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tighter on my side arm. I knew I was not supposed to actively engage in hostilities unless it became necessary. My job was to direct. An electric chill ran just under my fur at the first sight of the enemy ground troops. My first command stood before me to win or lose .
    I saw 1,075 tanks, 80 mortar-equipped toy trucks, 203 t eddy-like , and a handful of other miscellaneous units march ing along in a skirmish line toward our apparently dead location. They moved quickly with no hesitation. My ploy had worked.
    As opponents reached the edge of the pit, o ne of the m, which looked like a t eddy , flailed its arms to regain balance but eventually pitched in to the concealed trap along with 233 other assorted war bringers . Minor damage and a small delay was all I could hope for on the t eddy troops, but it ensnared tracked and wheeled vehicles until their comrades could dig a ramp to release them, or until we could deliver the coupe-de-grace .
    The second line of the animals started to drive right over their fallen troops — using them as a living bridge. It would have been effective save for the balance of my troops. I received my first glimpse of h ell when the first enemy reached our side of the ditch. Machine guns, bazookas, mortars , and gopher-planted land mines erupted . With it came the electronic and mechanical screams of death. The enemy units didn’t react decisively to our surprise attack . Th eir return fire was relatively ineffective. Masses of t he animals, in a mocking shape that mirrored our own, died abruptly, in an avalanche of firepower.
    “Gophers , dig that second trench. I want 16 percent more firepower to the left flank.” One of my elephants let out an electronic shriek and perished in a flash of flyer -born explosives as the enemy air units returned . “Anti-aircraft weapons free. Fire for effect.”
    Two of the Fourteenth Teddies took critical unit hits, one losing his left arm and the other having half his head blown away, and each crawled at its best speed back to the Nurse Nan s who se remanufactur ing facilities behind two of the tipped railroad cars worked their miracles of mercy .
    The enemy propeller - driven airplanes retreated quickly again , after taking 42 percent casualties. My troops quickly winnowed out the ground animals. The creatures fought to the last, not retreating, merely dying in place as we sought them out one by one with concentrated fire.
    Those units left in the trenches tried valiantly to remove themselves from their predicament. However , I ordered the trenches filled (carefully , as there were still combat effectives in those trenches) with vetra bushes and set alight by the bunny units. I watched as the rabbits hopped along the edge of the trench, waving gouts of fire from their flame-throwers at the trench edge. It was like something out of Dante’s Inferno .
    I heard the noises of death within — pops of hydraulic lines, the race of flames blazing across t eddy fur, the report of ammunition cooking off inside elephant mortar units. It was a grisly sound and sight. I hoped I would never hear its like again.

 
     
     
     
    Adult
     
    The dead or dying covered the field. Fortunately , few of my troops numbered among them. Survivors of both sides ambled about mindlessly, unable to function properly with the damage they had sustained. I ordered a squad of t eddies to move around and dispatch the remaining indigenous life forms. It was a pure victory — nothing less. I felt elation in fulfilling my objectives already. Future units built upon my mold would win the surface of this world for Six. Even as I thought this, I received acknowledgment of my accomplishments from Six. The commendation was short and to the point.
    “Well done, Teddy 1499.” There were no lengthy congratulations, but the sparse words filled me with pride, an emotion I wasn’t sure I understood. It did things to my system it wasn’t meant for , but it felt good. A new era in robotics was being