I. Descent into Shadows
The shaft was barely wide enough for Serath Vahn's armored frame. Her breathing was sharp, controlled every movement a whisper. After two days of silence and evasion, her pod's crash site had become too hot, swarmed by patrol drones.
Now, she descended into darkness beneath Darcile. She had stumbled on an access hatch buried beneath a fallen comms dish. It took a full cycle to override the ancient locks, but what lay beneath was not rusted stone.
It was Nakar'Zul—the Subterranean Crucible.
Floodlights on her visor flickered as the shaft widened into a vast chamber. Metal canyons stretched out before her, layers of obsidian walkways and necro-forged structures spiraling around a massive central core. Stasis vaults the size of mountain halls glowed a dim blue across the lower tiers.
Thousands—no, billions—of Shadowscourge warriors and support caste drones were slumbering in silence.
A second mothership was being constructed, its skeletal hull suspended from gravity fields above the city, cradled like a god-bomb waiting to be birthed. Serath's throat tightened. If this fleet launches… Zelith falls.
II. The Forge Awakes
Up above, on the surface of Darcile, the Kirell slave laborers had been called back into service. Sirens wailed through the mines as transport trucks lined up, and Kirell children were separated from their broods to be sent to Engineering Pits. Overseers snapped their whip-rods while laborer chants began again an old rhythm of despair now reawakened.
Commander Varn Takar barked orders from his steel tower: "Construction of the second mothership resumes. No delays. No sympathy." The Shadowscourge beneath were being primed. Within weeks, Darcile would no longer be a backwater—it would be the launch gate for the great invasion of Zelith.
III. The Hunt Begins
Above the ridge near the western crash zone, Admiral Kia dismounted her skiff, her expression carved from fire and frost. She stood before the torn remains of an escape pod Thalor technology unmistakable.
"Alive," she muttered.
She tapped her comms. "Deploy shadow transport patrols. Sky sweep protocols. Lock down all facilities within 3000 stadia." And then, she summoned them.
"Release the Thal'Karn."
From the reinforced hangars, dark chambers hissed open as The Shadow Beasts stalked forward—titanic, feline predators with smoke-bound musculature and glowing emerald eyes. They roared like avalanches tearing through voidsteel. Their Handlers followed in silence—cloaked in psionic veils, using shadow-dominance commands to direct the beasts.
Kia gave a cruel smile. "Let them taste her scent." Above, three Shadow Transport Vessels ignited their engines and began aerial grid patrol, scanning for energy traces, life signs, or heat signatures. The net was closing.
IV. Serath's Discovery
In the lower levels of Nakar'Zul, Serath activated a relay beacon—but the signal couldn't pierce the planet's geomagnetic web. She moved swiftly between catwalks, avoiding drone eyes and auto-turrets.
She passed bio-chambers the size of starships, each labeled with Mahasimu glyphs she partially understood:
"Wave 1: 1.8 Billion Warriors" "Wave 2: Full Support Castes + Bio-Harvesters" "Integration Modules: Zelith System Template Insertion" Her heart pounded.
A voice crackled from her wrist-band—barely audible. Zhenira… alive? Kael? Karn? She couldn't tell. The signal died. And then… a roar. A deep, unnatural growl that shook the ferrocrete beneath her boots. A Thal'Karn had entered the city. Her time was ending.
V. Awakening the Council
Far beyond Darcile, in the sanctum halls of Vazhalar, the Thalor High Council finally received a shadow-wrapped transmission fragment—damaged but unmistakable.
"—buried fleet—Darcile—not a colony—city—Nakar'Zul—Zelith not ready—"
Elder Yar'ek rose in horror. "They are building a fleet under our feet."
Councilor Syrah whispered, "If we delay… there will be no defense. We must awaken the guardians." And with dread, Yar'ek whispered, "It may already be too late."