Chapter 17: Burn Protocol
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Imperial Command — Sub-Orbit Fortress, Vanthex Station
> "Initiate Burn Protocol. All uncontrolled Echoes are now classified as Tier Zero threats."
The order came from High Executor Vireon himself — direct command over Project Aeonfall's covert assets.
> "Any Echo not transmitting obedience signals is to be captured or eliminated on sight. No exceptions."
Three divisions were mobilized.
The Black Sun Wardens — Void-powered assassins engineered from failed Echo vessels.
The Inquisitorial Vanguard — elite suppressors trained to counter Architect-level anomalies.
And worst of all, the Signalbinders — synthetic psions capable of overriding neural resonance for forced containment.
> "Echo-23 is the priority target," Vireon added coldly. "Bring him in… or bring back pieces."
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Eos Fringe World: Site Theta-9
Dust.
Ash.
And the hum of twisted machinery beneath a dying sky.
Kael stepped through the ancient gateway, Ryssa right behind him. The transition had left her weak — but Kael was different now.
His body felt wired to something deeper. The ground pulsed faintly beneath his boots. A dead world… but still listening.
> "This place… what is it?" Ryssa asked.
> "A field of failures," Kael said. "Where other Echoes were buried… or broken."
Scattered across the wasteland were blackened pylons — ancient Imperial markers. Each one was once a stasis tomb. Dozens had been torn open.
And not all were empty.
> "Others woke up before me," Kael whispered.
> "And not all of them were sane."
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Across the Ridge
The air shimmered.
Figures moved — in formation, but silent.
The Black Sun Wardens had arrived.
Cloaked in phase-void, their bodies radiated an oppressive pressure. They bore no insignia — only glyphs of containment and extinction.
They did not speak.
They did not hesitate.
They began to move.
> "[Target resonance match: Echo-23 and Uncatalogued Female — Class Unbound]" "[Initiating containment loop. Tactical descent in T-minus 12 seconds.]"
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Within the Ruins
Kael felt it before they appeared.
A pull.
A warning.
His mind—newly awakened—registered incoming kinetic vectors, predictive arcs, neural slicing algorithms.
> "Run?" Ryssa asked.
> "No," Kael answered, eyes glowing faintly violet.
> "We stand."
He raised his hand.
Void energy coiled around him — not chaotic this time, but shaped, focused. A blade formed from fractured code and pure will. The Void Architect's fragments weren't trying to control him anymore.
He was commanding them.
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The Battle Begins
The first Warden dropped — sleek, fast, wielding a blade of blacklight. Kael met the strike mid-air, voidsteel shrieking against voidborn code.
Ryssa moved too, her pulse-daggers snapping to life. She fought with fluid precision — not a warrior, but a ghost. And she had learned to fight by watching Kael.
More Wardens surged.
They fought in silence.
But so did Kael now.
Every move unlocked new layers of control. His power didn't roar — it resonated. And the land answered.
Pylons began to flicker. Memory-locked Echo tombs stirred. Some even opened.
And something old… began to wake.
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High Orbit — Imperial Command Feed
> "[Status Update: Site Theta-9 — Anomaly Detected]" "[Echo-23 engaged. Containment resistance at 78%.]" "[Resonance Drift expanding to non-local signatures.]"
Executor Vireon frowned. "What's causing that expansion?"
A technician hesitated.
> "Sir… I think he's waking the others."
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Final Moments of the Chapter
Kael stood amid the fallen.
Not all enemies. Not all friends.
Just others like him — some stirring. Some dead.
Ryssa joined him, blood on her blade, gaze locked on a flickering tomb ahead.
> "They're not stopping," she said.
> "Good," Kael replied.
> "Neither are we."
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