The Arena Breakout

The Tarkaan Coliseum loomed ahead, its metal rings spinning like a planetary prison, encircling the massive arena at its core. Bright lights flared from its upper decks, where the Dominion elite watched and wagered on gladiators who had no idea they were meant to be more than just entertainment.

Kael stood at the helm of the warship, staring at the fortress. It was more than just a battleground. It was a graveyard for forgotten warriors. If the Dominion had hidden humanity's past, then places like this had been built to ensure they never rediscovered it.

Ryven watched him from the side, arms crossed. "You know, most people would've tried sneaking in. Maybe blending into the crowd."

Kael smirked. "That's because most people haven't stolen a warship built for gods."

Ryven shook his head. "Alright, fine. So what's the actual plan? Because I don't think walking in the front door is gonna go as smoothly as you hope."

Kael exhaled. He'd thought about this. The moment he sent that transmission, the coliseum's security teams had gone on high alert. The Dominion would not let him walk in freely. But that was fine.

Because he wasn't asking.

"We make a scene," Kael said. "But not a war. Not yet. We don't just attack—we make them question why they're fighting in the first place."

Ryven frowned. "And how exactly do we do that?"

Kael turned toward the warship's interface, feeling the static pull between him and the ship grow stronger. This wasn't just a weapon. It was a beacon. A message waiting to be sent.

He raised his hand, and the ship responded.

The coliseum's holographic billboards flickered. The massive screens displaying the latest bets, upcoming fights, and Dominion propaganda—all of them hijacked in an instant.

Kael's voice boomed across the entire station.

"I know what they told you," he said. "That you were born to fight for their entertainment. That you have no choice. That the Dominion decides your fate."

Inside the coliseum, thousands of heads turned. Fighters in their holding cells looked up. Patrons in the stands went silent.

Kael kept going.

"I was just like you. A gladiator. A fighter. Told that the only way to survive was to play by their rules." His voice burned with raw electricity, the storm coiling around his words. "But they lied. There's more to you than this. There's more to all of us."

The coliseum guards were already moving. Defensive turrets locked onto the warship. Fighters were being rushed back to their cells. But it was too late.

Because the idea was already out there.

And an idea was the one thing the Dominion could never put back in its cage.

Ryven tapped the controls. "Yeah, so… you may have pissed off every guard in that place."

Kael rolled his shoulders. "Good."

The coliseum's automated weapons opened fire, streaks of plasma tearing through space toward the warship. Kael shifted the ship's electromagnetic field, the pulses of energy warping harmlessly around them, redirected into the void.

He turned toward Ryven. "You ready?"

Ryven cracked his knuckles. "You mean for the part where we throw ourselves headfirst into a fight we might not win? Yeah. Let's do it."

Kael grinned.

The ship moved.

Not through thrusters, not through conventional flight—it folded through the storm, appearing in the coliseum's upper docking ring in an instant.

Kael and Ryven jumped.

The gravity shift hit hard, but Kael had already synchronized his bioelectric field with the warship's current, letting the electromagnetic forces slow his descent. He landed inside the arena halls, his boots hitting the ground with a crackle of static.

Ryven landed beside him, rolling his shoulders. "You ever get tired of making dramatic entrances?"

Kael smirked. "Not yet."

The coliseum erupted into chaos.

Security teams rushed forward, weapons charged, armor humming with built-in suppression fields. Kael clenched his fists, feeling the charge build beneath his skin. He wouldn't be fighting alone.

Because already, the fighters in the holding cells had heard his words.

And some of them were ready to fight back.

Kael took a step forward. The guards opened fire.

He moved with the storm, his body a blur of static and motion. Plasma blasts veered off course as he manipulated the electromagnetic fields around him, redirecting the attacks harmlessly into the walls.

Ryven wasn't far behind. He grabbed one of the guards by the arm, using his own kinetic force against him, flipping him into two others.

Kael lunged forward, grabbing a soldier by the chestplate and sending a pulse of energy through his armor, frying the suppression circuits inside. The man collapsed, unconscious before he hit the ground.

One by one, they fell.

The alarm blared across the coliseum, warning of a full-scale uprising.

And in the cells above, the fighters who had spent their lives trapped in the Dominion's games were starting to realize they weren't alone.

Kael turned toward the nearest security console and ripped the access panel apart, sending a surge of electricity through the system. The locks on half the coliseum's holding cells failed instantly.

Doors slid open.

Warriors stepped forward, confused at first—then angry.

Kael didn't give them time to hesitate.

"You don't belong here," he shouted. "This isn't your fate. They took your choices away. Take them back!"

The fighters hesitated for only a second.

Then, one of them—a towering woman with battle scars and lightning flickering between her fingers—stepped forward.

She clenched her fists.

And the storm answered.

Kael's breath caught. She wasn't just a fighter. She was Awakened.

And she wasn't the only one.

The Dominion had been keeping more than just warriors in this coliseum.

They had been keeping potential gods locked in chains.

Kael's pulse thundered. "If you want to fight, now's your chance."

The woman gave a slow nod. Then, she turned to the other fighters.

"Burn it down."

The uprising exploded into full force.

Kael didn't stop moving, leading the charge as warriors flooded into the coliseum halls. Guards scrambled, trying to reassert control, but it was too late. The storm had already spread.

Ryven grabbed Kael's shoulder as they fought their way deeper into the facility. "You realize what you just did, right?"

Kael grinned, sending a wave of electricity through an incoming security team, dropping them instantly.

"I started a rebellion."

The Dominion had spent centuries suppressing the Awakened. Keeping them divided. Keeping them weak.

That ended today.

The Stormborn were rising.