Kael Varn's day was pure garbage, and he'd once lost his starship in a poker game to a guy with three teeth. His starfighter, the Wraith's Talon, was screaming through Voryn's atmosphere, coughing fire and sparks like it had a death wish. The cockpit was a mess of alarms. Shields were dead. The left thruster was a pile of slag. The hull was one bad bump from splitting open. Kael gripped the controls, his knuckles white under his gloves. "Hold it together, girl," he muttered, smacking the dashboard like it was his old hound, Rusty. "We're not dying today."
He was lying to himself, and he knew it. The Coalition had sent his squad to check out a "minor anomaly" near Voryn, a planet so forbidden it was basically a galactic swear word. Routine recon, they said. Map the glitch, get out, no sweat. Total bullshit. The anomaly wasn't a glitch. It was a swirling, black void that ate his squad like candy. Lira's ship vanished first, then Torv's, then Jain's, all sucked into the dark. Now Kael was alone, plummeting toward a planet nobody came back from.
The viewport showed Voryn's surface. Black cliffs jutted like broken teeth. Blue fog glowed like it was alive. Canyons stretched wide enough to swallow a city. Kael's grandma used to tell him bedtime stories about Voryn, the graveyard of the Ascendants, some ancient race who built star-cities and then ghosted the galaxy. Kid Kael thought it was all fairy tales to scare him. Adult Kael, staring at a crash-landing, was rethinking that fast.
"Impact in twenty seconds!" chirped Syl, his ship's AI, sounding way too cheerful for a death dive. Kael slammed the emergency thrusters. His stomach flipped as the Talon bucked like a pissed-off bull. A canyon yawned below, its walls sparkling with weird crystals that pulsed like a heartbeat. They didn't just glow. They moved, like the planet had veins. Kael's neck hairs stood up. He'd dodged pirate fleets and flown through asteroid storms, but this felt wrong, like the planet was staring right at him.
"Ten seconds!" Syl said, chipper as ever. Kael clenched his jaw. "Syl, if we die, I'm haunting your ass."
"Noted," she said, and he could've sworn she smirked.
The ground rushed up. Kael yanked the controls, begging for a miracle. The Talon hit like a meteor, skidding across the canyon floor in a storm of sparks and screeching metal. Kael's head smacked the seat. His vision exploded with stars. Then, nothing. He blinked, tasting blood. He was alive. Somehow.
The cockpit was a wreck. Wires hung like dead snakes. Screens flickered like dying fireflies. The viewport was cracked to hell. Kael unbuckled, wincing as his ribs screamed. His suit's HUD blinked. Atmosphere stable. Oxygen good. Voryn was breathable. That was too convenient, and Kael didn't trust convenient.
He climbed out. His boots crunched on glassy rock. The canyon was huge, like a temple built by a crazy god. The crystal veins pulsed faster, bathing everything in creepy blue light. Kael spotted something carved into the wall: a spiral with a star on top. His grandma called it the Ascendant's mark. His gut called it bad news.
"Syl, you still with me?" he asked, tapping his wrist comm.
"Barely," Syl crackled. "I'm running on fumes. This planet's got some weird energy screwing with my sensors."
"Weird how?" Kael scanned the shadows. His pulse rifle hummed, ready to blast anything that moved.
"Like it's alive. I'm getting signals, but they're not tech or organic. It's something freaky."
A low hum cut her off. It buzzed through Kael's boots, rattling his teeth. The crystals flared, bright enough to sting his eyes. The ground shook. A crack split the canyon wall. Something stepped out. It was human-shaped but wrong, made of liquid starlight, shimmering like a mirage. It had no face, but Kael felt its stare like a punch to the chest.
"Hey, shiny!" Kael shouted, aiming his rifle. "You the welcoming committee?"
No answer. The figure raised a hand. The air twisted. Kael's head pounded with visions: stars burning out, cities crumbling, a voice whispering, "You don't belong here." He fired. The pulse bolt ripped through the figure and smashed the crystal wall. The hum spiked. The figure vanished.
Kael stumbled, gasping. "Syl, what the hell was that?"
"Unknown," she said. "It's tied to the anomaly that ate our squad. My advice? Get moving."
"Brilliant," Kael muttered, backing toward the wrecked Talon. The canyon was alive. Crystals spread like roots. The ground rumbled like a sleeping giant waking up. A roar echoed, deep and pissed off. Kael's heart thumped. He wasn't just on Voryn. He was in its gut.
He sprinted for cover, ducking behind a jagged rock. The crystals pulsed faster, like they knew he was there. Kael's mind raced. His squad was gone. Lira, with her dumb jokes. Torv, always fixing stuff. Jain, who never shut up about her kid back home. Kael swallowed hard. He'd led them into this mess. No way he was dying here without answers.
"Syl, scan for anything useful," he said, peeking over the rock. "Exits, ruins, a damn coffee shop, anything."
"Interference is bad," Syl said. "But I'm picking up a structure two klicks north. Energy readings are off the charts. Could be Ascendant tech."
"Or a trap," Kael said. "But sitting here's not an option." He checked his rifle's charge. Half a clip. Great. He took a deep breath, the metallic air stinging his lungs, and ran toward the signal.
The canyon twisted like a maze. Crystals glowed brighter, their pulses syncing with his heartbeat. Kael's legs burned, but he kept moving. The roar came again, closer. He rounded a corner and froze. A massive ruin loomed ahead, half-buried in the canyon wall. It was a dome, carved with spirals and stars, glowing with the same creepy light as the crystals. The air hummed with power.
"Syl, you seeing this?" Kael whispered.
"Yup," she said. "Energy signature's spiking. Whatever's in there, it's big."
Kael crept closer. The dome's entrance was open, a black maw leading into darkness. His gut screamed to run, but his squad's faces flashed in his mind. He owed them. He stepped inside.
The air changed, heavy and electric. The walls were covered in more carvings, pulsing with light. At the center of the room stood a pedestal with a glowing orb, floating like it didn't care about gravity. Kael's skin tingled. This was Ascendant tech, straight out of his grandma's stories.
He reached for the orb. The hum became a scream. The room lit up, and visions flooded his mind: a war across the stars, Ascendants fighting a shadow that ate worlds, a voice begging, "Seal it." Kael yanked his hand back, heart pounding.
"Syl," he said, voice shaky. "This thing's alive."
Before she could answer, the ground shook. The crystals outside flared. A new figure appeared in the entrance, not starlight this time, but human. A woman, armored, with a scar across her cheek and a smirk that said trouble.
"Touch that orb, and you're dead," she said, aiming a pistol at Kael's head.