Up in the sanctuary, Red watched Syra's visual feed sync perfectly with his planetary grid. He analyzed the trajectory of the energy pillar and the localized atmospheric distortions.
'He is not aiming at the desert,' Red realized, tapping his fingers rapidly against his console. 'He is going to fire that weapon directly at the land bridge to wipe out my army the second we cross.'
Red keyed the communication rune on his armrest.
'Iron-Scale,' Red commanded, his voice echoing across the Vanguard network. 'The enemy has armed a continental strike weapon. Accelerate the tunneling operation immediately. The surface is about to become an execution block.'
Back in the desert capital, Iron-Scale turned toward Gulag. The earth manipulator cracked her knuckles, her amber core flaring brightly within her chest.
"We dig now," Iron-Scale ordered.
