Rowan lowered the receiver slowly after giving the order, but his hand remained close to the radio, as if a part of him still wanted to snatch the command back before it could spread through the western line.
The command station did not wait for his doubt. The moment the redeployment order went out, the officers around the table returned to motion. One radio operator leaned closer to his headset and repeated the message toward the northern wall, while another marked the movement of the reserve platoons on the map with a trembling hand.
Runners hurried away from the shelter, disappearing into the smoke-filled path along the wall, and the sounds of battle pressed in from every direction, gunfire from the north, explosions from the east, the sharp rotating hum of the laser weapons above them.
Margaret watched all of it with a calm expression, though the slight lift at the corner of her lips betrayed the satisfaction she was trying to hide.
Within minutes, the first reports arrived.
