The hologram of the swirling blue energy still hung in the air, a silent, beautiful threat. The leaders were deep in a heated, circular argument.
"Your 'adaptive approach' is theft and chaos!" Dr. Thorne snapped at Seth. "We need a structured, phased penetration of the defense matrix. My engineers can map the field's frequency, but we'll need raw muscle to draw fire from the autonomous sentries it generates."
"You'll use my people as cannon fodder for your mapping?!" Magnus boomed, his face red. "Not a chance. Ironblood leads the assault. Your techies can follow behind and 'study' the corpses of the constructs after we smash them."
Seth shook his head, a cynical smile on his face. "You're both thinking like you're storming a castle. It's not a castle. It's a living thing. You don't beat it, you trick it, you slip past it. My scouts have watched its patrol patterns. There are pulses, lulls. We go in during the lulls."
