Chapter 7: Black Signal
Chapter 7: Black Signal
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The signal came at dusk.
A sharp, three-tone pulse—high, then low, then silence—that echoed from the merged Sky Key as Shu stood atop the rocky bluff overlooking the fallen vault. His boots crunched against glassy volcanic dust, the air heavy with static. The Key spun slowly in the air beside him, its light now white-gold and fractal, like a star in constant collapse.
Sera's voice came through, shaken. "Shu… are you seeing this?"
He didn't answer right away.
The Key had changed. It was no longer just a relic—no longer just a map, or a weapon, or a beacon. Now, it felt like it was alive. A will, a pulse, a presence he couldn't name. Since merging with Lyra's Key, it had begun to emit fragments—memories, locations, dreams—but without control. As if it were searching for something. Or someone.
"I see it," he finally said. "And it's not stopping."
Kael stood nearby, watching the horizon. "It's broadcasting. But not to us."
"Who, then?" Shu asked.
Kael didn't answer.
Sera's voice cut back in, harder. "Shu, I'm picking up a response. A second signal just activated… from the western rim of the Obsidian Deep."
Shu turned sharply. "Another vault?"
"No. Worse. It's not a Sky Order structure. It's Imperial."
Kael cursed in a tongue older than stone. "They have a listening post."
"They must've been tracking Sky Key resonance," Sera said. "The moment you activated the merge, they triangulated."
"Which means they're coming," Shu said grimly.
Kael nodded. "Fast."
As if to answer, the sound of engines thundered over the cliffs.
A trio of dark interceptors broke through the smoke layer above, slicing the sky with blue trails. Sleek, dagger-shaped, built for pursuit—not transport. They weren't here for diplomacy.
"MOVE!" Kael shouted.
Shu didn't hesitate.
He grabbed the Key and sprinted down the slope as the first interceptor opened fire, strafing the ridge with a barrage of plasma bolts. Rock burst into flame behind him. He rolled down the last embankment and dove behind a ruined Sky Order archway as another salvo turned the bluff into molten slag.
Sera's voice was pure panic. "I'm rerouting the drifter! Forty seconds!"
Kael drew his blade and stepped into the open.
The interceptors circled again. This time, they weren't just firing. They deployed.
Three pods dropped from the undercarriages and slammed into the canyon floor like meteors. They hissed open, steam escaping, and from each one stepped a soldier clad in onyx armor—Imperial elite.
Shu recognized the insignia: a red eye over a broken crown.
"The Black Signal Division," Kael growled.
"They're real?" Shu asked, breath catching.
Kael answered, "They don't capture relics. They erase them."
One of the soldiers raised his weapon—a pulse lance—and fired.
Kael blurred forward, intercepting the shot with his blade, the energy arcing around him harmlessly. Then he vanished in a flash of speed, appearing behind the nearest soldier and severing their weapon hand in one clean motion.
Shu was already moving.
He flanked the left pod, leaping over debris, blades drawn. The second soldier turned too late—Shu slashed across the chestplate, sparks flying, and drove a kick into their gut that sent them sprawling.
The third was faster.
They activated a kinetic barrier and unleashed a wave that sent Shu crashing into a wall of black stone.
He groaned, staggered to his feet—then froze.
The third soldier was not like the others.
Their visor slid back, revealing a woman's face. Pale. Calm. Eyes like frozen steel.
"You're the one who merged the Keys," she said.
"Who's asking?"
She didn't smile. "Agent Veyra. Skybreaker-Class. And I'm here to extract the fragment before it breaks containment."
"Funny," Shu said. "I was about to do the same."
They moved at the same time.
Her blade was curved, dual-sided. She moved with mathematical precision, her strikes fast, brutal, efficient. Shu parried, ducked, countered—barely keeping up. She fought like a machine—but he fought like something broken and rebuilt. Fast. Unpredictable.
He feinted left, rolled under her counter, and slashed across her leg.
She winced. Just enough.
Then Kael struck from behind, hitting her with a force burst that sent her flying into the rocks.
Shu didn't wait. He grabbed the Key and ran.
Behind him, Kael called out. "I'll hold her. Get to the extraction point."
Shu turned once—just once—and saw Kael facing her down, their blades clashing in arcs of fire and steel.
Then he was gone.
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Sera's drifter dropped into view thirty seconds later.
The side hatch opened mid-air, and Shu leapt without hesitation, grabbing the rail and hauling himself inside. The ship rose hard, banking away from the firefight below.
Inside, Sera was pale.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Ask me later," he said, collapsing onto the floor.
The Sky Key hovered between them, still pulsing with that same tri-tone signal.
Sera looked at it with unease. "That signal—it didn't just draw the Empire. Someone else responded."
Shu sat up. "Who?"
Sera turned the display.
On it was a second frequency. Older. Colder. Broadcasting from deep underground—beneath the Iron Scar region. A place where no signal should exist.
"What is that?" Shu asked.
Sera whispered, "It's not a vault. Not an outpost. It's… it's a beacon."
Kael's voice came over the comm, weak but steady. "Shu. Listen to me. If they've activated the Black Signal… they're not just hunting you."
"They're hunting the Core Mind."
The line went dead.
Shu sat in silence, staring out the viewport as the ship vanished into the stormclouds.
Below them, war had begun.