The night before the strike, they do not sleep.
The Incarnations stand around a makeshift map—an old-world table with holographic projections of the target site.
A GAPA facility—Core Site Alpha-7, one of the most heavily secured structures.
A synchronization hub for Wardens, a control center for human experimentation, and a black box for their classified weapon programs.
The plan is simple.
Precise.
Deadly.
But not reckless.
Phase One — Infiltration
The team assembles just before midnight.
No one speaks.
Only the sound of boots on the ground.
They've avoided satellites.
They've cracked comms.
They're ghosts in the fog, making no more noise than the night.
Rafael leads the way.
His momentum controls the tempo, slipping through narrow streets, sliding into shadows.
None of the Incarnations move faster than necessary.
They don't need to.
The Objective
The first task is to breach.
Valerius stands in front of the massive, reinforced gates. His sword glints briefly in the low light.
He doesn't speak a word.
One clean cut.
Through the reinforced metal.
It drops like a crumbling wall of dust and fragments.
Behind it, security cameras flicker to life.
"No time to waste," Rafael mutters, already moving.
Phase Two — Disruption
Inside, the corridors are sterile, cold, white.
Security alarms are instantly triggered, but no one notices the distortion in the air.
Nyra manipulates the space, pulling the force around them into a focused field.
The alarms screech—then cut to silence.
"Two minutes," she says, "then they'll start scrambling."
The team splits—Lys, Valerius, and Rafael head toward the central control room.
Anika and Kaede take secondary corridors to disable backup systems.
Lys feels it—resonance.
Every pulse of his power flows like a hum, altering the frequencies in the building.
They've designed this plan with precision. If they make one misstep, the building itself could collapse in on them.
Phase Three — Control Room
The doors to the control room open without a sound.
Lys steps forward.
He doesn't break anything yet.
His claws don't extend.
His tail doesn't even flicker.
Inside, GAPA technicians are scrambling—pressing buttons, pulling levers, trying to prevent the shutdown.
One man stands in the center, furiously working to lock down the facility's systems.
Lys holds up his hand.
The room stills.
"Stop," he says, his voice steady.
The technician freezes, looking at him in shock.
"We're not here to kill," Lys says, his words final, "but we will take control."
He turns to Valerius.
With a nod, Valerius sweeps through the room—his sword flashing, a swift strike cutting through cables, computers, and security systems.
The man doesn't scream. He doesn't even fight.
The first strike isn't violent.
It's a message.
The mission is clear now: shut down the power core that feeds the building's synchronization network.
It powers the entire facility, stabilizing the connection between the Wardens and their synchronization rates.
Rafael leads the way, moving quickly.
His momentum pulls them forward as Lys and Valerius follow.
The power core is massive, built into the center of the facility like a nucleus of control. Its energy pulses like a heartbeat, fueling the facility's dark operations.
Lys steps forward. His Aetherium flows around him, and for a brief
moment, the world seems to freeze.
Lys's Power
Lys's hand hovers over the core.
No claws.
No tail.
No Seraphim Breath.
Just focus.
His Aetherium pulses gently.
And then he snaps it.
Not a beam. Not a burst.
Just a subtle collapse.
The core's energy flux crumbles into disorder.
Cables snap.
Power arcs.
The whole facility shudders.
The humming stops.
Darkness follows.
Phase Five — The Escape
The alarms flare again.
The backup generators kick on, but it's too late.
They've won.
They don't stay long enough to gloat.
They don't take unnecessary risks.
Rafael moves first, leading the way out.
Valerius covers their back.
Nyra and Elda shift the very space they move through, making it bend, making it harder to track them.
They leave behind nothing but the smell of burned-out tech and the scent of saltwater.
Hours later, news stations report massive synchronization failure across several sectors.
GAPA facilities grind to a halt.
Wardens lose connection with their synchronization rates.
Somewhere, a news anchor whispers that a "critical failure" has hit a top-secret GAPA base.
The world knows something is wrong.
They don't know what.
But Lys knows.
And so do the others.
They've just made their first move.
Back at the Gathering
Rafael leans against the rock face, a rare smirk on his lips.
"That felt too easy."
Lys stands a little further away, staring at the horizon.
"This was the first step," Lys says, his voice low.
"But GAPA will retaliate. It's only a matter of time."
Kaede joins them, her expression unreadable.
"No matter what they throw next, we need to be ready.
That was a statement, not a war."
GAPA's retaliation doesn't come immediately.
But Lys can feel it.
The threads of their power reaching out.
They've broken the dam.
Now, GAPA will send something far worse than a facility.
Something personal.
And that's when the real fight will begin.