Formation Check

Perimeter still. Flames hang suspended on the backdrop behind me. I test my joints. The right wrist turns with a faint, smooth click. My boots maintain traction against the scored floor grid. Flanked on both flanks, the armored figures stand frozen. I lift two gloved fingers from my weapon and press lightly against the cool blue plating of the companion on my left. Solid. Quiet. I square my shoulders by half an inch, centering my stance precisely between them to hold the line.