Chapter 5 - The Digital Siege
They infiltrated the communications hub of the garrison under the guise of an inspection. Adrian knew the security layout by heart, but the protocols had changed since he left. He had to rely on Elara’s intel—information she had gathered while people thought she was merely a madwoman scavenging for scraps.
"Third terminal," she whispered. "The one with the chipped corner. That leads to the encrypted archive."
Adrian plugged in his interface. The screen bled data—hundreds of thousands of lines of encrypted text. He bypassed the firewall with a series of hard-coded overrides he had learned during the final months of the campaign.
As the files opened, his stomach dropped.
The list wasn't just of companies. It was a list of names—soldiers, including his own unit, whose deaths had been orchestrated to maximize insurance payouts for the ministry. He saw his own name on a list of "future casualties" marked for the winter campaign.
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"They were going to kill me," he whispered, the realization shattering his last loyalty to the flag.
"They were going to liquidate you," Elara said, her hand tight on his shoulder. "Just like they liquidated everything else."
