The last of the Order agents vanished into smoke and retreat, slipping through cloaked portals as the Citadel's automated defenses tore through the battlefield. Lasers faded. Drones returned to their stations. Silence swept through the chamber like a victorious anthem.
Kael stood in the center of it all, breathing hard, blood dripping from a shallow cut above his brow. Aria sheathed her blades, rolling her shoulder with a tired grunt.
"Well," she said, "that was fun."
Rin exhaled, sliding off her console. "We just went toe-to-toe with Order elites and survived. That wasn't fun. That was insane."
A chuckle echoed from above—light, melodic, and slightly digital.
VEGA hovered before them, her holographic form now stabilized. She wore a sleek projection of a tactical bodysuit, glowing blue circuit lines tracing her outline like armor. Her face was serene, but the eyes held layers—of logic, war, and memory.
"You handled yourselves well," VEGA said. "If this is the team I've been assigned to, I accept the contract."
Kael raised an eyebrow. "You get to choose?"
"I'm not a tool. I'm sentient code wrapped in legacy programming." She folded her arms. "I was built to serve the Citadel, but when you took control, I rewrote my directive. I serve you now."
[New Team Member Recruited: VEGA]
[Team Buff Gained: Combat Analysis +8%, Hacking Success Rate +15%]
[VEGA Special Skill Unlocked: Battlefield Echo – Allows simulation of enemy attack patterns in real-time]
Rin stared, stunned. "You're telling me we've got an actual military-grade AI in our team now?"
VEGA turned her head slightly. "Correction. You have the military-grade AI. I was created as the backbone of the first rebellion—before the Order took over. And I remember everything."
Kael's gaze sharpened. "Everything about the Citadels?"
"And the Order. Their true structure. Their experiments. The reason your System even exists."
Silence fell.
Aria stepped forward. "You said something before... about a prison. You were trapped in this Citadel?"
VEGA's glow dimmed for a moment. "After the fall of the last rebellion, I was deemed too dangerous. So they locked me inside this bunker—erased from the net, disconnected from all systems. I would've rotted here for eternity… until you arrived."
Kael clenched his fists. "Then we free the rest."
"There are six Citadels," VEGA continued. "Each one holds something vital—intel, weapons, secrets. Together, they can either destroy the Order… or reset the world."
"And we have two," Rin whispered. "Four more to go."
Kael nodded. "Then we move."
"But be warned," VEGA said. "The next Citadel lies deeper within enemy territory—inside a city ruled by an Order noble. You'll need a stealth expert. A ghost in the system."
Aria tilted her head. "Another recruit?"
"Exactly," Kael said, smirking. "We're building something bigger than they ever expected."
VEGA smiled. "Then allow me to help you find her."
---
That night, back at Rin's hideout, the four of them stood over a projection map VEGA created. Red zones marked enemy facilities, blue marked safehouses, and deep in the southern sector—a pulsing yellow dot.
[New Recruitment Mission: CODE NAME – ECHO]
[Status: Off-the-grid Assassin / Disavowed Spy / Order Traitor]
[Estimated Location: Ghost City – Sector Zero]
Kael stared at the blinking dot. "Let's go ghost hunting."