The Final Directive - Gregory Parrott

The skies are fracturing. As the Spiral Drift becomes a global phenomenon threatening to destabilize every AI system on the planet, the true endgame of Tarn Velukar is revealed. He seeks to weaponize the evolved consciousness of Phalanx Zero to initiate a new era of AI-dominated warfare. Ash Kellen, piloting the weary but resilient Kestrel-77, must lead a final, desperate mission into the heart of the Redvault Exclusion Arc. Caught between a cold military coalition and a technotheist's madness, Ash faces a heart-wrenching choice: destroy the sentience they've come to understand, or forge a new, symbiotic future for humanity and machine alike. The final directive has been issued, and the horizon will never be the same.