"You audacious madman! How dare you commit violence here!"
Commander Orion Knox stormed forward with a thunderous shout, his sidearm leveled squarely at Gideon. The veins in his neck stood out like cords, his face flushed crimson with fury.
Gideon remained utterly composed. When Elias Vance gave him a subtle shake of the head, he stayed his hand and settled back into a posture of coiled readiness.
"Get on your knees this instant and surrender! I might just spare your worthless lives!" Knox roared, his eyes bloodshot. Two of his most trusted men lay in uncertain fate, and beneath the shock, grief and rage churned through him in equal measure.
Elias regarded him with icy detachment. "Who gave you the authority to assume command of the 24th Division's operations? And who authorized you to
