Vance did not sit in the central chair at the council table. He stood by the shattered glass dome and watched the city below. The wind brought the cold scent of rain. The sirens in the distance began to fade as the automated quarantine took full effect. The glowing towers remained bright, but the fear inside them was thick.He tapped his earpiece again. "Jax. Connect me to the public broadcast system. I want every screen in the city to show this room.""Give me two minutes," Jax replied. Her voice was steady now, filled with the confidence of someone who had just taken over a kingdom from a basement. "The main routing station is under my thumb. Setting up the feed now."Corvus remained slumped in his leather chair. He looked small without his security guards and his flashing control panels. He watched Vance with hollow eyes. "You think you can just talk to them? This city runs on systems, Vance. The factories, the food distribution, the power grids. If you pull the plug, millions will

Vance stood at the southern border of his territory, watching the heavy current of the great river basin. The water was dark and churned violently against the muddy banks. On this side of the bank, his newly established outposts kept a tight watch. On the opposite side, the dense jungles of the southern continent began, shrouded in a permanent thick fog.Elias stood beside him, holding a digital telescope. "The scouts report heavy movement behind that fog bank. Malek is not just building boats, Vance. He is setting up massive automated defense towers along the entire southern shoreline. If we try to cross in standard transport ships, their heavy artillery will tear us to pieces before we hit the mid-point of the river.""We are not crossing in standard ships," Vance replied. His voice was smooth, completely unaffected by the damp wind blowing off the water. "What is the status of the salvage from the Citadel?""Jax managed to reroute three heavy industrial barges from the northern min

The wind inside the massive underground cavern howled, carrying the sharp scent of burning fuel and boiled river water. The battle down on the concrete docks raged on, a distant symphony of rattling automatic fire and the deep, heavy thuds of plasma cannons. But up on the wide steel deck of the black command carrier, the air felt entirely still. The two system hosts faced each other, their respective energy fields pushing against the damp cold of the bay.Warlord Malek did not rush forward like Skarn or Grok. He adjusted the cuffs of his dark naval uniform with his mechanical hand, the silver pins on his chest catching the orange glare of Vance’s sword. His crimson cybernetic eye whined softly as it zoomed in, calculating the distance between them down to the millimeter."I watched your little display in Apex City through the satellite relay," Malek said, his voice flat and calm. He raised his green energy saber, the blade humming at a frequency that made the loose metal bolts on the

The black command carrier sat low in the water, its massive titanium hull resting against the reinforced concrete docks of the southern shipyard. The dust from the cavern ceiling had finally settled, leaving a thin, grey film over the dark river. The silence that followed the battle was immense, broken only by the rhythmic lapping of the dark current against the metal plates and the quiet murmurs of the surrendering southern troops.Vance walked down the heavy iron boarding ramp, his dark combat coat swaying with his slow, deliberate stride. His boots made a hollow, metallic thud against the gangway. Behind him, Elias led a squad of city guards to secure the main bridge and the ship's navigation archives.Jax’s voice came through the earpiece, the static entirely gone now that the southern jammer towers were offline. "The regional energy grid is completely green, Vance. The moment Malek’s core cleared the network, the southern automated factories flipped their primary protocols over t

The sea wind roared, catching the edge of Commander Vesper’s crimson coat. The intense heat from Vance’s thermal katana sent waves of rippling air between them, melting the thin layer of salt and ice on the concrete pier. For a second, the only sound was the deep hum of the power armor worn by the foreign guards and the distant, heavy crashing of the ocean waves.Vesper’s artificial blue eyes narrowed as they focused on the orange fire of the blade. "Bravado," she said softly. "The classic downfall of a local king."She dropped her fist.The foreign guards opened fire instantly. Their heavy rifles did not shoot standard lead or basic plasma bolts. They unleashed concentrated beams of bright orange energy that cut through the air with a high-pitched scream.Vance moved before the first beam could touch his coat. He activated his shadow cloak, his physical form dissolving into the ambient light. The orange energy beams struck the empty concrete where he had been standing, tearing deep,