Chapter 30 – A Cold Silence
The escape pod hissed as the hatch released, a wave of cold air seeping in like a ghost. We had landed deeper within the ravine, camouflaged beneath rock and ice. I listened for the sound of thrusters, for the distant shriek of pursuit. But there was nothing.
Just silence.
Mira sat beside me, hugging her knees, her face pale from the strain. The glow of the core sat dim between us, pulsing like a tired heartbeat.
"We survived," she said, her voice brittle.
"Barely."
The wreckage of our ship was still burning on the horizon. It would serve as a convincing enough grave for now. But we both knew it wouldn't last. If the Empire had truly resurrected Project Requiem… then no amount of smoke and fire would be enough to fool them forever.
I stood, stretching my legs in the cramped pod. Every part of me ached—from the crash, from the constant running, from the weight of what we were carrying. My name had once stood for order, for discipline. Now, it carried blood.
Mira's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Why are they still hunting you, Kael? You left. You gave it up."
I looked down at the case holding the crystal core.
"I didn't just leave. I took something from them. Something they were never supposed to lose."
"What? The data?"
"No," I said quietly. "My loyalty."
She blinked. "That's what this is about?"
"To the Empire, loyalty wasn't earned. It was designed. Engineered. When someone like me turns, it doesn't just shake the system—it threatens to break it."
Mira leaned her head against the metal wall. "So now we're running because you had a change of heart."
I didn't answer. Not because she was wrong, but because I didn't want to admit how right she was.
The pod wouldn't hold for long. It had supplies for three days—rations, filtration packs, basic survival gear—but no communications. We were completely off-grid. And without a ship, we were stuck.
Mira finally stood, brushing her dark curls out of her face. "So what now? Hide? Wait for them to catch up and finish the job?"
I looked at her. There was something about the way she asked—like she wanted me to say no. Like she needed me to say we were done running.
"We find the Eclipsion," I said.
Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
"That transmission wasn't a coincidence. It was a beacon. A call. And we answered."
"But we don't even know if it's real!"
"It is," I said firmly. "I saw it once. Years ago. A floating fortress, deep in the Outer Reaches. The Empire said it disappeared. But it didn't. They buried it, just like everything else."
Mira paced the narrow space. "Even if it's out there… how do we get to it?"
"We don't need to. It's coming to us."
She froze. "What?"
"The signal it sent wasn't a warning. It was an invitation."
A low vibration thrummed beneath our feet. Mira turned to the viewport, her face pale. A sliver of metal glinted in the sky—small at first, but growing.
A shuttle.
Imperial. Sleek. Black.
Mira's hand went to her weapon. "Kael…"
"Wait."
The shuttle didn't fire. It hovered, then slowly descended a few meters from the pod. The ramp extended, steam rising in the freezing air.
A figure stepped out.
Not armored. Not hostile.
A girl—barely twenty. Hair braided tight, eyes sharp, and wearing the insignia of a Requiem tactician.
She raised her hands. "Kael Riven?"
I nodded cautiously.
She glanced at Mira, then back at me. "My name is Allan Cort. I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to take you home."
Mira scoffed. "Yeah, that's not creepy at all."
I stepped forward. "Why now?"
"Because the Eclipsion has awakened," Allan said. "And it chose you."
My heart thudded.
Mira looked between us. "What the hell does that mean?"
Allan smiled, faint and strange. "It means the Empire isn't the only one watching anymore."