"So, you..."
After cutting down nearly every enemy in their way, Paulus and Khârn rounded a corner and ran into Griffins, Spencer, and several Brotherhood soldiers.
A moment later, the man those Brotherhood soldiers knew as "Captain Ans" shed his disguise and slaughtered every last one of them.
Then they began comparing notes. There were four Alphas aboard the Warship, none of whom knew one another, and each had believed the others posed the greatest threat.
After briefly sorting through their accounts, Paulus realized that Alpha infiltration had reached almost every part of the ship.
The ship's captain was an Alpha, its third-ranking military officer was an Alpha, its elite rank-and-file soldiers included an Alpha, and there was another Alpha among the technical crew. By sheer coincidence, they had all been assigned to the same ship.
Paulus had no idea what to say. He had somehow stumbled into a one-in-ten-thousand coincidence, and words failed him.
Then the group effortlessly opened the warehouse holding the Decisive Weapon and carried away every container storing the viruses.
Boom!
With an explosion, the entire transport became one more piece of wreckage among the countless fragments in the asteroid belt.
The fall of the Silent Carrier and the loss of the Decisive Weapon were like the spine being ripped out of the Healing Brotherhood's great war beast.
Their greatest hope of turning the tide, perhaps even snatching victory from defeat, had been reduced to ashes by the Imperial Fleet's assault from within and without before it could truly reveal its terrifying power.
That devastating blow utterly shattered their army's will to resist.
Defeat became an avalanche.
Without the psychological deterrence and strategic promise of that trump card, the Healing Brotherhood's seemingly sturdy defensive lines became hopelessly fragile in an instant.
Under the calm, efficient