34. Embers of Truth

The crew of the Wraith gathered in the ship's central chamber, its lights dimmed to match the weight of their latest encounter. The air smelled faintly of ozone and scorched metal, a reminder of the Argon Spire's fiery collapse.

Jeren paced nervously. "Eighteen more cores? That's not just a backup. That's a global infestation."

Lyne's fingers danced across a projection. "The shard Elara retrieved, it's a map. But not a simple one. It's encrypted in a spiral-lattice matrix. Requiem was planning this for decades."

Nova leaned against a bulkhead, arms crossed. "So now we're not just rebels. We're exterminators."

Elara sat silently, clutching the shard. She didn't speak until the others quieted.

"We have to be more than that. We need to become their nightmare."

Lyne decrypted the first layer of the shard, revealing locations scattered across continents, hidden beneath cities, inside monuments, even beneath oceans.