SEASON 2 — EPISODE 14: SIXFOLD SIEGE
Chapter Fourteen — Circle of Death
The Dying Moon was dead in every way that mattered.
It hung in the black void like a corpse too stubborn to rot, locked in the last stages of collapse. Its surface was a shattered wasteland of black glass and fractured rock, bathed in a sickly green glow that leaked from the molten wounds deep below the crust. The faint auroras that danced across the horizon were not the kind born from a living world—they were chemical ghosts, bleeding from the dying core in slow, poisonous swirls.
Xavier stepped down from his shuttle into the stillness. His boots cracked the glassy regolith beneath him, the crunch swallowed instantly by the thin, almost nonexistent atmosphere. The air tasted metallic through his helmet filters. Each breath felt like it carried weight.
Something in his gut twisted. This place was wrong.
The wind—if it could even be called that—was a slow, whispering drift of dust that never truly settled. It spiraled endlessly around jagged rock spires and the remains of mining rigs long since abandoned. No birds. No fauna. No life.
And then the shadows moved.
They emerged from the storm without sound, without hesitation—tall, lean silhouettes in armor that looked less crafted than grown. Six figures, each distinct in form but bound by the same aura: cold, predatory, absolute. The dust curled around them, as though the moon itself was bowing in submission.
Xavier's visor flickered with warnings.
HUD ALERT:
Hostiles Detected — Sixfold Tribunal Elite
Threat Levels: 3,500 / 3,600 / 3,700 / 3,800 / 3,900 / 4,000
Hunter #4 stepped forward. His voice carried through the comms like the tolling of a bell—measured, heavy.
"No ship. No allies. No escape. Just the hunt."
Xavier's pulse slowed. This was no ambush. This was an execution. And he had walked straight into the blade.
Act I — Opening Clash
They struck without warning.
Two lunged straight at him, boots cracking the ground under their charge. Two swept wide in a perfect pincer formation, herding him inward. The last two perched high on the ridges above—long, sleek rifles glinting in the pale light, muzzles already tracking his movement.
Xavier moved.
Absolute Velocity surged through his veins like liquid fire. The world blurred. His sword flashed once, deflecting the first spear thrust. He dropped under the second attacker's swing, pivoting into a counterstrike—only to be forced to abort as a sniper round screamed past his visor, close enough to shear a strand of hair.
Their coordination was perfect—mathematical precision. Each strike wasn't meant to kill, not yet. It was meant to push him, to corral him into the sniper's line.
A beam shot seared into the dust where he'd stood an instant before, vaporizing stone. He dove sideways into the skeletal remains of an old mining scaffold, metal groaning beneath his weight. A quick kick sent one of the girders snapping loose.
The collapsing framework crashed down in a landslide of rock and steel, shattering one sniper's vantage point. It bought him three seconds. No more.
Act II — The Pressure Builds
They came at him from every direction. No matter where he turned, they were already there—sliding into position, cutting off every avenue.
Hunter #5's voice was calm, surgical.
"Your speed is predictable."
Hunter #6 followed, voice a low gravelled rasp.
"Your strength is average."
It wasn't mockery. It was a diagnosis. They were reading him—recording every twitch, every movement pattern, every reaction time. Their eyes were cold and analytical, stripping him down to data points.
Xavier's breath grew ragged. Every dodge bled stamina. Every parry was met with an even faster counter. His forearms ached under the recoil of their strikes. Dust was thick in his mouth, coating his teeth. Sweat burned in his eyes, stinging under the helmet seal.
They were breaking him down piece by piece.
Act III — The Breaking Point
The crater became a cage.
Two bruisers—towering in jagged bio-armor—charged from opposite sides, massive weapons arcing toward him like guillotines. At the same instant, a sniper round sliced through the dust toward his chest. He twisted—too far, too fast—feeling muscle fibers scream in protest.
Something tore in his side. He staggered, knees dipping, lungs clawing for air.
And still, he didn't stop.
The Limit Break didn't just trigger this time—it consumed him. It rewrote him.
HUD ALERT:
PERMANENT ATTRIBUTE EVOLUTION
• Strength +500%
• Agility +800%
• Reaction Time: Doubled
Note: Effective speed now exceeds recorded predator spectrum
A sharp grin split his bloodied lips.
"Try to predict me now."
Act IV — Predator Unbound
The world slowed to a crawl.
The sniper's bullet floated lazily toward him, visible in every spinning fragment of its casing. He sidestepped before it was even halfway to him. The bruisers' weapons cut through empty air—not because he moved faster, but because his movement no longer made sense. His path was jagged, fluid, alien.
He became a phantom, shifting from one impossible angle to another.
His fist slammed into the first bruiser's chestplate with the force of an avalanche, crumpling metal inward. Bone snapped like dry twigs. Blood misted in the thin air. The second bruiser swung, but Xavier was already behind him, driving a blade through the seam in his armor.
A dropship thundered overhead. Kai's voice crackled through the comms.
"Covering fire incoming—wait… what the hell?"
Xavier was no longer where Kai had left him. He was inside the formation now, forcing the remaining four hunters into a tight knot for the first time.
Act V — The Escape
Killing all six would be glorious—but suicidal.
Instead, he broke the circle. One sharp kick shattered a ridge, sending a hunter tumbling into the abyss. The others moved to intercept, but Xavier was already sprinting up the collapsing rock, vaulting into the dropship's ramp.
Kai stared, half in shock, half in fury.
"You could've stayed and finished them."
Xavier's smirk was cold.
"Not yet. They're still useful. They'll lead me to the Tribunal's real nest."
HUD UPDATE:
Level Up — 2,520 → 2,525
New Passive: Phantom Step — Agility-based evasion creates afterimages to confuse tracking
Ending Cliffhanger
Far from the Dying Moon, the Tribunal Command Ship floated in the black between stars.
The Six stood before the Tribunal Master—battered, armor cracked, blood still drying on their weapons. The star map behind him pulsed with the glowing marks of Hunter Guild territories.
"Good," the Master said. "Now he's ready. Bring him to the Titan King."
Back on the dropship, Xavier stared at the nav screen. A storm-wrapped planet swelled into view—lightning crawling across its atmosphere in veins of white fire.
The next battlefield loomed.