The base was tense.
After the encounter with Karos's drones, security had doubled. Traps were set, patrols rotated in silence, and even the usual sarcastic banter between Rocco and Luca was gone.
Franco stood by a wall-mounted map with Marco, eyes fixed on the coordinates blinking in red.
Marco:
"Coordinates came from Karos's drone. A message. He wants us to go there."
Franco:
"A trap?"
Marco (flatly):
"Absolutely. But it might also be a clue."
Savio walked in, holding a rough-printed satellite photo.
Savio:
"It's the ruins of Solara-3. Abandoned mining station beneath the desert. No one's been there since the Dust Collapse twenty years ago."
Lucchini (reading over his shoulder):
"Legend says it was cursed. Miners went in, none came out. Classic horror setup. We're all gonna die."
Rocco (grinning):
"Finally, something fun."
Franco (murmurs):
"Let's go. If Karos wants us there, maybe we'll find out what he knows about my father… or Zakrota."
Marco nodded.
"We leave in an hour. Gear up."
---
Desert of Thorns – Four Hours Later
The armored vehicle sliced through the golden dunes, heat shimmering in the air like ghosts. Inside, the team sat in silence, the only sound was the soft whir of the engine and the rattle of weapons.
Franco stared out the small window, watching the endless sands.
Franco:
"You ever been there before?"
Marco (driving):
"Once. Before everything burned. It was a place of secrets. Just like you."
Franco:
"And my father?"
Marco didn't answer immediately.
Marco (quiet):
"He led a mission there. Black ops. Never came back. They said it was sabotage… but I always suspected Zakrota had something to do with it."
Luca:
"How convenient. The same ruined place now calls to his son twenty years later. Gotta love the poetry."
Rocco:
"Or the death trap. I brought extra ammo, just in case the poetry starts shooting at us."
---
Solara-3 Entrance – Sunset
The vehicle rolled to a stop at the base of a massive canyon. The wind howled, kicking up dust and revealing the rusted skeleton of what once was a mining station. Broken metal beams, shattered glass domes, and crushed towers poked out like bones from the sand.
They stepped out cautiously.
Savio (scanning the area):
"No signs of movement. No energy readings either. It's… dead."
Lucchini (joking nervously):
"Dead things usually stay dead… unless we're in a bad sci-fi novel."
Franco (touching a scorched sign that read ZK Industrial – Site 3):
"This place belonged to Zakrota?"
Marco (grimly):
"Everything did. At some point."
They descended into the main shaft, guided by portable lights. The deeper they went, the colder it became. Strange metal carvings lined the walls—symbols, almost like circuitry patterns fused with ancient scripts.
Franco (pausing):
"These aren't mining designs. They're… encryption patterns. Embedded physically into the walls."
Savio (whispering):
"It's not just a mine. It's a vault."
Suddenly, the lights flickered.
Lucchini:
"That's our cue to die horribly."
Marco (calmly):
"Stay focused. We're not alone."
They reached a sealed chamber. Franco moved forward, placing his hand on a strange panel glowing faint blue. To everyone's surprise, it reacted.
System Voice (glitchy):
> Access Granted: Subject 777
The door slid open with a hiss.
Franco (wide-eyed):
"Why does everything here know me?"
Inside, rows of cryo-chambers lined the walls. Half were broken. The others… still active.
Rocco:
"Okay, nope. I've seen enough horror films to know this is where the ice zombies jump out."
As they approached the far end of the room, a hologram suddenly flickered on. A man's face. Familiar.
Franco (whispering):
"...Father?"
Hologram – Giulio Bato:
"If you're seeing this… then you've awakened. My son."
Everyone froze.
Giulio (recorded message):
"I never wanted this for you. But Zakrota… they made us all into pawns. I discovered what they were truly building — not robots. Not weapons. But gods. They're rewriting evolution."
The message glitched. Static.
Giulio:
"Franco, you're the key. You're not just a survivor. You're their last mistake."
The recording shut off. Silence.
Savio (softly):
"That was… real. That was him."
Franco (shaking):
"I was just a kid… I never knew any of this."
Marco (firmly):
"And now you do. This isn't about survival anymore. It's about revenge."
Before they could react, alarms blared. Lights turned red.
Automated Voice:
> Unauthorized presence detected. Initiating containment protocol.
Karos (voice echoing through speakers):
"You came, Franco. Good. Let's see what you're really capable of."
Steel doors slammed shut. Gas hissed from the vents. Drones dropped from the ceiling like spiders.
Luca (raising weapon):
"Classic Karos. Can't just talk like a normal psychopath."
Marco (cocking rifle):
"Form up. We fight to the exit. Franco — don't hold back."
---
Battle Sequence
Flashes of light. Gunfire. Explosions. Franco fought like never before—moving faster, striking harder, as if something inside him had awakened.
He grabbed a drone mid-air, tore out its core, and hurled it into a control panel, shutting down two more.
Rocco (ducking):
"Okay! Remind me never to piss you off!"
As they neared the exit, Franco glanced back at the hologram chamber. His father's image now frozen in static.
Franco (quietly):
"I'll finish what you started. I promise."
The group burst through the outer doors just as the facility exploded behind them. Flames lit up the night sky. The ruins of Solara-3 were gone — but the truth was now burning in Franco's mind.
---
Final Scene
Back at the Zakrota tower, Karos stood facing a woman with a silver mask.
Karos:
"He's becoming exactly what we planned."
Masked Woman:
"Good. Let him rise. The higher he climbs… the farther he'll fall."
---
End of Chapter 13