Chapter 15 THE STRATEGY SESSION

Chapter 15 THE STRATEGY SESSION
Sera's POV
The message from Jace burned in my mind like poison.
Termination team. Eliminate her on site. Either way, Sera doesn't leave that medical wing alive.
I stared at Ryker's tablet screen until the words blurred together. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"We need to move," Kade said. His commander voice was back, cold and sharp. "If Cassia's assigned a kill team, that means she suspects we're planning something. We can't wait anymore."
"Wait for what?" Damon demanded. "We don't even have a real plan yet. Just pieces. Ideas. Nothing solid enough to actually fight back with."
"Then we make it solid right now," I said. My voice came out steadier than I felt. "We have maybe six hours before sunrise. Six hours to figure out how I survive tomorrow's medical testing and how we expose the Tribunal before they kill all of us."
The greenhouse felt too small suddenly. Four people trying to plan a revolution in a corner where cameras couldn't see. Four people who were probably going to die in the morning.
Kade moved to the center of our little hidden space. "Military assessment first. What are our assets?"
"Nova," Ryker said immediately. "She has security clearance. Access to restricted areas. And she's been gathering intel for weeks."
"Lila," I added. "She's hacking broadcast systems. If we can get her the right files, she can send them city-wide."
Damon cracked his knuckles. "I've still got contacts in the Fringe. People who hate the Tribunal. If we need fighters, I can get them."
"And I have access to all the medical data," Ryker continued. "The real termination statistics. The Phase 2 schematics. Everything Thorne's hiding. I can compile it into something people will understand."
Kade nodded slowly. "So we have the pieces. Intelligence network through Nova. Broadcast capability through Lila. Street forces through Damon's Fringe contacts. Scientific proof through Ryker. What we don't have is time."
"Or a way to keep Sera alive long enough to use any of it," Damon added darkly.
I stood up. My legs felt weak but I forced them to hold me.
"We need three things," I said. The plan was forming in my head even as I spoke. "Proof of the conspiracy that's so clear nobody can deny it. A way to broadcast that proof to every sector of the city simultaneously. And protection for everyone we care about so the Tribunal can't use them as leverage."
"Lila's already working on the broadcast hack," Kade said. "But she needs 48 hours minimum to break the encryption."
"We don't have 48 hours," I replied. "We have six. So she'll have to work faster."
Ryker was typing on his tablet. "I'm sending her the file locations for Thorne's personal records right now. If she can access those, we'll have video evidence of him admitting the plague was engineered."
"What about protection?" Damon asked. "Lila's in a detention facility. Nova's surrounded by Tribunal loyalists. We're all locked in this Genesis Center like lab rats."
"Nova can handle herself," Kade said. There was absolute certainty in his voice. "She's survived fifteen years in the Wardens by being smarter than everyone around her. But Lila's vulnerable. If Cassia figures out she's involved in the hacking—"
"She'll kill her," I finished. The words made my chest tight. "Just like she's planning to kill me tomorrow."
The greenhouse went quiet except for the hum of the ventilation system.
"So we split our focus," Ryker said finally. "Half of us work on keeping Sera alive during medical testing. The other half coordinates with Nova and Lila to accelerate the timeline."
"I'll be in the medical wing," Kade decided. "I can requisition surveillance as security oversight. Jace won't try anything with a Commander watching."
"I'll be there too," Ryker added. "Medical personnel. I designed the testing protocols. Nobody questions when I'm in the lab."
Damon's scarred face went hard. "What about me?"
I looked at him. "You're our backup plan. If this goes wrong, if Jace or Cassia or anyone tries something we can't stop, you get Lila out. Nova's extraction coordinates. You take my sister and you run."
"Absolutely not," Damon said. "I'm not abandoning you."
"You're not abandoning me. You're making sure the one person in this world I'd die for actually survives." My voice came out fierce. "Lila is nineteen years old. She's all I have left of my family. If something happens to me tomorrow, someone needs to finish this fight. That's you."
Damon looked like he wanted to argue but Kade spoke first.
"Sera's right. We need someone outside the medical wing. Someone mobile who can adapt if everything falls apart."
Ryker's tablet buzzed. He glanced at it and his expression shifted.
"Nova," he said. "She's confirming she can be positioned near the medical wing. Security corridors. She'll have visual on all entry points."
"Tell her to bring a weapon," I said. "If Jace's termination team shows up, I want someone who can actually fight them."
Kade's eyes met mine. "You understand what you're asking for. If Nova engages Tribunal forces, if she shoots other Wardens, there's no going back. She'll be marked as a traitor. Hunted for the rest of her life."
"She's already a traitor," I replied. "The moment she decided to help us instead of report us. At least this way she gets to choose what she's betraying the system for."
Damon moved closer to me. "You're talking like you're already dead. Like tomorrow is just damage control."
"Tomorrow might be damage control," I said honestly. "Jace sent that message for a reason. He's warning us because some part of him still remembers we used to be friends. But that doesn't mean he won't follow through. Cassia owns him now."
"Then we make sure he can't," Ryker said. His scientific mind was working through possibilities. "If I'm in the lab, I can monitor every sample. Watch every procedure. Jace won't get near you with contaminated equipment."
"Unless he's not the one doing it," Kade pointed out. "Jace said there's a termination team. Multiple people. We can't watch everyone at once."
The reality settled over us like ice water.
No matter how good our plan was, there were too many variables. Too many ways this could go wrong. Too many people trying to kill me.
My tablet buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out expecting another threatening message from Jace.
Instead it was from Lila.
I opened the file and my breath caught.
"What is it?" Ryker asked immediately.
I turned the tablet so they could all see.
It was a video file. Time-stamped from two hours ago. Security footage from Cassia's office.
The video showed Cassia sitting at her desk. And across from her, looking nervous and desperate, was Jace Morgan.
I pressed play.
Cassia's voice came through clear. "You understand what I'm asking you to do tomorrow."
Jace nodded. "Contaminate the blood sample during routine testing. Make it look like natural exposure to the Phase 2 variant."
"And if that fails?" Cassia asked.
Jace hesitated. "The backup team eliminates her. Makes it look like she attacked medical staff and had to be subdued with lethal force."
"Good," Cassia said. "Sera Ashford has become a liability. She's too smart. Too rebellious. And worst of all, she's making the three Wardens assigned to her think independently. That cannot continue."
She leaned forward.
"After tomorrow, the Genesis Program goes back to normal. Compliant Breeders. Obedient Wardens. No more complications."
The video ended.
We all stood there in shocked silence.
"Lila got into Cassia's security system," Ryker whispered. "She's been recording everything."
"Which means we have proof," Kade said. His voice was almost awed. "Direct evidence of conspiracy to murder. Proof that Cassia's running the Program as population control, not repopulation."
"This changes everything," Damon added. "If we can get this out, if people see Cassia ordering your execution—"
"They'll riot," I finished. "The Production Districts. The Fringe. Even people in the Citadel who thought the Program was legitimate. This proves it's all a lie."
My hands were shaking again but this time not from fear.
From hope.
We actually had a chance.
Ryker was already typing. "I'm sending this to Nova right now. And telling Lila to prepare the broadcast system. We might not have 48 hours but we can compress the timeline if we have to."
"How fast?" Kade asked.
"24 hours," Ryker said. "Maybe less if Lila works through the night. But that means Sera has to survive tomorrow's testing. Has to stay alive long enough for the broadcast to go out."
"Then we make sure she survives," Kade said simply. "Whatever it takes."
I looked at the three men around me. Kade with his military precision. Ryker with his brilliant mind. Damon with his fierce loyalty.
Three men the system had forced on me.
Three men who were now ready to die to keep me alive.
"Thank you," I whispered. "For choosing this. For choosing me."
"We're not just choosing you," Damon said. His scarred face was serious. "We're choosing freedom. We're choosing to fight back against a system that treats people like property. You just happen to be the one brave enough to lead us."
Ryker's tablet buzzed one more time.
He looked at the screen and his expression went pale.
"What now?" I asked.
He showed us the message.
It was from Cassia. Facility-wide announcement scheduled to go out in thirty seconds.
We waited in tense silence.
Then the speakers in every room crackled to life.
Cassia's voice filled the Genesis Center.
"Attention all participants. Due to recent behavioral concerns, I'm implementing enhanced monitoring protocols effective immediately. All Breeders will report for comprehensive medical evaluation at 0800 tomorrow morning. Assigned partners will attend for observation purposes. Additionally, I'm pleased to announce genetic testing will now include advanced psychological assessment. We want to ensure all participants are mentally stable and committed to Program success."
The message paused.
"Any participant showing signs of rebellion, non-compliance, or inappropriate attachment patterns will be removed from the Program and processed according to Tribunal directive. Remember, your cooperation ensures humanity's survival. Resistance ensures only your termination."
The speakers clicked off.
Psychological assessment.
Inappropriate attachment patterns.
Cassia wasn't just planning to kill me tomorrow.
She was planning to evaluate all four of us and eliminate anyone who'd bonded too closely.
Anyone who'd stopped being a compliant breeder and obedient Warden.
Anyone who'd started to actually care about each other.
"She knows," Kade said quietly. "Somehow Cassia knows we're working together. That we've become a team instead of just assigned partners."
"Jace," I said. The betrayal burned fresh. "He's been reporting everything to her. Our meetings. Our planning. Probably even told her about the greenhouse."
Damon's fists clenched. "Then tomorrow isn't just about surviving medical testing. It's about convincing Cassia we're still following the rules. Still being good little subjects."
"Can we do that?" Ryker asked. "After everything that's happened? After we've already started bonding and planning rebellion?"
I thought about it. About pretending I didn't care about these three men. About acting like I was just a scared Breeder following orders.
"No," I said finally. "We can't fake it. Not convincingly enough. Cassia's too smart for that."
"Then what do we do?" Kade demanded.
I looked at each of them.
"We go to that medical evaluation tomorrow," I said slowly. "And we tell Cassia exactly what she wants to hear. That we're cooperating. That we're committed to the Program. That we'll do whatever it takes to produce the next generation."
"You want to lie directly to her face," Damon said.
"I want to buy Lila time to finish the broadcast," I corrected. "24 hours. That's all we need. 24 hours for the truth to get out and the rebellion to start."
"And if Cassia doesn't believe us?" Ryker asked.
I met his eyes.
"Then at least we'll die fighting instead of waiting for them to kill us quietly."
The greenhouse fell silent.
Tomorrow morning we walked into a medical wing designed to execute me.
Tomorrow morning we bet everything on a lie.
Tomorrow morning we found out if rebellion was worth dying for.