The First War Begins

Kael stood amidst the wreckage of the Vault of Dominion, the air thick with static and the scent of scorched metal. Energy still crackled at his fingertips, remnants of the power he had just wielded against the Overseer's constructs. But the real battle was only beginning.

He could feel it in the air.

Something beneath them was waking up.

The ground trembled, and deep within the vault's metallic walls, unseen machinery groaned to life, sending pulses of electricity rippling through the chamber. Sparks rained from ruptured conduits. The temperature in the room spiked as the walls shifted, their very structure rewriting itself before Kael's eyes.

Ryven was already moving, his instincts screaming as loud as Kael's. "I don't like this," he muttered, his eyes flickering across the pulsing energy around them. "Whatever's happening, we need to get the hell out."

Kael took a step forward, but the moment his foot touched the ground, a voice boomed from unseen speakers, cutting through the chaos.

"Protocol 77 initiated. Energy transfer commencing. System lockdown engaged."

Kael barely had time to react before a massive surge of electromagnetic energy shot up from the floor, forming an impenetrable barrier between them and the only visible exit.

Ryven cursed. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Kael reached out, pressing his hand against the energy field. The second his skin met the barrier, a powerful shockwave sent him flying backward, crashing hard against the metal floor. His arms burned from the backlash, the current inside the vault rejecting him outright.

"That's not just a shield," Kael growled, pushing himself up. "It's a—"

"Containment field," Ryven finished. "They're keeping us in."

Kael exhaled sharply, his pulse pounding in his skull. He had seen the Overseer walk away after their battle, and now he understood why.

This wasn't just a test.

It was a trap.

The walls groaned again, shifting and peeling apart, revealing a massive underground structure below them. Kael and Ryven stood on a suspended platform, staring down at something that should not have existed.

A colossal warship lay beneath the vault.

It wasn't just a ship—not in any conventional sense. It was a weapon, its very hull constructed from a living electromagnetic framework. Energy pulsed across its structure like a nervous system, and Kael could see massive power coils buried deep within its core, feeding it from a source older than the vault itself.

And it was turning on.

The Overseer's voice cut through the chaos, smooth and deliberate.

"You were right, Kael. This was a test. But not for your strength."

Kael clenched his fists, his energy responding to his rising anger. "Then what the hell was this about?"

The Overseer's answer came as the ship's engines roared to life, shaking the entire chamber. The vault wasn't just activating a relic—it was reactivating something ancient.

A war that had never truly ended.

"This ship, this vault, this energy… it is part of something far greater than you realize," the Overseer said. "You think your awakening is an accident? You believe you are unique?"

The ship's power surged, the charge growing so intense that Kael could feel it beneath his skin, its presence a constant pull at the core of his being.

The Overseer continued, his voice calm despite the storm erupting around them.

"You are standing on the first war machine of the Awakened."

Kael's breath caught.

The first war machine?

Everything in him rebelled against the words. The gladiator pits, the coliseum, the Crucible—he had thought all of it was just a cruel entertainment for the alien elite, a way for them to control and suppress humanity's rise.

But what if it wasn't?

What if it was something more?

Kael turned to Ryven, whose expression had shifted from frustration to something else—something Kael had never seen in his eyes before.

Fear.

"This ship," Ryven muttered. "It's not just old. It's from before the collapse."

Kael frowned. "What collapse?"

Ryven let out a bitter laugh. "The one they don't tell us about." His eyes flickered between the ship and the pulsing energy fields surrounding them. "You think humans were always bottom-tier in the galaxy? That we just happened to be weaker than every other race?"

Kael stayed silent.

Ryven exhaled. "We weren't."

The Overseer's voice returned, as if he had been waiting for them to piece it together.

"There was a time when humans were not underdogs."

The warship hummed with growing energy, its massive electromagnetic coils surging with untamed power.

"There was a time," the Overseer said, "when humanity ruled."

Kael's entire body tensed.

"This warship was one of many," the Overseer continued. "Designed to command the battlefield through electromagnetic manipulation. Humans were not just soldiers. They were conduits. The very foundation of warfare."

Kael shook his head. "If that's true… why don't we know?"

The Overseer finally stepped forward, his silver eyes gleaming. "Because you were made to forget."

Kael's heartbeat thundered in his chest.

The Crucible. The coliseums. The suppression of awakened humans.

It had never been about sport. It had never been about keeping them weak.

It was about keeping them from remembering.

Kael clenched his fists, the electricity around him flaring violently. "You're saying humanity used to be the strongest?"

"No," the Overseer said. "I'm saying humanity was once feared."

The weight of those words sank into Kael's chest.

The energy of the warship felt familiar now. Like it recognized him.

Like it was waiting for him.

The vault shuddered as the ship's systems fully activated, the charge sending ripples of static through the air. Kael could feel a choice looming before him, something monumental and irreversible.

The ship was ready.

The question was—who would control it?

The Overseer raised a hand, and the charge of the vault coalesced around him.

"I give you one final chance, Kael Ardyn. Stand beside me, and I will show you the full truth. Or—"

Kael didn't let him finish.

He surged forward, his body moving purely on instinct. Lightning roared through his veins, his power crackling as he closed the distance in a fraction of a second.

The Overseer's eyes flashed, and he responded in kind.

Their fists collided with a shockwave that shook the entire vault.

The warship lurched, as if reacting to their battle.

Kael knew this wasn't just about fighting anymore.

This was about who would control the past.

And who would shape the future.