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It's true that your weapons easily destroy the unarmored Esaal- but even heavy armor wouldn't help against your powerful slug throwers and the slow rate of fire means that the advantages of numbers means that the Esaal can often overcome a firing Alpha with their momentum! Not that they can hurt him when they get to him...
The Esaal are indeed very tough fighters. It is hard to understate how strong their morale is; an almost comical disregard for their own safety and willingness to charge a superior opponent- you thought Hegemonic soldiers were well trained. For a moment, you consider that the Esaal must be bred out or genetically altered their own species to remove their fear response, or perhaps their self preservation instinct, but the Esaal's genetic tampering technology is even less advanced then your own. They must just... be like this.
All over the station; little stories erupt. Heavily armored Jaxtian shock troopers are overwhelmed on mass and shoved out an airlock. After emptying their flechette guns, the Esaal turn them into clubs and charge your troops, trying to bash the weapons from their hands.
However, your clear technological edge with computers also pays off here. Your drones, trying to stay in reserve until needed against the alien worm, can flash and blind an odd Esaal troop here and there, and their gun turrets are soon hacked. However, because your Crusiers are darting in an out of range while being persued by the Battleship, the Esaal get a chance to reclaim their turrets and turn off automatic firing mode, turning them into stationary defenses once again.
