The tunnel reeked of ozone and burnt earth, its narrow walls throwing every sound back twice as loud. Clashing, screaming, the wet crack of something breaking that Hannah chose not to identify.
"This is madness," she muttered, pressing her back against a nearby wall. "We weren't prepared for this."
This wasn't a First-grade Rift at all.
She and Ethan had been sent as escorts, nothing more. Hold the perimeter, wait for C-Dust to neutralize the rift, then move on to the second site.
The kind of assignment you give capable people when you don't actually need them.
Except C-Dust had walked into something nobody briefed anyone about, and three of their people were already dead.
"Commander!" someone shouted from inside.
"Don't fall back, Stacy." The C-Dust commander's voice cut through the noise with the particular flatness of someone spending composure they couldn't afford. "Move forward. Keep supporting the strike team."
Stacy, the healer, pushed forward.
