Chapter 7
Dayne glanced at Riley.
“She engaged danger close without my clearance.”
Riley did not move.
General Harris looked at the communications officer.
“Play the audio.”
Dayne’s face changed.
Just slightly.
But Riley saw it.
The speaker crackled.
His own voice filled the tent.
“Send any jet—anything!”
Then Riley’s voice.
“Confirm marking smoke.”
Then Dayne.
“Tusker Zero-Four, hold pattern.”
Then the sergeant in the background.
“Sir, we’ve got friendlies tight on the wall!”
Then Dayne’s voice again.
“I know where my men are!”
The room stayed silent as the recording continued.
Riley’s calm reports.
Dayne’s panic.
The sergeant taking over communication.
The A-10 saving the southern wall.
Every second of it.
When it ended, nobody looked at Dayne with fear anymore.
Only disappointment.
General Harris turned to the screen behind him.
“Now the drone feed.”
The video played.
The southern riverbed appeared from above.
Enemy fighters moving exactly where Riley had warned they would.
The outpost wall collapsing.
Dayne’s reserve team positioned too far east.
The gap he had refused to close.
Then the morning briefing footage appeared.
Riley standing beside the map.
Her voice clear.
“Sir, your southern approach is exposed.”
Dayne’s voice followed.
“This is a ground operation, Captain. Not an air show.”
One officer lowered his eyes.
Another clenched his jaw.
The footage continued.
Any jet can scare men with rifles.
The words hung in the tent like smoke.
Dayne looked at the screen as if it had betrayed him.
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But the screen had only told the truth.
Read Part 8 to see the moment the arrogant colonel finally lost command.
