Chapter Eight: The Silent Below
We hit the surface of Orias Drift harder than I'd like. The landing gear folds with a tortured groan, but it holds. Dust billows in the dead air outside, painting the cracked windows in a veil of red ash.
I sit still for a moment. Let my breath slow. Let my hands stop shaking.
Mira's eyes are locked on the rear sensors. "They didn't follow us through."
"No," I mutter, unbuckling my harness. "They're waiting. They know we'll come up for air eventually."
I grab a flashlight and a sidearm from the locker, handing Mira a mask.
"The colony's west," I say. "Three klicks. We move quiet."
The hatch hisses open, and the world outside greets us with silence.
Not peace. Just... emptiness.
Orias Drift used to mine core crystals—rich deposits of volatile energy used in slipstream drives. The Dominion bled it dry, then left it to rot. The buildings still stand, skeletal and sunken into the blackened soil. Half a dozen stories of rusted metal, shattered glass, and silence thick enough to choke on.
We move through the remains of a freight path, stepping over broken rails and scorched crates. I remember places like this—war relics where life used to echo. I always thought ghosts would haunt them. But ghosts need people to remember them.
This place forgot itself.
We reach the colony's edge—a series of tall, leaning towers strung together with old walkways. I lead us inside a derelict substation, the air thick with mold and dry rot. Mira sets the crystal core on a table, eyes flicking around the dark.
"This'll do," she says, voice low. "No power. No signals. They won't detect us unless they land."
I nod and start checking the perimeter—setting motion alarms, sealing rusted doors. It's a temporary safe zone. Nothing more. But we'll make it last.
Back inside, she's staring at the crystal like it's breathing.
"You alright?" I ask.
She looks up. "Sometimes I wonder what the point of all this is. Running. Hiding. Fighting. Will it even matter?"
I sit across from her, resting my arms on my knees. "It matters because it's still us choosing. Not them."
She watches me a moment longer. Then nods.
"I missed this, you know. You and me. On the edge of nowhere."
I don't say I missed it too. I don't need to.
I just reach across the table and tap the crystal. "We need answers. Tomorrow, we find a way to open this. Really open it."
"And if what's inside is worse than we imagined?"
"Then we decide what kind of monsters we're willing to stop."
Outside, the sky grows darker. The clouds above swirl like oil and ash. But inside this broken building, we carve out something that almost feels like hope.
Almost.