The ship groaned, a sound of metal screaming against metal, as the UES Valorous began its slow, tilted death-spiral toward the Earth. But for Xin, the world didn't feel like a falling ship. It felt like a trap that had finally snapped shut.
He was no longer on the bridge. The traitorous Chief of Staff hadn't just pressed a button to blow the engines; he had triggered a localized gravity fold. In a flash of purple light, Xin had been yanked through the floorboards, falling through a hole in reality until he slammed into the wet, cold concrete of the "Underground Trial"—the deepest, most secret level of the Resistance base back in Jiangnan.
He was back where it all started, but it was different now. The walls were lined with flickering screens showing the faces of the city’s elders, the
