THE WAR THAT FOLLOWED ME

The neon rain slicked streets of New Ardent glimmered like broken jewels, reflecting the chaos of a city that had forgotten sleep. Holographic ads flickered above, promising everything from synthetic noodles to neural enhancements, while hover-bikes screamed past in uneven streams. Down here, on the cracked streets between towering spires, life had a rhythm all its own—fast, sharp, and unforgiving.

Kade Reyes crouched under the dim shadow of an old maintenance tower, sleeves rolled up, elbow-deep in the engine of a broken hover-truck. Oil and grease smeared his hands and forearms, but he didn’t care. Work was a distraction. Noise was a distraction. The city’s pulse—its chaos was a comfort.

A sudden hum vibrated through the ground, faint at first, almost imperceptible. Kade froze, wrench in hand, listening.

It grew, deep and insistent, resonating through concrete and bone. His jaw clenched. He’d heard this before.

The sky split.

Not figuratively—literally. A jagged tear tore across the neon-lit clouds above the skyline. Electric blue light lanced through, jagged and alive, and the hum transformed into a pulse, reverberating with an intelligence that made the hairs on the back of Kade’s neck stand on end.

People on the streets stopped. Holograms flickered and died. Hover-bikes spun out of control, crashing into buildings or each other. Somewhere, a dog barked. Somewhere else, someone screamed.

Kade didn’t move immediately. He just watched. The sky bent in impossible angles, and massive shapes began pushing through the rift—smooth, alien, geometric hulks with surfaces that pulsed like they were alive. Dropships followed, cutting through the clouds and landing on the city streets like knives.

“Not again,” he muttered.

He dropped the wrench, letting it clatter onto the wet pavement. His instincts took over.

Kade Reyes had been nineteen when he enlisted to fight the Vaelith, humanity’s nightmare from beyond the stars. The war had ended years ago, a victory signed with treaties and celebrations, but the scars were still buried under his skin. He had survived battles that would make a normal person scream, but even he hadn’t expected this.

A bus exploded three streets over, throwing fire and twisted metal into the night. Civilians screamed, scattered, or froze, paralyzed by disbelief. Kade ducked into an alley, calculating.

The first Vaelith scout landed at the alley’s entrance. Six feet tall, jointed backward like a nightmare insect, its visor flaring crimson as it scanned. Kade’s pulse raced, but his hand found the Phaseblade tucked in his boot. Illegal on Earth, a relic from a battlefield he’d hoped never to return to.

The blade extended with a hiss, plates sliding and locking into place, the metal humming as if alive. The scout’s sensors flared, and Kade moved.

The strike was surgical, precise. The alien crumpled, its armor disintegrating into nothing. The hiss of the blade faded into the night.

Breath ragged, Kade didn’t pause. Across New Ardent, explosions tore through the streets, and he ran.

He moved through familiar territory—the lower districts, where neon reflected in puddles and walls were plastered with layers of graffiti, some gang symbols, some political messages, some ancient warnings nobody heeded anymore. Civilians fled in every direction, clutching what they could. Smoke from burning hover-bikes rose into the fractured sky.

He ducked under a flickering holo-sign advertising “Aurora Dreams Neural Upgrade – Live the Mind You Want.” It sparkled, then blinked out.

A group of humans huddled in the corner, wide-eyed. A kid, maybe ten, clutched a tablet like a shield.

“You,” the kid said, pointing. “You’re”

Kade cut him a glance, shaking his head. “Move,” he said. His voice was steady, but sharp. “Go. Now.”

The kid hesitated. Kade grabbed his arm, pulling him behind cover just as another dropship descended nearby. Beams of concentrated energy tore through buildings. Concrete and glass exploded outward.

“Why… you?” a woman whispered from the shadows, her voice trembling.

Kade didn’t answer. He had no time. He ran.

By dawn, New Ardent was no longer a city. It was a battlefield. Emergency sirens blared, drones hovered, and the city militia—armed but undertrained tried to organize some kind of defense. They barely managed to scratch the alien armor.

Kade moved like a ghost through the chaos. Each kill, each strike with his Phaseblade, was precise. He was alive because he had to be. Not because he wanted to be.

Finally, he found shelter in a derelict metro station where a small group of survivors had gathered. Among them was Mila Okoye, a woman whose sharp mind had kept her alive more than her aim. She looked up and froze, recognition flashing in her eyes.

“Kade?” she asked, incredulous.

He didn’t answer immediately. He studied the faces around her—civilians, other survivors, all terrified. And yet, there was something else in Mila’s gaze, a question he wasn’t ready to answer.

“They’re here for you,” she said quietly.

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “I know.”

A holographic projection flickered in the station, projected from a drone overhead. Massive, elegant, terrifyingly calm, it filled the entire room with its presence.

“Kade Reyes. You carry what belongs to us. Return it, and this city will be spared further destruction.”

The image shifted, showing a younger version of him, armored and standing on a battlefield littered with alien corpses. In his hands was the glowing Core Relic.

Kade’s stomach dropped.

Years ago, during the Aurelian War, he had stolen this relic, a living consciousness capable of predicting war itself. He had sworn never to use it, never to let it be weaponized, and yet here it was—the Vaelith still wanted it.

Mila placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can’t give it to them,” she said.

“I know,” Kade muttered. His mind raced, feeling the familiar pulse of the relic inside him. It was alive. It whispered possibilities, futures, and probabilities too vast for anyone else to comprehend.

The metro ceiling shuddered. Something massive slammed onto the street above. The Vaelith commander had arrived.

Kade stood, gripping his blade. He looked at Mila. “Then we fight,” he said.

Outside, New Ardent burned.

And for the first time in years, Kade Reyes wasn’t running.