Chapter 206 Tension In the Control Room (1)
Another officer approached the command station at a brisk pace before stopping beside the map table.
"Commander, the eastern wall is requesting permission to transfer two heavy machine gun teams from the western reserve."
"Approved," Margaret answered before Rowan had the chance to speak.
The officer instinctively turned toward Rowan, waiting for the confirmation he had been receiving throughout the battle.
Rowan finally lifted his eyes from the map. "Leave them where they are."
The officer froze, his gaze shifting uncertainly between the two of them as the conversations around the command station gradually died away.
Margaret turned toward Rowan, the faint smile on her face disappearing. "I’ve already approved the request."
"I heard you," Rowan replied calmly.
She held his gaze. "Then why are you overruling my order?"
"I’m protecting the integrity of our defense," he answered evenly as he rested one hand on the map. "The eastern wall is asking for reinforcements because they’re under pressure, but moving heavy weapons from the western line creates a weakness we may not be able to recover from."
Margaret folded her arms across her chest before glancing toward the western battlefield. "The western wall is barely fighting anymore."
"Anything can happen."
Her brows drew together slightly as she looked back at him. "You keep saying that. Explain."
Without another word, Rowan stepped beside the map and rested his finger on the western sector before tracing the ridgeline overlooking the fortress.
"These hills create dead ground. Our watchtowers can’t see beyond them, and neither can the laser batteries. If the monsters regroup behind this ridge, we won’t know until they come over it."
Margaret lowered her eyes to the map before lifting them toward the darkness beyond the western wall. "But that’s only a possibility."
"It is," Rowan admitted, "but it’s the only direction we cannot observe. Everywhere else, we can see the enemy advancing long before they reach the walls. Here, we lose that advantage."
She continued looking toward the western hills stretching across the darkness. Nothing moved beyond them. The laser weapons swept across the open ground from time to time, occasionally firing at a lone monster, but no large wave appeared.
"If they were gathering," Margaret asked without taking her eyes off the battlefield, "wouldn’t our scouts have reported it?"
"They can’t."
She turned back to him. "Why not?"
"They’d have to leave the safety of the walls and cross open ground to reach those hills." Rowan met her eyes without hesitation. "By the time they confirmed what was hiding there, they wouldn’t make it back."
Margaret remained silent, studying the map once more before another officer hurried toward the command table.
"Captain, the northern defense line is requesting another platoon. Their first line has been fighting continuously for almost forty minutes."
"They rotate with the second line," Rowan answered.
"They already have."
"The third line." Rowan replied.
"They’ve already committed them as well."
A faint crease appeared between Rowan’s brows. "They’ll have to hold."
The officer hesitated before speaking again. "Captain... they’re beginning to lose ground."
Margaret looked toward him immediately. "How many requests have we received from the northern wall?"
"This is the fourth."
"And the eastern wall?" She asked.
"The third."
She nodded slowly before dismissing the officer with a glance, then looked back at Rowan. "Meanwhile, the western wall hasn’t requested anything."
"It hasn’t requested anything because the reserve is still there."
"They’re standing behind the barricades..." Margaret argued. She couldn’t understand why he was so stubborn.
Margaret took a slow step closer. "For an attack that hasn’t happened."
"For an attack we only get one chance to stop." Rowan shot back, his brows almost meeting. That moment he realized how thoughtful and tactful Laurel was, he wished she was in the fortress so he wouldn’t need to deal with this drama.
The two of them now stood on opposite sides of the map table.
"Captain Rowan," Margaret said calmly, "every commander on every other wall is asking for reinforcements while the western reserve remains untouched. At some point, caution becomes hesitation."
Rowan didn’t react to the criticism. His eyes remained on the map for another moment before he finally looked up.
"At some point," he replied in the same calm tone, "moving reserves because nothing is happening is exactly how you create the opening the enemy has been waiting for."
Margaret looked toward the western battlefield once more. The reserve platoons remained behind the barricades, watching the darkness while soldiers on the northern wall continued reporting casualties.
Every report arriving at the command station painted the same picture. The northern and eastern sectors were exhausting both their ammunition and manpower, while the western line remained quiet, and even the latest transmission reported that enemy activity continued to decrease.
She drew a slow breath before making her decision. "Captain Rowan."
"Yes, Commander."
"I’m reallocating the reserve. Withdraw two reserve platoons from the western line and reinforce the northern and eastern sectors."
The command station fell silent as several officers stopped writing, the radio operators looked up from their equipment, and even the soldiers standing guard turned toward Rowan, waiting to see how he would respond.
He held Margaret’s gaze for several long moments before speaking. "Commander, I strongly advise against that order."
Margaret met his eyes without wavering. "The western line is secure."
"It only appears secure."
"The reports support my decision." Margaret argued, her eyes burning.
"The reports only tell us what the soldiers can see." Rowan tried to reason.
"And that’s enough for me." She said with finality, giving him no room to counteract her words.
Rowan lowered his eyes to the map, his fingers resting lightly against its edge as he weighed his next move.
’If I refuse now, I won’t just be questioning her judgment,’ he thought inwardly. ’Every officer standing here will watch the chain of command fracture in the middle of a battle, and once that happens, panic will spread through the fortress long before the monsters ever reach the walls.’
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly as he reached for the radio, but before pressing the transmit button, he lifted his head one last time and looked toward the western hills.
The darkness beyond the ridgeline remained completely still, with no monsters appearing, no movement catching his eye, and no warning coming from the watchtowers, yet the silence itself left an uneasy feeling in his chest that he couldn’t explain.
’Please let me be wrong.’
He pressed the transmit button. "Western command, redeploy two reserve platoons to reinforce the northern and eastern sectors. Maintain the barricades with the remaining forces and report any change immediately."
For several long seconds, only static answered him before a voice finally came through the radio. "Understood, Captain."
Rowan slowly lowered the receiver. The order had been given, and from this moment onward all he could do was watch the western hills and hope his instincts had failed him for the first time.