The crack in the Phoenix hatch keeps growing.
At first it's thin. Almost neat.
Like a scratch across the glass of an expensive bar where you once swore you'd never drink again.
Then the metal begins to groan.
I can hear the ship's armor resisting.
Grinding.
Bending.
Holding.
Not because it can.
Because it's stubborn.
"Come on…" I mutter under my breath. "We just got here. Don't embarrass yourself."
Another impact.
The hatch buckles inward.
Something on the other side is pressing against it like someone trying to pry open a tin can.
And we're the filling.
The metal groans louder.
I feel the vibration through the floor.
Through my boots.
Through my bones.
My brain records the fact with cold precision:
This isn't a random strike.
We're being opened.
"Contact in three—" I begin.
And then—
CRACK.
The metal tears.
Not breaks.
Tears — as if someone has grabbed it with bare hands and ripped it apart.
The hatch splits.
A jagged opening yawns straight into the compartment.
And with the cold light of space—
darkness floods in.
Not simple darkness.
A shadow.
Thick.
Alive.
Sliding.
It pours into the compartment like smoke.
Smoke that has decided to become a predator.
I watch it for a second.
Then sigh.
"Well of course…" I say quietly. "Why wouldn't it be."
"OPEN FIRE!" Sergeant Cal roars.
The compartment erupts.
Cal fires first.
Short, precise bursts.
No panic.
Ronan Crail joins in instantly. His assault cannon thunders beside him like a miniature reactor.
Mira Vossen drops almost flat onto her stomach.
Her sniper rifle locks against a magnetic brace.
Shot.
Another.
She's firing point-blank.
Jake Thorn swings the heavy machine gun into position.
And that's when it turns into hell.
A torrent of fire pours straight into the shadow.
Eli launches his drone.
The small machine shoots forward, hovering in midair before unfolding its turrets.
A second.
Then the drone opens fire.
Bryn doesn't even wait.
"Catch!"
A plasma charge sails straight into the heart of the shadow.
Explosion.
The compartment flashes white.
Tarek Noll rolls between positions, firing as he moves, shifting angles again and again.
His motions are fast. Clean. Almost invisible.
Silas already has the medical scanner in his hands.
As if he already knows how this ends.
And still—
the shadow keeps coming.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Rounds pass through it.
Explosions tear it apart.
But a second later it pulls itself back together.
I watch it.
And I feel that familiar cold creeping in.
"Bad news," I say.
Cal doesn't take his eyes off the fight.
"What kind?"
"That's an Enforcer."
Cal goes quiet for a second.
"And the good news?"
I shrug.
"There isn't any."
The shadow twitches.
And suddenly—
it accelerates.
Too fast.
It stretches outward—
like a black tentacle.
And—
grabs Liara.
It happens in a fraction of a second.
She doesn't even get a shot off.
The shadow coils around her body.
Lifts her into the air.
And the entire squad freezes.
Jake's machine gun falls silent.
Mira's rifle lowers slowly.
Because firing now means firing at her.
I feel the anger rising inside me.
But not the kind that makes you scream.
The other kind.
Cold.
Precise.
The kind that helps you think.
"He's trying to break the matrix network," I say.
"You sure?" Cal asks.
"No."
A pause.
"But close enough."
And then I feel it.
Inside.
Within the shared network between us.
The connection trembles.
Like a string pulled too tight.
And suddenly—
a scream.
"Axiom… help…"
Liara's voice.
It appears directly inside my head.
I look up.
The shadow is beginning to enter her body.
Not physically.
Deeper.
It's pushing into the matrices.
Tearing connections.
Breaking structures.
I feel her mind trembling.
But she's holding on.
Damn it.
She's holding.
"Stubborn…" I whisper.
"What?!" Cal shouts.
"Nothing. Just a compliment."
I close my eyes.
And dive into the network.
My body remains standing in the compartment.
Like a statue.
Outside, the fight continues.
Cal is already shouting:
"Hold the breach! Don't let the drones through!"
Because new things are crawling through the torn hatch.
Black needle-like drones.
Dozens of them.
Gunfire erupts again.
But I'm not there anymore.
I'm in the network.
Where the Enforcer is tearing Liara apart from the inside.
I can see it.
Black threads twisting through her structures.
They're breaking her matrices.
Ripping connections apart.
She fights them.
With every thought.
Every emotion.
"Hold on…" I say.
"Help me…" she answers.
And her voice is full of pain.
A lot of pain.
I start thinking.
Fast.
Cold.
Fire won't work.
Force won't work.
And then—
a flash of memory.
Cold weight in my hands.
The egg.
The Enforcer's containment core.
That day.
When I held it.
When I broke its will.
When it acknowledged me—
as master.
My eyes open.
The shadow is still holding Liara.
Her body trembles.
But she's alive.
I step forward.
Slowly.
"Axiom…" Cal says.
"Easy."
"You got a plan?"
"Of course."
A pause.
"It's a terrible one."
I raise my hand.
And speak.
Not aloud.
Inside the network.
Clear.
Sharp.
"At heel."
A command.
Like to a dog.
Like to a soldier.
Like to a weapon.
The shadow freezes.
One second.
Two.
The squad stops breathing.
And then…
it begins to slide off Liara's body.
Slowly.
Obediently.
Like black liquid.
I feel it.
It recognizes me.
The Enforcer remembers.
I open my palm.
Above it, the egg forms.
Black.
Pulsing.
Alive.
The shadow pours into it.
Like smoke into a bottle.
"You're not getting away from me," I say quietly.
The last strand of shadow disappears inside.
The egg snaps shut.
Silence.
Liara collapses to her knees.
Alive.
I manage to exhale.
Exactly once.
And then—
a voice.
Right inside my head.
Deep.
Calm.
Far too calm.
"Bravo, Axiom-126."
Slowly, I raise my head.
The voice continues.
"You've become much stronger."
A pause.
Almost pleased.
"And I need you… alive."
A chill crawls down my spine.
Because I know that voice.
And I know it never makes mistakes.
The Dark Mind.
**
The dark shadow is still twitching in my palm.
Small.
Alive.
Like a splinter buried in the brain.
The Enforcer's egg.
My new… old weapon.
I stare at it for a second and think:
Great.
Just what my day was missing.
Then the world snaps back.
Hard.
Like a door slammed in your face.
Sound crashes in all at once—
the thunder of gunfire,
the smell of melting metal,
the dry crack of pulse rifles.
I blink.
Like someone who has just surfaced from icy water.
My lungs drag in air, greedy and raw.
"Contact left!" Jake shouts.
I lift my head.
The breach in the hull of the Phoenix looks like a ripped-open wound.
The torn hatch plates stick outward like broken ribs.
Cold light pours through them.
And with it—
the drones of the Dark Mind.
Black.
Needle-thin.
Fast.
Our squad holds the line.
And honestly…
they're doing it beautifully.
Cal stands in front.
Sergeant Cal—a man who looks like he could stop an asteroid through sheer stubbornness.
"Hold the sector!" he roars.
His rifle fires in short bursts.
Mean.
Precise.
Tarek Noll has already changed position three times.
I blink—and he's somewhere else.
Mira Vossen lies across a shattered panel.
Her rifle sings.
Shot.
A drone drops.
"Minus six…" she says calmly.
Shot.
"Minus seven…"
Snipers are strange people.
Silas Rowe rushes past me, staring at his medical scanner.
"Axiom, you alive?"
"So far."
"Good. Try to keep it that way."
Medic humor.
A little on the funeral side.
Bryn Havoc is wrestling with an explosive charge.
"If those tin cans get any closer, I'm blowing this corridor."
A pause.
"And then maybe I'll apologize."
"Make sure you do," Ronan grunts. "Manners matter."
Eli launches a drone turret.
"Automatic mode engaged. Let's see who's smarter—me or a mad space god."
"My money's on the god," Ronan says.
"Traitor."
Gunfire pounds so hard the ship itself seems to groan.
And suddenly—
something inside me goes cold.
Instinct.
That same one.
The one that once dragged me out of Icarus Station—in the memories of my previous incarnations.
It whispers quietly.
This isn't a battle.
This is a warm-up.
I can feel him.
The Dark Mind.
He's coming for me.
And almost as if the thought summons him—
a figure appears in the breach.
We see him at the same time.
And for a second the squad freezes.
He steps inside slowly.
Calmly.
Tall.
Lean.
A black pearl suit shimmers with a soft, liquid light.
His face—
too beautiful.
Almost perfect.
Angelic.
Which is exactly why you want to look away.
He looks straight at me.
And smiles.
The smile is warm.
So warm the blood in my veins turns cold.
"New target!" Cal roars. "FIRE!"
The squad answers instantly.
Fire crashes over him like a wall.
Pulse rounds tear his body apart.
Flesh bursts outward.
The suit burns.
His head vanishes in a flash.
A second later there's nothing left.
Silence.
Short.
Ringing.
We breathe hard.
Cal slowly lowers his rifle.
"…Did we win?"
There's so much genuine surprise in his voice I almost smile.
But I already know.
I open my mouth.
"Cal—"
Too late.
A shadow appears behind him.
The same face.
The same smile.
"Cal—!"
He doesn't even have time to turn.
The angel's hand settles gently on his shoulder.
And Cal ignites.
Not in a flash.
Slowly.
Like paper catching fire.
He makes a short sound.
And crumbles into ash.
I watch.
My brain records the fact.
Sergeant Cal—gone.
"NO!" Mira screams.
Her rifle fires without pause.
The charges pass straight through the figure.
He doesn't even look at her.
Just walks through the storm of fire.
Mira bursts into flame.
She burns silently.
Snipers always do.
Ash.
Silas is next.
He only has time to say:
"Well… that's that…"
And vanishes in fire.
Bryn.
Eli.
Jake.
Ronan.
One after another.
As if someone is snuffing out candles.
I stand there.
Not moving.
Inside my head there is a strange silence.
My mind refuses to believe it.
But my body already understands.
We lost.
Liara stands beside me.
Her fingers tremble.
"Axiom…" she whispers.
Now it's just the two of us.
The angel looks at us.
And slowly begins to clap.
"Bravo."
The voice sounds directly inside my head.
"You've returned, Axiom-126. My finest agent."
I flinch.
"I. Am. Not. Your. Agent."
He laughs.
The way an adult laughs at a stubborn child.
"Of course."
Then he takes a step.
Just one.
And he's already beside Liara.
Time slows.
I see his hand.
Reaching for her.
"No—"
He touches her.
Liara ignites.
"NO!"
The scream tears out of me on its own.
She looks at me.
Her eyes wide.
Pain.
Fear.
Her thought brushes my mind.
Soft.
Fragile.
Warm.
"Save me, Axiom…"
And she's gone.
Ash.
Silence.
I stand there.
One second.
Two.
Something inside me breaks.
Not loudly.
Quietly.
Like ice cracking.
I look down at my palm.
The Enforcer's egg trembles.
"Fantastic…" I rasp. "Just a fantastic day."
I raise my head.
The angel stands in front of me.
And opens his arms.
Like greeting an old friend.
"Come, Axiom-126," he says gently.
"Come home."
I take a breath.
The pain in my chest is dull and heavy.
My throat burns from the scream.
But my thoughts are clear.
Cold.
Working.
Good.
Since you came all this way.
I tighten my grip on the Enforcer's egg.
"All right," I say quietly.
A pause.
"Just skip the hugs."
And I lunge at him.