Nova and Anna burst through the hatch as Nyx opened it, her voice ringing sharply in their ears.
"Move it! The ship’s going to blow, and I’m not waiting around to beco space dust!"
The mont they crossed into their own ship, the hatch slamd shut behind them. Red lights flared to life as alarms blared through the corridors.
The subtle hum of the ship’s systems turned into a sharp, escalating whine.
"Strap in. This won’t be smooth."
Nova ordered, grabbing onto the edge of a panel.
Anna barely had ti to dive into the nearest seat and fasten herself in before Nyx shouted:
"Jump in three—two—"
A ripple of blue aether surged through the ship as the ergency warp engaged. The world outside fractured into lines, blurring into nothingness.
But before their jump fully severed from space, the view of the god of death’s corrupted ship ca into full focus.
The explosion was silent, but the visuals were horrifying. The ship twisted in on itself, black and violet flas erupting from every crack and seam.
Aether scread across the void like a dying star as the entire structure crumbled into itself. Then it was gone.
They jumped.
And then — silence.
The hum returned. Steady. Safe.
Nyx’s voice returned to normal volu, but there was tension in it.
"We made it. Just barely. You really know how to trigger ship-wide death sequences, Nova."
"I didn’t trigger it. Removing the core did. It was bound to happen eventually."
Nova replied calmly.
Nyx snorted.
"Of course. It’s always ’eventually’ with you."
Anna unbuckled herself and rubbed her temples.
"So that’s it? No records, no evidence left behind... that ship just deleted itself."
Nyx was quiet for a mont.
"I went through the logs while you were on your way back. Tried to figure out how we even got there. At first, I thought we were pulled off course. But..."
She finally said.
"But?"
Nova asked.
"There’s no record in the system log. No forced divergence, no distortion in the aether stream. Nothing. Our course was clean—on paper."
Anna frowned.
"Then how did we end up there?"
Nyx’s voice dipped lower.
"The only possibility I could think of is that... it wasn’t us who veered off course. Sothing else was pushed into our path."
Nova leaned back, brow furrowing.
"Which would take a ridiculous amount of energy. Not sothing just any creature or even most high-tech forces could pull off."
"Exactly. Only one kind of being could manipulate the path of a jump corridor so precisely."
Nyx agreed.
"A god."
Nova said flatly.
Nyx added.
"Or... an apostle of a god. Soone close enough to one. Gifted. Empowered."
Anna sat forward.
"Then soone planned this. Sent us there on purpose."
Nova nodded, then stood up.
"But we don’t know who. Or why."
"Which is why we’re shelving this mystery for now. Until we have more data, there’s nothing we can do but keep moving."
Nyx replied.
Anna nodded reluctantly.
"So... where are we?"
The screen above them lit up, showing a lush, green planet floating below. Dotted with blue oceans and thick jungle rings, it was beautiful—and heavily fortified.
"Planet Ursa. The primary base of the Galactic Naval Force. And also..."
Nyx answered.
Nova finished for her.
"Where the Ship of Life is being held."
Anna blinked.
"We’re just going to walk into a military planet?"
"We’re going to sneak into a military planet. I’ve already started running ghost protocols to keep us off their scanners, but we won’t stay invisible for long. This planet is crawling with surveillance."
Nyx corrected.
Nova stared down at the surface of Ursa, his expression unreadable.
"We need that ship. No matter the risks. The Ship of Life is one of the keys to unlocking the rest of my aether."
He said quietly. Anna crossed her arms.
"And I’m guessing this ’General Urn’ in charge of the place won’t exactly hand it over politely."
Nyx snorted.
"Let’s just say he’s not the diplomatic type."
Nova closed his eyes for a mont, focusing.
"One way or another. we’re taking back what’s mine."
He said, opening them again,
Nyx gave a small, amused chuckle over the intercom.
"That’s more like it. Welco to Ursa, team. Let’s see if we can get in without setting off a planetary alarm."
Nova and Anna exchanged glances, then turned their attention back to the planet that now held their next trial.
______
Onboard the luxurious Clavacis rchant ship, the sound of shattering glass echoed off the golden walls.
Clavacis the III stood at the center of the ornate command room, his robe swaying as he spun around with rage in his eyes.
"Where is he?! We posted the bounty across three sectors! Triple the reward—still nothing?!"
He bellowed, his voice slicing through the silence.
His attendants stood frozen, heads lowered, afraid to make the mistake of responding.
Seated on a cushioned lounge at the edge of the room, Princess Rosay pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.
"Lower your voice. I’m getting a headache."
Clavacis the III snapped his attention toward her.
"Do not speak of your discomfort to , Rosay. This is your doing to begin with!"
She raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"If not for your failure—your disgrace of a performance when you fought against him—we would have captured him then and there!"
He roared.
"But no! You let him slip past. You lost to a nobody. You humiliated the na of Clavacis!"
Rosay’s expression hardened, but she kept her mouth shut. She knew better than to rise to his bait—at least not now.
The air in the room grew heavy with tension.
Then, a beeping alert cut through the tension like a knife.
One of the aides stepped forward hesitantly, voice trembling.
"L-Lord Clavacis. We’ve received word... there’s been a confird sighting of the target."
Clavacis whirled.
"Where?"
"Planet Verizon, my lord. Or—what remains of it."
For a mont, there was silence.
Then Clavacis grinned, cruel and gleaming.
"Set course for Verizon. I want every ship ready to deploy. We’ll strike before he can vanish again."
He turned toward Rosay with a sneer.
"Let’s see if you can at least be useful this ti."
The princess didn’t respond—but her narrowed eyes said enough.
Rosay stood and followed after Clavacis as the crew scrambled to prepare for departure.
"You’re overconfident again. If he survived Verizon, then he’s stronger than we expected."
She said quietly.
Clavacis scoffed, not looking at her.
"I don’t care how strong he is. I’ll throw a thousand ships at him if I have to. No one embarrasses the Clavacis family and gets away with it."
She frowned.
"What if he isn’t alone?"
Clavacis stopped at the doorway and turned toward her, his eyes gleaming with disdain.
"Then we bury whoever stands with him."
The ship trembled slightly as the jump preparations finalized. Rosay looked out the viewing window toward the stars.
"He’ll see us coming."
She murmured.
Clavacis smiled.
"Let him."
As the Clavacis fleet roared to life and changed course toward the now-destroyed Verizon, the countdown began—not just for another confrontation, but for a war neither side fully understood yet.
____
Due to an error in my notes, the na of the princess here and the person before (Stelle) got mixed up. So I changed the na for the one associated with Clavacis. If you got confused, I apologize. So her na is Rosay now.
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