The Wastelands' chasm exhaled violet light from the vault's deeper chamber, its bone-and-steel walls pulsing with runes that thrummed like a living heart. Kael stood on the cracked floor, the Warden's star-shard scorching his palm, its hum a wildfire that fused with his chest shard's relentless pulse. Blood soaked his shirt, shoulder, chest, and arm wounds bleeding freely, pain a constant roar, but his shard's fire kept him upright, eyes locked on the progenitor's form. The entity was pure Aether, a shifting mass of violet energy, its endless violet eyes blazing with primal hunger. Rhea slumped against a steel beam, her shock-knife dead, blood crusted on her thigh, shoulder, and chest, her implants silent. Mira clutched her fried scanner, cyber-lenses dim, her face pale but mind racing. Toren guarded the ramp, shard-rifle raised, his scarred frame tense, shoulder bleeding. Sylas stood beside Kael, black armor splintered, their star-shard glowing faintly, violet eyes fixed on the progenitor. The air was thick with ash and the sharp tang of Aether, laced with a primal hum that clawed at their souls.
The progenitor's voice roared in Kael's mind, ancient and possessive: *Spark-bearer, you are mine.* His shard sparked a vision: a vault of bone and steel, a man's soul bound in Aether, the woman's voice whispering, *You were forged to bind.* He staggered, blood dripping, the star-shard's weight dragging his arm. "Sylas," he rasped, voice raw. "This thing thinks I belong to it. What's the vault hiding?"
Sylas's violet eyes flickered, their voice low. "The vault wasn't just a prison, Varn. It was a crucible. Pre-Fall, they forged souls into Aether to power the cycle. You're the last of them, your shard the key to its core."
Rhea coughed, blood flecking her lips, her grin faint. "So Varn's a lab rat? Explains the attitude."
Mira's voice was tense, her lenses catching the progenitor's light. "The vault's core is a soul forge, Kael. Your shard's tied to it, a failsafe to either free or destroy the progenitor. But it's sentient, and it wants out."
Kael's chest burned, the star-shard's hum amplifying his shard's pulse. "Out to do what? Burn the world?"
"Remake it," Sylas said, their armor creaking. "The progenitor's the cycle's source, a god-machine born from human souls. You're its anchor, Varn. It needs you to break free."
Toren's voice cut through, sharp. "Heads up. Protocol's heavies, ramp's top. Lira's brought artillery."
The vault trembled, drone buzzes echoing from above, their Aether scanners slicing through the haze. The progenitor's hum was deafening, a primal pulse that shook Kael's bones, and its voice roared: *Spark-bearer, bind or break.* Its Aether form surged, violet tendrils lashing, cracking the chamber's walls.
Sylas's star-shard flared, their voice urgent. "Varn, the core's ahead. Your shard can disrupt it, but it'll tear you apart."
The progenitor's tendrils slashed, violet energy searing the air. Kael dove, the blast grazing his arm, burning flesh, and fired his pistol, the Aether-shot sparking against its form, useless. His shard screamed, a vision hitting: *a soul forge, a man's scream, Aether binding, the woman's voice: You are the spark.* He roared, pain grounding him, and sprinted for the core, the star-shard searing his hand.
Rhea dragged herself up, grabbing a fallen enforcer's Aether-blade, its hum weak but active. "Kael, go!" she shouted, slashing a tendril, blood spraying as another grazed her side. She collapsed, her grin fading, blood pooling.
Mira shouted, "Kael, the core's Aether is spiking! The star-shard and your shard can overload it!" Her scanner sparked, its readings chaotic, as she dodged a tendril's lash.
Toren fired, his rifle's blasts clipping the progenitor's form, sparking Aether, but its tendrils slashed, grazing his chest, blood spraying. He cursed, holding position, his rifle faltering. "Kid, move!"
Lira's enforcers descended, her cybernetic jaw glinting, Aether-cannon raised. "Varn, the shard!" she snarled, firing. Sylas's star-shard deflected the blast, their armor cracking, and they slashed an enforcer, covering Kael's sprint.
The core loomed, a pulsing orb of violet Aether, its surface etched with runes that writhed like veins. Kael's shard burned, another vision hitting: *the progenitor free, the Wastelands burning, the woman's voice: The spark chooses.* He slammed the star-shard into the orb, its energy merging with his shard's kinetic surge, cracking the surface. The vault roared, violet light flooding, and the progenitor staggered, its tendrils faltering.
Lira's cannon fired, the blast grazing Kael's back, searing flesh. He roared, channeling kinetic energy, shoving her enforcers back, but his body trembled, blood soaking the floor, his shard's hum faltering. The progenitor's voice roared, "You cannot bind me!" Its tendrils lashed, wrapping Kael's arm, Aether burning his skin.
Sylas fought to Kael, their star-shard slashing the tendrils, their voice urgent. "Varn, you're the anchor! Break the core, or it takes you!" Their armor sparked, a tendril grazing their side, blood seeping.
Rhea crawled forward, her Aether-blade sparking, and slashed a tendril, freeing Kael's arm. "Do it, Varn!" she gasped, collapsing, blood pooling, her eyes dimming.
Kael's vision overwhelmed him: *the soul forge, his own face screaming, the woman's voice: The spark breaks.* He channeled everything, slamming his fist into the core, the star-shard's energy surging, the orb shattering. The progenitor roared, its Aether form collapsing, violet light blinding, and the vault shook, steel walls cracking.
The core's energy recoiled, Aether surging, and Kael's shard burned, his body screaming. The progenitor's voice faded, "The spark… endures…" The chamber trembled, the primal signal fading, but a new pulse rose, deeper, raw, from the vault's lowest depths.
Kael collapsed, blood soaking the floor, his shard's hum weak, his vision swimming. Rhea lay still, her chest barely rising, blood pooling. Mira rushed to her, hands shaking, trying to stem the bleeding. "Kael, you broke it, but Rhea's fading!"
Toren limped over, chest bleeding, his rifle slung. "Lira's gone, but Protocol's sending more. We're trapped."
Sylas knelt beside Kael, their star-shard dim, violet eyes steady. "The progenitor's gone, Varn, but the vault's deeper core is waking. Your shard's tied to it, and it's not done."
Kael's shard pulsed, a vision lingering: *a deeper chamber, a pulse of raw Aether, the woman's voice: The spark lives.* He tried to stand, pain blinding, but his legs gave out. "What's left?" he gasped, meeting Sylas's eyes.
Mira's voice trembled, pointing to the new pulse's glow below. "The source. The vault's true heart, where your shard was born."
The vault split, a new chasm opening, violet light flooding from a chamber of pure Aether, its hum shaking Kael's soul. A figure emerged, not Aether or bone, but human, its violet eyes mirroring Kael's, its voice a whisper in his mind: *Spark-bearer, I am you.*