Chapter 4: Hunted in the Wastes
Imperius Exile Wastelands, Uncharted System
Year 9783 C.C. – Three Days After the Trial
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The night sky stretched endlessly above, the only light coming from distant stars and the faint glow of his Celestial Archive flickering in the air. Kael ran.
Footsteps pounded behind him—relentless, calculated, never slowing.
The Echelon Enforcer pursued without hesitation, weaving through the ruins like a predator tracking wounded prey. Its visor gleamed a cold, emotionless blue. It did not speak. It did not need to.
'I'm being tested.'
Kael gritted his teeth, muscles screaming with every step. His exile was never meant to be survival. The Dominion should have left him here to die—alone, forgotten.
But they hadn't. They sent an Enforcer.
Why?
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A blur of motion—the Enforcer leaped.
Kael dove forward, rolling across the cracked terrain just as the assassin's energy blade carved through the air where his spine had been. The heat of it seared past his cheek.
He twisted mid-motion, kicking off a fallen pillar, launching himself deeper into the ruins. He needed distance. A plan.
The system flickered in his vision.
[Celestial Archive – Combat Synchronization]
► Status: [Hunted]
► Defensive Rating: [Critical]
► Opponent: [Echelon Enforcer – Tier Unknown]
► Suggested Action: [Evade / Escape]
'Not helpful.'
Kael's breathing was ragged. The air here was thin, stale, every inhale like dragging metal through his lungs. He wouldn't last long in a direct fight.
He had to outthink his opponent.
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The Enforcer slowed, scanning the ruins. Its visor pulsed faintly.
Kael pressed his back against a collapsed archway, keeping his breathing shallow. The ruins were a maze of broken structures, jagged metal and stone forming natural barriers.
'I can use this.'
The assassin moved methodically, weapon raised. Kael could hear the faint hum of the energy blade, its power distorting the air around it. One wrong move, and he'd be dead before he even saw the strike coming.
The Obsidian Shard in his grip pulsed again.
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For a brief moment, the world shuddered.
Kael's vision warped, flickering between past and present, like the ruins themselves were shifting between two different realities.
He staggered, gripping his head.
And suddenly—he saw it.
Not the present, but a second image overlaying reality. The Enforcer's movements—a fraction of a second before they happened.
The next step.
The next attack.
Kael's pulse quickened.
'This is new.'
The Shard was reacting. But to what?
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Kael had no time to question. He focused, forcing himself into motion.
The Enforcer stepped forward, blade rising for a horizontal slash.
Kael moved before it happened.
A split second early.
He pivoted, grabbing a loose panel of metal debris and slamming it directly into the assassin's visor.
The impact sent the Enforcer stumbling.
For the first time, it hesitated.
Kael didn't.
Using the narrow window, he lunged forward, twisting behind the assassin—grabbing its wrist in a brutal lock. The energy blade hissed, but Kael wrenched the weapon's angle just enough to—
A searing flash of red.
The Enforcer's own blade carved across its left arm, severing armor and circuits. It staggered back, motion distorted, the visor flickering with error warnings.
Kael didn't wait to see the damage. He turned and ran.
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His legs burned as he sprinted toward the ruins' outer edge. The Enforcer was injured, but not defeated.
He didn't need to win.
He just needed to escape.
A sharp static pulse filled the air behind him.
Kael's system glitched.
For a split second, the entire Celestial Archive went dark.
Then—
[Unknown Signal Detected]
► Source: [Echelon Enforcer – Active Uplink]
► Status: [Transmitting Data]
► WARNING: [Hostile Surveillance Confirmed]
Kael's blood turned cold. The assassin wasn't just here to kill him.
It was reporting him.
To someone.
To something.
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Somewhere, far beyond the stars, a system log had just been updated.
Kael Veyrin is still alive.
And worse—
He is evolving.
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