Manual Labor

Manual Labor is the eighth episode of the machinima Sandguardians.

Plot
Outside of Red base, Gates and Miller complain over the fact that they're the ones fixing the Warthog rather than Thomas. Thomas checks up on their progress and sees that the two are almost finished. He compliments the Warthog's new look and acknowledges that it was because of his "state-of-the-art" schematics. Gates, getting frustrated, tells Miller to restrain him as he is about to hurt Thomas, but Miller calms him down. As the two continue working, Thomas asks them if there is any orange juice available (stating that he needs his dose of Vitamin C). This angers Gates greatly. Miller, in an attempt to get out of the situation, returns to duty and tells Gates to go easy on Thomas, knowing that he is about to yell at him. Gates says that he will get straight to the point before Miller leaves for duty.

Alone with Thomas, Gates complains to him that he and Miller (whom he calls "Jason") have been repairing the jeep for 2 hours, without his guidance. However, Thomas interrupts him during his explanation and asks for orange juice. Gates gets very angry and completely goes off on Thomas, telling him not to interrupt him, calls him lazy, and demands that he finish the Warthog himself. Thomas tells him that Level 4 engineers are only supposed to provide schematic blueprints, in which Gates retaliates by calling him a liar. Getting nervous, Thomas attempts to explain his situation but Gates yells at him, telling him not to interrupt him. Gates then explains to Thomas that his brother was once a Level 3 engineer and was able to repair Scorpion tanks at that level, proving Thomas' explanation to be false. Thomas then reveals that he never wanted to be an enigneer, but a soldier; he cheated on tests and paperwork to make it to his current level. As a result, Gates takes Thomas on a "field test".

When he lets Thomas inspect the hood, he nearly runs him over with the Warthog, laughing about it in the process. The two then check the gun turret and realize that it needs repairs. Gates forces Thomas to fix it himself and threatens not to pay him if he doesn't. As Gates gets on duty, Thomas gets started on the jeep's turret, regretting that he should have never dropped out of law school.

In a post-credits scene, Gates calls out to Thomas and tells him that his armor color matches his work ethic: shit brown. Thomas, now embarassed, gets back to work.

Red Team

 * Gates
 * Miller

ONC

 * Thomas

Trivia

 * The shot where Thomas stares at the warthog schematic blueprints is a still image.