It began at dawn—no warning, no sirens. Just the heavy hum of engines and the sky cracking open with drone fire.
The Nest, once a quiet stronghold buried beneath the husk of a burned-out metro station, was under siege.
Government forces had found them.
Kirion was already moving when the first blast hit. Dust rained from the ceiling. Lights flickered. Voices shouted over comms. Somewhere above, concrete fractured like ice.
"All exits breached. We're locked in," said Ayo, blood running down his temple.
"No," Kirion said, calm despite the chaos. "They're locked in with us."
The resistance moved with precision born of pain. Kirion had drilled them for this—exit routes mapped, traps set, fallback zones prepared. But this was more than a drill.
This was war.
Outside, the streets flooded with armored troops and surveillance drones. Inside, Kirion led the charge with makeshift barricades and pressure mines, directing fire teams through collapsed tunnels and flame-lit corridors.
His daughter worked in tandem, fingers dancing across holo-keys, redirecting security gates, blacking out government comms, and triggering false movements on enemy scanners.
But it wasn't enough.
The enemy knew them. Moved like they expected them. Kirion's mind raced—someone had betrayed The Nest.
He filed that rage away.
Now was the time for survival.
Explosions shook the main hall. Screams echoed. Medics scrambled. Ayo collapsed beside him, gasping, "We're not making it out."
Kirion grabbed his rifle and pulled him upright. "We're not dying here. Not today."
He activated the fallback code.
"Section Echo—collapse the south wall."
A thunderous crack. Then silence.
Dust and blood.
Then breathing.
From behind smoke, a path opened—an old train shaft, cleared by the collapse.
Kirion led the wounded out, dragging Ayo beside him. His daughter stayed back, eyes locked on her terminal, fingers still flying.
"You go," she said. "I've got three minutes to erase our trail."
He hesitated. Then nodded.
Three minutes later, she emerged from the smoke. Ash streaked her face. Fire lit her eyes.
They had survived.
The Nest was gone.
But so was the illusion of safety.
Now, they would build something stronger—above ground.
No more hiding.
The war had come to them.
Now, they were taking it back.