THE REDS DID WIN THAT day, though only after incurring many ‘casualties’. When it was all over, Aubriot spent at least fifteen minutes berating both sides. He criticized their discipline, tactics, shooting accuracy, and everything else he appeared to think of. By the time he finished his rant and dismissed the men and women in a tone of disgust, he was red-faced and sweating.
Cherry watched him in grave silence. Everything he said was entirely justified. When she had helped to train the defense units before the second Scythian attack, she had trained them in only one thing: to defend the underground settlement. Required to perform more independently and in an open area, the colonists were terrible soldiers. It would take a lot of work to make them an efficient fighting force.
Yet Cherry
