Kyrgyzstan – Sub-Zero Maintenance Levels
1153 Hours
Darkness swallowed the corridor as Ghost forced the blast door shut behind the team.
Metal screamed.
The shockwave rolled through the tunnel like a living beast.
Rook's roar echoed from the collapsing chamber:
"SIMON—YOU CAN'T RUN FROM THIS!"
Ghost didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His chest felt like shattered glass, every breath cutting deeper, but he pushed onward—gripping the flickering rail lights as the tunnel lights died one by one.
Kade limped beside Mara, bleeding from his shoulder.
Hana staggered last, clutching the data core to her chest like it was her own heartbeat.
For a moment—only the hum of cooling conduits remained.
Then—
BOOM.
The whole mountain shook.
Mara gasped. "That wasn't the chamber collapsing—was it?"
Ghost turned.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Pipes groaned.
And from the pitch-black darkness down the tunnel…
footsteps echoed.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Unhurried.
Kade whispered, voice cracking:
"…Ghost… tell me that's not him."
Ghost didn't move.
Rook's voice drifted through the dark—calm, steady, almost soothing:
"I said come home."
A red glow ignited in the shadows.
His visor.
Still functioning.
Still hunting.
Still getting closer.
Ghost raised his blade.
"Move," he ordered. "We're not fighting here."
Kade hesitated. "But—"
Ghost snapped: "MOVE!"
The four sprinted down the slope as the maintenance level twisted into a maze of narrow tunnels and dead-end conduits.
Behind them—
the red glow followed.
No running.
No fatigue.
No hesitation.
Just pursuit.
Relentless.
Engineered.
Rook.
The Descent
The tunnels spiraled downward until the air changed—warmer, charged, vibrating with an unnatural pulse.
Hana slowed, eyes wide.
"Ghost… this isn't just a lower level."
Mara swallowed. "Then what is it?"
Hana lifted the data module.
"The Dominion wasn't just studying the Core…
They were building beneath it."
Kade blinked. "Why the hell would anyone build under a goddamn unstable Genesis reactor?!"
Ghost steadied his breathing.
"They weren't building under it."
He pointed at the vibrating walls.
"They were building with it."
The realization hit all of them like cold water.
This wasn't an escape route.
It was access
to something worse.
Something still active.
Something Dominion never finished.
The Chamber Below
The tunnel spat them into a massive hollow chamber—a spherical cavity lit by pulsing red beams cutting through the vapor.
Cables hung from the ceiling like veins.
Broken platforms floated over a pit that seemed bottomless.
Kade stared in horror.
"What is this place…?"
Hana's voice trembled:
"A prototype staging ring…
the kind used for off-world transport."
Mara blinked. "Transport? That's impossible."
"No…" Hana whispered.
"It's Dominion. They were trying to open something they couldn't control."
Ghost scanned the chamber.
The hum was everywhere—like whispers vibrating through metal.
He tightened his grip.
"Move across. Carefully. No sudden stru—"
CLANG.
The door behind them slammed open so hard the metal warped.
Rook stepped through.
Not running.
Not hiding.
Walking.
Straight toward them.
His armor cracked.
Visor split.
One arm twitching with exposed cybernetics.
But his stance?
Perfect.
Controlled.
Predatory.
"Simon," he said softly,
"you're leaving before we finish."
Ghost stepped forward.
"We're done."
Rook tilted his head—like a disappointed teacher.
"No.
You're afraid.
Just like before.
Just like when you left us to burn."
Mara frowned. "What the hell is he talking about—?"
Ghost didn't answer.
His jaw tightened.
His silence said enough.
Rook saw it—and smiled.
He extended a hand.
"Come home, brother."
The chamber shook as the staging ring powered on—red lightning jumping across the pit.
Kade panicked.
"Mara—please tell me this thing isn't going to open!"
But it was.
The ring thrummed.
The air warped.
Reality bent.
Hana screamed:
"THE CORE'S ENERGY IS FEEDING THE RING — IT'S GOING TO OPEN A TEAR!"
Ghost turned to his team.
"RUN."
The Last Stand Before the Tear
The platforms shifted as they sprinted.
Ghost blocked Rook's path—blades clashing in a shower of sparks over the abyss.
Rook moved like a nightmare—precision, speed, aggression sharpened by Dominion tech.
Every strike rattled Ghost's broken ribs—
CLANG
CLASH
GRIND
Kade fired covering rounds.
Mara threw shock charges across the cables.
Hana forced open an exit vent.
But Rook didn't slow.
Didn't even look at them.
His obsession was singular.
Ghost.
"You should've died with us," Rook snarled, twisting Ghost's blade aside.
"You should've burned in that house—just like THEY did."
Ghost's eyes widened—haunted for the first time in years.
"…You don't get to speak about them."
Rook slammed him backward into the railing.
"They SCREAMED for you, Simon."
Ghost roared and drove his blade forward—
Rook dodged.
The ring behind them exploded with red light.
A tear—like a wound in the world—began opening.
Kade yelled:
"WE NEED TO GET OUT NOW!"
Hana screamed:
"THE CHAMBER IS COLLAPSING!"
Mara reached for Ghost—
He shook his head.
"Go…"
"No," she growled. "Not leaving you again."
Ghost stared at Rook—who raised his blade, eyes glowing like molten ash.
This wasn't a fight.
This was closure.
Something unfinished.
Something impossible to walk away from.
Ghost whispered—
"Rook…
I'm ending this."
Rook whispered back:
"You can't."
He lunged.
Everything shook.
The tear widened.
Screams—metal—energy—dust—
A world ripping open beneath them.
And Ghost charged forward.