The sky above Raisena Hills boiled with silent storm clouds, blotting out the moon with sheets of ash-gray haze. Below, the rebel aircraft carved an invisible path through the mist, its retro-reflective panels blending it perfectly with the terrain. Inside, tension crackled like static.
Shivam stood near the cockpit; eyes fixed on the terrain through the forward glass. The hills rolled beneath them in shadow, broken only by the jagged scars of old excavation routes — the veins of the Raisena mine. It looked less like a resource field and more like the skeletal remains of something ancient and wronged.
"They shut this place down twenty years ago," Agastya muttered behind him. "Not because the Noctirum dried up — but because the mine turned on its masters."
Adhivita looked up from the crate of equipment she was inspecting. "You mean it collapsed?"
"I mean it resisted," Agastya corrected quietly.
Dikshant raised an eyebrow. "That's... not creepy at all."
The aircraft touched down with a soft thud in the old maintenance zone. Vines and collapsed scaffolding had long since claimed the outer machinery, and a rusted warning sign flapped limply from its bolts.
DANGER – STRUCTURAL INSTABILITY – UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY PROHIBITED
The squad moved in silence, led by Agastya and two miners armed with extraction gear. Shivam took point beside Adhivita, while the others spread out in formation, watching every shadow.
Inside the mine, the air was thick with mineral dust and an eerie stillness. The walls glimmered with faint veins of Noctirum, glowing an electric blue from deep within the stone like veins under skin. The ore was beautiful — and impossibly dense.
"Eyes sharp," Agastya warned. "Noctirum can emit feedback. Stay close."
They advanced into the mine, their flashlights slicing through the darkness. The terrain grew trickier — jagged slopes, shattered platforms, gaps in the walkways that had been hastily rebuilt using wooden planks. The deeper they went, the more the mine began to hum.
Not with life — but memory.
Every now and then, the metal beams creaked as though remembering the last collapse. Dust fell from above. Adhivita stayed close to Shivam, her steps careful but fearless. Behind them, Aanchal scouted ahead with a blade drawn, while Aman watched the rear.
Shivam paused at a fork in the tunnel.
"To the left," said Agastya, nodding toward a narrow path bordered by veins of glowing Noctirum. "That's the main cluster chamber."
The chamber opened before them like the ribcage of some ancient beast. Giant crystals of Noctirum burst out of the earth at chaotic angles. They pulsed slowly, like a heartbeat.
"I've never seen anything like this," Aanchal whispered.
"This is where we'll extract," Agastya said. "Two units minimum. But be fast. This place doesn't like visitors."
Shivam remained still; eyes locked on the largest crystal.
It was as if it were watching him back.
Meanwhile, at Samaypur Mine...
Night had fallen like a blade.
The Dominion's Samaypur facility buzzed with dim activity. Searchlights swept across the outer yards, where massive industrial drills sat in rows like sleeping giants. Inside the command room, low-ranking officers paced with tension they didn't understand. Something felt... off. Then it began.
Explosions rocked the eastern wall. Rebel charges — precise, powerful, loud enough to draw every guard. Alarms wailed through the halls. From the shadows, a wave of rebels poured in — masked, fast, and non-lethal.
The attack was brutal but careful. Rebels disabled turrets and guards with EMP shots and stun grenades. Not a single life was taken. Not even when the Dominion troops opened fire.
Commander Vidhart himself led the charge, armor glowing with rebellion insignia, blade drawn like a commander from myth.
"This is a distraction," he roared over the comms. "Our target is time, not territory. Hold the line!"
Inside the barracks of the Dominion Air Force near Samaypur...
Sumit and Pawan had already heard the explosions before the alarms hit their quarters. The base was in frenzy — commanders shouting orders, soldiers scrambling into suits.
"Rebel attack in the Samaypur sector," someone called. The two boys exchanged glances.
"They're here," Pawan whispered. Sumit swallowed hard. "We knew this day was coming."
They grabbed their gear, keeping their expressions flat. Obedient. Loyal. The perfect low-rank soldiers. But beneath the calm, Sumit tapped three buttons into his encrypted wrist pad — a distress signal, short and quiet.
A direct ping to Vidhart's hidden frequency. HELP US TALK.
They weren't sure if it got through. But it was all they could do for now.
Moments later, an officer stormed into the dormitory. "You two! Pilots in training, report to Deck Three. You're going airborne."
Pawan gave a crisp nod. "Yes, sir."
As they moved through the chaotic hangar, Sumit leaned close. "If this goes sideways... you ready to run?"
Pawan didn't answer. But the way his jaw clenched was enough.
The extraction was underway.
Miners, under Agastya's guidance, carefully used sonic chisels to dislodge shards of the crystal without causing a chain reaction. Noctirum vibrated with a strange frequency — sometimes matching their heartbeats.
Shivam watched silently. He didn't touch the ore. He didn't have to. It pulsed more when he was near. Naina noticed. "It's reacting to you again."
"I don't think it ever stopped," he said softly.
A moment later, a distant rumble echoed through the mine. Dust trickled from the ceiling.
"Collapse risk?" Aanchal asked.
Agastya shook his head. "No. Something else. A tremor, not structural." Suddenly, a light on the comm-link blinked red.
A static-laced voice burst through: "Samaypur under siege. Heavy rebel assault. Dominion scrambling air support. Operation Emberfront successful so far." Adhivita exhaled in relief.
"They've done it. The distraction's working."
Aman looked to Shivam. "Then we finish this. Get the ore, and get out." They pushed harder.
By the end of the hour, the two crates were full — each sealed and reinforced with energy dampeners. Noctirum, fresh and unstable, hummed inside them like caged lightning.
But even as they prepared to leave, Shivam paused again at the largest crystal.
A single line of glowing blue light traveled up his arm as he placed a hand against it.
Thank you, a whisper echoed in his mind — whether from within or from the mine itself, he didn't know.
Elsewhere, miles above...
Inside a sleek Dominion jet, Prince Lavin Vyer leaned back in his throne-like seat, fingers steepled beneath his chin. He watched the incoming reports scroll across a holographic screen.
Samaypur mine... under siege. He smiled. Not in concern. Not in fear. In anticipation.
"Finally," he whispered. "A chance to prove I am not my sister."
The co-pilot turned slightly. "Orders, Your Highness?"
"Take me there. Full speed. I want to walk on that mine's ashes before dawn."
The ship roared faster, slicing through the sky like a predator. Behind him, guards in jet-black armor readied weapons — not for rebels, but to carry out whatever command the prince gave next.
As Shivam's team prepared to exfiltrate, a sudden tremor rolled through the mine.
At first, it was subtle — a low vibration underfoot, like the heartbeat of the mountain had quickened. Then, a sharper jolt snapped through the walls. Rocks crumbled from overhead. Agastya grabbed a nearby strut and shouted over the rising dust, "Everyone down!"
They ducked behind fallen metal beams as the tremor settled into a lingering rumble. The crystals in the mine pulsed brighter now, responding — or perhaps warning. The air had shifted. Pressure built like something unsaid.
"That wasn't a collapse," Aanchal muttered, squinting toward the tunnel. "Something just woke up."
"Noctirum resonance is peaking," Agastya confirmed, checking a flickering sensor on his wrist. "We've hit a threshold. Any more extraction and we risk a chain flare."
"Translation?" Aman snapped, shielding the crates with his body.
"Translation: we take what we've got and get out before this mine decides to turn us into statues."
With a shared nod, the group moved — faster now. The crates, glowing softly inside their reinforced dampeners, were slotted into a hover-sled and pushed by the miners and rebels.
As they neared the tunnel entrance, Shivam glanced back one last time at the pulsing heart of the mine. His skin still tingled from where he'd touched the crystal. A voice still echoed faintly in his bones. He didn't understand it — not fully. But the connection was real.
He turned away.
Outside, the aircraft was already spooling power, engines whispering against the canyon walls. Aanchal and Naina secured the sled. Dikshant and Aman took positions on either side with weapons drawn. Adhivita gave a sharp nod to Agastya, who returned it silently, his eyes still on the crates.
The loading ramp hissed open.
"Go!" Naina barked.
As they scrambled aboard, Shivam was the last to step in. Just before the doors sealed, he looked up — toward the top of Raisena Hills, the fog rolling like silent thunder over its jagged teeth.
Meanwhile, above Samaypur…
Sumit and Pawan flew in tight formation behind a squad of Dominion patrol ships. Their smaller vessels were fast, nimble — built for air maneuvers and guard duty, not heavy combat. The radios crackled with Dominion chatter.
"…Rebel forces confirmed on ground level. Maintain altitude until further directive."
Pawan tapped his flight panel, subtle. A small green light blinked — the comm-scrambler.
"They're here," he said, voice low. "Vidhart's team. It's real."
Sumit adjusted course slightly to avoid a tighter cluster. "How do we reach them without giving ourselves up?"
"We don't. Not yet. We stay in formation. Wait for the shift rotation. I'll try to ping the signal again when we're in shadow." Ready to flew on — faces stoic, hearts racing.
Far above Samaypur, the sleek Dominion warcraft tore through the clouds like a blade through silk. Inside its main cabin, Prince Lavin Vyer stood silent — armor gleaming under crimson emergency lights, his cape trembling slightly from the engine's backdraft.
Below him, the mine burned with distant flashes. He could feel it — not just the heat, but the hum. The pulse of rebellion. His lips curled into a sneer.
"They dare strike here," he murmured, mostly to himself. "While my sister plays insurgent and my father grows blind with age... It's always left to me."
The pilot hesitated behind the control console. "Shall we prepare the drop pods, Your Highness?"
"No," Lavin said.
He turned toward the bay doors. His eyes shimmered — unnaturally. Blue threads of energy coiled around his hands. The veins across his neck and forearms lit up like circuitry.
"I don't need a pod."
And then, without another word, Lavin pressed a button on the side hatch.
Alarms flared. The pressure system groaned. And the rear doors of the aircraft flung open to the sky. With a twisted grin, Lavin stepped into the wind and jumped. He plummeted.
A blur of darkness against the clouds, faster than any human should fall.
From the ground, rebels turned their heads — a noise like screaming air cutting through the sky. Then— BOOM.
He landed like a meteorite — a shockwave exploded outward, sending dust and gravel flying in a ten-meter radius. Soldiers were thrown back. The very ground cracked beneath his boots. The cloud that rose was thick, choking, like a curtain pulled over the battlefield.
Commander Vidhart stumbled back a step, shielding his eyes. The dust settled slowly... and from within it, a figure emerged. Tall. Unscarred. Unsmiling.
Lavin Vyer pulsed with energy, wrapped in a deep purple-gold aura that flickered like storm fire. His armor seemed to hum, almost singing — a song of war and pride. His eyes burned like dying stars.
Vidhart grabbed his radio with a clenched fist.
"…We've got a problem." The signal bounced across open channels.
Inside the extraction aircraft, Shivam's team — halfway through securing the crates — froze as the message crackled through their comms.
Naina looked up. "Was that—?"
Aanchal's hand tightened on her weapon. "Vidhart."
And Shivam… Shivam already knew. He could feel it in the pit of his chest. The Noctirum in his veins stirred — as if recognizing something familiar... and dangerous.
Outside, Lavin stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. A thin smile curled on his lips. "Let's play," he whispered.