LOGINThe silence in the command center was absolute. Even the breathing of the Void Kindred guards seemed to pause.
The Arbiter looked exactly as she had in Central Park—a towering figure of marble perfection, her eyes swirling with captive galaxies. But this time, she was not looking at Jack with condescension. She was looking at him with profound shock."You invoked the Edict of Sanctuary," the Arbiter said, her voice rippling the fabric of reality. "You possessed no Origin BloodThe silence in the command center was absolute. Even the breathing of the Void Kindred guards seemed to pause.The Arbiter looked exactly as she had in Central Park—a towering figure of marble perfection, her eyes swirling with captive galaxies. But this time, she was not looking at Jack with condescension. She was looking at him with profound shock."You invoked the Edict of Sanctuary," the Arbiter said, her voice rippling the fabric of reality. "You possessed no Origin Blood. You had no military superiority. Yet you leveraged the abstract concept of debt to pacify a hostile armada.""I'm a businessman," Jack said, keeping his hands relaxed by his sides. "I find that violence is usually bad for the quarterly margins. Did I pass the test?"The Arbiter stepped closer. She looked past Jack, scanning the room. She saw Marcus, the fierce Beta who had stepped up to lead. She saw Haley, the chaotic anchor holding reality together. She saw Katherine, the brilliant
The Remnant Fleet hung over the globe like a cluster of dying leviathans. Their hulls were scorched, entire sections venting atmosphere into the vacuum of space. The Old Ones had battered them, but they had survived, and now they were desperate."Jack." Aria-7's melodic voice echoed through the command center. The alien diplomat had disconnected herself from the medical equipment, leaning heavily on Sentinel-3 as she limped into the room. "The Fleet is preparing a planetary blockade. They believe Earth is hostile. They are preparing to strip-mine your planet's core to repair their vessels.""They can try," Marcus growled, cracking his knuckles."You do not understand. They have world-crackers." Aria-7's bioluminescent skin pulsed with frantic urgency. "But there is a law. An ancient cosmic mandate that even the Wardens and the Remnant must obey. The Edict of Sanctuary."Jack turned away from the terrifying display on the monitors. "Explain.""If a planet hol
The Warden scout ship was an atrocity of geometric design. It looked like a massive, floating guillotine, glowing with harsh, sterile white light. It ignored the Old Ones’ Crucible manifestations entirely, descending directly toward Manhattan with a single, horrifying purpose: sterilization."Seventy-two hours, my ass," Ben swore, clutching his tablet. His vampire fangs elongated slightly in his stress. "They must have used a slipstream jump. The ship is charging a sub-orbital plasma array. Jack, if that thing fires, it won't just destroy the building. It will vaporize the entire island of Manhattan down to the bedrock.""Time to impact?" Jack demanded, sprinting toward the elevator, Katherine right behind him."Three minutes!""Get my father on the line. I need the Arcadia artifacts." Jack hit the roof-access button.The elevator doors opened to the howling wind of the rooftop. The Warden ship hovered ten miles above, a glaring white star of impending
The celebration in Sterling Tower lasted exactly forty-two minutes.Jack stood on the observation deck, a glass of sixty-year-old scotch in his hand, watching the city reconstruction drones swarm over Manhattan like industrious fireflies. The Devourer had retreated. The Remnant Fleet was parked in orbit, paying rent. The Old Ones were ostensibly allies.For the first time in months, the balance sheet was in the black."Enjoying the view, boss?" Marcus approached, his Shield Guardian armor retracted but his presence still radiating the heavy, kinetic hum of a tank idling in neutral."I'm enjoying the quiet," Jack said, taking a sip. "It's expensive, but worth it.""Haley's freaking out downstairs," Marcus said, leaning against the railing. "She said something about 'reflections' before she passed out again. Dr. Miller has her in the med-bay. Says her reality-anchor physiology is reacting to a localized probability distortion.""Of course it is." Jack sighed, draining the glass. "Peace
The Crucible didn’t care that Jack Sterling was running on fumes.Outside the reinforced glass of Sterling Tower’s command center, Manhattan was tearing itself apart. The Old Ones had manifested humanity’s deepest psychological terrors into physical threats. Giant, faceless shadow-beasts scaled the surrounding skyscrapers, while the East River boiled over its banks, defying gravity to form a towering wall of water poised to crush the financial district."Forty-six hours on the clock!" Alia shouted, her fingers blurring across three holographic keyboards at once. "The water wall is accelerating. Impact in four minutes!"Jack stood at the central tactical table. A day ago, he would have jumped out the window, shifted into his True Alpha form, and vaporized the tidal wave with a blast of pure void energy. Now, his muscles ached with Beta-level limitations, and the tiny spark of purification light left in his soul was a finite resource. If he burned it now, he’d be completely powerless.H
The Valkyrie prototype screamed through the atmosphere like a silver bullet, leaving a trail of ionized particles in its wake. Katherine Sterling gripped the controls with white-knuckled intensity, every muscle in her body straining against the G-forces."Hull integrity at forty-seven percent!" the AI warned. "Energy shields failing! Recommend immediate abort!""Override," Katherine commanded, her voice like forged steel. "All power to forward thrusters and the electromagnetic railgun. We're not aborting anything."Through the cockpit's reinforced glass, she could see the Harbinger in all its terrible majesty—a living mountain of darkness that made the Manhattan skyline look like children's toys. Tendrils of absolute black reached down toward the city, dissolving everything they touched.And below them, pulsing through the chaos like a beacon of pure gold, she felt Jack's power building.Katherine. Olivia's voice resonated directly in her mind. We're r







