Chapter 236: Seeds of Dissent

Down in a forgotten tunnel in the Undercroft where Seraph and Draven had made their base.

Seraph stood over a holographic map, studying convoy routes and patrol patterns.

“Captain.” Rook’s voice came from the entrance of the room. The crime boss leaned against the doorframe. “Got something you’d love to hear.”

“Another supply convoy?”

“Nah, something better.” Rook said, with a smile appearing on his face. “A person. Someone of high value.”

That got Seraph’s attention.

“Who?”

“Commander Marcus Voss. He’s the logistics officer for Sterling’s cyborg legions. The man who makes sure all those monsters get their fuel and ammunition on time.”

Draven, who’d been sharpening his manifested blade in the corner, looked up. “A human commander? I thought Sterling replaced all his leadership with machines.”

“Not all of them. Not yet.” Rook pulled up his own datapad, showing surveillance footage. “Some positions still need a human touch. Someone who can think creatively, adapt to changing situations.”

Seraph studied the footage. Commander Voss was a man in his forties. He carried himself like a military officer. He moved with the confidence of someone who had never been seriously challenged.

That confidence would be his weakness.

“Where is he now?” she asked.

“My sources say he’s set to inspect a warehouse district tonight. It’s in the East sector, close to the old ruined factory. He’ll have guards, but nothing we can’t handle if we’re smart about it.”

“Which we will be.” Seraph looked at Draven. “Feel like going hunting?”

The big warrior smiled. “Always.”

Three hours later, they crouched on a rooftop looking over the warehouse district.

The rain had stopped, leaving everything wet and slippery.

“Target approaching,” Seraph whispered into her comm. She watched through her scope as vehicles rolled down the street. “Two escort vehicles. Standard security protocol.”

“How many guards?” Draven asked from his position on the opposite roof.

“Six cyborgs. All with heavy armor.” She calculated angles and timing. “We take out the escorts first. Then Voss’s vehicle last. We need him alive.”

The convoy came to a stop in front of the warehouse. The escort vehicles deployed their cyborg guards first.

Commander Voss stepped out of his vehicle last, with two personal bodyguards by his side. He pulled out a datapad and began reviewing something, completely at ease.

That ease was about to end.

“Now,” Seraph commanded.

CRASH!

Draven dropped from his roof like a meteor, his golden armor forming as he fell. He landed directly on top of the first escort vehicle, crushing its roof and sending the cyborgs inside sprawling.

The other guards reacted instantly, raising weapons. But Seraph was faster.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Three accurate shots, three disabled cyborgs.

Draven broke through the rest of the guards. His super strength, plus his fighting skills, quickly defeated Sterling’s machines.

The ambush took less than thirty seconds.

Commander Voss stood frozen, his hand halfway to his sidearm. His personal bodyguards moved to protect him, but Draven was already there. One sweep of his sword sent both guards flying backward.

“Don’t move,” Seraph said calmly, as she came down from her position. Her weapon was aimed directly on Voss’s chest. “Hands where I can see them.”

Voss slowly raised his hands. His initial shock was fading, replaced by the trained calm of a military officer. “Captain Seraph, I assume? Sterling’s briefings mentioned you might still be active.”

“It’s nice to know that I made the briefings.”

“You are a competent insurgent. Of course you’d be noted.” Voss’s eyes moved to Draven, then back to Seraph. “Though I have to say, attacking a logistics officer seems beneath your skill level. Shouldn’t you be targeting actual military assets?”

“You are a military asset.” Seraph pointed for Draven to bind Voss’s hands. “You are the man who keeps Sterling’s army moving. Cut off the supplies, the army stops.”

“You can’t possibly think kidnapping me will change anything. I have deputies. Backups. The system continues without me.”

“Oh, we are not kidnapping you to stop your logistics.” Seraph smiled, but it wasn’t a friendly one. “We are kidnapping you because you are about to become our inside man.”

Voss actually laughed. “You think I’ll betray Sterling? I’m loyal to the cause. To the future he’s building.”

“Are you?” Seraph leaned in close. “Because from where I’m standing, you’re a man on borrowed time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means Sterling’s future doesn’t include you, Commander. His vision is all machines and Weavers. Soldiers who don’t need sleep, don’t need food, and most importantly, don’t question orders.” She let that sink in. “You are human. You make mistakes. You want power. All the things Sterling despises.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Am I?” Seraph pulled up her own datapad, showing him secret messages. “These are request orders from Sterling’s R&D division. They are developing advanced AI command systems. Automated logistics programs. Everything you do, but faster and without the risk of human error.”

She watched his face while he read the data. She saw the moment when he finally understood the truth.

“You are already out of date, Commander. You are managing the people who are taking over your job”

Voss’s arrogance broke. Just a little. It was enough for doubt to seep in.

“Even if that’s true,” he said carefully, “what makes you think I’d help you? Sterling controls the capital. He has the resources, the weapons, the power.”

“For now.” Draven spoke up. “But power like that, built on fear and control? It never lasts. Someone always brings it down. Question is, do you want to be on the winning side when that happens? Or do you want to be the obsolete middle manager who got replaced by a better program?”

Seraph could see the calculation happening behind Voss’s eyes. He was a survivor. The kind of man who’d climbed the ranks by knowing which way the wind was blowing and adjusting accordingly.

And right now, the wind was changing.

“What exactly are you proposing?” he asked quietly.

“Simple. You continue your duties as normal. But you feed us information. Troop movements. Supply routes. Weak points in Sterling’s defenses.”

“In exchange, when this war ends and Sterling falls, you get a full pardon. Clean record. Maybe even a position in the new government.”

“And if Sterling wins?”

“Then you’re no worse off than you are now. You’ll just be one more loyal officer who happened to get unlucky.”

It was a good deal. Voss knew there had to be a catch.

But the alternative was waiting to be replaced by a machine.

“I’ll need guarantees,” he said finally. “Protection for my family. Assurances that when this is over, I’m not just trading one master for another.”

“Done.” Seraph extended her hand. “Do we have a deal, Commander?”

Voss stared at her hand for a long moment. Then, slowly, he shook it.

“We have a deal. But understand this, Captain. If Sterling finds out about this, if I’m compromised, I will sell you out to save myself.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” Seraph released his hand. “Now, let’s discuss your first delivery of information. What’s Sterling planning that we don’t know about?”

They moved the conversation to a more secure location, a hidden room in an abandoned subway station.

“Sterling’s main focus right now is to combine and secure everything he has,” Voss explained, pulling up data on a borrowed tablet. “He’s not trying to conquer the whole nation. Just the strategic centers. Capital cities, manufacturing hubs, transportation networks.”

“We know this already,” Draven said impatiently.

“What you don’t know is that he’s pulling resources from all these locations and putting them in one place.” Voss pulled up shipping manifests. “Rare metals. Energy cores. Advanced computing components. Everything is being shipped to a classified facility.”

“Where?”

Voss tapped the screen, and a location marker appeared.

But it wasn’t on their planet.

It was on the moon.

Seraph and Draven exchanged glances.

“Sterling’s building a base on the moon?” Seraph said slowly. “Why?”

“I don’t know the full details. That’s above my clearance level.” Voss scrolled through more documents. “But the resource allocation is huge. Whatever he’s building up there, it’s his primary project. Everything else is secondary.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Three months. Maybe longer. The shipments are constant. Almost daily.” Voss looked up from the tablet. “If you want to hurt Sterling, really hurt him, that facility is where you’d need to strike.”

Seraph’s mind was already working fast.

This was big. Bigger than supply convoys and ambushes. This was the kind of target that could change the entire war.

But it also raised a terrifying question.

What was Sterling building up there that required so much power and secrecy?

“We need to get this information to the Headmaster,” Seraph said, standing. “And to Jonah’s team. If Sterling’s real operation is off-planet, that changes everything.”

“What about me?” Voss asked.

“You go back to your duties. Act normal. We’ll contact you when we need more information.” Seraph looked him dead in the eyes. “And Commander? Don’t make me regret trusting you.”

“I could say the same to you, Captain.”

They released Voss near the warehouse district, staging it to look like he’d fought off the ambush and escaped.

As Seraph and Draven made their way back to the Undercroft, Draven spoke up.

“You think he’ll really help us? Or will he sell us out first chance he gets?”

“Honestly? It could go either way.” Seraph said. “But scared men make stupid choices. And right now, Voss is very scared of being replaced. That fear will keep him loyal. For a while, at least.”

“And when the fear fades?”

“Then we’ll deal with it. One problem at a time, Draven. One problem at a time.”

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