Gust Front

THE ALIENS HAD ARRIVED WITH GIFTS, WARNINGS--AND AN OFFER WE COULDN'T REFUSE

Our choice was simple: we could be cannon fodder, or we could be . . . fodder. We could send our forces to fight and die (as only humans can) against a ravening horde that was literally feeding on its interstellar conquests -- or remain as we were -- virtually weaponless and third in line for servicing.

Amazingly, thanks to a combination of raw valor and alien tech transfer, in the first two campaigns Terrans fought the Posleen to a standstill. The brief pause gave the survivors of the Barwhon and Diess Expeditionary Forces a chance to get some distance from the blood and misery of battle against the Posleen centaurs. With the Posleen invasion only months away these shell-shocked survivors might be the only people capable of saving the Earth from utter devastation.

If the veterans have time to lick their wounds.

Because the Posleen don't read schedules.