Chapter 1: Reset
She remembered fire.
The world collapsed around her. Screams, betrayal, the cold eyes of the man she once loved. And then—
Light.
And silence.
---
April 5th, 2145.
Lena woke with a start, gasping for breath.
Her hand clutched the sheets, chest heaving like she'd just crawled out of the depths of death itself. Her eyes darted around the room—the familiar neatness of her dorm, the pristine Republic Academy uniform hung beside the door.
She stumbled to her feet, rushing to the desk. The calendar stared back at her.
April 5th.
Her pulse roared in her ears. Her reflection caught in the mirror—young again. Seventeen. Her silver hair still long, uncut. Her body still untouched by the weight of command and war.
This was before everything.
Before she was made the handler of Spearhead.
Before Shin.
Before she was destroyed.
"…I came back," she whispered.
Tears burned at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them away. There was no time to fall apart.
This wasn't a dream.
It was a second chance.
And this time, she wouldn't look away.
This time, she'd fight from the start.
---
Evening – The Milizé Estate
The fireplace flickered gently in the study. Vaclav Milizé, tall and quiet, looked up from his chair as Lena entered.
"You're home early," he said, setting aside a half-read report.
"I needed to talk to you," Lena replied, her voice calm and deliberate.
Vaclav raised an eyebrow. He studied her face for a moment—there was something different about her. Her gaze was steadier. Older.
"Go on."
She hesitated. "Do you believe the official reports about the Eighty-Six?"
Vaclav didn't speak right away. His eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you believe?"
"I think they're lies. Sanitized. I think there's something they're not telling us."
Vaclav rose from his chair and crossed the room. He unlocked a drawer Lena had never seen him open in her life. From it, he pulled a small, encrypted data drive.
"I've kept this hidden for years," he said quietly. "It's unofficial. Suppressed. But it's real."
Lena took the drive carefully, her hands steady.
"You knew," she said.
"I've always known," Vaclav replied. "But knowing isn't enough. Not here. You have to learn when to speak, when to act, and when to wait."
She nodded slowly.
"If you want to change anything, Lena… do it quietly. And do it smart."
---
Late Night – Her Room, Republic Military Academy
Lena sat on her bed, the drive clutched in her hands. She hadn't plugged it in yet. Part of her feared what she'd find. Not because she already knew—but because seeing it again, with fresh eyes, would make it real.
But she would face it.
Not as a naive student. Not as the girl who once believed in clean wars and honorable orders.
She was no longer that girl.
And no one needed to know. Not yet.
She wouldn't speak out.
This time, she would watch.
And wait for the right moment to move.
Because she already knew how it ended.
And she'd burn this system to the ground before it repeated.
---
End of Chapter 1