The air in the lower levels of the Undercity tasted like copper and ash. The temperature climbed steadily as they followed the massive, pulsating power conduits toward the Core.
"Warning," the HUD in Julian's Abyssal suit flashed. External Temperature: 60°C. Cooling Systems Active.
"It's getting hot," Isolde wiped sweat from her forehead, her mechanic's jumpsuit sticking to her skin. "Like, 'inside an oven' hot."
"We're close to the generator," Julian said, his voice synthesized by the mask he had donned to filter the toxins. "The Aether-Wall consumes massive amounts of energy. The waste heat has to go somewhere."
"Yeah," Lyra checked her ammo. "Here. They dump the heat on the poor people."
They turned a corner into a wide, industrial tunnel lined with blast furnaces. The roar of machinery was deafening.
And standing in the middle of the tunnel, blocking the path, was a wall of fire.
Not a natural fire. A synchronized, wall-to-wall burst of liquid flame.
Through the shimmering heat haze, heavy footsteps approached.
CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.
Five figures emerged from the steam. They wore bulky, crimson power armor that looked like it was welded shut. Their helmets had no visors, only thermal sensors. They carried heavy rotary cannons connected to tanks on their backs.
The Red-Guard.
"Intruders in Sector Zero," the lead trooper's voice was a deep, distorted growl. "Protocol: Incinerate."
The Firefight
"Scatter!" Julian yelled.
WOOSH.
The Red-Guard opened fire. Streams of blue-white napalm shot down the tunnel. It wasn't just fire; it was sticky, chemical plasma that clung to surfaces and burned underwater.
Julian dove behind a concrete pillar. The flame washed over the stone, turning it black instantly.
"I can't shoot them!" Lyra shouted from cover. "If I hit their tanks, the explosion will kill us all in this enclosed space!"
"And they know it!" Isolde added, ducking as a jet of fire melted the railing above her head.
"Zephyr!" Julian called out. "Wind beats fire! Can you blow it back?"
Zephyr was crouching on a high pipe, looking down at the inferno.
"The wind feeds the fire!" Zephyr shouted. "If I blow air, I make it hotter!"
"Then don't blow air," Julian said, watching the Red-Guard advance. "Starve it."
Zephyr understood. He leaped from the pipe, spinning his staff. He didn't create a gust; he created a Vacuum Vortex.
He sucked the air out of the center of the tunnel.
The roaring flames suddenly sputtered and died, suffocated for lack of oxygen.
The Red-Guard paused, their weapons clicking uselessly.
"Now!" Julian charged.
He sprinted through the oxygen-deprived zone, holding his breath. His nanite arm glowed blue.
He didn't punch the tank. He punched the Trooper.
CRUNCH.
He drove his fist into the chestplate of the lead Guard. The armor crumpled. The trooper flew backward, crashing into his squadmate.
The vacuum field collapsed as Zephyr ran out of breath. Air rushed back into the tunnel with a loud POP.
The Red-Guard reignited their pilots.
"Close quarters!" Lyra yelled, sliding under a stream of fire. She used the butt of her rifle to smash the knee-joint of a trooper, toppling him.
Isolde used her wrench to smash the nozzle of a flamethrower, bending it sideways. When the trooper tried to fire, the flame shot sideways, melting the wall instead of Isolde.
Julian grabbed a trooper by the throat. The heat from the armor was intense, scorching his nanite skin, but the metal held.
"Cool off," Julian growled.
He activated the Resonance Gauntlet integrated into his arm.
Focus: Thermal Sink.
He pulled the heat out of the armor and channeled it into his own battery.
The Red-Guard's suit froze. Frost appeared on the crimson metal. The thermal shock cracked the armor plating. The trooper collapsed, paralyzed by the sudden cold.
The Heart of the City
They left the Red-Guard frozen and broken in the tunnel.
They reached the blast doors of the Core Chamber.
"This is it," Julian said. "The power source."
He hacked the lock with a surge of energy. The doors hissed open.
They stepped inside and froze.
It wasn't a reactor.
It was a torture chamber.
The room was the size of a stadium. In the center, suspended by massive chains and impaled by hundreds of thick, throbbing cables, was the Heart of the Titan.
It was a biological organ the size of a house, made of gold and muscle, beating slowly, painfully.
THUMP... THUMP...
Every time it beat, the machinery clamped down on it, extracting a pulse of golden Aether. The energy was siphoned up through a massive conduit in the ceiling—straight to the Aether-Wall above.
"They... they skinned it," Zephyr whispered, dropping to his knees. "They cut the heart out of the King and hooked it up to a battery charger."
"It's alive," Julian felt the pain radiating from the organ. It hit his mind like a physical blow. "It's been awake for centuries. Screaming in silence."
Julian walked to the main control console.
"We have to shut it down," Julian said. "Release the clamps."
"If we do that," Skid's voice warned over the comms, "the Aether-Wall falls. The city will be vulnerable."
"The city is already dead," Julian said, looking at the suffering heart. "It just doesn't know it yet."
He reached for the Emergency Release lever.
"I wouldn't do that, Julian."
The Architect's Ghost
A hologram flickered to life on the bridge.
It was Marcus.
He was sitting in his office in the Spire, sipping tea. He looked bored.
"You made it past the Red-Guard," Marcus said. "Impressive. But predictable."
"Stop hiding behind holograms, Marcus," Julian snarled. "Look at what you're doing. Look at this!" He gestured to the tortured heart.
"It is a battery, Julian," Marcus said coldly. "Does a car care about the fuel?"
"It's a sentient being!"
"It is a resource," Marcus corrected. "And right now, it is the only thing keeping the atmosphere stable. If you shut down the generator, the Wall falls. The smog comes in. The radiation comes in. Millions die."
"Project Ascension," Julian countered. "I know about it. The Emperor is going to drain this heart dry in 12 hours to power his escape ship. He's going to kill the city anyway."
Marcus paused. For the first time, his mask of indifference cracked. He put down his tea.
"Ascension is a relocation protocol," Marcus said, but his voice lacked conviction. "The Emperor promised to take the citizens with him to the Orbital Spire."
"All of them?" Julian laughed bitterly. "Look at the logistics, Marcus. You're the engineer. How many people fit on Titan 07? Ten thousand? Twenty?"
"There are five million people in Aureus Prime," Julian shouted. "Do the math!"
Marcus went silent. He looked at the data streams on his desk. He was calculating.
"He's going to leave them," Julian said softer. "He's going to take the elite and burn the rest. And you're helping him."
Marcus looked up. His eyes were hard.
"The Wall stays up," Marcus said. "I cannot take that risk based on the word of a terrorist."
"Then I'm taking the choice away from you."
Julian grabbed the lever.
"Warning," the automated system announced. "Biometric Mismatch. Lethal Defense Activated."
Turrets dropped from the ceiling of the Core Chamber.
"Goodbye, Julian," Marcus said as his hologram faded.
The Shutdown
"Cover!" Lyra screamed, flipping a table.
BRRRRT.
Laser fire strafed the platform.
"Isolde! Hack the turrets!" Julian yelled. "Zephyr! Keep the sensors blind!"
Julian ignored the gunfire. He grabbed the release lever with his nanite hand.
He didn't pull it. He Resonated with it.
He sent a pulse of code directly into the machine's logic core. Not a command to open, but a command to Overload.
If I can't turn it off, I'll make it too hot to handle.
He poured his energy into the system. The blue veins on his arm flared white.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
The Titan Heart responded. It felt the surge. It beat faster.
"Come on, old man," Julian gritted his teeth, sweat pouring down his face. "Get angry!"
The Heart glowed blindingly bright. The energy output spiked.
WARNING: CAPACITOR OVERLOAD.
The conduits feeding the Aether-Wall began to spark. They turned red, then white.
High above the city, the massive golden dome flickered.
Then, with a sound like a thundercrack, the cables snapped.
The connection severed.
The machinery shut down. The clamps released.
The massive Heart dropped a few inches, hanging freely on its chains. Its beating slowed to a steady, deep rhythm.
"The Wall!" Isolde shouted, looking at the monitors. "It's down!"
The Sky Opens
In the city above, the citizens of Aureus Prime looked up in terror.
The golden sky vanished. For the first time in generations, they saw the real sky. It was grey, choked with smog, and streaked with lightning.
And descending through the clouds was a ship.
Not the White Raven.
It was the Emperor's Flagship. A massive, dagger-shaped dreadnought.
"Julian," Skid's voice was terrified. "The Emperor isn't waiting for the countdown. He felt the Wall drop. He's launching the harvest now."
The dreadnought positioned itself directly over the Palace. A massive energy tether shot down, punching through the Spire, aiming for the Undercity.
"He's going to suck the Titan dry directly," Julian realized. "He's bypassing the grid."
"We have to move the Heart," Zephyr said. "It is too heavy!"
"We don't move it," Julian ran to the edge of the platform. "We wake the rest of the body."
"Where is the body?" Lyra asked.
Julian pointed down into the abyss beneath the heart.
"The city is built on him. The Undercity... the foundations... it's all Titan."
He activated his comms.
"Marcus! I know you're listening! The Emperor is drilling straight through your tower! If you don't help us, he destroys the city now!"
There was silence on the line.
Then, a voice.
"Sector 7 blast doors... unlocked."
Marcus.
"Get to the Neural Stem," Marcus said, his voice shaking slightly. "If you can interface with the brain... you can make him stand up."
"Where is the brain?"
"The Palace," Marcus said. "My office. It's built on top of it."
Julian looked at his team.
"We have to go up," Julian said. "Into the Spire. To the penthouse."