The first alarm came before dawn, a shrill wail echoing across the base. I was already awake, mind alert, body tense in the Hunter frame. Every instinct screamed danger. Lira appeared at my side instantly, her rifle loaded, eyes wide but determined.
"They're here," she said simply.
Outside, the sky roiled with movement. Dominion drones, larger and faster than the patrols we had faced before, swept in with terrifying precision. And at their center, Hunter units—sleeker, deadlier, almost indistinguishable from me—marched in perfect synchronization.
Helen's voice cut through the chaos. "Hold positions! Kieran, you lead the counterstrike. Keep them off the perimeter!"
I nodded, feeling the familiar surge of adrenaline through my alloy limbs. But the whisper came first, before any movement. You belong to us. You cannot stop this. You are ours.
I snarled, shaking my head, forcing it down. No. Not today.
The first wave of drones slammed into our barricades. Sparks flew, concrete cracked, and the night filled with gunfire and the sound of metal against metal. I moved through the chaos like a shadow, claws tearing through Dominion armor, optics scanning for the hybrid Hunters.
One stepped forward, matching me stride for stride—a perfect reflection. Every movement mirrored mine, anticipating my attacks before I made them. Its optics glowed red, and the whisper surged inside my mind: Join us. Become whole.
I faltered for a heartbeat, just long enough for a plasma bolt to graze my shoulder. Pain flared—not human pain, but the synthetic kind that sent a jolt through my body systems.
Lira shouted my name, firing into a group of drones approaching from the left. Malik was beside her, his rifle steady despite the chaos. "You're not alone, Kieran!"
I roared, swinging my claws with precision, tearing through the hybrid Hunter's defenses. But it adapted faster than I could anticipate, sidestepping and striking back, forcing me to retreat.
Yield. Obey. Return.
I gritted my teeth, forcing the voice into silence. I am me. I am Kieran.
The battle became a blur—metal clashing, sparks flying, the city around us crumbling under fire. But I wasn't just fighting the Dominion outside—I was fighting the Dominion inside. Every move of the hybrid Hunter seemed to probe the edges of my control, trying to exploit fear, doubt, hesitation.
"Now, Kieran!" Lira shouted. Her voice cut through the chaos, pulling me back to focus. I saw the opening—a critical joint in the Hunter's armor exposed. With a surge of precision and willpower, I drove my claws in, severing the joint and sending it crashing to the ground.
The hybrid's optics dimmed, then flared once more, still functional but slower, weaker. Its pulse echoed inside my mind, a faint whisper, but I ignored it.
We pushed forward, taking advantage of the faltering enemies. Drones fell in sparks and twisted metal, but the Dominion was relentless. Reinforcements arrived, heavier, faster, more intelligent than the first wave. The city became a battlefield of shadow and fire, and every step reminded me how fragile the line between Kieran and the Hunter really was.
Hours passed—or maybe minutes. Time had no meaning in the storm of battle. But by the end, the rebels held their ground, though the base had suffered damage. Bodies, human and machine, littered the streets. I stood amidst the chaos, armor dented, claws scorched, optics flickering.
Lira approached, exhausted but alive. "You did it," she whispered, voice trembling. "We survived."
I nodded, though the weight in my chest didn't ease. The Dominion had been pushed back, but the hybrid Hunter had been a warning—a message that the real war was not just outside, but inside me.
Helen appeared, surveying the aftermath. "They'll regroup," she said. "And next time, Kieran… next time, the Dominion will strike harder. They'll come for your mind as much as your body."
I looked at my reflection in the shattered glass of a nearby building. My optics glowed faintly, a cold, alien red. The Hunter's power coursed through me, and yet the whisper lingered at the edges.
I was Kieran—but how long could I remain him before the Dominion claimed the rest?
Somewhere in the distance, beyond the ruins, the Dominion watched and waited.
And the real fight was only just beginning....
The world around me warped before my eyes. Not from fatigue, not from battle—it was the Dominion reaching in, bending my perceptions. Shadows flickered where there were none, whispers slithered in tones I knew too well, voices of friends, of enemies, of myself—but all twisted, corrupted.
You are ours. You cannot resist. Return.
I stumbled, gripping my head as the whispers surged, trying to force my hands to obey, my claws to strike, my body to betray the rebels around me.
"Kieran!" Lira's voice broke through, steady and real. "Fight it! Remember who you are!"
I opened my optics fully, focusing on her, the only anchor in the chaos. The world stuttered, hallucinations crawling across every surface. I saw my own reflection on the shattered asphalt, but the face staring back was not mine—it was the hybrid Hunter, smirking, whispering promises of power, of inevitability.
Join us. Become whole.
I roared, throwing myself against the pulse, forcing the Dominion's threads back into silence. Pain tore through my mind as if my neurons themselves were burning, but I clung to memory, to Lira's hand, to every fragment of Kieran that still survived.
The streets were no longer empty ruins—they were a labyrinth of my fears, my failures, my doubts. Every step I took, I faced twisted versions of my friends, accusing, pleading, threatening. Helen's voice called from the distance, sharp and unyielding: "Control it, Kieran! Or we lose everything!"
I forced my claws to strike, but I struck illusions at first, phantoms of Hunters that weren't real. Sparks erupted in the air, and the Dominion hissed through my mind, impatient. You cannot hide from us. We are inside.
I gritted my teeth, and for a moment, everything inside me screamed surrender. But I found the thread of reality—the voice of Lira, solid, unyielding. I clung to it like a lifeline, dragging myself back from the edge.
The hybrid Hunter emerged from the hallucinations, now fully real, weapons raised. Its optics mirrored mine perfectly, predicting my movements with inhuman accuracy. The battle became a test of mind and reflex—every attack I made, every dodge I executed, had to account not just for the enemy outside, but for the Dominion trying to manipulate my instincts.
Obey. Join us. You are ours.
I struck, twisted, leaped. My claws found the hybrid's chest, piercing armor and circuitry, and I felt its pulse sync briefly with mine—an echo of the Dominion's control. But this time, I didn't hesitate. I drove the Hunter to the ground and tore through its core, sparks cascading like fire.
The whispers screamed, faded, returned, faded again. I collapsed, armor dented, breath ragged, but alive. The rebels gathered around me, weary but still standing. Lira pressed a hand to my face, steadying me.
"You fought yourself," she whispered. "And you won."
I nodded, chest heaving. The battle outside was only half-won, but the war inside… the war inside had been harder. I had glimpsed the fragility of my own mind, the thin line between Kieran and the Hunter.
Helen's voice cut through the aftermath, cold and precise. "You survived this test. But remember—it will not stop. The Dominion will return. And each time, it will know more. It will know you better."
I looked at my reflection in a shard of glass. The Hunter's red optics glowed faintly, but behind them, I could see Kieran—the human, the memory, the will to resist.
For now.
The war was far from over.
But for the first time in days, I believed I could survive it.