The troll warriors were like groundhogs that had been hiding beneath the snow. Suddenly, they burst out one after another from the snowbanks, appearing right beside the soldiers of the 11th Division. They immediately dragged the battle into the kind of close combat they loved best.
Indeed, no race in the known universe loved close combat more than the Maishanda trolls. After all, besides being strong, tough, and thick-skinned, they also possessed a racial gift that let them chew on flesh to restore their health.
The part that made no sense was that, despite all their advantages, trolls had never been known to withstand the cold better than bearfolk. They wore only rudimentary life-support gear and powered exoskeletons; they couldn't even afford to put every soldier in powered armor. How had they managed to infiltrate the snow? And judging by their appearance, every one of them was furiously aggressive, as if the bitter cold hadn't affected them at all.
Then a flash of light glimmered on the distant snow-covered mountains. A moment later, more than a dozen high-explosive shells landed among their own densely packed ranks, setting off a series of violent explosions.
The enemy had established concealed artillery positions on the snow-covered mountains opposite them!
Of course, it wasn't all bad news. At least they could be sure that this place was indeed heavily defended, which meant it was very likely the location of the energy-diffusion array.
...If that thing really existed.
"We ought to hang the head of the reconnaissance department!" Colonel Chaimen gritted his teeth. But then he realized that they hadn't spent any time reconnoitering the planet at all. They'd merely sent two reconnaissance drones to circle it twice and perform a hasty scan. They'd spent less time on it than a civilian survey team would