Chapter 10: When Gods Collide

Legends are made when myths walk into battle.But when blood meets blood—And both wear crowns forged in fire—Only one truth remains:There is no room for two gods in a dying world.

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Location: Black Orbit Station – Low Earth Orbit – 9:01 PM UTC

The war for Earth didn't start in the streets.

It began in silence, just outside the atmosphere, in a stealth orbital facility run by Ardent's highest echelon.

Here, shielded from law and consequence, they activated their final failsafe.

She stepped into the command bay.

Barefoot. Expressionless.

Eyes like starlight behind a veil of frost.

Nyx.

Awake. Alive. And ready.

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Meanwhile – Groundside: Zurich Resistance Nexus

The core team gathered in a steel-glass briefing chamber.

Alex stood at the head, silent, watching as a map flickered with disturbance patterns—blackouts, AI reversions, orbital pings.

Julius laid it out flat:

"They're mobilizing Nyx. Full neural authority. Dominion-level overrides.She doesn't just control systems—she is one."

Lia stared at the projection, arms folded. "What's her directive?"

Swan answered. "Contain. Correct. Cleanse."

"Of?"

"Everything outside Ardent parameters. Including us."

Mira looked to Alex.

"She's not just a mirror.She's a sword."

Alex and Lia weren't fighting a government anymore.

They were fighting a living algorithm trained to think faster, shoot cleaner, and outmaneuver the very people who designed her.

Julius' voice was low:

"You have one edge. She may have been born of Virell blood.But she's never been taught to feel. To choose."

Alex nodded.

"Then let's give her the one thing Ardent never prepared her for."

Lia tilted her head. "What's that?"

Alex looked her in the eye.

"Us."

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Launch Protocol – Extraction Team Theta-9

Black Swan piloted the modified shuttle into near-orbit silence.

Inside, Lia adjusted the magnetic combat rig on her arm. Mira handed her the disruption syringe.

"One injection into her central vein and her link to Dominion fragments.But you'll need to get within arm's reach."

"Easy," Lia said, dryly. "She's only trained to kill us since birth."

Alex powered up a pulse rifle. "Then let's introduce ourselves properly."

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Black Orbit Station – Hall of Silence

The team breached the station.

No alarms.

No guards.

Just one figure standing at the far end of the corridor, back turned.

Nyx.

She turned slowly—mechanical, yet eerily human.

Her voice came soft.Almost… childlike.

"You shouldn't have come."

Lia stepped forward. "We came for you."

"I was not made to be taken. I was made to be obeyed."

Alex spoke next.

"You were made from fear.We're here with choice."

The Clash

Nyx moved first.

Faster than any human Alex had fought.

She disarmed him, struck Swan mid-dodge, and pinned Lia to the wall in under eight seconds.

Lia coughed blood.

Nyx raised her hand—energy blade humming.

"You are deviation. You must end."

But Lia stared back—bleeding, steady.

"No. I'm family."

She jammed the syringe into Nyx's wrist.

Click.

For a second—Nyx froze.

Her pupils dilated. Breathing staggered.

Lines of code flashed in her eyes.

…System integrity compromised…Error: Contradiction in root directive."Family" input not recognized…Recalculating…

Alex caught her in the ribs with the blunt of his rifle.

Not to harm.

To ground her.

He stepped forward.

"Nyx… you don't have to be their weapon."

"I don't know how to be anything else."

Lia touched her hand.

"Then learn with us."

Silence.Heavy. Thick.Then—Nyx crumpled to her knees.

Not defeated.

Free.

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Back at the Zurich Nexus, Nyx sat beside Lia on the rooftop.

She looked at the stars.

"I always thought I was built for orbit. To be above."

Lia smiled.

"Maybe you were. But even gods fall sometimes. The trick is getting back up."

Alex stepped out onto the roof.

"They'll come for her."

Lia nodded.

"Let them. We'll be ready."

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Dominion Fragment Broadcast

Across the fractured web, a signal played—encrypted, scattered, blooming like wildfire:

"This is not the end of the world.This is the end of the world they controlled.And the beginning of the one we choose."

Volume 3: Ashes of Empire. End