The transport vessel, salvaged and repainted with the drab, nondescript livery of a common infrastructure maintenance unit, cut through the lower tiers of the Sprawl. The city was a monument to chaos. Sporadic power outages plunged entire sectors into darkness, and the fragmented communication network sputtered with military alerts and civilian panic. This anarchy was not a hindrance. It was the battlefield forged by Lyra Kain and secured by Ascendant-Alpha-1.
In the cabin, the silence was heavy and charged with the immense gravity of their objective. The Morning Briefing Cycle was General Korr Vance's most vulnerable transit window, a ten-minute route between his secure data bunker and the primary military staging tower in Sector Gamma.
Lyra, seated in the co-pilot seat, felt the residual psychic pain from the Aether Scourge and the lingering intrusion of The Revenant's presence in her mind. Her eyes, a deep and restless crimson, studied the holographic projections of the Gamma Sector's transit route.
"The seized data confirms the route is fixed," Lyra stated. Her voice was low and calculating. "Vance relies on kinetic shielding and speed. His confidence is his greatest weakness. He does not believe we could obtain his precise, real-time schedule."
Rheon Vale, rigid at the controls, absorbed the information. He had designed the Federation's protocols. He knew exactly how Vance thought. The General, arrogant and predictable, would travel in a highly armoured ground-skimmer flanked by two guard units, betting on the confusion of the city to provide cover.
"The armour is heavy, Lyra, even for your directed kinetic pulse," Rheon responded. "A direct assault risks failure and prolonged engagement. We use the environment."
Rheon highlighted a specific point on the transit map: a narrow pedestrian overpass spanning a derelict freight line.
"The overpass is reinforced concrete, designed for pre-Federation industrial loads," Rheon explained. "I can introduce a calculated instability into its structural integrity. His skimmer's kinetic shielding will be focused on horizontal and vertical defence, not overhead collapse."
Lyra offered a chilling smile. "You do not seek to destroy the vehicle. You seek to trap the prey."
"Precisely," Rheon confirmed. "We create an environment where his shield is neutralised and his personal guard is isolated. My precision will force the ambush. Your power will ensure the kill."
The Bloodlink between them was taut, a symphony of shared intent. Lyra's ambition was the engine, and Rheon's discipline was the transmission. Their alliance was perfected in the execution of this final, devastating treason. The assassination of General Vance was not merely a tactical move. It was the symbolic beheading of the old order.
Rheon piloted the disguised maintenance unit onto the derelict freight line beneath the chosen overpass. The atmosphere was thick with the smell of scorched metal and stagnant water. He brought the vessel to a precise stop and used the vehicle's maintenance boom to elevate a custom-built, directional sonic emitter.
"I need three minutes to stress the supporting pillars to the critical point," Rheon stated. "Any longer, and the integrity failure will be noticed by local sensors."
Lyra descended from the cabin, clad in a lightweight black combat suit that minimised the visibility of her form while maximising her mobility. She took a vantage point on the abandoned freight line, her eyes scanning the desolate environment.
Rheon, working with practised, savage speed, secured the sonic emitter to the pillar base. The device, built from salvaged Sanguis technology, began emitting a low-frequency, high-amplitude sine wave that resonated only within the specific crystalline structure of the overpass's concrete mixture. The supporting pillars groaned silently under the invisible strain.
Two minutes remaining, Ascendant, Lyra projected into his mind. Her thoughts were cool and focused.
Rheon's awareness was not solely on the structural integrity. It was on the psychological profile of General Vance. Vance would be hyper-aware of attacks from the horizontal plane. He would never anticipate a planned, overhead collapse orchestrated by a man who had designed the very infrastructure he was hiding in.
One minute. Target is entering the sector, Lyra warned.
Rheon ripped the sonic emitter from the pillar. The concrete was now stressed to the absolute breaking point. He positioned himself on the freight line and took cover behind a massive, rusted crane housing. He held a customised magnetic harpoon launcher, the perfect tool for securing the wreckage and preventing total collapse.
The sound of the armoured skimmer, its kinetic shielding humming with defensive energy, rapidly approached.
Vance's convoy appeared. The heavy skimmer was flanked by two smaller, faster guard units and moved like a coordinated predator through the debris-littered avenue above.
Rheon waited until the precise moment the skimmer passed directly under the stressed section of the overpass.
He did not fire. He initiated the trigger.
The pillar closest to the middle of the span, weakened by the sonic waves, spontaneously fractured. The concrete overpass did not collapse violently. It sagged, creating an immediate, crushing choke point.
The leading guard skimmer, moving ahead of Vance, cleared the sag. Vance's main skimmer, however, was caught. The sudden downward pressure violently compressed the vehicle's kinetic shield, causing a chaotic, blinding flicker of defensive energy. The skimmer was immobilised, trapped under tons of fractured concrete.
The trailing guard unit, cut off and confused, immediately fell back to establish a perimeter, believing the collapse to be a random structural failure.
"Target immobilised," Rheon announced. He was already moving from cover. "The armour is compromised."
Lyra moved with frightening swiftness and cleared the distance in seconds. She reached the trapped skimmer. Her hands glowed with pure, destructive Aether energy. She placed her palms directly on the roof of the armoured chassis.
The energy surged, bypassing the flickering kinetic shield and assaulting the internal structure. The skimmer's reinforced hull screamed under the focused discharge. The metal turned translucent with heat.
Lyra was not using brute force. She was injecting her psychic will into the vehicle's power matrix and turning the skimmer's energy against itself.
Through the melting roof, Lyra saw the armoured figure of General Vance, strapped into his seat. His face, normally composed, was contorted in surprise and sudden, terrifying realisation. He knew who had done this.
Vance was not a mere administrator. He was a hardened soldier. Even as the vehicle buckled, he reached for a small, metallic object concealed beneath his seat.
Before Lyra could unleash the final, killing surge of Aether energy, the object in Vance's hand activated.
It was a small, focused sonic detonator. Vance knew he was cornered, but he chose not to surrender or beg. He chose the ultimate sacrifice to deny the Queen her triumph.
The object detonated, not with an outward explosion, but with a highly localised, directed seismic pulse aimed at the fractured undercarriage of the trapped skimmer. The resulting shockwave was designed to destabilise the already compromised structure and kill anyone in immediate proximity, regardless of armour.
The ground beneath Lyra erupted in a violent, kinetic tremor.
Lyra was thrown backwards. The psychic connection to the vehicle was severed by the intense seismic shock. Her killing surge failed and dissipated into the ruined air. The sudden physical assault disoriented her. The powerful connection to the Aether Fragment was momentarily fractured.
Rheon, moving with impossible speed, knew the danger. Vance had anticipated an external explosion, not an internal, self-inflicted seismic trap.
"Lyra!" Rheon yelled. He reached her side in a flash.
The trailing guard unit, having realised the attack was not random, began firing pulse rifles wildly at their location, trying to cover Vance's retreat.
Vance, wounded but alive, managed to crawl from the wreckage of the skimmer just as the roof caved in. He was singed, bleeding, and fighting with the desperate fury of a cornered predator. He dragged himself toward the shadow of the fractured pillar.
Rheon laid down immediate cover fire with his suppression pistol and neutralised the two trailing guards with precise shots to their optical sensors. The kinetic pulse fire was deafening and scorched the air around them.
"We must disengage, Lyra!" Rheon commanded. He pulled Lyra's disoriented body to safety. "He is compromised, but he has alerted every security unit in the sector."
"He anticipated the kill," Lyra realised. Her voice was thick with fury. The profound failure of the assassination attempt cut deeper than any physical wound. "He sacrificed his men to save himself."
Rheon did not hesitate. He secured Lyra onto his back using his advanced combat harness. "The objective was to destabilise command, and we have done that. His exposure is a wound the Federation cannot hide. We retreat now and prepare the next strike."
They retreated swiftly into the service tunnels Rheon had previously scouted. The roar of incoming Federation reinforcements echoed through the damaged sector.
Rheon did not stop running until they were miles from Sector Gamma, deep within a sequestered, secondary Sanguis safe house. Only then did he allow Lyra to slide from his back.
The Queen was breathing heavily. Her body was healing, but her anger was a terrifying, palpable force.
"He lives," Lyra whispered. Her tone was one of disbelief and deep offence. "The soldier chose self-preservation over the integrity of his chain of command. He is wounded, but not silenced."
"He chose the perfect countermeasure: a localised seismic trap," Rheon explained while checking his gear for damage. "A direct answer to your external, kinetic force. He still thinks like a machine, Lyra. But now he is bleeding, and his paranoia will be absolute."
Rheon knew the consequences of failure. Vance would now dedicate every remaining resource to their extermination. The General knew their tactical focus and their capability.
Lyra reached out. Her hand rested on Rheon's cheek. The gesture was possessive and intense.
"You performed perfectlyyyyyyy, Ascendant," Lyra affirmed. Her fury momentarily channeled into dark approval. "The failure is mine. I underestimated the depth of his desperation. He has seen the face of his demise, and he knows it is linked to yours."
Rheon accepted the praise, but the weight of the near-failure was crushing. He had allowed his Queen to be put in danger.
"The seized data contains the final piece, Lyra," Rheon said, pivoting back to strategy. "Vance's countermeasures against the Bloodlink are focused on the psychic interference caused by The Revenant's augmented trauma response. If we eliminate The Revenant, we eliminate Vance's best chance to track and neutralize you."
Lyra's eyes narrowed. "The hunter is now the target. And The Revenant knows our lair. We cannot wait for him to bring Vance to our doorstep."
"We move the war," Rheon stated. His voice was final. "We use the chaos of Vance's wound to draw The Revenant out. We eliminate the assassin, and then we strike the General again with absolute, kinetic finality."
The assassination attempt had failed to kill General Vance, but it had achieved the greater goal. It had wounded the Federation's physical commander and forced the Queen to recognize the one remaining external threat.
The hunt was now reversed.
Back in the secure safe house, Rheon spread the stolen data across a temporary holoscreen. The next objective was clear: lure and eliminate the assassin.
"The Revenant's recovery is focused on bypassing the psychic trauma," Rheon analyzed. "He is hunting me, focusing on the weakest point in my psychological armor: the attachment to my former life. He will use old patterns, old connections."
Rheon highlighted a specific location in the Outer Sprawl, a decommissioned military comms tower where he had maintained a highly secure, personal dead drop before his defection.
"This was my only uncompromised external access point, reserved for deep-cover contingency," Rheon explained. "The Revenant knows my operational paranoia. If he wants to lure me, he will target my last tether to the old world."
"You would expose yourself as bait again," Lyra observed. Her voice was flat.
"Yes," Rheon confirmed without hesitation. "But this time the trap will be absolute. I will go to the tower alone, appearing to be gathering resources for a final escape. I will draw him into the perimeter. You will monitor the Bloodlink from a safe distance, Lyra. The moment he engages, you unleash the full force of the Aether Fragment through the network. We do not use a generalized pulse. We use a focused psychic surge designed to annihilate his neural network."
Lyra closed her eyes and visualized the kinetic transfer and the psychic projection. It was a terrifying risk. If The Revenant survived the initial psychic strike, he would kill Rheon instantly.
"The execution must be flawless, Ascendant," Lyra said. Her voice was laced with immense weight. "You are not merely my shield. You are the architect of this empire. If you fall, the vision collapses."
"The vision depends on the elimination of all threats," Rheon argued. He looked at his Queen with absolute, unyielding loyalty. "The Revenant is the last physical piece of Vance's chess game. Once he is gone, Vance is exposed, and Morn is contained."
Lyra finally agreed. Her strategic mind overcame her protective instincts. "Very well. Prepare the dead drop. The hunt for the hunter begins now."
Rheon prepared his final, lethal kit. This confrontation was not about survival. It was about definitive elimination. The duel would settle the physical command of the new world. The Ascendant would face the Assassin alone, under the silent, powerful watch of the Crimson Mother.
The war had gone from subtle treason to outright, violent revolution. The blood price for the new empire was about to be paid.