Snow drifted lazily across the landing pad as a gleaming Alliance pod descended from the sky, its hull marked with the white flag of “diplomatic inspection."
Amber stood beside Raven at the edge of the platform, wrapped in a muted cloak, her fingers brushing the whistle hidden beneath her scarf.
“They're not here to inspect," Raven said calmly. “They're here to assassinate."
“I know," Amber replied. “That's why I tuned the failsafe frequency to hallucination-grade distortion. If they move, they burn their own minds."
The pod hissed open.
Two inspectors emerged—tall, pale, expressionless in pristine uniforms. Behind them, eight men followed, dressed like engineers but moving too precisely.
Raven's eyes flicked to their boots. “Combat silencers. Not civilian."
Amber murmured, “Kill sq
