Neo-Lagos groaned beneath the weight of its own chaos. The sky flickered, glitches rippling like jagged scars across the horizon. From the Outpost, Kael Orion surveyed the city. Every street, every alley, every roof was a potential battlefield. The Dominion's presence was heavier than ever—drones swarmed the skies, mechanized walkers patrolled the streets, and augmented soldiers marched through the neon-lit chaos like shadows of death.
Kael flexed his fingers around the plasma cutter. The anomaly inside him pulsed stronger than ever, threads of probability streaming through his mind. He could see outcomes before they happened, calculate dangers before they appeared, and move in ways no ordinary human could.
"Are you sure about this?" Sera asked, her pulse pistol glowing faintly. She stood beside him on the Outpost's observation deck.
Kael's eyes scanned the city. "The longer we wait, the stronger the Dominion becomes. If we strike now, we can hit them where it hurts—the central supply nodes. Take out their drones, cripple their walkers, and disrupt the city's surveillance."
Lyra approached, her cybernetic arm glinting under the neon lights. "It's risky. The nodes are heavily defended. But… if anyone can pull it off, it's you, Kael. And Sera."
Kael nodded. "Then we go tonight."
The team mobilized. Using concealed lifts and maintenance shafts, they descended from the Outpost into the labyrinthine undercity. Kael led the way, every step calculated, every turn predicted by the anomaly within him. Sparks from broken conduits lit their path, and distant echoes of patrols guided them to safety.
The first node was a fortified building in the heart of the industrial district. Drones patrolled the perimeter, scanning relentlessly. Kael motioned for silence. "We take the shadows. Move fast, strike hard, and disappear before they react."
As they approached, Kael's anomaly pulsed. He saw the probability threads—drones' paths, soldiers' patrols, the timing of the automated turrets. Every movement, every action, was visible to him in advance.
He leapt onto the nearest roof, plasma cutter humming. With a precise arc, he sliced a drone in half before it could signal an alarm. Sera covered him, tossing pulse grenades that sent guards sprawling. The team moved like ghosts through the chaos.
Inside the node, alarms blared. Dominion enforcers converged, augmented with cybernetic enhancements and reflex boosters. Kael's heart raced—not from fear, but exhilaration. Every strike, every dodge, every calculated move flowed with the anomaly's guidance. Sparks flew, circuits fried, and the air thickened with ozone and smoke.
The central console hummed, glowing with encrypted data streams. Kael interfaced with it, fingers dancing across the interface. He extracted blueprints, drone control sequences, and supply routes—critical intelligence that could cripple the Dominion's control of the city.
But the operation wasn't over. A massive combat mech burst through the ceiling, hydraulics hissing, claws tearing at the walls. Kael reacted instantly, leaping onto its legs, plasma cutter carving deep into metal plates. Sparks and debris rained down as the mech staggered.
Sera fired at the control panel on the mech's back, sending it lurching forward. Kael danced along its massive limbs, slicing joints, dodging energy blasts, anticipating each strike with the anomaly's guidance. The mech collapsed, metal screeching as it crashed into the node's reinforced walls.
"Move! We have what we came for!" Kael shouted. The team sprinted through the debris-strewn halls, data drives secured. Outside, they melted into the shadows of Neo-Lagos' fractured streets, the glitching sky above casting jagged streaks of neon light across the city.
From a rooftop, Kael looked back at the node, now smoldering and broken. Dominion drones regrouped, their red optics scanning the city. Kael's pulse thrummed with the anomaly. "This is only the beginning," he muttered. "We've made them notice us… and now the real war begins."
Sera glanced at him, awe and determination in her eyes. "They'll come for us."
Kael nodded. "They will. But this time… we'll be ready."
The fractured sky pulsed violently, reflecting the heartbeat of a city on the brink of rebellion. And Kael Orion, the anomaly, stood at its center—ready to ignite the spark that could change everything.