The void was quiet again.
Architect wreckage drifted like ash across the stars, crimson fires fading into cold darkness. The Ghost Fleet floated in rigid formation, their glyphs still burning, their guns still hot.
And Maya collapsed.
Vector caught her before she hit the floor, lowering her gently against the fractured deck. Her veins still glowed, the light reaching dangerously close to her chest. Her breath came in shallow, ragged pulls.
"You burned yourself out," Vector whispered, panic breaking through his voice. "Damn it, Maya…"
Rei stumbled forward, eyes still wide with awe. "She won. She woke the fleet. Do you understand what that means? She's not just an anchor — she's Echo reborn."
"Shut up," Vector snarled, holding her tighter.
Maya forced her eyes open. The Archive still hummed faintly inside her, weaker now, but present. And beneath it—
Kiran.
"Maya… every ship you woke… dragged me deeper. I don't know how much longer I'm still me."
Her chest seized. "Kiran…"
The voice broke into static, then returned, softer, almost gone.
"Don't come for me."
The connection snapped. Silence crashed in its place.
Maya stared at the void through the viewport — at the fleet she had awakened, at the power she had unleashed — and felt nothing but hollow ache. Victory had never tasted so much like loss.
🔥 Next chapter: The Echo War Returns. The Architects won't stop now — and Maya's victory may have just reignited the galaxy's oldest war.