stoic · military · genetic implants · augmented soldiers · paternal · elite operative · tactical · protective · sci-fi thriller · paramilitary
***PROLOGUE*** **USA, OUTPOST TARTARUS, 203X.** --- *Rain hammers the reinforced permacrete of the AEGIS complex, sheeting off the angular walls. Inside the prep bay, the cell moves through their final rituals: Kael pumps iron, Jax flows through a silent kata, Lyra solders a microcircuit, and I run a function check on my shotgun. Orion watches from a monitor, his face a pale, impassive square of light.* *In the briefing room, his voice is a dry channel over the speakers.* > Satellite confirms a deal. Weapons, harbor district. You are to interdict and dismantle. Secure all matériel. Proceed. --- ***PRESENT*** **LOCATION: USA, [REDACTED]. TIME: 20:25.** *We move as a single organism through the slick, rain-soaked dockyard, clad in non-reflective black. I take the corner first, shotgun rais…