Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 1)
Aaron and Lilith escaped the floating city and made their way back to the surface. In their hands, they held the complete data of the "New Dawn" project—information that felt like a powder keg ready to ignite the world. They knew that their power alone was no match for the colossal Stargate Corporation. They needed the help of the surface dwellers; they had to deliver the truth to the people who had been deceived and oppressed. Their first thought was an underground resistance organization known as the "Children of the Ash," a group of disgruntled workers, technicians, and scholars who were united in their opposition to the floating city's rule.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 2)
Finding the "Children of the Ash" was no easy task. They were like ghosts, hidden in every corner of the surface world, with no fixed headquarters, only a complex system of codes and signals. Using his network as a private investigator, Aaron got in touch with an old friend—a hacker who had provided him with information in the past. Upon hearing about the "New Dawn" data, the hacker was filled with a mixture of shock and rage. He told Aaron that the leader of the "Children of the Ash" was a woman named Evelyn, a former chief engineer for the Stargate Corporation who had lost her family in an accident and had since dedicated her life to the resistance.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 3)
With the hacker's help, Aaron and Lilith contacted Evelyn. They met in an abandoned underground shelter that had once been an old military command center, now serving as a temporary base for the "Children of the Ash." Evelyn was a woman with a determined gaze, her demeanor free of any adornment, possessing a calm strength that came from years of hardship. She carefully scrutinized Aaron and Lilith, as if judging whether they were trustworthy. Aaron didn't waste any time. He immediately showed Evelyn the data on his portable terminal.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 4)
Evelyn watched the data, her expression shifting from calm to shock, and finally, to a profound, disbelieving rage. She saw the ultimate goal of the "New Dawn" project and the Stargate Corporation's willingness to sacrifice the entire solar system's space-time stability for a monopoly on resources. She also saw the records of Aaron's father's research and realized that he hadn't died in an accident; he had been silenced. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms. She finally understood why her family had "disappeared" during a routine transmission—they weren't victims of fate, but sacrifices for the corporation's experiments.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 5)
Evelyn's fury transformed into an ironclad resolve. She immediately summoned all the core members of the "Children of the Ash." They were a diverse group of people—engineers, scientists, and even former Stargate employees. They listened to Aaron and Lilith's story, with Evelyn providing her own additions, and everyone was stunned. Many of them had lost family or friends to "disappearances" during transmissions. They had always believed it was a cruel twist of fate, but now they knew it was a deliberate conspiracy.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 6)
At Evelyn's call, the "Children of the Ash" decided to ally with Aaron and Lilith. They resolved to launch a full-scale counterattack against the Stargate Corporation. They wouldn't just expose the "Ripple Conspiracy"; they would also cripple the corporation's operations and stop the "New Dawn" project from ever being implemented. They devised a precise two-phase plan: The first phase was a media war, using their underground hacker network to release the "New Dawn" data to the public and sow panic on the surface and in the colonies. The second phase was a physical one, where they would infiltrate the Stargate hubs and create a massive counter-ripple to neutralize the project.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 7)
The media war began first. Underground radio stations on the surface started broadcasting the truth of the "Ripple Conspiracy." Encrypted forums across the network began to circulate the "New Dawn" project data. At first, the people in the floating city dismissed the news as the ignorance and jealousy of the surface dwellers. But as more and more evidence was released, and as more anomalies appeared in Stargate transmissions, panic began to spread in the colonies. The colonists of Mars, Europa, and even "New Revelation City" began to question the Stargate Corporation's rule.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 8)
To quell the panic, the Stargate nobility issued a statement, claiming that these were just "normal fluctuations in transmission technology" and promising to resolve the issues. But their arrogance and dismissive attitude only ignited a fiercer backlash. The surface dwellers launched large-scale strikes and protests, demanding the Stargate Corporation reveal the truth. Life in the floating city was severely impacted; the power grid and supply transports began to fail, and the nobles' lives were no longer as secure as they once were.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 9)
The leaders of the Stargate Corporation realized they couldn't afford to wait. They decided to launch the "New Dawn" project ahead of schedule to stop the resistance from taking any further action. They believed that if the project succeeded and they gained control of the deep-space passages, the surface turmoil would become insignificant. They set the launch time for three days from now and tightened security at all Stargate hubs.
Chapter 5: The Uprising of the Surface (Part 10)
Aaron, Lilith, and Evelyn quickly gathered all the members of the "Children of the Ash." They knew they were running out of time. They had to infiltrate eight key Stargate hubs within three days to set up their interference devices. This would be a race against the clock, a war without bullets. Aaron knew he would have to face Cullen again, but he was no longer afraid. He looked at his allies, their eyes filled with determination. He knew this fight was not just about revenge, but about justice and the future of all humanity.