2025-03-25 05:44:33An Abandoned Warehouse – Brooklyn – 5:07 A.M.
Ethan didn’t move. The weight of Damien Voss’s gun pressing against the back of his skull was enough to remind him exactly who he was dealing with.
Voss was a hunter. A relentless tracker with an almost inhuman ability to predict his target’s every move. Ethan had gone up against him once before, and it had cost him three broken ribs and a bullet lodged an inch from his spine. He wasn’t looking for a repeat.
Slowly, Ethan raised his hands. “You move quietly for an old man.”
Voss chuckled, his voice dark with amusement. “And you’re still too damn predictable.”
Ethan calculated. The distance between them—three feet. Voss’s finger on the trigger—relaxed, but ready. If he moved fast enough, he could—
No.
Ethan forced himself to stay still. Voss wasn’t alone. He could feel it. The shadows in the warehouse weren’t just shadows—they were men, armed and waiting.
“You’ve got the entire Bureau breathing down your neck,” Voss said, stepping closer. “You’re wanted for murder, treason, espionage—hell, probably jaywalking too. And here you are, standing in a warehouse like a sitting duck.”
Ethan smirked. “That means they’ve got nothing, doesn’t it?”
Voss’s jaw tightened. “Oh, they’ve got enough.”
Ethan turned slightly, just enough to catch the flicker of something in Voss’s expression. A hesitation. A moment of doubt.
Voss didn’t believe it.
He didn’t believe Ethan was guilty.
Ethan’s mind raced. If he could just push the right buttons—
“Tell me, Voss,” he said, keeping his voice low. “What do they have? A conveniently placed security camera feed? A few doctored witness statements? Or maybe—just maybe—they’ve got a smoking gun that doesn’t actually exist.”
Voss didn’t answer.
Ethan took a calculated risk. “You don’t think I did it, do you?”
Voss’s silence stretched.
Then, finally—
“Shut up, Cross.”
But the hesitation was enough.
Ethan moved.
A sharp twist, a downward strike—Voss’s wrist snapped to the side just as Ethan ducked, using his momentum to spin and slam his elbow into Voss’s ribs. The gun went off—a deafening BANG—but Ethan was already moving, grabbing Voss’s wrist and twisting the weapon free.
The other agents moved.
One second. Two seconds.
Ethan fired—not to kill, but to scatter. The gunshot shattered a nearby light, plunging the room into semi-darkness.
Then he ran.
Union Street – Warehouse 16 – 6:02 A.M.
Evelyn Carter was already there when Ethan arrived.
She stood near a rusted table, her arms folded, her hazel eyes sharp beneath the flickering warehouse light. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a loose bun, and she looked just as he remembered—calculating, brilliant, and two steps ahead of everyone else in the room.
“You look like hell,” she said.
Ethan exhaled. “Yeah, well, getting framed for murder isn’t exactly a spa day.”
She didn’t smile. “You shouldn’t have come.”
Ethan ignored that. “I need to know what The Dominion is planning.”
Evelyn’s fingers tightened on the edge of the table.
Then she turned the laptop toward him.
The screen flickered to life. Lines of code, encrypted files, schematics—plans for something big.
Ethan’s blood went cold.
“This isn’t just about me,” he murmured.
Evelyn nodded grimly. “They’re orchestrating something bigger. Something catastrophic.”
Ethan looked at her. “How long do we have?”
Evelyn’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Seventy-two hours.”
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Chapter 158-The Guardians of Forgotten Echoes
The Arclight slipped through muted starfields, the Echo Core’s new beacon casting a soft cerulean glow against its hull plating. Above the crystal seas of Zyphera, below the ruins of Virellos, and beyond the ringed world of Rhalos Prime, Ethan Cross navigated by memory more than charts. Ahead lay the Lysian Trench—a network of oceanic planets that had never heard the Covenant’s call, their shores silent to the Accord’s song.Mira Vale joined him at the helm, eyes bright behind her visor. “Our beacon is live. We should see responses soon.”Ethan nodded, voice low. “The Forgotten Expanse awakened the Lumari. Zyphera reclaimed its coral song. Now let’s find the Lysian worlds—and give them their voice back.”Behind them, Arin Soh monitored the holomap. “I’m picking up three replies: Lysia-3, Lysia-7, and Lysia-Prime. All within jump range.”
Chapter 157-Echoes of the Forgotten Expanse
The Arclight glided silently through the vastness of space, its hull reflecting the distant starlight. Ethan Cross stood at the observation deck, gazing into the void, contemplating the journey ahead. The recent integration of Zyphera into the Accord had been a significant milestone, but the path forward was fraught with uncertainty.Mira Vale joined him, her presence a comforting constant amidst the ever-changing cosmos.“The Forgotten Expanse,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “A region untouched by the Dominion, yet shrouded in silence.”Ethan nodded. “It’s time we break that silence.”As the Arclight approached the coordinates of the Forgotten Expanse, the crew prepared for the unknown. The region was a vast stretch of space, dotted with ancient stars and veiled in cosmic dust. Sensors picked up faint energy signatures, hinting at the presence of
Chapter 156-Beneath the Crystalline Tides
The shuttle’s grav-grip hooks disengaged from the Arclight, and Ethan Cross stepped onto the glimmering deck of the Niven Dawn, the first of the Covenant’s mobile hubs. Below him stretched the crystalline ocean of Zyphera—its waves incandescent with bioluminescent coral that pulsed in fractal patterns, casting ripples of pale violet across the sky. The air smelled of salt and phosphor, a scent at once new and urgently familiar.Mira Vale followed, her boots sinking slightly into the transparent deck. “This place is alive,” she whispered. “The sea itself remembers.”Archavist Serene Selene, recently returned from Rhalos Prime, met them at the gangway. Her robe of woven holographic tendrils shimmered in step with the tides. “Welcome to Zyphera. The Covenant seed here will bloom beneath these waves.”Ethan scanned the horizon. Far off, floating platforms tethered to the
Chapter 154- The Ashes Between Worlds
The sky over Virellos fractured like a mirror, its once-sterile clouds now streaked with obsidian tendrils, curling as if breathing. Ethan stood beneath it all, boots slick with ash, blood dried in streaks across his jaw. Behind him, the ruins of the Spire still smoldered, its collapse echoing through the war-torn city like the aftershock of a fallen god.“We’re out of time,” said Myra, her voice edged in steel as she crouched beside a dying agent. “The Rift’s widening—if we don’t sever the link, it’ll consume the last of this quadrant.”Ethan’s fingers twitched toward the glyph core strapped to his chest. “Where’s Eilion?” he asked, already dreading the answer.Myra met his gaze. “He’s not coming. The Ninth Host intercepted him on the Vantrex Bridge. He bought us the window to reach the Core. That window’s closing.”
Chapter 155-From Ashes, the First Dawn
Smoke curled above the shattered Spire’s ruins like the last breath of a dying god. In the hush that followed the Rift’s collapse, all who remained on Virellos bore wounds that went beyond flesh. Yet, as the first light of morning filtered through ash-laden clouds, there was a fragile promise in the air: the promise of a world remade.Ethan Cross woke to the taste of blood and the weight of iron on his ribs. Pain seared through him with every shallow breath. He tried to rise but found himself cradled in Myra’s arms on a bed of broken obsidian fragments. She held a damp cloth to his temple, her eyes red-rimmed but unbowed.“You’re safe,” she murmured. “Vasha succeeded. The Rift is closed.”Ethan’s vision swam. “Vasha?”Myra swallowed. “She… she gave everything. There was no pulling her back.”He c
Chapter 153-The Harmony of New Worlds
The Arclight cruised through the gentle swirl of the Rosetta Expanse, its hull brushing aside clouds of iridescent dust. Below lay countless minor worlds—gazetted “Class Zeta”—each awaiting the seed of the Covenant. From the bridge, Ethan Cross surveyed the network map: every green node now connected, but dozens of unclaimed planets lay beyond. He exhaled, feeling both the weight and the promise of freedom.Mira Vale approached, tablet in hand. “Our next target is Rhalos Prime. A ring world of biotech spires, once a Dominion experimental station. They isolated it during the final collapse. No Accord presence yet.”Arin Soh added, “The locals have rebuilt as hermits, refusing outside influence. But they maintain an ancient archive—transcripts of first-contact negotiations lost elsewhere.”Kaz Reed cracked his knuckles. “Then let’s open their gate. Trade mem
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