Second Battalion, Ninth Marines, is on Saint Hollis as a show of strength but saddled by the diplomats with a restrictive ROE that keeps them from actually fighting. The battalion’s Marines are bored, and bored Marines are trouble waiting to happen.

When Lance Corporal Ryck Lysander and his fire team are sent on an observation patrol, they stray a little beyond what their orders and . . . well, things go haywire quickly, thrusting the planet to the brink of war.

Can they avert the war and keep themselves out of the brig when all is said and done?

This short story takes place early in Ryck Lysander’s notable career.