The dark side of the moon, permanently shielded from the curious eyes of the human world’s civilian space agencies, was home to a civilization of absolute, terrifying engineering mastery. Inside the colossal subterranean citadels of The Sovereign Crown Node—prehistoric metropolis complexes built directly into the deep titanium craters of the lunar bedrock—the atmosphere was defined by a cold, mathematical stillness. Massive, bioluminescent matrix arrays processed real-time genetic data streams from across the solar system, pulsing with a serene, gold-indigo energetic frequency that had remained undisturbed for five centuries since the First Cleansing.
But tonight, the mechanical quiet of the primary command spire was cut open by an abrupt, cataclysmic blackout that defied every cosmic alg
