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Chapter 130: Meet Up
The "usual place" was a small, unassuming coffee shop with outdoor seating, a neutral ground. Kyle arrived first, choosing a table in the corner where the morning sun was warm but not blinding. He nursed a black coffee, his senses on high alert, every nerve ending buzzing with a tension that had nothing to do with caffeine. Sophie arrived exactly at noon. She moved with an efficient, purposeful grace, her posture perfect in a tailored business suit that looked out of place in the casual café. Her hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail, and her eyes, so like their mother’s, were hidden behind sleek, reflective sunglasses. She sat down without a greeting, placing her tablet on the table between them like a shield. “Kyle,” she said, her voice a cool, professional monotone. “Sophie,” he replied, matching her tone. “You look… busy.” “I am.” She signaled a waiter and ordered an espresso. “How are you?” The question was so robotic, so devoid of genuine interest, it was almost laugh
Chapter 129: Memories
The warmth of Samantha’s apartment, the rich aroma of coffee, and the simple comfort of her presence created a fragile bubble around Kyle. The horrors of the deserts, swamps, and dams felt like a bad dream from another life. He leaned into it, letting her soft words and familiar touch ground him. “I mean it, Kyle,” she whispered, her voice husky with emotion. She shifted closer on the couch, her body aligning with his. “Every time you leave, a part of me is terrified it’s the last time I’ll see you. Seeing you walk through that door…” She trailed off, her eyes glistening. She didn’t wait for a response. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him again. This wasn’t the desperate, relieved kiss from the doorway. This was slower, deeper, a deliberate rekindling of a connection stretched thin by constant danger. Heat bloomed between them, an intense, familiar electricity that burned away the lingering chill of fear and grief. For a long, breathless moment, there was no impe
Chapter 128: A Break {pt.2}
The silence of the barracks was oppressive. Rush sat on the edge of his bunk, the image of the General’s empty chair in the command center burned into his mind. The man had been a hardass, but he’d been their hardass. He’d given Rush a purpose, a place where his skills mattered beyond his tragic past. Now, that anchor was gone. His eyes landed on Strawberry. She was sitting on her assigned bunk, legs dangling, not reading, not sleeping, just… existing. She looked small, but not vulnerable. It was a different kind of small. A contained kind. Yet, in the quiet aftermath of loss, Rush saw something he hadn’t before: a profound, ancient loneliness. It mirrored his own. He wasn’t good with people. He was good with data, with plans, with the clean logic of a mission parameter. But something compelled him to stand up and walk over to her. “Hey,” he said, his voice sounding rougher than he intended. She looked up, her expression its usual serene blank slate. “This place is… gri
Chapter 127: A Break {pt.1}
The Vector 15 touched down on the familiar tarmac of the main headquarters, but the base felt different. The usual frantic energy was subdued, replaced by a grim, heavy silence. Soldiers moved with hushed urgency, and the flags flew at half mast. They were met not by the familiar gruff General, but by Lieutenant General Miranda Hernandez. Her face, usually a mask of hardened command, was etched with a deep, weary sorrow. Her aura, which Kyle could always see as a potent mix of gold and violet, was now clouded with a gray, grief stricken haze. “Welcome back,” she said, her voice raspy. She didn’t offer congratulations. She didn’t need to. The success of their mission felt hollow in the face of what she had to say next. “I have… tragic news,” she began, her gaze sweeping over each of them, lingering on Kyle for a fraction of a second longer. “General is dead.” The words landed like a physical blow. Johnny’s usual smirk vanished, replaced by stunned disbelief. Axel’s def
Chapter 126: The Silence Between Battles
The Vector 15 cut through the clouds, leaving the Gevudar Gorge and its horrors behind. The mood inside was a fragile thing, woven from equal parts exhaustion, relief, and the lingering dread of what they now knew was possible. The news from Command was the best they could have hoped for: the global network of anchors had been severely damaged. The simultaneous activation had been blunted, the "scream" of the clock reduced to a troubled murmur. "Course is set for home base," Carter said, her voice soft from the co pilot's seat. She input the final coordinates, then leaned back, the tension in her shoulders finally easing a fraction. Rush, beside her, gave a curt nod, his focus on the long range sensors, ensuring their path was clear. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, they weren't racing toward another fight. They were going home. Kyle sat amidst the quiet hum of the ship, the General's final, gruff order echoing in his mind. Come back home. But home to what? A wor
Chapter 125: A Herolds Gambit
The four armed beast of corroded metal and rock let out a final, grinding roar as Johnny’s ice encased its torso and Axel’s plasma axes sheared through two of its arms simultaneously. Kyle, moving with the wind aided speed he’d copied from Samantha, plunged his black daggers deep into the single, violet eye. The light within flickered, died, and the construct collapsed into a pile of inert scrap metal and dust. The Ashen Spark team, the young woman freed by Strawberry’s inexplicable intervention, stared in stunned silence. “Clear the room! Secure the perimeter!” Kyle barked, the authority of an Eagle Squadron captain snapping them out of their shock. They scrambled to obey. Rush’s voice came over the comms, laced with a rare, triumphant energy. “Vector 15 to team! Incoming data stream from Command! Multiple confirmations! Ashen Spark teams are reporting in! Successful neutralizations at the Yukon site, the London subsurface site, and the Australian Outback! Repeat, we have
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