John Ringo;Tom Kratman by Watch on the Rhine

Author:Watch on the Rhine
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: War stories, High Tech, Space warfare, Life on other planets, Space Opera, Fiction, Science Fiction, American, Human-alien encounters, Adventure, War & Military, Military, General
ISBN: 9780743499187
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2005-08-01T22:00:00+00:00

Interlude

Even Athenalras, no stranger to slaughter, was visibly subdued as he heard the reports of the massacre of his people as they attempted to drive forward across the entire front. He had always believed that numbers—numbers and courage—more than anything else decided fate on the Path of Fury, that mass above all would stagger and crush the enemy.

But the only thing staggering about his numbers were the numbers of the People he had lost. Their bodies draped like decorations upon the wire and ground all across the front. In psychic agony, for the Posleen leader did care for his people as a whole—if not so much for individuals, Athenalras' crest sagged. The tenar-mounted God Kings had suffered no less than the mass of the People attacking on foot. The loss of so many sons was like an icy blade plunged deep into Athenalras' bowels. "There are not enough tears to mourn the dead," he exclaimed. "I want to call off this attack."

"It is their blasted fortifications," Ro'moloristen said, bitter, helpless fury boiling in his heart. "From this miserable hole called Liege, to another place they call Eben Emael, to here facing this Maginot line, we are trying to break their weapons by hurling bodies at them."

"Can we get through? In the end, can we beat our way through?" asked Athenalras.

The young God King's crest erected. "We can, my lord; we must! For something is becoming ever more clear. If we do not exterminate this species it will exterminate us! They are too good, too brave and above all too clever. With fewer numbers and worse weapons, infiltrated and betrayed by their political leadership, attacked with devastating power from space, they are still nearly a match for us. I have some sympathy for these thresh, yes, a degree of admiration, too. But give them as little as ten years of peace and the existence of these thresh dooms our people."

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