The intense, grinding roar of settling concrete echoed through the pitch-black space as the massive monolith settled completely over the central atrium. Thick curtains of dust choked the narrow, subterranean pocket of air left beneath the heavy ruins, reducing visibility to absolute zero. Delon lay flat in the freezing mud, his chest heaving irregularly against the suffocating pressure of a fallen steel girder resting just inches above his shoulder blades. The high-volume chaos of the three-way battle outside had instantly transformed into a terrifying, muffled hum, punctuated only by the distant, agonized groans of vanguard infantrymen trapped deeper under the fresh debris.
"Release the remaining motor functions immediately, partner!" V screamed inside the dark, fractured chambers of D
