ZETA ZONE – CORE ROOM, 09:16 AM
The lights lining the circular walls flickered to life. The new system was online—but not everything was over yet.
Angela Markef slowly rose from the rubble. Half her face burned, her energy bow shattered. She staggered forward, leaving a trail of blood on the metal floor.
Netanyavu emerged through the haze of broken concrete. Half his body scorched, still gripping a wild, glowing plasma blade. His breath was heavy, but his eyes blazed with fury.
"You think this is a victory?" he growled.
Broxtler stood in the center of the room, bruised and battered, his layered armor torn. Behind him, Shyblance stood with a knife in hand.
"ZETA is alive. You can't stop it now," Broxtler said flatly.
Angela let out a bitter laugh. "ZETA might live... but you'll die with it."
She leaped, what was left of her energy sparking. Her broken bow morphed into a whip of light. She launched it straight at Broxtler.
But Shyblance leaped first.
WHACK!
The energy whip slammed into her side, flinging her across the room.
Angela prepared to strike again—but Broxtler charged in, slamming his metal elbow into Angela's jaw.
CRACK!
She flew back, blood spilling from her mouth. But she still stood.
"I won't die... for a myth," she muttered, charging again.
The two clashed violently. Each hit thundered, bodies on the verge of collapse. Neither backed down.
On the other side, Netanyavu advanced toward the ZETA panel. He was aiming to shut it down.
But Shyblance, still on the floor, pulled herself up.
"I... won't... let you touch that system," she whispered.
Netanyavu glared. "You're just a shadow."
"Being a shadow doesn't mean darkness. Sometimes... it just means we haven't been seen yet."
She threw a knife—THUNK!—it lodged into Netanyavu's leg. He fell to his knees.
With the last of her strength, Shyblance ran and kicked him away from the console. They both crashed down together.
Broxtler and Angela were still fighting—until finally...
BANG!
A silent shot from Broxtler's pistol.
Angela froze. Looked down at her chest—punctured. Blood dripped like a final rain.
"You win... but this... isn't the end," she murmured before falling for good.
Netanyavu let out a cry, trying to rise. But his body gave out.
"We... will... return..." he gasped.
Broxtler approached. "If you come back... so will we."
Behind them, the ZETA screen lit up fully. The system upload completed.
New light filled the room. But on the floor, the final shadows of the old regime... would never rise again.
And the world... finally changed.
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BENITO MUSSOLINA'S FORTRESS — 09:22 AM
The steel fortress at the heart of Ravasna's ruins trembled with the echo of heavy boots. Benito Mussolina stood before a tactical glass window, staring east—toward the now-activated ZETA Core.
His face was pale. Jaw clenched. He gripped his command staff… and hurled it to the floor.
"They did it..."
He turned sharply, eyes burning.
"SEND EVERY UNIT. Kill Shyblance. Kill Broxtler. And burn ZETA to ash!"
Digital generals and mechanical captains received the order in silence. Heavy artillery, annihilation drones, and experimental soldiers were unleashed from the western hangars.
Mussolina stared at the monitor.
"If I can't control the future...
Then I'll destroy anyone who dares build it without my permission."
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ZETA PERIMETER — 09:41 AM
The skies flared with smoke and gunfire. Benito's forces came like an iron storm—armored and burning with rage. Broxtler and Shyblance now stood atop the collapsed gate of ZETA, facing the rising flames of the mechanical forest.
"We're almost out of ammo," Shyblance muttered.
"We don't need ammo. We need time."
Suddenly, the roar of engines echoed from the north.
A white-and-blue flag waved atop a steel convoy.
Unknown troops, marching in clean, disciplined formation.
At the front—Vladimir Lenan.
He stepped out of his armored vehicle and walked toward Broxtler. Everything fell silent. Even the sound of guns felt distant.
"I'm not here as a leader... but as a man who once chose wrong."
Broxtler stared coldly at him.
Lenan took a breath.
"When you saved Shyblance, I... did nothing. I thought it wasn't my fight. But now I know—silence is just another form of betrayal."
Shyblance stepped forward. "Then why now?"
Lenan looked at both of them.
"Because I saw a system brave enough to rebel without asking for permission. And because my people deserve to know... who truly guards their future."
He raised his hand.
"ALL UNITS, FORM A DEFENSIVE WALL AROUND ZETA. NOTHING GETS THROUGH."
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THE WAR FOR CIVILIZATION — 09:47 AM
Two worlds collided.
Benito's army came like wildfire. Lenan's forces stood like a wall of wind.
Drones exploded mid-air. Mussolina's experimental tanks rolled in—but Lenan's formations held like a hive. Electromagnetic weapons and sonic defenses pushed back the invasion.
Broxtler and Shyblance didn't stand still.
They moved through the rubble, sabotaging enemy comms, opening paths for counterattacks.
"We're not just surviving," Broxtler said. "We're proving that truth can lead a war."
And on a battlefield soaked in blood and steel...
A war for civilization had begun.
Old shadows… against a future trying to rise.
✦ ✧ ✦ ✧