ooh, he's a Marine, he's going to be such a thicko
I've gotten that from time to time, in reverse. "You were a Marine? In the infantry?" and you can see them visibly trying not to follow up with 'But you don't look or act like a thug ....'
is Colonel the most evil rank, or what?
Phhs. I'll be whatever that fellow did in the Marines, he didn't leave the service as a Colonel. Maybe a passed-over Major. Possibly a Captain who left after his obligation was over. But I'll bet he was a lunk-headed NCO who cleaned up well for the interview on Earth.
and then have Phoebe's brother come back a few years later with nukes and bomb the Na'vi back from the Neolithic to the Pre-Cambrian.
In H. Beam Piper's very excellent 'Uller Uprising' - which takes as it's inspiration the Indian Mutiny - the characters discuss this. Their conclusion is that they gotta use a nasty weapon to win. The alternative is all the humans die and the Federation Navy shows up in nine months and blows everyone away - and a lot more innocent aliens will die, too.
no subject
I've gotten that from time to time, in reverse. "You were a Marine? In the infantry?" and you can see them visibly trying not to follow up with 'But you don't look or act like a thug ....'
is Colonel the most evil rank, or what?
Phhs. I'll be whatever that fellow did in the Marines, he didn't leave the service as a Colonel. Maybe a passed-over Major. Possibly a Captain who left after his obligation was over. But I'll bet he was a lunk-headed NCO who cleaned up well for the interview on Earth.
and then have Phoebe's brother come back a few years later with nukes and bomb the Na'vi back from the Neolithic to the Pre-Cambrian.
In H. Beam Piper's very excellent 'Uller Uprising' - which takes as it's inspiration the Indian Mutiny - the characters discuss this. Their conclusion is that they gotta use a nasty weapon to win. The alternative is all the humans die and the Federation Navy shows up in nine months and blows everyone away - and a lot more innocent aliens will die, too.