The sky above Bastion Theta burned red.
Kael and Elira emerged from the collapsed sublevels, blinking into the blinding light of Parliament airships descending like vultures.
The insignia on their hulls—black wings over a shattered world—was unmistakable.
Elite. Execution-class.
Not a rescue.
A purge.
Elira whispered, "How did they get here so fast?"
"They were never far," Kael muttered, stepping forward. "They were watching."
A crackle from the overhead comms.
"Unit Nine, fan out. Capture the Aberrant. Lethal force authorized."
Kael froze.
The name.
Aberrant.
Not soldier. Not deserter. Not even traitor.
Aberrant meant something that should never have existed.
Something unnatural.
---
Six Years Ago — Blackridge Military Academy
Kael stood in rank, young and hopeful.
Beside him: Orin.
Back then, Orin had been like an older brother—sharp-jawed, arrogant, magnetic. A prodigy. The kind of man who could make killing look like poetry.
"You're too soft," Orin told him once, in the training yard. "You hesitate. You care."
Kael had laughed. "And you don't?"
"I care about winning. That's what matters."
Later that year, something happened.
An experiment in the lower levels.
A creature—barely human.
Kael wasn't supposed to see it.
He wasn't supposed to touch the containment glass.
But he did.
And the thing responded.
It whispered his name, even though it shouldn't have known it.
"Kael…"
The next day, the creature was gone.
And Kael woke up with a scar on his chest that hadn't been there before.
He never told anyone.
Not even Orin.
---
Present — Bastion Theta
"Run," Elira said.
Kael's eyes glowed faintly. "No."
"You can't fight them all."
"I don't need to. I just need one."
He stepped into the open—arms raised as soldiers surrounded him. Dozens. Guns trained. Eyes sharp.
And at the center, descending from the largest airship, was Lieutenant Orin.
Clad in silver-gray armor.
Not a trace of the brother Kael remembered.
Just cold steel and command.
---
Orin landed hard, boots cracking the ruined concrete.
He didn't hesitate.
Didn't speak.
Just raised his gauntlet—and fired.
A bolt of sonic force blasted Kael backward, slamming him into the Bastion wall.
"Kael of Bastion Prime," Orin said, voice amplified. "By the authority of the Central Parliament, you are classified as Aberrant. You will be executed under Code Null-Seven."
Elira screamed, running toward him—but soldiers grabbed her.
Kael coughed blood, standing slowly.
"No trial?" he rasped.
"No need."
"You used to believe in me," Kael said. "You trained me."
Orin's eyes narrowed. "I believed in who you were. Not what you've become."
Kael's power stirred—lines glowing under his skin again.
"Then let's find out who I really am."
---
The Air Exploded
Kael moved with a blur.
Too fast.
His blade of pure energy formed mid-swing, slicing through the nearest two soldiers before they could scream.
Orin reacted instantly—engaging his tech armor's anti-Aberrant shield.
But Kael didn't slow.
Blow after blow—inhuman speed. Power rippling with every movement.
Orin met him strike for strike, shouting commands between attacks.
"Engage Protocol Delta! Shocknets now!"
Arcs of electricity flew—binding Kael's arms.
He screamed—but something inside him pushed harder.
The shocknets burned away.
His skin cracked, glowing white underneath.
And then—he changed.
His voice deepened, layered with something other.
"You're afraid of me," he growled.
Orin's jaw clenched. "I saw the reports. You're the Echoborn."
Kael's eyes blazed.
"Not Echoborn."
He lunged forward—smashed Orin into the ground.
"I'm the Devourer's Heir."
---
Soldiers fled as the ground trembled.
Kael stood above Orin, blade crackling inches from his neck.
But Orin smiled.
"You think this is over?"
Kael frowned.
Orin's voice lowered.
"It's not you the Parliament fears."
"They're afraid of what's still buried beneath Bastion Prime."
"And the moment you awakened… it woke up too."
Kael's heart stopped.
Because Bastion Prime was his home.
Where his mother died.
Where the monsters first came.
Where the truth waited.
Waiting to be devoured.