Julian’s jaw tightened. His dark blue eyes fixed on the pulsing red marker on the map.

"I won’t let that happen," he said quietly. Not a threat. A fact.

The room’s tension shifted. Emma set down her spoon. Fey glanced up from her data-slate. Zoe’s ears twitched. Even Dori straightened in her chair.

Julian stood. He walked to the map and traced his finger along the approach routes to Eclipse’s central stronghold.

"We need a plan," he said. "Not a raid. A coordinated assault."

He looked at Vex. "Your Greenday fighters. Rain’s food supply network. The mineral stockpile from Neo. The energy from Xlomoph. We cut Eclipse’s resources, now we use them against what’s left."

Vex crossed her arms. Her face was hard, unreadable.

"Really?" she said. "We’re not in a good situation. Your people are exhausted. My people are terrified. Rain only follows because you put fear in his head. Everyone’s still full of doubt."

Julian didn’t flinch. "I know."

"Then you know this is insane."

"I know it’s necessary."

Emma opened her mouth to say something. Fey cut her off.

"Vex is right," Fey said, standing. She walked to the map. "But hesitation is worse. Eclipse is wounded, not dead. If we give Darwin time to recover his supplies, to reinforce the Cradle, to bring in whatever ’original’ is sleeping down there—" She tapped the red marker. "We lose. Permanently."

She looked around the room. "We have to strike now. At their weakest moment. While their command is still confused. While they don’t know we know about the Cradle."

Zoe spoke from behind Julian. "Fey’s logic is sound."

"Sound logic doesn’t win wars," Vex muttered.

"No." Julian turned to face her. "But we have to dare to attack him first."

For a long moment, Vex held his gaze. Then she exhaled, her shoulders dropping a fraction.

"Alright," she said. "But if this fails—"

The door slammed open.

A young Greenday fighter burst in, breathing hard, her face streaked with sweat and dust. She wore the broken-chain insignia, but her hands were shaking.

"Commander Vex!"

Vex spun. "Report."

"Attack at the eastern perimeter, someone’s coming through—" The girl swallowed. "It’s Eclipse. I saw the red crest. A major officer. Maybe more than one."

Emma was on her feet instantly, flames licking between her fingers. Fey’s hand drifted toward the nearest liquid source. Zoe shifted her weight, ready to transform.

Julian didn’t move.

"Show me," he said quietly.

The girl pointed toward the window.

Through the dusty glass, beyond the inner wall, lights flickered in the distance. Vehicle headlights. Three, four, five of them. And marching figures.

Vex’s jaw clenched. "They found us faster than I thought."

Julian looked at the map, then at the approaching lights.

"Then we greet them," he said. "And we show Darwin that his ’weak moment’ is already over."

"Five vehicles," Fey said into the communicator. "Armored transports. No heavy artillery, but I’m reading at least three skill signatures. One’s big."

"How big?" Emma asked.

"Building-leveling big."

Emma’s grin returned. "Fun."

The convoy stopped two hundred meters out. Too far for most ranged skills. The headlights cut off simultaneously, plunging the field into near-darkness. Then, one by one, doors opened.

Figures emerged. Eclipse soldiers in red-trimmed armor, fifteen, twenty, thirty. They formed a semicircle. At their center, three figures stood apart.

The first was a mountain of a man, easily two and a half meters tall, his skin the color of weathered stone. Cracks ran across his body, and from those cracks, faint orange light glowed, like magma beneath cooling rock. His hands were the size of shovels.

The second was a woman wrapped in bandages, only her eyes visible yellow, vertical-slit, reptilian. She carried no weapon, but the air around her shimmered with heat.

The third stepped forward. He was lean, sharp, dressed in a black coat with Eclipse’s crimson symbol stitched over his heart. His hair was white, his eyes pale blue, and he moved with the easy confidence of someone who had never lost a fight.

"My name is Reinhardt," he said. His voice carried across the field without effort, amplified by some skill. "I am Eclipse’s Hand of Order. Darwin sends his regards."

Emma leaned toward Julian. "Hand of Order? That’s stupid."

Julian ignored her. He stepped past the defensive line, walking into the open ground between the two forces. His hands hung loose at his sides.

"Reinhardt," Julian said. "You’re on my ground. State your business or leave."

Reinhardt smiled. It was a thin, cold expression.

"Your ground?" He tilted his head. "This was Eclipse’s ground a week ago."

He raised a hand. The mountain of a man cracked his knuckles. The bandaged woman’s eyes narrowed.

"Darwin wants the Ghost alive," Reinhardt continued. "The rest of you are optional. Surrender now, and your deaths will be quick. Resist—" He gestured to the mountain. "—and they will be slow."

Julian didn’t blink.

"No."

Reinhardt’s smile faded. "No?"

"I said no." Julian’s voice was calm, almost bored. "Now you have two choices. Leave. Or die."

For a heartbeat, no one moved.

Then Reinhardt laughed.

"Kill them," he said.

The mountain charged.

His footsteps shook the ground. Each stride cracked the asphalt. He lowered his shoulder and aimed directly at Julian, a living battering ram.

Zoe moved first. She shifted mid-sprint, her beast form slamming into the mountain’s side. Her claws raked across his stony skin, but only sparks flew. The mountain grabbed her by the scruff and threw her twenty meters into a collapsed wall.

Emma didn’t wait. She raised both hands and sent a wave of fire roaring across the field.

The bandaged woman stepped forward. She unwrapped one arm, revealing flesh that was scaled, reptilian, and steaming. She exhaled. A cone of superheated gas met Emma’s flames, neutralizing them in a violent explosion of steam.

Fey dropped from the water tower.

[Liquid]

Every drop of moisture in the air, every puddle on the ground, every broken pipe in the walls responded. Water surged toward the bandaged woman, wrapping around her legs, her arms, her throat. But the woman’s body heat was immense. The water boiled instantly, turning to scalding vapor that rose and dispersed.

"She’s too hot," Fey said through gritted teeth.

Reinhardt watched from the back, still smiling.

Julian’s eyes moved across the battlefield. The mountain was recovering, shaking off Zoe’s attack. The bandaged woman was advancing on Emma, forcing her back with waves of heat. Thirty Eclipse soldiers were spreading out, flanking the Greenday defenders.

"Vex," Julian said into his communicator. "Pull your people back to the inner wall."

"We’ll lose the perimeter—"

"You’ll lose people if you stay. Pull them back."

A pause. Then Vex’s voice, tight. "Pull back! Everyone to the inner wall!"

The Greenday fighters retreated in a controlled fallback, covering each other with rifle fire. The Eclipse soldiers pursued, but slowly, cautiously.

Julian turned to Zoe. She was climbing out of the rubble, blood on her muzzle, but her eyes were still bright.

"Can you hold the mountain?"

Zoe bared her teeth. "I can try."

"Don’t try. Do."

Julian raised his hand.

[Gravity].

The mountain felt it first. His charge slowed, his feet sinking into the ground as if the earth had doubled its weight. He stumbled, roaring in confusion.

Julian didn’t stop there. He shifted Gravity’s focus to the bandaged woman. Her scalding aura pressed down, compressing. The heat around her intensified as she struggled against the invisible force, but she couldn’t move.

"Emma."

Emma didn’t hesitate. She threw a compressed fireball, a miniature sun like the one she’d used at Xlomoph. The bandaged woman’s eyes went wide. She tried to raise her arm, to exhale another burst of gas, but Gravity held her in place.

The fireball struck.

The explosion was deafening. When the light faded, the bandaged woman was on the ground, her wrappings burned away, her reptilian skin cracked and bleeding. She wasn’t moving.

Reinhardt’s smile finally vanished.

"You—"

Julian moved.

[Boost] + [Lightning].

He crossed the distance in less than a second. His hand closed around Reinhardt’s throat. Blue electricity arced from Julian’s palm into the man’s body, locking his muscles, silencing his skills.

"I told you," Julian said quietly. "Leave or die."

Reinhardt’s pale blue eyes bulged. "Darwin will—"

"Darwin will what?" Julian squeezed. "Send more of you? I’ll kill them too."

He threw Reinhardt to the ground. The Hand of Order landed hard, gasping, his body still twitching from the electrical overload.

The mountain, finally free from Gravity’s weight, turned and saw his commander on the ground. He roared and charged again.

Zoe met him halfway.

She didn’t try to claw his stone skin this time. She went low, taking out his legs. The mountain crashed face-first into the dirt. Before he could rise, Zoe was on his back, her jaws around his neck. She bit down. The stone cracked. He went still.

The remaining Eclipse soldiers hesitated. Their commanders were down. Their Hand of Order was choking in the mud.

"Run," Emma said, flames dancing on her palms. "Or don’t. I don’t care."

They ran.

Fey walked over to Reinhardt, still sprawled on the ground. She crouched beside him.

"Tell Darwin something for us," she said. "The Cradle isn’t a secret anymore."

Reinhardt’s eyes went wide.

Fey stood. "Now get off our land." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

She kicked him once, enough to make a point. Reinhardt scrambled to his feet and fled after his soldiers.

Vex emerged from the inner wall, surveying the battlefield. Her people were cheering.

"They’ll come back," she said to Julian. "With more."

Julian watched the retreating headlights. "I know."

"Then what’s the plan?"

Julian turned. His eyes found the map in his mind, the red marker deep beneath Eclipse’s stronghold.

"We take the fight to them," he said. "Before they’re ready. We hit the Cradle and end this."

Vex was silent for a long moment.

Then she nodded. "Alright, Ghost. Alright."