Maada could not help admiring the defenders’ courage, albeit grudgingly.
One reason why the Xortaags always attacked with an overwhelming show of force was to intimidate the enemy into surrender, thus saving valuable resources. In his long military career, it had been his experience that once the defenders realized they were completely outmatched, they would either officially surrender or run away.
Not these people, though. They had suffered horrible losses, but they kept coming. In the process, they had managed to destroy nearly fifteen hundred of his space fighters. For such a technologically primitive planet, this number was completely unacceptable. Now they had focused their efforts on shooting down the ships deploying the Voice of God, having had some very limited success there too.
Maada decided that he had seen enough and asked the fleet’s command ship to patch him through to enemy vessels. He said in English, “People of Earth. My name is General Maada, the commander of Xortaag Royal Fleet. You have certainly realized by now you are fighting a lost cause. I have no particular wish to keep killing brave men and woman to achieve an inevitable outcome, so I offer you this: If you surrender, I guarantee you will not be harmed; you will be treated fairly, and you will be allowed to continue living in accordance with your own customs and traditions. Surrender now and save your lives.”
He was well aware that after the Voice of God came online, people on the planet would essentially turn into mindless drones, their lifespan drastically reduced, but in his mind, he was not lying. They would still be alive, enjoying life for the foreseeable future, even if their minds were controlled.
He kept the channel open, waiting for a response, which arrived shortly after. “Fuck you!”
This was followed by the sound of cheering and other expressions of defiance in several different languages the meaning of which Maada did not know but could guess.
Maada said, “Suit yourself,” and told his fleet, “Kill them all.”
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.