The Ghost Skiff plunged silently toward the global power center of Veridia. The city was a monument to technological control, a breathtaking expanse of gleaming chrome towers and sterile, perfect symmetry. It was a place that valued order above all else, and its defenses were absolute.
Curse Blonde dipped the Skiff low, weaving through the complex lattice of thermal vents and anti-air energy screens that protected the capital. The Solvane Key, secured to the console, kept them psychically invisible, but the sheer volume of kinetic sensors made the descent a near-suicide run.
"We're crossing the inner perimeter," Valis reported, his voice a tight whisper. "The air traffic control is too dense. If they get a single kinetic read on this Skiff, we're vaporized."
"The Skyline Assembly building," Curse muttered, her focus absolute. The target was a massive, cylindrical structure at the city's heart, crowned by a high, reflective dome—the political nerve center of the Northern Coalition. "Mara's data showed the thermal conduit entry point is near the base, five hundred meters down."
Curse guided the Skiff into the thermal wake of a massive, outbound commercial transport. The heat signature of the larger vessel provided a brief, chaotic pocket of cover, blinding the kinetic sensors just long enough.
They shot downward, skimming the surface of the towers. The maintenance shaft entrance, a small, dark aperture on the building's gleaming silver base, appeared suddenly in their path.
Curse executed a jarring, last-second maneuver, aligning the Skiff with the shaft. The Skiff slammed into the dark opening, its momentum killing the engines, and they slid to a stop in the cramped, humid darkness of the thermal conduit.
⚙️ Descent into the Accord
The air in the conduit was thick with mechanical heat and ozone. They shed the Ghost Skiff and secured it, activating its full dampening field. They donned the stealth suits, which immediately integrated with their internal Ether readings, turning them into silent, black shadows.
"The conduit runs directly to the Assembly floor below," Valis reported, his voice barely audible even in his own suit. "We have to bypass three inspection checkpoints. All heavily armored, but relying on magnetic scanning."
"The stealth suits are designed to defeat magnetic scanning," Curse confirmed, drawing her Ether Rifle. "But we have to move fast. They will sweep this conduit on a regular schedule."
They began the arduous descent, rappelling down the hot, narrow conduit walls. The silence of the stealth suits was unnerving—they were ghosts moving through the city's plumbing.
They reached the first checkpoint: a small, armored chamber sealed by a heavy blast door. Inside, two Coalition Security Guards stood watch, their posture bored and relaxed, relying entirely on the impenetrable security of Veridia.
"The door lock is keyed to a proximity sensor," Curse analyzed, studying the schematics projected onto her suit's visor. "If we trip it, the entire sector locks down."
"We need a localized power surge to bypass the sensor," Valis said.
Curse knew the only source of power that could defeat the lock's complexity was the one they had carried all this way. She carefully removed the Solvane Key from her harness.
She placed the blue crystal against the blast door, aiming the pure Ether frequency directly at the lock mechanism. The door's complex security protocols, designed to withstand bombs, were immediately confused by the perfect, uncorrupted signal. The lock light shifted from red to green.
"Mara's technology is truly a weapon of counter-frequency," Valis breathed in astonishment.
They slipped through the door, quickly and efficiently neutralizing the two guards with precise nerve strikes before they could raise an alarm.
🎙️ The Skyline Assembly
They moved quickly through the final two checkpoints, using the Solvane Key to bypass the locks and the stealth suits to move undetected. Finally, they reached the hatch leading to the Assembly floor.
Curse peered through the small, optical slit of the hatch.
The scene was one of overwhelming political theater. The Skyline Assembly was a vast, circular chamber, filled with the Delegates of the Northern Coalition—all dressed in crisp, white uniforms, seated in tiers around a central dais. The air was heavy with the self-important rhetoric of global power.
And they were currently discussing Demise Country.
A central holographic projection displayed a map of Valmorah City, specifically highlighting the Citadel of Silence.
The Chair of the Coalition Council, a woman with iron-gray hair and a chillingly placid expression named Ambassador Seraphina, was speaking.
"Delegates, the sudden cessation of the Crownlight Barrier presents a unique opportunity," Seraphina announced, her voice resonating with cold authority. "We have confirmed that the technology of the Silence is now exposed. We have deployed our forces under the guise of 'stabilization and aid'."
A ripple of satisfied murmuring went through the Assembly.
"The data provided by our late partner, King Alderon, was incomplete, but sufficient," Seraphina continued. "We can now reverse-engineer the soul-binding process and deploy our own, technologically superior system. The Veridia Accord is hereby enacted. We will claim Demise Country as a strategic protectorate, seize the resources, and silence any remaining dissent."
Curse's blood ran cold. The final confirmation of the conspiracy was right here. They weren't just plotting conquest; they were planning a complete appropriation of Alderon's research and a renewed, global tyranny.
"We have to stop the vote," Valis whispered urgently. "If they finalize the Accord now, it gives them immediate legal cover for the invasion."
"No," Curse said, her eyes fixed on Seraphina. "We don't stop the vote. We let them finalize their commitment. We let them sign their own confession."
Curse checked the two data drives on her belt: the Citadel Trade Records (Proof of Conspiracy) and Mara's Final Drive (Proof of the Council's deeper history).
She slipped the first drive—the Trade Records—into a small, specialized slot on her rifle barrel, a mechanism designed by Lyra for a targeted broadcast.
"They will sign the Accord," Curse whispered, her voice laced with cold resolve. "And the moment they do, we broadcast the proof of their crime to every media outlet on the planet. We destroy their legitimacy with a single pulse."
As the Assembly prepared for the final vote, Ambassador Seraphina smiled, raising a single, gloved hand. The light in the chamber dimmed slightly, awaiting the moment of global consensus.
Curse and Valis looked at each other one last time. This was not a physical battle; it was a detonation of truth in the heart of the world's power structure.
Curse raised her Ether Rifle, aiming the barrel—and the hidden broadcast mechanism—at the Assembly's central comms hub in the high ceiling. The infiltration was complete. The exposure was seconds away.