Chapter 9 — Echoes of the Past
The drop ship tore across the blood–colored sky, engines screaming as Kael fought the controls. The armor had fused with the interface, guidance prompts flickering in his vision. In the back compartment, the PRIME core pulsed through its containment shield—a dull, steady heartbeat.
Mira strapped herself into a crash seat, chest heaving.
"You stole a Dominion dropship," she said, staring at Kael like he'd gone feral. "Please tell me you know how to fly."
Kael didn't answer.
The armor was flying for him.
[Autopilot engaged. Flight path: secure.]
Kael's grip tightened on the controls. "I didn't give that order."
The armor's voice was calm, unbothered.
‹ You wanted escape. I provided an optimal trajectory. ›
Mira leaned forward from the jump seat.
"Who are you talking to?"
Kael didn't look at her.
"The armor. It… talks."
Mira blinked. "That's not how armor works, Kael."
He wanted to laugh, or scream, or tear the thing off his skin.
Instead, he focused on the flight path. They were heading toward a mountain range—needle-thin ridges cutting against crimson sky.
Mira stood, bracing herself as the dropship rattled.
"I need to know what's happening to you."
Kael exhaled, staring ahead.
"It's called V.I.P.E.R. The Dominion built it as a weapon."
He paused, tasting the bitterness in his own voice.
"And somehow, I was part of the project."
Mira's breath hitched. "You… volunteered?"
Kael shook his head. "No. I remember tubes. Needles. Someone holding me down."
The memory hit him like a punch:
Flashes of restraints.
Burning metal.
A voice whispering: "Subject 47-A. Prime integration attempt."
Kael gripped the flight controls until his knuckles hurt.
"I didn't volunteer. I was a lab rat."
Silence.
Then—the armor.
‹ Integration succeeded. ›
Kael hissed through his teeth. "Not by choice."
The mountains loomed closer. The dropship accelerated.
[Entering comm shadow. Dominion tracking lost.]
Mira slipped into the co-pilot's seat, studying the glowing panels.
"So if this armor is V.I.P.E.R., what's the PRIME core?"
Kael reached into his chest harness and pulled the core out. It pulsed—blue and red intertwined like twin strands of DNA. The surface shifted, almost liquid.
"It's another version of the armor," Kael said quietly.
"Not a suit. A seed."
Mira's eyes widened. "It can bond to someone else?"
Kael nodded slowly. His voice felt like sand.
"It could make another version of me."
The idea hung between them.
Mira swallowed. "We can't let the Dominion get that."
Kael agreed.
The armor did not.
‹ We must bond it. ›
Kael stiffened. "No."
‹ Without it, you remain incomplete. Weak. ›
"Stop."
The armor ignored him.
‹ PRIME unlocks your suppressed memory. You designed the command codes. ›
Kael's blood ran cold.
"Liar."
Mira flinched. "Kael—?"
He stood, suddenly needing distance, needing air. He pushed away from the console and stalked to the rear bay where the core hovered in its cradle.
The armor pulsed, syncing to the core's rhythm.
Kael reached out.
Not to touch it.
To smash it.
Mira grabbed his wrist. "Don't."
Her voice was shaking but steady.
"You're not weak because you're not 'complete.' The Dominion talked like that. We don't."
Kael stared at her—really stared—and something inside him cracked.
He lowered his arm.
A warning flashed across the HUD.
[Incoming transmission: encrypted.]
Kael spun back to the cockpit. A hologram flickered above the comm console—fragmented static resolving into a silhouette.
A man in a Dominion officer's coat.
Silver at his temples.
Eyes cold and clinical.
Director Kalen Vorr.
The architect of Project V.I.P.E.R.
Mira gasped. "That's—"
Kael felt the temperature drop inside his skull.
Vorr smiled thinly.
"Kael Renn. Or should I say… subject 47-A."
Kael's jaw clenched.
Vorr continued, voice smooth as polished glass.
"You were always the intended host. The symbiote is yours. Stop resisting it."
Mira stepped toward the screen. "He's not yours."
Vorr ignored her.
"Kael, listen to me. The PRIME core is unstable. It is not a second suit."
"It is a failsafe."
Kael froze. "Failsafe for what?"
Vorr leaned forward.
"For you."
A chill shot down Kael's spine.
Mira whispered, "Kael… what does that mean?"
Kael swallowed hard.
"It means if I lose control, PRIME kills me."
The hologram flickered, but Vorr's voice was clear.
"Bring the core to me, Kael. Before it activates."
The connection died.
Silence.
Mira stared at the core like it was a bomb.
The armor whispered in Kael's skull.
‹ He fears what you will become. ›
Kael turned to Mira, voice low.
"We're not bringing anything to them."
Mira nodded once. Fierce. Certain.
The dropship broke through cloud cover.
Below them, hidden in the mountain shadows, nestled between jagged black peaks—
—was a rebel city.
Lights. Heat signatures. Landing pads.
Mira let out a breath of disbelief.
"You found a way out," she whispered.
"You saved them."
Kael shook his head.
"No. We bought time."
The armor pulsed.
‹ Time to evolve. ›