Chapter 100

They may have killed my father, but they can't kill all of us. We are no longer a movement. We are a people, and we do not recognize the authority of the Coalition. We are our own sovereign nation, hidden from view.

-Joseph Bellows, Founding Father of the New Human Sovereignty, November 7th, 2213 CE

MAD FELT LIKE she was being smothered in her full uniform, her chest covered in heavy medals and bars signifying rank she didn't bother deciphering. She pulled at her collar, watching the overhead light in the elevator as it pulled her deeper into the crust of Hephaestus. When Admiral Trisk had requested her presence on the planet, Mad had hesitated to comply. Some days, it still felt like the gun was in her hand, pointed at Lisha, who'd looked back at her with such sadness before she died.

Did I really kill her?