The boarding torpedoes slammed into the Leviathan's broken hull with bone-rattling force. The impact tore fresh scars across its blackened surface, molten fragments scattering into the void like dying stars. Hatches blew open, and Ashoka's soldiers surged forward into the beast's insides.
The air within was foul—thick with smoke, blood, and the stench of something unnatural. The walls pulsed faintly as though the ship itself was alive, veins of crimson energy flickering weakly after the Suryastra's strike. Shadows moved in the haze. The defenders were waiting.
The first clash came instantly. Black-armored warriors of the Council charged with blades and rifles glowing crimson, their war cries echoing through the twisted corridors.
Ashoka's troops met them head-on. Steel rang. Gunfire roared. The darkness lit with bursts of energy and arcs of plasma.
At the front, Arhaan was a thunderstorm. His massive frame plowed through enemy lines, swinging his plasma axe with savage force. Every strike shattered bone, every roar broke morale. He carved a path forward, his laughter booming even as blood sprayed across his armor.
"Come on, you carrion-feeders!" he bellowed. "I'll send you screaming back to your masters!"
Beside him, Ashoka moved like fire made flesh. His blade gleamed gold in the hellish light, cutting with precision where Arhaan crushed with brute power. Each movement was exact, measured, yet filled with fury that shook the hearts of his enemies.
But the corridors twisted like a maze, and the Leviathan fought back as though it were alive. Doors slammed shut, splitting squads apart. Energy surges erupted from the walls, frying men alive in arcs of crimson lightning. Whole sections groaned, collapsing into pits of molten metal.
Meera, leading the rear with her tactical team, hacked into the ship's systems through portable consoles. Sparks flew as she forced the enemy's doors open, rerouting power to keep their soldiers alive. "Move!" she cried. "The ship's self-defense is adapting—we don't have long!"
Step by bloody step, they pushed toward the Leviathan's core.
When they reached the central chamber, a silence hung in the air. The place was vast, a cathedral of black steel and red light. At its center pulsed the Leviathan's heart—a colossal crystal engine, cracked and leaking energy like blood from a wound. Around it stood the ship's remaining elite defenders, cloaked in armor etched with runes of the Shadows.
And before the heart, waiting with his blade drawn, stood the Leviathan Commander.
He was a towering figure, his armor a fusion of steel and living flesh, his helm shaped like a snarling beast. When he spoke, his voice rattled the chamber like the growl of an ancient monster.
"You dare crawl inside my vessel, like maggots into a lion's carcass? Foolish emperor. Here, your empire dies."
Ashoka stepped forward, his blade raised, his soldiers forming behind him. His voice rang clear, steady, unbreakable:
"No. Here, your shadow ends. And the dawn begins."
The chamber erupted.
The Shadows charged, and the final battle for the Leviathan's heart began.
Steel clashed with steel. Gunfire thundered in deafening waves. The chamber became chaos incarnate. Arhaan hurled himself at a trio of Shadow elites, his axe smashing through their defenses in sprays of sparks. Meera's sharpshooters held the high ground, raining precise fire into the melee.
Ashoka and the Leviathan Commander met in the center, blades crossing in a storm of sparks.
The enemy's strength was monstrous. Each blow shook Ashoka's arms to the bone, every strike carrying the weight of an avalanche. But Ashoka endured, countering with speed and precision, his blade cutting arcs of golden fire.
Their duel raged across the chamber, striking against the crystal heart itself, sending cracks through the glowing core.
Finally, with a roar that shook his very soul, Ashoka drove his blade deep into the Commander's chest. The Shadow staggered, eyes burning with hate even as his life bled away. With his last breath, he hissed:
"You cannot stop us… the Council is eternal."
Ashoka pulled his blade free, and the Commander collapsed.
The Leviathan's heart cracked fully, erupting in waves of unstable energy. The ship screamed around them, shaking itself apart.
"Everyone out!" Meera shouted. "It's going to blow!"
They ran, dragging wounded comrades, racing against the rising fire. Boarding pods launched away just as the Leviathan tore itself open, the explosion blinding, glorious, like a dying star collapsing in fury.
From the bridge of the Indraprastha, the survivors watched as the beast finally perished, its remains scattering into the void.
Ashoka stood at the viewport, silent, his face carved in steel. He had won—but the words of the dying Commander burned in his mind. The Council is eternal.
He knew this was not the end. It was only the beginning.