The resistance camp was hidden deep within the remnants of an old industrial complex, far from the eyes of Valtoria's surveillance drones. It wasn't much—just a few makeshift tents and fire pits scattered among the rusted machinery—but it was home to those who had nowhere else to go.
As Enno made his way through the camp, nodding to the few people who acknowledged him, he couldn't help but feel the weight of their expectations. They looked to him as a leader, though he had never asked for that role. It had been thrust upon him when he joined Senna's group, a group that was growing each day as more and more people sought to escape the city's grasp.
But leading was not what Enno wanted. He wasn't like Senna, who seemed born for this kind of life—strong, fearless, and always ready for the next fight. No, Enno had been an engineer, a man of quiet routines and simple pleasures before Valtoria's cruelty had turned him into something else. Something harder.
He found his way to the edge of the camp, where he had stashed his gear. His hands moved mechanically, checking the weapons, making sure everything was in place for the raid. His mind, however, was elsewhere—drifting back to memories of Aelia.
He could still see her, standing in their small apartment in one of Valtoria's lower districts, the sunlight streaming through the window as she smiled at him. They had been happy once, before the city's demands grew too heavy, before she became a target for something she hadn't even done.
"Enno," she had said to him one evening, her voice full of quiet fear. "They're watching us."
He hadn't believed her at first. After all, who would care about two people just trying to live their lives? But Aelia had been right. The city's enforcers came for her not long after that, accusing her of crimes against the state—crimes she had never committed. They took her away, and Enno had never seen her again.
A hand on his shoulder snapped him back to the present.
"You ready?" Senna asked, her voice steady but carrying the weight of what was to come.
Enno nodded, pushing the memories aside. There was no time to dwell on the past. Not now.