The Final Stand. Rise of the Deceiver, #4

The night doesn't end quietly. It rips open. The Dominion's sirens scream through the shattered streetslike a warning from a dying beast. Floodlights slice through thefog as armored patrols swarm the ruins of what used to be a freecity. Every breath tastes like smoke and rust. My heartbeat istoo loud in my ears-steady, fast, ready. We're not hiding anymore. The Remnant stands scattered across the old bridge, facesstreaked with ash, eyes burning with the kind of fire thatno propaganda can snuff out.
Below, the black river churns, dragging broken machines downstream like bones in a current."Positions!" I hiss into the comm clipped to my collar. My voicedoesn't shake. Not anymore.