The chamber quaked beneath them, every pulse of the relay towers reverberating through Jake’s bones. Sparks flew across the floor like lightning trapped in metal veins, and the air hummed so loudly that it seemed to press against their ears. The crownless commander stood in the center, hands lightly resting on the command cradle as if conducting the very heartbeat of the city itself.Jake’s gaze sharpened. “We split their focus. Kael, tower one and two. Lyra, tower three and four. I’ll take the command cradle itself.”Kael nodded without hesitation. His movements were already a blur as he sprinted toward the nearest tower. Lyra’s drones zipped forward, weaving through arcs of erratic energy to strike the other two towers. Jake advanced alone, stepping carefully across the polished metal floor toward the rising cradle, aware that one misstep could fry him instantly.The commander’s eyes tracked him with faint amusement. “Bold,” he said, voice calm despite the chaos. “Do you truly under

Jake felt the pulse again before they reached the surface—faint, rhythmic, and wrong. Not mechanical. Not electrical. Something deeper. It throbbed through the metal under their boots, vibrating like a distant drum muffled by layers of steel and forgotten history.Lyra noticed the slight hitch in his steps. “You feel it too.”Jake didn’t answer right away. He pressed his palm to the wall. The vibration moved through the structure in steady waves. “It’s getting stronger the higher we go.”Kael glanced back toward the unconscious commander dragged between them. “Then whatever’s calling to you isn’t beneath the relay. It’s above it.”Lyra nodded slowly. “Sector Eleven’s upper plate.”Kael scowled. “That makes no sense. That plate’s dead metal, sealed since the collapse. Nothing’s living up there.”Jake didn’t look at him. “I didn’t say it was alive.”The pulse echoed again, stronger this time, and a faint tremor rippled through the corridor dust.Lyra stiffened. “We’re close to the main

The wall didn’t fall easily.Jake could feel the vibration running through his arms as he drove the reinforced cutter into the slab of fused concrete. Sparks spat out while Kael used a hydraulic spreader to pry apart a seam Lyra had identified. Dust rolled down in thick sheets, coating their clothing and settling into their hair. For a moment, the corridor felt like the inside of a lung trying to exhale centuries of trapped air.“Pressure’s shifting,” Lyra warned quietly. Her drones hovered in a formation that mapped shifting stress pockets across the collapsed passage. “Push too hard on the upper beam and you’ll trigger a cascading drop.”Kael growled and adjusted the spreader. “So which part am I supposed to not touch?”Lyra pointed. “Anything above your head. And most of the left side.”Kael shot her a dry look. “Perfect. I will just lift the one rock in this entire tunnel that won’t kill us instantly.”Jake kept cutting. “We don’t need the whole wall down. Just enough for access.”

Jake Sullivan’s boots clicked softly against the metal grating at the edge of the spiral, a rhythm that matched the steady pulse of the chamber below. The glow from the central core cast long, fractured shadows across the walls, each one seeming to twist and move, hiding unseen threats. Kael and Lyra flanked him, silent but alert, their presence a constant reassurance in the tense quiet.The footsteps continued, echoing in unison, deliberate and unhurried. They weren’t coming for a fight—they were announcing a presence, claiming the space as their own. Jake’s grip tightened on his weapon, eyes scanning for movement, traps, or any sign of what lay below.From the spiral’s apex, he could see them now: figures in tactical armor, their fractured crown emblem glinting faintly in the cold light. They weren’t scattered. They weren’t improvising. Every operative moved like a single organism, patterns synchronized, awareness heightened. And at the center of it all stood a figure—tall, composed

The southwestern hub sprawled beneath the city like a sleeping giant, corridors twisting through old maintenance tunnels, abandoned service shafts, and forgotten chambers that once hummed with life. Jake Sullivan led the way, Kael and Lyra flanking him, their movements a seamless choreography of awareness and anticipation. Every footfall, every breath, every flicker of light mattered.The pulse of the Crownless Division’s network was faint but detectable. Lyra’s drones flitted ahead, scanning every shadow, every crevice, projecting decoy signals to mask their approach. “They’re preparing for us,” she murmured, her voice barely audible over the hum of power conduits. “Relay nodes are stabilizing. Defensive systems are activating on a timer.”Jake’s jaw tightened. “Then we move carefully. No room for mistakes.” He adjusted his grip on his weapon and stepped forward, every sense alert, calculating angles, trajectories, and potential threats.The first corridor was narrow, walls lined wit