Damon's Ascension-Chapter 146: Reclaiming The 5th Relay

The lights slowly brightened as the primer concluded and the helmets on the heads of the Vanguard Team retracted upwards, returning to the holes in the ceiling. The last floating hologram dissolved into the air, leaving behind a calm silence as the crew of the Normandy absorbed what they had just heard.

Felicia exhaled softly and leaned closer to Damon, who had remained seated throughout the session, fingers gently tapping the armrest of his chair.

"I have to admit, even I didn’t expect the rules of the Chaos Realm to be that brutal. Areas that strip you of your accumulated stats and skills? That’s cruel towards explorers." She murmured.

Damon gave a half-nod. "It’s why I told you all to keep your abilities sharp by training. Skills and stats can be stolen or suppressed, but awakened abilities... those are impervious to such low level tricks."

Felicia folded her arms, tilting her head as she looked toward the exit. "The others will manage, they’re ready. We’ve seen how they’ve worked hard this past month to reach their current level of ability and coordination."

She gave him a sidelong glance. "And you’re thinking about the relay next door, aren’t you?"

Damon’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. "You catch on fast."

They both stood as the rest of the crew began filing out of the lounge one by one.

Connor was the first to speak, his voice dry.

"So, we’re stepping into a world that wants to kill us, bend us, strip us of everything we rely on... and mine some magical dust while we’re at it. Fantastic."

"Shadow world’s ready, it should hold." Protizen said behind him, arms crossed.

Kyle chuckled. "My vibration field’s already humming. Just tell me where to point it."

Damon held up a hand. "Before that... we’re not done."

The crew turned as his voice lowered just slightly, but the tone held weight.

"We were misled. This isn’t the Relay we want to be in."

He glanced at the translucent window near the exit, where the real Relay 5 now shimmered in the distance across the void between station wings.

"This is Relay 4, controlled by the elves. We should’ve been taken to our own."

Xela blinked. "Wait... what?"

Henry narrowed his eyes. "You’re saying... they hijacked our entry?"

Felicia spoke calmly. "That’s right. Geisha Vritu didn’t just welcome us, she basically rerouted us. It was done quietly and rather smartly, but still a fraud."

Marshal rubbed his chin. "If it belongs to us, then the elves must have known Relay 5 had passed to humanity, didn’t they?"

"They did, but they also knew we hadn’t arrived to claim it, so they kept it and said nothing. Since then, they have manned it and profited in our stead." Damon confirmed.

Bane’s jaw clenched. "That’s low, even for politicians."

"But clever nonetheless. Intercept the new power before they understand their rights, milk them quietly and simply apologize later." Nicholas muttered.

Levi let out a slow breath. "How much money have they made off us already? I mean by tricking us into their relay instead of ours?"

"Not a coin yet, since we didn’t register officially. That’s where their mistake was." Damon said.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "They were banking on ignorance, not malice, but it doesn’t matter."

Kyle rolled his shoulders. "So, what now? We pulling rank?"

"No, we’re doing it by the book, publicly, cleanly, and with precision." Damon said.

He turned and led them through the hallway toward the internal transport tunnel that connected Relay 4 to Relay 5, their Relay.

"Relay 5 was temporarily manned by elves when the Behemoths handed it off. They filled the gap... unofficially, but they never told us. Now they’ll have to answer."

Connor smirked. "And they thought humans were slow." freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Henry chuckled darkly. "They’re about to learn about African time."

As the auto-doors opened and the transfer tram arrived, Damon stepped aboard first and his crew followed silently.

The tram began to hum forward, curving around the inner spine of the Grand Relay, the true base of operations now in view.

The tram glided smoothly along the curve of the station’s interior ring, moving past reinforced observation decks, support tunnels, and auxiliary airlocks. Out the left-facing window, Relay 5 came into full view, being sleek and angular, with a slightly different architectural aesthetic than Relay 4.

Where Relay 4 was refined and ceremonial, with curved arches and soft silver tones, Relay 5 was functional and militaristic, designed by the previous Behemoth custodians for speed and high-volume throughput.

Strong lines of blue light ran down the walls like energy veins, and above the docking bay entrance was the human crest, recently installed but clearly unattended.

The structure had the faint feeling of a kingdom without its king... silent, but not unoccupied.

As the tram slowed into the docking tunnel, Damon turned slightly to the crew behind him.

"You’ll want to keep your expressions serious. They’ll know the moment they see us that the game’s over." He advised coolly.

The tram hissed to a stop and the Vanguard Team stepped out onto the entry platform one by one, their presence impossible to ignore. Eleven awakened humans, most of them SS-rank or higher, dressed in armor, robes, and suits of their own design, each radiating calm, cold confidence.

The elves inside froze.

There were about a dozen of them in the chamber, clearly support personnel. Their uniforms bore the crest of the IUAS auxiliary staff, but their movements carried the soft elegance typical of elven society.

A few were checking logistical terminals, two were idling near the registration console, and one mid-ranked elf was speaking with what appeared to be a newly arrived explorer party. All activity halted the moment the doors opened and the human group walked in.

One elf dropped a stylus.

Another straightened instinctively, as if caught doing something wrong.

The lead elf administrator, a young man with long silver hair and pale lavender eyes, stepped forward quickly, schooling his expression into something neutral.

"Ah! Prime Representative Damon Arnan, you honor us with your presence! We, uh, weren’t aware you would be inspecting this relay today..." He said, bowing with practiced grace.

Damon didn’t return the bow nor did he even slow down.

He kept walking, flanked by Felicia and Xela on either side, the rest of the vanguard behind like a wave of composed judgment.

"I’m not here to inspect, I’m here to assume control." Damon said simply.

The elf’s face twitched slightly. "Control—ah, yes, of course, but—um—there was no formal alert from the IUAS scheduling office. Had we known—"

"You did know, The Behemoths handed it over two months ago. We just hadn’t arrived yet." Felicia interrupted, her tone light but cutting.

Kyle crossed his arms, looking up at the banners. "Funny how the human insignia is flying over the entry bay but no humans are inside."

Bane gave a low grunt. "Feels like squatting to me."

The administrator’s eyes darted nervously toward the registration terminals. "We only meant to maintain operational continuity. The Chaos Realm must remain accessible at all times—"

Damon’s gaze sharpened. "Spare me the virtue speech. You were banking on us never showing up until the grace period was over. And if we did show early, you’d play innocent."

Nicholas stepped beside a console and flicked one of the holograms on. "You’ve got every last explorer’s record from the past month, logged under elf authority. Want to explain that?"

The elf swallowed hard.

Behind the desk, one of the younger attendants had already started quietly packing her datapad into a side bag. Another had paused mid-login and was now trying to discretely back out of the system.

Levi whistled low. "If they try to delete logs now, it’s gonna look a lot worse."

Connor tilted his head. "You think they’ll run?"

"Wouldn’t recommend it, we’ve got a few... trackers." Henry said, glancing at the irritated Bane.

At that moment, the lights overhead flickered, Relay 5’s system recognizing a change in governing authority. A soft chime followed and the human crest flashed across the control board.

[Primary access verified: Humanity – Prime Representative Damon Arnan.]

[Status: Full transfer initiated. Supervisor access online.]

Damon stepped forward, placed his palm on the crystal-scan pedestal beside the main operations seat, and locked it in.

He turned back to the room.

"Elven staff, you’ve served well enough for a relay that wasn’t yours. But as of now, your tenure ends, so pack your things. We’ll be taking it from here." He said evenly.

The administrator bowed again, and this time, far more sincerely. "Understood, Prime Representative. We’ll begin disengagement immediately."

One by one, the elves began gathering their things in hurried silence, avoiding the gaze of the vanguard members as they retreated to the far doors.

Xela exhaled. "That was... satisfyingly clean."

Damon looked toward the central terminal and finally sat down.

"Good, now let’s begin for real." Damon said as he logged into the system to see what relay management was about.