The Atvatabar navy and air force seems endless. The ships don't come too close, but they send a swarm of thousands of flying soldiers.

A single touch from just one of those poisoned spears is death. But they're so tightly packed that a single well aimed explosive from us could scatter them. Yet that would kill thousands. These soldiers are just volunteers, family men, and they have never been at war before. It doesn't feel right to just slaughter everyone.

We ask for a pause in fighting, but the king understands the situation better than we do. When a weaker side (them) compromises with a much stronger one (use), the stronger side ends up getting everything it wants. So they have no choice. It's them or us.

So should we fire into the middle of them? Or should we turn round and leave for the surface world? Or do something else?