"Masquerade Cycle - 03 - Prophecy" - читать интересную книгу автора (McGough Scott)

spotted our forces." Natal paused and continued in a more
controlled tone. "Vanosh hurried up, and we reported.
When the first Keldon got pulled down, I thought I'd
vomit. I've never seen a man killed by a steel ant before."
Natal was too young to remember even the stylized fighting
the League had practiced as unification occurred. "The
Keldon was mounted on a camel and trying to circle
around the force when he was spotted. The commander of
the detachment sent out a pair of ants to stop him. They
ran down the camel in seconds. The Keldon tried to run up
the side of a hill, but it was unstable, and he made little
headway." Natal became lost in remembrance of the scene
and spoke more intently. "The ants rushed up with their
legs churning out a stream of soil and small rocks. One of
them pulled down the camel by shearing off a leg. The

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Prophecy

camel fell instantly, and the ant was at its neck as soon as it
hit the ground. The Keldon kicked out of the saddle in
time, and he was on his feet when the second ant hit him.
He was trying to draw a sword, and you could see the ant
take the arm off. He screamed and threw himself down the
slope. The ant followed and caught him before he fell very
far. It stabbed him with its legs and started dismembering
him before they stopped sliding. You could see parts
separating as they were ripped off. I never want to see
anything like that again." Natal was shaking as he finished.

"It looks like any future fighting is going to be against
the Keldons, Natal. The age of machines fighting machines
has ended. The enemy is men only now. More of the
fighting is going to be men against men. The Keldons raid
too widely, and there are only so many machines." Haddad
echoed the words of the pessimistic veterans. "You chose
better than you knew when you went into the technical
service. The infantry and cavalry are going to be fighting in
the field, not sitting in garrison. When the real battles
begin, we'll be in camp most of the time." His words were
not those of a hero, but the earlier mercenary view of
combat still was prevalent in the army. Combat was
something you prepared for, but fighting was too dangerous
and expensive to be eagerly sought. New recruits and new
battles were changing the military, and Haddad knew he
would be increasingly out of step with the mutable army.