The desert was a scar behind her now, swallowed by the horizon and buried beneath the echo of betrayal. Ayla’s systems were fried—biofeedback flickering, internal gyros off-kilter, and her cognitive processor struggling to stabilize her visual alignment. But she kept walking. Her destination: The Shard, a derelict orbital elevator station long abandoned after the Collapse, its base hidden in the mountains beyond the no-man's zone. Few knew it still functioned. Fewer still knew the Revenant Protocol was buried in its core. And only one person knew how to activate it. Ayla was counting on a ghost. Mount Zerya – Hidden Base of the Shard The once-magnificent structure lay half-sunken into the mountain like the skeleton of a fallen god. Vines crept along its rusted panels, but inside, the fusion cores still hummed faintly—like the heartbeat of something that refused to die. Ayla pushed through a shattered entrance, hand on the wall for balance. A chirping sound pinged through the corridor.

The descent into the Leviathan-controlled data nexus was nothing short of brutal. The skies were dark, heavy with a tempest of ash and smoke. Ayla, despite the constant ache in her body and the tremors in her circuits, pressed forward with purpose. Every step carried the weight of the mission: to retrieve the intelligence that could end the war before it even began.She glanced back at her team, each one clad in the armor of Revenant loyalty each one sworn to the cause. But in the back of her mind, there was a creeping doubt. One of them was hiding something.They’d been together for too long, and Ayla could feel the shift in the air, the tension that was building between them. It was as if the ground beneath their feet knew something they didn’t.The NexusA massive, blackened tower loomed ahead, its architecture twisted and imposing, pulsing with the eerie green glow of Leviathan’s programming. The entrance was guarded by drones and automated defense systems, but they’d been dealt w

Ayla's mind raced, each thought crashing into the next with the force of a tidal wave. Orion. The architect of it all. He stood before her, a figure shrouded in the very darkness she had spent years fighting against. The man responsible for the Revenant Protocol the catalyst for the chaos that had already consumed so much. But there was more to his presence than just his title. His words echoed through her mind like a sickening refrain: “You are the final piece of the puzzle.”She gripped her blaster tightly, but it felt almost useless in her hands now. The walls of the room seemed to close in, and despite the urgency of the moment, a cold chill ran down her spine. This was no ordinary battle. This wasn’t about survival. This was about understanding the very foundation of her existence.“You…” Ayla started, but the words caught in her throat. She had to know. Had to understand.Orion’s helmeted face tilted slightly, almost as if he was observing her reaction with clinical interest. “Y

The air in the chamber was thick with tension, as Ayla stood frozen, staring at the woman who shared her face. Her heart raced in her chest, each beat reverberating in her ears. The woman her doppelganger was a living nightmare, a twisted reflection of what Ayla could have become if she had never broken free from the chains of manipulation. The realization was a brutal one.Ayla’s mind scrambled to make sense of what had just been revealed. The woman before her wasn’t just a creation she was a failed version, a shadow that had been discarded and forgotten. And yet, here she was, alive, thriving in the darkness Ayla had fought so hard to escape.“I know this is hard to believe,” the woman said, her voice smooth, almost mocking, “but you must understand. We were made for a purpose, Ayla. You were always meant to be my replacement.”“Replacement?” Ayla's voice was barely a whisper, as if the word itself was too heavy to carry. She stepped back, her mind reeling. “But I""You escaped," th

The air felt thick with tension as Ayla and Zara stood pressed against the cold, unforgiving walls of the narrow corridor. Their breaths were shallow, their hearts beating in sync with the thundering footsteps that echoed down the hallway. Ayla’s pulse quickened as the sound of approaching boots grew louder, each step closer to them, their enemies closing in with terrifying precision.Zara’s grip on Ayla’s arm tightened, her fingers digging into her skin. The silent urgency in her movements was a stark contrast to the chaos brewing just beyond the corner. Ayla’s mind raced, a thousand questions spiraling through her head. Who were these people? How had they found them so quickly? And why did Zara insist on keeping them alive? What game was she really playing? But there was no time for answers. The enemy was upon them.Without warning, Zara shoved Ayla forward into a small maintenance closet, the door closing silently behind them. The air was musty, thick with the smell of rust and dec