![inside out thought bubbles level 192 inside out thought bubbles level 192](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WGagqfaelvg/maxresdefault.jpg)
We can see it because we're outside of it, inside who knows how it looks," Bouncy said. "729, in Tank 13C4, thinks it's an effect of the temporal attacks. "What is it?" Ekret asked, taking the empty ration tube out of his mouth. His outer scouts had noted it, that it was to the north and south of his forces as they sped along on their hoverfans and graviton repulsors, engaging any groups of enemy they found along the way as they hurried to engage the enemy that was streaming toward two large cities and relieve on of the military bases that had already been present on the planet. The Atrekna were discovering frustration and anger.Įkret stared at the rippling colorful wall in front of him. Trapped in discrete bubbles each forces fought as if they had not been engaged in combat already. The problem was, the new enemy seemed unaware of the simply reality of an Atrekna victory.
![inside out thought bubbles level 192 inside out thought bubbles level 192](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6h_Zlsou78M/maxresdefault.jpg)
Despite the fact that it took an almost logarithmic increase in energy and effort to reach back to the point that all that could be brought forward were copies, they were still able to master the energetic tides. They were the masters of the temporal tides of this or any other universe. The majority of the primates were missing, and the Atrekna felt satisfaction that the new warrior slave species of the Mantid had been dealt with.īut the ones that remained, specifically the roaring enraged individual that had been the first to make planetfall, were proving to be a lot to handle. Overlaying all of this new enemy was a scream ripped from a raw and bloody throat, raised up in once voice. The Mantid, the cruel hated Mantid, were lacking an Overmind. The Lanaktallan that could be detected in orbit were missing the War Mind and Herd Mind. There was an insectoid species, true, but they lacked any Overmind. They seemed to not pay attention to the Law of Diminishing Returns, instead pushing harder at the Atrekna forces. Additionally, the new enemy seemed to constantly seek out battle, advancing into the Atrekna forces. They followed intricate battleplans, quickly moving to support one another. Even suppressing communications did not seem to work. They operated, strategically, as a whole, as if they were being controlled by an Overmind. The new enemy, however, seemed to combine the worst of both cooperative species and individualist species. They were easily overwhelmed, unable to withstand the Atrekna Overmind. The Atrekna had fought individualistic species before. While their Overmind had never extended to the battlefield, merely their society, their War Mind was easy enough to recognize and counter. The Lanaktallan had been, like all herd species, moving as one coherent whole. They were familiar, beings of appetite and logic, as were the Atrekna, and so they were able to be defeated. The Insectiods have moved with one mind, one purpose, and when their Overmind was shattered the Insectiods had broken into small units, still controlled locally by powerful psions. The new enemy was different than the Ancient Enemy. It was bad enough that nearly a fifth of their Conclaves and Quorums were forced to hold a single enraged primate in position to keep it from being supported by friendly units or moving to those unit's support, but bringing forth the slavespawn from the breeding ring was only seeming to give the enemy target practice with their weapons that apparently had bottomless ammunition capacity. Worse, as the Atrekna forced the enemy to undergo another revolution, some kept up with the same tactics that had enabled them to carry the battle previously while still others tried different methods.
![inside out thought bubbles level 192 inside out thought bubbles level 192](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dI3v2nzhEIo/maxresdefault.jpg)
Rather than their strength diminishing, their strength either stayed at parity or increased. Normally the Atrekna excluded the enemy from being brought back to the strength they possessed at the beginning of the battle through a simple trick of temporal folding, which meant the enemy had been forced to undergo the passage of time while their own forces could be brought back, fresh and whole.īut the enemy seemed to want to be left moving through the time stream in such a way. Then, as they attempted to roll back time around the captured forces of the enemy, they found that the enemy themselves were temporally stabilized, and they began to feel anger. A feeling of cold logical frustration was the first part. The Atrekna were feeling an emotion they had long considered purged from their persons.