After the Ashes

By the time they reached the Vanguard base, it was too late. The transport screeched to a halt, its headlights cutting through the smoke and dust that hung like a shroud over the ruins.

Tobi and the team stood frozen, staring at what had once been a formidable fortress. Now, it was a crumbled wreck, fires flickering among the debris and casting eerie shadows against the cavern walls.

Matilda gripped her sword tightly. "Lyora was in charge," she muttered, her voice shaking with restrained fury. "She would've gone down fighting."

"And Erwin?" Hannah asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Matilda's jaw tightened. "He wouldn't have abandoned his post."

"Let's hope someone's still alive," Tobi said, motioning for the team to move.

The base was a battlefield frozen in time. Vanguard soldiers and cultists lay where they had fallen, their final moments etched into the stone floor. Scorch marks and shattered equipment told the story of a desperate defense.