While Kaelen began the agonizing journey of integration, the outside world changed.
Elara, plugged into the stolen data-streams from Taksipa, reported the first signs of the Silent Night Protocol. Atmospheric sensors across the southern continent, where Dawnspire was located, showed a faint, pervasive chemical agent—a Genetic Dampener. To most species, it was harmless. But to anyone with active Prima Genes or similar "unstable" biological signatures, it acted like a slow poison, sapping energy, causing fatigue, and eventually suppressing the abilities entirely.
In Dawnspire, the effect was minimal, shielded by the Living Stone's aura. But Sukodar, during a training session outside the shield's full coverage, collapsed, his nascent glow flickering out. He was brought inside, weak and gasping.
"The air itself is turning against us," Makosra said, her voice grim. "We cannot live in a bubble forever."
"We don't have to," Elara said, pulling up a map. "The dampener is being dispersed from weather-regulation satellites and high-altitude drones. They're focusing on wilderness areas first, where they think we're hiding. Population centers are low priority for now—too much collateral damage to 'useful' slave populations."
"Then that's where we go," Skodar stated. "Not to hide. To fight. We hit the distribution source. We show our people that the poison can be stopped."
Kaelen, now able to speak in short, clear sentences, provided the key. "The primary control nexus... is not on Eclipse. It is planet-side. The Calm Spire. In the Varikdar capital, Morvane. It is disguised as an atmospheric purifier. Malakor believes in... redundant, elegant systems."
A plan was born. A strike team would infiltrate Morvane and sabotage the Calm Spire's core.
The Team:
· Skodar: Muscle, power, and the main target.
· Elara: Tech infiltration and slicing.
· Kaelen: Intelligence on security and Malakor's designs. His cybernetics, if carefully reactivated in a limited way, could be an asset.
· Lieutenant Kira (volunteered): Tactical support and Yunvarn cover. "My soldiers guard the mountain. I will guard your flank in the city. It is my penance."
They would travel not through the wilds, but brazenly, using the empire's own infrastructure. Elara forged manifests for a "Varikdar cultural artifacts dealer" and her Yunvarn mercenary bodyguards (Kira and Skodar, his features subtly disguised by a holographic emitter). Kaelen would be posed as a "cybernetic slave attendant," his appearance not uncommon in wealthy cities.
As they prepared the small, fast hover-skiff, Vaktari approached Skodar. She held out a small, crystalline capsule. "A fragment of the Living Stone, bound to your essence. It will sustain your power in the dampened zones, but its energy is finite. Use it wisely."
She hesitated, then placed a hand on his cheek—a gesture that was both maternal and painfully intimate, charged with the memory of her lost king. "Do not let his logic extinguish your fire. It is your greatest strength, and mine."