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Chapter 17 - Episode 16

[OPENING SCENE — VAN HQ, NIGHT]

Rain streaks the high glass dome of VAN HQ. Inside the war room, tension crackles like static. Kael, Yuna, Echo-7, Tari, and Jax review footage from the Skyrail ambush. Veya is not present. Her last check-in was hours ago.

Kael:

"None of this adds up. Why attack the rail, then disappear?"

Echo-7:

"Maybe they wanted to test our response time. Pattern reads like a simulation — not war."

Tari:

"These aren't dumb street punks anymore. They're following something. Someone."

Suddenly, alarms SHRIEK across the tower.

System Alert:

"UNAUTHORIZED BREACH — HANGAR LEVEL."

Red lights flood the room. The floor trembles. Explosions echo below.

Jax (leaping up):

"HQ is under attack? You've gotta be kidding me!"

Kael (activating Inferblade):

"Move! Secure the core rooms! Echo, get eyes!"

[SCENE — VAN HQ, HANGAR BAY CHAOS]

The Savage Bratz pour into the hangar — dozens of them, more organized than ever. Krakk leads them in person, wearing reinforced armor, his cyber-jaw grinding like a war drum.

Krakk (yelling):

"Time to tear down their pretty palace! MAKE THEM FEEL THE STREETS!"

They use EMP charges, plasma axes, hacked drones — one slams into a defense turret, frying it. Another group sabotages the elevator shafts.

Krakk:

"Crack the shell. Burn their pride."

[SCENE — UPPER FLOORS, CONTROL LEVEL]

Echo-7 sprints toward the AI terminal, his body flickering. Behind him, sparks rain as Bratz slice into data panels.

Echo-7:

"Too many of them. They hijacked our floorplans. I need—"

A Brat tackles him. The two tumble through holograms. Echo overloads his own arm to blast the thug off. He's limping, flickering badly.

[SCENE — ARMORY LEVEL]

Tari holds position in the armory corridor, using her Nova Lance to tag and blast incoming Bratz down the hall. Her face is calm — but her hands tremble.

Tari (breathing):

"Starline. Focus."

She drops to one knee. A sigil glows beneath her, summoning a barrage of starlight that burns through the corridor — frying four Bratz.

Tari:

"Still got it."

[SCENE — SKYLOUNGE, YUNA VS ILLUSION BRAT]

Yuna confronts a Brat wearing strange goggles, controlling hallucination gas. The room twists — memories flood back to Yuna: Mira laughing, Mira dying.

Illusion Brat:

"Pretty flower, time to wilt."

Yuna (closing eyes):

"You don't get to wear her memory."

She slams her hands down — vines burst from the ground, grabbing the Brat. Her psychic energy snaps the goggles off — and the illusions fade.

Yuna:

"Rest in silence, Mira."

[SCENE — BRIDGE HALL — JAX'S STAND]

Jax faces four Bratz armed with sonic gear. They pulse soundwaves at him — but Jax smiles.

Jax:

"Ohhhhhh yeah. You're speaking my language!"

He punches the ground. A reverb wave shatters the corridor floor. He leaps midair, catching two Bratz mid-blast, then throws them into a reactor panel.

Jax (grinning):

"Who's yelling now?!"

[SCENE — COMMAND CORE — KRAKK VS KAEL]

Kael bursts into the central command floor — it's ablaze. Krakk stands by the main terminal, holding a data core.

Krakk:

"You protected them with light. But light burns out. I fight for the forgotten."

Kael:

"You fight for yourself. Like a coward."

They clash. Kael's Inferblade ignites. Krakk's gauntlet releases a shockwave. They slam into each other — flame vs brute force.

Glass cracks. The room trembles. The terminal explodes.

Kael pins Krakk, fire in his eyes.

Kael:

"You don't get to break this place."

Krakk (spitting blood):

"I already did."

Suddenly, a hidden charge detonates — the outer wall of VAN HQ's west wing COLLAPSES. The force throws Kael back.

[SCENE — CONTROL ROOM COLLAPSE]

Echo-7 tries to stabilize failing systems. Tari rushes in.

Tari:

"They took out the sub-core. Half our defenses are down!"

Echo-7:

"If the tower leans 6 more degrees, we lose comms city-wide!"

[SCENE — OUTSIDE HQ — YUNA'S SHIELD BLOOM]

Civilians are gathering below, watching in horror as the HQ burns.

Yuna, standing on a broken ledge, summons massive psychic blossoms that wrap around the broken wing — temporarily holding the building together.

Yuna (gritting teeth):

"You don't get to fall. Not on my watch."

[FINAL SCENE — ROOFTOP, NIGHT, KRACK ESCAPES]

Krakk limps into an escape shuttle. Bratz are retreating. The HQ is smoking, broken but standing.

Kael and Jax make it to the rooftop just as the shuttle lifts.

Jax:

"Too slow."

Kael (grim):

"Too lucky."

[POST-CREDIT SCENE — RUINS BELOW SKYVAULT]

In a long-forgotten chamber, Veya finds a glyph carved into the wall. It pulses.

She whispers:

Veya:

"This isn't Bratz tech… This is Nullborn."

A heartbeat thrums in the dark.

[TO BE CONTINUED]

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