How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Those are people," said Brawne Lamia, pointing toward the main terminal gates. […] A wave of drab colors crashed like a silent surf against the outer fence and the violet containment field. (2.10)
These people were fine with being neighbors to the Shrike, a merciless killing machine, but now that war is coming they all of a sudden they want to leave. Strange priorities.
Quote #2
Kassad's adrenaline was flowing and the bloodlust had him in its grip. (2.208)
This is one of many quotes in which we're not sure if Kassad is going into battle or making love. (This time, it's battle.) What's similar about warfare and sex?
Quote #3
The battlefield still held people, living and dead. The dead lay in heaps like the piles of toy soldiers Kassad had played with as a child. [...] Kassad was beginning to think that this was no simulation. (2.233-2.234)
Kassad tries to distance himself from the horrors of battle by imagining the dead soldiers as fallen toys. Even though it's just a simulation, the consequences of war weigh on him.