Comments on 'The Hush of Battle'A trio of men cowered in a trench under the full moon and starry sky. Crickets and night-flying birds were the loudest sounds, drowning out the battle raging in the fields above them. They hoped not to let tell-tale clouds of vapor loose in the chilly midnight air.
Rounds of short, soft electric hums brought twitches out of each of the soldiers. The fighting couldn't have been more than yards away, if they could hear the weapon fire.
They wanted to scream, roar, or sob—anything but this silence. There were no rumbling war machines, no explosions. A misplaced footfall or cough meant death: Networked targeting computers in their helms could triangulate such a sound in milliseconds—and the enemy helms were just as good.
Once given a target, their beam rifles could eliminate that source of sound with surreal quiet. Near total disintegration accompanied by a gentle hum and a puff of displaced air as molecules went their separate ways.
One of the men did scream, finally, when a pair of boots landed in his lap.2008-01-25T06:00:54Zhttp://ficlets.com/feed/story/1397Comment on The Hush of Battle<p>If they have such weapons, why don’t they just burn through the ground and such with them?</p>
<p>If it’s a starry sky, why don’t satellites do the targeting?</p>
<p>If the computers are that good, why are humans doing any fighting?</p>
<p>... Sorry, I just have to ask.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=362692008-01-25T06:00:54ZWhite Hathttp://ficlets.com/authors/whitehatComment on The Hush of Battle<p>I was wondering, have you (the author) ever read the short story titled “How Lonesome a Life Without Nerve Gas”? It was on Escape Pod a while ago and the weapons in your ficlet reminds me of the weapons in the story. This is not a bad thing, but an interesting twist to the technology.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=34552007-06-26T05:46:34ZAmasterhttp://ficlets.com/authors/amasterComment on The Hush of Battle<p>This is brilliant. Rose makes some good points – she doesn’t know know “where they are or how the equipment works or why they’re fighting or what time it is or who they are” etc. Hey Rose – would you like to know more? Write a Sequel!!!</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=28332007-06-13T01:17:17ZYodaOnCrackhttp://ficlets.com/authors/yodaoncrackComment on The Hush of Battle<p>Creepy… but I could see that happening some day. Silence can be maddening sometimes.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=26292007-06-06T20:40:19ZFrostbitehttp://ficlets.com/authors/frostbiteComment on The Hush of Battle<p>Absolutely loving it.</p>
<p>A completely chilling scene.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=25092007-06-01T01:04:53ZA grove of pines.http://ficlets.com/authors/agroveofpinesComment on The Hush of Battle<p>great. hard to sequel :)</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=22882007-05-27T15:56:11Ztwittervloghttp://ficlets.com/authors/twittervlogComment on The Hush of Battle<p>I really like this idea. It’s a bit like trench war during WWII , but with high-tech technology. Kudos on a job well done.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=22002007-05-25T00:09:33ZSaint Chuckhttp://ficlets.com/authors/chuck_theloveComment on The Hush of Battle<p>Interesting idea about future war. Being that silent for a long time would be hard for almost everybody. I bet that the soldiers know sign language.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=20702007-05-22T13:16:09ZAmasterhttp://ficlets.com/authors/amasterComment on The Hush of Battle<p>Vivid description, but disjointed; I don’t know where they are or how the equipment works or why they’re fighting or what time it is or who they are or why I should care about them. It’s a great idea, but I want to feel like I am in this place with its deadly silence, not like I am being told about it.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=18952007-05-15T20:59:07ZRosehttp://ficlets.com/authors/rhi_roseComment on The Hush of Battle<p>it’s good. I like it.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=17702007-05-10T14:32:12ZMissJonas1492http://ficlets.com/authors/princesssisterComment on The Hush of Battle<p>Wow. Makes me shiver.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=6032007-03-26T08:04:41ZRobotech_Masterhttp://ficlets.com/authors/robotechComment on The Hush of Battle<p>Well written, vivid descriptions.</p>http://ficlets.com/stories/1397?basename=6022007-03-26T08:03:32ZAnnalise17http://ficlets.com/authors/annalise17