Tromp's betrayal, he sends a prearranged signal to his Slammers. As soon as Hammer leaves his office, Tromp dispatches a Guards team under the command of Hammer's enemy to the hotel suite to arrest or kill Hammer and the two men with him. However, Steuben and the other Slammer are expecting the Guards. They kill all but one of them; Hammer steps off the elevator and kills the last Guard as he attempts to escape down the corridor. The Slammers tanks and artillery in the hills around the spaceport begin destroying the Guards' armored vehicles, exposed on the open landing field. As the Slammers' tanks close in on the spaceport, Tromp flees through artillery fire to his waiting spaceship. However, Steuben has anticipated this and is already waiting for Tromp inside. The story ends with Tromp looking at Steuben's hands, not believing that his slim wrists could possibly support the weight of the heavy pistol he holds. Interlude: Supertanks Drake uses this short chapter to explain the nature of tank warfare in the future as well as how the tanks of the Hammer's Slammers regiment work. He details the fusion-powered hovercraft technology that keeps the air cushion tanks afloat, as well as the anti-personnel defences of the tanks, including the outward-facing directional mines that line the upper hulls. These are used to counter the unguided short-range anti-tank rockets ("buzz bombs") that, apart from anti-tank artillery shells ("tank killer rounds"), are the most dangerous weapons the hovertanks have to deal with on the battlefield. The Butcher's Bill Of the story chapters, this is one of the shortest. Tank commander Danny Pritchard is introduced. He is presented as being apathetic towards war. On the planet Dunstan Hammer's Slammers are fighting for the government and Danny Pritchard is becoming romantically involved with one of their representatives, a young woman named Sonna. After a short skirmish, Pritchard's section makes camp in a rural area of Dunstan. Sonna invites Pritchard out for a ride to show him something. They take an aircar to a nearby structure made of an opaque, glass-like material. Pritchard is urged to enter the building by Sonna. He is presented with various images of strange and alien creatures, bird-like in appearance; Sonna explains they are an alien race named the Gedel. Shaken, he leaves the ruin and Sonna explains that the Gedel were a race capable of creating many wonders. This