The first explosion hit at 3:42 a.m.Samuel jolted awake just before the shockwave reached the command bunker, a split second before the tremors knocked over the holo-table and sent a wall of heat racing down the corridor. Sirens screamed. Red lights strobed through the concrete base like arterial pulses.“Evacuate!” boomed Joey’s voice over the comms. “Repeat—West Line is under attack! IMA is here!”In the distant night outside, fire consumed the snowy horizon. The forests surrounding the Vanguard outpost lit up like matchsticks. Black silhouettes moved with precision—IMA shock troops in thermal suits, deploying seismic disruptors and aerial drones. The ground itself trembled under their assault.Sarah stumbled into the hallway, barefoot, face pale. “Samuel!”“I’m here,” he shouted, grabbing her by the hand. “We have to move. Now.”They sprinted through the chaos. Aria emerged from the east corridor, blood trailing from a cut on her temple. She tossed Samuel a reinforced datadrive ba

It began with a broadcast.At first, only the underground networks saw it—a red-coded transmission spiking through darknet forums, encrypted militias, and dormant mercenary nodes scattered across continents. Then, within minutes, it hit the surface. Mainstream news anchors, corporate feeds, and even neutral territories picked it up.A face appeared: General Arlo Vaiken, Supreme Director of Global Security under the United Human Coalition, flanked by IMA insignias.“The man known as Samuel Reign is hereby declared a Tier-0 transnational threat,” he announced. “Effective immediately, he is wanted for crimes against planetary stability, the destruction of West Line, unauthorized possession of classified bio-technology, and the theft of high-risk psionic assets.”Behind him, footage rolled—edited, selective, and devastating.Samuel unleashing a lightstorm in Casablanca. Sarah bleeding in a temple. Vanguard forces cloaked in shadows. The Siberian base burning.Then came the bounty:₴800 mi

The night was unnaturally still.Within the Vanguard’s temporary safehouse tucked deep inside the Atlas Mountains, nothing stirred. Not the winds that usually howled through the narrow canyons, not the usual nighttime murmurs of the base's personnel. Just an eerie silence—like the world itself was holding its breath.Sarah lay motionless in her cot, a sheen of sweat on her brow. Her breathing was shallow, eyes twitching beneath her eyelids.In her dreams, she was not herself.She stood at the edge of an obsidian lake. Above, the sky was wrong—twisting, rippling like it were made of oil. Reflections danced where none should exist. A monolith rose from the lake’s center: smooth, black, and impossibly tall.The whispers came from within it.Sarah... Sarah Haleth...A thousand voices murmuring her name—her full name, the one that hadn’t been spoken aloud in years. They didn’t echo like sounds but pressed into her skull, forming words without air.The Gate remembers. The blood calls.She t

The syringe lay on the table between them—clear glass, faintly glowing violet, the liquid inside swirling with unstable particles that shimmered like trapped galaxies.Samuel stared at it, unmoving.Aria stood across from him, arms folded tightly, jaw clenched. “You said you wanted to fight what's coming. This is the only way you're going to survive the next assault.”Sarah sat nearby, expression pale, eyes flicking between them. “There has to be another option.”“There isn’t,” Aria said. “The serum was developed to anchor his psionic imbalance. Without it, his resonance field will keep destabilizing until it burns through his nervous system.”“Why didn’t you say that earlier?” Sarah hissed.“Because the side effects are irreversible,” Aria replied. “Once it’s in him, there’s no going back.”Samuel finally looked up.His voice was steady. “What happens to me?”Aria hesitated, then answered quietly, “You’ll gain control—full control—of light and shadow constructs. Molecular disassembly

The storm that had shaken the Moroccan base was over, but the aftershocks ran deep.At sunrise, the Vanguard’s medical wing was still a flurry of activity. Though most of the Shadowwalkers had been destroyed, their infiltration had left many injured—and questions unanswered.Samuel stood at Sarah’s bedside. Her skin was pale from blood loss, and her shoulder was wrapped in smart bandages glowing faintly with regeneration nanites. She had been lucky. If he’d been even thirty seconds later…“You haven’t left that spot in hours,” Aria said softly behind him.Samuel didn’t turn. “She’s still a target. You know that.”“That’s exactly why I’m here.” Aria approached slowly, a datapad in her hand. “There’s something you need to see. Something I should’ve told you weeks ago.”Samuel turned, gaze sharp. “This isn’t the time for another half-truth, Aria.”“It’s not a half-truth. It’s the truth,” she said, voice low. “It’s about Sarah. And what she really is.”That caught his attention.“I alread