SWNOVELXO Chapter 65: Episode 64
[SCENE 1 — INT. SKYVAULT CITY - VANGUARD HQ - STRATEGIC OBSERVATION DECK — NIGHT]
Rain lashes against the glass dome of the newly rebuilt HQ. From high above, the city sprawls like a web of neon veins and sky-rails. Hovercraft blink beneath thunderclouds. The Vanguard symbol glows faintly on the polished floor.
Kael leans forward, hands clasped.
Kael: "We chose well. But we chose early. Let's see what they do with pressure."
Yuna adjusts the satellite map display. It zooms in on a sector blinking crimson.
Yuna: "Distress call. Eastern SkyVault quadrant. Civilian transport downed. No sign of what hit it."
Jax grins, cracking his knuckles.
Jax: "Then it's time. Let the kids fly."
[SCENE 2 — EXT. SKYVAULT CITY — DISTRICT 7: CRASH ZONE — NIGHT]
Steam hisses from broken pipe-lines. The ruins of a civilian transport hovercar lie scattered across a narrow street. Lights flicker above. The buildings curve in the sleek architectural arcs unique to SkyVault — floating structures anchored by gravity pylons.
Zenari ⚫: (crouching near a scorch mark) "No debris from an impact. It was pulled down. Something… below."
Lyra 🌌: (her palms glowing) "Gravity distortion here is unnatural. Something inverted the field mid-flight."
Astra ☀️: (looking up at the towers) "And the power drain wasn't from outside. It siphoned energy through the grid."
A low hum rattles through the ground.
Suddenly, the street beneath them cracks. From the darkness below, dozens of black, orb-like machines rise — drones with mirrored shells and glowing red cores. No visible weapons. Just scanning.
Kael (over comms): "Engage. Non-lethal if possible. We don't know who's behind this."
[SCENE 3 — COMBAT SEQUENCE — DISTRICT 7 SKYWAY — NIGHT]
Zenari slips into shadowform, weaving between the drones. Every strike is surgical — disabling cores without triggering explosions. He disappears in one alley, reappears behind a drone, then vanishes again.
Lyra raises both hands, her gravity fields pulsing. She collapses a section of street upward into a wall of debris — then gently levitates trapped civilians from a nearby wreckage and sets them on a rooftop.
Astra summons concentrated solar flares in the shape of spears, hurling them into the air as signal flares while releasing low-burst heat waves that overload drone circuits without harming humans.
The battle is quick — but tense. When the final drone falls, it doesn't explode. Instead, it opens, revealing a white-glass orb. It plays a message.
A distorted voice crackles through:
Unknown: "Test One: Passed. Adaptation detected. Vanguards… still functional. That will be corrected."
Static. Then the orb shatters.
[SCENE 4 — INT. HQ - WAR ROOM — LATER THAT NIGHT]
The core from one of the drones spins slowly in a containment field.
Yuna: "These aren't rogue tech. This is manufactured. Designed to test us."
Jax: "They knew where to drop that transport. Knew we'd respond. This was staged."
Kael: "Someone's watching. Studying."
He turns to the new trio.
Kael: "How do you feel?"
Zenari: "Watched."
Astra: "Challenged."
Lyra: "Ready."
Kael smirks, just slightly.
Kael: "Good. Because this city — SkyVault — isn't sleeping anymore."
[SCENE 5 — EXT. SKYVAULT OUTER RIM — UNKNOWN LOCATION — NIGHT]
Somewhere on the edge of the city, in a low orbit cargo ring converted into a surveillance center, hooded figures observe satellite feeds. The shattered drones flicker on multiple screens.
A being wrapped in silver mesh speaks in a garbled alien tongue. Beside them, a large hologram renders the three new Vanguards in full combat action.
A new file opens:
Subject: Astra ☀️
Subject: Lyra 🌌
Subject: Zenari ⚫
Tag: VANGUARD REBOOT - CONTINGENCY 09
The figure smiles.
Unknown Entity: "Let the culling begin."