The rain had turned to mist, thin and almost peaceful — a cruel illusion before the slaughter.
Citadel Obsidian loomed above them like a sleeping god, silent except for the rhythmic hum of its engines. It was less a fortress than a wound in the sky — black metal laced with crimson light, suspended between lightning and death.
Reiji stood at the ridge, scanning the structure through his visor. The HUD flickered as it struggled to process the sheer scale of the machine. Beneath him, the Vanguard prepared in silence — calibrating weapons, synchronizing comms, reloading every last magazine. There was no chatter, no morale-boosting words. Only the low hum of readiness, and the cold breath of inevitability.
Kaede approached, helmet tucked under one arm. Her hair was damp from the mist, her eyes sharp and unyielding. "Thermal scans complete. The citadel's lower hangar has a weak point — maintenance bay on the eastern spine. It's shielded, but not armored. We breach there."
Reiji nodded once. "Estimated response time?"
"Sixty seconds after breach. Maybe less."
"Then we move in silence. Once we're inside, comms blackout. We operate on sightlines only."
Kaede gave a faint smirk. "Like old times?"
Reiji didn't return it. His gaze remained locked on the massive fortress. "Old times ended when the world stopped believing in humanity."
She slipped her helmet back on. "Then let's remind it why it should start again."
---
The Vanguard descended through the valley, their figures melting into the fog. The air trembled as they approached the Citadel's perimeter — an invisible hum of energy that made their armor vibrate.
At precisely 03:14 hours, Kaede triggered the pulse dampeners. The field around them shimmered, momentarily bending light and sound. For thirty seconds, they would be unseen — invisible to Dominion sensors.
They ran.
The storm above flashed white, masking their movement. Mud splashed under their boots, and the Citadel's hull loomed larger with every step.
Reiji reached the maintenance bay first. It was colossal — an iron gate twice the height of any mech they had faced. He drew a short EMP blade from his belt and drove it into the access node. Sparks hissed. The gate's lights flickered once, then died.
"Kaede," he said, voice steady.
She planted the detonation charge and stepped back.
"Breaching in three… two… one—"
The explosion was swallowed by thunder.
Metal screamed as the gate split open, molten steel raining down like fire. The Vanguard surged inside, weapons raised, shadows slicing through the smoke.
The interior was a cathedral of machinery — vast corridors lit by pulsing red veins, the air heavy with static and the scent of ozone.
No alarms. No guards.
Too quiet.
Kaede frowned beneath her helmet. "They knew we were coming."
Reiji's eyes narrowed. "Good."
He moved forward, each step echoing against the steel floor. "Let them wait."
---
The silence didn't last long.
From the upper balconies, mechanical forms began to descend — drones shaped like armored insects, their limbs twitching with metallic hunger. The moment one landed, the floor vibrated.
"Contact," Kaede hissed.
Reiji unsheathed his blade. "Engage."
Gunfire erupted. The Vanguard fanned out, covering angles, moving with deadly precision. Bullets tore through the machines' shells, sending fragments spinning into the red haze. Reiji moved through the chaos like a blade of intent — slicing through one drone's abdomen, then spinning to drive his sword upward into another's neck. Sparks showered his armor, lighting the darkness in flashes of silver and blood.
Kaede switched to her pulse rifle, each shot bursting with electromagnetic energy that sent drones crashing mid-air. The sound was deafening — steel clashing, rifles roaring, men shouting through the comms.
"Left flank holding!"
"Frontline breached!"
"Two down—"
Reiji leapt from a support beam, impaling the last drone through its head. The body spasmed, then went still.
Silence returned, broken only by the flickering hum of broken lights.
Kaede reloaded, breathing heavily. "That was their patrol unit. Not a defense squad."
Reiji wiped blood and oil from his visor. "Then the real fight hasn't started."
He looked up — the ceiling above them was transparent, revealing the Citadel's central spire reaching into the clouds. At its core, a pulse of crimson light beat steadily like a mechanical heart.
"That's our destination," he said. "The Dominion's central nexus. The control AI."
Kaede's voice lowered. "The one controlling the Sentinels."
Reiji nodded. "And possibly… the one that replaced the Council."
---
They advanced through the corridors, deeper into the Citadel's core. Every wall hummed faintly with power. In some places, Reiji could hear whispering — faint, distorted voices, like ghosts trapped in static. The Dominion's archives rumored the Citadel had once been manned entirely by humans, long before automation consumed the war.
Now it felt more like a tomb.
"Reiji," Kaede said quietly, "look at this."
She knelt beside a containment pod embedded in the wall. Inside floated a body — or what was left of one. Human organs meshed with machine parts, nerves connected to glowing filaments. The body's eyes moved faintly, following them as they passed.
Reiji's jaw tightened. "Experiments."
"Recycling soldiers, just like Haru…" Kaede whispered. "How far does this go?"
He didn't answer. The rage in his silence was louder than words.
---
The hallway opened into a vast chamber — circular, lined with towering pylons that radiated soft blue light. In the center stood a single figure, cloaked in white armor, its mask featureless except for one vertical slit glowing red.
The figure raised its head as Reiji stepped forward.
"I was told you'd come," it said. The voice was human, distorted by reverb. "The Vanguard's last shadow."
Reiji stopped. "Who are you?"
The figure tilted its head slightly. "A reflection of what you could have been."
Kaede lifted her rifle, but Reiji lifted a hand — not yet.
"Name," he demanded.
The figure's tone softened. "They called me Unit IX… but once, I had a name."
It paused.
"Commander Shinomiya Reiji."
The world seemed to stop.
Kaede froze, eyes wide. "What—"
The figure removed its mask. The face beneath was pale, scarred… and identical to his.
Reiji didn't move. The thunder above cracked, as if the heavens themselves recoiled.
Unit IX smiled faintly — a mirror made of despair. "I am the version of you that never stopped obeying."
---
Kaede's breath caught in her throat. "Reiji—"
But he had already drawn his blade. His voice was low, trembling with a fury that wasn't entirely human.
"They made a copy."
"Not a copy," IX said calmly. "A successor. You were imperfect — too emotional, too human. I am what the Dominion needed you to be."
"Then they built a lie," Reiji growled.
IX extended its arm. Energy crackled across its armor. "And lies, Reiji… are meant to be erased."
The chamber erupted in light as the two charged.
Their blades met — steel against plasma — the impact sending shockwaves through the entire Citadel. Sparks exploded like fireflies, painting the walls with violent brilliance.
Every strike mirrored the other — identical precision, identical fury. Kaede ducked behind a pylon as the clash shattered the air.
It was man versus reflection.
Humanity versus its manufactured ghost.
And neither held back.
---
The final blow sent both flying back, crashing through opposite walls. Smoke and dust filled the air, the hum of the Citadel stuttering from the energy surge.
Reiji staggered to his feet, armor cracked, blade trembling in his grip. Across the room, IX rose just as slowly, a line of blood running down his cheek — dark, mechanical.
"You still bleed," Reiji said through his teeth.
"So do you," IX replied, smiling faintly. "But only one of us deserves to."
The Citadel's heart pulsed faster, red light flooding the chamber as if it were feeding on their hatred.
Kaede watched from behind the wreckage, whispering under her breath:
"Reiji… don't lose yourself now."
Outside, thunder roared again — not from the storm this time, but from the awakening of something deep within the Citadel.
The battlefield had only just begun to burn