2026-05-28 14:35:20
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Hostile Takeover
ZALI’S POVThe vent was a coffin. Metal pressed against my shoulders on both sides. I crawled forward on my elbows, dragging myself with my good arm. My dislocated shoulder screamed with every movement. Blood from Elian's nose dripped onto the metal ahead of me, leaving a trail of dark spots.Behind me, Rio wheezed. "Can't...can't breathe...""Keep moving," Tavian said."There's no air...""There's air. Move."The vent sloped downward. I slid, caught myself with my knees, and kept crawling. My hand slipped in Elian's blood. I wiped it on my pants and kept going.Ahead, Tavian stopped. Light filtered through a grate below him. He braced his hands on either side of the vent and kicked. The grate flew off with a metallic clang. He dropped through.I followed. The fall was ten feet. I landed hard, rolled onto my good shoulder, came up in a crouch.A hallway. White tile. Fluorescent lights. Double doors at one end marked **AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.** At the other end, stairs leading up.L
The Mind’s Door
ELIAN’S POVThe lock mechanism stopped spinning. Silence. Then a hiss—sharp, metallic. Blue light appeared at the top hinge. A cutting torch.Sparks rained down. The smell of burning metal filled the cell."Move," Tavian said. He grabbed the cot nearest the door and shoved it against the wall. Zali stumbled back, cradling her arm. Rio pressed himself into the corner.The torch cut through the first hinge. Metal peeled away, glowing orange. The door sagged slightly.I stared at the mechanism. The bolt. The magnetic seal. The hydraulic pistons holding the door in the frame."Elian." Tavian's voice was sharp. "Help me."I didn't move. A barricade wouldn't work. They had torches. Battering rams. Time.The second hinge began to glow.I closed my eyes.The cell disappeared. The sound of the torch faded. I stood in darkness. No walls. No floor. Just void."Elian Voss."The voice came from everywhere. Low. Resonant. Ancient.Light bloomed ahead. A figure took shape—tall, humanoid, skin like p
The Mutiny
RIO’S POVThe door locked behind the guards. The bolt slid home with a sound like a coffin closing.Lumi sat on her cot, knees pulled to her chest. Tavian stood at the door, one hand pressed flat against the metal. Zali paced—three steps, turn, three steps back. Kael stood in the corner, motionless."Seventy-two hours," Lumi whispered. "That's not—that's three days.""Less," Kael said. "They started counting the moment Sterling gave the order."Zali punched the wall. The concrete didn't crack. Her knuckles split. Blood dripped onto the floor. She didn't wipe it away.I sat on the edge of my cot, hands clasped between my knees. My throat felt tight. I forced a grin. "So. Anyone know a good lawyer?"No one laughed."Come on. This is fixable. We just—we tell them we'll cooperate. We run their stupid drills. We play along until—""Until what?" Zali turned on me. "Until they decide we're useful enough to keep alive?""Better than the alternative.""The alternative is fighting.""Fighting w
Assets and Liabilities (Training)
TAVIAN’S POVThe klaxons ripped through the dark at 0600. Lights flooded the cell—white, surgical, blinding. My eyes were already open. I'd been awake since 0530, lying on the cot, staring at the ceiling, counting the seconds until the routine began.Metal batons clanged against the bars. "Up! Move it, assets!"I sat up. Swung my legs off the cot. Stood at attention.Zali came awake swinging. Her fist connected with the wall before her eyes opened. She screamed—raw, wordless—and thrashed against the thin blanket. A guard stepped forward, shock-stick raised. The tip sparked blue."Try it," Zali snarled.The guard jabbed the stick toward her. She jerked back, chest heaving, hands clenched.Rio groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. "This violates the Geneva Convention.""Move," the guard said."Beauty sleep is a human right."The guard yanked the pillow away and threw it across the cell. Rio sat up slowly, dragging his feet over the edge of the cot. He hummed something off-key, de
The Fall of Kharnath (Flashback).
ATLAS’S POVThe banner caught fire first.Gold thread and crimson silk. It hung from the palace's eastern arch. The flames crawled up the fabric. The emblem—a crowned star wrapped in laurel—blackened and curled.I stood in the courtyard. My blade was wet. Bodies lay around me. Twelve of them. Palace guard. Men I'd trained with. Men I'd laughed with in the barracks after drills.Their blood pooled between the stones.The king was dead.Not here. Not in the courtyard. Somewhere in the inner sanctum. The reports were confused. An explosion. A structural collapse. Assassins. No one could agree.It didn't matter. He was gone.Smoke rolled across the sky. The capital burned. Kharnath's golden age ended in ash and screaming.I wiped my blade on a dead man's tunic. My hands shook. I forced them still.---Three years earlier, the palace had been different.Banners hung clean and bright. Music drifted through the halls. Strings and drums. The old songs. The ones that made the servants hum whil
The Warlord’s Ledger
ATLAS’S POVThe hologram shimmered. Lord Valerian's face filled the projection field. His eyes burned with the same intensity they'd held for three thousand years. His voice scraped through the speakers."Report."I stood before the display. My armor was scarred from the last extraction. Blood still caked the joints. I hadn't bothered to clean it."Two artifacts secured. The third is located. Earth. Third planet in a minor system. Primitive civilization. Military infrastructure is negligible.""The artifact's guardians?""Dead on the first two worlds. The Solarians chose poorly. Their champions fell within hours."Lord Valerian leaned forward. His fingers drummed against the armrest of his throne. Each tap echoed through the transmission."And the third?""Five humans. Bonded three days ago. Untrained. Uncoordinated. The local military has them contained.""Then extract the artifact.""The Solarians are involved. They manifested to the humans. Standard protocol—history, prophecy, dest
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