Chapter 7: The Raid on the Rift

The void was silent.

Kael crouched on the edge of the rebel dropship's open ramp, staring into the black abyss. The Ascended Rift Stabilizer loomed ahead—a fortress of metal and light, suspended in high orbit.

Its towers stretched toward the void like sharpened blades, energy conduits thrumming with Rift energy. The atmosphere around it rippled, distorted, unnatural.

Kael could feel it. Something was wrong here.

Something ancient. Something hungry.

But that was a problem for later.

Right now?

They had a war to start.

"Final checks." Elyndra's voice crackled through the comms. "Stealth systems are engaged, but we won't stay invisible for long. Hit fast, hit hard, and get out before they know what happened."

Kael smirked. "When do they ever not know?"

"Try to be optimistic, Reaper."

Kael glanced at his squad. His Bloodsworn.

 Dain "Ironhand" Vas – Rolling his massive shoulders, flexing his augmented fists. A tank, a brawler, a wrecking ball in human form.

Lirien Velka – Silent as always, her rifle primed, her blue-gray eyes sharp and unblinking.

Typhon Rael – His hands trembled slightly, Rift energy pulsing under his skin. He was a loaded weapon—powerful, but unstable.

Reyna Dain – Helmet secured, her shield mounted on her arm. She stood like a fortress, unshaken even in the face of death.

Aisha Isolde – Kael caught her smirking at him. "Nervous?" she teased.

Kael exhaled. "Just waiting for you to impress me, Sky Queen."

Aisha grinned. "Watch closely, Reaper. I don't disappoint."

Elyndra's voice returned.

"Go. Now."

The dropship's ramp flashed green.

Kael didn't hesitate.

He jumped.

🔥 Zero-G Descent

The cold hit him instantly.

Freefall in zero gravity was different from flying. No wind. No sound. Just the pull of momentum and the distant hum of energy from the Ascended stronghold.

Kael's squad dropped beside him, their descent packs stabilizing their movements.

The station grew closer.

Lirien's voice was calm. "Sensors are clean. No detection yet."

Kael wasn't convinced. The Ascended were never blind.

His boots hit metal first. He rolled smoothly, absorbing the impact as the others landed behind him.

They had touched down on a maintenance platform along the station's outer ring. Dim emergency lights flickered, casting long shadows across the towering structures.

Kael exhaled. "We're in."

Elyndra's voice crackled over the comms. "Keep it that way. Get to the main power core and plant the charges. You have twenty minutes before we lose the stealth field."

"Understood. Moving."

Kael signaled his team.

They vanished into the shadows.

The interior of the station was eerily quiet.

No alarms. No movement. Just the low hum of Rift energy coursing through the walls.

Kael led his team through narrow corridors, his senses sharp.

"Too quiet," Dain muttered.

"They know we're here," Kael said. "They're waiting."

Typhon's hands twitched. "The Rift energy here is… wrong."

Kael didn't ask for details. If Typhon said something felt wrong, it meant it was very, very wrong.

They pressed forward, moving with lethal efficiency.

They reached the control room.

Reyna moved first, placing a small holo-disruptor against the nearest security terminal. The screen flickered—Ascended code scrambled, security systems looping false data.

"We have five minutes before they override this," she warned.

Kael nodded. "Then let's finish this quick."

Aisha stepped forward, examining the structure. "This core is bigger than expected."

Lirien's voice was cold. "Because this isn't just a stabilizer."

Kael frowned. "What?"

She gestured to the Ascended glyphs pulsing along the structure. "They're not just drawing Rift energy. They're refining it."

Typhon stiffened.

His voice was low.

"They're weaponizing the Rift."

Silence.

Then Kael growled. "Set the charges. Blow it all to hell."

Reyna moved quickly, placing detonation packs along the core's primary conduits.

The station hummed.

Then the hum became a whisper.

A voice.

Kael's head snapped up.

His vision blurred—

For a second, he wasn't in the station anymore.

He was somewhere else.

Dark. Endless.

A Rift anomaly.

And something was watching him.

Kael's pulse spiked. His vision snapped back just as the alarms erupted.

"We've been made!"

"Hostiles inbound—"

The doors slammed open.

And hell broke loose.

Ascended enforcers poured into the chamber, plasma blades igniting in waves of violet and gold.

Dain was already moving, fists slamming into the first enforcer's head, sending it crashing into the wall.

Reyna's shield absorbed a barrage of plasma fire before she countered, driving her blade through an enemy's chest.

Typhon's hands flared with unstable Rift energy. He unleashed it— a pulse of raw distortion that sent several enforcers imploding into themselves.

Then the air grew heavy.

Kael felt it before he saw her.

A presence at the edge of the battlefield.

He turned—

And there she was.

Seraphis.

Her golden eyes burned across the distance.

She stepped forward, her twin plasma blades humming in perfect, lethal balance.

The enforcers parted around her.

Kael grinned, rolling his shoulders.

"Round two?"

Seraphis didn't answer.

She just attacked.

Her first strike was lightning-fast, nearly taking his head off.

Kael barely dodged, twisting his grip on the Celestial Cleaver.

Their blades met in a shower of sparks.

The battle had truly begun.

The battlefield erupted in chaos.

Ascended enforcers clashed with the Bloodsworn, plasma blades carving through steel and flesh alike. Gunfire echoed through the chamber, mixed with the screams of the dying and the roar of unstable Rift energy.

But Kael only saw her.

Seraphis.

Her golden eyes burned like a dying sun. Her twin plasma blades pulsed with violet light, humming with divine lethality.

She moved first.

Kael barely had time to react before she was on him, a whirlwind of steel and fire.

Her first strike came low—a feint.

Kael dodged, but she was already spinning, the second blade carving toward his ribs.

He blocked, the Celestial Cleaver shifting in his hands, morphing into twin sabers to match her speed.

Their blades clashed, again and again.

Every strike was precise, calculated.

Every movement was familiar.

Because once, long ago, they had fought side by side.

Now, they were fighting to kill.

Seraphis was relentless.

Kael had always been stronger, but she was faster.

Her attacks were fluid, merciless—every movement designed to cut, to break, to kill.

She feinted high, then twisted—a low, brutal stab toward his thigh.

Kael pivoted, twisting mid-air, barely avoiding the strike. He countered—a heavy downward slash, shifting his weapon into a curved executioner's blade.

Seraphis ducked, sliding underneath the attack, her blade grazing his side.

Pain flared.

Kael hissed. "You always liked the fancy footwork."

Seraphis didn't respond.

She just pressed forward.

Their duel moved through the wreckage, bodies falling around them, plasma bolts slicing the air.

Kael parried another strike, then caught her wrist, twisting.

For the first time, her footing faltered.

Kael slammed his elbow into her ribs—a punishing blow that sent her skidding back.

She coughed, but didn't fall.

Instead, she wiped the blood from her mouth, eyes still unreadable.

Kael lifted his blade, exhaling. "How long are we going to do this, Seraphis?"

She lifted her chin, expression cold.

"Until one of us stops breathing."

Kael grinned. "So dramatic."

Then they clashed again.

🔥 Meanwhile – The Bloodsworn Fight to Survive

Dain ripped an Ascended enforcer apart with his bare hands.

His metal-plated fists cracked open the machine's skull, synthetic blood splattering across his armor.

"We're getting overwhelmed!" Reyna barked, her shield deflecting incoming plasma fire.

Typhon's eyes burned with Rift energy, unstable light flickering across his skin.

He raised his hands—and the air bent.

A pulse of pure distortion ripped through the chamber.

The nearest enforcers collapsed, their bodies imploding into themselves.

Aisha Isolde fired two quick shots, picking off the last of them.

"Kael!" she shouted. "We need to move—NOW!"

But Kael wasn't listening.

He was still locked in battle.

Still fighting her.

Aisha's jaw clenched. "Damn it."

She reloaded. If he wasn't getting out, then they weren't leaving without him.

Kael swung.

Seraphis blocked.

For every attack, there was a counter. For every advance, a retreat.

They were evenly matched.

But then—

Kael saw it.

The hesitation.

It was brief—a flicker of something in her eyes.

Doubt.

For the first time, Kael understood.

She didn't want to kill him.

Not really.

Kael exhaled sharply, lowering his blade slightly.

"Seraphis. Stop."

She froze.

Her breathing was sharp, her hands clenched too tightly around her weapons.

Kael took a slow step forward. "You had the kill shot three times. You didn't take it."

Seraphis' jaw tightened. "You don't know anything."

Kael's gaze bored into her.

"Then prove me wrong."

Silence.

The battle raged around them.

But in this moment, the only thing that mattered was her answer.

Seraphis' hands trembled.

Then, finally—

She lowered her blades.

"Go."

Kael's eyes widened. "What?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Get out of here. Before I change my mind."

Kael hesitated—but only for a moment.

He stepped back, his eyes still locked on hers.

Then he turned—and ran.

"Move, move, move!"

Kael sprinted toward the exit as the entire station began to shudder.

The Rift core was destabilizing, pulsing with uncontrolled energy.

"We have sixty seconds before this place goes nova!" Reyna shouted.

Kael didn't look back. He didn't have time to question why Seraphis had let him go.

All he could do was survive.

Ahead, the docking bay loomed—

And Veyrith was waiting.

"About damn time, Reaper!" Dain growled, hauling himself onto the dropship as Aisha covered their retreat.

Kael was the last to leap aboard, the ship's engines already burning hot.

"Go!" Elyndra's voice commanded over the comms.

The dropship's thrusters ignited.

They shot out of the crumbling station, escaping into the void just as the stronghold detonated behind them.

The Rift energy within the station collapsed in on itself—

And the explosion erased everything in its path.

Kael exhaled, watching the fire consume the battlefield.

It was over.

For now.

But he knew the war was only beginning.

Far below, Seraphis stood on the ruined deck, watching Kael's ship vanish into the stars.

She had let him go.

And now, she would have to answer for it.

She exhaled slowly.

Then she turned, stepping into the shadows.

There was only one path left.

She would have to choose a side.