Eclipse Protocol

Chapter One: The Shadow Falls

The city was a beast of light and darkness, and tonight, darkness was winning.

Under a blood-red moon obscured by the remnants of a solar eclipse, Kalen Dros, better known as Nyctarion, moved like a ghost through the twisting alleys of Noxhaven - a city where secrets festered deeper than the cracks in its concrete.

His Shadow-Core Armor absorbed the cold night air, nanotech humming softly beneath the sleek surface.

Every step was calculated, every breath measured. His panther-shaped AI, Umbros, whispered static in his helmet, a sarcastic drone cutting through the silence.

"Another pathetic firewall. This one's like candy for me. Want me to leave a surprise behind?"

Nyctarion smirked beneath the helm. "Do it. Leave your turd."

His target was inside the high-security tech vault of Solaris Corp-a front for the Wardens of Eos. Inside, they hid truths darker than the shadows he commanded.

A soft click. The grappling hook launched silently, anchoring on a steel beam. The night embraced him as he scaled the side of the building, muscles taut, reflexes primed to process threats five times faster than any human.

Umbros fed him data. "Security cams, three. Guards, four. One patrol looping every ninety seconds. I can blind the cameras for thirty-two seconds-just enough time to move."

Nyctarion nodded. "Good. I'm in."

The suit shifted as kinetic energy from his leap re-routed into a burst of strength. His boots magnetized to the ceiling, allowing him to inch closer, silent as a shadow on the wind.

Inside the vault, holographic data streams flooded his vision-classified projects, shadow-tech experiments tied to the fallen meteor.

His fingers danced across the holo-interface. Umbros chuckled.

"Jackpot. Let me plant my signature."
Suddenly, the air shifted. A wave of pressure slammed into Nyctarion's suit. The room's temperature dropped. His helmet's sensors flared red.

"Hostiles incoming. Five seconds," Umbros warned.

Nyctarion's eyes narrowed. Time to vanish.

With a flick of his wrist, the Eclipse Belt activated. Smoke capsules exploded in a violet mist. He blinked-translocator shard whisking him three seconds away, into a deeper shadow.

But the fight was just beginning.
Somewhere in the darkness, eyes glowed-watching, waiting.

The game had changed. The Eclipse Protocol was underway.

And Nyctarion? He was the storm waiting to break.

Nyctarion vanished into the smoke, the vault's alarms screaming behind him. But the night had other plans.
From the rooftop opposite, a figure watched with a predator's grace - The Crimson Wraith.

Selina Kaede Ryo's crimson-and-black garb melted into the darkness as her keen eyes tracked the flicker of Nyctarion's translocator shimmer.

Her twin crimson daggers glinted faintly beneath her Shadow Silk Cloak, weaving light around her form like liquid smoke.

"Amateur," she muttered, a dry smirk curling her lips.