Chapter 8:

Chapter 8 — The Skyburners’ Gambit

Skyfall Chronicles



The wind over the cliffs was merciless, tearing at Kael’s cloak as he stood on the edge of a newly-formed precipice. Behind him, the Sanctuary was gone—buried under rubble, betrayal, and fire.
But Kael’s heart no longer felt heavy.
It burned.
“We hit them now,” Kael said, his voice sharp. “Before they think we’ll crawl into another hole.”
Selene, arms crossed, nodded grimly. “We’ve lost our home. Let’s take theirs.”
Kuro’s grin returned, fierce and unapologetic. “Now you’re talking, Captain.”



Later, in a hidden alcove where the Resistance remnants had gathered, Kael stood before a makeshift holomap projected by a salvaged Relic Core. The target was clear: Skyburner Platform Theta, one of the World Eaters’ floating outposts—a mobile hub for supply routes and relay networks.
“We can’t hit the Mothership yet,” Selene explained. “But if we cut off their Skyburners, we sever their reach.”
“Theta’s lightly guarded,” Kuro added, pointing to the rotating projection. “Most of their heavy units are at Platform Omega. Theta’s vulnerable, but still crucial.”
Kael’s gaze hardened. “Then we cripple it.”



Night fell as the squad approached the Skyburner in stolen Eater gliders. The floating platform loomed ahead—a jagged sprawl of steel and glass, drifting across the clouds like a predatory bird. Below, the earth was a distant, indifferent canvas.
Kael adjusted his gauntlet. The Echo Relic hummed faintly, attuned to his pulse. Kuro sat beside him, tapping rhythmically on his blade’s hilt.
“You ready for your first sky raid, Captain?” Kuro asked.
Kael smirked. “I was born for this.”
The plan was swift and brutal.
Selene would lead a sabotage team to disable the Skyburner’s anchor stabilizers, while Kael and Kuro launched a frontal assault on the command tower. The platform was built for intimidation, not defense. It was time to exploit that arrogance.



As their glider latched onto the platform’s docking ring, alarms began to scream.
“Subtle,” Kuro remarked as they vaulted onto the deck.
Kael didn’t bother with stealth. He charged forward, Relic Gauntlet flaring, sending a shockwave that toppled two patrolling sentries. Kuro was right beside him, weaving through enemy fire with fluid grace, his blade humming with deadly resonance.
The command tower stood ahead, a spire of reinforced glass and metal.
“Go!” Kael ordered. “I’ll hold them!”
Kuro didn’t argue. He sprinted ahead, leaving Kael to face a squad of exo-suited enforcers. Their weapons whirred, but Kael had already moved, his body guided by instinct and Echo.
He struck, his fist compressing air into a focused lance that shattered the ground beneath the enforcers. Their formation broke. Kael pressed forward, ducking under a plasma bolt and delivering a rising uppercut that sent one soldier airborne.
In the distance, explosions rocked the platform as Selene’s team planted charges on the stabilizers. The entire Skyburner began to tilt, groaning under its own weight.
Kuro’s voice crackled in Kael’s comm. “Control room’s ours. Shutting down their relays now.”
But Kael barely had time to celebrate.
A massive exo-unit, easily twice his size, stomped onto the deck, its frame adorned with glyphs. This wasn’t a soldier. It was a World Eater Commander.
“You’re Kael,” the machine growled, its voice a distorted snarl. “You’ll die here.”
Kael readied himself. The Commander charged, each step making the platform quake. Kael sidestepped, launching a concentrated air blast, but the machine absorbed it, retaliating with a seismic hammer strike that forced Kael onto his knees.
“Your Relic is a toy,” the Commander sneered, lifting Kael by the throat.
But Kael smiled.
“Then let’s play rough.”
He unleashed the Relic’s energy fully, the air around them collapsing into a pressurized vortex. The Commander staggered, its armor denting as the atmosphere itself crushed it. Kael summoned a pulse from deep within—the Resonant Echo he had feared to unleash.
The sky roared as a compressed shockwave erupted, hurling the Commander across the deck. The machine crashed into a fuel conduit, triggering a chain reaction of explosions.
“Kael, time to leave!” Kuro’s voice barked.
The platform was crumbling. Stabilizers detonated, tilting the Skyburner into a spiraling descent toward the valley below.
Kael sprinted, leaping onto a glider just as Kuro swung it around to catch him.
The Skyburner Theta fell in flames, a dying leviathan collapsing into the mist.



Later, as they soared back toward the temporary Resistance outpost, Kael sat in silence.
“You alright?” Kuro asked, steering casually despite the adrenaline still pumping.
Kael nodded. “That was… satisfying.”
“We hit them where it hurt,” Selene’s voice came through the comms. “But we won’t stay hidden for long.”
Kael’s gaze turned to the horizon, where the World Eaters’ Mothership drifted like a dark omen.
“Next time,” Kael murmured, “we take their heart.”


New Maker
Author: