The fire of the destroyed Nexus still glowed faintly behind them as Kiel and Seris pushed the escape skiff through a canyon hidden beneath the Cragspire Cliffs. The rescued children huddled under emergency blankets, watching Kiel not with fear—but reverence.
"Are you really the one who fights the Dominion?" one girl whispered, her voice trembling.
Kiel nodded once. "They took everything from me. Now I take it back."
They arrived at a hidden settlement: a cloaked outpost known only to rebels as Varnhold. Tucked between fractured tectonic ridges and cloaked by geothermal anomalies, it was one of the few places left untouched by Dominion control.
There, Seris introduced Kiel to an old contact—Commander Thorne, a weathered cyborg with half his skull replaced by an interface helm.
"You're the rogue Apex I've heard about," Thorne said, voice gravelly. "Didn't think you were real."
"Do I look imaginary?" Kiel said, his tone flat.
Thorne chuckled. "You look like a system anomaly that forgot how to die."
Inside the command tent, maps of Dominion structures and patrol routes filled the walls. Kiel stood silently as Thorne laid out a proposal.
"You've caused a stir. The Dominion's in panic mode. We could use that."
"I'm not joining your army," Kiel replied.
Thorne raised an eyebrow. "Then what the hell do you call what you did at the Nexus?"
"A message," Kiel growled. "I'm not looking for rebellion. I'm hunting."
Seris stepped forward. "He's not wrong, Commander. He doesn't need a uniform. Just targets."
Thorne leaned back, amused. "Then let's make a deal."
The Pact was forged over shared data.
In exchange for intelligence on Dominion core convoys, commander posts, and hybrid labs, Kiel would strike them down, one by one. No politics. No chain of command. Just calculated chaos.
And in return, Thorne would protect the innocents—especially the children.
Seris added one more clause. "You mess with him, or try to use him... I'll turn your lungs into soup."
Thorne didn't argue.
[System Notice: New Pact Formed – "Predator Protocol"]
Objective: Eliminate High-Value Dominion Nodes (0/5)
Reward: Evolution Path Selection – Apex Tier Access Unlocked
Later that night, Kiel sat in solitude near the geothermal springs. He stared at the reflection in the water—his reflection.
He barely looked human anymore.
Eyes that glowed like molten ore. Claws retractable but always itching to emerge. Muscles that pulsed with strange energy. His heartbeat wasn't even regular anymore—it was synchronized with his core.
Seris approached, holding two canisters of synth-brew.
"Cheers," she said, handing him one. "To our pact with the rebels we don't trust."
Kiel cracked a grin. "And the monsters we're becoming."
They drank.
In the shadows, one of the children approached. It was the same boy who'd spoken earlier.
"Can I stay with you?" he asked timidly. "You're not scared of them."
Kiel paused. "What's your name?"
"Rik."
Kiel looked into the boy's determined eyes and saw a glimpse of who he used to be—before the system, before the betrayal, before the blood.
"You stay close," he said. "And you fight when you're ready. But only when you're ready."
The boy nodded, gripping a dull knife like it was a sword.
The next morning, Thorne delivered the first target: a Dominion Neuro-Spire, where captured Outlanders were forcefully reprogrammed into obedient soldiers.
"Level 3 facility," Thorne warned. "Heavily armored. They've got a Warden-class hybrid guarding it."
Kiel's eyes lit up.
"Perfect," he said. "I need something new to eat."