2025-03-25 05:45:34Union Street – Warehouse 16 – 6:07 A.M.
Ethan’s pulse was steady, but his mind was racing. Seventy-two hours. Three days. That wasn’t enough time to untangle a conspiracy—especially one tied to The Dominion, the most powerful covert organization in the world.
He turned the laptop toward him, scanning the encrypted files Evelyn had pulled. Lines of code flashed across the screen—sensitive documents, blueprints, communication logs. But one file caught his eye. A single word.
“Solstice.”
Ethan frowned. “What the hell is Solstice?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“That’s what I was trying to figure out before you got here,” she admitted. “Whatever it is, The Dominion has poured billions into it over the last five years. Black budget funding. No paper trail. Just encrypted transactions and a countdown clock that ends in three days.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened. Three days until what?
“We need to decrypt these files,” he said.
Evelyn shook her head. “This level of encryption would take weeks to crack, even for me.”
Ethan clenched his jaw. There had to be another way.
Then it hit him.
The Dominion’s operations were global, but every major move they made had one thing in common—a financial trail.
And there was only one person on the planet who could trace it.
Soho, Manhattan – 7:15 A.M.
Leo “Cipher” Marquez was a legend in the cyber world. A former NSA hacker turned rogue, he now operated in the deepest layers of the dark web, selling information to the highest bidder.
Ethan and Evelyn arrived at a nondescript brownstone, the kind of place that blended into the city like a ghost.
Ethan knocked twice. Paused. Then three times.
A slot in the door slid open. A bloodshot eye peered out.
“The hell do you want?”
Ethan smirked. “I thought you’d be happy to see me, Cipher.”
A long pause.
Then the door unlocked.
Inside, Leo’s apartment was a paranoid tech geek’s dream—multiple monitors glowing with lines of code, dismantled circuit boards, and at least five different signal jammers to block surveillance.
Leo, a man in his mid-30s with scruffy brown hair and a five-day beard, leaned back in his chair.
“You got a lot of nerve showing up here, Cross. You know every federal agency is looking for you, right?”
Ethan pulled out a flash drive and tossed it on the desk. “I don’t have time for small talk. I need this decrypted.”
Leo picked up the drive, examining it like it might explode.
“Where’d you get this?”
Evelyn spoke before Ethan could. “That’s classified.”
Leo smirked. “Cute. You do know this kind of thing isn’t free, right?”
Ethan leaned in. “I don’t need free. I need fast.”
Leo studied him for a moment, then sighed. “Fine. Give me six hours.”
Ethan shook his head. “You have two.”
Leo swore under his breath but plugged in the drive.
As the data began decrypting, Ethan turned to Evelyn.
“We need to prepare,” he said. “Because the second The Dominion realizes we’re onto them—”
“They’ll come for us,” she finished.
Ethan nodded grimly. “And they won’t stop until we’re dead.”
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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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