Chapter 24: The Heir Must Fall
Location: Bastion – Sky Perimeter, Dawnlight Ridge
The dreadnought loomed like a mechanical god, casting a monstrous shadow over the city. Its engines roared like distant thunder, and from its belly, new horrors dropped into Bastion — skyborne Reapers, ten-foot-tall exosuits piloted by Seraphim elite.
"They're unleashing the Graveborn Division," Jex said into Rayven's comm, ducking behind the ruined wall of a sniper tower. "That's their endgame unit!"
Rayven didn't respond right away.
He stood at the city's outer wall, eyes fixed on the sky. A surge of static flared across the battlefield. His heartbeat slowed. And for a second, all sound dimmed.
Nyra's voice broke the silence.
"They want you alive. That ship… it's not here for conquest. It's here for you."
The Broadcast
A sudden screech echoed across the city. Every commlink, every screen — even the sky itself shimmered with projection.
Supreme Chancellor Virel's face appeared, cold and radiant in its terrifying calm.
"People of Bastion. You house a traitor. A failed heir. Return him, and I will spare what's left of your rubble. Resist, and I will turn your bones to glass."
The image faded.
Selene, her face covered in dust and ash, spat into the ground.
"She's bluffing. She's always bluffing."
Jex disagreed. "This time… she brought a planet-killer. That thing up there has enough firepower to erase this whole sector."
Rayven's Gamble
In the war room, tension was choking the air.
Rayven slammed a hand onto the holo-table. "I won't let her do this. I won't let her destroy another city just to get to me."
Selene raised her voice. "And if you go to her, she will break you. They'll broadcast your execution across every remaining screen in the world."
"Then we hit her first," Rayven said.
Everyone went quiet.
He pointed to the dreadnought.
"Nyra and I board that ship. Just us. She knows its layout. I'm the only target. If we get in fast enough, before they fully deploy… we can sabotage the core."
Rhea's voice cracked. "You're talking about suicide."
"No," Nyra interrupted. "We're talking about ending this."
The Infiltration
Just before midnight, under cover of Bastion's broken skyshield, a cloaked shuttle launched from the eastern ruins.
Inside: Rayven and Nyra.
Rayven wore a reinforced suit—lightweight, flexible, and tuned to his blood frequency. Nyra carried no weapons. She didn't need them. Her body was already one.
"This feels like a memory," she whispered. "Like a mission I haven't woken from."
Rayven looked at her. "Then let's rewrite the ending."
Inside the Beast
They entered through a maintenance shaft, bypassing the dreadnought's thermal sensors with old Resistance encryption Nyra still remembered.
The corridors were cold, pulsing with eerie blue light. The walls themselves hummed — alive, in a way that made Rayven's skin crawl.
"The core chamber is central," Nyra whispered. "Guarded by two Exarchs. And Kalus."
Rayven nodded. "Let them come."
They moved quickly, disabling cameras, cutting through hallways with silence and precision.
But the deeper they went, the more… twisted the ship became.
Machines merged with organic flesh. Wires moved like veins. Faces—disembodied and frozen in terror—lined the walls, whispering in a language Rayven didn't understand.
"They've been experimenting with consciousness," Nyra said, voice low. "Trying to make the ship feel."
Confrontation in the Core
They reached the main core chamber.
And standing before it, bathed in the glow of the reactor—was Kalus.
"You never learn," he said, voice full of mock sorrow. "You bring the traitor. You think this ends well for either of you?"
Nyra stepped forward. "I'm not running anymore."
Kalus's eyes glowed. "Then die for them."
He charged. This time, faster, enhanced.
Rayven met him head-on while Nyra raced toward the reactor's override panel.
The duel was brutal. Sparks flew, bones cracked, and plasma scorched the air. Kalus unleashed a shockwave, slamming Rayven into the wall, denting the metal with the force of the impact.
But Rayven got back up.
Bleeding. Gasping. Alive.
"You're strong," he said. "But strength isn't purpose. That's why you'll always lose."
He triggered his pulse blade's full discharge and drove it into Kalus's abdomen.
Kalus roared, stumbling, sparks shooting from his limbs.
"She'll rebuild me," Kalus muttered. "Again and again."
"Not this time," Nyra said, pulling the override lever.
The Fall of the Dreadnought
The reactor destabilized instantly.
Nyra grabbed Rayven's arm, and the two ran as alarms howled around them. Fire erupted in the corridors. The ship groaned, its systems panicking.
They reached the emergency drop shaft and launched their evac capsule just as the dreadnought exploded in the sky.
From Bastion, people looked up in awe as the monstrous shadow cracked, burned, and collapsed in a fiery blossom of light.
Cheers erupted.
The invincible warship… had fallen.
Back to the Ashes
Hours later, Rayven and Nyra stood in the rubble outside Bastion, bruised but alive.
The Resistance had pushed back the remaining Seraphim forces. Kalus's defeat had demoralized their army. Their skyship was gone. Their grip weakened.
And yet…
Rayven didn't celebrate.
He knew what this meant.
Virel had lost her sword. But she still had her mind. And now, she was going to take this personally.
"She'll come herself next time," Rayven murmured. "No more shadows. No more masks."
Nyra nodded.
"Then let her come."
Next Chapter: "Ashes of a Queen"
Supreme Chancellor Virel begins her descent to Earth to reclaim the heir herself. But hidden in the ruins of Bastion is something even she didn't account for—an ancient pulse buried deep below the city, older than Seraphim tech. And it's waking up…