Severed Echoes

The ruins burned.

Blue-green embers flickered in the air, mixing with the thick haze of dust and ozone. The ground was fractured, split by the lingering shockwaves of the Stabilizer Unit's destruction. Steel beams twisted in the aftermath, their rune-scarred surfaces glowing faintly before dimming into ash-streaked silence. But none of that mattered.

Because the Overseer was still standing.

No—evolving.

Tendrils of violet and blue-green energy coiled around its form, feeding from the wreckage of the fallen Dominion forces. Its hooded visage was no longer just a projection—it was manifesting, runes layering over its shifting frame like a living construct of code and reality. The silhouette sharpened, no longer spectral but forged in layered runes, its energy crackling in discordant violet pulses. What had once been an enforcer of containment had become something else.

Something adapted for Liam.

"Correction begins now." The Overseer's voice was no longer a single tone—it was layered, discordant, like multiple echoes of itself speaking at once.

Liam swayed, his vision blurring as the Sovereign Echo pulsed erratically in his chest. The sync growth from before hadn't stabilized yet, and every breath he took felt like it was being pulled in two different directions. He could still feel the fragments of the shadow—of himself—lingering within him, pressing at the edges of his consciousness.

For a fleeting moment, he saw it again—a throne of violet stone, a figure standing at the precipice of something vast, something unfinished. And a voice, distant yet familiar.

"Not yet."

The thought clung to him, threading through the cracks in his mind. But there was no time to chase it—only to survive. The moment snapped away as Elise yanked him backward, her grip iron-tight. "Liam, we are not fighting that thing again. Move!"

Mara was already dragging Varik toward cover, her armor dented and scorched, her expression dark. "Dominion reinforcements are en route. We have seconds before we're boxed in." She shoved a piece of debris aside, her breath ragged, her fists still clenched.

Varik coughed, spitting out ash. "Would love to argue, but I think my ribs are disagreeing with me." His usual smirk was gone—replaced by something tightly contained beneath the pain. He fumbled with his scavenged pistol, the clip jamming as he ducked behind a crumbling wall.

Liam's fingers twitched around Shadowfang's hilt, the Echo's pulse urging him forward instead of away. His instincts screamed at him to end this—to push further. But the Overseer took a step forward, its presence pressing against the very air, its runes shifting with a predatory grace. "Escalation parameters adjusting. Sovereign anomaly—"

The air rippled.

A deafening boom split the battlefield as something massive dropped from the sky—a Dominion Impact Pod, slamming into the ruins just beyond the Overseer. The force of its landing sent cracks racing through the ground, a shockwave forcing even the Overseer to pause, its tendrils quivering. Dust and ash billowed outward, stinging Liam's eyes as the pod's plating hissed, venting compressed air. The rune-seals adorning its sides pulsed with the unmistakable glow of high-tier Dominion reinforcement tech.

The hatch opened.

And a figure stepped out.

A Dominion Warden.

Unlike the Overseer, the Warden wasn't an evolving construct. It was something far worse—a living weapon, clad in exo-rune armor that pulsed with stabilized energy fields. The air around it shimmered with Dominion suppression fields, forcing the already unstable battlefield into something unnatural—something controlled. A heavy blade hung at its side, etched with runes designed for one purpose: severing anomalies from existence. Its helmeted gaze locked onto Liam, the visor glowing with a cold, analytical light. "Sovereign-class target confirmed."

Elise inhaled sharply, her dagger still raised. "…That's new."

Varik let out a hollow chuckle, wincing as he shifted. "You have got to be kidding me."

Liam's pulse thundered in his ears, the Echo burning hotter, its resonance clashing with the Warden's suppression field. The Overseer tilted its head, as if assessing the new arrival, its layered voice humming in the background. The Warden raised its blade, the runes igniting with a searing light, and took a step forward. "Containment failed. Termination authorized."

Mara shoved Liam toward a narrow gap in the ruins. "We can't fight both! Go!" Her voice was a growl, her body already turning to block an incoming energy tendril from the Overseer.

Elise darted ahead, slashing at a fallen beam to clear their path, her movements frantic. "This way—move!" She glanced back, her eyes wide with urgency.

Varik limped after them, firing a wild shot that ricocheted off the Warden's armor, doing little but drawing its attention. "Great, now we've got a walking death sentence chasing us!"

Liam stumbled, the Echo's pulse surging, his vision doubling for a moment—violet fractures overlaying the ruins, a memory of a throne flickering at the edge. He gritted his teeth, forcing the resonance to align, and sprinted after the team. The Warden's heavy boots echoed behind them, its blade humming with intent, while the Overseer's tendrils lashed at the ground, carving trenches in pursuit.

They reached a collapsed tunnel, its entrance half-buried but wide enough to squeeze through. Mara forced her way in first, pulling Varik behind her. Elise shoved Liam forward, her hands trembling as she followed. The tunnel shook as the Warden's blade struck the entrance, sealing it with a burst of rune-etched energy, but the team was already inside, the darkness swallowing them.

**[Sync Strain Detected: 43% Threshold Exceeded]** The alert flashed, red text searing across Liam's vision. His chest burned, the Echo pushing beyond its limits, and a new surge hit him—**[Sync Increment Detected: 44% – Sovereign Echo Integration Advancing]**. His knees buckled, but he caught himself against the tunnel wall, the pain giving way to a flood of fragmented memories: a battlefield under a fractured sky, a blade raised in defiance, a voice calling his name. The resonance steadied, but the cost was clear—his body trembled, his mind teetering on the edge.

The tunnel fell silent, the distant rumble of the ruins fading. Elise panted beside him, her hand still on his shoulder. "We need to keep moving. They'll dig us out."

Before Liam could respond, a whisper curled through the darkness, not from the team—but from the rift they'd left behind. A voice, ancient and unyielding, breathed into his mind. "You cannot outrun your legacy."