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Day 47 of the Northern Cross offensive.

We’re not heroes. We’re just too far north to turn back.

The snow doesn't stop. It doesn't care about strategy, or hope, or the names of the dead.

Tonight, Riley showed me new coordinates. Her eyes were red from the cold—or from crying. She won't admit which. “The Centurion can make the jump,” she said. “But we’ll be alone on the other side for at least forty-eight hours.”

But we have something the enemy doesn’t understand. We have a damaged tank, a crew of stubborn idiots, and one letter from home that hasn’t been delivered in six months.

Forty-eight hours. That’s an eternity when each minute sounds like a sniper’s breath.

But we’re still Squad E. The last light in the northern blizzard.

Tomorrow, we cross the frozen fjord. The Imperials have tanks dug into the cliffs. They have a Valkyria too—I saw the lightning from three miles away. It looked like the gods were tearing the sky open.