Chapter 1
The sky above New Avalon was never truly dark anymore.
Even at night, the endless glow of neon towers, hovering transport lanes, and massive corporate holo-screens painted the clouds in shifting shades of electric blue and crimson red, turning the once natural sky into something artificial—something owned.
Commander Nova Steele stood on the edge of the towering military command platform overlooking the sprawling megacity, the wind tugging gently at the dark strands of her hair as armored transport ships roared through the sky above her, their engines vibrating through the steel beneath her boots.
Far below, the city stretched endlessly in every direction, a maze of glowing towers, armored highways, and security drones that floated like silent metal ghosts between buildings.
This was Earth now.
Not the world people once dreamed about in old history archives.
A world run by corporations, protected by military contracts, and controlled by technologies that most civilians would never understand.
Nova crossed her arms as she watched a squadron of gunships disappear into the horizon, her sharp steel-grey eyes reflecting the cold lights of the city.
She had spent nearly ten years in the military.
Ten years of missions.
Ten years of war.
Ten years of watching soldiers she cared about never return.
Yet somehow she was still standing.
Still fighting.
Still leading.
Behind her, the heavy metal door to the command platform slid open with a hydraulic hiss.
“Commander Steele,” a familiar voice called.
Nova turned slightly as Sergeant Malik Torres, one of her most trusted squad members, stepped onto the platform, his combat armor still dusted with the grime of the training yard below.
“You’re going to want to hear this,” he said, his expression unusually serious.
Nova raised an eyebrow.
“That bad?”
Torres exhaled slowly.
“Depends on how you feel about classified government experiments.”
Nova turned fully toward him now.
In the military, the words classified experiment almost never meant something good.
“What happened?” she asked.
Torres handed her a thin digital tablet, its screen glowing softly in the dim light.
“High Command just issued a priority briefing,” he said. “New mission assignment. Level Black clearance.”
Nova scanned the file quickly.
Her brow slowly furrowed.
The mission itself wasn’t unusual—an escort operation deep inside one of the heavily guarded corporate research sectors on the outskirts of the city.
But the asset they were escorting made her pause.
Her eyes locked on a single line of text.
PROJECT: WARBORN
UNIT DESIGNATION: R-01
STATUS: ACTIVE
Nova looked up.
“A Warborn unit?” she said quietly.
Torres nodded grimly.
“First one ever deployed in the field.”
Nova had heard rumors.
Everyone in the military had.
Whispers about a secret program run by Helios Corporation, the most powerful defense company on the planet.
A project designed to create the perfect soldier.
Not trained.
Built.
Human bodies enhanced with experimental combat implants and an advanced AI combat system that could process battlefield data faster than any human brain.
Most soldiers believed the stories were exaggerated.
But the file in Nova’s hands proved otherwise.
“Where is it now?” she asked.
Torres hesitated slightly.
“Already inside the base.”
Nova blinked.
“What?”
Before Torres could answer, the platform lights suddenly flickered.
Then the heavy steel door behind them slowly slid open again.
A cold metallic sound echoed across the platform as something stepped through the doorway.
Heavy.
Precise.
Deliberate.
Nova turned.
And for a moment, the world seemed to freeze.
The figure standing in the doorway was massive, clad in sleek black combat armor lined with glowing blue energy circuits that pulsed softly like a heartbeat beneath the metal plates.
Every movement was perfectly controlled.
Perfectly calculated.
The helmet covering the soldier’s face slowly shifted as its visor lifted.
And the moment Nova saw his face…
The breath caught in her throat.
Because the man standing there wasn’t a stranger.
It was someone she had buried in her memories years ago.
Someone she thought she would never see again.
Her voice barely came out as more than a whisper.
“…Cassian?”
The Warborn soldier’s glowing blue eyes locked onto hers.
For a brief moment, something human flickered behind them.
Something familiar.
Then the AI voice inside his armor spoke calmly through the platform speakers.
“Warborn Unit R-01 online.”
“Awaiting mission command, Commander Steele.”
