Site Foxtrot. The outermost defence line that had been designated as the point of first resistance if unforeseen circumstances happened. The War Council had been laying out multiple plans, and one of these plans included the possibility of the Great Divide falling prematurely.

Aziz clicked his teeth. “Looks like they really didn’t adopt all of our suggestions, eh?”

“Those fools.” The marshal shook her head. “The entire area has literally no fortifications whatsoever.”

“No point patting ourselves on the back, however.” Aziz watched as Thunderbolt bustled around madly, building up rudimentary walls and laying out concertina wire. Similar scenes were going on at Sites Echo and Delta, where the other two battalions were constructing fortifications further back.

“Oh, we managed to get the shipment of explosives?” Marie asked.

Aziz watched as a platoon scurried past him, each of them bearing brown sacks marked with a danger sign. “Eventide quite liked the idea of self-destructing defence lines. The enemy can thank us for the free graves later.”

“What a dastardly plan.”

“That’s what the minister said, heh.” Aziz grinned, and then turned his gaze back to the busy Thunderbolt.

The scene before them was a testament to how important discipline was. Despite their individual weakness and their sheer proximity to the crumbling Great Divide — Site Foxtrot was but five kilometres away from the Crest of Crimson Shine — the brave men and women of Thunderbolt had not given in to their fear. The trembling black barrier, which was now hundreds of times darker, had little effect on his brave troops.

Given that some Guardians — the official name for Knights who had registered at the Hall of Guardians — were trembling while floating up high, Aziz could confidently say that Thunderbolt was truly the elite of the elite. Of course, the colonel was quite sure that Stardust and Avalanche were also carrying out their duties similarly, so his praise would have to extend to the whole division.

The newly-promoted Major Augustus ran to them. “Ma’am, the projections to complete Site Foxtrot’s fortifications fell short. We don’t have enough material to finish the defence line.”

Marshal Marie clicked her teeth. “How much more do we need?”

“We’ve already marked the missing materials out from this list,” the major replied. “We’ve also checked with Stardust and Avalanche; their projections are also inaccurate.”

“What do you think, Aziz?”

The colonel frowned. “Ma’am, I recommend that we take the missing materials from Avalanche, and then request an urgent supply run from headquarters.”

“We’re in accord, then.”

After a few more orders, Major Augustus flew to the north, where Sites Echo and Delta were.

“This is a problem, isn’t it?” Aziz murmured. “It seems that the Assembly’s scouts are either lacking or…”

He didn’t complete the sentence, but Marie was already nodding along. “The world, our right to exist, life…everything we can ever conceive of is at stake. And yet, insufficient effort — or selfish motives — may prove to be our downfall yet. This is disappointing on so many levels that…”

She exhaled slowly. “This is unbelievable.”

“You can say that again.”

A few more problems cropped up over the next two hours, and by the time Marie had sent Augustus away from the fifth time, Aziz was beginning to feel an urge to beat up General Ishtar. Augustus had also run himself ragged; the poor fellow had made multiple round trips to the interior defence lines.

Something like this would have been better avoided if the military model Displays had been issued to the First Aerial Division, but the East had insisted on receiving their share first. With the remaining sets only with Major Hans — who was already leading a team to double-check the terrain conditions — and the other battalion commanders, Augustus had to relay orders the old-fashioned way.

“We’ll have him swap out with Schnee if he comes running by again,” said Marie.

“Probably a good idea,” Aziz, who was now checking the geographical data the Assembly had produced, replied without looking up. “Pen, please.”

“Here you go.” Marie, who was doing the same thing, passed the pen over. “What did you spot now?”

“Hans reported that there’s actually a sizable boulder in the middle of E8. That makes this the fifteenth mistake in that grid alone,” Aziz replied. “How about you?”

“F8 also has similar issues.” Marie sighed. “We’re just asking them to check on two columns on our freaking map, but to think that they were falsifying data…if we didn’t double check, we might have taken casualties.”

Aziz wondered if the Assembly was intending for that to happen. Their less-than-satisfactory preparations and quality of work had disproportionate effects on the immediate response teams, which were mainly from the East and the Republic. No matter how he looked at it, the Assembly definitely had a motive to trip them up, since they had historical grievances with the East, who had attacked them right after the Second Extermination, and the Republic, who had built itself up on occupied land.

“We should, for now, assume that every bit of intelligence the Assembly has provided to be underreported or inaccurate,” Marie murmured.

Aziz glanced at her in surprise. “I was thinking that too, but you even dared to say it out loud. Impressive.”

“Nothing much impressive about this,” Marie replied. “I’ll write a report upwards about all these, and then include my thoughts and observations about it. Now that’ll be impressive.”

“Assuming we don’t get overrun in the next few days, that is.”

“Stop jinxing it, you idiot. Weren’t you the one who said things were too boring earlier?” Marie rolled her eyes. “Come to think of it, I think the Great Divide even started shaking right after you uttered those words.”

“That was a coincidence,” Aziz replied. “Don’t look at me like that; I was as surprised as anyone else.”

After exchanging some taunts with each other, the two reluctantly returned to their main task of verifying data. Fortunately, the Great Divide hadn’t torn apart yet, but given how it was buckling and glowing madly, it didn’t look like it could hold for much longer.

Gritting their teeth, Aziz and Marie continued to work into the evening.