Author's Note: Unedited Chapter
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"Another dead end," Endric voiced with a frustrated sigh as they finally broke away from the black hole.
As Endric skillfully piloted the ship around the gaping maw of the black hole, his attention was caught by a faint flickering in the distance.
Just beyond the swirling gravitational chaos, he spotted a teal-hued planet.
It wasn't static, nor was it consistent—it flickered in and out of existence like a mirage at the edge of his vision.
"Hold up," Endric squinted through the viewport. He tapped a few buttons, magnifying the image, then called out, "Hey, you two, look at this. Do you see that?"
Both Ria and Sersi leaned over his shoulders, staring intently into the viewport.
At first, the dark void of space revealed nothing unusual. But then, as if on cue, the teal planet shimred back into view, hanging in space for a few monts before fading away again.
"Did you see it?" Endric asked, glancing between them with a spark of excitent and concern.
Ria's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I caught it."
"That's no ordinary flicker. Planets don't just… phase like that," Sersi chipped in.
Sersi's expression was a mix of fascination and unease. "It looks like the first planet we checked out, doesn't it? The color, the haziness… everything."
Endric nodded, gripping the controls. "It's weird, but I'm bringing us in closer. Hang tight."
He eased the ship forward, carefully navigating past the intense gravitational forces.
The black hole seed to reach out, tugging at their vessel with an unrelenting grip, but Endric maintained a steady course, pushing back with his telekinetic energy as they headed towards the flickering teal world.
With every second, the planet beca more real, until finally, they crossed so unseen threshold and erged in the planet's atmosphere. The shimring faded, and the planet solidified, no longer vanishing in and out of existence.
The ship touched down with a soft thud. It's engines powered down as Endric, Ria, and Sersi prepared to disembark.
"Alright, keep your guard up," Endric warned, his voice low and tense. "This place… it looks exactly like the first planet, and that's not a good sign."
They exited the ship, stepping onto the surface.
The surroundings were almost haunting in their familiarity. Pointed rocks rose from the ground, casting long shadows under the teal sky.
A pale mist clung to the ground, curling around their legs and filling the air with an unsettling chill.
Sersi glanced around with a wary gaze. "This place… it's identical to the first planet. Sa rock formations, sa mist… even the light feels the sa. Its almost like we're back there."
Ria nodded while scanning the horizon. "I don't like this. It feels like a trick. But we're here now, so let's see what we can find."
They split up, moving cautiously through the mist-covered terrain.
Every detail seed eerily familiar, down to the smallest crack in the rocks. They checked each crevice, examined every shadow, searching for any sign of the massive chunk of planet or the sword that Gustav needed.
But no matter how thoroughly they searched, they found nothing. It was as if the planet were a hollow shell, an illusion designed to mislead them.
Endric kicked a rock and watched it skid across the ground. "This isn't right. We're going in circles, and there's nothing here."
Sersi's voice ca through their communicators. "Uncle, Ria, I just checked the northern ridge. It's clear. No signs of anything out of the ordinary."
"Sa here," Ria replied, glancing around with a frown. "It's like we're on a ghost planet. This has to be so kind of trap, right?"
Endric sighed while rubbing his temples. "I don't know. There's got to be sothing we're missing here. Let's give it one more sweep, and if we still don't find anything, we'll regroup and head back to the ship."
With heavy hearts and wary eyes, they resud their search, but the result was the sa.
No matter how ticulously they combed the landscape, the planet remained barren, devoid of anything that could lead them to Gustav's sword. After another hour of fruitless searching, they returned to the ship, feeling a mixture of frustration and unease.
---
anwhile, across the galaxy, Gustav was piloting his own vessel, making his way to the next vestige.
The gravitational field around him was thick, and the space itself seed to shimr, warping in strange patterns as he approached his destination. Just as he was preparing to enter a new galaxy, a flashing light on his control panel signaled an incoming alert.
Ahead of him, a series of ships ford a periter in space. These were no ordinary vessels; they bore the emblem of the Universal Alliance, an interplanetary coalition led by so of the most powerful worlds—including Earth.
This was the sa alliance Gustav had a scuffle with in the past.
As he approached, one of the ships hailed him, the signal crackling to life on his console. Gustav clicked the communicator, and a gruff voice filled the cockpit.
"This is Universal Alliance Checkpoint Bravo-17. Halt your approach and prepare for inspection."
Gustav rolled his eyes while muttering, "Such unnecessary delay."
Nevertheless, he complied, slowing the ship to a stop as two Alliance vessels moved alongside him. A screen blinked on, displaying a tall, burly alliance corp officer with a bald scaly head and a scar running down his cheek.
His expression was one of forced professionalism, but there was a glint in his eyes that suggested he knew exactly who he was addressing.
"Gustav Crimson," the officer voiced with a clipped tone. "We'll be conducting a routine inspection of your vessel. Stand by."
"No problem. Anything to keep the galaxy safe, right*" Gustav replied with dry amusent.
The officer's lips tightened, but he said nothing, gesturing to a subordinate to begin the scan. Gustav watched as a bright light washed over his ship, scanning every inch of the vessel's exterior.
After a few monts, the officer's face reappeared on the screen. "You're clear, but I'd advise against flying through restricted regions without checking in at designated checkpoints. You may be a well-known figure, but that doesn't exempt you from Alliance regulations."
Gustav smirked while crossing his arms. "Noted. So, what's got the Alliance so riled up? Seems like you're running a pretty tight operation out here."
The officer's eyes narrowed slightly. "We're on the lookout for a fugitive. A high-priority target. That's all you need to know."
"A high-priority target, huh? Must be serious if it's got you all out here patrolling the middle of nowhere."
The officer's face hardened. "Your cooperation is appreciated, Mr. Crimson. We don't need your comntary."
Gustav raised his hands in mock surrender. "You never know what could help. I've got places to be anyway. You're good to let through now, right?"
Gustav was being humble even though he knew none of them could stop him if he wanted to leave.
The officer hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "Fine. You're clear. Just rember to be on your best behavior Mr. Crimson. You might be powerful, but we're still the protectors of the cosmos."
As the screen blinked off, Gustav smirked.
He fired up the engines, pulling away from the checkpoint with accelerating speed.The gravitational forces resud pressing down on the spacecraft as it drew closer and closer to the next vestige, but his thoughts lingered on the interaction with the Alliance.
The fugitive they ntioned had seed unimportant in the mont, but the description he had overheard was automatically stored in his mind.
It was impossible for him to forget anything after all.
---
Back in their own ship, Endric, Ria, and Sersi regrouped, silently processing the strange experience on the flickering planet.
"This has to be so sort of trick," Ria voiced in confusion. "The fact that we found two planets with identical environnts can't be a coincidence."
It was one thing to both have teal looks but it was sothing else entirely to have a completely identical ecosystem and environnt.
Endric leaned back in his seat, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Could Nocturnis be behind this? I find it difficult to understand since his powers doesn't have enough potency to create a whole world in this plane."
Sersi looked between them. "Maybe it's a delay tactic from soone else. If soone knows we're looking for the sword, keeping us here could buy them ti to move it."
Endric's expression darkened as he considered her words. "You might be right. If this is a fluke, we need to rescan."
Ria nodded. "Agreed. If this place is a decoy, let's not stick around any longer than we have to."
As they prepared the ship for departure, a sense of urgency settled over them.
They couldn't afford to waste any more ti. If soone was playing tricks here, they needed to isolate the fake from the real as soon as they could and figure out exactly what was going on.
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