Chapter 11 — The Traitor’s Ambush

The victory at the Shattered Spire was short-lived.
Kael had barely set foot back in the Resistance’s new hideout—a repurposed mining facility carved into a cliffside—when Selene gathered them for an urgent meeting.
“We have a lead,” she announced, projecting a hologram of a vast sky corridor—a transit route used by the World Eaters to move equipment and personnel between their floating fortresses.
“An old contact of mine, Varek, has resurfaced,” Selene continued. “He claims to have intel on the next Fragment’s location.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed. “You trust him?”
“I did once,” Kuro said, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. “But Varek’s loyalty was always to the highest bidder.”
Kael’s instincts flared. “It’s a trap.”
Selene nodded slowly. “Most likely. But if it’s not, this could put us three steps ahead of the Eaters.”
Kael exchanged a glance with Elira. Their options were thinning. The longer they hesitated, the more fragments the World Eaters would gather.
“Then we go,” Kael decided. “But we go prepared.”



They rendezvoused at Skybridge Station, a derelict platform hovering over the storm lines. It was a place long abandoned, its rusted structures groaning under the weight of forgotten wars.
Varek was waiting—tall, sharp-eyed, draped in a cloak that seemed to shimmer between shadow and light. He greeted Kuro with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Kuro, old friend. You haven’t changed.”
Kuro’s expression was stone. “Can’t say the same for you, Varek. Heard you’ve been busy selling scraps to the Eaters.”
Varek laughed softly. “Times are hard. But I’m here because I owe you.”
Kael stepped forward. “You said you had information on the next Fragment.”
Varek’s gaze flickered. “I do. But it comes at a price. You’ll need to take out a supply node for me. In return, I’ll give you the fragment’s coordinates.”
Selene’s blade was half-drawn. “You’re not in a position to negotiate.”
“I beg to differ,” Varek said, tapping a hidden console.
Immediately, sirens screamed across the station.
From every shadow, World Eater strike teams emerged, their armor gleaming under the cold artificial lights.
“You see, I wasn’t lying,” Varek said, stepping back into the safety of his ambushers. “I do have information. Just not for you.”
Kael’s heart pounded as the team drew their weapons. They were surrounded, outnumbered, pinned on a crumbling platform floating above an endless abyss.
Kuro spat. “You always were predictable, Varek.”
The first shots fired. The air erupted into chaos.
Kael activated his Gauntlet, generating a Resonant Barrier that absorbed the initial volley. Elira and Selene flanked, covering the team with precise return fire. Kuro moved like a phantom, slicing through the first wave with brutal efficiency.
But the enemy’s numbers were overwhelming.
“We’re not holding this position!” Selene barked.
Kael scanned the station’s structure. The Skybridge’s underdeck—unstable, but their only shot.
“Underdeck passage. Now!” Kael ordered.
They retreated, navigating through collapsing catwalks and narrow maintenance shafts as Varek’s forces pursued. The fight turned into a desperate close-quarters skirmish, each corner a new ambush.
As they neared the lower sectors, Varek’s voice echoed through the station’s comms.
“You’re impressive, Kael. The Eaters are watching you closely. They believe you’ll eventually see the futility of your fight.”
Kael’s response was a feral growl. “Then they’re not watching close enough.”
Selene located an auxiliary lift, but it was manually operated. Kael and Kuro worked quickly to reactivate the controls, fighting off attackers while Elira defended the lift with pinpoint accuracy.
With a screech, the platform ascended, taking them toward the station’s core generator.
“This place is a floating coffin,” Kuro said, panting. “But if we drop the core, we take Varek’s squad with us.”
Selene smirked. “Collateral damage sounds good right now.”
As Kael reached the generator’s interface, the Relic Fragment he carried resonated violently, as if the station itself rejected their presence.
Kael’s hands moved swiftly across the glyph-inscribed controls, overriding the generator’s stabilizers. Warning klaxons blared.
“Detonation in 60 seconds.”
Varek’s voice returned, now tinged with genuine frustration. “You’d collapse an entire skybridge just to spite me?”
Kael smiled coldly. “No. I’m collapsing it because you made me come here.”
With the timer ticking down, the team raced toward an emergency glider port. The station groaned as structural breaches spread like fractures through glass. Explosions erupted as energy conduits failed, sending shockwaves through the facility.
They leapt onto a glider, Kuro barely managing to detach it from the collapsing dock as the Skybridge behind them disintegrated, falling into the storm below.



Silence fell as they soared back into open skies.
Kuro leaned back, catching his breath. “You know, Captain, when you blow up a skybridge, people notice.”
Kael’s expression was unreadable. “Good. Let them.”
Selene’s comm device beeped. A scrambled transmission came through—coordinates, matching the fragment's resonance pattern.
Varek had still sent the data.
Kuro chuckled. “He always did like his games.”
Kael’s eyes fixed on the horizon. “We play on our terms now.”