The alarms howled through the facility like a wounded beast.
Elias Thorne moved through the labyrinthine corridors with Grimm and Ash flanking his sides, their paws silent but tense. Around every corner, the metallic scent of blood mixed with the cold tang of antiseptic.
The rebellion had begun.
And it was spreading.
---
The ventilation systems struggled against smoke pouring from the damaged cryo chamber. Sprinklers hissed overhead, failing to quench the fires ignited by Elias's sabotage.
Through his earpiece—stolen from one of the guards—he heard panic ripple through the White Dawn's ranks:
— "Containment breach in Bio-Core."
— "Unknown asset aiding Subject Thorne."
— "Release experimental suppressants—priority one."
Suppressants.
Voss wasn't sending soldiers anymore.
He was sending monsters.
---
Chambers met him at a junction near the research wing. Her face was pale, eyes wide but determined.
Behind her, two other guards—young, nervous, but willing.
— "We've sealed the west wing," she reported. "Some of the staff want to defect. They're afraid of what's coming."
Elias nodded once.
— "Good. Gather them at Junction C-17. If they can't fight, they'll help with the wounded."
Chambers swallowed hard.
— "And the others?"
Elias's gaze hardened.
— "The loyalists? Leave them."
---
A low growl rumbled from Grimm's throat.
Ash's ears flattened.
Heavy footsteps echoed beyond the next door.
The suppressants.
Half-human. Half-experiment. The White Dawn's solution to rebellion.
Chambers drew her sidearm. The other guards braced.
The first figure burst through—seven feet tall, flesh stitched with steel plates, eyes glowing faintly yellow.
It charged.
---
Elias didn't hesitate.
He fired twice—aiming for the knees.
The creature staggered but didn't fall.
Grimm lunged, jaws locking onto the creature's throat.
Ash circled, darting in to hamstring the brute.
The other guards opened fire.
Even then, it took fifteen seconds of sustained attack to bring the thing down.
Fifteen seconds too long.
---
— "They'll send more," Chambers gasped.
Elias wiped blood from his brow.
— "Let them."
---
The group moved swiftly toward Junction C-17.
Along the way, more defectors joined—scientists, medics, technicians.
Some bore weapons. Most carried only fear.
But fear was a weapon too.
Fear made people act.
And tonight, they were acting.
---
The plan was simple.
Or as simple as any plan could be under siege.
1. Free the remaining test subjects—those like Isaac Moreau.
2. Reach the auxiliary hangar.
3. Escape before Voss triggered the facility's self-destruct.
But simple didn't mean easy.
---
As they passed the dormitory sector, Chambers paused.
— "There's another group. Security officers. Unaligned."
Elias nodded.
— "Bring them."
Every ally mattered now.
Even those uncertain.
---
The next suppressants arrived faster—mutations stripped of humanity.
Some crawled. Some leapt.
All killed.
But the growing rebellion fought back.
Hallways became battlegrounds.
Chambers proved capable, leading her small squad with precision.
The defectors learned quickly.
Fire. Move. Survive.
Elias remained at the front.
The tip of the spear.
---
By the time they reached Cryo Sector Delta, Elias had gathered nearly thirty allies.
The suppressants were thinning.
The White Dawn's loyalists were either dead or had retreated to defend the command hub.
Exactly where Elias wanted to go.
---
Inside the cryo sector, the remaining subjects were found.
Isaac Moreau was already awake, standing at the glass wall of his cell.
— "Took you long enough," he rasped.
Elias cracked a rare smile.
— "Blame the traffic."
They released Isaac and five others—two from Phase IV, three newer experiments.
None at full strength.
But strength wasn't measured in muscle alone.
---
Then came the final obstacle.
The command core.
---
Chambers used the stolen keycards to bypass initial locks.
The doors opened into a vast circular chamber.
Monitors flickered.
Status screens showed evacuation shuttles preparing to depart.
At the center—Voss.
Surrounded by guards.
And behind them?
Detonators.
Set to rig the entire facility for demolition.
---
Voss raised a hand.
— "Enough, Elias."
Elias stepped forward, rifle steady.
Grimm and Ash flanked him.
— "You've lost."
Voss's smile didn't waver.
— "I've evolved."
He pressed a button.
From the shadows, a final suppressant emerged.
But this one wasn't like the others.
This one wore a familiar face.
Subject E-010.
A clone. Of Elias himself.
---
The clone moved with unnatural speed.
Chambers shouted a warning, but it was too late.
The clone struck.
Elias met the blow head-on, steel against steel, man against his own ghost.
They fought in a blur—identical tactics, identical reflexes.
But Elias had something the clone didn't.
Purpose.
Pain.
Memory.
---
As they grappled, Grimm lunged at the clone's leg. Ash tore at its side.
Chambers and the others engaged the remaining guards.
Gunfire roared.
The battle was chaos.
Chaos in the veins.
---
Elias forced the clone back, pinned it against a console.
— "You're not me," he growled.
The clone snarled.
But Elias didn't hesitate.
One shot.
Straight to the head.
The clone collapsed.
---
Across the room, Voss fled toward the shuttles.
Elias gave chase.
Grimm and Ash at his heels.
---
They caught him at the docking bay.
Voss stood before the last shuttle, clutching a detonator.
— "If I can't win, no one will."
He pressed the trigger.
Nothing happened.
Chambers's voice crackled over the comms:
— "Detonators disarmed. You're finished."
---
Voss paled.
Elias stepped forward.
For once, no words.
Just action.
A single punch.
Voss crumpled.
The rebellion had won.
But at a cost.
---
As fires spread through the facility, the survivors gathered.
Isaac. Chambers. The freed subjects. The defectors.
Thirty-seven souls.
No longer prisoners.
---
They boarded the remaining shuttle.
As the engines roared to life, Elias stood by the ramp, Grimm and Ash at his side.
He looked back at the burning ruins of the White Dawn's ambition.
Not victory.
Survival.
And a new beginning.