2025-09-01 00:11:23
Neo MoroengThis chapter marks a turning point in the story’s rhythm. The confrontation with the Oracle closes one thread, but Da’kar’s corruption and the revelation of the Scattered Crown open a much wider field of tension. I wanted to capture that unsettling paradox: a victory that doesn’t feel victorious, a crown broken yet still dangerous. Da’kar’s growing embrace of the man in white’s promises is my exploration of how power seduces under the guise of destiny. The scattered queens are meant to be both a terror and a mystery — they represent potential chaos, but also a reminder that history is never whole, only fractured. As you read forward, watch how each “fragment” of the crown begins to cast its own shadow on the galaxy. The coming chapters will lean heavier into survival, betrayal, and the cost of remembering what should perhaps remain lost.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 99: The Vigilant's Dilemma
The Vigilant was a ghost ship sailing home, its silence broken only by the low hum of its engines and the soft weeping of its captain. The bridge crew moved like shadows, their faces still etched with the aftermath of Riva's shattered mind. Then, a voice cut through the solemn quiet—UN Space Force, hailing on a secure, emergency channel.The General, still a statue of grief at the main viewer, turned slowly. "Report."The voice on the comms was thin, panicked, and strained by a distant, rolling thunder. "General, we have a threat alert. Confirmed Rake infestation. It's not an assault, it's... a concentrated cluster. They popped up out of nowhere. No warning. Following Riva’s last logic—they’re moving through the 'walls' of reality. They are inside our perimeter. The epicenter is... Mahikeng."The word hit the General like a physical blow. Mahikeng. A place of laughter, of life, of hope. The place where Nancy had been waiting for him. The place where she was last seen alive."My city,"
Interlude: Hybristophilia
The comms unit in !Xam's widow's luxurious Martian apartment chimed with a secure, frantic hail. The sound was an unwelcome intrusion into her serene afternoon, but a glance at the caller ID made her thin, crimson lips curve into a smile. She answered, her face a mask of mild curiosity that quickly morphed into cold fascination.Ta'klan's face appeared on the screen, distorted by grief, panic, and static. He was barely coherent, his voice a raw scrape of sound. “//Xóre my love...She’s gone... Riva is... it's all gone wrong. I did it for us. I did it to be clever, like you said. But it... it looked back. It burned her. Her mind is just... gone.”He was a shattered man, seeking absolution, comfort, anything from the woman he thought was his anchor. //Xóre listened, her expression shifting. Initially, there was a flicker of impatience for his weakness. But as he described the magnitude of his failure—the catastrophic, irreversible damage he caused in his attempt to prove himself—her eyes
Chapter 98: The Silent Space
The bridge was a tomb of silent anticipation. The crew, still paralyzed by the General’s stony command, watched the two figures at the psionic station. Ta’klan knelt beside Riva, his hand resting on the console, his presence a silent anchor in the gathering storm. He was a soldier preparing for a different kind of combat, one fought not with plasma cannons and shields, but with thought and will. The hum of the ship’s engines was a distant memory, replaced by the frantic beating of his own heart. He looked at Riva, her face pale beneath the soft glow of the console, and thought of all the moments they had not had. The whispered conversations, the shared jokes, the quiet glances across the bridge—they were all leading to this. He had not fought for a glorious victory, but for a future he now knew was terrifyingly uncertain.He watched her eyes close, the fine lines of strain etched around them. A single tear traced a path down her cheek, not of sorrow, but of concentration so intense it
Chapter 97: The Unseen Map
Ta'klan returned to the bridge, but he was a different man. The simmering rage was gone, replaced by a cold, surgical calm. He moved with a new purpose, his eyes sweeping over the consoles not with frustration, but with a quiet, predatory focus. He saw the bridge crew, their faces still etched with the humiliation of their strategic defeat. He saw the General, still motionless before the main viewer, a pillar of stubborn resolve. He also saw Ensign Elara Riva, trembling slightly at her station, her face pale, lost in the echoes of her terrifying vision.He did not approach the General. His mission was no longer about orders or protocols. His mission was about proving his own worth to a woman who had seen the cosmic game from the inside. The General was still playing chess on a board that no longer existed. Ta'klan had to find the unseen map.He strode to Riva's station, his movements quiet and deliberate. He leaned over her console, his voice a low, steady murmur meant only for her."
Chapter 96: The Widow's Counsel
The bridge was a tomb of silent defeat. The General, his face a mask of stone, stood staring out at the void. The tension was immense, a physical weight that pressed down on every crew member. We had been outmaneuvered. The Gilders had not just evaded us; they had played us, forcing us to reveal our position and our intent without a single shot fired from our side. It was a strategic humiliation.Ta'klan’s hands, usually a blur of confident motion across his console, were still. He felt the cold rage of a hunter who had let his prey mock him. Discipline was a brittle thing, and he wanted to shatter it. He wanted to rage, to fire, to do anything to prove that they were not the passive audience the Gilders believed them to be.He felt the General’s gaze upon him, a silent command for him to hold his position, a demand for the same agonizing restraint that was suffocating them all. Ta'klan’s jaw ached. He didn't meet his commander’s eyes.“General,” he said, his voice flat, emotionless.
Chapter 95: The Mind of the Enemy
The silence on the Vigilant’s bridge was a physical weight. The data-stream from the scout mission was still processing, but the conclusion was inescapable. They weren’t hiding. They were waiting. And they were intelligent.I opened a direct, encrypted channel to Mars. The image of !Gareseb resolved on my screen, his features hardening as he saw the look on my face.“The Gilders haven’t retreated,” I began, my voice stripped of any comfort. “They’ve transitioned. They’re a patient, thinking enemy. What we saw at the anomaly… it was a performance. A test of our discipline.”I leaned forward, the image of the white scout’s calculated sacrifice burning in my mind. “Robben Island was the same. A handful of them shouldn’t have been able to take down an entire garrison. The physics are wrong. The strategy is wrong. Something is not right there. We have a blind spot, !Gareseb. I need you to look into it.”His expression was grim. “The last survey drone we sent went silent the moment it hit t
You may also like
Magic God: Techno-Dystopia
Photosphere3.9K viewsAndara Revenge (Agen 123)
MelisaT 2.7K viewsELIXA
Anthony. O. Godwin2.6K viewsApocalypse-The Alien War
Flower Spirit3.6K viewsAnonymous: dawn of the unknown
Jedidiah TBD1.5K viewsEchoes In The Shadows
Daisy Freeborn 664 viewsThe Kingdom of Guhya
madamepearlay1.2K viewsThe Outlaws
Jacky H. Wu1.5K views