THE DEAN'S ASSASSIN
We checked our remaining gear, two sidearms, four magazines, a combat knife, and a single thermite charge and began our rapid descent down the loose rock toward the floor of the crater.
Above us, high in the black void, a single red star glowed with unnatural intensity. It wasn't a planet. It was the lead orbital satellite of the Blackbriar constellation, adjusting its attitude thrusters as it locked its kinetic targeting arrays onto the financial heart of Western Europe.
As our boots hit the flat sand at the edge of the crater perimeter, a long, mechanical siren began to howl from the dish array.
WAAAAIL. WAAAAIL. WAAAAIL.