Opening – The Hunt Begins
The forest beyond the valley is dense and choked with creeping mist. The strike team—seven in total, including Kaelen and Seren—moves silently through its depths.
They follow residual power trails detected by Taryn's scan of the fallen Alpha: low-frequency pulses pointing west toward a mountainous ridge known as the Spine of Glass—a place long thought sealed by tectonic shifts after the First Collapse.
"This region hasn't registered activity in centuries," Seren mutters. "If the Coil's awake here… Zarxes has been busy."
Kaelen doesn't answer. He already feels the pull. A distant hum beneath his skin. Memory whispers in his blood like static.
Something familiar waits ahead.
First Discovery – The Hollow Men
As they descend into the ridge's base, the team stumbles upon a field of motionless sentries—early Hound prototypes, discarded or dormant. Half-fused with the ground. Limbs locked. Their faces, if they can be called that, are blank.
Seren kneels by one and scans its power core. Her face tightens.
"These aren't soldiers. They're hosts. The programming is incomplete—they were… being grown."
Kaelen steps forward and places a hand on the shell of one.
"Or remembered."
Into the Ruin – The Coil's Nursery
Following the signal deeper, they discover an ancient Isu facility hidden beneath the mountain—accessible only via a vertical shaft masked by optical illusions.
The team descends via old Isu lift pads, entering what looks like a bio-research complex crossed with a shrine. Spiral patterns dominate the walls. Organic tubing pulses faintly with synthetic light.
Then they find it:
A nest of partially-grown Hounds suspended in stasis tanks—some human in shape, some entirely alien. The tanks are linked by a central spire pulsing with crimson light.
On one terminal: a live data feed from the Coil's AI core.
Zarxes' voice crackles through the system—pre-recorded, but recent.
"Adaptation is our birthright. The First Rebellion feared it. I perfected it."
"When the Flame rises again, it will face itself."
The Revelation – Echoes of the Flame
Kaelen interfaces with the terminal, allowing a secure link through his Spark. The moment it connects, a rush of information floods in—fragments of memory belonging not to him, not even to Vael'Ruun…
But to the early subjects of the Spark Project.
Test subjects. Volunteers. Prisoners.
One of them bears Kaelen's face.
But it isn't him.
"What is this?" Seren whispers, scanning it beside him. "These memories… these aren't just stored. They're being copied."
Kaelen staggers back, breath stolen.
"Zarxes isn't just building soldiers. He's trying to recreate the Awakened—but loyal to him."
Closing – Fire and Flight
Kaelen gives the order.
"Burn it all."
The team plants charges on the relay core and the bio-vats. As they prepare to escape, alarms scream—automated defense units awaken. The team fights its way out, sustaining casualties.
As the mountain collapses behind them in a controlled implosion, Kaelen looks back one last time.
"He's not trying to kill us," he says coldly. "He's trying to replace us."