During the Last War, young Lieutenant Maneka Trevor reports to the Thirty-Ninth Battalion of the Dinochrome Brigade where she is assigned command of the Bolo Mark XXVIII BNJ 'Benjy'. Although the 39th is not a frontline battalion, it is called on to respond to a Melconian invasion of the nearby world of Chartres and Lieutenant Trevor faces an apocalyptic trial-by-fire. Notes This story is effectively a prequel to the novel Old Soldiers written the same year.