Chapter 15 — The Collapse
The ceiling split with a thunderous roar.
Dust billowed through the war room, choking the air. Metal beams groaned under the weight of the entire mountain pressing down.
Kael moved before anyone else could react.
"Go!" he shouted.
Mira hauled the boy toward the service corridor. Lyra covered their flank, firing controlled bursts at regrouping Dominion troops.
Kael followed — but stopped when Varek dragged himself from the rubble.
"Running?" Varek croaked, smeared with ash and blood. "That's not what PRIME was made for."
Kael turned back.
His voice was quiet.
"No. It wasn't."
Then the ceiling fully gave way.
Kael thrust his hand upward.
Energy exploded from him, forming a shimmering barrier that caught the collapsing rock like a massive invisible shield. The floor beneath his feet cracked from the strain.
Mira froze halfway down the corridor.
"Kael!"
Her voice ripped through him.
He gritted his teeth, forcing the barrier higher.
"Go!" he shouted. "Get the kid out!"
Lyra grabbed Mira and pulled her back.
The boy twisted in Mira's grip, reaching toward Kael.
"You said we're connected! Let me help!"
Kael looked at him — really looked.
The fear.
The guilt.
The hope.
"No," Kael said softly. "You deserve a life that isn't chained to this."
The boy's voice broke. "Don't do this."
Kael smiled.
"Someone has to buy you time."
The corridor door slammed shut between them.
Lower Service Tunnel
The hallway shook violently. Mira punched the control panel, overriding the manual lock. Lyra shoved the boy ahead.
"Run! Hangar's close!"
The boy hesitated. "We can't leave him!"
Mira grabbed his shoulders. Her voice shook with fury and grief.
"We are not losing you too."
The boy trembled — torn apart.
"But if he dies— PRIME dies with him. And so do I."
Mira's breath caught.
Lyra swore under her breath.
"We don't know that. And Kael just bought us a chance to find out."
The tunnel lights flickered.
The mountain groaned.
They ran.
War Room — Kael
Kael dropped to one knee.
His barrier held the collapsing ceiling — for now — but the full sync burned through him like molten glass.
Prime whispered inside his skull.
‹ NEURAL SYSTEM AT 82% DEGRADATION ›
"Yeah," Kael rasped. "Feels like it."
Varek staggered toward him, limping, sparks bleeding from his armor.
"You don't even know what you're holding back. PRIME isn't a weapon — it's evolution."
Kael looked up at him.
"No. It's slavery."
Varek sneered. "Then show me you're free."
He raised a plasma pistol.
Kael exhaled.
For the first time, PRIME didn't push anger or control.
It simply waited.
Kael lowered the barrier.
Not fully — just enough.
A chunk of ceiling slammed into Varek, trapping him beneath a collapsed support beam.
Varek's scream was drowned out by grinding stone.
Kael pushed the barrier back up, pulse hammering. His body shook violently.
‹ WARNING: CARDIAC RHYTHM DESTABILIZING ›
Kael whispered:
"I know."
Another section of ceiling collapsed.
Kael caught it with his other hand.
His bones felt like they were shattering.
Extraction Hangar
The hangar doors were half-buried under rubble. Refugees scrambled toward transports. Techs shoved crates aside to carve a path.
Lyra sprinted to a ship and barked orders.
"Get engines hot! Now!"
Mira looked back toward the tunnel.
The boy did too.
"I can feel him," the boy whispered, voice faint. "He's… fading."
Mira's jaw clenched. Tears trembled but didn't fall.
"He's not done yet."
War Room — Kael
Blood dripped from Kael's nose.
PRIME energy flared around him — not like a weapon, but like wings made of living light.
The mountain continued to collapse.
Varek gasped under the rubble, reaching toward him with a shaking hand.
"Kael… don't let it control you…"
Kael met his eyes.
"Funny. Coming from you."
The rock above him groaned — seconds from giving way.
Kael could let it end here.
But then he remembered:
Mira's hand on his.
Lyra's steady loyalty.
The boy's small, desperate voice.
He braced his legs.
And stood up.
The mountain screamed.
Kael screamed louder — energy ripping through him, burning bright enough to turn stone to molten slag. The power wasn't PRIME taking over.
It was Kael choosing.
"I am not your weapon," he snarled.
The collapse reversed outward — rock exploding into dust.
He hurled the debris aside in a single pulse.
For a moment…
The room cleared.
Kael swayed.
‹ SYNCHRONIZATION PEAK CRITICAL ›
His heart stuttered.
His vision went white.
Hangar
A shockwave of blinding light erupted from the tunnel entrance — dust blasting outward in a ring.
The hangar fell silent.
The boy whispered, "Kael—"
Kael stumbled into view.
Barely moving. Barely conscious.
The PRIME armor flickered on his skin like dying stars.
Mira ran to him, catching him as he collapsed.
"Hey— hey, stay with me!"
Kael tried to speak.
No sound came out.
The boy reached them, falling to his knees beside Kael.
"I… I can stabilize the sync. If we connect."
Mira froze. "That could kill you."
He looked up, eyes damp.
"So could doing nothing."
Kael's fingers twitched — reaching for the boy's hand.
But before he could touch—
Dominion drop-pods slammed into the hangar.
Hundreds of soldiers.
Mira lifted her rifle.
Lyra stepped beside her.
The boy squeezed Kael's hand.
"You're not dying here."
Kael's eyes opened — glowing again.
White and crimson.
He whispered, voice raw:
"Then neither are you."