When a monster opens its mouth to swallow your best friend, you do not wait for permission to jump straight into the fire. Vane hurled the heavy seismic charge with all his might, his arm straining as the black metal cylinder spun fast through the smoky air. The heavy explosive went flying straight across the gap, right past the snapping teeth of the charging beast, and landed deep inside the glowing purple throat of the giant creature. “I got it right in the trap!” Vane yelled, diving sideways behind a jagged rock pillar as the monster choked hard on the metal device. The guardian stopped dead in its tracks. Its massive claws dug deep into the basalt slab as it tried to cough out the explosive. The sound was wet and broken, like something big trying to clear its throat and failing. Its multiple burning eyes widened in sudden panic. The dark armor over its chest flickered wildly as the internal pressure built up inside its throat. Sparks jumped along the glowing purple veins. The

Asher stepped through the big arched doorway. His boots made a loud sound on the smooth steel floor. The noise bounced off the walls and came back thin. Rows of old computer terminals hummed with a low, steady sound. They threw a cold blue light over the dusty panels. Dust covered almost everything. It looked like no one had been in here for years. Vane and Jaren followed close behind, eyes moving across the dark corners, guns up and ready.“This place looks completely untouched,” Vane said. He brushed a thick layer of gray dust off a metal console with his glove. The dust stuck to his fingers. “Even with the bunker falling apart upstairs, these old servers are running on their own power. Look at the lights. They didn’t even flicker when we walked in. They just came on.”“Because it was built to last longer than any of us,” Asher said. He walked up to the main command desk at the front of the room and put his hand on the cold steel. The metal felt colder than it should. The big screen

When you walk into a room full of politicians who think they own the world, the best way to quiet them down is to remind them who is actually holding the leash. Asher pushed open the heavy oak doors of the central assembly hall alone. His boots clicked against the polished marble floor. He did not wait for an announcement or an invitation. The high council members sat around a big circular table made of dark stone. Empty spectator seats lined the walls. A half dozen armed guards stood near the edges of the room, stiff and quiet. Head Minister Vance looked up from a stack of emergency reports. His face tightened the moment he recognized the man walking toward the center of the room. “This assembly is restricted to authorized military leadership only,” Vance said. His voice carried across the high ceiling. “How did you get past the outer checkpoint without an escort, soldier?” Asher kept walking until he stood at the edge of the stone table. He did not salute. He did not look

Elara stepped her foot down hard on the accelerator. The heavy armored car roared to life with a deep mechanical growl as the street ahead of them split straight down the middle. A massive plume of dark gray concrete dust and shattered asphalt shot ten feet into the air. It swallowed a civilian delivery truck whole before anyone could even scream. Inside the cabin, Vane grabbed the edges of his console to keep from flying out of his seat. Jaren braced his shoulder against the passenger door. “What in the world was that?” Jaren yelled over the roar of collapsing buildings and screeching metal. He gripped his rifle tight as the entire block jerked hard to the left. Parked cars slid sideways like toys. “Did the council just drop a bomb on their own neighborhood?” “That was not a bomb from the council,” Elara shouted back. Her hands stayed locked on the steering wheel as she forced the heavy vehicle around a jagged crater. Her face was tight. Her eyes moved between the cracked winds

The armored car hit a ridge of broken concrete so hard the whole cabin shook. Elara kept the wheel steady and pushed them toward the western highway out of the capital. Thick black smoke rolled across the sky from the burning districts behind them. It covered what little sunlight was left. Inside the cramped cabin the air smelled of scorched metal, ozone, and the bitter dust of a city falling apart. “The public broadcast went through all sectors before the towers went dark,” Vane said. He tapped fast on his terminal and watched data pings come back from the outer residential zones. “Millions of people just got the full bunker archives. Every log, every blueprint, every confession from the founders is sitting on private screens across the continent right now.” “That means the council cannot hide behind closed doors and clean speeches anymore,” Jaren said. He rested his elbows on his knees and checked the magazine of his rifle. “They spent decades telling everyone the void breache