The last echo of the Alpha's collapse faded into the chamber's metallic ribs. Rourke inhaled slowly, fighting the spinning in his head. His vision flickered—first silver, then normal. The Heart's power thrummed inside him like a second heartbeat, steady but strained.
Seren steadied him. "Rourke, don't pass out. Please don't pass out. We kinda need you alive."
"I'm… fine," he lied.
She narrowed her eyes. "You sound like someone who's about to fall over face-first."
The gravitational guide hovered between them, its voice solemn but calm.
"He must rest soon. The Heart has strengthened him, but his body remains human. Humanity cannot withstand continuous resonance."
Rourke shook his head. "There's no time."
The chamber above them darkened.
A shadow passed over the central skylight—
massive, jagged, shifting like the edge of a storm.
Seren looked up. "What—what is that? Another ship?"
Rourke closed his eyes.
He felt them.
All of them.
Gravity signatures like thousands of knives pressing against the sphere's shell.
He whispered:
"They're here."
The guide's glow dimmed.
"The Hunters' Armada."
The Fleet Arrives
The skylight flickered.
The hum of the sphere faltered momentarily.
Seren shielded her face as beams of distorted light broke across the glass.
When the shadows resolved into shapes—
Seren swore under her breath.
An entire fleet hovered above the sphere.
Not a single ship.
Not a squad.
Hundreds.
Their hulls were black plates layered in impossible geometry, angled at bizarre intersections that hurt the eyes to follow. Each ship left pale trails in space where gravity was torn thin. Their engines pulsed in silent patterns, more like heartbeats than machinery.
Rourke stumbled forward, leaning on a fallen pillar.
"They brought… everything."
Seren shook her head, voice trembling. "Why? After everything, after the Alpha—why send a whole army?"
The guide answered quietly.
"The Heart has awakened.
And they will never allow it to choose another Solarii—
not again."
Seren swallowed. "So they're not here to capture him anymore."
Rourke finished the sentence for her.
"They're here to erase me."
The Sphere Braces
The command core trembled again—
but this time, not from the Hunters.
The sphere itself was responding.
Panels slid into place.
Conduits lit up throughout the walls.
Ancient systems flickered online one after another, cascading through the core like a giant old machine awakening after millennia of sleep.
Seren flinched as a beam of blue light shot upward. "Rourke, what's happening?!"
Rourke pressed his palm to the central node.
"The sphere is preparing defenses."
The guide hovered beside him.
"It senses the threat."
A deep hum shook the entire chamber, heavier than thunder, older than any human technology.
Outside, the fleet shifted into formation—
a vast ring encircling the sphere.
Seren paled.
"They're surrounding us."
Rourke nodded.
"It's a siege."
Signals from the Fleet
Three massive ships drifted forward—command vessels, their silhouettes larger and more jagged than the rest. Their hulls glowed with a sickening white energy.
A triangular grid of symbols suddenly projected into the command core—
a communication.
The Hunters were sending a signal.
The guide analyzed it instantly.
"They are transmitting a directive."
Seren snapped, "And that means… what, exactly?"
Rourke's stomach tightened.
He understood the signal before the guide translated it.
"The directive says:
Eliminate the hybrid.
Destroy the sphere.
Recover the Heart's remains."
Seren froze.
The guide's glow dimmed into near darkness.
"This is their final protocol.
The one they used to destroy the Solarii."
Rourke clenched his fists. "Then we break the protocol."
Seren stepped forward. "Rourke, we can't fight an entire fleet! I'm good, but I'm not that good!"
Rourke smiled faintly.
"You're better than good."
She rolled her eyes.
"Flatter me after we survive."
The Armada Attacks
The first blast hit the sphere like a hammer.
A pulse of gravitational force slammed into the outer shell—
distorting the command core, shaking the chamber.
Rourke caught Seren before she fell.
The guide steadied itself, its form flickering violently.
"They're not using standard weapons.
They're striking with destabilization fields."
Rourke frowned.
"Meaning they're trying to rip the sphere open."
Seren looked horrified. "Can't the sphere shield itself?"
The guide hesitated.
"The Heart is weak.
Its systems are not fully restored.
We must activate the Solarii barrier manually."
Rourke breathed deeply.
Then nodded.
"Tell me what to do."
The Ancestral Console
The guide floated to the central pillar and placed its glowing hand upon a panel. The metal peeled open like petals, revealing a massive circular console—shimmering with symbols, gravitational nodes, and ancient runic channels.
Rourke felt it resonate with him immediately.
Seren muttered, "Please tell me this is just a button we press."
The guide shook its head.
"It requires synchronization with a living Solarii core."
Seren glanced at Rourke.
"Oh. A button with extra steps."
Rourke placed both hands on the console.
The lights brightened.
The floor vibrated beneath him.
The air grew heavy.
He felt the Heart inside him wake further—
a burning radiance coursing through his arms.
The symbols on the console rose into glowing lines of energy.
The guide whispered reverently:
"Initiate the Solarii Resonance."
Rourke inhaled.
He pushed.
The Barrier Forms
A wave of pure gravitational light surged upward from the console, blasting through the skylight and shooting into space like a pillar of blue fire.
Outside—
The Hunters' fleet recoiled.
Their ships flickered.
Their gravitational beams sputtered.
Seren ran to the skylight.
"Oh my god—Rourke, you're doing it!"
The radiant beam expanded outward, taking the shape of a massive spherical shield around the entire ancient structure—
a Solarii barrier, shimmering and alive.
The Hunters fired again—
Their beams hit the shield.
And stopped.
The shield rippled—
but held.
Rourke gritted his teeth as the strain tore through him.
The guide spoke urgently:
"The barrier is active, but fragile.
If the fleet increases power—
you will be overwhelmed."
Seren clenched her fists.
"Then they'll increase power. They always do."
Rourke didn't look away from the beam he controlled.
"I know."
He exhaled shakily.
"We need a way off the sphere."
Seren blinked. "What? Where would we even go?!"
Rourke's eyes dimmed, sensing something far beyond the fleet.
Something enormous.
Something ancient.
Something approaching the battlefield.
He looked at the guide.
"I felt something. A signal. Not from them."
The guide froze in midair.
"You… what did you feel?"
Rourke swallowed.
"A Solarii frequency."
Seren stepped back in shock. "You mean there are more of you out there?!"
Rourke shook his head.
"No. But something Solarii-made just woke up."
The guide trembled.
"Then the Hunters will sense it too."
And outside—
the Armada began turning.
Adjusting their formation.
Reorienting toward something in the distant void.
Seren breathed:
"What now…?"
Rourke's eyes glowed faintly.
"We're not alone anymore."