The sky above Kyiv cracked with thunder as if the heavens sensed a war was about to shift—not by firepower, but by revelation.
Kael stood inside Astra's war chamber beneath the capital. Screens flickered with unstable satellite feeds and encrypted channels, all tied to the dying veins of the sponsor network. Around him, members of the Ghost Rebellion moved like shadows, tuning equipment, synchronizing signal overrides, preparing for a strike more dangerous than any missile: the truth.
> "HALIX," Kael said.
"Confirm: Global broadcast uplink prepared?"
> "Confirmation: Signal relay is unstable. Estimated override duration: six minutes, twenty-three seconds. After that, sponsor firewalls will restore control."
Just over six minutes. Six minutes to speak to the world.
Six minutes to destroy the illusion.
---
Above ground, the war escalated.
In northern Ukraine, Velora Drakovich launched a precision campaign through the forests of Sumy. Her forces moved with brutal grace—elite, polished, and impossible to stop.
But she was no longer focused on Kyiv.
She was watching Kael.
"He's going to do something reckless," she muttered, reviewing an intercepted transmission.
"Something the sponsors won't forgive."
Her adjutant stepped forward. "Should we intervene?"
Velora stared at Kael's blurred image on the screen.
"No. Let him burn the stage." She turned away, voice sharper now. "We'll rise from the ashes."
---
Back underground, Kael stood before the relay terminal. The ghost forces around him had gone silent. All eyes were on him now.
Astra gave a nod. "Your move."
He stepped forward and opened the feed.
The system flared, and suddenly—across every global terminal, on every sponsor broadcast, through every drone lens and holographic screen—Kael's face appeared.
And he began to speak.
> "This is Kael Vasil. Leader of the Ukrainian Campaign. Player #143."
> "If you're watching this… you're not seeing a game. You're seeing a lie."
Images flickered behind him. Censored war crimes. Sponsor edits. Hidden alliances. Redacted betrayals.
> "The world was told we were chosen for our minds. For our strategy. But what they don't tell you is… they chose us to perform."
> "They don't want peace. They want profit. They want blood that sells."
A pause. A breath.
> "But I've seen the Ghosts. The ones they erased. The ones who refused to kneel. We are not your puppets anymore."
> "This war ends when the world chooses to wake up."
Behind Kael, Astra initiated the final phase. Sponsor uplinks glitched. Dozens of data vaults began to leak—live.
Files. Proof. Player assassinations. Faked wars. Sponsor manipulation.
The illusion cracked.
But then—static.
The screen trembled. HALIX blared.
> "Override breached. Hostile counter-signal inbound."
A dark screen cut across Kael's face.
A new voice filled the airwaves.
Jian Wu.
> "Well done, Kael. You opened their eyes—just in time for me to take the stage."
Kael's eyes widened. Astra cursed under her breath.
> "Now… let's show them what real control looks like."
---
Across the globe, power dropped.
Satellites went dark.
Cities lost communications.
Sponsor networks flatlined.
Every Player's command system flickered—HALIXes, drones, feeds—all offline.
Jian Wu's blackout had begun.
And Kael had unknowingly triggered it.
---
End of Chapter Six
Next: Chapter Seven – "The Collapse Protocol"