate your removal.'

'I agree,' said Montoya. 'On all counts.'

General Visser, commander of Libby forces, nodded his head. 'I too will obey this order though I strongly protest it, and I will not advocate General Jackson's removal.'

Azacan was fuming, his face red, his eyes actually bugging out with anger. 'You just lost this war for us,' he told his colleagues.

'We've trusted Kevin this far,' Zoloft said. 'He's engineered the complete humiliation of a professional armed force that outnumbered us more than five to one when they left Earth. Though we disagree with his decision now, I think we owe him our continued loyalty and faith just for the simple fact he's gotten us to the point where we have to worry about what to do with retreating forces.'

'Thank you, Matt,' Jackson said. He looked at Azacan's image. 'So what do you say?' he asked. 'Are you staying or going? You're a brilliant military strategist and you've done an outstanding job defending Proctor. I'd really hate to lose you but if you can't work with me after this, if you can't abide my orders any further, I'll accept your resignation now.'

It took him a few seconds to answer. Finally, he said, 'You're not getting my resignation that easily. I'll obey your orders.'

'And that means no recon in force that's designed to draw their fire,' Jackson said. 'No Mosquito fly-bys designed to make them shoot at us. Is that understood, General?'

Jackson could tell by his face that he had been considering just those options. He gave a little smirk and then nodded. 'Agreed,' he said. 'My units will remain disengaged until further orders.'

General Wrath and Major Wilde were in the war room, still trying to process the fact that their units were being allowed to retreat without attack when the door opened at the far side of the room. Wilde looked up and saw General Todd Browning — Wrath's second-in-command — enter the room accompanied by four armed military police officers. He knew instantly what this had to mean. After all, he'd been semi-expecting it ever since Wrath had sent his last transmission to the council.

Wrath looked up from his screen for a moment and saw them. Wilde could tell by his face that he realized the same thing.

'General Wrath,' Browning said formally as he approached.

'Yes?' Wrath said, resigned to his fate.

'I have been ordered by the executive council of WestHem to relieve you of command, effective immediately, and to assume command of all WestHem forces in the Martian theater of operation.' He held out a piece of paper. 'This is my authorization.'

'I see,' Wrath said, taking the paper but not looking at it.

'And furthermore,' Browning said, 'I am ordered to place you under arrest and confine you to the brig for the duration of this mission.'

'On what charges?' Wrath asked.

'Insubordination, criminal negligence of command, falsification of reports, and twenty-three hundred counts of manslaughter of WestHem marines under your command.'

Wrath nodded, not even bothering to question. After all, he knew the game better than anyone. 'Okay,' he said, standing up. 'I'll come peacefully.'

A camera crew appeared from nowhere, their microphones and lenses probing at him. The MPs stepped forward. Their commander — a lieutenant colonel — removed Wrath's firearm from its holster. He then placed him in handcuffs, struggling a bit with the process since it had probably been years — if ever — since he'd last performed this task.

'Do you have anything to say, General?' one of the reporters accompanying the camera crew enquired.

'No,' he said, a tear appearing in his eye and tracking slowly down his face. 'I have nothing to say.'

They led him away, the camera crew following. Browning stayed behind.

When they were gone, Wilde looked up at him. 'And what about me?' he asked, not bothering to ass-kiss or grovel. 'Am I relieved of my position as well?'

Browning looked at him, considering. 'You and Wrath were pretty close, weren't you?'

Wilde shrugged. 'I wouldn't call him my friend by any means, but I was his aide for the last six years. I helped him plan this war.'

'And that right there should automatically result in your removal, possibly your arrest as well. The way this