The world burned.
From horizon to horizon, the heavens were alive with war. The fleets of Earth and Controval-3 clashed among the clouds—streaks of red and blue light slicing through the night like falling stars. Explosions rolled across the stratosphere, lighting up the ruins of the old world below.
Inside the command ship Aegis Prime, Fujita Giono stood surrounded by chaos. Screens flickered, crew shouted orders, metal shook with every blast. His reflection in the cracked glass looked like a ghost of his past—a soldier reborn in the same fire that once broke him.
"Enemy fleet closing in!" shouted Kinyu Kioski, his voice steady but sharp. "They're pushing from the eastern orbit!"
"Deploy the Skyguard Wings," Fujita ordered. "And tell Captain Mira to hold the southern flank. No retreat."
"Yes, Commander!"
Beside them, Dr. Oton Pris worked on the control board, sweat on his brow. "Their weapon signatures—it's not just plasma. They're mixing organic energy with neural link coding. Those ships think, Fujita. They predict."
Fujita's jaw tightened. "Then we'll teach them what instinct feels like."
Outside, Earth's ships dove through waves of Controval drones—metallic serpents that screamed through the air, slicing hulls apart. Each time one exploded, its fragments reformed, twisting back into shape. Pris was right. They were alive.
Then came the Revenant.
The great warship rose from behind a broken moon, its hull glowing with crimson veins. Its sheer presence silenced the airwaves. On its bridge stood Ryven Korr, calm and cold, his eyes burning like the planet he once fought for.
"Lock onto Aegis Prime," he said. "I want Fujita to see the face of his failure."
The Revenant's cannons lit up, and a beam of pure energy tore through the sky. Fujita's ship shuddered as shields cracked, sparks flew, and alarms wailed.
"Shields down to forty percent!" Kinyu shouted.
"Focus all power to the starboard thrusters," Fujita commanded. "We're not dying in orbit."
The ship lurched sideways, barely dodging another blast. Through the viewport, Fujita caught a glimpse of the Revenant—and for a moment, through the static of their comms, he heard a voice.
> "You taught me everything I know, Fujita. Now watch what your lessons built."
It was Ryven.
Fujita froze, just for a second. Then his hand slammed onto the console. "Open all channels."
"This is Commander Fujita Giono," his voice echoed through every fleet, every fighter. "We stand for Earth, for the memory of those who fell before us. Today we don't fight for victory—we fight because we must."
And then he gave the order.
> "Activate Dawnfire."
A sudden flare lit up New Solaria's upper atmosphere. From the ground, huge silos opened like blooming steel flowers, releasing streams of white energy into the sky. They joined together into a blinding sphere above the planet—the Dawnfire Core, a weapon built to match the power of Controval's strongest fleet.
Dr. Pris watched the readings rise past safe limits. "It's too much! If the core overloads, it'll burn the upper sky!"
"Do it," Fujita said.
The beam fired.
A roaring column of pure light split the heavens, cutting through Controval's central formation. Ships shattered, debris rained down like fiery snow. For the first time, Ryven's fleet faltered.
But on the Revenant, Ryven smiled. "You still haven't learned. Fire alone won't win this war."
He raised his hand, and a pulse of red light rippled outward—Controval's ships began to re-form, absorbing the debris of the fallen. They became larger, stronger.
On Earth, Fujita stared in disbelief. "He's using our strike against us…"
Kinyu turned to him, voice grim. "Commander, if we stay, we're finished."
Fujita took a deep breath, eyes locked on the Revenant. "We're not done yet."
He pressed a command key, and the screens flashed with the words:
> 'Dawnfire Phase Two: Overdrive Protocol'
Pris's face went pale. "Fujita—no human can survive that activation!"
Fujita's voice was calm. "Then it's a good day to test what's left of my humanity."
He connected his neural core directly to the Dawnfire system, his mind linking with the energy network that spanned the city below. Every heartbeat echoed in the weapon's pulse.
Far away, on the Revenant's bridge, Ryven's sensors spiked. He felt the surge of power through the void—and smiled faintly.
> "So, you chose the same path after all…"
As both weapons charged, the stars dimmed, the night froze, and time seemed to hold its breath. Two men—once brothers—now gods of war, ready to tear the galaxy apart.
And when they fired, the sky itself screamed.