"Drop the weapons!" Harlock roared. The sound bounced off the high marble walls. "Now! Before I have you flayed in the courtyard!"I didn't move. I kept my hands open. My eyes tracked the guards. A hundred rifles and a hundred blades. All leveled at my chest.Beside me, Lyra was a coiled spring. Her fingers gripped her staff. The tip was already starting to hum. "Arix," she said. Her voice was low. "I’m going to pop the staff. Get ready to run.""Don't," I said. I didn't look at her. I looked at Harlock and he was smiling. He thought he’d won."Look at them," Harlock sneered. He gestured to the crowd of nobles. They were huddled together. Fear smelled like cheap perfume. "Two rats in a gold cage. Did you really think you could just walk in here? Under my nose?""The nose is fine," I said. I took a slow step forward. "The brain is the problem.""Kill them!" Harlock screamed. "Wait," I said. I tapped my ear-comm. "Pip. You there?""Busy!" Pip’s voice crackled. He sounded like he was r

I could feel the cold wind from the shaft whipping at my back as I teetered on the edge.My shoulder was a mess of red and white pain. Blood soaked through my shirt, making everything slippery. The void-blade had left a burn that felt like it was still eating into my skin. I took a shallow breath and it felt like my lungs were filled with glass."Arix, move!" Lyra yelled. She leveled her staff and a bolt of blue plasma tore through the air, hitting Aldous right between the shoulder blades. There was a loud crack. The smell of singed metal filled the small elevator car.Aldous stood there, his armor humming as it turned that energy into a dull glow."Is that all you have, girl?" Aldous asked. His voice was deep and wrong, like metal grinding together. "You're fighting for a dead world.""I'm fighting for my uncle!" Lyra screamed. She charged at him, swinging her staff like a club, but he was too fast. He caught the staff mid-air. With one hand, he twisted the metal until it snapped,

I dragged myself across the threshold and the elevator doors hissed shut behind me. My lungs felt like they were full of wet ash and rusted nails. I rolled onto my side and hacked a glob of thick, black fluid onto the floor. It burned coming up and left a bitter, metallic tang on my tongue. Every breath was a physical fight against the weight in my chest."Arix! You're alive!" Damian’s voice boomed through the ringing in my ears.I looked up through a red haze, the Palace lobby was a wreck. Rebels were everywhere and they were dragging crates of gear and securing the heavy blast doors. Damian stood over me and his face was covered in soot and sweat. He reached down and hauled me to my feet. I leaned against a marble pillar and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand."The vault is sealed," I wheezed. "The gas is everywhere. I barely got out.""We saw the pressure readings. You’re lucky to be standing," Damian said. He looked around the lobby and a grin broke through the grime on his

Arden’s mouth snapped open and no words came out—just a raw sound that tore through the courtyard. My Master-Key system didn't just knock on his mental doors, it kicked them off the hinges. I felt the resistance of his corporate firewalls for a split second before they melted under my code.[System: Skill Executed - Master-Key: Neural Hijack (Rank: S)][Target: Arden - Level 82 Diplomat][Status: Breach Successful. Sync: 99.8%]"Stop it! Make it stop!" Arden shrieked. He clawed at my forearm and his nails dug into my skin, but I didn't let go. I squeezed tighter and forced his head back until his eyes rolled toward the sky."The firewall is down, Arix!" Pip’s voice screamed. "He’s wide open! I’m using his transmitter as a relay. We are live in three... two... one!""Broadcast it," I growled. "Every screen in the city. Don't leave a single pixel dark."[System: Global Announcement Channel Hooked.][Warning: Total War Protocol Initiated.]"It’s happening!" Pip yelled. "We’re overriding

The heavy drone of the oxygen scrubbers died with a final, mechanical wheeze. The silence that followed was worse than any explosion. It was the sound of a coffin lid closing. In the dim emergency light, I saw the young rebel who had been cheering only minutes ago. He was clawing at his tactical collar and his eyes were wide with a primal, suffocating terror."The air is... it's getting heavy," he gasped and he slumped against a marble wall. "Don't panic!" Damian yelled, but his own breath was coming in short, ragged bursts. "Arix, the fans stopped. Why did the fans stop?"I didn't answer him. I swiped my hand through the air and summoned the interface. The blue light of the System window was the only thing cutting through the thickening gloom.[System Warning: Life-Support Feed Severed.][Source: Surface Command - Administrator Lucian.][Internal Atmosphere: 88% Oxygen / 12% Carbon Dioxide (Rising).][Estimated Time to Respiratory Failure: 01:42:14.]"He cut the cord," I said. My vo