Large men in black plate mail with red cloaks and plumes don't sneak worth a damn.

Thank you, Father," Sir Lancelot replied gratefully. "But ... er ... Father?"
"Yes, Lancelot?"
"You didn't say anything about my armor. Is it not shiny enough?

We didn't perform like Knights in shining armor.

Yes, Father. They have the bravest hearts, the noblest souls, and the shiniest armor in all the world.”
“Shiniest armor?” repeated King Ban.

Better the comfort of a lie than the absurdity of the truth.

A quick check on the platoon showed everyone more or less enjoying the flight.
"Whatever it is you're eating, Ressk, swallow it before we land," [said Staff Sergeant Kerr].
"No problem, Staff."
"More like whoever he's eating," Binti muttered beside him.
"You ought to count your fingers," he suggested. "You're too serley stupid to notice one missing."
"Maybe you ought to gren sa talamec to."
"That's enough, people."
When the Confederation first started integrating the di'Taykan and the Krai into what was predominantly a human military system, xenopsychologists among the elder races expected a number of problems. For the most part, those expectations fell short. After having dealt with the Mictok and the H'san, none of the younger races - all bipedal mammals - had any difficulty with each other's appearance. Cultural differences were absorbed into the prevailing military culture and the remaining problems were dealt with in the age-old military tradition of learning to say "up yours" in the other races' languages. The "us against them" mentality of war made for strange bedfellows.