Eclipsed Horizon — Chapter 85: "Outer Vein Descent"
Arc: Outer Vein Incursion
The team departs Zephyr for the unknown region where the Echo's trail leads.
---
Departure Protocol
Zephyr's Launch Hangar Six roared like the inside of a storm.
Energy fields shimmered across the bay doors. Engine coils spun in synchronized crescents. Aether dust floated like glowing pollen in the cold industrial air.
Cael tightened the last strap of his field harness, pulseband humming under his sleeve. He kept his breathing steady—controlled—anchored by the presence hovering just behind him.
Lyra fastened her gauntlets, securing the diagnostic module over her wrist.
"You're worrying again," she said without looking at him.
Cael blinked. "…I'm not."
"You are." She stepped in front of him. "Your resonance leaked for half a second."
He frowned. "I didn't feel anything."
"You don't have to," she replied gently. "I do."
Their pulsebands synced with a warm thrum—steady, reassuring.
Arden approached with the predatory calm of someone who'd led far too many missions into unknown territory.
"Drayen. Vance. Report."
Cael straightened. "Resonance stable. Anchor link fully active."
Lyra added, "He's holding firm. No redline spikes."
Arden nodded in approval.
"Good. You'll need that stability where we're going."
Behind her, Jax slammed a fresh capacitor into his weapon with a satisfied click.
"This is gonna be fun," he said, though his tone betrayed nerves beneath the bravado.
Mireen adjusted her pack straps—hands trembling slightly.
Sena tucked herself behind crates, muttering last-minute calibrations to a field stabilizer the size of her torso.
Seraphine triple-checked her tablet, eyes darting across dozens of readouts.
Arden raised her voice.
"Team. Formation protocol Alpha-Three. Our target is the Echo's last known emission vector. The Outer Vein's environmental conditions are uncharted; assume hostile resonance fields at every stage."
Jax cracked his neck. "Assume something wants to kill us. Got it."
"Accurate," Arden replied. Then she turned toward Cael. "Drayen. You're our beacon. You know the risk."
Cael swallowed.
"Yes, Commander."
Lyra's hand brushed his. "And he's not dealing with it alone."
Arden didn't argue.
"Move out."
---
The Descent Pod
Launch Pod 07 waited at the center of the bay—a needle-shaped craft built for atmospheric breach operations, plated with resonance-responsive alloy that shimmered faintly when touched by Aether.
The interior lights flickered to amber as the door sealed shut behind the team.
Jax strapped in. "This thing rattles more than my old academy bunk."
Sena smacked a display. "It's not meant for comfort. It's meant not to implode."
Mireen whispered, "Encouraging…"
Lyra secured Cael's harness herself.
"Don't try to be brave in there," she murmured. "If anything spikes, you tell me."
He met her eyes.
"I promise."
The pod trembled.
Seraphine's voice tightened. "Pod ignition successful. Resonance dampeners online. Outer Vein vector plotted."
Arden gave one last order.
"Punch through the shield."
The pod launched.
---
Breaking Through
The sky-scar above Zephyr swallowed them instantly.
Blue.
White.
Then violet lightning dancing across the pod's plating.
The view outside fractured like light through a prism. Aether currents twisted into impossible arcs. Resonance pressure slammed against the pod hull.
Cael felt it immediately.
A pull.
Faint but unmistakable.
The Echo.
Lyra grabbed his hand. "Cael. With me."
He shut his eyes.
And everything realigned around her voice.
"Stable," Seraphine called out, visibly relieved.
Arden didn't look relieved. She looked like she'd expected Cael to break and was almost disappointed he didn't.
Jax laughed shakily. "Remind me never to argue with their Link again."
Sena squeaked as a bolt of resonance static cracked across the hull.
Mireen clung to her harness.
Seraphine's tablet flashed error after error.
"Commander—Outer Vein physics are collapsing around us! Gravity wells fluctuating! Aether density spiking past safe limits—we're moving through a space that doesn't want us here."
Arden ordered, "Stabilize trajectory."
"I'm trying—!"
Another jolt.
The pod flipped—once, twice—until the inertial dampeners caught up and snapped it back into alignment.
Lyra shouted, "Cael—look at me!"
He gasped. The pull intensified.
The Echo wasn't calling.
It was dragging.
He doubled over, pulseband sparking.
"Cael!" Lyra held his shoulders. "Focus on my resonance—stay with me!"
Their Link flared—
A burst of gold-white light.
The pod stopped shaking.
Seraphine's voice trembled. "Stabilized. I… I don't know how, but—stabilized."
Arden looked between them.
"Vance. Drayen. Maintain link."
Lyra didn't let go.
"Already on it."
---
Outer Vein Entry
The storm outside parted.
Not naturally.
Like something enormous had carved a path through it—leaving a long tunnel of fractured Aether.
Jax stared out the window.
"…What the hell did that?"
Lyra whispered, "The Echo?"
Cael shook his head slowly.
"No. Something older."
Arden's jaw tightened. "Explain."
"I feel it," Cael said. "The Echo's trail is inside this… wound. But it didn't create it."
Sena pushed her glasses up, voice quivering. "Then… whatever did… has resonance levels beyond anything recorded."
Mireen whispered, "We shouldn't be here."
"No," Arden said. "We need to be here."
She leaned forward.
"Seraphine—approach vector."
Seraphine nodded. "Guiding us now."
The pod drifted deeper into the tunnel of broken Aether.
Colors shifted constantly—crimson, turquoise, ultraviolet, none of which belonged in natural skies.
Resonance fields twisted like exposed nerves.
Cael's pulseband thrummed violently once—
Lyra squeezed his hand—
And it settled.
Seraphine exhaled. "Their Link is overriding the field contamination. Fascinating."
Jax snorted. "I call it terrifying."
Mireen whispered, "Commander… look."
Outside—
The tunnel ended.
Beyond it lay open space.
Floating shards of land drifting like pieces of a shattered world.
Gravity pockets rippling like water.
Aether storms spiraling silently overhead.
A massive silhouette twisted in the distance like a dormant leviathan of pure resonance.
The Outer Vein.
Arden spoke softly, reverently—
"As of now… Zephyr has no maps. No intel. We are the first."
Lyra's fingers trembled against Cael's.
He held her steady.
Sena whispered, "This place is… beautiful."
Jax muttered, "This place wants us dead."
Seraphine scanned the area.
"Commander. I've found it."
The room froze.
"The Echo's resonance signature."
Cael felt his pulseband burning with recognition.
Arden stood.
"Location?"
Seraphine swallowed hard.
"It's moving across those fractured landmasses. And it's not alone."
"What do you mean?" Lyra asked.
Seraphine zoomed in.
The hologram revealed multiple resonance signatures circling the Echo's trail.
Predatory.
Geometric.
Wrong.
"Those are… entities," Seraphine whispered. "Alive or artificial—I can't tell."
Jax tightened his grip on his weapon. "Hostile?"
Seraphine's voice shook.
"They're feeding on the Echo's residue."
The entire pod fell silent.
Then Cael spoke.
Very quietly.
"If they're feeding on it…"
He looked up.
"…they're hunting it."
Lyra's breath hitched. "Then we have to reach it first."
Arden gave the only possible answer.
"We deploy now."
---
The Pod Opens
The pod descended onto the nearest floating landmass—cracked stone, black soil, crystalline growths humming with unstable energy.
With a hiss, the hatch opened.
A wave of alien resonance washed over them.
Mireen staggered.
Sena clutched her stabilizer.
Jax cursed softly. "Feels like needles crawling under my skin."
Seraphine whispered, "This environment is hostile to human resonance. Everyone stay close."
Arden motioned the formation.
"Drayen, Vance—front."
Lyra immediately moved beside Cael.
Their pulsebands synced.
The environment bent around them—their Link acting like a shield, deflecting the worst distortions.
Seraphine stared, astonished.
"They're literally stabilizing the field. I've never seen anything like—"
A sound cut through the air.
A distant howl.
Mechanical. Organic. Impossible to place.
Jax raised his weapon. "Something's coming."
The howl repeated—
Then fractured into many voices.
Arden's voice dropped to a battle whisper.
"Positions."
Lyra's hand found Cael's.
He squeezed it once.
"I'm ready."
Her smile was small. Fierce.
"So am I."
The howls came closer—
Echoing across broken terrain—
And something moved in the fog ahead.
Shapes.
Multiple.
Predators woven from resonance distortions.
Cael felt the Echo's signal pulse again—
faint—
hurting—
alone.
Lyra stepped forward.
"Cael. This is it."
He nodded, breath steady.
"We find it."
The first creature broke through the mist.
Arden's voice cut like a blade:
"Team—engage."
And the Outer Vein erupted into chaos.
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End of Chapter 85 — "Outer Vein Descent."