Echoes of the Red Planet

CHAPTER 2: THE GUARDIANS’ SECRET

The Martian air was still and heavy, thick with the scent of burning metal and

dust. Kiera’s team crouched behind the wreckage of the rebel barricades, their

helmets scanning for any signs of movement. The woman who stood beside

the weapon had not made a move since Kiera confronted her. The tension was

thick, the silence oppressive, and the weight of the unknown hung in the air

like a storm ready to break.

“Who are you?” Kiera asked again, her voice cold but firm. She kept her rifle

trained on the woman, but her instincts told her that pulling the trigger wasn’t

the right choice—yet. There was something different about her. Something

dangerous.

The woman’s eyes were hidden beneath a hood, but her calm expression

remained unmoved. “I could ask the same of you,” she said, her voice oddly

melodic, like a whisper carried by the wind. “But I already know. You’re here

to destroy it.”

“The weapon,” Kiera said, narrowing her gaze. “What is it? Why are you

protecting it?”

The woman let out a soft laugh, but it wasn’t one of amusement. “It’s not just

a weapon,” she said, her voice dropping into a hushed tone. “It’s the key to

something far greater than you can imagine.”

Kiera exchanged a quick look with Jace, who was crouched beside her, still

watching the woman with suspicion. “We’re not here to play games. Step away

from the tech, now.”

The woman didn’t budge. Instead, she reached out and placed her hand gently

on the surface of the glowing metal structure that stood before her. The

weapon’s core pulsed in response, brighter with each passing second. “This is

not just an object,” she said, her tone laced with reverence. “It’s the legacy of

Mars—of a civilization that predates your existence by thousands of years.”

The squad stood frozen. Kiera’s mind raced. Mars had once been thought of

as a barren, lifeless rock. Colonization had begun decades ago, but no one

had ever found any real evidence of life on the planet before humans arrived.

No ancient civilizations. No hidden technologies. At least, that’s what they had

been told.

“Legacy of Mars?” Jace muttered, disbelief creeping into his voice. “What the

hell are you talking about?”

The woman looked up at Kiera, her eyes briefly meeting hers. There was a

flicker of something—recognition, maybe. “This weapon… it’s a relic from an ancient race, far more advanced than anything your species has ever known.

But it’s not just about power. This weapon is the key to an even older secret.”

“Enough with the cryptic nonsense!” Kiera barked, her patience wearing thin.

She stepped forward, keeping her rifle aimed at the woman. “If you know

something about this weapon, tell us. Or I swear, I’ll—”

“You’ll destroy it,” the woman interrupted, a trace of sadness in her voice.

“And in doing so, you’ll doom yourself and everyone you love.”

Kiera’s breath caught in her throat, the words hitting her harder than she

expected. “What do you mean?”

Before the woman could respond, the crackle of gunfire interrupted them. The

squad immediately snapped to attention, their helmets alerting them to the

incoming threat. Rebel forces, dozens of them, had regrouped and were

charging toward the base. It was chaos. They had no choice now.

“Damn it!” Kiera swore under her breath. “We’re out of time. We need to take

that weapon down before they can use it.”

The woman’s eyes hardened. “It’s already too late. The moment you attempted

to destroy it, you triggered its activation sequence.”

Kiera’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean activated? How much time

do we have?”

The woman stepped closer to the weapon, her fingers brushing across the

control panel once more. “Not much,” she whispered. “But perhaps enough to

show you why it can’t be destroyed.”

The ground trembled beneath their feet, the air vibrating with a strange hum.

Kiera’s comms crackled to life, Mira’s frantic voice coming through. “Captain!

There’s something happening—something’s wrong with the core! The energy

readings are off the charts. You need to stop it!”

Kiera’s blood ran cold. The energy from the weapon was escalating, spiraling

beyond the parameters of any tech they had ever encountered. If they didn’t

act fast, the weapon could release enough energy to destroy the entire base—

and possibly Mars itself.

“Fall back! We need to move now!” Kiera ordered, but her team hesitated. The

woman’s presence was like a magnetic force, drawing them in. It wasn’t just

the weapon—it was her.

“You can’t destroy what you don’t understand,” the woman said, a sorrowful

look in her eyes. “But you can still stop it. I can help you, if you’re willing to

listen.”

A sharp explosion rocked the ground, sending dust and debris flying. The

rebels had reached the base and were laying down heavy fire. The squad scrambled to return fire, but Kiera’s focus was split between the battle and

the woman standing before the weapon. The countdown had begun.

“We don’t have time for this,” Kiera said, her voice strained. “We need to

destroy that thing, now!”

The woman stepped aside, moving away from the control panel. “Then you

will be too late.” She nodded toward the glowing core, where the light had

intensified, almost blinding now. “I can only delay it for so long.”

Kiera made a split-second decision. “Jace, Khan, cover me!” she shouted,

signaling for her team to follow her lead. She sprinted toward the weapon, her

heart pounding as she scanned the area for a way to disable it.

As she approached the control panel, the hum of the energy core grew louder,

like the sound of a rising storm. The weapon’s pulse was so intense now that

it seemed to shake the ground beneath her feet. Her helmet’s visor flickered,

and a warning flashed on the screen: Critical Energy Overload Detected. Kiera

swore under her breath.

Just as she reached out to disable the system, a new voice crackled through

her comms—deep, robotic, and cold.

“You cannot stop what you have awakened.”

The voice was unmistakable. It was a transmission, but it wasn’t from any

human. It was from the ancient civilization that had built the weapon.

Kiera froze. “What the hell was that?”

“It’s them,” the woman said softly. “The Guardians. They are watching.”

Before Kiera could respond, a violent explosion erupted behind them, and

everything went black.