Light-years into deep space aboard a Malacan cargo freighter, Marine Sergeant Christopher receives a bizarre order: Make 185 Malacan aliens into United States Marines.
But the Malacans aliens are so� alien. Their culture, psychology, even physiology is so very, very different. What physical training standards do you use for a race that can do 200 push-ups with breaking a sweat, but can't do a single squat-thrust? Worse yet, the Malacans are a passive and docile species, with little or no sense of independence, ambition, or aggression. But the Corps don't want sheep-they want Marines!
With only three fellow Drill Instructors, century-old surplus weapons and equipment, and just eighteen weeks for Boot Camp, can Sgt. Christopher teach the meek and submissive aliens what it means to be one of the few and the proud?
