Ding!
A soft chime echoed in his skull as this system message flickered to life.
---
> [SYSTEM OFFER – LIMITED MODULE UNLOCK] {SKILL}
SIXTH SENSE
Gain brief intuitive flashes during conversations, missions, or choices. A gut feeling.
⚠️ Usage is subtle. Not always accurate. Not always safe. ⚠️
Do you wish to accept?
Cost: -5 Humanity Points
[Y/N]
---
'What?'
Arghh.
He ran his hands through his hair, 'five humanity points.'
He sat at the side of his bed as the message flickered in and out of his view with every blink.
With the weight of his choices in front of him and no other choice the only path ahead was clear.
'Yes.'
---
[SKILL ACQUIRED].
---
As he sat at the edge of the bed and took a deep breath that felt like it lasted an hour, he opened his eyes to the gloomy world around him. His gaze lowered slightly, an invisible weight pressing down on them.
'Shit', he thought. 'I felt it that time... At least with this, I might have a slight clue on how to handle the spy situation tomorrow.'
And with that, he finally slumped back onto the bed and let the exhaustion claim him.
****
AEROVANT CITADEL
The prime headquarters of the Zephyrite Confederacy—a sky castle merged with the stones of the mountains. A high-altitude fortress hidden above the clouds, nicknamed the Skyscourge.
A figure's silhouette flew in the wind across the corridor as she marched past numerous soldiers like a woman on a mission.
Wind howled through the open corridor as she marched forward. Soldiers parted in her path without a word. Her coat flared like a war banner, sharp as her expression.
The door opened before her. Numerous councilmen and generals were already seated, in polished uniforms, around a long hall table. As the door swung open with a gust of wind lazily blowing the banner on the walls, they all kept quiet like someone had simultaneously cut off their tongues or they didn't have the right to speak in her presence.
Her steps were strong and confident as she strode into the room, each step echoing as they bounced off the walls, and sat at the head of the table, raising her feet onto it like she made the very building on which they were in.
Khemm!
Someone finally spoke. "How nice for you to join us, Miss Moreau."
She smirked.
"If I'm late, it's because I was doing all your jobs."
"What?" Captain Carter glared at her. "Despite what you might think, Camille, you don't own—nor are you in charge of—the Confederacy. And you're naive if you think so. Or maybe just a plain fool."
She raised a brow.
"I'm the naive one."
Everyone else at the table glanced back and forth from Camille to Carter, who paid them no heed as they stared straight through each other.
Her demeanor instantly changed. Her polished boots glistened under the natural light from the window. Arms crossed, voice laced with poison:
"Do you all want to know why we're the least of the factions...?"
They said nothing but continued to stare.
"It's because we've adopted this stupid and ridiculous no leaders policy."
"That has nothing to do with anything," Carter said.
"Except it does. The Aurelians don't have this issue. Neither do the Echelon. But we... we always have to talk about everything."
"Camille, stop. Don't be a child." Carter slammed his hands against the table as his face boiled red.
Her feet finally slid off the table with a loud thud as she folded her fingers over one another.
"We cannot win this war with missiles and brute force... Because we have none. The Aurelians have bionic soldiers. The Echelon already have whatever the hell Vale is... But us? We have nothing but the heads on our shoulders.
And I'm done being held back by naive, old men."
Whiish!
No Scream. No warning. In the blink of an eye, like a flash of lightning.
Carter's body fell from his seat as his head rolled across the table with a thud that sent a shiver down all their spines, their legs too heavy to run.
There was no blood, just sizzling as though it'd be melted shut.
A figure slowly walked beside Camille, a blade in its right hand—dripping lava. Every drop that hit the ground melted the stone, the heat exuding from the blade creating a shimmering mirage around it.
Camille continued as the figure came to rest at her right side. She pointed at the Zephyrite banner hanging loosely.
"That, my friends, is supposed to invoke fear in our enemies. And I'm done being held back by the likes of you. So I grant two choices..."
She stood up and walked to the banner.
"Serve under me, and I'll personally grant you the world. Or, well—you can walk out that door and never come back. Leave this table now. I won't stop you. But don't expect the sky to welcome you back."
No one dared move.
A general leaned forward.
"So, Camille—
She immediately glared at him stopping the words in his throat.
I mean Commander... what's the plan?"
She turned back to them.
"People believe that knowledge is power." She chuckled softly. "But the truth is—power is power."
"We turn the narrative. Change it. Twist it to our will. We don't go with brute strength. Now we win with strategy... and by fracturing their trust in each other."
"And how, pray tell, do we do that?"
"Simple. I'd like to introduce my right-hand man—Zephyrite Skyrend. The reason why, and how, I know so much about the Aurelians. Our way in: Levi Kane."
Levi finally raised his head, though the blade in his hand never stopped burning—his face expressionless, his gaze firm.
"I and Levi have been talking, and we decided... what better way to destroy the Aurelians than by destroying their image in the public eye?, a hero's not a hero if people believe they're a villain, Because what is the leading faction if the world believes they're experimenting on soldiers—and still hiding illegal weapons?"
"Then what about the Syndicate?"
"They'll be handled accordingly. First, we need to understand the type of augmentation Dorian Vale has before we face them. But don't get it wrong—we're winning this war."
The silence that followed Camille's proclamation wasn't hollow—it was loaded. The air inside the chamber thinned. Every breath heavier and heavier.
Levi just stood, paying no heed to the casual glances thrown his direction. The blade still sizzled, another drop of molten energy slipping off and hissing into the stone.
"Tell me something," Camille asked, voice calm and cutting,
"How many of you actually know what goes on beneath the Aurelian towers?"
No one answered. Just stared.
"Exactly."
She walked along the table, letting her fingertips trail across the polished surface.
"The world sees them as protectors. We know better. Do you think they stopped experimenting just because the peace treaties told them to? No. They just buried it deeper."
Levi spoke for the first time, his voice low but steady.
"In the western dome, beneath Echo Bastion, there are labs. Thousands of them. They're locked. And I assure you they're not growing crops in there."
"We leak this to the right channels," Camille continued,
"and we fracture their public image. Strike a blow without ever drawing a weapon. The world won't want peacekeepers who play God."
General Laris, a graying man who had served for four decades, finally spoke.
"They'll deny it. Blame the Syndicate. Maybe even us."
Camille turned to him, sharp as a blade.
"Exactly. That's when the Syndicate becomes our smokescreen. We use their chaos as cover."
"Then what about the so-called bionics? How are we supposed to deal with those... things?"
She flicked her fingers and pointed in Levi's direction.
"Can you handle your squad, Levi?"
Levi met her gaze, his voice cold.
"Consider them dead."