The Sky Above The Arctic Circle Hung Low With Ash Clouds That Glowed Faintly Red As If The Horizon Itself Had Been Lit On Fire From Beneath The Earth Zeyad Stood In Silence On The Ridge That Overlooked The Smoking Wreckage Of Borealis Station The Ground Beneath His Feet Still Vibrating From The Echoes Of The Last Detonation That Had Torn Through The Core BelowLaila Was Beside Him Her Rifle Slung Low Against Her Back Her Hair Tied Back With A Strip Of Gauze She Had Torn From A Makeshift Medical Kit That Had Barely Saved Her Arm During The Last Encounter With The Hybrid Beasts That Crawled Out Of The Core Her Face Was Pale But Her Eyes Burned With Relentless PurposeBehind Them The Cracked Glacier Had Begun To Resettle Chunks Of Ice Sliding Into The Chasm That Borealis Had Become There Was No Longer Any Safe Path Backward Whatever Lay Ahead Now Would Be Carved With Fire Blood And The Remnants Of A War That Was Not Yet FinishedThe Final Message From The Core System Still Played In Zeya