"They made it?"
Ash's voice cut through the heat as the wall of fire faded.
Kael rolled his shoulder, the last of the glow leaving his skin.
"Looks like it. You're off the hook. for now."
Ash growled low, eyes sweeping the ruined room.
Flames had blackened the walls. The floor split into spiderweb cracks. Bots lay scattered, nothing left but broken parts and scorched metal. Heat still clung to the air, thick as smoke.
He turned in a slow circle.
"What a mess."
From the far corner, a low hum rose. Maintenance bots rolled out. They moved through the wreckage like ants, sweeping ash into small piles, lifting twisted steel like it weighed nothing.
Kael nodded toward them.
"Max sent them. Don't worry."
Ash reached down and picked up his sheath, half-buried in soot. The blade slid in with a clean click.
They stepped into the hallway.
Cool air rushed in, brushing against their sweat-damp skin. The scent of metal filled the corridor, with a faint trace of citrus.
Boxes lined the walls. Some were neat, labeled by hand. Others had names scratched in crooked letters. One sat half-open, three question marks scrawled on the side.
Ash glanced at it.
'Max's work, obviously.'
Kael stretched, fingers locked behind his head. He looked down at his blackened gear.
"This one's done. Need a new set."
Ash gave his own scorched gear a look. It was no better.
"Same."
Kael waved over his shoulder.
"Main room. Ten minutes."
He turned the corner and vanished.
Ash stood for a second, then followed the hall to his own door.
Inside, the lights blinked on.
The room was quiet. Too neat. Like the bed hadn't been touched in days. Sheets were still folded at the corners. No sign of sleep or rest.
Ash moved to the corner. Boxes stacked three high. He pulled one open. Shirts and pants, all folded tight. He lifted a layer.
His hand stopped.
A book sat underneath, wrapped in a brown cover. Simple letters stretched across it:
My Lightning Skill Book.
Ash stared at it.
Fingers curled, then relaxed.
Max's voice came through the intercom, sharp in the quiet:
"Kael. Ash. Where are you guys?"
Ash blinked.
'Right. I forgot.'
He shut the box, grabbed fresh clothes, changed quickly, and stepped back into the hall.
————
Ash moved down the hall, boots silent on the floor.
The main room opened wide before him. Sleek walls. Sharp corners. Nothing out of place, except for the couch. It stretched along the wall, black leather with red trim, the same one Ash had used last night for a nap.
At the center, a round white table waited. Around it, boxes sat open. Half-folded shirts spilled out. A set of tools lay tangled with spare gear. The room felt like a snapshot frozen mid-move.
Kael steps forward towards the coach.
"Well, since you are here, I would like to talk about the training room. The bots are too slow. I need them to be unpredictable."
He turned toward Max, fire burning low in his eyes.
"You should upgrade them. Is it possible for you to make a bot stronger than a tier 7?"
Max stepped up to the white table.
"Shut up. That's not why we are here. I will look into that after our mission."
Ash's eyes widen.
"Another mission? Didn't we just finish our last mission yesterday?"
Kael turns to him
"Don't tell me you are feeling overwhelmed by this mission. Well, I get it. You're still new to this. You see, this is how our team is we get no rest"
Kael turns to Max
"Wait, I thought you said you spoke with dad. Did they reach their destination?"
Max let out a breath
"Oh yes, they reached. Dad contacted us. The signal was a bit bad but we managed. Salene and the other said hi.
Kael Smark.
"To think you lost to Salene. You must feel sad hearing her voice on the other side, while you are stuck here with us."
Max grit his teeth and then let out a sigh. He wanted to say more, but it was best to just ignore Kael.
"Dad called to check on us and to deliver our next mission."
He let out a small laugh
"he doesn't seem happy about us taking it "
Ash spoke
"So what is this mission about "
Max tapped once on the white table. The screen light glowed on his face.
"Our next mission is a space one."
Kael stood up from his feet
"Yes, finally. I was feeling sad that Dad didn't take me with him and took Salena and Elisa. To think we're finally going up to meet them"
Max sigh
"No, you idiot, we are not meeting Dad. Our mission is different. It focuses on an asteroid. A Massive one and it's headed our way."
Kael's grin twitched.
"An asteroid? It's not going to hit, is it?"
Max lifts up his arm. A holographic screen appeared. His eyes stayed on the screen. The gears in his head were already turning.
"No… but it's huge. Bigger than anything we've tracked before."
Ash stared at the holographic screen of numbers and formulas
"Then why does it matter?"
The screen shifted.
A grainy feed sputtered to life. Not just a rock. This thing was a giant its jagged form crawling across the black. Craters carved into its surface ran for miles, like deep wounds. The faint shimmer of stars outlined its hulking shape, but barely. It looked wrong.
Ash stared, chest tight.
'What the hell is this… this isn't just big. No. It's huge.'
No one said a word. The cave felt smaller.
The pale light from the screen brushed across their faces as Max's voice returned.
"Our mission is to investigate this asteroid. Its movement is… unnatural. If it alters course, it could threaten the moon, or worse."
Kael didn't blink. His eyes stayed fixed on the image. The asteroid moved slowly, rolling through space. Its surface caught bits of light, but nothing stayed long. Shadows crawled over it, hiding whatever was buried inside. Dust spiraled around its edges, drifting off into the black.
His fingers twitched.
"So we're stopping it?"
Ash leaned forward, brows furrowed.
"Stopping it how?"
Kael crossed his arms, a half-smile curling on his face.
"Blowing it up, obviously."
'Blowing it up?'
Ash blinked, trying to picture that.
Max turned his head sharply.
"That's the worst plan possible. A blast that size would break it into pieces. Thousands of them. Each one crashing down like bullets through the sky."
Kael scoffed.
"Then what, genius? Let it float past like it owns the place?"
Max didn't flinch. His eyes locked on the console as numbers scrolled by. His hands stayed steady.
"Based on the current path, it's not going to hit anything. So yes, if it were just the asteroid, I'd say leave it alone. The mission did say investigate, not destroy."
'yeah… I was thinking the same. It's not coming for us. We don't need to mess with it.'
Ash thought. But Max wasn't done with his words.
"But that's not the reason for the mission."
The screen shifted again. A single blinking dot hovered near the asteroid's edge.
The dot blinked again. Then again.
"They are a scout ship from the well-known terrorist group known as 'Apex'. It's been circling the rock for days. This was the reason for the sudden mission. At first, they thought they were just watching. But now…"
Another screen blinked to life. Dozens of red marks lit up. Each one tagged, each one moving fast.
"A whole fleet. Warships. Headed straight for it."
Max straightened. His hand hovered near the console but stayed still.
"I guess you see the situation now. Our mission is to find out what Apex is planning to do with the asteroid."
Kael cracked his knuckles, his grin wide again. Flames danced behind his eyes.
"We just have to hijack a ship and interrogate one of their leaders. Yeah, we can handle it."
Max's eyes narrowed.
"What are you talking about. The mission sounds too difficult. And we are only three members."
He pause. They stare at the holographic screen.
"Well, I guess it's good for a stealthy approach. But still, why would Apex care about that thing?"
Kael stepped forward, one hand on his hip.
"We'll figure it out when we get there."
Max turned. His eyes moved across them, one by one.
"Alright. This is our second mission as Team Vortex. And it's a space mission. Which is extremely dangerous."
His gaze lingered on Kael. Just long enough to be noticed.
"So... No screw-ups."
Kael's arms dropped.
"What? Why are you looking at me?"
Max didn't answer. A smirk tugged at one side of his mouth.
"Alright. Go suit up. We leave in ten."
———
Ten minutes passed. Ash stepped into the side room.
Max stood with his back to him, hunched slightly, eyes fixed on a large board with a drawing of a map shaped like a pie slice in ten. Strings crossed the surface like veins, red, black, and pale gold. Burned-in photos clung to the edges. Faces. Symbols. Faded temple carvings. A single eye drawn in charcoal.
The corners of the map were pinned beneath knives, blood-red lines circling small cities. Some had been crossed out. Others were marked with a symbol Ash had only seen once, on a body buried deep beneath Varga Street. And the sticker of the cult he found on their first mission.
He stepped closer.
One of the photos bore his face. Another showed Lyra. A third...
Max shifted.
Ash blinked.
"Max?"
Max twitched. His hand shot up and flipped the board around. On the other side: whiteboard, scattered with equations, route diagrams, and energy readings.
"Ah... Ash. You scared me."
Ash stepped forward.
"What was that?"
Max turned, scratching at his neck.
"Just… places. Marking out the ones we might hit next."
Ash didn't move. His eyes didn't leave Max.
Max shifted again, shoulders stiff.
Ash's gaze narrowed. But then he sighed, letting the tension slide from his jaw.
"You're already geared up, huh? Good. It's been ten minutes. Kael started questioning your leadership."
Max forced a laugh. It didn't stick.
"Yeah. Yeah—sure. Let's go."
He grabbed Ash by the arm and pulled him toward the door.
Ash turned his head, one last glance at the board before the door clicked shut.
Behind him, Max's voice tried to carry lightness.
"Come on. The longer we stand, the longer we wait."
Ash let out a low breath. The thought stayed with him. Quiet. But heavy.
He followed. Boots hitting the Metal floor.
Both of them are moving.
Ash didn't look back but the symbols stayed in his mind.
That board wasn't about the mission.
It was about something else.
And Max was hiding it.