consolidation

here. They must miss a lot.”
“How do we use that?” Mike mused.
“Beats me, sir, but it’s got to work for us. They have to move supplies, ‘an army travels on its stomach’ right? So, it’s got to affect their logistics.”
“Not really, most of their logistics is pickup.” About then they were called to help out a team that had run into a group under the leadership of a God King. After a hairy few minutes with no casualties to the humans they were back in their conversation.
“What did you mean about their logistics, sir?”
“You mean pickup?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, they survive much the same way an army has survived throughout history, by gleaning. Until fairly ­recently in history what we now call looting and punish people for was the accepted way that troops fed and paid themselves. Have you noticed anything about these Posleen?”
“Besides the fact that they’re shooting at us, sir?” joked the sergeant.
“I meant the stuff on their harnesses,” Mike answered with a slight smile.
Sergeant Green studied the nearest Posleen corpse.
“They’ve got bits stuck all over them, sir.”
“Yeah, shiny bits. If you dug through the ruck you’d find a few with silver or gold. More high-quality stuff on the God Kings. In their pouches are going to be bits of Indowy and other plant and animal matter. Some of the Indowy is moved back to the landers, ammunition presumably moves forward. The indigenous population and supplies are their food and they gather semivaluable and valuable materials for their bosses. In the consolidation period following