The Ghost Charge
The miner's ghost screamed —
a sound that tore at the mind more than the ears.
It flickered and stuttered, body half-phasing through reality,
ash swirling around it like storm wings.
Zaraya braced herself — cosmic pulse crackling across her fists —
ready to meet the charge with force.
But Kaelen moved first.
He stepped between them, blade raised not to strike —
but to block.
"Wait!" he barked, voice cutting through the chaos.
Zaraya faltered, confusion flashing across her face.
Kaelen's sword glowed faintly, shadows flickering along the edge.
His eyes — that deep violet — burned with grim certainty.
"They're not just echoes," he said coldly. "They're souls.
Trapped here. Twisting. Hurting."
The ghost stumbled at the barrier Kaelen made —
its form flickering with broken sobs.
Jaxen swore under his breath.
"Great. Haunted zombie miners. Exactly what I signed up for."
Plo paled, tapping frantically at her data-slate.
"The fracture's energy signature — it's like… a net.
It's catching them. Binding them. They can't move on."
Iselyra stepped closer, Frostbrand humming softly with frozen resonance.
"Can they be freed?" she asked quietly.
Kaelen's mouth tightened.
"Maybe. But not by killing them."
The Battle of Mercy
The ghost shrieked again —
not in rage this time, but in pain —
lashing out blindly with multiversal backlash energy.
Time rippled around them —
the walls shifted —
gravity spasmed.
Another ghost appeared —
then another —
a whole wave of miners, their bodies twisted, faces half-recognizable.
"We need to disable them!" Zaraya snapped. "Non-lethal! Trip them, bind them, knock them down — but don't destroy their cores!"
Jaxen grimaced but holstered his blaster for stun rounds.
Iselyra gripped Frostbrand tighter —
she would use the flat of the blade, not the edge.
Plo, wide-eyed but determined, unleashed a series of energy dampeners Drex had stored in his saddle.
The Dawnbreakers fought like a unit —
their first real test of mercy under fire.
Zaraya slammed ghost-miners into walls with kinetic bursts — stunning, not shattering.
Kaelen weaved through the battlefield, shadow-barriers shielding the souls.
Jaxen moved quickly, tagging stunned ghosts with null-clamps to prevent further phasing.
Iselyra used cold blasts to freeze but
The Ghost Charge
The miner's ghost screamed —
a sound that tore at the mind more than the ears.
It flickered and stuttered, body half-phasing through reality,
ash swirling around it like storm wings.
Zaraya braced herself — cosmic pulse crackling across her fists —
ready to meet the charge with force.
But Kaelen moved first.
He stepped between them, blade raised not to strike —
but to block.
"Wait!" he barked, voice cutting through the chaos.
Zaraya faltered, confusion flashing across her face.
Kaelen's sword glowed faintly, shadows flickering along the edge.
His eyes — that deep violet — burned with grim certainty.
"They're not just echoes," he said coldly. "They're souls.
Trapped here. Twisting. Hurting."
The ghost stumbled at the barrier Kaelen made —
its form flickering with broken sobs.
Jaxen swore under his breath.
"Great. Haunted zombie miners. Exactly what I signed up for."
Plo paled, tapping frantically at her data-slate.
"The fracture's energy signature — it's like… a net.
It's catching them. Binding them. They can't move on."
Iselyra stepped closer, Frostbrand humming softly with frozen resonance.
"Can they be freed?" she asked quietly.
Kaelen's mouth tightened.
"Maybe. But not by killing them."
The Battle of Mercy
The ghost shrieked again —
not in rage this time, but in pain —
lashing out blindly with multiversal backlash energy.
Time rippled around them —
the walls shifted —
gravity spasmed.
Another ghost appeared —
then another —
a whole wave of miners, their bodies twisted, faces half-recognizable.
"We need to disable them!" Zaraya snapped. "Non-lethal! Trip them, bind them, knock them down — but don't destroy their cores!"
Jaxen grimaced but holstered his blaster for stun rounds.
Iselyra gripped Frostbrand tighter —
she would use the flat of the blade, not the edge.
Plo, wide-eyed but determined, unleashed a series of energy dampeners Drex had stored in his saddle.
The Dawnbreakers fought like a unit —
their first real test of mercy under fire.
Zaraya slammed ghost-miners into walls with kinetic bursts — stunning, not shattering.
Kaelen weaved through the battlefield, shadow-barriers shielding the souls.
Jaxen moved quickly, tagging stunned ghosts with null-clamps to prevent further phasing.
Iselyra used cold blasts to freeze but
The Ghost Charge
The miner's ghost screamed —
a sound that tore at the mind more than the ears.
It flickered and stuttered, body half-phasing through reality,
ash swirling around it like storm wings.
Zaraya braced herself — cosmic pulse crackling across her fists —
ready to meet the charge with force.
But Kaelen moved first.
He stepped between them, blade raised not to strike —
but to block.
"Wait!" he barked, voice cutting through the chaos.
Zaraya faltered, confusion flashing across her face.
Kaelen's sword glowed faintly, shadows flickering along the edge.
His eyes — that deep violet — burned with grim certainty.
"They're not just echoes," he said coldly. "They're souls.
Trapped here. Twisting. Hurting."
The ghost stumbled at the barrier Kaelen made —
its form flickering with broken sobs.
Jaxen swore under his breath.
"Great. Haunted zombie miners. Exactly what I signed up for."
Plo paled, tapping frantically at her data-slate.
"The fracture's energy signature — it's like… a net.
It's catching them. Binding them. They can't move on."
Iselyra stepped closer, Frostbrand humming softly with frozen resonance.
"Can they be freed?" she asked quietly.
Kaelen's mouth tightened.
"Maybe. But not by killing them."
The Battle of Mercy
The ghost shrieked again —
not in rage this time, but in pain —
lashing out blindly with multiversal backlash energy.
Time rippled around them —
the walls shifted —
gravity spasmed.
Another ghost appeared —
then another —
a whole wave of miners, their bodies twisted, faces half-recognizable.
"We need to disable them!" Zaraya snapped. "Non-lethal! Trip them, bind them, knock them down — but don't destroy their cores!"
Jaxen grimaced but holstered his blaster for stun rounds.
Iselyra gripped Frostbrand tighter —
she would use the flat of the blade, not the edge.
Plo, wide-eyed but determined, unleashed a series of energy dampeners Drex had stored in his saddle.
The Dawnbreakers fought like a unit —
their first real test of mercy under fire.
Zaraya slammed ghost-miners into walls with kinetic bursts — stunning, not shattering.
Kaelen weaved through the battlefield, shadow-barriers shielding the souls.
Jaxen moved quickly, tagging stunned ghosts with null-clamps to prevent further phasing.
Iselyra used cold blasts to freeze
The abomination — the Echo Predator — dragged itself into the ruined reactor chamber,
shrieking as it pulled at the chains of reality.
Every breath it took warped the air.
Every step made the walls pulse with broken timelines.
The Dawnbreakers spread out instinctively — no commands needed now.
They knew.
This wasn't just a battle.
This was a rescue mission for lost souls —
and failure meant unleashing something far worse upon the universe.
The abomination — the Echo Predator — dragged itself into the ruined reactor chamber,
shrieking as it pulled at the chains of reality.
Every breath it took warped the air.
Every step made the walls pulse with broken timelines.
The Dawnbreakers spread out instinctively — no commands needed now.
They knew.
This wasn't just a battle.
This was a rescue mission for lost souls —
and failure meant unleashing something far worse upon the universe.