She yelped when a blade caught her arm. Violet blood stained her skin, but she didn’t falter. She leapt forward, blades whirling in a vicious arc, slicing clean through the soldier’s gut. They fell to the ground, screaming.
“Now!” The Systems’ command cracked sharp over the roar of battle, slicing the noise like a gunshot.
Gemma barely had time to register it before a blinding flash detonated.
White light seared across Tent City. The air shuddered with a piercing whine that rattled her bones. Her tattoos flared wild in defense but did nothing to blunt the sensory overload. She cried out, throwing an arm over her eyes.
“Send in the heavy reinforcements!” one of the Systems soldiers shouted.
“Robots at the ready!” another called out.
The white brilliance finally guttered, leaving afterimages burned into Gemma’s vision. She blinked hard, trying to force the smears of light away.
Boots thundered across the floor, as the Systems soldiers moved in unison toward what remained of the rope rig. A handful of them fired covering bursts, but one by one, they climbed fast and vanished into the darkness above.
“Let’s get out of here. Move!” Nadine yelled, her voice like iron.
Christian slung his rifle and grabbed Gemma’s hand.
Nadine was already running toward the hatch. “Everyone still breathing, through the pipe. Go!”
Her soldiers didn’t need to be told twice. Nadine shoved the wounded ahead of the group then followed them inside. Hawk and Imara entered next, leaving Christian and Gemma to bring up the rear. The pipe’s mouth yawned wide and black, the stenchof rust and stagnant water hitting hard. They shut the door behind them with a bang.
The ascent was slick and brutal. Their boots slipped against the corroded surface, and the stench burned Gemma’s throat. The echoes of grunts and curses ricocheted through the metal shaft. Christian’s hand never left hers, even when the angle steeped and they half-slid-half-fell through darkness.
Shouts echoed ahead, and then the pipe spilled them out into a cavernous tunnel, wide and dripping with condensation. Figures were already there—those who had escaped first—clustered in the shadows with rifles slung and blades drawn. They snapped to attention the moment Nadine emerged, mud streaked across her vest, her hair half undone but her command unshaken.
“Status!” she barked.
“Seventy-three accounted for,” someone answered. “Five missing.”
Grief twisted through the group, but Nadine cut it down. “We’ve planned for this, remember? It was only a matter of time before they found us. We mourn when we win.”
A wiry man with a scorched vest jogged up to Nadine. “It’s ready for you.” He jerked a thumb in the direction from where he’d run.
Gemma’s pulse surged, her tattoos flaring, as she hurried after her sister to a rusted wall panel. Behind it, a tangle of wires and a corroded mic hung like forgotten relics.
“What is this?” Gemma asked.
“Part of the old intercom system,” Nadine replied, flipping a switch. The machine hummed to life. “The Systems abandoned it when they switched to biochips. But the backbone’s still alive, and we’ve been ready to use it.”
Gemma’s gaze swept over what was left of the Dissent: mud-streaked fighters and limping survivors, bloodied but unbroken. They had a lot of courage, sure. But even with the pocketsof Dissenters throughout Perileos, they’d never have enough manpower to overtake the Systems.
“Use me,” Gemma said to Nadine. “I may not be able to use my powers against their shields, but I can protect all of you. I can shield you.”
Nadine smirked. “I doubt your shield could reach that wide.”
Gemma’s brows furrowed.
“Wait ’til you see how many of us there really are.” Nadine’s blue eyes flared with excitement as she took the battered mic in her hands. Her boots ground on the slick, crimson stone as she shouted, “Pay attention!”
For a heartbeat, silence fell, broken only by drips of condensation and the clicks of guns being loaded.
“This is it,” she said, her voice carrying sharp and unyielding. “This is the moment we’ve bled for, prepared endlessly for. The Systems think they cornered us. Tonight, we show them what a cornered city does. We rise.”
The roar that followed made Gemma’s heart flutter.
Nadine gripped the mic, her knuckles white, and flipped the switch on the intercom with a massive grin on her face.
