Chapter 42 — Operation Emberfall
The wind howled over the edge of the floating bastion of Veltrax-7, carrying with it flecks of ash from the forests burning below. Standing at the precipice of a steel balcony extending from the command deck of the aerial war fortress, Aaron Velcris adjusted the tactical hood of his reinforced combat cloak. His eyes—sharpened by the Reality Sync Interface—scanned the terrain below where the siege had already begun.
He felt the surge of countless mana signatures from the Infernal Dominion—twisted constructs of symbiotic corruption spilling through ruptured gates in the earth. Each one moved with the erratic grace of chaos given form. In contrast, the Crimson Fang Division stood in immaculate formation atop the cliff ridges, a wall of steel and resolve. They were outnumbered, outgunned, and still, they stood like legends.
This was Operation Emberfall. The mission that would either secure the Eastern Front—or break it forever.
A voice crackled through his earpiece. "Commander Velcris, you're green to deploy. Firelight Company's already engaging targets on Grid Epsilon."
Aaron turned from the wind and entered the central command chamber of the fortress. The large circular room pulsed with holographic overlays, topographical data, and heat maps fed directly into the RS-I. The command staff saluted him as he passed.
"Target output and terrain calibration complete," said Keira Thorne, his second-in-command and tactical systems engineer. "Symbiosis sync at ninety-three percent. You'll be peaking during this drop."
Aaron nodded. "And Ghost Lance?"
"Already in the drop tubes. They're waiting on your go."
He touched the hilt of his symbiosis weapon—a hybrid between blade and code, forged through System-Forging Protocols after his evolution into Symbiote Class: Parallax Vanguard. The weapon, named Ash Requiem, vibrated in its sheath. It hungered for battle. For balance.
Reality quivered as he opened his interface with a command:
> [RS-I Interface Online]
SYNC RATE: 93% — STABLE
CLASS: Parallax Vanguard (Symbiote Tier II)
SYSTEM THREADS: 3/5 ACTIVE
> ▸ Thread Alpha — Arc Surge (Plasma Vector Control)
▸ Thread Beta — Chrono Slip (Local Time Refract)
▸ Thread Gamma — Ember Husk (Fire Core Manifestation)
He strode toward the lift platform as the floor began to descend toward the launch bay. His HUD flickered with enemy data fed through Recon Protocols—an entire phalanx of Aberrant Revenants leading the charge with rune-etched bone armor and spectral flame halberds.
"Deploy now," he said.
The hangar bay exploded in red light as the drop tubes activated. Twelve members of Ghost Lance, all in deep black armor with crimson streaks, saluted in silence before launching down the electromagnetic rails. Aaron followed.
The fall through the atmosphere was a blur—compressed clouds, ionized heat waves, and combat readings flashing too fast for a normal brain to process. But Aaron's Reality Sync Interface calculated it all.
> Altitude: 5,000m… 2,000m… 500m… Deploying Parallax Breakfield…
[SYSTEM THREAD: Chrono Slip – Engaged]
Time Dilation Zone – Radius: 30 meters | Duration: 12.4 seconds
Time slowed as Aaron landed.
The world froze.
Revenants twisted mid-snarl, their weapons raised mid-swing. Flames stood still in the air like glowing frozen petals.
Aaron exhaled. In that moment of suspended reality, he danced. Ash Requiem cleaved through three armored specters before time caught up and the world exploded into chaos.
"Commander on the field!" Ghost Lance's leader, Riven Kade, shouted as plasma bolts arced overhead. "We're holding perimeter Theta, but they're spawning reinforcements from a Phase Rift three clicks east!"
Aaron activated Thread Gamma. Fire spiraled from his arms, forming a chained spear of molten energy. With a roar, he hurled it through the open rift. It detonated mid-transit, causing the portal to collapse with a thunderous boom.
> [ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Rift Severance I]
+3 Skill Points | +1 Reality Drift Stabilizer Core
[New Trait Unlocked: Riftbane Resonance]
The tide of the battle shifted. From the ridge, twin artillery cannons fired azure kinetic shells into the remaining hordes, clearing ground for tactical advancement.
But Aaron's HUD blinked in red. A new reading appeared.
> WARNING: Symbiotic Signal Detected — Tier V Threat Approaching
Before he could respond, the air was sliced open by a vertical beam of blood-colored light. From the rift stepped a creature wrapped in chitinous armor, nearly nine feet tall, with glowing glyphs crawling across its body like parasites. Its weapon was no less than a reaper's scythe forged from the bones of a Reality Beast.
The Crimson Revenant General: Vraxar the Hollow.
Aaron's eyes narrowed. "Keira, confirm visual. This bastard wasn't supposed to be on this front."
"Confirmed. That's a Tier V Symbiotic Manifestation. Data suggests he absorbed three Echo Shards and controls localized reality threads. Be careful."
Vraxar raised his hand and the very terrain around him liquified into a hellscape. Flames formed shapes. Shapes formed shrieks. Aaron felt the Symbiosis in his veins respond—half in pain, half in challenge.
He activated Thread Alpha and Thread Gamma simultaneously.
> [DUAL THREAD OVERRIDE: Arc Surge + Ember Husk]
WARNING: System Overclock Engaged – Risk Level: Moderate
Aaron launched forward.
Their clash was silent for a moment—beyond sound, beyond comprehension.
Blades met fire. Gravity distorted. Echoes of past versions of Aaron splintered through the air from Vraxar's memory-eating weapon. The Symbiosis howled. Pain tore through Aaron's side as the scythe caught him—but he returned the strike with a blast of fire straight to the Revenant's exposed core.
They staggered, both burning.
But Vraxar smiled.
He whispered in a language not meant for mortal tongues, and behind him, another rift opened—this one deeper, darker. Something… ancient moved within it.
Keira's voice cracked through the comm. "Aaron, we've got incoming beyond known classifications. Something's hijacking the RS-I feed. I… I can't see the future past this point."
Aaron turned, blood dripping from his lip.
"No one needs to see the future. We just need to survive the present."
He reached inside himself, activating the fifth system thread—a secret one he had locked until now.
> [THREAD EPSILON: REVENANT NULLIFICATION – ACTIVE]
Anti-Symbiosis Drive Initializing…
Core Purge Commencing…
Ash Requiem glowed brighter than the sun.
Aaron sprinted toward Vraxar, ready to end it before whatever was behind that rift stepped through.
And far above them, on Veltrax-7, the skies cracked open.
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>End of Chapter 42-