Chapter One

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Kimi Murenzi groaned in frustration as she once again attempted to reach the power-board on her brother's drone. The screws that kept the backing in place had rusted, making it difficult to remove.

Kimi sighed and reached into her desk drawer. After rummaging through it, she found what she was looking for–a pair of pliers.

"Perfect." She murmured and used the tool to yank the screw out of its socket. With a loud clatter, the drone's plastic backing fell onto the desk, exposing its circuitry.

Immediately, Kimi spotted the problem. She may not have been a tech genius like her older brother, but she still knew that a burnt out control board would prevent a drone from flying.

"Now, I just have to replace it so that I can find that creep again." She murmured to herself, leaning back in her swivel chair.

All around her, various pictures from drone footage were scattered across her bedroom's carpeted flooring. Most of the pictures were of a single figure–a young man that Kimi believed to be a Winter-Force spy.

At the mere thought of the mysterious organization, she curled her lip in disgust.

The Winter-Force had first appeared only seven months ago, using brainwashed Americans to attack countless cities across the U.S. Shortly after, the organization had hijacked a TV station and broadcast one simple message across the country: Turn the Moon Guard over to them or they would destroy America.

Kimi snorted. "Like we even know what the Moon Guard is."

Not that it seemed to matter to the Winter-Force. They had kept their promise about destroying the country. Little by little, they were turning more citizens into their brainwashed proxies and through their Ice-bombs, had turned the entire Midwest into a frozen wasteland known as the Winter Zone.

Kimi sighed, silently wondering how the military would fix that particular problem.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice her older brother Xavier enter the room until he spoke.

"Hey sis," he said, startling Kimi. "Mind if I come in?"

Kimi spun her chair around and gawked at Xavier where he stood in the doorway. He was a muscular nineteen year old with dark brown skin and short black hair. Much to her surprise, he was wearing a brand new Army uniform.

Kimi furrowed her brow. "I thought your deployment wasn't until August."

Xavier smiled apologetically. "There was a change of plans." He said. "I'm leaving today."

Kimi immediately leapt to her feet. "What! Why?"

Xavier placed a finger to his lips, motioning that it was a secret.

"Seriously?" Kimi glared at him.

"Seriously." Her brother confirmed, his expression slightly guilty. "The mission I'm going on is confidential. I can't say anything about it beyond that."

In other words, it's about the Winter-Force. Kimi thought irritably. She still didn't understand why her brother had joined the army. He could've helped with the war effort in other ways.

As though he had guessed her thoughts, Xavier's expression softened. He went over to Kimi's bed and sat down, motioning for her to join him.

Kimi sighed, but went and sat beside him. Xavier smiled gently at her, then gazed up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on Kimi's ceiling.

"I know you're worried about me." He said. "Mom and Dad are too, but I'm going to be fine."

Kimi stared down at her shoes. "You don't know that for certain, Xave."

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