Citadel — Six Hours After the False Wins
The alarms rang too late.
By the time Astra screamed into the comms, the traitor had already overridden half the defense systems.
> "We have a breach! Inner Spire, Level Three—someone rerouted the Lattice's predictive stream!"
Kael stormed into the command room—but the damage was already blooming across the walls like a virus.
> ACCESS GRANTED — USER: COMMANDER FENRICK KAL
Rael froze. "Fenrick? No. He's been with us since Day One."
> "Which is exactly why Cipher picked him," Alina said, voice hard.
On the holo-feed, Fenrick's image flickered—half his face wired with Reclaimed implants, his once-sharp green eyes dulled to an artificial grey.
> "I'm sorry," he whispered.
> "But you were always playing a losing game."
---
Moments Earlier — Inner Spire Maintenance Wing
While the Citadel reeled from the digital breach, Fenrick moved with cold precision. A neural relay spike in his palm activated the dead zone Kael had used for war meetings.
His mission: Detonate the Citadel's entire Lattice from the inside. Cut the Accord's strategic brain off permanently.
But he didn't count on one thing.
Kael already saw it coming.
---
Flashback — Two Days Earlier
Zarif had laid the ancient paper map on the war table, pointing to the hidden air ducts and maintenance shafts no AI system could detect.
Kael had nodded slowly.
> "If Cipher wants a knife in the back…"
> "Let's hand him the blade—and decide where it cuts."
---
Now — Inner Spire, Level Five
Fenrick opened the control chamber door—and stopped cold.
Kael was already there.
No guards.
No alarms.
Just him.
> "You should've known," Kael said, stepping forward.
> "We've been feeding you false routines for days."
Fenrick snarled. "You don't have the will to stop me."
Kael stepped into range. No words.
Just one motion.
A shock dart embedded in Fenrick's neck.
He collapsed, twitching, the Reclaimed neural chip sparking.
Kael whispered, "I didn't need will. Just time."
---
Citadel Command — A New Signal
Astra lit up as the false routines Cipher had installed began disintegrating—backfed through Fenrick's own betrayal.
Alina grinned.
> "He gave us his own code."
> "Now let's write a new war."
---
Far North — Cipher's Fortress
The room of mirrors cracked.
Cipher watched Fenrick's collapse through a frozen feed.
And for the first time…
…he blinked.
> "Interesting," he muttered.
> "Kael's gone dark."
Jian appeared on the screen.
> "He's no longer on satellite. Off-grid. You lost him."
Cipher shook his head.
> "No. He just became… unpredictable."
> "Which means the game finally begins."
---
Elsewhere — The Wastes Outside Moldova
Kael stood in a blizzard of ash, alone but not lost.
In his hands: a decrypted path to the next Uncoded.
No command team.
No safety net.
Just war, stripped down.
The ghost of a world learning to outthink gods.
---
End of Chapter Fifteen
Next: Chapter Sixteen — "The Path of Ash"