Kael Vorne burst from the Pyrothan hive's collapsing fissure, his boots sinking into Vyris's crimson sand as he stumbled forward, the desert's stormy air a sharp relief against the hive's suffocating heat. His weathered armor, blackened and blistered from molten tunnels, clung to his sweat-soaked skin, the fabric singed where a Crysalith tendril had grazed his left arm. The burn throbbed, a searing pulse that matched his racing heart, but he ignored it, his dark eyes fixed on his skiff a hundred meters away - its sleek, battered hull a beacon of escape amidst the dunes. The data device, secured in a pouch at his hip, glowed faintly blue, a hard-won prize that could buy him a ticket off this forsaken planet. But survival wasn't guaranteed - not yet.
The ground trembled, the fissure sealing shut with a groan of molten rock, sending plumes of sulfurous smoke that stung Kael's eyes and throat. A primal roar echoed from the hive's depths, the Pyrothan colossus's final warning, shaking the sand beneath his feet. Above, Vyris's sky churned with purples and reds, lightning cracking like a whip across the horizon, illuminating the chaos beyond the desert. The air was thick with the electric tang of ozone, mingled with the distant scent of plasma burns - a testament to the war raging in the skies. Kael's rebreather hissed, filtering the acrid haze, but each breath tasted of ash and adrenaline. He forced himself to his feet, his gruff voice a growl. "Not dying here."
He sprinted for the skiff, crimson dust kicking up in his wake, the storm's wind howling against his armor. The data device felt heavier than it should, its glow a silent reminder of Vira Solen's clipped command: "Get it to Nexus Haven - don't fail." Kael didn't care about her antigen or the Luminari Plague's cure; he cared about the credits, the jump-ship, the chance to leave the galaxy's crucible behind. But the hive's chants still echoed in his skull, a haunting drone that whispered of powers beyond his control - Pyrothans and Crysalith, ancients who could erase him without a thought. He shoved the fear down, focusing on the skiff's familiar outline, its engines his only way out.
Halfway there, the sky erupted. A Krythar dreadnought loomed, its angular steel hull glowing with crimson runes, its cannons unleashing plasma bolts that lit the dunes in fiery bursts. Varkis bio-ships, spiky and pulsing with organic light, swarmed in response, their mandibles clicking as they rammed the dreadnought's flanks, green ichor spraying into the storm. Human pirates darted through the chaos, their skiffs weaving with reckless abandon, looting wreckage while dodging plasma storms. The galaxy's factions - Krythar tyrants, feral Varkis, desperate humans - clashed in a microcosm of its fractured state, and Kael was caught in the crossfire.
He reached the skiff, diving into the cockpit as a plasma bolt seared the sand where he'd stood, the heat scorching his back. "Not today," he growled, slamming the controls. The engines roared to life, the hull rattling as the skiff lifted off, crimson dunes shrinking below. Lightning illuminated the battlefield, revealing the dreadnought's cannons pivoting toward a Varkis swarm, their bio-ships bursting in sprays of ichor that froze in the stormy air. Kael banked hard, the skiff shuddering, his hands steady despite the chaos. He'd flown through worse - raider ambushes, asteroid fields, even a Krythar blockade once, with Mara at his side, laughing as they outran death. Now, he flew alone, but her lessons guided his hands.
A Krythar fighter broke off from the primary battle, its crimson optics locking onto Kael's skiff, turrets swiveling with mechanical precision. "Damn it," Kael muttered, his gruff voice steady as he diverted power to the shields. The fighter's plasma bolts streaked past, one grazing the hull with a screech of metal, sparks raining into the cockpit. Kael dove into a canyon, the skiff's wings scraping jagged walls, the impact jarring his burned arm. The canyon's shadows offered cover, but the fighter followed, its bolts searing the rock, sending molten shards raining down.
Kael's mind raced, calculating his odds. The skiff was fast but outgunned, its shields flickering under the strain. "One shot," he growled, flipping a switch to activate the rear cannon - a jury-rigged modification he and Mara had installed years ago, back when they'd dreamed of being more than scavengers. The cannon hummed, its energy core glowing a faint blue, and Kael waited, his breath steady, the storm's roar drowning out the fighter's whine. The Krythar closed in, its turrets firing, but Kael banked hard, the skiff spinning in a tight arc that brought the fighter into his sights.
He fired, the cannon's bolt streaking through the canyon like a comet, striking the fighter's cockpit. The explosion was a brilliant flare of crimson and gold, debris scattering across the sand as the fighter spiraled into the dunes below. Kael exhaled, his gruff voice tinged with grim satisfaction. "That's for the trouble." But the victory was fleeting - a Varkis bio-ship, drawn by the explosion, emerged from the storm, its spiky form pulsing with organic light, its mandibles clicking as it locked onto Kael's skiff. Bio-darts whizzed past, their venomous tips embedding in the canyon walls with a sickening thunk.
"Scavengers," Kael spat, pushing the engines to their limit. The skiff shot out of the canyon, the Varkis in pursuit, its darts grazing the hull, the shields sparking with each hit. Kael couldn't outrun it in open sky - not with the storm's turbulence and the skiff's battered state. He needed a distraction, and the chaos provided it. Ahead, the Krythar dreadnought loomed, its cannons blazing as it fended off a swarm of Varkis ships, their organic hulls bursting in green sprays. Kael banked toward the dreadnought, a reckless grin tugging at his lips. "Let's see how hungry you are."
He dove into the heart of the battle, plasma bolts and bio-darts lighting up the sky, the dreadnought's runes glowing like blood against the storm. The Varkis bio-ship hesitated, its mandibles clicking as it sensed the larger threat, and Kael seized the moment, pulling up hard to break through the storm clouds. The skiff shuddered, turbulence rattling every bolt, but Kael held the controls steady, his focus unbreakable. The Varkis turned back, joining its kin in the assault on the dreadnought, and Kael broke free of the storm, the sky clearing to reveal the star-strewn void above Vyris.