Eclipse Protocol

Nova Cascadia’s skyline bled neon into the night, a labyrinth of glass spires and humming drones that never slept. Elias Kane crouched on the rooftop of a derelict warehouse, his gray eyes scanning the streets below. The air was thick with the scent of rain and ionised steel, but beneath it, he caught the faint tang of blood—his own kind. Lycans. Somewhere, another one was being hunted. His breath hitched as his heightened senses picked up the whine of an Enforcer’s hoverbike. The Concord’s elite were closing in, their cybernetic implants making them as relentless as the machines they served. Elias’s fingers tightened around the grip of his pulse-knife, its low hum a comfort against the chaos in his chest. He wasn’t just human, not anymore. The Eclipse Protocol had seen to that, weaving primal instincts into his DNA until he was something else—something they feared. “Elias, we’ve got movement,” Lyra’s voice crackled through his earpiece, sharp and urgent. She was posted two blocks away, her Lycan senses as keen as his. “Three Enforcers, southbound. They’ve got a sniffer drone.” “Damn it,” Elias muttered, his voice low, almost a growl. “Any sign of the target?” “Negative. But if they’re this close, she’s not far.” She. The human defector they’d been tracking for weeks. A data-slicer who’d stolen something dangerous enough to make the Concord nervous. Elias didn’t trust humans—too fragile, too quick to betray—but Dr. Solen insisted this one was different. A key to unraveling the Protocol. He wasn’t sure he believed it, but he’d seen the desperation in Solen’s eyes. Hope was a rare thing in their world. A flicker of movement caught his eye—a shadow darting between the alleys below. Not an Enforcer. Too small, too erratic. His pulse quickened, the Lycan in him stirring, urging him to chase. He forced it down. Control was everything. Losing it meant becoming the beast the Concord claimed he was. “Lyra, I’ve got eyes on something. Alley between 17th and Chrome. Cover me.” “Elias, wait—” He was already moving, leaping from the rooftop to a fire escape, his enhanced muscles absorbing the impact. The alley was a maze of rusted pipes and flickering holo-ads, the kind of place where secrets hid. He landed silently, his boots barely disturbing the puddles. The shadow was ahead, a figure in a hooded jacket, stumbling as if wounded. Human, by the scent. Female. “Hey!” Elias called, keeping his voice low but firm. “Stop, or you’re gonna regret it.” The figure froze, then spun, a glint of metal in her hand. A pulse-pistol, charged and aimed at his chest. Her hood fell back, revealing a woman with sharp green eyes and dark hair plastered to her face by the rain. She was young, maybe mid-twenties, but there was steel in her gaze, like someone who’d seen too much. “Back off,” she snapped, her voice steady despite the tremble in her hands. “I don’t want trouble.” “Then why’re you running from the Concord?” Elias stepped closer, ignoring the pistol. He could smell her fear, sharp and acrid, but there was something else—defiance. It intrigued him, more than he cared to admit. Her eyes narrowed. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? A Lycan.” The word hit like a blade, but he kept his face neutral. “And you’re Nora Vale, the data-slicer who’s got the Concord tearing up half the city. What’d you steal to make them this mad?” Her lips parted, but before she could answer, a blinding light cut through the alley. A sniffer drone, its red optics locking onto them. Elias reacted on instinct, tackling Nora to the ground as a pulse-blast scorched the wall above them. She gasped, her pistol clattering away, but he was already pulling her behind a dumpster, his arm shielding her. “Stay down,” he growled, his eyes flashing amber as the Lycan inside him surged. The drone’s hum grew louder, joined by the roar of hoverbikes. Enforcers. They were out of time. Nora shoved against him, her breath hot against his cheek. “Let me go! I can handle myself.” “Doubt it,” Elias shot back, but there was no time to argue. The drone’s optics swept closer, and he could feel the beast clawing at his control, begging to break free. If he transformed now, he’d tear through the drone—and maybe her, too. “Who are you?” Nora whispered, her voice barely audible over the drone’s whine. “Someone who’s trying to keep you alive,” Elias said, meeting her gaze. Her eyes held his, fierce and searching, and for a moment, the world narrowed to just them—two fugitives in a city that wanted them dead. Then the drone’s light pinned them, and a cold voice echoed through the alley. “Elias Kane, surrender or be terminated.” Elias’s lips curled into a grim smile. “Guess we’re doing this the hard way.” *****