First day of the Mock War.
No more than seven hours had passed, and everything had gone to hell already.
Loud explosions were shaking the sky, and bright lances of light were raining down from the heavens in front of him.
That told Michael everything he needed to know about how the orderly and calculated start of this conflict was going to go.
They had carried on with their plan.
They had launched a complete offensive onto the three bridges and taken Thalia's forces, who were expecting a much smaller reconnaissance skirmish, utterly by surprise.
Michael and the men he had personally chosen for his platoon had been camping in the shadow of the dense trees on the eastern edge of the Great Divide.
It was a long wait until the clock finally hit 12:00 PM.
Then, as if on cue, a transport airplane buzzed by from above and dropped a large supply crate right onto the center of the bridge in front of them.
His responsibility was Bridge C — the easternmost causeway.
