Edmund turned his attention to the approaching soldier as she spoke to him, answering her first question with a simple nod, "<span style="color: red">Shoot, soldier. Always willing to answer questions if time permits, and I don't think we're in any big rush right now.</span>" The man's tone of voice was friendly, though devoid of any particular emotion. He hoped it wouldn't be some stupid question like "When are we going to get to the frontlines" or "When am I going to get to put a bullet between the eyes of a Grey bastard", he'd already seen so many of those sorts of idiotic recruits charge blindly into battle and end up turned into a fine red mist by a microwave emitter or sliced apart by laser fire. He often times didn't have the heart to tell them that the vast majority of soldiers don't even see the Greys, just their death machines and those damn suits. They found that out for themselves soon enough or died before it mattered anyways.<br/><br/>However she surprised him with some genuine curiosity about what the enemy's tactics would be.<i><span style="color: red">Smart girl, not wanting to go into combat blind.</span></i>Edmund took a moment to clear his throat and think about it before answering, "<span style="color: red">Well, regional Grey forces are known to make use of different tactics so it's a bit difficult to say. There are three primary ways they usually go about it, one of which I've had the unpleasant experience of being on the receiving end of. The first is that they stay at extreme range and simply drown the ship in laser fire, which relies upon no other ships moving to support the ship they are attacking and requires most of them to concentrate their fire on individual targets to bring them down quickly. The second is that they quickly close to knife-fight range and deploy drones generally numbering in the thousands to tens of thousands that cut their way into the ship, depressurize the entire thing since drones don't need air to breathe, and scuttle the ship by damaging the reactor after pillaging it of any information on board. The third is a combination of the two.</span>" Edmund let out a small sigh before he continued, "<span style="color: red">The one I had been on the receiving end of was the second, lost a lot of good men. Lost a lot of friends. But we still managed to hold against them long enough for reinforcements to arrive.</span>"<br/><br/>Edmund stops talking and seems to turn toward his own thoughts, remembering the desperate fighting in the hallways of a carrier much like this one. Just trying to hold off the drones, keep them from reaching the reactor, until a destroyer could provide fire support and get the Greys off their backs. There were no destroyers in this fleet, if they were attacked they had no reinforcements. They were the reinforcements. He dismissed the thoughts with a small shake of his head, "<span style="color: red">But other tactics are not unheard of, from what we have learned of the Greys they seem to have fallen into a stage of severe stagnation. Some of these outposts haven't had much more than minimal contact with the rest of the galaxy for centuries and have developed their own subcultures and military. They may act completely different than the more organized Grey military.</span>"<br/><br/>As he stopped talking he looked at Sydney for a long moment, a brief look of recognition passing across his face, "<span style="color: red">This is your first chance at combat, isn't it? I think I remember reading your papers when you were assigned to my squad. One word of advice I have for you, try not to let the horrors you see on the battlefield get to you.</span>" Edmund reached out with his cybernetic arm and grabbed Sydney by the shoulder to emphasize the importance of his words, "<span style="color: red">Breaking down in the face of the enemy won't help anyone, all it can do is get you and possibly your friends killed. The things you are going to see out there aren't pretty, but you'll pull through it if you stay strong. Others have before you and they were just as human as you are. We're all scared, anyone who says otherwise is lying, but you can't let your fear stop you from acting when action is necessary. Our ancestors didn't let fear stop them when Earth fell, they carried on even after we lost our homeworld and they were stranded on an unknown alien planet. We can't let fear stop us now after all that humanity has been through.</span>" After he finished he loosened his grip on Sydney's shoulder and let his scratched up silver arm fall to his side.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>