Kael Varn had faced plenty of impossible odds, like the time he outran a pirate fleet with a busted engine and a prayer, but nothing prepared him for this. The galactic hub's glowing spires and swirling control core were behind them, swallowed by a collapsing portal. Now, Kael stood on the edge of a new realm, a sprawling warzone of stars and wreckage, where massive fleets clashed in a dance of fire and steel. Ascendant ruins floated among the chaos, their shattered hulls glowing with faint runes, remnants of a long-dead empire. Coalition warships, sleek and bristling with cannons, traded volleys with a fleet of jagged, black-hulled ships that screamed Devourer influence, their hulls pulsing with crimson veins. The air was thin, recycled through the cracked viewport of a derelict Ascendant station where the portal had dumped them. Kael held his sister Mira, her frail body steadier now, her eyes clear but shadowed with exhaustion. Zara, alive against all odds, stood beside him, her scar-faced smirk back despite the blood caking her armor. The Devourer's voice, a faint hiss now, slithered through Kael's mind. "You cannot stop the war I have begun."
Kael's body was a map of pain, his Ascendant power-up a dying spark, his muscles screaming from battles across collapsing realms. The relic he'd used to save Mira was dark, its power drained, and his crystal shard, his only weapon, felt pitiful against the armageddon outside. Zara's survival was a miracle, her capture by Torren a lie he'd barely processed. Her touch, a brief squeeze of his hand, grounded him, but grief and rage still burned for the moments he'd thought she was gone. "Syl!" he shouted into his wrist comm, steadying Mira as the station shook from a distant explosion. "Tell me this isn't as bad as it looks!"
Syl, his ship's snarky AI, crackled through static, her voice strained by the station's failing systems. "It's worse, Captain. This is an Ascendant warzone, a graveyard of their final battles. The Coalition's fighting a Devourer-corrupted fleet, and you're in the middle. The station's got minimal power, but I'm detecting a control deck nearby. It might have weapons or a way out. Also, Torren's flagship is out there, and he's pissed."
Kael's heart pounded, his eyes on the viewport. A Coalition warship exploded, its debris scattering like embers across the void. The Devourer's fleet moved like a predator, its ships weaving through the ruins with unnatural precision. Mira leaned on him, her dark hair tangled, her breathing steady but weak. "Kael," she said, voice soft but firm. "This place… it's where the Ascendants lost. The Devourer's stronger here."
Kael's throat tightened. He'd saved her from its prison, broken its hold, but its influence lingered, and now they were in a war. Zara checked her pistol, its charge low, her wound still bleeding but patched enough to keep her moving. "Torren's out there," she said, her voice rough. "He wants the Devourer's power, and he'll kill us to get it."
Kael met her gaze, the spark of their bond reigniting. "Then we take him down first," he said, forcing a grin despite the ache in his chest. "You with me?"
Zara's smirk widened, her eyes glinting. "Always, Varn."
Mira pointed to the viewport, her hand trembling. "That control deck. It's in the central ruin, the big one with the glowing spire."
Kael followed her gaze. A massive Ascendant ruin floated at the warzone's heart, its spire pulsing with blue light, surrounded by swirling debris and clashing ships. His gut screamed it was their only shot, but getting there meant crossing a battlefield. "Syl, any way to that ruin without dying?" he asked, leading Mira and Zara down a corridor, its walls cracked and sparking with exposed conduits.
"Working on it," Syl said. "Station's got a shuttle bay, but it's damaged. I'm hacking the systems to get one online. You'll need to move fast. Devourer ships are scanning the station."
The corridor shook, a blast rocking the station. Kael steadied Mira, her eyes flickering red for a split second, a reminder of the Devourer's lingering grip. The air smelled of scorched metal and dust, the station's lights flickering as power failed. Zara led the way, her pistol raised, her limp barely slowing her. "This place is falling apart," she muttered, kicking a fallen panel aside.
They reached the shuttle bay, a cavernous space littered with wrecked Ascendant shuttles, their hulls etched with runes. One shuttle, half-intact, hummed faintly, its engines glowing. Syl's voice buzzed. "That's your ride, Captain. I've got it online, but it's a one-way trip. Devourer drones are closing in."
Kael helped Mira into the shuttle, its interior cramped, the controls glowing with unfamiliar runes. Zara slid into the co-pilot seat, wincing as she strapped in. Kael took the pilot's chair, his hands shaking from exhaustion but steady on the controls. "Hold on," he said, firing the engines. The shuttle lurched, blasting out of the bay into the warzone.
Space was chaos, a storm of laser fire and exploding ships. Coalition warships traded volleys with Devourer vessels, their crimson hulls weaving through the ruins like sharks. Kael dodged debris, his heart racing, the shuttle's shields sparking under stray shots. Mira gripped his arm, her voice steady despite her frailty. "The spire's our only chance, Kael. It's tied to the Devourer's core."
The shuttle shook, a Devourer drone locking onto them. Its beam scorched the hull, alarms blaring. Zara fired the shuttle's weak cannons, her shots grazing the drone. "Syl, we need help!" Kael shouted, banking hard to avoid a Coalition cruiser's blast.
"I'm boosting the shields," Syl said. "But you've got more drones incoming. And Torren's flagship is hailing you."
Torren's voice crackled through the comm, cold and smug. "Varn, you're persistent. Surrender the girl, and I'll let you live."
Kael snorted, weaving through a field of floating ruins. "You're a broken record, Torren. How about you surrender, and I don't blow your ship to scrap?"
Zara laughed, a raw, defiant sound. "That's my guy."
The spire loomed closer, its blue light pulsing like a beacon. Kael aimed the shuttle for a docking bay, but a Devourer ship, massive and pulsing with crimson veins, blocked their path. Its hull split, revealing a maw of black mist, eyes glowing within. The Devourer's voice boomed. "You cannot stop my awakening."
Kael's HUD screamed: energy surge critical. The shuttle's shields failed, and a beam grazed the hull, rocking them. Mira screamed, her eyes flashing red. "Kael, it's coming!"
A new signal flared on the HUD, not Coalition or Devourer but Ascendant, clean and bright. A sleek ship, glowing with white runes, shot past, its cannons blasting the Devourer ship. A voice, calm and ancient, filled the comm. "Pilot, dock with the spire. We will cover you."
Kael didn't trust it, but he had no choice. He gunned the engines, the shuttle screaming toward the spire's bay. The Ascendant ship guarded their flank, its weapons carving through drones. They crashed into the bay, the shuttle skidding across the floor, sparks flying. Kael helped Mira out, Zara covering them, her pistol ready.
The bay opened to a chamber, its walls alive with blue runes, a massive crystal core at its center, pulsing with power. The Ascendant figure appeared, not a hologram but real, its armor glowing, its eyes like stars. "You seek to end the Devourer," it said. "The core can destroy it, but it demands a sacrifice."
Kael's heart sank, Zara's hand finding his. Mira stepped forward, her voice steady. "What kind of sacrifice?"
The figure's eyes locked on her. "One of you must become its prison."