ElaraThe tactical office of the Crescent Warriors was a subterranean fortress of steel, humming servers, and flickering blue holographic screens. Located three levels below the high council chambers, it was completely cut off from the residential luxury of the upper suites. The air down here tasted of cold metal, ozone, and the crisp, electronic data streams that monitored every single square kilometer of our mountainous territory.Kaelen and I stood side by side before the central command console. The dark, reinforced Kevlar plates of our tactical armor brushed together with a dull, heavy click as we leaned over the glass digital interface. Marcus was stationed at the auxiliary terminal, his long fingers moving across the holographic keyboard with a synchronized, rapid discipline that kept our internal encryption block locked tight."The extraction is ninety-eight percent complete, Alpha," Marcus reported, his voice dropping into a flat, professional register that echoed off the rei
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