"Good news?"
Gage's voice was hoarse, worn rough by countless strains.
He stood before the holographic map, watching the dark red icons link together, spreading into a sea that swallowed more than two-thirds of Ultramar.
He drew his gaze away from the map and settled it on Valentus.
"Yes, Commander." Valentus walked up to him and said no more.
He shifted slightly aside, making room for Nur behind him.
Nur stepped forward to meet Gage's gaze, holding the dismantled drone wreckage in his hands.
Under the command hall's bright lights, the thing looked particularly grotesque.
Severed cables, a metal casing pried open, and chips deep inside whose faint indicator lights still blinked.
"Commander Gage, Sergeant Nur of Charlie Squad reporting. This is the result of my work."
As Nur spoke, he raised the drone to his chest with both hands.
Gage did not respond immediately.
His eyes swept over the wreckage. After a few seconds of thought, he said, "Speak."
Nur took a deep breath.
He knew that here, in the heart of the Fortress of Hera, before the commander who controlled Ultramar's last defensive forces, there was no room for preambles or embellishment.
He needed to tell him directly what he had brought.
"Even the strongest fortress can be breached from within. The Iron Hands Legion is no exception," Nur said.
He glanced down at the drone wreckage in his hands, then raised his head to meet Gage's eyes.
"I planted a Virus of my own design in this drone."
"It can masquerade as a drone returning to its unit normally, connect to the enemy's internal servers, and rapidly infect every mechanical construct of the same model within the Iron Hands Legion."
"Once the Virus finishes spreading, their machine network will descend into chaos. Their drone swarms will lose