Harbinger Awakened

Location: Dominion Black Core – Containment Sector Theta

A dense fog hung over the facility. The air shimmered unnaturally, crackling with residual energy drawn from ancient sources few dared touch.

Commander Valen walked with heavy steps toward a chamber sealed by nine interlocking rings, each bearing a sigil of forbidden power. Her gloved hand hovered over the console, hesitating for a brief moment before she pressed the sequence.

> Click. Grind. Hiss.

The chamber groaned to life. Inside, in the center of an obsidian cradle, lay a figure—half-machine, half-man. His chest pulsed with a dull blue flame, his veins mapped in metallic lines that pulsed with an eerie rhythm.

His name had been erased from every record, known only now by a codename: Harbinger.

"You are being activated," Valen said.

The being's eyes flickered open—silver and inhuman. "Am I to destroy again?"

"Yes. Victor Kane has emerged. And you are the only one… who can rival what he's becoming."

The Harbinger slowly rose, towering over her. "Then let there be fire."

---

Location: Safehouse – Outskirts of Halem Reach

Victor sat with Zuri, his shirt half torn, a bandage wrapped around his side. Nora had taken to a side room to decode the glyphs they recovered from the vault walls—scripts believed to detail the orb's true origin.

Zuri handed him a cup of bitter healing brew. "You took a direct hit and kept going. That's not normal."

Victor stared into the cup. "I don't feel normal anymore."

She smirked. "Good. You're finally becoming who you're meant to be."

Just then, the room trembled. Lights flickered. The temperature dropped.

Victor stood, eyes narrowing. "He's awake."

"Who?" Zuri asked, drawing her blades.

Victor didn't answer at first. Then, with a voice darker than his usual tone, he said, "A weapon the Dominion kept buried. The one they release when war isn't enough. The Harbinger."

---

Location: Sky Corridor – Dominion Private Airspace

A sleek aircraft carved through the clouds. On board, Valen debriefed her elites.

"The Harbinger has one directive—destroy the heir of the Kane lineage and retrieve the Core."

One soldier hesitated. "If he's unstable—"

Valen silenced him with a glare. "Unstable? Perhaps. But so is the fire Victor carries now. We need overwhelming force to stop it."

Outside the window, the Harbinger stood on the aircraft's wing, his cloak fluttering in the violent wind, unbothered. Beneath his feet, frost began to creep across the metal.

---

Back in Halem Reach: Nora's Revelation

Nora returned to the group with a weathered parchment in hand. Her face was pale, her fingers shaking.

"The orb isn't just a relic. It's a key. Not just to Victor's power… but to an entire realm the Dominion tried to seal away."

Zuri looked uneasy. "Another realm? Like… another world?"

Nora nodded. "No. Worse. A mirror of our world—twisted and amplified. It's where the Harbinger was forged."

Victor clenched his fists. "Then it's not just him I'll have to face. It's everything they built in the shadows."