Zhao's voice came through the comm again, rough and urgent. "Multiple heat signatures, thirty meters and closing. Small, fast — drones, definitely military."
Ethan moved before anyone else. "Ryker, seal the west hatch. Lara, kill every signal that isn't ours."
The calm in his voice wasn't cold; it was focused — the kind that cuts through panic.
He reached the main control desk, fingers flying over the cracked holographic keys. Screens flickered, casting blue light over his face as the old defense systems began to hum.
"Come on," he muttered, eyes narrowing. "Wake up."
Outside, the wind howled. Then — the first explosion hit.
A blinding flash tore through the rain, the shockwave BOOMED across the valley. Dust rained down from the ceiling, lights flickering.
Lara ducked behind a console. "They found us already?"
"Or followed us," Ethan said. "Either way, they're not leaving."
The old bunker walls groaned as another blast hit the outer layer. KA-THOOM! Metal screamed against metal. Zhao shouted over the noise, "We've got ten, maybe fifteen seconds before they breach!"
"Then let's make it count," Ethan said.
He slammed a switch. The old turrets hidden in the corridor ceiling clanked to life, their red targeting lights slicing through the dark. The room vibrated with the sharp WHIRRRR of charged capacitors.
The outer door split open with a deafening CRACK! and the drones poured in — sleek black shapes, each the size of a small animal, wings buzzing like hornets. Their guns flashed in stuttering bursts. TAK-TAK-TAK! Sparks flew as the bullets tore into the walls.
Ethan dropped behind a steel desk, his coat brushing dust from the floor. "Zhao, right flank!"
"On it!" Zhao fired short, controlled bursts — each shot precise, taking down one drone after another. Their remains scattered across the floor, twitching, still sparking.
Ryker stood like a wall at the entry, firing heavy rounds from his rifle that echoed through the chamber. BOOM–BOOM! Each shot was thunder.
Lara kept to the shadows, dragging a damaged console behind her. "Ethan, the power nodes are overheating!"
"I can handle it," he shouted, reconfiguring the systems through his wrist console. "Just keep them off me!"
A drone burst through the side vent, fast as lightning, its rotors whining. Lara turned just in time — fired once, missed, fired again — CRACK! The drone spun out and smashed against the wall, burning.
She exhaled hard, half in relief, half in disbelief. Ethan caught her look. "Nice shot."
"Don't get used to it," she said, reloading. But there was the faintest flicker of a smile.
Outside, thunder roared again — and this time, the echoes sounded almost like war drums.
Zhao ducked beside Ethan as another wave of drones appeared on the scanners. "They've got reinforcements."
"Then we shut them out." Ethan's eyes flicked over the interface.
"The old AI firewall's still intact. If I can reroute it—"
"English, please," Ryker shouted over the gunfire.
"I'm about to turn their targeting systems against them," Ethan said. "Give me thirty seconds."
"Thirty's too long," Zhao muttered.
But Ethan was already moving. Sparks flew from the console, smoke rising as he pushed the circuits past their limit.
The screens glitched — then every drone froze midair. Their red lights flickered once, twice… then went dark.
A deep silence fell. Only the hiss of rain through cracks in the ceiling remained.
Lara lowered her weapon, breathing hard. "Did you just—"
Ethan looked up, faint sweat streaking his temple. "Rewrote their command strings. They'll self-destruct in five seconds."
The countdown hit one.
Outside the bunker, a series of muffled BOOMs rolled across the valley, each one softer than the last, until only the rain was left.
No one spoke for a long moment. Then Ryker leaned against the wall, panting. "You're insane."
"I know,everyone says," Ethan said, catching his breath. "But it worked."
Lara walked closer, studying him. "You really think this can last? Us running, fighting like this?"
Ethan's voice was low, steady. "We're not running anymore."
He turned to the rest. "That was just a scout team. They'll send more. Which means we need to expand, recruit, rebuild."
Zhao frowned. "Recruit who? The government burned every bridge we had."
Ethan stood, brushing the dust off his coat. "Not every bridge. There are still scientists hiding, soldiers they discarded, people who saw what really happened." He looked around at each of them. "We find them. We bring them here."
Ryker nodded slowly. "And when they come, they'll bring trouble."
Ethan met his eyes. "Then we'll test them. No one enters this base without proving why they deserve to."
Lara leaned against the wall, her voice softer now. "You think you can trust people again?"
He looked at her, and there was something raw in his expression — not hope, exactly, but something close. "No. But I can teach them to trust the purpose."
A faint rumble echoed outside, distant thunder rolling through the clouds. Lara's eyes lingered on him a moment longer, as if she wanted to say something but didn't.
Instead, she turned away, muttering, "You're going to get us all killed."
Ethan replied quietly, "Maybe. But at least it'll mean something."
Zhao chuckled under his breath. "Guess that's as close to a pep talk as we'll get."
The storm raged above, lightning flashing across the cracked sky. Deep below, in the revived heart of the bunker, the hum of the machines grew stronger — the first signs of a rebirth beginning.
And somewhere inside the data cores, behind a flickering screen, a faint pulse of light blinked once — the echo of Erebus awakening.
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