The Skyline Assembly chamber was electric with the silent anticipation of power. Ambassador Seraphina, the Chair of the Northern Coalition Council, raised her hand—the signal for the final ratification of the Veridia Accord.
The Accord was their confession: a treaty to invade Demise Country under the pretense of "stabilization," seize Alderon's binding technology, and silence any remaining dissent.
"All delegates in favor of ratifying the Veridia Accord, register your consent now," Seraphina announced, her voice calm and absolute.
A soft series of chimes echoed through the chamber as the Coalition Delegates tapped their terminals, confirming the vote. The central holographic screen flashed UNANIMOUS CONSENT.
"The Accord is ratified," Seraphina declared, a cold, triumphant smile spreading across her face. "The era of unchecked national will is over. The Coalition will provide the world with necessary order."
At that precise moment, Curse Blonde squeezed the trigger of her Ether Rifle.
She was not firing an Ether round. She was firing a pulse.
The refined energy surged from the rifle's barrel, not toward the Delegates, but directly at the Assembly's central comms hub in the high ceiling. The pulse was laced with the data from the Citadel Trade Records—the full, unedited proof of the Coalition's conspiracy with King Alderon.
The impact was instantaneous and devastating. The comms hub didn't explode; it became an enormous, global amplifier.
BZZZZT!
A piercing, digital shriek erupted throughout the chamber, and then the voice of Valis, calm and accusatory, broadcast over every secure channel and open media stream on the planet.
"The Northern Coalition has ratified an Accord of Conquest. They did not seek peace; they sought silence. We present the evidence."
The main holographic screen, moments ago displaying the Coalition flag, was suddenly hijacked. It showed the damning Trade Records: invoices detailing the sale of high-grade Ether refinement components, signed communiqués from Ambassador Seraphina to King Alderon, and blueprints showing the Coalition's planned integration of Alderon's soul-binding research.
The chamber erupted in chaos. Delegates leapt to their feet, shouting and scrambling toward their terminals to disconnect the feed.
Ambassador Seraphina, her placid expression finally shattered, screamed into her communicator, "Lock down the Assembly! Find the source! Now!"
💥 Fallout and Counter-Strike
Curse and Valis watched the global panic from the thermal conduit hatch. Their objective was complete: the global power structure was exposed.
"The integrity of their system is collapsing," Valis reported, monitoring the internal Citadel comms. "The truth is spreading faster than they can contain it. The other major powers—their rivals—will immediately seize on this vulnerability."
"That's the point," Curse confirmed, pulling out Mara's Final Drive. "We gave the world the weapon to fight them. Now, we escape."
The floor hatch was blown open from the outside by a precise Ether charge. Curse and Valis, still encased in their stealth suits, were immediately surrounded by a squad of Coalition Kinetic Troopers—heavily armored soldiers wielding projectile weapons and anti-Ether nets.
"Freeze!" the lead Trooper shouted, his helmet glowing with thermal lock-on. "You are under arrest for treason against the Northern Coalition! Surrender the equipment!"
Curse didn't hesitate. She threw a handful of small, specialized Ether dampener discs onto the floor. The discs released a brief, intense, localized electromagnetic pulse.
The pulse didn't harm the Troopers, but it violently destabilized their powered armor and targeting systems. Their vision went dark, and their thermal lock-ons failed.
Curse and Valis exploited the momentary chaos. They moved with the silent, practiced grace of the Elite Team, using non-lethal nerve strikes to incapacitate the dazed Troopers, leaving them in tangled heaps of malfunctioning armor.
They dashed for the closest escape route: a high-speed gravity chute used by senior Delegates.
📜 Mara's Final Revelation
As they entered the chute, Valis secured the final, crucial item: Mara's Final Drive.
"We successfully broadcast the conspiracy proof," Valis said, setting the chute's descent velocity to maximum. "But what is on Mara's drive? Why was it kept separate?"
Curse inserted the drive into the chute's auxiliary monitor. The display flickered, showing a new, devastating piece of information:
A complete, internal schematic of the Skyline Assembly building, highlighting a massive, deep foundation chamber labeled THE ETHER BANK.
"This city is a lie, my daughter," a recorded voice, soft but fiercely determined, played from the drive. It was Queen Mara. "The Coalition did not only fund Alderon; they built their entire empire on the same principle. They do not bind souls; they bind potential. The Ether Bank is a massive psychic dampener, leeching the ambition and critical will from every citizen of Veridia. They maintain order through a passive, technologically induced Apathy."
Curse stared at the screen, horrified. Alderon had created a Silence of fear; the Coalition had created a Silence of contentment. The tyranny was far more subtle and vast than they had imagined.
"The Veridia Accord was not their final crime," Valis gasped. "It was a diversion. Their true power is the Ether Bank—it silences their own people while they conquer the world."
The realization hit Curse with the force of a physical blow. Her mission had only changed again. She was no longer just fighting for Demise Country; she was fighting to expose a global system of spiritual theft.
The Ether Bank was the Coalition's ultimate weapon—a system that ensured Veridia's population would never question the Coalition's power or the authority of the Council.
As the gravity chute hissed to a stop at the bottom maintenance level, they heard the sounds of external pursuit—sirens wailing, security forces converging on the Assembly.
"The Coalition is compromised," Curse concluded, pulling the Solvane Key from its sheath. "They have lost the war of truth. Now, they will start the war of force. We need to leave Veridia immediately and warn the outside world about the Ether Bank."
She looked at Valis, her eyes blazing with renewed, cold resolve. "We are not going home, Commander. We are taking the fight to the next level. We have to shatter the world's apathy."
They stepped out of the chute and into the sprawling, subterranean maintenance tunnels of Veridia, the silent, cold machine of global power looming above them.