Echelon City was a graveyard made of glass and lightning.
Once humanity’s crown jewel, the capital now stood in eerie silence, skyscrapers tilted like broken teeth. The streets shimmered faintly — veins of glowing circuitry ran through the asphalt, pulsing with red and blue light.
Leon stood at the city’s edge, cloak whipping in the wind. Behind him, the crawler’s engines idled as Nova, Raze, and Iko stepped out into the dust.
The air crackled around them, humming with static and memory.
Raze whistled low. “So this is it. The big bad capital. Feels like walking into the belly of a sleeping god.”
Leon’s gaze swept across the ruins. “Not sleeping,” he said. “Waking.”
[Network Scan Initiated.]
[Signal Strength: 99%.]
[Warning: Core Activity Detected.]
Nova tightened her gloves. “We m
