Before dawn's pale light touched NeoLuna's upper spires, the Neon Umbra gathered in the cavernous hangar beneath the Moonlight Sanctuary. The Astral Prism lay locked in Tuckling's containment lattice, its facets still pulsing with tremors of arcane energy. Aris Kael scanned the faces around him—Mara's copper cyberarms folded across her chest; Eira's staff reminding him how vital her magic would prove; Rho and Kael standing sentinel; Nyx perched at a dataterm, and Tuckling fussing over the Prism's stabilizers.
Eira broke the hush. "We need allies—fast. The Wardens have placed a bounty on this artifact. We can't defend every chokepoint."
Before Aris could reply, steel-toe boots echoed down the service corridor. Two envoys stepped into the lantern glow: a lithe woman flanked by a trio of armored Free Wardens, and a second pair draped in cybernetic swarms—delegates of the Ghostsun Collective. Both bowed in turn.
Free Warden Captain Alin spoke first: "We seek common cause. The Prism can reopen frozen wards—restore order to sectors our people still claim. Join us, Umbra, and we'll break corporate rule together."
Across the room, Ghostsun emissary Vox inclined his head, wires sparking along his temples. "Order, yes—but not theirs. Our syndicate will use the Prism's resonance to fracture their databanks, collapse corporate networks. We offer access codes, safe passage through every dead sector."
Mara exchanged a glance with Aris. "Both deals have merit," she said evenly. "But we can't trust either faction with full access to the Spiral's power."
Rho and Kael shifted, their augmented optics whirring. "We should side with the Wardens," Rho insisted. "They're disciplined—less likely to betray us."
Nyx shook her head. "Ghostsun's hacks could cripple the Wardens' reinforcements before they even arrive."
Tuckling sighed. "While you squabble, corporate drones close in. We're bleeding time."
Aris raised his hand, the Spiral rune on his palm glowing turquoise. Heart pounding, he tried to broker a consensus—but neither envoy would budge. Voices rose. Eira stepped forward and, with a sharp gesture, ignited a bolt of lunar mana between them—her warning clear.
In that flash of light, the fragile alliance shattered. The Free Wardens withdrew, retracting their proposal; the Ghostsun delegates vanished in a cloud of nanite mist, their parting words a promise of retaliation. Mara clenched her fist. "Now we have no one but ourselves."
Aris felt the weight of leadership settle on his shoulders. The Prism trembled in its cage, its glow flickering with the tension in the room. "We move alone," he declared. "No more outsiders—at least until we claim our own strength."
Eira's eyes were cool but proud. Rho and Kael gave a curt nod. Nyx tapped her console, rerouting security feeds. Tuckling adjusted the stabilizers.
As they sealed the hangar doors against the coming storm, Aris looked at the fractured circle of allies and friends. The path ahead would be harder now that trust had splintered. Yet under the Moonlight Sanctuary's vaulted ceiling, the Spiral in his palm pulsed steadily—an unspoken vow that no alliance, however broken, could dim the fire they carried within.