POV: Ryker

The first contact is not a probe.

It is a full commitment against the western approach of the unsigned corridor, timed to the hour the shared intercepts said the network would try to recover the initiative. They come in two waves: a fast outer screen of contractors meant to fix our attention, and a heavier second line that moves as if it expects the screen to buy them a breach.

They are wrong about the buy.

I am on the low ridge with the northern tracker and two of our own leads when the outer screen hits the prepared markers. The regional authorization is no longer a document....