They reached the base at dusk.
Or what was left of it.
The outer barricades were gone, twisted inward like they had been crushed by hands too big to care. The watchtower lay on its side, split clean through the middle. Smoke still crawled out of cracks in the ground, thin and bitter.
Inside, it was worse.
People were everywhere. Not moving with purpose. Just sitting. Crying. Holding each other. Children huddled under torn blankets, eyes wide and empty. A medic knelt beside a man who no longer responded to shaking.
Xin stepped down from the truck and froze.
On the floor near the main entrance lay Kaila's necklace.
Cracked. Bloody.
No body. No explanation.
Just proof.
Xin picked it up slowly. His hands trembled, but he did not make a sound.
Rion watched him from a distance and said nothing.
Tara closed her eyes for a second, then straightened.
"Everyone inside," she said. "We don't stand around."
Scene: Counting the Damage
They gathered in the command room. The ceiling was partially collapsed. Emergency lights buzzed weakly. Alaric connected a portable projector and brought up maps of the base.
"Andy came through here," Alaric said. "Not chasing anyone. Not hunting. Just passing."
"Passing," Xin repeated quietly.
"He didn't need to stay," Alaric continued. "He wanted us to see this. He wanted damage. Fear. Memory."
Tara nodded. "Psychological warfare."
Rion leaned against the wall. "He's announcing himself."
Xin clenched his jaw.
Scene: The Decision
Tara placed a marker on the map.
"Rizak Hall."
A large underground chamber lit up on the projection. A massive open space once used for assembly and evacuation drills. Thick walls. Old Dive infrastructure beneath it.
"We bait him here," Tara said. "Wide space. No civilians. Structural limits we can exploit."
Alaric pulled up schematics. "There's an old power spine under the hall. If we retrofit it with a compact nuclear core, we can trigger a contained detonation."
Rion raised an eyebrow. "Contained."
"As contained as a nuke ever gets," Alaric replied. "The blast will erase everything in the chamber. Matter. Energy. Residual regeneration."
Xin looked up. "Including him."
Alaric met his eyes. "That's the idea."
Silence followed.
Then Tara said, "We move together. No lone heroes. No rushing. We do this once."
Xin nodded. "I'll listen."
She studied him for a long second, then accepted it.
Scene: New Blood
Tara tapped the table. "We need more people. Not numbers. Specialists."
She called in the survivors who could still fight.
First was Ethan Vaughn. Former soldier. Lean. Scarred. Calm.
"Guerrilla tactics," Tara said. "Urban movement. Rear guard."
Ethan nodded. "I'll keep the exits clear."
Next was Lila Mornay. Medic turned combat support.
"Precision strikes," Tara said. "Knows anatomy better than anyone."
Lila adjusted her gloves. "If it bleeds, I know where."
Then Alec Strom stepped forward, carrying his shockwave gauntlets.
"Structural control," Tara said. "Collapse paths. Create openings."
Alec grinned once. "Walls listen to me."
Finally, Tara looked at Rion and Xin together.
"You two are the spear," she said. "Not the plan. The execution."
Rion inclined his head. Xin held Kaila's necklace tighter.
Scene: Talking It Through
They sat for hours.
Angles. Timing. Failures.
Alaric explained Andy's regeneration again, slower this time.
"He doesn't tire. He doesn't bleed out. He doesn't decay. He recycles damage. Anything short of total erasure just feeds him."
"So we erase," Tara said.
"And we run," Alaric added. "Immediately."
Xin asked, "What if he doesn't follow."
Tara answered without hesitation. "He will."
"Why."
She looked around the room. At the broken base. At the crying outside.
"Because we'll make him angry."
Scene: Quiet After
The meeting ended late.
People drifted out. Some to rest. Some to stare at walls.
Xin stayed behind.
He placed Kaila's necklace on the table, next to the map of Rizak Hall.
Rion stood beside him.
"You don't look scared," Rion said.
Xin shook his head. "I'm past that."
Rion nodded slowly. "Good. Fear clouds judgment."
Tara returned to the doorway and looked back at them.
"We move at first light," she said. "This ends one way or another."
Xin closed his fist around the necklace.
"Then let's end it."