Dianna stood waiting in the sterile and stark corridor outside the meeting room, surrounded by cold concrete walls that lacked any form of decoration. The Protectorate was not known for its fancy style or creativity. Here, there was no room for second-guessing or estimation. Numbers were everything, and Dianna took pride in her ability to excel in this area. Yet, three days ago, her confidence had been shaken.

As she stood there, taking deep breaths, Weston, a greying veteran in his late 50s, approached. Wisdom lines were etched into his weathered face, and his steady gaze and calm demeanor had long been an anchor for Dianna.

"You've got this," he said, trying to reassure her.

She stood almost as tall as he did, only a couple of inches below six feet, but this was not one of those times when she could use her height as an intimidation tactic. Although poised and intelligent, she lacked the years of experience in dealing with losses that her mentor seemed to carry with ease.

Things had never gone wrong for her before. Not by this much. In her line of work, the margin for error was minute, with devastating consequences. Even then, given the data, she had always been able to make an educated decision with enough room to wiggle. A category four hurricane was something she should have seen coming, miles away, both literally and figuratively.

Dianna's usually sharp green eyes clouded with uncertainty. "What if they think I'm unqualified? I mean, I didn't even get to do my final year at the university. They could take my license-"

Weston placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You uncovered the truth of what actually happened, and that's what matters most. You run the numbers, and I know your answer was the best we could have gotten from any of our top analysts. Have confidence in your work."

His words grounded Dianna, and her posture straightened. "Guess I'll show them the evidence and let them decide."

Weston smiled, pride in his protégé evident. "Exactly. Numbers don't lie, remember?"

Dianna took a deep, steadying breath, smiling back. "Thanks, Weston. You always manage to talk some sense into me."

He winked at her. "Once again, you've got this. I'll be right out here."

She made her way to the front of the room, facing three serious Generals who had come from across Kentauri to make a decision on how the country should respond to the Tarzar incident. She winced when she saw General Lenishkov, warden of the eastern territories, scrolling through her staff file. He had not even looked up when she entered.

She cleared her throat.

"I understand that based on the destruction of the northern border outpost, everyone expects retaliation in response to a potential attack on our country," she began, cutting straight to the point. "However, before you make any decisions, you need to know exactly what happened, and what you should do."

"Our decision will be our own," General Lenishkov said, still flipping through her file, this time at one of her past risk analysis reports.

"A Scout team sent out to the northern outpost reported a Blood storm, about a week into their arrival," Dianna explained, tapping the table they sat around. A 3D projection of heavy clouds, high trees, and the northern outpost appeared in the air. "Blood storms are common in the area due to the warm oceans and high humidity. All simulations predicted that the outpost was not in any danger. Even so, the shield cores around Tarzar were activated in case of anything."

"If the storm started to grow in size and speed, the protocol was to evacuate the outpost and to activate the shields, which would take enough of the hit that most of Tarzar would be safe." Dianna continued, creating a wall of light around the outpost to match the perimeter shields. "This did eventually happen, but the hurricane grew and changed direction faster than we predicted."

Lenishkov interrupted once more, "Isn't your job to predict all possible outcomes?"

Dianna responded calmly, "With all due respect, Sir, we cannot predict all possible outcomes. Based on the data we have, we prioritize the scenarios that are most likely. All signs pointed to the storm dying out before even reaching the outer edges of the outpost."

"Why wasn't the outpost evacuated then?" the Southern General asked. His voice was firm, yet held none of the contempt the Eastern General carried.

Dianna explained, "The hurricane was moving far too quickly. Transport ships from our nearest base would not have arrived in time, and not even titan dragons would have been willing to fly in that weather."

Having answered his question, he nodded for her to go on.

"At this point, the odds were high that the outpost would be entirely destroyed. Safety protocols recommended that all personnel get into the bunkers below the outpost."

Lady Maki, warden of the west, raised an inquisitive finger and pointed down to the outpost design on the table before her.

"Underground bunkers are not part of the architectural blueprints for other command outposts, as far as I know," she said.

"The Northern outpost was constructed in place of an old nuclear power plant, and the bunkers were part of the power plant," Dianna replied. "The shield cores were made from the reactor cores taken from the plant."

Dianna saw realization dawn on most of the General's faces as they murmured amongst themselves.

She continued, "We know that what happened at the northern border was a nuclear explosion, but it might have simply been an unfortunate accident."

Dianna tapped the table again, and a scene of four groups of humanoid figures moving toward the three shield towers that faced the hurricane appeared.

"Four teams were sent out to reinforce the northern perimeter shield cores in an effort to reduce the damage dealt to the outpost and the city. Chances are that they went without their dragons and instead relied on channeling their affinities through the bonds they shared," Dianna explained. "We believe the core was struck by a lightning bolt, making it go critical. Our Storm riders were unable to divert the lightning for reasons that are still unclear. In the next moment, the command outpost was gone from our satellite images."

"What do you mean gone?" Lady Maki asked, sitting up.

Dianna demonstrated by letting the outpost drop onto the table, sizzling until all the light was gone.

"Buildings, ships, and people within a kilometer of the core would have all been incinerated, considering the initial explosion would have caused all the other four to go critical," Dianna replied.

"A thermal pulse from that fireball would have then spread outward, causing even more destruction and loss of life."

Dianna's voice was barely above a whisper but the silence in the room was so deafening that her words came out much louder than they should have.

"Anything flammable within that distance would inevitably start to burn. Wood, plastic, clothes, and skin," Dianna added, "An explosive bubble of hot compressed air would have been formed, with winds faster and stronger than even the hurricane we were worried about."

The South General looked like he was about to throw up as he stared at the empty seat opposite his, where the Northern General would have been.

"Most civilian buildings in Tarzar would have collapsed from those winds, trapping thousands. The same winds would have caused a wave of fire that burned everyone trapped or trying to flee."

"Surely not everyone in Tarzar is dead? Kentauri has survived earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. No matter the category of disaster, we can still do something to help." Lady Maki pointed out.

"This is different Ma'am," Dianna told her. She waved her hand and the light drained into a gap at the edge of the table. "There are thousands of people with serious injuries, and in the days to come, thousands more will die from those injuries. Countless are still trapped under the rubble, terrified and confused with no idea what happened or why."

"Those unhurt by the explosion by some chance would have been poisoned by the radioactive ash falling all over Tarzar. The ones who received the highest doses of exposure would have died before help arrived, and even when it did, the radioactive contamination makes it so the aid ships cannot get too close."

"So are we doing anything?"

Dianna took a deep breath. "At the moment, we have ships and dragons trying to stop the fires, clear the air, and move the rubble but the neighboring city corps are underequipped and overwhelmed by a disaster of this magnitude."

"We aren't prepared to deal with this sort of catastrophe and potentially go into a war at the same time, "she continued. "If we divert resources to war, we leave Tarzar on its own."

"So, you recommend we sit and wait for them to attack us again?" General Lenishkov said as he got to his feet. "The troops in Tarzar were deployed to stamp out pirates and rebels entirely. They were attacked."

"With all due respect Sir, as I mentioned earlier, this might not have been an attack," Dianna told him calmly.

"I'm more than twice your age. I led war rooms while you were still learning to count." He answered back sharply, his gravelly voice betraying his impatience. "I want proof, not predictions. If you are wrong, we're all bound to suffer the same fate as Tarzar. Count the Eastern territories out of whatever this is meant to be. We will not be caught off guard."

With that, he turned and left, a loud screech announcing the departure of him and his dragon.

General Kylian, warden of the south, the youngest of the group, spoke up. "He has a point. I also think it was an attack. But what about the aftermath?" he asked. "Yes, we do need to send aid but we cannot stop at that. We need to have a long-term plan in place."

Lady Maki nodded in agreement, her expression softening. "I know you're hurting," she said to him. "But he was as much your friend as he was mine. We have a duty to act, but we must also be prudent."

She then turned her focus back to Dianna.

"The Western territories will provide every hand at our disposal to help," she said, her voice controlled and unwavering. "Thank you, Miss Rolf, your report was enlightening."

Dianna nodded in acceptance as the woman turned and left, head held high. Her territories were the smallest and would not be able to do much more than the North currently could. Even as she said it, she would have known it would not be enough. At least one more territory would need to provide resources for the survivors in Tarzar to have a chance.

"Sir?" Dianna prompted. "I need your decision."

He looked up at her.

"I need to see for myself first."