The Martian air was still and heavy, thick with the scent of burning metal anddust. Kiera’s team crouched behind the wreckage of the rebel barricades, theirhelmets scanning for any signs of movement. The woman who stood besidethe weapon had not made a move since Kiera confronted her. The tension wasthick, the silence oppressive, and the weight of the unknown hung in the airlike a storm ready to break.“Who are you?” Kiera asked again, her voice cold but firm. She kept her rifletrained on the woman, but her instincts told her that pulling the trigger wasn’tthe right choice—yet. There was something different about her. Somethingdangerous.The woman’s eyes were hidden beneath a hood, but her calm expressionremained unmoved. “I could ask the same of you,” she said, her voice oddlymelodic, like a whisper carried by the wind. “But I already know. You’re hereto destroy it.”“The weapon,” Kiera said, narrowing her gaze. “What is it? Why are youprotecting it?”The woman let out a s

Kiera’s mind raced as the light enveloped the room. The blinding intensity ofit made her vision blur, but she felt an overwhelming pull—an invisible forcetugging at her very soul, as though the planet itself was trying to drag her intoits depths. She heard Jace shout her name, but the sound seemed distant,muffled by the overwhelming pressure in the air. The temperature dropped inan instant, a freezing chill sweeping through the room, making every breathfeel like a jagged shard of ice in her lungs.Then, just as quickly as it had come, the light vanished, leaving behind aneerie silence.Kiera’s eyes adjusted to the dim light of the underground facility. The vastchamber was unlike anything she had ever seen. The walls were lined withmassive, glowing symbols—ancient markings that seemed to pulse withenergy. The floor beneath them was made of a strange material, smooth andreflective, as if it had been forged from something otherworldly.The humanoid figure stood before them now

The air around Kiera crackled with energy, the pulse of the weaponreverberating through her entire being. She could feel it coursing through herveins, a cold, alien presence mingling with her own consciousness. The weightof the decision she had made bore down on her with crushing force, and thepower of Mars itself was a constant, gnawing presence in the back of her mind.It was as if the planet had become a part of her—its history, its pain, its hopes,and its future—all intertwined within her.She stood motionless, her eyes closed as she tried to regain control, to pushback the overwhelming tide of visions and voices that threatened to consumeher. She could hear the whispers of the ancient Guardians, the once-proudprotectors of Mars, now silent and distant, their existence reduced to faintechoes in her mind.“The path you walk is fraught with danger,” one voice warned. “The weaponis not just a tool—it is a force, a will of its own. You must choose how to wieldit.”Kiera’s b

Kiera’s eyes fluttered open, her vision swimming as she tried to make senseof the world around her. The air smelled of smoke, the remnants of explosionsstill hanging in the dust-filled atmosphere. Her head throbbed, the aftermathof the shockwave pulling her back into the harsh reality of the battlefield. Shepushed herself up, her muscles stiff and aching, her breath ragged as shetried to regain her composure.She was on the ground. The rebels were closing in. But something was wrong.The silence was unnerving, broken only by the soft hum of the weapon’senergy within her.“What happened?” Kiera murmured to herself, her hand instinctively reachingfor her sidearm. She was still alive, but she couldn’t remember what hadhappened after the explosion.The battlefield was eerily quiet. The rebels had either retreated or were lyingin wait, but Kiera didn’t have time to figure it out. She was still feeling thepull of the weapon, its power surging through her veins like wildfire.The m

The control center was on the verge of collapse. Kiera’s legs buckled beneath her as the weapon’s power surged again, shaking the very foundations of the building. The walls groaned, and the floor beneath her trembled with every pulse of energy that radiated from the weapon. It was no longer just a threat within her—it was a force that seemed to merge with Mars itself.Kiera tried to push herself up, her mind whirling with the consequences of the explosion earlier. She had barely managed to regain control of herself, but the weapon still wanted to claim her. And worse, it was claiming Jace too. The energy of the planet seemed to be pulling him into the same void that had nearly consumed her.“We need to leave, now!” Jace’s voice broke through her thoughts, sounding strained as he grabbed her arm and tried to pull her toward the exit. But Kiera was frozen. She couldn’t just leave. She couldn’t leave behind the truth that was buried deep beneath the surface—the truth about the weapon, a