All Chapters of Project Echelon: The Debris Wars: Chapter 71
- Chapter 80
108 chapters
Chapter 71: The Pulse Beneath
The alarms were still echoing through the subterranean corridors when Mira forced the reinforced door shut behind the team. The metallic clang reverberated like a warning. They didn’t have long. The government’s internal lockdown sequence had already begun—heavy blast shutters sinking down levels above them, sealing pathways one by one.Lyra leaned against the wall, her breath ragged, her sedation still wearing off in unpredictable waves. Adrian hovered protectively at her side, though he was just as unsteady. Too many injections—too many attempts by the government scientists to suppress the Echelon-linked resonance building in both of them.Rourke swept his rifle toward the dim hallway ahead, pausing to listen. “Movement. Two floors up. Pattern sounds like drones, not troops.”Kapoor was already pulling up the facility schematics on the portable holo-board he’d pulled from a downed guard. The light from the display lit his face in a cold blue glow. “They’re sealing Sector 4. If we do
Chapter 72: Terminal Cut
The blast shutters groaned as they rose, revealing the central nexus chamber of the Argon Facility—an underground vault humming with power, cables coiled like metallic vines, and a single cylindrical structure at its center: the Central Relay, the device Mira had warned them about since the beginning. The machine that could trigger global satellite collapse if Echelon ever gained control of it.And now it was minutes from going online.Rourke’s boots hit the platform first, rifle raised, scanning the shadows. Kapoor and Sari followed, both tense, weapons drawn. Mira stepped in behind them, her eyes locked on the Relay’s pulsing red core. Lyra and Adrian entered last, both still bruised from captivity but moving with grim purpose.“That’s it,” Mira whispered. “If they activate the Relay, every orbital debris field will be redirected. Entire regions could be wiped out.”“Then we’re stopping it,” Rourke said, cracking his neck. “One way or another.”They advanced as the overhead lights f
Chapter 73: Through the Blind Corridor
The emergency lights buzzed overhead, flickering in frantic pulses that matched the tempo of Mira’s heartbeat. The team moved single-file through the narrow auxiliary tunnel, a maintenance route they had no maps for. The walls sweated condensation; the metal grated under their boots, echoing every step like a warning.Lyra walked between Mira and Adrian, her breaths shallow but steady. The sedatives had left a lingering haze around her eyes, but she forced herself forward, gripping the strap of Mira’s pack to stay anchored. Adrian remained close—closer than he had been in the entire facility so far—his expression strictly focused, though Mira knew the tension coiling through him was far from calm.Kapoor led, holding the hacked tablet that pulsed with unstable readings. The signal range was weak. Sari watched their rear with the silent intensity of someone expecting an attack at any moment. Rourke muttered under his breath, checking the charge levels on his weapon for the third time i
Chapter 74: Ashes and Echoes
The world outside the bunker had fallen into a tense, unnatural quiet.Mira stood at the blast doors, watching distant trails of smoke coil upward where orbital debris strikes had ravaged the outer sectors. The sky flickered with emergency beacons, as if warning the planet itself that something catastrophic had begun — and wasn’t stopping anytime soon.Inside the dim operations hub, Kapoor’s fingers flew across a cracked console, patching into the last reliable satellites. Sari knelt beside a stack of portable generators, rewiring power circuits with frayed cables and stubborn determination.Rourke paced like a caged storm, glancing every few seconds toward the infirmary where Lyra was resting.Adrian remained at her side.The attack on the facility had changed all of them — and not just physically. The world wasn’t simply at war with orbital fragments anymore. Someone was using the chaos to seize control, and The Directorate’s influence stretched farther than they ever imagined.Adri
Chapter 75: Breakpoint
Alarms blared through the facility like an angry heartbeat. Red lights pulsed across the metallic walls, casting long shadows that stretched and twisted as the team ran. Mira kept Lyra close, one stabilizing arm around her back. Lyra’s legs wobbled beneath her, the lingering sedation making every movement feel like she was running underwater.“I’ve… got it,” Lyra insisted weakly, though her voice betrayed how much effort the words took.“No, you don’t,” Mira said, steady and determined. “Just breathe. We’re almost there.”Up ahead, Kapoor and Sari sprinted beside Adrian and Rourke, each one armed with weapons they’d pried from downed facility guards. The corridor split into a T-junction, and Kapoor skidded to a stop, scanning the two paths as the overhead lights flickered.“Which way?” he asked, voice sharp.“Left!” Adrian said without hesitation. He glanced at a map in his memory — he had spent weeks trying to escape these halls, memorizing every vent and security post. “Hangar acces
Chapter 76: The Fracturing Line
The storm outside the mountain shelter had eased into a dull, distant rumble, as if the sky itself was too exhausted to rage any longer. Inside, however, exhaustion couldn’t tame the tension tightening the air.Not after what they learned.Project Echelon wasn’t just about creating enhanced operatives. It was about replacing them. A blueprint for a future controlled entirely by synthetic successors—obedient, tireless, disposable.And Adrian was their prototype.He sat on the edge of a steel crate, elbows on his knees, gaze locked on the floor. Lyra hovered beside him, not touching him but close. Too close to be just allies. Too far to give away the truth they both pretended wasn’t there.Mira paced, every step sharp and controlled, the movement of someone holding back an explosion. Kapoor quietly organized supplies just to keep his hands steady. Sari monitored the radio, trying to boost a signal through the reinforced structure. Rourke leaned against the back wall, arms crossed, watch
Chapter 77: Velocity of Trust
The hangar thrummed with nervous energy. Screens buzzed with flight paths, heat signatures, and the shifting map of the Earth sphere after the Strike. Mira stood over the holographic table, her fingers tapping out a worried rhythm that betrayed how thin her patience had become.“Once more,” she ordered, voice low. Kapoor reset the map.A dotted red line appeared, arcing from the orbital tether station… straight toward New Avalon — one of the last neutral cities still offering refuge to civilians fleeing government control.Adrian stared at the projected trajectory. His fists clenched so hard, his knuckles looked bloodless. “If those rail cores hit atmosphere at that angle—”“They become missiles,” Rourke finished tightly. “And not the kind you miss.”Lyra swallowed. There were three cores. One was enough to flatten a city sector.Kapoor continued, “We have less than eight hours before they reach upper atmosphere. The launch mechanism is encrypted — no remote access, no override. They
Chapter 78: The Heart of the Labyrinth
The alarms stopped.Not because the danger was gone — but because the facility itself had decided silence was more terrifying.Deep beneath the Earth, miles below any chance of rescue if things went wrong, the team stood at the threshold of a long-hidden chamber. The red lights faded into a low hum, pulsing like a heartbeat through the steel and stone.Mira understood the message instantly.They had crossed a line.Adrian held his rifle steady, his breathing tight and controlled. The sedation drugs the government pumped into him days before had mostly worn off, but he was still regaining his full strength — and control. The faint shimmering energy around his fingers flickered unpredictably.Lyra noticed every fluctuation. She moved closer, not touching him — never restraining him — just grounding him with her presence.“You good?” she whispered.He nodded once. “Better with you near.”Rourke, hulking and silent as always, scanned the hallway behind them with his weapon ready. Kapoor w
Chapter 79: The Fault in the Code
The corridor lights flickered as Mira pressed her back to the cold steel wall, motioning for the others to stop. Kapoor froze mid-step. Sari steadied her breathing. Rourke checked the charge on his pulse cannon, muttering something under his breath about hating underground labs.Ahead, the reinforced doors leading to the Core Chamber remained shut. The group had managed to make it past the first two defensive choke points of the Echelon facility, but this last barrier… this was where the government stored everything stolen from the Project — tech, files, and, most importantly, answers.Mira’s voice dropped into a whisper. “Once we open this, we trigger every alarm left in this place.”Kapoor nodded. “Then we move fast.”“We always do,” Rourke grunted.Sari approached the door panel. She didn’t start typing — she just stared at it for a moment, eyes narrowing. “This isn’t a standard lock. It’s running Dr. Kensley’s old quantum encryptions. If I break this wrong…”“The facility detonate
Chapter 80: The Fracture Before Dawn
The air outside the Echelon complex tasted colder than any of them remembered. It smelled like metal and dust — like a city that had tried to forget the war but never truly healed. Emergency sirens still echoed from distant sectors, a reminder that their escape had triggered alarms all across the government grid.Adrian held Lyra close as they moved into the shadows between a row of abandoned shuttles. Every step was unsteady for her, the lingering effects of sedation still clouding her mind. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision.Rourke checked his wrist display again. “Tracking says we’ve got sixty seconds before drones sweep the sector.”“So we need to move now,” Mira said, gripping her blaster like she wanted to punch reality into obeying.Sari slid to Lyra’s other side, helping her stay upright. “Lyra, breathe slow. You’re here with us. Focus on the rhythm of your steps.”Lyra nodded, though her breath came in unsteady bursts. She wasn’t afraid — but she was angry. Angr