The Rise of the Red Viper
Chapter 1 — Ashes of Verrion
The storm had no name—just a scream that never stopped.
Red dust rolled across the plains of Verrion-9, hissing against metal domes that once gleamed like silver moons. Now they were dull, scorched, pitted by plasma fire. The air tasted of copper and smoke.
Kael Draven crouched behind a broken cargo hauler, pulse rifle drawn, visor cracked down the center. His breath fogged inside his helmet, but he didn't dare wipe it clear. Every motion could be the one that drew the Dominion's scanners.
Above him, the sky pulsed with faint lattice-light: orbiting drones marking the perimeter of the Dominion's newest "pacification zone." It had taken them two days to conquer Verrion-9. It had taken them two hours to burn it.
Kael pressed a gloved finger to the comm in his ear.
"Mira, report."
Static. Then a thin voice.
"South line's gone. They hit the med-bay first. I've got maybe a dozen survivors."
Her words cracked, drowned by a roar of distant bombardment.
Kael closed his eyes. Twelve. Out of nine thousand. He clenched his jaw so hard it hurt.
"Get them to the caverns," he ordered. "I'll cover the west approach."
"Kael, the Dominion's got flyers sweeping—"
The transmission broke off in a burst of static. Then silence.
Kael didn't curse. There was nothing left to curse with. He just switched frequencies and whispered into the cold. "Hold on."
The cargo hauler trembled as something heavy landed nearby. The dust parted—and from the haze strode a machine taller than any man, its armor plates glowing faint blue. A Dominion Reclaimer-Unit, model IX—a walking tank built to turn resistance fighters into red vapor.
Its optical sensors swept the wreckage. Kael could hear the low hum as it primed its cannon.
He checked his rifle's charge: 6 percent.
"Of course," he muttered.
The Reclaimer's head snapped toward the sound. Kael dove aside as a plasma bolt tore through the hauler, turning it into molten slag. Heat washed over him, searing through his armor. He rolled into the open, raising his rifle.
Six shots left. He fired them all.
Bolts of blue lanced across the sand, punching into the Reclaimer's chest. The machine staggered but didn't fall. It lifted one massive arm, its cannon whining to full charge.
Kael saw the glow. He didn't think—just ran.
The blast hit the ground behind him, throwing him forward. His helmet shattered, his world went white. For a moment he felt weightless.
When he woke, everything was quiet.
Smoke drifted through the ruins. The Reclaimer was down—its chassis smoking, half buried in the sand. And in the crater beside him, something pulsed.
It looked like a shard of liquid metal, alive, moving. It slid toward him with insect grace, flowing like mercury, splitting into threads of light that reached for his skin.
Kael's breath hitched. "What the hell—"
The thing touched his wrist. Pain ripped through him—then voices. Not words, but data. His vision filled with symbols, unreadable glyphs flashing across his mind.
[V.I.P.E.R. protocol online]
[Host compatibility: 0.003 → adjusting → 98.7%]
[Welcome, Kael Draven]
The metallic light crawled up his arm, wrapping around his chest like armor being grown rather than worn. Every nerve burned, every cell screamed—and then, suddenly, silence.
He rose slowly, breath trembling. The world around him sharpened. He could hear the drones miles away, feel the pulse of their engines, sense the faint vibration of approaching footsteps.
Kael looked down at his reflection in a shattered visor. His armor was no longer Dominion issue—black and red, alive with faint circuits that moved like veins.
In the distance, a second Reclaimer unit emerged from the storm, scanning for survivors.
Kael didn't run.
He raised his hand. The new armor rippled, forming a weapon out of itself—a sleek blade of red-glowing energy.
"Let's see what you can do," he whispered.
The storm swallowed him as he charged.