Inside the Sea Race base's command room.
Ten Sea Race marines in combat uniforms were busy at work. Extensive automation allowed those mere ten personnel to command and control the entire enormous base.
"Captain! The mothership has authorized use of the Shockwave Weapon!" a communications officer reported to the ground commander, who was also the Marine Corps captain.
"Mm! Looks like the mothership wants to teach them a lesson!" The captain nodded, then turned to another marine. "Also, are the thousand Hounds assigned to infiltrate their lines in position?"
Highly agile and difficult to detect, Hounds could be used for frontal assaults, but infiltration, harassment, and operations deep behind enemy lines were their true forte.
"Yes! They're in position. The enemy doesn't seem to have noticed them yet!"
"Heh! This is our home turf. With a complete terrain map of Callisto, finding a few secret routes around them couldn't be easier!" the captain chuckled.
Hounds could be a pack of warriors, but they could also... be a pack of assassins!
As they spoke, none of them noticed a Silver Spider hanging motionless upside down from the ceiling, seemingly listening with great interest.
Clearly, in this contest between assassins, Nie Yun's side had won hands down!
As the "little assassin" listened, the conversation soon drifted toward such pointless topics as "what's for dinner," "the captain's fling with such-and-such beauty," and "getting married as soon as we get back."
The spider curled its mouth in disdain, then crept along in tiny, furtive steps, keeping to everyone's blind spots. It chewed through the casing of a control console and crawled inside. The tiny opening was then repaired, leaving no sign that anything was amiss...
On the main battlefield.
Accurate, heavy-hitting bone spikes rained down, sending earth and stone flying. Weapons vehicles and