[Sector Zero - The Fungal Wastes]They left the safety of the rusted destroyer behind.The path led away from the underground sea, climbing higher into the rocky cavern. The ground changed from wet gravel to a soft, spongy moss that glowed with a faint violet light."It's... beautiful," Sarah whispered, her breath misting in the cold air.They had entered a Fungal Forest.Mushrooms the size of oak trees towered over them. Their caps pulsed with bioluminescent blue and purple veins, illuminating the eternal night. Spores drifted through the air like glowing snow."Don't touch them," Alex warned, pushing a hanging vine aside with his crowbar. "In an ecosystem this isolated, everything is likely poisonous."Alex walked point. On his back was the heavy ROKS-3 Flamethrower. He had managed to scavenge some diesel from the ship’s emergency generator, but the mix was crude. The tank was only a quarter full."One burst," Alex muttered to himself. "Maybe two."He looked back at Sarah. She was t

[Sector Zero - Cryostasis Wing (Sector B-4)] The heavy freight elevator shuddered to a halt. The rusted accordion gates rattled open. Cold vapor rolled out, swirling around their boots. It was colder here than the ocean below. The walls were lined with frost an inch thick. "Stay close," Alex said, his breath forming thick clouds. He gripped his crowbar tight. They entered a massive circular chamber. It looked like a cathedral of science. In the center of the room stood a single, massive glass cylinder, connected to thick, pulsating cables that ran into the ceiling. Inside the cylinder, floating in murky yellow fluid, was a man. He was huge—taller than Alex. His skin was grey, covered in surgical scars that had healed over decades. He wore the tattered remains of a black uniform. [System Scan Initiated] [Target: Subject 001 "The Immortal"] [Name: Hans Voller] [Status: Thawing...] "The power we restored," Sarah whispered, staring at the console lights blinking from red to green.

[Sector Zero - Level -2: The Dungeon] The iron bars slammed shut with a heavy, final clang. Alex and Sarah were thrown into a communal holding cell carved directly into the rock. It was damp, dark, and smelled of unwashed bodies and fear. Inside, about twenty other "gladiators" sat in the shadows. Most were emaciated, covered in scars. Some were missing limbs. They eyed the newcomers with a mixture of hunger and caution. "Fresh meat," a massive brute with a metal plate bolted to his skull grunted, cracking his knuckles. He stood up, flanked by two other thugs. "You two. Give us your boots. And the girl comes sit with us." Sarah reached for her knife, her eyes cold. Alex didn't even look at the brute. He walked over to a corner where a bucket of dirty water sat. "I said—" The brute reached for Alex's shoulder. CRACK. Alex grabbed the man's finger and snapped it backward like a dry twig. Before the brute could scream, Alex drove an elbow into his throat, collapsing his windpip

[Sector Zero - Level -2: The Fortress Interior] Chaos. Pure, unadulterated chaos. The moment the collars unlocked, the dungeon transformed into a slaughterhouse. "Kill them! Kill them all!" Hundreds of prisoners surged out of the cells like a flood of angry flesh. They didn't have guns. They had shivs made of toothbrushes, rocks, and their bare hands. The guards in the hallway panicked. They fired their electric rifles into the crowd. ZAP! ZAP! Prisoners fell, convulsing, but ten more trampled over their bodies to reach the guards. "Push forward!" Sarah screamed, grabbing a fallen guard’s stun baton. She swung it, cracking a helmet visor. Beside her, Elias was huddled against the wall, holding a stolen datapad. "The Armory!" Elias shouted over the screams. "Level 3! If we don't get guns, the heavy troopers will wipe us out!" "Clear a path!" Sarah roared. She wasn't the terrified nurse anymore. She spun the baton, blocking a guard’s strike, then drove her knee into his groi

[Sector A - Surface Level: Military Airfield] BOOM! The sound was like a meteor strike. The massive freight elevator, propelled by the falling counterweights, smashed into the heavy blast doors of the surface shaft. The reinforced steel buckled, tore, and finally blew outward. Debris, dust, and chunks of concrete rained down on the pristine tarmac of the airfield. Through the smoke, the sunlight pierced through. It was blinding. Brilliant, white, morning sunlight. "My eyes!" Prisoners screamed, covering their faces. They had lived in the red glow of magma for so long that the sun felt like a laser. "Move! Get off the platform!" Alex roared, shielding his own sensitive eyes with his arm. He kicked a piece of twisted metal aside and stepped onto the tarmac. The air smelled of ozone, jet fuel, and the sea. They were in Sector A. But this wasn't the garden party area. This was the Private Airfield on the edge of the island. Rows of hangars lined the runway. But the runway wasn