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Old 2008-05-18, 04:42   Link #224
Onizuka-GTO
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Join Date: Jun 2004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SymphonicRain View Post
I think SMS is considered a part of the military, not apart.

You can recall that Alto is given an option of joining the military or quarantined due to witnessing the alien first hand. It seems that by just joining SMS, its considered as military at least in Cathy's eyes.

So SMS must at least have some government sponsorship and influence. In addition it must also have a third party sponsorship that we do not know who is it yet that grants a mercenary group access to incredible resources like YF-25 planes that is supposedly to be still under testing, Reaction weapons, a Koenig Monster and a powerful Macross ship that despite being only a 1/4 size of a macross class, outclassed the two capital ships in this episode.

That's hell of a funding and I doubt a normal mercenary group could even access such resources.
I think your over simplying the complexity of Militray Contracting i.e. Mercenary Force


S.M.S is contracted to the Frontier Civilian Government, not the Military of Frontier.

Hence the client is Howard Glass and any situation that might involve the Military, isn't a problem of S.M.S.

In this episode, they specifically mention a clause in there contract that state to the effect that if this article is invoked, all members of S.M.S is liable to a hefty fine and lost of livelihood if they refuse a contracted assignment by their client.

Since the Expedition Force outside of the fleet is outside the description of their work, which is primary to protect the client. i.e. Civilian Government of Frontier it was a questionable order that gave S.M.S a legal foothold if they were to object to it.

One of the things about Contractors is that they are whole independent of all government ties, this is the whole point of them, they cannot be held liable. This is one of their strong points, if things go ape-shape, plausible deniability.


But this doesn't stop contractors to be sponsored by large arms corporations, who more then like have industrial agenda, i.e. push new technology to be battlefield tested or......search for new alien technology for political Anti-UN agenda.....or maybe not.

In all, i wish they cut with the political correctness.

Just call a mercenary a mercenary.

Contractors sound like a dangerous form of legal solicitor
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