The first blow from the Echo-Lord shattered half the stronghold's outer plating. Inside, sparks rained from the ceiling as Lyra and the crew scrambled into defensive positions.
"Shields down to sixty percent!" Ceyra shouted over the chaos.
Rhyss braced a plasma cannon against the viewport. "That thing's not here to destroy this place—it's here to take it intact!"
"Then we don't let it!" Lyra snapped, her voice sharper than she felt inside. "Kaelen—on me!"
The two of them rushed to a massive console at the room's center. Symbols flashed across its surface like living script.
"What is this?" Kaelen asked.
Ceyra's eyes widened as she deciphered the runes. "It's… a planetary defense grid. But it's locked behind some kind of biometric key."
The room lurched violently as the Echo-Lord struck again. Metal groaned. Somewhere deep in the stronghold, something broke.
"Whatever that key is," Kaelen growled, "find it fast."
Outside – The Echo-Lord
The colossal figure loomed over the stronghold like a dark god. Each step it took cracked the very space around it. Smaller constructs—serpent-like drones of void-metal—slithered from its body, latching onto the stronghold's exterior to carve through its defenses.
Inside its helm of obsidian, two pits of crimson light burned. It spoke in a voice that rattled planets:
"The Architect commands. Surrender the Infinity Seed."
Inside – The Choice
"We're out of time!" Rhyss yelled. "This place is going to fall!"
Lyra slammed her hand on the console in frustration. And then… the console responded.
A bright circle of light enveloped her hand, scanning, analyzing.
Ceyra gasped. "Lyra… you're the key."
Before anyone could process what that meant, the console roared to life. Energy surged through the entire stronghold, and from its surface erupted a massive shield of golden light that blasted the Echo-Lord backward into space.
For a moment, silence.
Then the Echo-Lord stood, unbroken.
And far beyond, in the cold dark, the Architect paused… intrigued.
Chapter 100 will introduce new characters:
Admiral Veyric, a rogue human commander leading a hidden fleet.
Azhira, an alien seer bound to visions of the Infinity Seed.
The Harbinger, an independent warlord who wants the Seed for himself.