The Qwan began softly singing war chants in low voices.  The General tried in vain to shush them.  He looked worried that the “enemy” would hear them.  After trying for ten long minutes the General ordered his men to break right to put some distance between themselves and the maniacal Qwan.  Rick began shaking slightly.  He couldn't tell if it was from the misty cold or from fear. 

     As they approached the foothills a loud blast sounded to Rick's left.  George, a Canadian private, grunted, grabbed his chest, and slumped to the ground.  The Dominai used restraining fields to simulate the loss of body control that came with being hit fatally and inflicted real pain, but everyone always lived through the simulations.  George began sinking into the dark rubbery ground.  Before long he was almost totally submerged.   Even though it was a simulation there was some panicking and fear in the ranks.  The Fog of War began to descend.  Rick and seven others scrambled forward for cover behind boulders.  The rest of his command was lost from view.  A lieutenant stuck his head around the right side a boulder for a quick look and pulled his head back just in the nick of time to keep from losing it.  The tensar  (a laser beam where some of the light waves and particles were moving slightly faster than the speed of light) pulsed by.  Its duration was so short it only kind of registered in the human brains.  The ghostly beam's appearance always nauseated Rick and others.  He couldn’t figure out why but guessed that since his brain had no frame of reference to relate the visual image of the tensar it became disoriented.  The murderer/communications unit clumsily lurched over a nearby ridge and disappeared from view.  That was the last anyone saw of him during the firefight.

     Rick wasn’t sure why they did what they did next.  The lieutenant counted to three and they all leapt out from cover, screaming at the top of their lungs.  All seven changed up the hill shooting at anything that seemed to be moving.  The particle beams carved wide, ugly troughs of destruction into the rubbery stone surfaces and boulders.  The guns started overheating badly.  Rick’s face was contorted with a mixture of fear and anger.  He was totally oblivious to the weight of the weapon.  Sweat poured off his face and hissed angrily off the tensar.   With his particle beam Rick caught the edge of something that looked like an elbow but he wasn’t sure.  It didn’t scream, or anything.  Whatever it was retreated rapidly.