The San Magnolia Republic has long been under attack by unmanned weaponsfrom the neighboring Empire. Against this onslaught, the Republic has alsodeployed similar weapons, narrowly avoiding great loss of life and impendingdisaster-or at least that's how it seemed.

The truth is that it has neverbeen possible to have no casualties. Young men and women drawn from theRepublic's supposedly non-existent 86th district are organized into the "86unit" and then ordered to pilot the "unmanned weapons" before heading tobattle