.Weapon Depot – 03:01 A.M.
Kael found the arsenal — crates of assault rifles, sonic mines, plasma rounds. All ready for "Phase Two" of the Purifier plan: the march into the central districts.
He didn't set fire. That would alert them.
Instead, he tampered.
Overloaded the rifle capacitors.
Cross-wired the detonators.
Left everything looking untouched — until they pulled the trigger.
Abandoned Broadcast Tower – Dareth Fringe Zone – 10:14 P.M.
The signal was short, sharp, and undeniable.
"To Darex. This is Kael Neris.
You want me alive? I'm coming in."
A hush fell over the Resistance base when the message ended.
Elen gripped Kael's arm. "You don't need to do this."
"Yes, I do," Kael replied.
"I'm the last piece on his board. Time to flip it."
He handed Elen a data spike — laced with a virus that would give her access to Darex's full Red Veil infrastructure once he was inside.
"The moment I breach their firewall, hit them hard."
"And if they kill you before you get there?"
Kael smirked. "Then this city needs a better ghost."
Command Tower – Observation Deck
Kael scaled the scaffolding like smoke. From above, he watched Rell and Darex in conversation.
Rell paced. Angry. "You shouldn't have announced the Ghost was here. It made them paranoid."
"Good," Darex said. "Let them fear shadows. It keeps them obedient."
Kael recorded the feed — every word, every face.
Then he whispered, low and dark, just for himself:
"Your own weapons will eat you alive."
Minutes Later – Blackout
The EMP detonated.
The lights went out.
Comms collapsed. Security glitched. Sirens wailed, then choked.
And in the confusion…
Kael disappeared again — into the slums, into legend.
But behind him, The Purifiers were left fractured — blind, paranoid, weakened.
Their enemy had never left.
The Ghost was among them.
And they'd never know where he'd strike next.
Underground Resistance Safehouse – Location Unknown – 04:19 A.M.
Elen winced as she sat up, bandaged and pale. Her side still throbbed, but her mind was sharp.
She'd cracked the encrypted drive Kael had stolen during his infiltration — Darex's data. Blueprints. Logs. Test results.
And one word kept repeating:
Project: Red Veil.
Her eyes widened.
"No… this isn't just a plan to take over the city."
"It's a purge."
Resistance War Room – Ten Minutes Later
Kael leaned over the table, fists clenched as Elen explained.
"Red Veil is a biotoxin. Engineered in secret. Refined using DNA profiles gathered during regime medical scans."
"It targets specific genomes — rebel zones, defectors, dissenters. Anyone flagged as 'undesirable.'"
Kael stared at the data. The kill radius. The air dispersal method. The date.
Deployment in three days.
"Where is it?" he asked.
Elen hesitated. "That's the worst part."
She zoomed in on the blueprint.
"It's already in the city. Hidden in the old metro lines beneath Central Dareth."
"If they release it… thousands die. No warning. No sirens. Just silence."
Kael was already strapping on his gear.
"Then we stop them. Tonight."
Meanwhile – Purifier Lab Facility, Deep Underground
Darex watched the final vial of Red Veil swirl in containment. The toxin shimmered crimson — elegant, silent death.
Rell stood beside him.
"They'll try to stop us," Rell said.
Darex nodded. "Let them."
He turned toward the city surveillance feeds.
"We've given them a choice. Obedience… or extinction."
Old Dareth Metro – Depth Level 7 – 01:12 A.M.
The tunnels were rotting veins under a dying city.
Kael moved in silence, flanked by two Resistance operatives — Nyra and Vex, veterans of the early uprisings.
The air was thick with mold, ash, and something else.
Something metallic.
Something wrong.
"Signal's faint, but we're close," Vex muttered, checking his scanner.
Kael's grip tightened on his blade.
"Stay sharp. If Darex left this unguarded, it's not because he's careless."
Sub-Depot 47 – Biological Storage Zone
The vault was embedded in rusted steel, protected by a biometric scanner that still hummed with energy.
But it was already open.
The moment they stepped in, they saw it —
A central containment pod glowing red, filled with swirling toxin.
And standing before it…
Was her.
"Kael," said a voice from the dark.
His blood turned cold.
She stepped into the light.
Pale skin. White combat suit.
Eyes like frozen fire.
"Lyra," Kael whispered.
Once, they trained side by side in the Black Chamber.
Once, she was his only friend.
She was reported dead during the Rebellion's earliest strike.
Now she stood between him and the death of the city.
"You should've stayed out of the tunnels," Lyra said.
"You're guarding Red Veil?"
"I'm guarding order," she replied. "Darex gave me purpose again. He saved me after you left me behind."
Kael took a step forward.
"He's going to murder thousands."
"And rebuild millions."
She drew her weapon.
"You always wanted to save the city, Kael. I'm offering you the chance — the real way. Walk away. Let the purge cleanse what's broken."
Nyra and Vex raised their rifles.
Kael raised a hand — stopping them.
"No. This is between us."
The silence was heavy.
Then they both moved.
Steel met steel.
Kael's blade clashed with Lyra's twin daggers in a brutal dance of memory and violence. She was faster than he remembered — sharper, colder.
"You left me in the fire," she hissed, slashing.
"You chose the flames," he snapped, parrying.
Final Moments – Vault Core
Kael disarmed her — barely — slamming her into the vault wall.
She gasped, bloodied, winded.
He stood over her.
"You don't have to die here."
"You don't understand," she whispered, coughing.
"Red Veil's not just here. It's already—"
The ceiling exploded.
A Purifier strike team descended — Rell's voice echoing through the comms.
"Secure Lyra. Kill the rest."
Kael cursed, grabbed the vial from the containment pod, and dove behind cover.
"Vex! Get Nyra out!"
But it was too late.
Gunfire ripped through the chamber.
Nyra went down, hit twice.
Vex screamed.
Kael activated the emergency override and detonated the pod's cooling system — destroying Red Veil's primary supply.
But he couldn't stop the purge.
Not all of it.
Escape Tunnel – Later
Kael carried Nyra's body. Vex followed in silence, wounded but alive.
Behind them, the vault burned.
Ahead, the war grew colder.
Lyra had escaped.
Red Veil wasn't gone.
The endgame had just begun.