The Birth of a Rebellion

The battlefield was silent. The remnants of the Dominion fleet drifted in the sky, their wreckage still sparking with the aftershocks of Kael's attack. The Leviathan-class dreadnought had retreated into hyperspace, leaving behind only the ghosts of a battle that had changed everything.

Kael stood on the bridge of the warship, staring at the empty expanse where the Dominion's forces had been just minutes ago. The ship's systems hummed beneath his feet, syncing with his heartbeat, recognizing him as its new commander. He wasn't sure if that was comforting or terrifying.

Ryven leaned against the bulkhead, arms crossed. "So. We just punched the Dominion in the face and lived to tell about it. What now?"

Kael let out a slow breath. That was the question, wasn't it?

He had won a battle. But wars weren't won with a single victory. And the Dominion wasn't going to let this go unanswered. If anything, they would come back harder.

He turned to Ryven. "We need people."

Ryven arched an eyebrow. "People?"

Kael nodded. "Soldiers. Engineers. Anyone who can help us figure out what this warship can really do. We can't fight the Dominion alone."

Ryven exhaled through his nose, considering the idea. "So you're saying we build a rebellion?"

Kael's lips twitched. "You make it sound like a bad idea."

"Oh, it's a great idea," Ryven muttered. "It's just also the kind of idea that gets you hunted across the entire galaxy."

Kael shrugged. "That's already happening."

"Fair point." Ryven sighed, pushing off the wall. "Alright, say we do this. Where do we even start?"

Kael thought for a moment. They needed to find others like them—people who had been forced into the Dominion's systems, kept in the dark about their own history. There had to be more Awakened out there. More people who could feel the storm but had never been given the chance to control it.

His mind flashed back to the coliseum. To the fighters, the slaves, the forgotten.

"We go to the gladiator worlds," he said. "If there are any Awakened left out there, that's where they'll be."

Ryven whistled low. "You want to break into Dominion-controlled arenas and start recruiting the people they've been keeping as entertainment?"

Kael's jaw tightened. "Yeah."

Ryven shook his head, but there was a grin forming on his lips. "You're insane."

Kael turned toward the ship's controls, his hands hovering over the interface. "Maybe. But I'm not wrong."

The warship responded instantly, shifting as its navigational systems synced with Kael's intent. He wasn't just piloting it. He was connected to it. The moment he had touched the ship's core, something had changed.

He felt the ship's history in his veins. The echoes of its former commanders, the battles it had fought, the enemies it had crushed. And now, it was waiting for his command.

Kael entered the coordinates.

The Dominion had taken everything from humanity.

Now, it was time to start taking things back.

The warship's engines flared, lightning rippling across its hull, and in the next instant, it vanished into hyperspace.

The journey didn't take long. The warship was unlike anything in the Dominion's modern fleet. It didn't travel through hyperspace in the traditional sense—it moved through the currents, bending electromagnetic fields in ways the galaxy had long forgotten.

When the ship emerged from the jump, the first thing Kael saw was the arena.

The Tarkaan Coliseum.

A massive structure floating in the void, its metallic rings spinning around a central battlefield where warriors were forced to fight for the entertainment of the ruling class. A fortress disguised as a sporting event.

And inside that arena, Kael knew, were people who needed to see what he had seen.

Ryven peered out over the display. "That place is a fortress. We go in loud, and we won't get a second chance."

Kael didn't answer right away. He could feel the warship's power coiling beneath the surface, waiting to be unleashed. He could obliterate the coliseum if he wanted to. Tear it apart with a single command.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was to wake people up.

He turned to Ryven. "We're not here to destroy it. We're here to show them there's another way."

Ryven eyed him. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

Kael exhaled. "By walking in the front door."

Ryven stared. "You're joking."

Kael grinned. "Nope."

Before Ryven could argue, Kael reached out to the ship's interface. The warship responded instantly, sending a signal across the arena's communication channels. Not an attack. Not a threat.

A message.

"This is Kael Ardyn," he said. "And I'm here to free you."

The transmission ended.

For a long moment, there was silence. Then, the arena's defense systems activated.

Ryven sighed. "Well. That didn't take long."

Kael flexed his fingers, electricity humming beneath his skin. "Good. Let them come."

Because today wasn't about survival.

Today was about starting a war.