Washington D.C., Office of Military Integration – 0930 Hours
The walls were lined with flat screens—news reports, social media feeds, live military briefings. All of them were playing the same twenty-second video clip.
A Titan Mk-I suit sprinting across a dusty battlefield in Northern Mali. Rifle up. Smoke in the background. One clean, coordinated takedown. The footage was blurry and jumpy, but unmistakable.
General Isaac Hayes folded his arms and watched it loop again. His aide, Major Collins, hovered beside him with a folder tucked under one arm.
"Sir," Collins said, "the footage is all over the net. Hashtag saturation in thirty countries. We're getting flooded with foreign intelligence inquiries. Everyone wants to know what it is."
Hayes sighed. "It's too late to control the narrative."
Collins nodded. "Yes, sir. But the White House wants a full brief by noon. And the Joint Chiefs are pushing for a rollout roadmap."