Dale's slow, rather harsh glare over at Virgil ought to have been more than sufficient to shut the cowboy up before he finished his spiel. Apparently, he didn't notice until it was over. At all, rather. He would surely notice the Junior-Commissar slowly striding over to him and leaning into his face, however.

'Well, now, that sure is a lotta knowledge about turnin' traitor for a [i]loyal[/i] Imperial citizen to have, Dimmadon'cha think, Virgil?' he asked, his voice low and dangerous, yet more than loud enough for the rest of the squad to hear. 'Now, I'm hopin' y'all weren't plannin' on tryin' ta exercise any a that knowledge on the field, because there's only gonna be two outcomes ta that sorta thinkin': either the blue space Commies-' That was the term, right? Despite several years on Texanis himself, he'd never encountered it for living in the high-class city of Dimmsdale. '-shootcha Dimmadead, 'cause they ain't gon' distinguish 'tween a guy surrenderin' an' a guy tryin' ta kill 'em back... or, I cap all four a yer limbs an' [i]Dimmadrag you back by the bullet holes[/i] to get y'all court-marshalled like a son of a bitch. You understand me, Cowboy?'

Frankly, he didn't need to understand. He just needed to remain loyal and committed to fighting the foes placed before him, and if that meant ordering him to do so, or at worst turning him into an example to ensure the others did in his place, so be it. Still, he reminded himself of the reputation that Commissars who did that a lot tended to have, and promptly pulled away to a more normal position whether or not Virgil responded. 'In any case, it stands ta reason that knowin' all that ain't helpful fer fightin' the Tau,' he continued in a more congenial tone, his voice still raised for all the Cowboys and Cowgirls- and the Louise- to hear (whether or not they were listening), and he himself pacing a bit while he did so. Why not pass on some useful knowledge to the Troopers whilst they could still receive it? 'What y'all [i]do[/i] want to know is how ta fight these suckers. An' I'll tell y'all right now: they are very, very good in ranged engagements.' By which he meant "their marker drones make them obnoxiously accurate, and most of their guns will cut through your armour and mine like butter", but it wasn't their job to know that until they hit the field proper.

'So, if y'all find yerselves in a situation where your superior officers ain't commandin' y'all to march fer the Emperor, y'all'd do best ta get inta close quarters engagements with the Tau. [i]Obviously[/i] don't charge 'em from twenty meters away over flat ground - if y'all can sneak up from behind cover, get some frags inta their groups ta confuse the suckers, an' hit 'em while they're stunned, y'all'll be doin' just fine and Dimmadandy. Or at least get 'em pinned down with coverin' fire [i]before[/i] chargin' 'em from twenty meters away over flat ground. I think Cowboy Cleet-Bob has that sorta thing covered fer us?' he asked, looking over at the rather dense man to gauge his reaction.