CHAPTER 21: ALLIANCE OF ENEMIES

The ghost net buzzed with conflicting signals.

Confidence sat at the core table in the underground tunnel, tapping through over a dozen data feeds. Chi-Chi stood across from her, arms crossed, while Ken paced nearby, tension coiled in every step.

"They're not attacking each other," Confidence said. "They're… repositioning."

"Repositioning where?" Chi-Chi asked, already calculating routes in her head.

"Every major E.E.A. squad is pulling back from Riftborn hot zones. No clashes. No drone strikes. No suppression ops."

Ken frowned. "Since when do those lunatics not fight each other?"

Anthony leaned against the far wall, staring at the ceiling like he could still feel the silver sky through it.

"It's not retreat," he said. "It's realignment."

Chi-Chi turned to him. "You're saying they've stopped fighting to deal with us?"

"No," Anthony replied. "To deal with me."

---

A projection lit up above the table.

Satellite feeds—cleaned and decrypted—showed a rendezvous point in the Sahara Desert.

A Riftborn envoy and an E.E.A. commander standing across from each other.

Surrounded by soldiers on both sides.

No weapons drawn.

Just one data drive handed from E.E.A. to Riftborn.

One shake of hands.

One sky-shuttle departing in peace.

Ken swore. "We're dead."

"No," Chi-Chi said. "He's dead. We're just collateral."

She looked at Anthony.

"You're the reason they're working together."

---

Later, Anthony sat with Emmy near a cracked wall covered in Beacon glyphs.

Her golden eyes flickered faintly as she traced one with her finger.

"Why are they so afraid of you?" she asked.

Anthony didn't answer at first.

Then he said, "Because they don't understand me. And when people don't understand something, they either worship it… or destroy it."

Emmy looked up at him. "Which do you think they'll choose?"

He smiled faintly. "Depends on how fast we move."

---

In the makeshift war room, Chi-Chi spread out a satellite map with new signal overlays.

"Intel confirms it. E.E.A. and Riftborn aren't merging forces, but they've created non-aggression corridors. Shared surveillance. Shared objectives."

Confidence added, "We tracked four high-level agents moving into Nigeria under a new codename."

She tapped the screen.

> "Operation Eclipse"

Anthony exhaled. "They're coming here. To wipe out the Unmeasured."

Chi-Chi's voice cut through the tension.

"Then we don't give them time."

---

That evening, the Ghost Squad prepared for their first pre-emptive strike.

Not a mission of defense.

Not Beacon protection.

Offense.

"We hit their corridor in Lokoja," Chi-Chi said, rolling out the tactical plan. "That's their joint comm tower — low security, but high impact. Without that, they can't coordinate sweeps."

Confidence nodded. "Timi's crew can handle diversion. We go straight for the core."

Ken frowned. "You're sending a small team into a Riftborn–E.E.A. shared zone?"

Chi-Chi didn't blink. "That's exactly what I'm doing."

Anthony stood behind her, quiet for a second.

Then said, "I'll go alone."

Everyone froze.

Chi-Chi didn't look back.

"You're not going alone."

He stepped beside her. "It's me they want."

"I know," she said. "That's why you're not going alone."

Their eyes met.

Confidence smiled faintly and looked away.

Ken rolled his eyes. "You two done?"

Chi-Chi nodded. "Plan launches at dawn. Rest while you can."

---

That night, as the others prepped gear and recharged weapons, Anthony sat near the Beacon Node embedded in the wall — one of the few fragments they'd safely moved underground.

It pulsed gently under his hand.

Not bright.

Not screaming.

Just steady.

"Is this what you want?" he whispered. "To make me the center of every war?"

The Beacon didn't answer.

But it hummed louder when Chi-Chi stepped into the room behind him.

She walked up silently and sat beside him.

For a while, neither said anything.

Just the rhythm of the Node.

Then she said quietly, "You're stronger than you let people see."

He tilted his head. "And you're smarter than you let them hear."

She smiled, a rare one. "If I die tomorrow, that'll be the last compliment I ever get."

"You're not dying tomorrow," Anthony said firmly.

Chi-Chi didn't look at him right away.

Then she asked, "And if you die? What happens then?"

He didn't answer.

Because part of him knew:

If he died, the Beacon network could collapse.

The world would burn faster.

And Emmy would be next.

She placed a hand on his.

And this time, neither of them moved it away.

---

Dawn broke hard and fast.

The sky was back to blue.

But tension rode on the air like static before a storm.

Anthony and Chi-Chi suited up.

Confidence handed them burst-jammer discs. "Two uses each. Short range, five-second disruption on Riftborn nodes."

Ken gave them the new signal cloaks. "Won't last long, but should get you inside the comm corridor."

Chi-Chi clipped on her gauntlets.

Anthony tightened his arm wraps.

They didn't speak much.

They didn't need to.

As they stepped toward the exit tunnel, Emmy called out.

Anthony turned.

She stood holding a Beacon shard in both hands.

Not glowing.

Just warm.

"Take this," she said.

Anthony paused. "It's not charged."

Emmy looked him in the eye. "Neither are you. Until someone needs you to be."

---

Outside the tunnel, a cracked dirt road stretched into the distance.

At the edge of the ridge, Anthony and Chi-Chi stopped for one last second.

She scanned the map. "Five clicks north. One minute window."

He nodded.

"Still think you should've gone alone?" she asked.

Anthony looked at her.

"No," he said quietly.

"Good."

She triggered her cloak.

And they vanished into the wind.