The Casmir research complex resists collapse. Its architecture is layered and stubborn, as if convinced of its own permanence by the Lexwright. We breach only when Commander Fubai draws defenders inward, allowing us to pierce through one side.
He holds the front longer than projected. Longer than I would have asked. His Ashwake insistence becomes defiance under fire, then endurance, then silence. When containment fails and the structure tears itself open to avoid deeper loss, he is still advancing. The generator goes inert. He does not withdraw. He holds the front so we can extract safely.
The battlefield of wrecks glitters in the sunrise. None compare to the loss of a Commander, though the generator’s ruin comes close. The return charge of Tenebrium in his canister is lost as well. To fall short of the Horizon is acceptable. To turn away from it is not. Commander Enei Fubai, an Ashwake adherent. House Veltari should be proud.
The Chain compensates too late. Cortex holds the rubble and calls it a victory. I reach toward my Horizon and accept the cost required to advance.
