James was already moving.
"If it's synchronized..." his fingers flew across the holographic keyboard, "...then every attack should be talking to the same command network."
Ava slid beside him, opening half a dozen encrypted windows.
"I'm isolating the intrusion."
"No," James replied. "Don't isolate it."
She looked at him.
"I want you to follow it."
The code pouring across the displays changed almost instantly.
Instead of fighting the hackers, James let the attack continue. Thousands of corrupted packets raced through Ark 0's internal systems.
Cargo lifts.
Security cameras.
Boarding manifests.
Power substations.
Every command originated somewhere.
James intended to find where.
Ava frowned.
"That's..."
Her fingers stopped.
James looked over.
"What?"
"The signal isn't bouncing through civilian satellites."
She zoomed in.
"It isn't using corporate infrastructure."
James enlarged the transmission path.
One relay.
Two.
Five.
Then dozens. Each node carried the same designation.
DEFENSE GRID DECOMMISSIONED
Leah blinked.
"Those satellites were shut down years ago."
"They were supposed to be," Ava answered quietly.
James leaned closer.
"They're still alive."
"No."
Kael stepped toward the display.
"They were never turned off."
The room fell silent.
His silver eyes narrowed as he studied the encryption headers. Lines of hexadecimal code scrolled past.
Old authentication keys.
Military routing signatures.
Command authorization blocks.
Recognition flashed across his face.
"I know this."
James looked up immediately.
"You've seen it?"
Kael nodded once.
"Twenty years ago."
He reached toward the display, highlighting one string of encrypted data.
"This isn't civilian encryption."
His voice hardened.
"It isn't corporate either."
A beat.
"It belongs to the Defense Network."
James frowned.
"I've never heard of it."
"You weren't supposed to."
Kael's gaze remained fixed on the code.
"It was retired before you entered the Legion."
Ava looked between them.
"Can you break it?"
Kael answered immediately.
"No."
James' shoulders dropped.
Then Kael continued.
"But I know how it thinks."
He enlarged the network map.
"They're routing commands through abandoned military relays."
His finger traced the path.
"Not because they're secure."
He moved to another node.
"Because nobody monitors them."
Another.
"And every relay has one weakness."
James followed the pattern.
His eyes widened.
"...Timing."
Kael nodded.
"They synchronize once every ninety seconds."
Ava immediately understood.
"If we interrupt the synchronization..."
"They lose their command chain."
James grinned.
"They'll still be dangerous."
"But they'll stop acting like one mind."
Kael looked at both of them.
"You have ninety seconds."
James cracked his knuckles.
"That's practically generous."
Kael turned away from the consoles.
"Captain."
One of his officers stepped forward.
"General."
"Status."
"Second Legion departed three minutes ago."
"ETA to Jace?"
"Nine minutes."
Kael shook his head.
"Too long."
The officer hesitated.
"Sir?"
Kael walked toward the weapons rack lining the command center wall.
Steel doors slid open automatically. Inside rested many military weapons, the expensive stuff that were never seen on police only for General level military.
James looked up from the console.
"...You're going yourself."
Kael picked up the armored chest plate from somewhere, the magnetic locks sealed against his shirt with a heavy metallic click. It was a double stack.
"If they take those reactor assemblies..."
Another piece locked into place.
"...Ark 0 dies before it launches."
Leah watched silently.
There was no hesitation in his movements. Like he had done this a thousand times. Maybe he had.
He fastened the forearm guards. Checked the power cell. Loaded a fresh energy magazine into his sidearm.
Then reached for something resting alone inside the locker.
A long black case.
James smiled despite himself.
"He's really bringing it."
Kael opened the case.
Inside rested a rifle unlike any Leah had ever seen.
Its frame was forged from dark alloy, etched with faint silver lines that glowed as his hand wrapped around the grip.
The weapon came alive.
A low hum rolled through the room.
Leah stared.
"What is that?"
James answered without looking away.
"The last rifle ever issued under the council Command."
Ava let out a quiet whistle.
"I thought they destroyed those."
Kael checked the weapon's charge indicator.
"They were supposed to."
An explosion echoed somewhere above them.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Nobody flinched.
Kael looked toward James.
"You have ninety seconds."
James nodded.
"I'll break their network."
"Ava."
"I'm with him."
Kael finally looked at Leah.
For only a second.
"I need this Ark ready to launch when I return."
She met his eyes.
"And if you don't?"
His expression didn't change.
"Then launch without me."
The words landed like a physical blow.
Before Leah could answer—
Kael turned.
The massive blast doors opened.
Outside, dozens of Legion motorcycles were already lined up in perfect formation, engines rumbling through the tower.
Captain Rourke sat at the front.
Thirty Alpha soldiers waited behind him.
Every visor turned toward Kael as he approached.
Without a word, he swung onto the lead bike.
The Legion moved as one.
Engines roared.
The convoy shot from the docking tower like a black spear, disappearing into the smoke-covered streets.
Leah watched until the last taillight vanished.
Only then did she turn back toward James.
His countdown had already begun.
Synchronization Window: 00:01:28
James smiled without humor.
"Let's see how smart these bastards really are."
Next to him was Ava who was busy with dozens of encrypted channels racing across the display.
"They're compensating."
"They're always compensating," James answered. "I'm not trying to beat them."
"What are you trying to do?"
A grin appeared.
"I'm making them late."
He slammed his palm against the console.
Every abandoned military relay lit up across the planet.
Instead of blocking the signals—
He delayed them.
By milliseconds.
Then seconds.
Then—
The synchronized network drifted apart.
Five kilometers away—
The stranger stopped speaking.
He touched the communicator at his collar.
Nothing.
Around him, the black-armored operators hesitated.
Tiny movements.
Barely noticeable.
But Jace noticed.
"They lost something."
One of his officers looked over.
"What?"
"Their timing."
Another operator fired.
The shot came a heartbeat too early.
Another moved before his partner covered him.
The perfect rhythm...
Was gone.
Jace smiled.
"There you are."
He keyed his radio.
"All units."
His voice filled every surviving truck.
"They're human now."
Inside the tower, alarms changed tone.
Ava's eyes widened.
"It worked."
James kept typing.
"Not for long."
Across the city map, the hostile units were no longer moving in flawless formation.
Instead of one coordinated assault...
The attackers had become scattered squads.
Still elite.
Still deadly.
But no longer sharing a single mind.
Kael's motorcycle roared through the abandoned expressway.
Thirty Legion riders followed so closely they looked like one machine.
Smoke rolled across the broken highway.
Burning transports littered both sides of the road.
Captain Rourke pointed ahead.
"Enemy contact!"
Three armored vehicles burst through a side street.
Heavy weapons already firing.
Kael never slowed.
"Split."
The Legion broke apart.
Fifteen riders left.
Fifteen right.
The attackers hesitated.
For the first time since the battle began...
They guessed wrong.
Kael drove straight between them.
His rifle came alive.
A pulse of silver light tore across the street.
The lead vehicle's engine block erupted.
It skidded sideways into the second.
Both crashed into the concrete divider.
The remaining attackers barely had time to react before Legion riders swept past them, forcing them off the roadway.
No one stopped.
The objective wasn't the firefight.
It was Jace.
The convoy remained trapped.
Smoke drifted through shattered steel.
Jace checked his ammunition.
Half a magazine.
One of the younger soldiers swallowed hard.
"Commander..."
Jace looked over.
"Yeah?"
"They keep coming."
Jace glanced toward the silent line of enemies.
"They do."
The soldier tightened his grip on his rifle.
"Are we getting out of this?"
Jace smiled.
"Depends."
"On what?"
A low rumble echoed through the ruined streets.
Not artillery.
Engines.
Dozens of them.
Jace's smile widened.
"Whether my boss is in a good mood."
The stranger heard them too.
He slowly turned.
Far down the boulevard—
Thirty headlights burst through the smoke.
Black motorcycles.
Closing fast.
One rider ahead of the others.
The stranger's expression changed for the first time.
Recognition.
"...Voss."
Kael didn't slow.
He accelerated.
His motorcycle hit the shattered median and launched into the air.
Time seemed to pause.
The bike cleared a burning transport.
Passed over the barricade.
Landed inside the enemy formation.
The impact echoed through the street.
Before the nearest operator could react—
Kael was already moving.
The rifle struck like lightning.
One attacker was thrown backward.
A second dropped before he could raise his weapon.
A third charged with a blade.
Kael stepped inside the attack, drove an armored elbow into the man's chest, then pivoted, sending him crashing through the windshield of an abandoned truck.
Behind him—
The Legion arrived.
Motorcycles scattered through the intersection.
Soldiers dismounted while still moving, rifles barking in disciplined bursts.
The battlefield exploded.
Jace laughed.
"I was wondering when you'd get here."
Kael didn't look away from the enemy.
"You've lost five trucks."
"You noticed."
"I notice everything."
Another operator rushed them.
Jace fired first.
Kael finished him before he hit the ground.
For the first time in years—
The two commanders fought side by side.
No orders needed.
No discussion.
Each seemed to know where the other would move before it happened.
Jace covered the convoy.
Kael broke the encirclement.
Legion soldiers surged through the opening.
"Move the reactors!" Kael ordered.
"Now!"
Truck Three lurched forward.
Then Truck Four.
One by one, the surviving transports pushed through the gap carved by the Legion.
The stranger watched the convoy begin to move again.
He didn't shout.
He didn't chase.
Instead, he simply looked at Kael.
"You've delayed the inevitable."
Kael raised the rifle.
"You should've stayed hidden."
The stranger gave the faintest smile.
"This was only the first strike."
He pressed something concealed in his palm.
Smoke charges detonated across the street.
The entire battlefield vanished behind a wall of thick gray smoke.
By the time the wind carried it away—
The black-armored force was gone.
Not retreating.
Gone.
As if they had never been there.
Silence settled over the ruined boulevard.
Burning vehicles crackled.
Legion medics rushed toward the wounded.
Jace looked at the empty street.
"They left."
Kael's silver eyes swept across the rooftops.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"They accomplished their mission."
Jace frowned.
"They didn't stop the convoy."
"No."
Kael looked toward the distant silhouette of Ark 0.
"They measured us."
The surviving reactor convoy rolled forward once more, escorted by the Legion toward the docking tower.
Above them, the sky trembled.
Far beyond the clouds, another streak of fire crossed the atmosphere.
Then another.
Leah watched it from the tower's observation glass.
Her heartbeat slowed.
Not from relief.
From recognition.
The first pieces of Earth were beginning to fall.