(Written by Rohit Malhotra)
The command chamber of Omega Core was now a battlefield of thoughts and rising fears.
Monitors flickered with seismic data. Energy readings from the lower substrata of the Earth surged past critical. The name Veyrith glowed like a warning on every console. Outside the central dome, the cryo-born hybrids were beginning to sense the change. The storm beneath them was real. Ancient. Alive.
Ronin stood with his arms crossed, staring at a large holographic map now displaying a glowing red fissure stretching from the Omega Core toward an abyss labeled: Layer Zero – Forgotten Territory. No known entries. No records. Nothing but warnings.
Kai zoomed in on the display. "This fissure wasn't here six hours ago. Whatever Veyrith is... it wasn't sleeping. It was imprisoned."
Kael replied grimly, "And we just broke the chains."
Ruby entered behind them, fully suited, her blade magnetized to her back. "All hybrid squads are assembled and armed. Seventy-eight fully stabilized, fourteen still adapting. Ronin—what are your orders?"
Ronin didn't answer right away. His mind raced. Between the echoes of the Sleeper and this new entity, the truth seemed to be slipping further away. Were they waking up Earth's protectors—or its executioners?
He finally spoke. "We descend into Layer Zero."
Kai turned sharply. "You want to go into the Forgotten Layer? We don't even know if there's a way back."
"Then we make one," Ronin said. "If Veyrith's return is linked to the Sleeper, we can't wait for him to come to us."
Kael stepped forward. "We'll need a scout team. Silent, fast, strong."
Ronin nodded. "We'll take Team Echo."
Ruby raised a brow. "You're bringing them? They just woke up, Ronin. They've never seen war."
Ronin looked toward the large glass window. Below, a group of five hybrids were training together—synchronized like one being.
"They don't need to remember war," he said. "It's already in their bones."
Layer Zero – Descent Point
Massive drills pushed aside ancient stone as the entry to Layer Zero groaned open. A blast of hot air hit the team, carrying the scent of rusted metal, sulfur, and something older. Something decaying. Like the breath of a god that had died screaming.
Team Echo descended first—five hybrids with tactical precision and psychic-linked minds. Ronin, Ruby, Kael, and Kai followed, their visors switching to thermal and motion tracking.
The tunnel sloped steeply until they reached a wide cavern. But the architecture was wrong. Alien.
The walls pulsed with dim symbols that twisted when stared at too long.
Ruby muttered, "This place wasn't built. It was grown."
Kai agreed. "The matter here is alive. Reactive."
Suddenly, a voice echoed—not through the air, but inside each of their minds.
"You walk the veins of the first titan," the voice whispered.
Everyone froze.
Then from the darkness, Veyrith stepped forward.
He was taller than before—his form no longer flickering. Solid. Defined. His armor was engraved with shifting glyphs, each line emitting a soft hum.
"You awaken, but you do not understand," Veyrith said. "You think this is war. But it is remembrance."
Ronin stepped forward. "Why were you buried?"
Veyrith's voice was calm, ancient. "Because I refused to forget. I fought when others knelt. I remembered the truth: the Sleeper is not a god. It is a parasite."
Kai whispered, "That can't be true…"
Veyrith's eyes glowed. "You were not made to protect Earth. You were made to feed it."
A silence fell.
Ruby tightened her grip on her weapon. "Why tell us this now?"
"Because," Veyrith answered, "you are no longer blind. One of you has touched the code. And in doing so, broken the leash."
His gaze locked with Ronin.
"You are the fracture. The wound. And also, the cure."
Kael narrowed her eyes. "If you're trying to recruit us, you're failing."
But Veyrith did not waver.
"I do not need to recruit. You will come willingly—when the Sleeper begins to dream again."
He raised a hand.
The walls shifted.
Dozens of beings stepped forth—creatures not made of flesh, but thought and bone. They moved like memories, but they struck like steel.
Ronin shouted, "Form up!"
Team Echo moved instantly. Kael unleashed a blast of kinetic force that crushed the front line. Ruby darted left, her blade carving through shadows. Kai focused his mind and pushed the attackers back with a wave of psychic fire.
Ronin charged at Veyrith directly.
Their blades clashed—Ronin's energy-forged saber versus Veyrith's curved weapon made of crystallized stardust.
"You were made to obey," Veyrith hissed.
"Then I was made wrong," Ronin snarled.
The clash sent shockwaves through the cavern. More attackers surged. Team Echo began falling back, overwhelmed.
"We're outnumbered," Kai called. "We need to fall back!"
Veyrith struck Ronin back, sending him skidding across the floor.
"You fight like a god-child," he said. "But bleed like a man."
Ronin struggled to his feet. "Then I'll make sure every drop counts."
Suddenly, the chamber walls pulsed violently.
A new presence stirred.
Even Veyrith paused.
From deep below, a new sound emerged. A chorus of whispers. Then a single, ancient voice:
"Awaken... All of you… My dream begins anew…"
The Sleeper had felt the conflict.
And it was stirring.
Veyrith turned, furious. "Fools! You've called it too soon!"
He vanished in a blink of light and shadow, retreating into deeper tunnels.
Ronin collapsed to one knee.
Ruby rushed to him. "Ronin!"
He gritted his teeth. "Get everyone out. Now."
Kai yelled into the comms. "Team Echo! Retreat!"
The chamber began to collapse. As the team sprinted back toward the surface, the path behind them caved in.
The last thing Ronin saw before the tunnel sealed was a glimpse of Veyrith—kneeling before a monolith of black stone. Whispering to it.
Praying to stop what even he feared.
Back in Omega Core – War Room
Ronin stood before a tactical display, bruised but unbroken.
"The Sleeper stirs. Veyrith is real. And neither side wants us prepared."
Kael nodded. "Then we prepare anyway."
Ruby looked at the team. "If we're standing between gods and monsters… we better become both."
Ronin stepped forward.
"Then this is our new mission."
"Not just to survive."
"But to awaken every hybrid. Arm every core. Unleash every truth."
"Because the next battle won't wait."
To Be Continued
©2025 darx_roitth_ All Rights Reserved