The Vanguard Protocol
Copyright© 2026 by Sci-FiTy1972
Chapter 8B: The Cost of Choosing
Act II — After the Fire
Victory did not feel like Thomas expected.
Haven City still burned. Bodies still lay where they fell. The air smelled of smoke, blood, and fear that hadn’t yet realized it could breathe again.
Colonists gathered cautiously—some in gratitude, some in suspicion.
Lieutenant Dren clasped Thomas’s forearm. “You saved us.”
Thomas looked past him—to the wounded, the dead.
“We stopped it,” he said. “For now.”
As the Erebus prepared to lift off, Concord observers transmitted silent acknowledgments. No praise. No celebration.
Only notation.
Elena stood apart, staring at the city.
“We changed them,” she said quietly. “Their future. Their politics. Their enemies.”
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