The flagship Aurora's Spear burned through the void, caught in the heart of the maelstrom. Outside, the battle reached apocalyptic proportions—Shardborn vessels and the Echo-Lord's biomechanical leviathans tearing at one another like gods at war. But inside the command chamber, the true nightmare unfolded.
Kaelen's blade locked against the Harbinger's Hand's void-spear, the clash sending shockwaves through the deck. Sparks hissed as the assassin's voice cut through the din, cold and inhuman:
"You cannot protect her. She belongs to the Seed."
Lyra groaned from where she'd landed, blood trickling down her temple. She pushed herself up, her fingers glowing faintly with telekinetic energy—but weaker, slower. Something about this place was draining her.
"Rhyss!" Kaelen shouted, parrying a deadly strike. "Get her out of here!"
"No!" Rhyss snapped, ducking another plasma bolt from Ceyra. "I'm not leaving you with this!"
Ceyra advanced, her pistol steady, voice warped with the Architect's resonance. "You think you can defy inevitability? We are already inside you all."
She fired again.
This time, Lyra caught the bolt midair, her hand trembling as she twisted it back toward Ceyra. The possessed engineer hissed and dove aside as the shot scorched the wall.
Meanwhile, Veilara slammed her spear-staff into the deck, activating the ship's internal defense turrets. Panels slid open, revealing auto-cannons that sprang to life, targeting the assassin. The Harbinger's Hand spun, summoning a shield of crackling voidlight that absorbed the barrage and then hurled it back in a single, devastating blast. One of the turrets exploded, showering molten shrapnel across the chamber.
"Outside forces breaching our hull!" an officer screamed. "Enemy boarding parties inbound!"
"Then seal the damn ship!" Veilara roared, even as she joined Kaelen in the melee.
The assassin's spear nearly took Kaelen's head off, but he twisted under the swing and drove his phaseblade into a seam in its armor. The figure shrieked—an unearthly sound—but instead of falling, it split. Its body unraveled into tendrils of shadow that streaked across the room, reforming behind Lyra.
"LYRA!"
Kaelen dove, but the Harbinger's Hand was faster. It struck her square in the chest, and she cried out as the voidlight surged through her body, her eyes flashing with alien patterns.
Outside, the fleet's situation worsened—the Shardborn were falling back, massive Echo-Lord warforms boarding their ships. The Aurora's Spear rocked violently as another explosion tore through its starboard side.
Inside, Kaelen's fury ignited. His vision tunneled, his pulse roared in his ears, and something deep within him—something dormant—snapped awake.
The lights around him flickered. His blade blazed brighter than ever before.
The assassin paused mid-strike, as if sensing what was coming.
Kaelen's voice was low, guttural, almost unrecognizable:
"Get. Away. From. Her."