"Zoom in, lower the altitude."
A gray‑haired Lieutenant Colonel grabbed the Electronic Soldier's shoulder and gave the order. His fingers, stiff and clenching hard, looked like ten iron hooks, pale with a faint tinge of blood.
The Electronic Soldier complied.
This seasoned Corporal swiftly directed the drone to drop in altitude, switched on low‑power hover mode, and, staying just outside the red zone of intense electromagnetic interference, pulled the zoom in as much as possible.
The image kept enlarging, the entire screen flooded with bursting energy light. Flash after flash made the display look like someone had thrown a hundred thousand flashbangs into it.
Inside the command center, everyone's heartbeat was accelerating.
Not far in front of them, Hill 415, which had been under attack for nearly ten hours, had only just quieted down.
