The dawn arrived cold and silent.
Elias Thorne stood at the northern wall of the mountain fortress, Grimm and Ash flanking him. Beyond the rise, dust curled above the horizon. The enemy was coming.
Not a raiding party.
Not a patrol.
An army.
The White Dawn was determined to erase them.
But Elias had survived too long—and lost too much—to bow.
---
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS EARLIER
In the fortress's lower assembly hall, the survivors gathered.
Thirty-seven fighters, workers, and defectors.
Eight newly rescued test subjects.
And the two loyal beasts at Elias's side.
Sara displayed a map on a cracked projector screen. "They'll come from the north and east. Satellite recon shows heavy transports, drone carriers, infantry columns."
Isaac leaned forward. "We can't outrun them. Not with the injured and the children."
Elias nodded. "Then we won't run."
The room hushed.
"We fortify. We fight."
---
THE PLAN
The fortress had advantages.
Three narrow entrances: north gate, east breach, and maintenance tunnels west.
Thick walls, remnants of old military construction.
High ground.
Caches of old weaponry—scarce, but enough.
Elias divided his people into three defense teams:
1. Chambers and a squad at the east breach.
2. Isaac with the west tunnel defenses.
3. Elias, Grimm, Ash, and volunteers at the north gate.
Sara would oversee the electromagnetic disruptors salvaged from the Aurora Branca's tech.
---
NIGHT BEFORE THE SIEGE
The survivors worked through the night.
Barricades constructed from debris, steel panels, and sandbags.
Improvised explosives planted at chokepoints.
Firing positions reinforced.
Children too young to fight helped carry ammunition, water, and supplies.
In the mess hall, Chambers distributed rifles, body armor, and tactical belts.
Some hands trembled as they took the weapons.
Others held firm.
Elias moved among them, offering few words—but his calm presence steadied them.
"You'll not fight alone," he told one young mechanic. "We stand together. Always."
---
DAWN
The first enemy drones appeared before sunrise.
Silent. Observing. Marking targets.
Elias ordered no shots fired. Not yet.
By midday, dust clouds marked the enemy's arrival.
---
THE WHITE DAWN'S FORCE
Two infantry battalions.
Six armored personnel carriers.
Siege drones.
Unknown experimental units.
And at the rear, a black command transport bearing the emblem of the new commander: Volrek.
---
THE FIRST WAVE
The White Dawn launched suppressants first—hybrid soldiers spliced with artificial musculature and chemical rage.
They charged the northern wall.
Elias gave the order. "Now."
Chambers detonated the first line of mines.
Fire erupted beneath the leading suppressants. Limbs and bodies scattered.
Rifle fire followed. Grimm and Ash darted from cover, striking flanks with brutal efficiency.
The first wave broke within minutes.
But more came.
---
EAST BREACH
At the eastern gap, Chambers's squad faced infantry with riot shields and stun batons.
Hand-to-hand combat erupted.
Chambers herself disarmed one soldier and used his own baton to drive him back.
Explosives planted earlier collapsed part of the breach, forcing the enemy to reroute.
Small victories.
Costly victories.
---
WESTERN TUNNELS
Isaac's team intercepted an infiltration squad using the maintenance tunnels.
Gunfire echoed in the stone corridors.
Two defenders fell. But the enemy was repelled.
---
MIDDAY
The siege intensified.
The White Dawn brought siege drones—hulking machines with battering arms.
Sara activated the disruptors.
The drones staggered, systems fried by electromagnetic pulses.
One collapsed, crushing soldiers beneath it.
The survivors cheered.
But then the enemy unleashed something worse.
---
THE CHILDREN
From the transport emerged figures in modified combat harnesses.
Children. Teenagers. Augmented. Controlled.
Weapons fused to their arms.
They were not soldiers.
They were tools.
The defenders froze.
Isaac whispered, "We can't shoot them."
---
Elias's Decision
Elias's chest tightened.
He remembered the labs. The failed experiments. The faces of those who had begged for release.
"I will not become what they are," he said.
"No one fires."
---
THE COUNTERMEASURE
Sara's team recalibrated the disruptors, targeting the implants controlling the children.
The pulse activated.
The augmented children collapsed, clutching their heads.
Some rose—turning against their handlers.
The White Dawn's ranks fell into chaos.
---
THE SECOND WAVE
Volrek ordered direct assault.
Armored vehicles surged forward.
Suppressants rallied.
Elias led a countercharge.
Grimm and Ash harried the flanks. Chambers coordinated sniper fire.
Isaac rallied the engineers with improvised molotovs and grenade launchers.
---
LOSSES
By late afternoon, five defenders lay dead.
Three more wounded.
But the enemy had lost dozens—and momentum.
---
VOLREK'S GAMBIT
As darkness fell, Volrek advanced his final weapon: Subject E-010.
A clone of Elias. Enhanced. Engineered for perfection.
The clone moved like a ghost, breaching the northern wall.
---
THE CONFRONTATION
Elias faced his mirror in the ruined courtyard.
The clone spoke no words.
It attacked.
Grimm and Ash circled warily, seeking openings.
Steel clashed. Flesh bruised. Gunfire roared.
The clone was faster. Stronger.
But Elias had something the clone lacked.
Purpose.
Pain.
Memories.
---
THE TURNING POINT
Grimm leapt, locking jaws on the clone's leg.
Ash struck from behind, unbalancing the enemy.
Elias capitalized, driving his blade into the clone's side.
The clone faltered.
Elias whispered, "You are not me."
One final shot to the head ended it.
---
VOLREK'S RETREAT
Seeing his champion fall, Volrek ordered a retreat.
Elias wasn't satisfied.
He pursued.
---
THE PURSUIT AND CLIFFHANGER
Elias, Grimm, and Ash chased Volrek to the edge of the battlefield.
Volrek's command vehicle accelerated.
Elias leapt atop it.
Grimm and Ash followed.
Volrek drew a pistol.
"You've already lost," Volrek snarled.
Elias answered with silence—and steel.
The vehicle swerved.
A gunshot rang.
Darkness.