The tires of the Vanguard rover ate up the broken asphalt of the old highway.Keal held the steering wheel tight with his hand. His left arm was hurt bad and was tied up against his chest. The engine was. The whole vehicle was shaking so much that his teeth were rattling.Outside the windshield the ash storm was like a big grey wall that was moving really fast. It would part for a second before they would smash through the junk on the road.How are they doing there Keal yelled out to the people in the back.In the red light of the back cabin the two medical people were holding on tight to the walls trying not to fall over as the rover turned.No change the main medical person yelled back. Commander Knoxs heartbeat is steady. It is really slow. It is like she is in a sleep. The special metal frame has fixed her bones.And what about the Boss Keal asked, turning the rover to avoid a truck.The medical person looked at Idris Cole. He was lying still. The hurt part of his shoulder had sto

The hunger was not a feeling. It was like a force that was pulling Idris Cole down. He broke the straps that held him to the hospital bed. They were like paper. His new left arm was made of a glowing material and dark red bone. It sparked when he moved it. The red mist in the room swirled around him. He breathed it in with every breath.Idris looked down. Rhea was on the bed next to him. Her body was covered in a metal-like material. It was fused to her skin. The cracks were sealed with a colorful scab made from Idriss own blood. When he looked at her with his vision she was not the person he knew. She was a source of energy.A message appeared in front of his eyes. It said "Consume" in letters. It was beating like his heart. His body was telling him to eat Rhea. It would make him stronger. Idris raised his hand. His sharp claws were above Rheas chest. His mouth was watering. He wanted to eat her.Then Idris said "No". It was his voice. He was fighting the monster inside him. He remem

Idris Cole was in a lot of pain. It was not his body that hurt it was like something was tearing him apart from the inside out. He was kneeling in the middle of a courtyard and he could not move because his own gravity was holding him down. The dark color that was spreading through his veins was from the Overlord Spire, a thing that the Curator had tried to control. The Leviathan mutation was helping his body heal. It needed a strong structure to work. So it was changing his bones. Adding alien technology to his body.The people around him were struggling to get up. They were. Were being crushed by the strong gravity. Idriss head went back. He let out a loud scream. It was a sound, like metal tearing and an animal roaring.Damian was on the roof of the Outpost. He could not shoot or even breathe. The air was getting thinner. His ears were popping. He was watching Idris in horror as his skin was splitting open. Dark armor plates were coming out of Idriss body. Covering his vital organs

A huge wave of fire washed over Idris Cole. This fire was blue and white. It was so hot. The heat was really strong. It was hot enough to melt metal and turn rock into boiling glass in a second. The air around Idris Cole exploded. It made a loud noise that broke all the windows in the Vanguard Outpost.The plasma fire hit Idris Cole in the chest. It pushed him back a little. The light from the fire was so bright that it covered Idris Cole completely.Inquisitor Vance watched all of this through his helmet. He felt happy and cold inside. No living thing could survive the plasma fire. The heat would break down Idris Coles body at a small level.Inquisitor Vance said that Idris Cole was dead. He was getting ready to give the order to breach the bunker.Then something strange happened. The white fire started to turn black. The heat was not spreading out. It was being pulled towards Idris Cole. The blue flames turned into purple and then disappeared.Idris Cole was standing in the middle o

Idris Cole walked alone through the wasteland the ash reaching up to his knees. It was a walk like a ghost tour and the only sound was the soft crunch of ash beneath his feet. The eastern ridge was on fire a wall of flames that seemed to touch the sky. This was where Sector Ones big warship had met its end. Ahead of him Idris saw the broken remains of Vanguard Outpost.Inside his head there was nothing. No thoughts, no feelings, a empty space. Idris tried to remember what food tasted like before the world fell apart. He tried to recall the face of the person he killed.. His mind was a blank.Idris thought about the system that was inside him. He asked for a status report. The red words appeared in front of him cold and without feeling. His Apex Core was working well. His body was stable.. His memories were broken. Forty-two percent of them were gone forever. The system warned him that using his matter powers would make him lose more memories. It wanted him to let go of his feelings.I