Okay, sorry about having the chapters bunched together in the first version. I've managed to fix it now.

November 2, 1982:

"Boy, am I glad I've gotten out of the sewers." Alexis thought as he prepared to go into action again. He had spent close to three weeks inside before he was rescued. Alexis had been beginning to believe that he would be stuck there forever, doomed to die of either starvation or radiation poisoning.

One of the effects of the nuclear strikes on Paris and other strongholds was to mobilize the entire country to resist the lizards. It was hoped in previous months that some kind of peace could be made- Alexis knew for a fact that even during the invasion, many hoped that negotiations with the lizards would be possible. After the nuclear strikes, all of it had been called off.

He had seen some of the aerial photos of Paris and was surprised at what he saw. While it had suffered a great deal, there was not wholescale devastation the way Alexis originally thought there would be. Even some recent buildings only a few hundred yards away from ground zero were still standing and survivors were located, even if few in number. When he asked about that, one of them informed: "Our buildings are a lot stronger and more resilient than the ones at Hiroshima and Nagasaki; wood does next to thing to protect you against nukes."

Nevertheless, confirmed deaths in Paris were around 350,000 and another 130,000 had died from the four tactical bombs used on their troops, crippling their defensive capabilities. Alexis was near the border with Belgium, where they were preparing for their role in the worldwide counter-offensive. Despite the heavy fighting he had seen, Alexis refused to give up, refused to slow down, until France was free of invaders.

With 2/3rds of the country occupied by the lizards, though, finding enough men (and a few women) to fight was proving to be problematic. Britain was sending as many troops as they could spare, just as they had sent them across the Atlantic to fight alongside the Americans. Germany was sending a few divisions as well, but since much of their country was also occupied, the amount of help they could send was limited.

Never imagined we'd have to depend on the Germans to defend us. Alexis shook his head. The presence of German troops inside France made him slightly nervous, and from the looks of his countrymen, he wasn't the only one. The older townspeople had a personal memory of German forces marching across the border, destroying everything in their path.

Even so, not all the news was bad. Alexis had been promoted to adjacent-chef, meaning that he was officially an officer. True, adjacent-chefs barely deserved the name, but he wasn't about to quarrel about it. He even had eight men under his command. It was a strange feeling for him, but not altogether unpleasant.

The best news of all, however, was a letter from his parents and siblings. Alexis had nearly cried when it was delivered to him. There were only a few lines, as they were living in lizard-occupied territory, but they were alive. That was all Alexis needed to hear from them. Maybe I'll be able to reunite with them after all. Alexis thought, taking out the last photo taken of them the day before he went off to basic training.

"Maybe you should hide that thing," One of the English lieutenants pointed to his photo, a small grin on his face. He spoke French fluently with only a slight accent, making Alexis think that he had spent a considerable amount of time in his country.

"And why should I do that?" Alexis snapped at him, his good mood ruined. "It is the first time I have heard from my family in months!"

"Haven't you ever seen a war movie?" The lieutenant pointed out, not in the least put out. "Everyone who shows people a picture of their family gets killed." His voice then turned serious. "All kidding aside, though, I'm glad they're still around." He looked about to say something else, but refrained. "It must be a great weight off your shoulders."

"Yes, it is, thank you." Alexis responded. His greatest nightmares had not been of the possibility of being wounded or dead, but learning that something had happened to his loved ones. The most vicious one was when he was restrained by the lizards, with his father, mother, and two sisters being shot and collapsing into a trench. At one time, he had distant Jewish relatives, none of whom had survived the death camps.

The new recruits had been hastily gathered together and to Alexis' eye, easy prey for any lizard aircraft who spotted them. Was I really this clueless when I started? Alexis wondered; he doubted he could ever have been so confident in his invincibility as they seemed to be. His eyes looked up at the sky every few moments, ready to throw himself to the ground, reflexes honed by battle.

He eventually walked to his new squad, who immediately saluted at his presence. Alexis looked them over with a critical eye, not speaking a word to them, but all of them were nervous when he stared at them. They're not up to an operation of this scale. Alexis mentally concluded, but made sure to keep his body language impassive. If they thought he didn't believe in them, their survival chances were almost nil.

"Sir... when is the counterattack going to begin?" One of them, slightly bolder than the others, asked Alexis.

"Whenever we receive the signal," Alexis informed, which was not likely to be for a few days. Ever since the brief nuclear exchange, fighting in France had quieted into an uneasy stalemate. The lizards had lost many of their forces, but France was not in any position to take advantage of their weakened situation. Skirmishes and raids were common on both sides, but neither had made a serious attempt to advance. If Alexis had to take a guess as to why, the lizards were stretched thin trying to conquer the Northern Hemisphere.

And so are we, Alexis thought. With so much of the country being held, there were only a certain number of people they could mobilize. They were in contact with guerillas behind the line to make life difficult for them, but they were still in the process of training the new fish.

"Sir, permission to ask a question?" One of his soldiers stared at him, looking slightly nervous.

"Granted; what is it?" Alexis asked, more shortly than he intended.

"How... how do we stay alive out there?" He wondered. The man was older than Alexis was, but he had superior rank and experience, so he deferred to him. "I'm willing to fight; just not willing to die anytime soon."

Alexis knew better than to think that advice was guaranteed to keep him alive. Sometimes, it was nothing more than luck that had kept him alive through all this. "One important thing to keep in mind is that you are not invincible." Alexis declared, deciding to start with the basics. "If you act like nothing out there can touch you, you're liable to end up dead before you realize you've made a mistake."

"All due respect, sir, that advice seems pretty obvious." Fernand protested. "Do you have anything else for us?" Alexis reminded himself that they were inexperienced and frightened to keep from snapping at them.

"It may sound basic, but it cannot be repeated enough." Alexis emphasized. "I've seen plenty of good men, smart men, end up dead because they didn't seriously believe anything could happen to them. Find cover, spread out, take the high ground if you can, and know your limitations, both of your skill and your weapon. Do that at all times and you'll get home alive." He hated lying to them, but Alexis could see that a couple of them looked to be on the verge of panic. "Oh, and one last thing: maintain your weapon. If it malfunctions, it's useless, no matter how much ammunition you have for it."

Alexis heard the air raid siren blaring and immediately dived to the ground. His squad was somewhat slower, and he grabbed the arm of one who wasn't fast enough and pulled him to the ground, the man dropping with a groan of pain. He took shelter behind a concrete wall, making himself as small a target as he can. He prepared his weapon, even though it was just aircraft... at least as far as they knew. The lizards' front lines were seventy kilometers away, but it wouldn't be the first time they had sent paratroopers.

You'll be fine; you've got through this many times now. Alexis told himself. Fear no longer overwhelmed him, but it was a strong presence nonetheless. The bombs were deafening, and even with his ear protectors, they were starting to ring. He could see the dust drifting down his helmet as he curled himself into a ball, using his pack to protect his face.

Much to his dismay, he saw all but one of his squad members still bunched closely together instead of spreading out. "Spread out, you stupid sons of bitches!' Alexis screamed, but he couldn't even hear his own voice. "Are you trying to get yourselves killed?"

He could vaguely hear the surface-to-air missile batteries launching their deadly payload. Alexis prayed that at least some of them hit their targets. He crawled away from the others, taking out his bayonet to increase the size of a small hole that he found on the grass. Fortunately, he had been through them often enough to where he was at least able to think rationally.

Just as soon as the air raid began, it was over. Alexis got up, but cautiously, ready to dive down again at a moment's notice. "Now to see if any of them are still alive..." Alexis muttered to himself. He mentally promised to do his best to make sure they got home safely, despite their best efforts to thwart him.

All of them were and uninjured, so far as he could tell. Alexis sniffed and noticed that at least a couple of them had crapped themselves. He'd pretend he noticed nothing, though; it had happened to him a few times as well. "Is everyone all right?"

"What?" Gabriel asked. "I can't hear you; why are you whispering?!" A quick examination informed him that he had forgotten to put on his ear protectors when the raid began. He had to remember that what was obvious to him was anything but for these new recruits.

"Use your goddamn ear protectors!" Alexis screamed two feet away from him. "Your ears should stop ringing in a few minutes, but in the future, always use them if you're in combat, or a raid! Otherwise, you're going to end up permanently deaf! If you fire your weapon without them, your eardrum can end up rupturing, understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Gabriel saluted, shaking his head rapidly to stop the ringing, though it didn't help any.

"Does anyone have any other questions?" Alexis asked. "Now's the time; we're going to be fighting as soon as we receive the signal."

"How... do we ever stop being afraid?" Lambert wondered. He just had his eighteenth birthday, so he was the youngest of the squad. "How can we fight back if you're terrified that you're going to die?"

"You never stop being afraid; you just learn to fight on in spite of that fear." Alexis informed. "All of us are afraid, each and every time we enter combat. You just need to learn to make fear your companion, instead of your master, but that will only come with experience." There were some things, though, that could not be described, could not be truly understood, not until someone was in the middle of a firefight.

XXXXXXXXXX

November 5, 1982:

It's gone better than I expected. Andrei thought, looking at the world map. In truth, he was skeptical about how effective their counterattack was going to be, especially since the original plan was to wait until close to the new year, when the lizards would be truly incapacitated.

In the Soviet Union, even if they were not feeling the full effects of winter, it was enough to slow them down, being that they were from a much warmer planet. The Rasputitsa was also having an effect, being that their vehicles were ill-equipped to handle the terrain. "I would have thought they would prepare for it." Andrei muttered to himself. They had sent a probe that arrived in 1141 that gave them a complete report of Earth's geography, or "Tosev 3" as they liked to refer to them.

"I'm sorry, did you say something to me, comrade General?" Ludmila asked him, sounding unhappy. She wanted to be in the Soviet Union, training pilots to fight the alien invaders. Andrei personally thought she would be much more useful there than in Iceland, but if Brezhnev didn't, his opinion meant absolutely nothing.

"Nothing, just reading the reports of the Rasputitsa." Andrei responded. If they were having such difficulty in the fall, what would they be able to do in the spring? The realization gave him a slight smile. Contrary to what many Westerners believed, the Soviet Union was more than capable of defending themselves without winter to rescue them.

Unfortunately, they had lost a couple dozen more of their ICBMs and a couple hundred of their warheads, even if many of them had been moved to other locations. The commanders in charge of it were immediately executed, a drastic step that had not occurred in decades, but Brezhnev was furious over such a heavy loss. Fewer of their warheads were submarine-based than the United States, so the lizards' attempts to destroy them had hurt the USSR more.

He pushed himself to his feet, gripping the desk to make sure he didn't fall over. Andrei was well aware that with his broken body, it would be impossible to get up again. Even after all these years, he still sometimes resented what he had suffered in his youth. He grabbed his cane and once he was convinced he had a firm grip on it, let go of the desk and began to slowly walk out of his office. "We have a meeting to attend." Andrei ordered.

Throughout his physical struggles, Ludmila had simply stood there, uncertain of what to do. Her first instinct was to assist him, but she had been warned that he took a lot of pride in not needing any external help, even if it meant suffering more than was necessary. "Of course, Comrade General." She immediately agreed.

He moved slowly, just as he always did. Andrei knew that if he were a lesser man, he would be screaming or at least moaning in pain with every movement. In spite of that, however, he would much rather have been on the front lines fighting the lizards. Instead, he was trapped in endless meetings with former enemies, with arguments breaking out almost every single day.

Everyone had their own ideas, their own strategies on how best to beat the lizards. Although some were hoping for a united approach, it was clear to Andrei by this point in time that each of the major powers were going to use whatever tactics they thought best, regardless of what the others believed.

He entered the room, ordering the two members of the KGB with him to ensure that there were no bugs, human or alien. Even if they were technically allies, Andrei knew that the capitalist countries would love nothing more than to sabotage their plans. "Greetings, comrades." He spoke to his Indian and Chinese counterparts, Rajesh Madan and Qiang Li, through his interpreters and theirs. "Why have you requested a meeting?" Andrei knew full well why they were here, but the social niceties had to be observed.

"We'd like to know what has happened to the shipments you promised us." Madan scowled at Andrei. "We have only received a handful of your tanks, less than thirty percent of what you promised us." Much as Andrei wished to argue with him over that, he couldn't. The strategic situation in the Soviet Union changed and the Politburo decided that they could not afford to send as much equipment as they requested.

"Our investigations are continuing." Andrei promised, only half-lying. "I apologize for the delay. Unfortunately, the lizards succeeded in hunting down and destroying many of our convoys."

"The People's Republic of China wishes to speak about improving our efforts to coordinate our attacks." Qiang Li informed him, sounding somewhat less hostile. "Our industry is gearing up for a wartime economy, but much of our land is currently occupied by the lizards. What help can the Soviet Union offer?" The southern half of China was held by the lizards, even though guerillas were making life miserable for them. Some lizards had even been pulled from the Soviet and American fronts to deal with them, a welcome relief for both countries.

"We can offer trainers for your pilots, and whatever training aircraft you require." Ludmila stated. It would allow the Soviet Union to get rid of much of their obsolete aircraft, allowing them to hurt the lizards while not losing their precious commodity of pilots as well. "The Politburo would have to give the final authorization, however."

"For which we thank you," Li gave a slight glare, but refrained from doing anything openly. There were in no position to refuse what was offered, even if they were no match for the lizard's aircraft. "Our pilots are brave, but inexperienced, so instructors will be a great help to us all." It was evident, however, that the Sino-Soviet split was still alive and well. "I presume that you have made good use of the anti-tank rockets and mines you received." Andrei told his Chinese counterpart. As they shared a much larger border with China, it was much easier to supply them with weapons. There was some disagreement among the Politburo about whether or not to give them blueprints of their more advanced SAMs, but ultimately they answered in the affirmative.

"I wouldn't doubt it; have you heard the latest reports from our forces?" Madan now glared openly. "Lucknow and Gwalior have both fallen. Our men are brave, but have little equipment to fight back with. As the Soviet Union is apparently either unable or unwilling to provide us with it, we looked elsewhere. The United States has agreed to give us a fighting chance. So far, we have received 5 billion of their dollars worth of weaponry."

Bozhemoi! Andrei cursed beneath his impassive mask. He hadn't thought that they would have so much to spare, not with such a massive counterstrike. However, he believed he knew the Americans' true goals, which were far more than assisting India: they wanted to remove them from the Soviet sphere of influence. While technically a non-aligned nation, India had close ties with the Soviet Union, despite their animosity towards China.

It took him only a few seconds to realize that he was being manipulated. Madan knew the strategic situation as well as he. India had plenty of pro-western factions, even if diplomatic relations were cold, if not outright hostile. Relations between the two powers were slowly improving, something the Soviet Union was not about to allow unchallenged. Andrei hated playing along with Madan's games, but they appeared to have little choice at the moment.

"Assistance will be forthcoming; the Soviet Union will not neglect its allies." Andrei promised. Whether he could follow through with it was another matter. It depended on whether or not they could spare anything for China and India, and that would depend on how successful their counter-offensive would be. Most territory west and south of Moscow was held by the race.

"I understand the difficulties you are facing." Li informed. "In return for your support, we will escalate our guerilla activities in the regions of our nation that the lizards currently occupy, and force them to withdraw soldiers from your land in order to try and defeat us."

"Are you capable of doing so?" Andrei questioned, giving him an intense stare. He was skeptical of China's ability to do so. They had a massive population, yes, but most of their equipment and nuclear weapons were destroyed.

"If we were not, the Race would have already conquered us." Qi gave a small smile. "Our intelligence indicates that they have already withdrawn a few divisions from the fighting in Europe to combat us. If our activities increase, we can provide you with some breathing room... provided you give us everything my government is requesting."

"My government is expressing the same request." Madan stated. He gave a further warning as well: "It does not matter to us who is willing to send us the weapons we need, so long as we receive them." Irritation aside, Andrei could sympathize with Madan's position, at least to a point. Out of the major powers still in the fight, India was the only one for whom the changing climate provided no relief.

"Please keep in mind that our men are fighting and dying to stop the lizards advances, just as yours are."Andrei pointed out, wishing more than ever that he was on the front lines. He was a field commander, not an armchair general. "Everything we can do to assist you, we are. If you want more, then perhaps you should offer it in return."

"We may have a way to do just that." Madan nodded, a satisfied smirk on his face. "We have recently discovered that the lizards are adversely affected by ginger. Nothing but a spice for us, of course, but to them, it is a drug, a powerful drug. My government has already received a few electronics systems traded to us in return for large amounts of ginger."

"The Soviet Union has noticed the same thing; what are you getting at?" Andrei asked. Ginger was easy to obtain, even under wartime conditions.

"We have found a way to weaponize it." Madan informed him. "If we use this against their infantry, it will addle them, give them a feeling of invincibility and prone to making tactical mistakes." This news he had not heard. There was some talk among the Politburo to try and turn it into a gas, but it was expected to take several months to a year before it would be reproduced on a wide scale.

"Have you successfully tested it?" Andrei demanded. For all he knew, this could be a ploy to exaggerate their success in order to get more help.

"It has not been tested under battlefield conditions, no." Madan admitted. "My government feels that it will be more effective if used on a large scale in a short span of time rather than give them an opportunity to adapt to it."

"The lizards have been extraordinarily slow to adapt to anything we've done." Andrei pointed out, his suspicions still strong. "They were expecting us to be sword-swinging savages, not have a level of military technology to rival their own. Some of their commanders still fight as if the original plans were in effect. Why do you think the lizards will adapt to it so quickly?"

"There is still wisdom in not giving them the chance, even if the risk is smaller than it would be against a human opponent." Li pointed out, leaving the room temporarily, most likely to inform his superiors about the potential of this new weapon.

"They are less adaptable than us, but they are not incapable." Madan warned. Andrei conceded the point. While some of their commanders walked into ambushes even the most foolish human would have seen, others were learning and improving their tactics. "We have a couple of prototypes ready, but they have not yet been tested. It is scheduled to take place in ten days."

"I will speak to my superiors and attempt to convince them to reinforce you." Andrei promised. It would not be easy, but there were enough in the Politburo who would see the wisdom of it. He knew that even absent their give-and-take diplomatic game, if India got desperate enough, they would likely use what remained of their nuclear arsenal to defend themselves. "The amount of support my superior decide to give you is dependent on allowing our scientists to assist in this new weapon of yours."

"Of course, General." Madan nodded. They spent the next hour arguing with each other and finalizing the details, although no decision would be made until their superiors were informed and made their call.

Once the meeting was concluded, he allowed himself to breathe a small sigh of relief. "I'm not sure I like them manipulating us." Ludmila grimaced. Andrei wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Neither do I, but we have bigger concerns at the moment." Andrei pointed out. Ludmila was somewhat more outspoken than many Soviets would be, especially growing up under Stalin's rule. Andrei was wise enough to realize that his subordinates had intelligent input and so tolerated questions... to a point. They all remembered their previous rivalries, but nobody could allow that to get in the way of the war effort. "Send the communication to the General Secretary and give him my recommendation."

"As you command, Comrade General." Ludmila nodded and walked off to do so. He made a mental note to see what he could do to get her back to training pilots for the Rodina. Her talents were being wasted in this bureaucratic mess. For that matter, so were his, but he was here to stay.

"We cannot allow India to fall under the influence of the capitalists." Andrei muttered, scribbling a note to that effect. He didn't dare go into details, even in the privacy of his office. He regretted even saying that much out loud. His security team had done their best to eliminate any bugs they could find, but missing one was entirely possible. The two in the German conference that were planted and so far, undiscovered, for example.

The most important thing of all, however, was that the worldwide counteroffensive was slowly liberating territory that the Race had taken, however costly it was proving to be. So far, the greatest success was in Siberia for the Soviet Union. You had your chance, but just try stopping us now. Andrei thought.

XXXXXXXXXX

November 8, 1982:

Betvoss had been assured repeatedly that the trip was safe, that the Big Uglies had no weapons that could hurt them, that they were being transported under heavy escort. The Race made few mistakes and overprepared as a matter of routine.

It didn't make him any less nervous flying in the starship. Their transport killercraft, at least what was left of them, were insufficient to transport large numbers of males, at least in the number the conquest was currently requiring. The starships were resistant to radiation, resistant to all the tosevite air-to-air missiles. It only reassured him to a certain extent. Five had been wrecked during the landing, and one went down with all hands.

There were over ten thousand males of the Race inside the ship and if it was shot down, that would represent a serious blow to the war effort. Many of his fellow males were confident that they would be safe, but some were even more nervous than Betvoss was.

Could be worse... I'm still alive, unlike poor Skyrim. Their battalion and another that had been worn down by war were being merged into one. His battalion's losses were around 22%, certainly not enough to justify a full merger. It made Betvoss wonder how much the one on the other side had suffered.

"Superior sir, where is the starship taking us to?" Betvoss wondered. As of yet, he had not been given that knowledge. It couldn't be worse than the Eastern Front of the United States, which was currently eating up males the way a Ynd would consume Jugyr, a small insect species on home; Tosev 3's equivalents were called ants, he believed.

"I've heard we've been transported to China." Premas informed. "I don't know for sure, however, but they should brief us when we arrive." The ship was capable of traveling very quickly, even if it took a lot more energy, since they were accelerating in an atmosphere and not a vacuum.

"We'll find out when we arrive; no point in speculating before then." Votal stated. He had a point, but Betvoss couldn't help it. He hated being unprepared, but on the other hand... what could be worse than the bitter fighting he had endured in the United States? They were the most technologically advanced army, even if the Soviet Union was larger and had more inhospitable weather.

The starship gradually turned down its engines, even though it was still traveling at close to two thousand miles an hour. In the atmosphere, the ship would gradually slow down without needing an equal amount of energy to decelerate. Betvoss waited impatiently to reach their destination, though he idly wondered why that was the case. Once they landed, it wouldn't be long before they were once again in danger.

Around a day-twentyth later, the starship slowly landed on one of the captured airports, which was extended in order to permit landing of such large vehicles. Fortunately, this starship had smaller rockets on the bottom, permitting a vertical takeoff as well... to a degree, at least. Only about 150 of their ships had this ability.

Betvoss grabbed his equipment, including his coat of Big Ugly manufacture, and prepared to meet his new commander. Absently, he thought that if the Big Uglies were going to strike, this would be a perfect opportunity to do so. They'd be able to kill tens of thousands of males that the Race would be unable to replace. He tried to keep as much confidence as he could in the starship's armor and their security.

The hatch gradually opened, the door close to thirty yards in length. Once they were able to leave, they did so in an orderly fashion, although Betvoss' eye turrets scanned the skies for Big Ugly killercraft.

"I keep thinking we're about to be bombed." Premas worried.

"Intelligence reports indicate that in this part of Tosev 3, the natives have no functioning killercraft." Votal spoke up. "We destroyed all of them during the initial landing."

"One less thing to worry about, then." Betvoss stated, although he wondered how accurate their intelligence really was. Even now, they had become known for underestimating Tosevite military capability. Some even thought that their EMPs would render them unable to fight back, which proved a highly erroneous assumption.

They assembled in single file and marched towards the buildings that the briefings would be held in. Even if Bevtoss had yet to see anything of the city he was supposed to be occupying, he could smell the smoke in the air, in addition to gunfire and artillery in the distance.

They noticed a few local Big Uglies working on maintaining the runway, along with the rest of the facility. To his eye turrets, every one of them was a likely spy. Why was the Race working with individuals who obviously could not be trusted? It was a question he intended to ask when the briefing was over.

The room was built to sit 1,000 Big Uglies; for males of the Race, perhaps twice as many could be seated here, now that there were chairs designed for their body. A battalion group-leader walked up to the podium, and waited for everyone to be seated. Betvoss surmised that this was most likely their new commander.

"Greetings, Males of the Race." He began. "I am battalion group-leader Treek."

"I greet you, superior sir." All of the males replied in unison.

"While we are going to be unable to give you all of the details of the war effort in this part of Tosev 3, information will be vital to your current survival." Treek began. "The area on the southern part of the main continental mass is called China by the natives and the People's Republic of China by its government. Our researchers are still pondering its meaning.

"China is the most populous of the not-empires on Tosev 3, containing over a billion Tosevites. Such a massive population is a contradiction, considering that they are much less industrialized than the other major powers of this planet, in addition to their still-rapid population growth." He went on for the next half-hour describing what they know of the nation's history, it's beliefs, culture, and government.

Next he went on to describe their military capabilities. "China has few modern landcruisers, troopcarriers, or killercraft, and the ones they did possess were destroyed within days of our landing. Presently, we control 52% of their land area. Their forces do not have the technology or training to meet us in direct combat, allowing us to rapidly advance through their not-empire.

"Unfortunately, the Tosevites have figured out their inability to meet us in direct combat, but instead of submitting, they have resorted to what their military manuals call asymmetric warfare. This has proven to be much more effective and indeed, has even halted our advance. Casualties, while much lower than in the major fighting areas, are still considerable. The larger effect is that the 1.6 million males we have in this region are unable to assist our comrades.

"Over the past two weeks, asymmetric warfare has intensified, and outside support to these groups has grown massively. We believe this as a ploy by the two superpowers to trap as many of our males here as they can, as they are currently launching a counteroffensive in an effort to break our momentum." Betvoss stopped listening to this part of his lecture; he had already served in one of the superpowers and knew the situation better than the commander.

Once Treek got back to China, though, he began to pay attention again. "One of their tactics that has complicated efforts to put down the rebellion is the group's willingness to use human shields in their attacks. As the Tosevites have strong emotional connections to their hatchlings, they are the ones most frequently used. Each death of their hatchlings brings more outrage, and more recruits, even though logical beings would have blamed their deaths on the groups fighting us, instead of the Race.

"For those of you who have been fighting the superpowers, as the Big Uglies refer to the USSR and the United States, you would be advised to show more restraint than on those fronts. Civilian casualties are to be avoided if at all possible, as we have discovered that their deaths become a rallying point for their fighters. Their families, in particular..." He had to borrow the word family from the Tosevites: "...will be driven more than anyone to seek revenge."

Of all the things Betvoss was expecting, this wasn't it. Once the briefing was over, he had just as many questions as he did before, and the information they were given contained little useful advice about how to beat them. "His advice is likely to get us all killed!" Premas complained. "Who cares if the other Big Uglies get caught in the fighting; we've got to keep ourselves alive!"

"He has served in the region longer than we have." Votal reminded. "Our new commander knows how things work here better than we do. This... asymmetric warfare, as he called it, appears to be different than what we were facing before."

"How is it different than the constant ambushes in the United States?" Betvoss honestly wondered. The Americans used those kinds of tricks on them all the time, except perhaps the Big Ugly shields. "And the... Chinese are said to have far more primitive weapons. By the emperor, I know it's still dangerous, but compared to what we've already seen..." He habitually lowered his eye turrets at the thought of their emperor.

"Truth; I did not think of it that way." Votal admitted. "Even so, our two battalions are being merged, indicating that they are still a formidable foe. They are also receiving outside support."

"Our first patrol will be tomorrow; I expect we'll know more by then.' Betvoss signed. He doubted they were truly going to understand the region until they were attacked. At the least, he intended on speaking with the males who had been serving in China since the beginning to get a better perspective than he had gotten from the brief. XXXXXXXXXX

November 13, 1982:

"By the emperor, how could they have kept such number of equipment in reserve?" Atvar complained, seeing where the Big Uglies had succeeded in pushing them out of territory they had conquered.

"Our researchers believe they have discovered our vulnerability to the cold weather on this planet and waited until the seasons changed to launch their counteroffensive, Exalted Fleetlord." Kirel answered.

That much he had figured out for himself. How, though, were they able to conceal so much equipment from their satellites, Atvar did not know. An even more chilling possibility was the idea that the Big Uglies had built all these machines in areas where the Race had new control. Even the most optimistic estimates claimed that they still had significant manufacturing capability.

"They must either be meeting somewhere, or still have communication lines that we have not disrupted." Atvar hissed with displeasure. "The fact that all the major powers launched their counterattacks at almost the same time cannot be a coincidence. It has kept us from redeploying forces in order to crush their rebellion."

"The Indian Subcontinent and China have also risen in rebellion, forcing us to divert males in order to crush them." Kirel added.

"We must have them fighting the major... what the Big Uglies call the western powers." Atvar's claw swiped the air being circulated in his starship. "Our pilots and artillery are expending munitions at an unacceptable rate to destroy their factories and power facilities. Yet the alternative is to let them continue to produce; if they succeed in gearing up to a war-time economy, our conquest is doomed. No matter the cost, we must prevent that from happening." He gave an empathetic cough.

The Rasputitsa in the Soviet Union had all but stopped their advance, and indeed, thanks to the males they had to recall to India, the Soviets were pushing them away from their territory, not to mention the partisans in the large part of the not-empire that they did control. Not to mention that they had evidently decided to start using poison gas as well, a far more lethal variety than the one in India.

"France... their industry should be been destroyed!" He exclaimed. "After the explosive-metal bombs were detonated on what little territory they still hold, they should be unable to fight or resist."

"And yet they are; their bombs killed many of our males, and the survivors are only just now returning to duty." Kirel stated.

Atvar tried to look at relatively quiet fronts that he could pull males from to deal with the new situation. Much to his dismay, he could not. The Middle East and North Africa were the only areas where the conquest was going mostly as planned, though with Israel, the last of them to fall occupied, casualties were unacceptably high. Southeast Asia, with Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia was proving to be a major nuisance as well. No place on Home or their other two worlds did they have such thick vegetation, providing the enemy with ideal concealment.

"Exalted Fleetlord, perhaps we should make an example of one of the not-empires resisting us." Kirel suggested. "If we use explosive-metal bombs, it may convince them to give up the fight."

"France has not surrendered, despite the damage they have suffered." Atvar reminded.

"No, Exalted Fleetlord, but it had greatly weakened their position, and left them unable to launch a counteroffensive." Kirel informed. "But which not-empire will we use this on?"

That was an easy question for Atvar: the United States. They had a new landcruiser, one that was able to match the Race on even terms. They had encountered them before, but it was evident that the Americans possessed far more of them than intelligence first believed. He put up the hologram showing the two fronts on the northern part of the lesser continental mass. The west, where conditions were far more favorable to them, the Race was still advancing but they had been slowed.

Los Angeles and San Diego had been surrounded and left to rot, as they were unable to muster enough males to conquer them outright. Atvar mused that it was a tactic that perhaps they should employ more often. They were cut off from supplies, although negotiations were continuing about allowing food and water shipments to the civilian population.

"We'll have to use multiple strikes for each city; their missile defense is formidable." Atvar mused, going along with Kirel's suggestion. Now... what would be the best places to employ them, taking into account the weather patterns and keeping his own males safe from fallout?

Ultimately, he decided to use 12 explosive-metal bombs on five targets: Washington D.C, Toledo, Detroit, Newport News, and Charleston. Atvar hoped that this would convince the Americans to surrender.

"It shall be done, Exalted Fleetlord." Kirel replied in perfect submission.