POV: Ayla

The second wave does not wait for the corridor to finish counting its dead.

I am in the command overlay with Caius when the western approach lights up again—heavier than the first commitment, less interested in testing density, more interested in breaking the regional line before the shared authorization can harden into something permanent. The network has decided the unsigned country will not be rewritten without a full answer.

Ryker’s voice cuts through the channel, raw with the work already done. “They are coming in depth. Not a screen. A push. Northern center is holding. Coastal flank is taking weight. We need the high sight lines to stay...