The chilling realization of Xam’s betrayal settled like Martian dust in the comms room. My mind reeled. I could still see him—quiet, stoic, loyal. At least that’s what we thought.Minutes Before the BreachXam stood among the assembled ǂKhomani warriors in the council chamber. His gaze wasn't on ǂGao. It wasn’t on Ka!ri. It was locked on me. His posture taut. His right hand twitched imperceptibly by his side. A silent, encrypted pulse buzzed through a hidden comms device. The trigger phrase had been spoken:"War."He knew then—his mission was active.As the chamber dispersed, Xam slipped away into a side passage, his movement so routine it raised no alarm. He crouched in a maintenance tunnel and sent a compressed, encrypted signal burst:Alliance confirmed. War declared. Red Rock city location compromised.Next, he headed for Gamma-7.From a concealed holster, Xam drew a tiny weapon—a Hermes.25 ACP, a near-silent sidearm modeled after a 21st-century Baby Browning. But this one deliver

An urgent council meeting had been convened. The holographic table in the center glowed with the detailed HAARP schematics Nancy had pulled from Xam’s device, now translated into Khomani. Elders and chiefs gathered, their eyes grave, their silence more powerful than any chant."Targeting these HAARP facilities," ǂGao declared, his voice carrying through the chamber, "would cripple their control over Earth's climate. Their illusion of salvation would fall with it.""It could ignite rebellion," Ka!ri added, her voice laced with conviction. "Expose their crimes. Fracture their grip.""But these assets," one elder objected, "are heavily defended. Assaulting them is not resistance—it is a declaration of war.""And we’re still rebuilding," another elder warned, gesturing across the chamber. "Our strength is scattered. Our numbers few. A frontal assault would be suicide.""It’s not about storming gates," I said, stepping forward. "It’s about striking where it hurts. Precision over numbers. Hi

The low hum of the Dune Weaver's systems was a lullaby against the vast silence of space. I lay sprawled beside Nancy’s workstation, my arm lazily draped across her shoulders. Her scent, clean, earthy, tinged with the faint metal of recycled air, stilled something inside me. For a heartbeat, I let my eyes close. Peace before the storm."Almost there," she murmured, fingers flying across her console. "Phase one locked: parasitic code injection. Precise and dirty. Just how we need it.""And phase two?" I asked without moving."The Red Rock anti-virus," she said. "Cleanses the Net before it reaches Earth’s surviving systems, the Global Nexus." She glanced at me. That look between us held everything we feared, everything we dared.Around us, the Pre-Deployment Muster had begun. Khomani warriors moved like shadows, strapping down IR-cloaked suits, checking power cells, sliding blades into sheaths. No one spoke. They all knew what was coming.I disembarked, stepping into the filtered air. M

For a moment—a fleeting, torturous second—Da’kar’s expression cracked. The fire in his eyes dulled. Confusion rippled through him.Then the shimmer returned. Stronger. Redder. The nanobots surged.Ka!ri stepped closer. “You’re not their tool. You’re my brother.”He jerked—like he’d been slapped. His jaw clenched. The rifle trembled in his hands.And then—He turned the weapon on himself.I gasped. But his shaking fingers failed to keep the barrel steady. A wild shot fired upward, carving molten stone into the ceiling.“System breach confirmed,” Nancy shouted. “I’m in!”I moved—fast—slamming the Red Rock capsule into the HAARP core. The lights surged. The ground shook beneath us.“Red Rock upload… initiated,” she confirmed, eyes wide with both triumph and dread.Da’kar screamed.Not a human scream.The sound tore through the air—guttural, warped, unnatural. It was as if something inside him had short-circuited, a howl of tortured code and fractured consciousness. His mouth stretched unn

The Bakkie shuddered to a halt, its engine dying with a final, choked gasp as the downpour turned the ground into a churning, muddy torrent around us. Visibility was zero, the acid rain stinging even through the thick poly-carbon of the windshield. Through the deluge, Nancy pointed. “There!”A colossal structure loomed out of the swirling mist, not ancient and organic as I’d half-expected, but brutally functional. It was a monolith of dark, reinforced alloys and chilled composites, a fortress against both time and disaster. No warm, pulsating life here; it exuded the sterile, unforgiving aura of a deep-cold data vault. This was the Gaia Node, built to house intensive tech and data, and it looked every bit the impenetrable vault Nancy said it was. The only indication of its colossal power was a faint, almost imperceptible hum that vibrated through the Bakkie’s frame, a low thrum beneath the din of the rain.“The main access point is ahead!” Nancy yelled, already unbuckling, her voice st