Kyrgyzstan – Staging Ring Collapse Zone
1157 Hours
A shriek of tearing reality split the chamber as Ghost and Rook collided—
steel flashing, sparks spitting into the swirling red storm behind them.
The tear widened, vomiting lightning across the platforms.
Metal warped.
Cables snapped like gunshots.
Kade nearly slipped as the floor tilted.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE IN HERE!"
Mara grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back.
"Hana—GET THAT EXIT OPEN!"
"I'M TRYING!" Hana screamed back, hands a blur over the Dominion console.
The air thickened with the scent of ozone and burning steel.
And above it all—
Ghost and Rook kept fighting.
Not like soldiers.
Not like enemies.
Like two men who should've died together
long before this moment.
Ghost vs Rook — Final Exchange
Rook's blade screeched down against Ghost's, driving him to one knee.
"You always run," Rook hissed.
"From them. From me. From the fire. From the truth."
Ghost spat blood.
"I didn't run."
"You LEFT."
Ghost's eyes burned behind the cracked mask.
"That night… I tried to go back."
Rook's expression twitched—just for a second.
Then rage took over.
"You tried? People BURNED! You HEARD them!"
He slammed Ghost backward.
The railing behind Ghost collapsed—sending him dangling over the abyss.
The red tear pulsed beneath him like a hungry eye.
Rook stood above him—blade ready.
"You're not leaving again, Simon."
Ghost's hand slipped.
Mara screamed.
Kade's breath caught.
Hana yelled Ghost's name—
And the tear howled louder.
Ghost lets go
Ghost stared up at Rook—
at the man who used to pull him out of training pits,
who used to share rations with him,
who used to cover his blind side.
The brother Dominion twisted.
The brother Ghost lost.
Ghost whispered:
"…I'm not running."
And he let go.
He dropped.
Straight into the tear.
Mara's scream echoed through the chamber:
"SIMON!!!"
Rook blinked—shocked—
Then dove after him.
The tear swallowed both.
A thunderclap shook the world.
The Tear Collapses
Hana cried out:
"THE CORE JUST LOST CONNECTION—THE TEAR IS COLLAPSING!"
Red lightning surged upward like a reverse explosion.
The platforms shook violently—
half crumbling into the abyss.
Kade grabbed Mara before she followed Ghost.
"MARA, STOP—HE'S GONE!"
"NO HE ISN'T!" she roared, fighting his grip.
"HE WOULDN'T JUST—HE WOULDN'T—"
But the chamber kept falling apart.
Hana finally ripped the maintenance vent open.
"WE HAVE TO MOVE! NOW!"
The three sprinted through the vent as behind them—
The tear imploded.
The chamber detonated.
A shockwave chased them through the shaft,
hurling them into darkness—
And then—
Silence.
UNKNOWN LOCATION
Time Unknown
Status: Unknown
Wind howled.
Dust fell.
Ghost's ears rang.
He opened his eyes—or tried to.
Vision blurred.
Breathing shallow.
He was lying on cracked stone.
Black sky overhead.
Lightning—red lightning—flashed in the clouds.
The world around him looked dead.
Ruined.
Alien.
Ghost whispered through grit teeth:
"…Where the hell…"
Then he heard it.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Predator-sure.
Rook's voice—closer than it should've been:
"Welcome home, Simon."
Ghost forced himself to roll over—
But Rook was already there.
Kneeling.
Staring.
Visor cracked.
Face half-shadowed.
He looked almost human again.
Almost.
Ghost gripped his blade—barely able to raise it.
Rook tilted his head.
"You brought us back, brother."
Ghost's breath stopped.
"…us?"
Rook's smile was wrong.
Too human.
Too calm.
Too knowing.
He pointed behind Ghost.
Ghost turned—slowly.
Shapes stood in the red fog.
Figures.
Tall.
Twitching.
Unnatural.
Five of them.
Five shadows.
Five silhouettes of things that used to be men.
Rook whispered:
"They've been waiting for you."
Ghost's heart froze.
Because the shapes stepped forward—
And he recognized them.
Even burned.
Even changed.
Even dead.
He knew them.
His old unit.
The ones who died in the fire.
The ones he couldn't save.
The ones he never saw again.
Rook leaned close.
"Welcome back to the family."
And the world around Ghost roared with red lightning.