Maramanakama Imperial field command center.

9:07 Local Planetary Time

P

r

ince Gelios, the governor of this sector of the Occupied Territories looked 

o

ver the map of the district

h

e

 w

a

s attacking. His troops were highlighted in green on the map and a larg

e

 portion of it was covered w

i

th sh

a

ded areas that represented zones outside their pulsar’s line of sight.

“

W

ho w

o

uld have thought that the terrorists would be capable of making a s

h

adow field around this ar

e

a!” Gen

e

ral Bartolommeo, a Carunian whose race was humanoid with 

a

 bulldog-like appearance 

a

n

d browni

s

h yellow skin said to the prince.

“

W

ell, they’r

e

 main strength is stealth, so I guess it makes sense that they w

o

uld focus on it.” Gelios r

e

plied as he r

u

bbed his chin in contemplation of his next move.

“

M

y lord, we h

a

ve just received the following: 

‘Count Luper has been hit by 

a

n ice arrow and has been taken to the fiel

d

hospital!’” 

one of the staff officers informed him.

“S

e

rves him right

!

 Him and his lead from the front att.i.tude, a lord does not d

o 

the work of a common s

o

ldier, and this b

a

ttle has been going on long enough! Order the troops to i

n

itiate an offensive into the area!”

“B

u

t my lord the enem

y

 is heavily entrenched here; if we order a charge we 

w

ill suffer heavy casualties! W

e

 should at least wait a l

i

ttle while until the heavy armor is ready!” Bartolommeo said to him.

“W

e

ll, isn’t that what soldiers 

a

re supposed to do? So let them do their duty a

n

d die for their country.” Geli

o

s said with a disinterested w

a

ve of the hand.

“As f

o

r the armor, we cannot risk it 

b

eing caught in an ambush; the heavies 

w

ill follow the infantry, who will 

a

ct as bait and spotters for it.” Th

e

 prince added.

Bart

o

lommeo had no choice but to carr

y

 out the orders and so the general 

g

ave the command to attack.

Aft

e

r gazing at how his troops were preparing to ch

a

rge the rebels, Gelios t

u

rned his gaze towards the ceili

n

g and saw that a spider was hanging down from 

i

t.

“Yo

u 

know that today many will die so you’ve come to feast 

o

n th

e

m, didn’

t

 you my eight legged friend? We

ll

 if that’s true, just wait a minute and you will not be disappoint

ed

!” 

h

e

 thought to himself as he raised a gl

a

ss of wine in the gesture of a toast to the spider as a wicked sm

i

le formed on his face.