Date: 8:00 AM, April 1, 2025

  Location: Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado

  The inner sanctum of Cheyenne Mountain was a fortress within a fortress—steel-lined walls, blast doors triple-locked, a command hub buried deep beneath layers of rock. Sarah stumbled in behind Harrington and Kessler, her M16 hanging low, the air thick with dust and the tang of blood. The psychic hum pulsed—“Digging… closer…”—a relentless whisper from the Hive Tyrant, trapped but alive under the gate’s rubble. Her head ached, but she shoved it down, focusing on the now.

  Harrington strode to a central console, screens flickering—bio-ships still circled outside, their tendrils probing the sealed breach, while seismic sensors twitched below, the Trygon stirring in the collapsed depths. A dozen soldiers—Nguyen among them—followed, battered but standing, their faces etched with exhaustion. Civilians huddled in a corner, medics tending wounds, voices muted.

  “Status,” Harrington barked, hands on the console.

  Nguyen stepped up, tablet shaking in his grip. “Gate’s rubble’s holding—two hundred tons, but seismic’s climbing. Tyrant’s tunneling—eta unknown. Trygon’s deeper, level 15 maybe, clawing up. Outer defenses—30% turrets left, air wing’s down to one jet.”

  “And us?” Kessler asked, slinging her rifle, her eyes scanning the room.

  “Fifty troops, combat-ready,” Nguyen said. “Ammo’s low—half the RPGs gone, small arms thinning. Civvies—eighty, mostly unfit. Power’s at 70%, backup kicking in.”

  Harrington nodded, grim. “Bio-ships’ll hit again—gate’s a choke, but they’ll find a way. Inner doors—reinforce ‘em, mines, whatever we’ve got. Thompson, your head?”

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  Sarah rubbed her temple, the hum a low growl—“Patience… break…” “Tyrant’s alive—pissed, but waiting. Trygon’s moving faster—feels closer.” She hesitated, Jake’s echo flickering, faint—“Sarah…”—then gone. “My brother’s still in there, somewhere.”

  “Useful if it warns us,” Harrington said, no softness. “Rest, all of you—ten minutes, then positions. Kessler, Nguyen—rig the tunnels. We hold here.”

  Sarah sank onto a crate, Kessler beside her, both breathing hard. The sanctum buzzed—soldiers hauling steel plates, welding sparks flying, a tech rebooting a flickering screen. She gripped her rifle, Vasquez’s last grin flashing—gone, like Rodriguez, Hayes. “We’re running out,” she muttered.

  “Yeah,” Kessler said, voice low. “Bodies, bullets, time. But we’ve got this far.”

  “Barely.” Sarah’s eyes drifted to the civilians—a girl, maybe ten, clutching a torn blanket, staring blankly. “For them?”

  “For us,” Kessler corrected. “They’re a bonus.”

  A rumble shook the floor—faint, deep. Soldiers froze, rifles up, Harrington spinning to the seismic screen—spikes, sharp, rising. “Trygon,” he growled. “Level 12—too damn fast.”

  Sarah’s hum surged—“Up… now…”—her stomach dropping. “It’s here—right below!”

  The floor cracked, concrete splitting—a Trygon’s claw punched through, massive, serrated, followed by its snarling maw. Soldiers shouted, firing—bullets sparked off its hide, useless. Kessler yanked Sarah back as it erupted, tail lashing, crushing a tech against the wall, blood spraying.

  “RPGs!” Harrington yelled, grabbing a pistol, firing at its eyes—ichor splashed, but it roared, tendrils snapping. Nguyen ran, hefting a launcher—fired, the rocket slamming its flank, rocking it back, rubble falling.

  Sarah fired her M16, aiming for the gash—bullets sank in, slowing it. Kessler lobbed a grenade—it exploded under its belly, ichor gushing, and it screeched, retreating into the hole, tail whipping as it vanished. The floor settled, cracked but holding, silence ringing.

  “Seal it!” Harrington ordered, soldiers rushing with steel plates, welders sparking. He turned to Sarah, panting. “Good call—saved us seconds.”

  “Barely,” she said, echoing her own words, rifle trembling. The hum pulsed—“More…”—Trygon alive, Tyrant waiting. Jake’s whisper flickered—“Help…”—weak, desperate.

  Kessler reloaded, grim. “Round two’s coming.”

  Harrington nodded, staring at the sealed hole. “And we’re still here.”

  For now.