Time: 06:15

Location: Nemesis Island – Northern Interior Line

The fog hadn't lifted with the dawn. Nemesis Island still clung to an ominous silence, pulling the remaining team members deeper like a predator waiting in ambush.

Colonel Sefa Yücel advanced along the northern slope with the forward squad. Only 58 soldiers remained. They had already lost over 40 men in the first hour—and they still had no clear intel on what lay ahead.

Into the Heart of the Enemy

Thermal scanners were down, electromagnetic interference still buzzing in the air. The enemy's technology wasn't just superior—it was clever. Sefa felt it more with each step they took.

Zayd was leading the way, followed closely by Eren, Cemil, and Gökhan. Gökhan was badly wounded, but Sefa hadn't let him retreat.

> "If we win, our fallen will not have died in vain," he had said. "If we lose… this island becomes our grave."

The path narrowed, and the team moved behind rocky outcrops for cover. Suddenly, the sky lit up—a silent flash, an electromagnetic burst like an invisible hand etching its message across the clouds.

> "That… is a show of force," Sefa muttered.

At that moment, a voice came through the radio—distorted, yet unmistakable.

> "Resistance? Such a naive concept…"

Sefa raised his mic.

> "Ombra."

> "Sefa Yücel. I'm watching your every step. Weighing every decision you make. What you call victory—I call delayed collapse."

> "It's not over yet."

> "No, it's not. Because I don't just want to win—I want to break you. Along with humanity's will."

Trap Within a Trap

When they reached the northern line, they were met not by ruins—but a massive facility. Metallic domes shimmered between broken towers. No guards in sight.

> "They're drawing us in," Cemil warned.

> "Yes," Sefa replied. "But we're going in. In a maelstrom, you don't escape until you reach the center."

He divided the team. Eren took a sniper position. Zayd and Gökhan flanked left. Cemil and Sefa advanced straight to the core.

Contact came within minutes. But this time, the enemy wasn't human.

Synthetic armored soldiers, cloaked with optical camouflage, appeared out of thin air. Sefa downed the first one with a precise shot—only to see five more emerge behind it.

> "Cemil! Right flank! Drones incoming!"

> "Eren! Suppressive fire, twelve o'clock!"

Retreat wasn't an option. Sefa switched to close combat. He drew his blade, slashed through one synthetic's knee joint, and kicked it to the ground.

Then came Zayd's shout:

> "Colonel, behind you!"

A drone charged at Sefa—until Zayd threw himself in the way, crashing into it and taking it down.

Sefa gave him a quick look.

> "Loyalty," he thought. "Sometimes it comes from the least expected."

The Dark Gate

Inside the facility, the scene was unlike anything they had expected. It wasn't a base—it was a temple.

Silver pillars, encrypted markings, holographic runes flickering across the ceiling… Reality seemed to twist around them.

Suddenly, one of the holograms moved. Ombra's shadow took form. For the first time, his face appeared—an old man with cold features. His eyes were pitch black.

> "Welcome," he said. "To the Maelstrom."

Sefa stepped forward.

> "Fear grows in hiding. This ends now."

> "No," Ombra replied. "This is only the beginning. You came here to win a war. I came here to break the very fabric of reality."

A deep rumble echoed. The wall behind them exploded. A new wave of enemies appeared—biomechanical monsters, fused with steel and muscle.

Sefa activated the comm:

> "All units—Code Red. No retreat. No delay. Ombra is here, and tonight—either he falls, or we do."

The Maelstrom had begun.