Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
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Episode 52: "The Sleeping Army"
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Beneath the ruin where Kara and Zeta had battled, ancient servers hummed to life — machinery untouched for years now pulsing with strange blue light. In subterranean chambers around the globe, cryo-tanks began to hiss and flicker. One by one, monitors displayed vitals stabilizing… and eyes long shut snapped open.
The forgotten soldiers were waking up.
The fire Kara had lit was spreading.
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Inside the Safehouse – Command Room
Adrian stared at the monitors, fists clenched. "We've got awakening signals from Oslo, Cairo, the Andes… even beneath the Arctic Circle."
Kyra's voice trembled. "Each of those sites holds dormant subjects. Failed experiments. Clones. Prototypes. If they all wake up at once—"
"They won't know who they are," Tessa finished. "Or what side they're on."
Kara, breathing hard from the battle, leaned against the doorframe. "Then we find them before Vane's failsafe does. Before they become another army for the Project."
Adrian turned to her, his voice strained. "You're bleeding."
Kara looked down. Blood stained her arm, but it was already starting to clot unnaturally fast. Her healing factor had accelerated.
She didn't even flinch.
"I'll live," she muttered. "For now."
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Meanwhile – Hidden Chamber, Location Unknown
Rows of cryo-pods lined the walls like tombs.
Inside one, a boy no older than sixteen gasped awake, wires embedded into his skin glowing faintly. His name, printed on the tank: Subject 13 - Codename: Ghost.
He blinked at the ceiling, confused.
The door slid open with a hiss. A voice — digital, cold — echoed in the chamber.
> "Protocol Theta initiated. Kill order pending. Stand by."
Ghost stepped out, shaky but alert. "Where… am I?"
> "You are alive. That is enough."
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Back at the Hideout
Ronan walked in, holding a scorched drone in his hands. "Intercepted a transmission from one of Vane's old satellites. Someone's coordinating the reactivation sequences."
"Who?" Kara asked.
Ronan frowned. "That's the thing. It's not Vane. Someone else has taken control."
Tessa zoomed into the data. A new encryption signature pulsed across the screen.
"Encrypted under codename Nightingale," she whispered.
Kyra went pale. "No… that was my project. It was never supposed to go live."
Adrian turned sharply. "What the hell is Nightingale?"
Kyra looked at them all, her voice shaking. "A failsafe to Vane's failsafe. It doesn't control the soldiers—it wakes the ones who could end all the others."
Ronan's eyes narrowed. "Like Kara?"
Kyra nodded slowly. "And worse."
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Elsewhere – Abandoned Observatory, Peru
A figure stood before a wide array of screens, cloak dragging the dust behind them. They observed the global map, dots blinking into existence. Kara's data flashed across one screen — followed by Subject 13, Subject 22, Subject X.
The figure spoke into a mic:
> "The Core has awakened. Begin deployment of the Sentinels. Phase One begins now."
A hidden chamber opened beneath their feet. Inside: weapons, armor, and a black tablet marked with the Lazarus insignia, slashed through with blood-red paint.
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Safehouse – Lower Level
Kara sat alone in the holding room, her head in her hands. The glow in her veins had faded, but the burning behind her eyes remained. The weight of the soldiers awakening, of Nightingale, of what she had unleashed—it all pressed on her chest like concrete.
Adrian walked in and sat quietly beside her.
"You're not alone in this," he said.
She didn't respond.
"Whatever's coming, we face it together."
Still silence.
Then, finally, she looked up, her voice a whisper. "What if I become one of them? What if this power… erases who I am?"
Adrian didn't hesitate. "Then I'll remind you. Every time. Every second. I'll fight to bring you back."
A beat passed.
Then she leaned into him, her breath shaky, and for a brief moment… Kara allowed herself to believe in something other than war.
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Above the Storm – Onboard the Helix Skyrig
Tessa monitored the sky, the atmosphere growing unstable. "Something's coming. Not weather. Movement — subsonic."
Ronan stepped up beside her. "Another attack?"
Tessa shook her head. "No. This is different. It's not Vane's army. It's not even military."
Adrian's voice came through the radio. "Then what is it?"
She slowly turned, eyes wide.
"They're calling themselves The Silent Order. And they're hunting the awakened."
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Meanwhile – Underground Vault, Berlin
Two twins stood in a mirrored corridor, watching the lights surge overhead. Both wore matching white uniforms, their faces expressionless.
"Subject One has awakened," said the sister.
"The balance is breaking," replied the brother.
They turned in unison and stepped into the black gate at the end of the hallway.
"Let the purge begin."
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Back at the Hideout – Final Moments
Kara opened her old file — the one Kyra had always avoided. It flickered to life on the cracked screen. Redacted lines, blurred images. But one thing stood out.
Origin: Project Nova
Designation: Echo
Core Directive: Reset humanity.
She stared at those three words.
Reset humanity.
And suddenly, she wasn't sure who she was anymore.
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To be continued…
🔥 The world's most dangerous secrets are waking — and Kara may be the on
ly one who can stop what's coming… even if she was built to start it.
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