"We maintain contact with the enemy."
"We are aggressive."
"All right! You will learn more about all these things over the weeks to come, including when and where they don't apply. You will practice till doing the right thing is as natural as breathing. And when you first go into battle, you'll be as good as you can get, short of actual combat experience." He paused, raised his voice. "You want to know what surprise really is? Surprise… " He slowed, his voice softening, becoming confidential. "Surprised is what the Wyzhnyny will be the first time they tangle with you. They're going to wish they'd stayed wherever they came from."
He hadn't anticipated the cheers he got. Inwardly it shook him. He'd have given his life to cancel this war and send his trainees home, but it wasn't an option. For anyone. The Wyzhnyny had come, and there was nothing that would cause them to leave, short of defeat. And there was no reason to expect even defeat to drive them away. If they had to be hunted down and wiped out on each world they'd occupied, this would be a truly hellish war.