2026-09-02 13:45:58
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Ch.109 The Leviathan
The stealth corvette drifted toward the megastructure like a speck of dust approaching a mountain.Sergeant Rael had cut the primary drives completely, maneuvering the ship using only short, cold-gas thruster bursts to avoid triggering any thermal alarms. Through the cockpit viewport, the true scale of the Othari destination became difficult to comprehend. It filled the entire visual field, blotting out the faint, distant glow of the Milky Way behind them.Up close, the surface wasn't a static hull. It was alive.Thick ridges of bone-white chitin formed shifting tectonic plates over layers of dark, fibrous tissue. Rivers of bioluminescent fluid pulsed sluggishly through translucent veins the size of Vanguard dreadnoughts."We are entering its shadow," Rael murmured, his eyes fixed on the passive sensors. "I'm picking up thousands of bio-forms clinging to the outer carapace. Carvers, Praetorians, and things I don't recognize. They're dormant. Hooked into the structure like ticks on a h
Ch.108 The Dark
Sergeant Rael didn’t waste time. As soon as the navigational download completed, he pulled the decryption spike from the pulsing biological vein. The node shuddered slightly, glowing with an unhealthy, bioluminescent pallor in the dark of the monitoring hub.Rael drew a compact thermite charge from his tactical webbing. He slapped the adhesive backing directly onto the center of the alien biomass, right over the repurposed Vanguard servers, and armed the detonator with a quick twist of his thumb."Three minutes," Rael reported over the comms."Move out," Thorne ordered.They didn't run. Moving recklessly in zero gravity was a death sentence. Cyrus paced his strides, relying on the rhythmic locking and unlocking of his magnetic boots to pull himself back down the dark corridor. His left arm remained firmly bound to his chest, the dead weight of it pulling at his balance. He gripped the normalized Keres grav-glaive in his right hand, keeping the blade clear of the narrow bulkheads.They
Ch.107 Origin Point
The vibration carried down through the ferrocrete pillars before the creature ever showed itself.Cyrus tracked the tremor through the soles of his magnetic boots. In the vacuum of the dead station, there was no sound to give the enemy away, only the rhythmic, physical thud of heavy claws piercing metal, transmitted directly through the outpost’s skeleton."Check your fields of fire," Thorne’s voice crackled softly over the encrypted local comms. "Remember your recoil. Don't tear yourselves off the deck."Above them, the heavy steel access hatch buckled inward.It didn't burst open. It was slowly, methodically torn apart. Four long, multi-jointed limbs reached through the shredded metal, ending in hardened, scythe-like hooks designed specifically to puncture starship armor.The creature pulled itself through the opening, moving with fluid ease in the zero-gravity environment. It was roughly the size of a Praetorian, but entirely different in design. Its carapace was pale and elongated
Ch.106 Echo-Seven
The stealth corvette was a sliver of radar-absorbent geometry resting in the dim amber light of Hangar Nine. It bore no Vanguard insignia, no transponder codes, and no registry numbers. It was a ghost ship, designed by the Intelligence Directorate for the sole purpose of moving through hostile space unnoticed.Cyrus walked up the boarding ramp, his mag-boots clanking heavily against the deck plates. His balance was skewed. With his left arm immobilized against his chest and the heavy armor plating removed from that side, his center of gravity sat too far to the right. He compensated by keeping his functional hand locked around the normalized carbon-osmium shaft of the Keres grav-glaive, using it almost like a walking staff to steady his uneven stride.Sergeant Rael was already in the cockpit, running the pre-flight diagnostics in the glow of the instrument panels. Director Thorne followed Cyrus up the ramp, sealing the primary airlock behind them."Pre-launch checks are green," Rael r
Ch.105 Sanction
Cyrus woke to the harsh mechanical hiss of the heavy security door sliding open.He didn't startle or jump. His eighty-nine percent resonance helped anchor his focus despite the heavy fog of exhaustion, His eighty-nine percent resonance helped anchor his focus despite the heavy fog of exhaustion. He sat up slowly on the edge of the medical bed.The movement pulled sharply at his fused ribs. His left arm remained a dead, heavy weight against his chest, locked entirely in place by Corporal Hayes’s bio-foam splint and the thick medical binding. The persistent throbbing in his shoulder hadn't faded; it had just settled into a deep, agonizing rhythm.Sergeant Rael was already standing by the armory bench, loading specialized armor-piercing magazines into a tactical rig.Director Silas Thorne stepped into the holding room. The pristine lines of his dark Directorate uniform were still immaculate, but there was a hard, cold tension in his jaw that hadn't been there two hours ago."The High Co
Ch.104 The Citadel
The descent through Command Prime’s planetary energy grid sent a low, vibrating hum through the hull of the extraction pod.Cyrus looked through the narrow viewport. There were no oceans or continents below. The rogue planet had been strip-mined and paved over centuries ago, converted entirely into a brutalist fortress of overlapping terrestrial armor plates and subterranean bunkers. Harsh industrial floodlights cut through the perpetual darkness of deep space, illuminating orbital defense cannons that tracked their pod's approach.The pod banked sharply, diving into a wide transit trench carved directly into the planet’s crust. Heavy blast doors parted ahead of them, swallowing the stealth craft into the brightly lit depths of Vanguard high command.With a heavy mechanical thud, the landing gear locked onto a secure hangar deck."We are down," Rael said, cutting the engines. The sudden silence in the cabin rang in Cyrus's ears.The primary hatch hissed open, letting in the sharp, ste
You may also like
Against Heaven'S Destiny
Djisamsoe 32.9K viewsThe Royal Highness
Flower Spirit46.9K viewsKingsman Return
Kuraii161.1K viewsIce Monarch
RidiculousRobinn71.9K viewsI Awakened the Apocalypse System
Utunestrokes8 viewsThe Villain's Guide to Not Dying Twice
Sweet Minion182 viewsThe Immortal Sword Behind the Skyscraper
Aria Hoshizawa339 viewsThe Locomotive of Last Resort
niskala232 views