Three hundred kilometers away, Sophie stood in her condo's living room, watching tactical data stream across her personal tablet. Sam was still in the office, monitoring Grey force deployment through secure channels Kelvin had established. The sun was setting outside her windows, casting the city in orange and gold light that should have been beautiful but just felt ominous.

Her comm buzzed. Seraleth, calling from Eclipse headquarters.

"Sophie, we have a situation," Seraleth said the moment the connection opened. Her voice was controlled but carried tension underneath. "Eclipse headquarters is receiving communications from an unknown source. They're demanding to know why Grey military forces are attacking facilities across the eastern cardinal."

"What did you tell them?" Sophie asked.

"Nothing yet. I wanted your direction first." There was a pause. "They're claiming Eclipse is responsible for military action against legitimate businesses. Threatening legal consequences and exposure of operational activities."

Sophie's expression didn't change. "Deny any involvement. Tell them Eclipse has no knowledge of any military operations and no authority over what these forces choose to investigate. We completed our contracts as agreed. What happens after that is between the military and whoever they're investigating."

"Understood. Should I continue responding to their communications?"

"Only to maintain denial of involvement. Don't engage beyond that. Let them threaten. Let them make demands. It doesn't matter anymore." Sophie checked her tactical display, watching Grey strike teams approaching their designated targets. "The operation is already in motion. They can't stop it by yelling at us."

"Acknowledged. I'll maintain that position."

The call ended. Sophie looked at Sam, who'd emerged from the office. "They know something's happening. They're trying to use Eclipse as a pressure point to make Grey forces stop."

"Will it work?" Sam asked.

"No. The Grey family doesn't respond well to threats, and they definitely don't stop military operations because criminals get upset about being investigated." Sophie pulled up another comm channel. "But I need to make sure our other teams understand what's happening. Diana especially. She's still on-site at the mining facility, and if the Collective contacts her directly, she needs to know how to respond."

She opened the secure channel to Diana's team. "Diana, status update."

Diana's voice came through clear. "Extraction complete. All subjects secured and documented. We're maintaining position per your orders, gathering additional evidence from facility records."

"Good. Be aware that the Collective is making threatening communications to Eclipse headquarters. If they contact you directly, deny any knowledge of Grey military operations. Tell them Eclipse completed contracted rescue work and anything beyond that isn't our concern."

There was a brief pause. Then Diana: "Sophie, they already contacted me. About ten minutes ago. Demanded to know why we were accessing facility records beyond extraction scope."

"What did you tell them?"

"That we document everything as standard operating procedure. That Eclipse maintains thorough records of all operations for liability purposes." Diana's tone shifted slightly, becoming harder. "They threatened to release surveillance footage showing Eclipse conducting illegal operations. I told them to go ahead and try."

Sophie blinked. "You what?"

"I told them to release their footage. Because if they do, it proves they were monitoring Eclipse without authorization, which is illegal surveillance. It also proves they were using legitimate contracts as cover for criminal operations, which invalidates any claims they might make about our involvement." Diana paused. "I'm former EDF, Sophie. I know how to handle interrogation attempts. These people don't scare me."

A smile tugged at Sophie's lips despite the situation. "Good work. Maintain that position. They're trying to regain control of the narrative by making us panic. Don't give them the satisfaction."

"Understood. Diana out."

Sam was staring at Sophie with something approaching admiration. "Diana just called their bluff without being told to."

"She has military training and a spine made of titanium," Sophie replied. "I should have trusted her to handle it from the start."

Her personal comm buzzed again. Lucy, this time. Sophie answered immediately. "Lucy, what's your status?"

"All strike teams are in position. Breach in five minutes." Lucy's voice carried absolute confidence. "Kelvin has been coordinating technical aspects and he's... enthusiastic about taking these people down. Your tech specialist is genuinely angry, Sophie. It's impressive."

"They hacked into systems he built personally. He's taking it as a professional insult." Sophie checked her tactical display one more time, watching seven Grey teams positioned around their targets. "Lucy, after the breach, after you secure the command center, I want to be there. I need to face these people directly."

There was a pause. "Sophie, that's not necessary. Grey forces can handle—"

"I know you can handle it. But they've been in my house for eight days. They studied my patterns, manipulated my faction, made me dance to their tune. I need to look them in the eye when their operation collapses." Sophie's voice was steady but carried steel underneath. "Let me have this."

Another pause. Then Lucy: "Understood. Once we secure the command center and confirm no immediate threats, I'll let you know. But Sophie, you're coming in with Grey escort. No arguments."

"Agreed."

The call ended. Sophie stood in her condo, watching the city lights begin appearing as sunset faded to dusk, and waited for confirmation that the operation was beginning.

Her comm buzzed one more time. Noah, calling from Settlement Gamma-Nine.

"Sophie," Noah said when she answered. "I got your message. You need a favor."

"Yes. I can't explain details over comms, but I need something from you. Something that will make a very specific kind of impression on very specific people."

"Whatever you need."

The call ended. Sophie set her comm down, looked at Sam. "Grey forces breach in four minutes. After that, everything changes."

"And if something goes wrong?"

"Then at least we went down fighting instead of letting these people destroy us without resistance."

Sam nodded slowly. "For what it's worth, I think you made the right call. Contacting the Greys, coordinating this operation. Whatever happens next, we didn't just roll over."

"We'll see," Sophie replied. "In about four minutes, we'll know if this works or if I just made everything worse."

The tactical display showed breach confirmations coming in rapidly. Strike team one: secured. Strike team two: secured. Team three, four, five, six - all green status within eight minutes of initial breach.

Team seven - the command center - took longer. Fifteen minutes before Lucy's voice came through: "Command center secured. Minimal resistance. Leadership in custody. Sophie, you're clear to come in if you still want to do this."

"I'm on my way," Sophie replied.

She took her personal vehicle, flying through the city's aerial lanes toward the coordinates Kelvin had identified. The Meridian Innovations building rose forty-seven stories into the evening sky, its glass facade reflecting city lights. Grey military transports were positioned on the building's landing pads, and she could see soldiers moving through the structure.

Sophie landed on the executive pad, forty-seventh floor. A Grey soldier met her at the entrance. "Princess Lucy is inside, coordinating evidence collection. The leadership is in the main conference room. Three individuals."

"Thank you."

Sophie walked through the executive suite. It was exactly what she'd expected - expensive corporate aesthetics, floor-to-ceiling windows showing the city below, the kind of space that screamed money and influence. Grey soldiers were systematically collecting equipment and documentation.

Lucy met her in the corridor. "They're in there. Fair warning, they're still acting confident. Like they think they have leverage."

"Let them think that," Sophie said. "For a few more minutes anyway."

Lucy nodded and opened the conference room door.

Three people sat at a large table, all of them in business attire that probably cost more than most people's monthly salaries. Two men, one woman, all of them middle-aged and carrying themselves with the kind of confidence that came from never facing real consequences. Grey soldiers stood at the room's perimeter, weapons ready but not actively threatening.

Sophie walked in, and all three sets of eyes fixed on her immediately.

"Sophie Reign," the woman said. She smiled, and it was the kind of smile that showed she still thought she was in control. "The architect of Eclipse's operations. I was hoping we'd get to meet face to face."

Sophie didn't sit. Just stood at the head of the table, hands relaxed at her sides. "You wanted Eclipse's attention. You have it."

"More than attention," one of the men said. He was older, maybe fifty, with gray at his temples and the bearing of someone used to commanding rooms. "We have Eclipse's complete operational history for the past eight days. Every communication, every decision, every contract. All documented, all ready to be released to appropriate authorities if necessary."

"You think that matters now?" Sophie asked.

"Of course it matters," the woman replied. "Your unknown military force can raid our facilities, arrest our personnel, dismantle our operations. But we can still destroy Eclipse's reputation. We can still make it look like your faction knowingly participated in illegal human experimentation. Mutually assured destruction, Ms. Reign. You take us down, we take you down with us."

"That's your leverage," Sophie said. Not a question. A statement.

"That's the truth," the second man said. He was younger, maybe forty, with a polished appearance that came from expensive grooming. "So here's what's going to happen. Your private military drops all charges. Our personnel are released. Our facilities are returned. And in exchange, we don't release our documentation showing Eclipse's involvement."

Sophie looked at each of them in turn. They actually believed it. They genuinely thought their blackmail still held weight.

"You're right about one thing," Sophie said finally. "You outwitted us. Studied our patterns, manipulated our contracts, turned our reputation against us. It was sophisticated. If I'm being honest, I didn't see it coming until it was too late."

The woman's smile widened slightly. "Then you understand the position you're in."

"But you made two mistakes," Sophie continued, her voice level and calm.

The smiles faltered slightly.

"First, you assumed Eclipse would act alone. That we'd either comply or try to fight you directly. You didn't account for us having allies with resources that match yours. Grey military forces have been dismantling your network for the past six hours. All forty-three sites. All the evidence. All the personnel. It's over."

"The evidence we have—" the older man started.

"Is meaningless," Sophie interrupted. "Because the Grey family's authority supersedes your blackmail. They don't care what you claim Eclipse did or didn't know. They care that you conducted illegal awakening experiments in territories they have interest in. Your leverage only works if someone cares about your threats. The Grey family doesn't."

The younger man's confidence was cracking. "You can't just—"

"Second," Sophie said, and she walked to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city, "you assumed you understood everything about Eclipse. Our capabilities. Our resources. Our methods."

She looked out at the city lights spreading below, then tapped her comm once. A simple signal.

"But you didn't account for one thing."

Behind the building, rising into view through the evening sky, came Ivy.

Twenty-three feet of emerald-scaled dragon, her wings spread wide, vine appendages extending from her body like living decorations. Her intelligent eyes reflected the city lights as she positioned herself directly outside the conference room window, close enough that her breath fogged the glass.

The three Collective leaders froze. Absolute, complete paralysis as their brains tried to process what they were seeing. A dragon. A real dragon, floating outside their forty-seventh floor window, her gaze fixed on them with predatory focus.

Ivy opened her mouth and roared. Not aggressive, not threatening attack. Just presence. Pure, undeniable presence that made primal instincts scream.

The sound was deafening even through reinforced glass. The woman jerked back in her chair. The younger man actually stood up, stumbling backward. The older man just stared, his mouth opening and closing without words.

Sophie turned from the window, looked at them calmly.

"I have a dragon," she said simply. "So here's what's actually going to happen. You're going to surrender to Grey military authority. You're going to provide full testimony about your operations. And Eclipse is going to walk away from this as the faction that helped dismantle a black market awakening network."

She moved toward the door, where Lucy stood watching with barely concealed satisfaction.

"Oh, and one more thing."

Sophie looked back at the three frozen figures, at their expressions of absolute shock and terror.

"Do I have your attention?"

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