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Chapter 439
The corridor ended in a wall that was not a wall. It breathed. Dark metal plates slid over one another in slow patterns, opening and closing narrow seams that leaked dull violet light. Cables as thick as a man’s arm ran along the floor and vanished into the structure, pulsing in time with a low hum that vibrated through boots and bones.Oliver raised his fist. The squad halted behind him, weapons up, muzzles tracking the shifting seams.“Billy,” Oliver said quietly. “This your door?”Billy crouched near the wall, fingers brushing a cable. The hum jumped in pitch at his touch. “Not exactly,” Billy said. “But I recognize the language.”He pulled a small device from his belt and pressed it against the metal. Symbols rippled across the surface, sharp and angular. Traveler code. Stolen. Twisted.Billy’s jaw tightened. “He didn’t copy us. He learned us.”The wall split down the center. Heat rolled out in a heavy wave, carrying the smell of ozone and burnt iron. The hum deepened, resolving
Chapter 438
The fortress did not sit on the land. It hovered. Hayes Fortress rose from the Sable Plateau like a black spike driven halfway through the world and left there to rot. Its base never touched the ground. A gap of shifting air separated stone from ash, gravity bending inward toward the structure in slow, visible curves. Around it drifted debris fields, broken platforms, torn hulls, shattered towers, each fragment caught in a lazy orbit, circling the spire like dead moons.The fleet slowed to a crawl. On the bridge of Vigilant Dawn, every display glowed red.“System classification updated,” the tactical officer said. “Target identified as Localized Rift Nexus. Hybrid structure. Part fortress. Part gate.”Oliver did not look away from the viewport. “Meaning?”“Meaning it’s anchored to multiple layers of reality,” the officer replied. “Destroying the structure may not shut it down.”“Then we don’t destroy it yet,” Oliver said. “We cut it open.”A low vibration rolled through the ship as
Chapter 437
The first warning came without sound. The stars ahead of the fleet dimmed, not fading but thinning, as if scraped away by an unseen blade. Navigation lights flickered across every ship at once. The formation held, engines steady, but the space between vessels warped, stretching and snapping back like strained wire.Oliver stood at the forward rail of the Vigilant Dawn, boots locked to the deck. His Reality Anchor pulsed under his skin, slow and heavy. The air in the bridge felt thick, like breathing through cloth.“Entering Sable Plateau boundary,” the navigator said. His fingers hovered above the console instead of touching it. “Visual range collapsing.”“Switch to short-range lidar,” Oliver said. “It’s already on.”The main display shifted. The stars vanished. The wasteland filled the screen. Below them stretched an endless plateau of black stone and ash, cracked into jagged plates. Lightning crawled across the surface without sound, blue veins running through the ground itself.
Chapter 436
The sirens did not scream. They pulsed once, low and wide, rolling through Solara Vant like a held breath released. The sound carried through crystal towers, across suspended bridges, into underground docks where engines already burned hot.Oliver stood on the command balcony of Hangar Prime, hands resting on the rail. Below him, the fleet took shape piece by piece. Eighty ships. Not transports. Not scouts. War vessels.Their hulls reflected the red edge of dawn spilling through the city’s open sky dome. Dock crews moved in tight lines. Power carts rolled. Cranes lowered sealed containers into open bays. Every motion followed a clock only the System could see. “Anchor teams reporting in,” a voice said behind him.Oliver did not turn. “Send them through.”Holograms blinked into existence in front of him. Blue silhouettes. Names. Status lights. “Division One ready.”“Division Three ready.”“Division Five ready.”Each report ended the same way. “Awaiting command.”Oliver nodded once. “
Chapter 435
The sky over Solara Vant was gray, low, and heavy with snow-laden clouds. The chill cut through the city’s crystalline towers, but inside the Rift Vanguard’s war room, heat hummed from energy panels and monitors displaying the faint flickers of rifts around the globe.Oliver Beckett stood at the head of the table. His coat was dusted with frost from the morning walk to the council chambers, but he didn’t brush it off. He didn’t need warmth; focus was enough.Iris leaned against the edge of the table, arms folded, a hand occasionally flicking through a light-field display of unstable zones. Billy, restless as always, tapped on a side console, the hum of power under his fingers making him smirk.Across from them, representatives of three nations watched the screens warily. Military officers in crisp uniforms, diplomats in tailored coats, and a handful of Traveler Guild operatives filled the room. Their eyes flitted between the pulsing anomalies and Oliver, waiting for direction.The ro
Chapter 434
The ship shudders before the aurora. Instruments flicker, blink, and die. Panels go dark one by one. The hum of the thrusters falters. Lights dim, then vanish. Outside, the black aurora stretches wide and deep, absorbing the stars. The sky is no longer sky, it is static, pure and white noise, shifting in slow waves. Oliver grips the co-pilot rail. His Reality Anchor hums low, vibrating against his bones. He scans the HUD. Nothing responds. Not comms. Not navigation. Not energy readouts.Billy curses, hands slamming on the controls. “Everything’s fried! Engines, shields, guidance, gone!”Iris sits rigid, hands pressed to her temples. “I hear it,” she says, voice tight. “The voice… the same one the Envoy used.” Her eyes dart to the static beyond the viewport, pupils wide. “It’s… calling.”Oliver doesn’t flinch. “Focus on keeping us in the air,” he says. His words are steady, but the tremor in his hands betrays him.The ship lurches violently. The nose dips. Sparks fly from the left t
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