The UGF officer's 'Resonance Breaker' was insidious. Alex, his Aethel-enhanced senses attuned to the energies around The Shadow's Kiss even from within the Waystation, felt it as a discordant, shrieking frequency designed to tear apart complex stealth fields. REX's calm voice crackled with uncharacteristic static over the comms: "Resonance Breaker is targeting my vessel's primary cloaking harmonics… field integrity failing… 70%… 50%…"
"He's trying to force us out into the open, or pinpoint the exact location of the cloaked asteroid by our ship's signature!" Voss deduced, her face grim.
"The officer is indeed astute," Elysius's mental voice acknowledged. "He now focuses on the artificial cloaking of your ship, a simpler resonance to unravel than this Waystation's defenses. If your vessel is fully revealed, he will assume its occupants are within this asteroid."
Alex knew he had to act immediately. Leaving REX and the ship to be captured or destroyed was not an option – it was their only way out of the Zeta Reticuli system, their only means to potentially reach other Waystations or allies, should they find any.
"The Art of Conduition…" Alex murmured. He could feel the vast, ambient energies of space around him, a limitless wellspring. "If I can draw enough power… can I use the Shielding art to counteract that Resonance Breaker directly? Create a counter-frequency to stabilize the ship's cloak?"
"A difficult feat, Keybearer," Elysius responded. "You would need to precisely match and then overwhelm the Breaker's disruptive harmonics, while simultaneously reinforcing your ship's compromised stealth field. It would require immense energy and flawless control."
"I have the energy now," Alex said, a new confidence in his voice, feeling the thrum of cosmic power he could now access. "And Cognition should give me the control."
"Alex, he'll know it's you," Kai warned. "If you actively counter his device, you're basically shouting 'Here I am!'"
"He already suspects," Alex countered. "This is about protecting our escape route and buying more time for… whatever comes next." He looked towards the pulsating green crystal that Elysius had indicated for Conduition, a silent question in his eyes. He hadn't formally absorbed that art yet, merely experienced its introduction.
"You have tasted the principle of Conduition, Keybearer," Elysius seemed to understand. "The initial attunement has opened the pathways. Draw upon it. The universe will answer your call. But be swift. The Breaker's effect is accelerating."
Nodding, Alex closed his eyes, no longer needing physical contact with the crystal for this. He reached out with his newly awakened Conduit ability, feeling for the river of cosmic energy flowing through the Waystation, through the very fabric of space around them. He didn't just draw; he became the channel.
Energy, pure and potent, surged into him, far greater than anything he'd wielded before. It was like opening a dam. His body hummed, his hair practically crackled, but his Aethel-enhanced mind and the inherent resilience of the Absorber Gene allowed him to contain and direct it.
Simultaneously, he focused on the shrieking, disruptive frequency of the Resonance Breaker, analyzing it with his Cognition, understanding its chaotic patterns. Then, using the principles of Shielding, he began to weave a counter-resonance, a precise, powerful harmonic wave designed to cancel out the Breaker's interference and reinforce The Shadow's Kiss's stealth signature.
He projected this complex energy field outwards, through the Waystation's portal, towards the distressed ship.
REX's voice, still staticky but firmer, came over the comms. "Counter-resonance detected! Field integrity… stabilizing… 60%… 80%… Cloaking field re-established at 95% efficacy! Resonance Breaker's disruptive output is being… actively harmonized!"
Alex let out a ragged breath. It was working. He was engaged in a silent, invisible tug-of-war, his Aethel arts battling the UGF's cutting-edge disruptive technology.
But Kai had been right.
"Keybearer," Elysius's voice cut in, a note of urgency now. "The officer has detected your counter-measures. He has pinpointed the source of your Aethel resonance. He is no longer targeting your vessel. He is targeting… this Waystation's entrance."
A beat of stunned silence.
Then, a new, violent alarm blared from the comm panel – a proximity alert directly from The Shadow's Kiss's external sensors, relayed by REX. A visual feed popped up on one of Voss's datapads: the charcoal-armored UGF officer, his form shimmering with his personal cloak, was rapidly approaching the now-visible glowing purple aperture of the Waystation. He wasn't alone. Two heavily modified UGF combat drones, larger and more menacing than the micro-probes, flanked him, their weapon systems powering up.
"He found it!" Lena gasped. "How?"
"He followed the Keybearer's resonant spoor when he projected his counter-shielding," Elysius explained grimly. "He is exceptionally skilled at tracking such energies, amplified by the Alaris shard."
The officer was a ghost, moving with deadly speed and precision. He had bypassed the outer asteroid camouflage and was now at the very doorstep of their sanctuary.
"He's going to breach!" Kai roared, already moving towards the tunnel entrance, disruptor raised. "Voss, Lena, Oracle, stay back with Elysius! Alex, with me! We hold this door!"
Alex, still pulsing with the vast energies of Conduition, nodded. There was no time for more lessons, no time for strategy. The enemy was here. He could feel the officer's cold, analytical presence, the thrum of the Alaris shard, like a dissonant note in the Waystation's ancient harmony.
The officer and his combat drones reached the glowing purple threshold. The Waystation's ambient defenses, subtle gravitic waves and resonant fields, pulsed, trying to deter him, but the officer, protected by his personal Null-Field-like dampeners and the Alaris shard's interference, pressed on.
He raised a hand, and one of his combat drones fired a concentrated plasma bolt directly at the shimmering purple entrance.
Alex reacted instantly. He didn't need to think. The Aethel Shielding art was now second nature. He thrust out his palm, and a brilliant, multi-layered shield of purple-gold Aethel energy snapped into existence, far larger and more powerful than his earlier attempts, fueled by the immense power he was now channeling as a Conduit.
BOOM!
The plasma bolt slammed into the Aethel shield, exploding in a flash of blinding light. The shield held, rippling but intact. Alex felt the impact, but it was like a wave washing against a rock – the energy was mostly absorbed and dissipated harmlessly by the shield's intricate resonant structure.
The officer paused, his head tilting, clearly surprised by the strength of the defense. His combat drones opened fire again, a sustained barrage of plasma and kinetic rounds.
Alex stood his ground at the mouth of the tunnel, Kai beside him laying down suppressing fire with his disruptor. Alex's Aethel shield became a dynamic, flowing barrier, deflecting bolts, absorbing kinetic impacts, its surface rippling and shifting like liquid light. Each impact sent shivers of alien knowledge through him, further refining his understanding of the Shielding art under real-world pressure.
This wasn't just a defense; it was a crucible.
"His personal dampening field is strong, Keybearer," Elysius cautioned. "And the Alaris shard provides him with unnatural resilience to Aethel energies. A direct assault may be… inefficient."
The officer, seeing his drones' attacks proving ineffective against Alex's shield, made a new move. He discarded his standard energy sidearm and produced a strange, complex device from his utility belt – a cylindrical rod that telescoped out, crackling with a chaotic, sickly green energy that felt chillingly familiar. The reanimation energy from his gauntlet, but concentrated.
He wasn't aiming at Alex. He was aiming it at the obsidian wall beside the Waystation's entrance.
"What's he doing?" Kai yelled over the din.
The green energy beam struck the ancient Aethel wall. Instead of deflecting, the wall began to corrupt. The smooth black surface bubbled and warped, patches of it turning the same diseased green as the reanimation energy. The Waystation's internal purple light flickered erratically in that section.
"He is attempting to create a localized breach by corrupting the Waystation's structural integrity using the Alaris shard's dissonant energies!" Elysius exclaimed, its serene voice finally laced with alarm. "If he creates another entrance, he can bypass your chokepoint!"
The hound wasn't just at the door anymore. He was trying to tear down the walls.