The doors to the Core Nexus loomed ahead—towering slabs of reinforced steel wrapped in faded warning glyphs. Power hummed faintly behind them, old systems stirring at the edge of memory.
Nova placed a hand on the console.
[Authorization accepted. Core Nexus access granted. Security protocols will activate the moment the doors open. I will assist in suppressing their targeting functions where I can.]
Nyx's voice echoed calmly in his mind.
"No. Don't interfere."
ova said flatly, rolling his shoulders.
[...Understood.]
"I need to feel the weight again. It's been a long time since I moved like this."
He murmured.
The console lit green.
The doors shuddered, then groaned open.
Immediately, the chamber roared to life.
Crimson light bathed the room as the security system activated. Lines of red crisscrossed the air—lasers locking onto him from wall-mounted turrets and ceiling plates.
The room trembled with rising power.
[Warning: Unauthorized entity detected. Initiating lethal defense protocol.]
Nova moved before the first shot.
Aether surged from his body, forming a translucent barrier just as twin beams ripped through the air.
The impact struck his shield with a high-pitched whine, force rippling through the barrier and into the floor beneath him.
Steel buckled.
Wall panels melted.
The turrets recalibrated.
Nova vanished from their crosshairs in a blur.
He hit the ground low, sliding under the targeting arcs, aether curling around his limbs to absorb the heat of the floor.
With a burst of speed, he launched forward, skimming just beneath a spray of coordinated fire. He dove into a blind spot behind the first turret and drove his fist into its core.
Metal crumpled.
The weapon sparked and died.
Another volley cut past him. One beam clipped his shield, searing the edge. He winced—only slightly.
Two more turrets trained on him.
Nova sprinted at the wall, kicked off, spun mid-air, and drove both feet into the next turret as it swiveled toward him.
His shield flared once more as another laser struck his back mid-move, but the aether absorbed most of it.
He landed in a crouch. Smoke curled off his shoulder.
Then the floor opened.
The chamber pulsed with a deeper red.
From hatches across the walls, aether golems emerged—hulking constructs of light-bound steel and dense energy cores.
Their eyes glowed blue. Their limbs crackled with embedded blades and heavy plating. Three of them stomped toward him, each step denting the ground.
Nova sighed.
"Figures."
The turrets behind them continued charging.
Nova raised his hands, ready to fight barehanded again—but the golems moved fast. Faster than the last time he remembered. They weren't designed for suppression.
They were designed to kill him.
The first golem lunged.
Nova twisted out of the way, palm striking its elbow and shattering the outer shell—but the second one was already behind him.
Aether claws raked across his shoulder. Blood sprayed into the air.
His body healed. Slowly. Efficiently.
But not fast enough for mistakes.
He leapt back, hand curling into a tight fist. Aether spiraled from his core, gathering in the air.
A blade formed.
It shimmered—no hilt, no weight, just pure controlled aether shaped into a sword longer than his arm and humming with pressure. Blue light bled off the edge in delicate waves.
"Let's make this faster."
He surged forward. The first swing cleaved the closest turret in half—its core erupted in a flare of sparks.
The nearest golem lunged again—he sidestepped and drove the sword straight through its chest. The aether reacted violently to its internal core, detonating in a controlled burst.
The construct dropped in pieces.
The others closed in.
Nova spun the blade behind his back, deflecting the incoming slash, then drove a boot into the second golem's chest. It staggered. He didn't give it time to recover. A fluid step, another slash—its head hit the floor before the rest of it fell.
But the last one tackled him.
They crashed into the wall, denting it with a thunderous clang. The golem pinned him, locking its arms around his torso, attempting to crush him.
Nova growled.
Aether erupted from his body like a shockwave. The golem's arms shattered, and in one fluid motion, Nova slammed his blade upward through its skull.
Silence returned—brief, broken only by the hum of flickering lights.
He stood there, surrounded by wreckage, his blade dimming as it dissolved into harmless particles.
"Still rusty."
He muttered.
But he was smiling.
The deeper Nova moved into the Core Nexus, the more violent the ship's resistance became.
Turrets descended from the ceiling in clusters now, firing in rapid synchronized bursts.
Lasers lanced through the air like spears, their heat slicing gouges into the floor behind him. The walls spat out micro-drones—needle-sized things designed to pierce flesh and overload nervous systems.
Nova's expression tightened, a thread of annoyance crossing his face.
"Enough."
He raised his palm.
Aether surged.
From his fingers bloomed five blades of pure energy, each one razor-sharp, humming with condensed light. They hovered in the air for a heartbeat—then with a flick of his wrist, they shot forward.
Each blade found its mark.
One sliced through a turret's barrel mid-charge. Another shattered a cluster of drones mid-flight, lighting the air with explosions.
The rest embedded themselves deep into sensor clusters and wall-mounted emitters, detonating on impact.
The red glow faded, leaving only silence and the low whine of failing systems.
Nova rolled his shoulders, shaking off ash.
"Overkill. But satisfying."
He muttered.
He moved forward. No more resistance came.
At the heart of the chamber, framed by thick cables and arcane conduits, stood Nyx's resting pod.
It was elegant in a way nothing else on the ship was—streamlined chrome, etched with old sigils, and fitted with soft internal light that still pulsed faintly. Inside, suspended in fluid, was her body.
Human in shape. Artificial in form.
Engineered with care to be more than a weapon—she was his support, his balance, and once, his only voice in the void.
Nova placed his hand on the glass. It responded immediately, recognizing his aether signature.
The pod hissed open.
Fluid drained away as the glass slid aside. Nyx's enhanced body relaxed, then stirred.
Her eyes opened—silver irises locking onto him.
[Master. Permission to reboot?]
She said softly.
Nova looked at her for a long moment.
"Do it."
She nodded once, eyes closing again. Her body dimmed as internal systems began their slow, complex reawakening.
Nova stepped forward, lifted her effortlessly into his arms, and turned away from the pod. Her frame, though mechanical, felt light—balanced, delicate.
He walked her across the room and set her down gently on a padded bench beside the control terminal. It was the first soft surface he'd seen on the ship.
He brushed a strand of silver hair away from her face.
"Welcome back, Nyx."
Her core began to pulse faintly, systems stirring beneath synthetic skin. Soft light flowed through her veins as the reboot process engaged.
Nova stood nearby, arms folded, watching the glow spread across her frame.
She hadn't changed.
Even after a century of abandonment, she still responded to his voice.
The ship groaned around them—wounded but not dead.
He turned his gaze to the cracked ceiling above.
There was still work to do. Still pieces to reclaim. But he wasn't alone anymore.
"Get ready. We're taking this ship back."
He said quietly.
Behind him, her fingers twitched in response.