The acrid stench of burnt chitin and ozone choked the narrow service corridor within Relay Station Aurelia. The last echoes of Kai's uncontrolled Shadowflame Breath faded, leaving behind a scene of utter devastation. The massive nest of the Aurelian Crawlers was a smoldering ruin, the chittering horde silenced, replaced by an eerie, crackling quiet. But the victory was pyrrhic. Kai lay unconscious, a fragile human form amidst the carnage, his Draconic Power Source utterly depleted, his life hanging by a thread.
"Kai! Leader Kai!" Breaker's panicked roar cut through the smoky haze. He lumbered to Kai's side, his own D-Grade Gorgon Anima completely exhausted, his stony hide cracked and faded, revealing bruised and bleeding flesh beneath. He gently, carefully, turned Kai over. Kai was pale, his breathing shallow, a faint, almost imperceptible tremor running through his limbs. The System's interface, visible only to Kai even in his unconscious state, blared a series of critical warnings: [ANIMA CORE STABILITY: 3% (CATASTROPHIC DEPLETION). HOST PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS FAILING. IMMEDIATE INFUSION OF DRACONIC ENERGY OR COMPATIBLE VITAL ESSENCE REQUIRED TO PREVENT IRREVERSIBLE SYSTEM COLLAPSE AND HOST TERMINATION.] [WARNING: UNCONTROLLED SHADOWFLAME DISCHARGE HAS CAUSED SIGNIFICANT INTERNAL ANIMA BACKLASH. HOST INTERNAL ORGANS UNDER EXTREME STRESS.]
Shift rushed to his side, her usual analytical composure shattered by a raw fear. Her Phase Spider Anima, though not a healing ability, allowed her to sense the chaotic, fading energy signature within Kai. "Roric! Elara! He's… he's dying! His internal energy is almost gone! That… that fire-breath thing, it burned him out from the inside!" Her hands trembled as she fumbled in her med-kit for a vital signs scanner.
"Damn it all!" Roric's voice, for the first time since Kai had known him, was laced with genuine alarm and a rare flash of fury – whether at the situation, at Kai's recklessness, or at his own miscalculation, it was impossible to tell. "The power output was beyond anything I could have anticipated from his current evolutionary stage! Elara, what are the station's schematics showing? Is there any internal power source, any dormant Anima conduit, anything at all Shift could try to tap to jumpstart his reserves?"
"Negative, Roric," Elara's voice came back, tight with stress. "Aurelia's primary core is millennia dead. Any residual power is too faint, too unstable. He needs an external source. A potent one."
Breaker looked down at Kai's still form, then at his own bleeding, battered arms. His own Anima was a guttering candle. He had nothing to give. Shift frantically scanned Kai. "His cellular structure is… degrading. The Draconic energy that sustains him is failing to maintain cohesion. We have minutes, Roric. If that."
In the Epsilon command center, Roric stared at the telemetry from Kai's suit, his mind racing. There were no other MODS with them, no Anima batteries, nothing that could provide the kind of energy Kai apparently needed. The "sustenance" protocol Kai had so grimly undertaken before… that required a source. And they were deep in a hostile, alien ruin.
Then, an idea, desperate and dangerous, sparked in Roric's mind. The Old Republic data-chips. Specifically, the "Project Griffin" fragments they had yet to fully decrypt. Shift had mentioned they contained research into Anima manipulation, stabilization, even artificial induction. "Shift," Roric commanded, his voice regaining a measure of its usual decisive edge. "The 'Project Griffin' data-chips. You have them with you, in your shielded analysis kit?" "Yes, Roric, but what—?" "Is there anything in the decrypted metadata, anything at all, about emergency Anima infusion, energy transference, or even… raw Anima signature stabilization from external data patterns? Old Republic tech was often… unconventional."
Shift's eyes widened as she understood his desperate gambit. "Theoretically… some of the resonance frequency protocols I was trying to bypass… they hinted at direct Anima-to-data and data-to-Anima energy conversion. It was highly theoretical, incredibly dangerous, designed for stabilizing artificial Anima constructs, not living beings! If I try to interface one of these chips directly with Kai's… System… or whatever it is… the feedback could destroy his mind, or overload him completely!"
"He's already dying, Shift," Roric stated coldly. "We have no other options. Can you isolate a chip that seems to deal with pure energy matrix stabilization, something without complex biological protocols?" Shift's fingers flew across her portable data-slate, her Phase Spider Anima a frantic web of light. "There's one… Fragment 7.3. It references 'Emergency Anima Core Reboot via Resonant Harmonic Infusion.' It's incomplete, corrupted, and the energy requirements listed are… astronomical. But it's the closest thing I have."
"Do it," Roric ordered. "Breaker, get ready to move Kai the instant Shift gives the word. We need to get him, and that data, out of Aurelia. Now." Shift knelt beside Kai, her face a mask of intense concentration. She produced one of the glowing Old Republic data-chips from her kit, its surface etched with unfamiliar, intricate symbols. She hesitated, then, taking a deep breath, she carefully placed the chip directly against Kai's temple, where his Draconic Power Source seemed to resonate most strongly. "Channeling my Anima to create a temporary interface bridge," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. "Trying to trigger the chip's primary activation sequence and direct its energy flow… if there's any left to direct…"
The moment the chip made contact, and Shift's faint Anima energy touched it, the data-chip flared with an intense, azure light. Kai's body arched violently, a silent scream tearing from his lips, his eyes snapping open to reveal pure, blazing amber fire. The System interface in his vision went haywire, a chaotic storm of error messages and critical alerts, then, one clear, dominant notification: [EXTERNAL ANIMA-DATA INFUSION DETECTED! OLD REPUBLIC PROTOCOL 7.3 (FRAGMENTARY) ACTIVATED! WARNING: UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE! FORCING COMPATIBILITY INTERFACE WITH DRACONIC POWER SOURCE! EXTREME RISK OF CORE CORRUPTION OR UNCONTROLLED MUTATION!] The ashes of Aurelia were about to witness either a miracle, or a final, devastating conflagration.