This was the conflict that made the name "Veda" a curse in the Gamma Empire. We were outnumbered five to one. The Gamma legions were silver-clad and arrogant, led by generals who had studied war in books but never in the blood.
I didn't meet them in the open. I let the rivers do the fighting for me. We spent three months building a series of hidden dams. When the Gamma host crossed the lowlands, confident in their numbers, I didn't send my infantry. I sent the water.
I watched from the ridge as three thousand men were swept away by the deluge. There was no glory in it. It was a cold, mechanical slaughter. That night, I sat in my tent and wrote the names of my fallen men in a ledger. It was the first time I realized that a General's true duty is not to kill the enemy, but to be the one who carries the guilt so his soldiers don't have to.