Twin moons hung high in the night sky, cold and bright, while a scatter of distant stars blinked above the camp.
The tents and generators glowed with soft lights as figures moved between them—technicians checking gear, soldiers stacking crates, and scouts pacing maps.
*bzt…
Somewhere a radio crackled, voices low and steady with last-minute checks.
Meanwhile, Rox stayed inside the Nightjarr.
The ship felt quieter than the camp, insulated from the cold wind and the restless noise outside.
She sat on one of the side seats and started laying out her gear on the floor beside her:
An attachable synthetic arm that fit like a gauntlet, several compact blasters clipped to a belt, extra batteries, and the automatic assault rifle she trusted most for close fights in tight, dark places.
Each weapon was clean and lined up within easy reach.
She worked methodically, loading eidric casings into trays and arranging them by type.
The casings pulsed faintly in the dim cockpit light—condensed power ready to be fed into barrels and chambers.
She then checked each round, slotting them into magazines and sealing spare packs into pouches.
Her hands were steady; years of routine made the motions smooth and quick.
Outside, through the viewport, the edge of the Veil looked like a wall of absolute black.
The camp's lights stopped a few dozen meters short of it.
Beyond that,
nothing but the mist.
Rox thought about how fast things could go wrong in there: one wrong step, one misread signal, and the team could lose more than time.
"Better spray and pray if you can't see shit…" she muttered under her voice as she prepared a massive amount of eidric casings for her to enhance the weapons in front of her.
As Rox continued slotting eidric casings into the magazines scattered before her, the quiet hum of the ship's systems filled the air—until she caught it.
A faint vibration of footsteps on metal, subtle but unmistakable.
Someone was approaching.
Her head tilted slightly toward the sound just before a knock echoed against the hatch.
*knock! *knock! *knock!
Without bothering to stand, she raised her voice.
"Who is it?" she called.
"It's me," came the muffled reply from the other side—familiar, composed, and unmistakably Gelhyne.
Rox let out a small sigh as she stood, the half-filled magazine slipping from her hand and clattering onto the floor.
She reached for her helmet, fitting it over her head with a practiced motion before pressing the seal to activate its filters.
*tssssssssssssssh!
The familiar hiss of oxygen filled her ears as the system powered up.
She stepped toward the hatch and pressed a button on the panel beside it.
*hissss!
The heavy door hissed and slowly parted, a cloud of steam escaping as Gelhyne's figure appeared under the faint glow of the ship's exterior lights.
"Well, my evening just got more interesting," Rox said, crossing her arms as her visor lenses focused on Gelhyne.
Her voice carried a mix of curiosity and dry amusement.
"What do you need?" she asked, tilting her head slightly—half expecting a request, half expecting trouble.
"You asked earlier," Gelhyne began, her tone calm but her arms clearly straining under the weight of what she carried.
Stacked high in her hands were several scrolls and old tomes, their bindings worn and edges frayed.
She nudged the pile slightly upward to keep it from slipping.
"And I'm here to lecture you about it. Better for you to know everything than to go in clueless."
Rox blinked once, raising an eyebrow as her mind caught up to the statement—
then she remembered.
She did ask earlier what the Rune of Veristalzes really was.
Without another word, Rox stepped forward and grabbed a portion of the heavy load from Gelhyne's grasp before the whole stack could tumble to the floor.
"Very well," she said, her arms now full of parchment and books.
"Come in before you drop the rest of that."
Gelhyne exhaled softly, nodding as she stepped inside the ship.
The faint metallic hum and soft blue interior lights wrapped around her again, familiar and strangely comforting.
She set the remaining parchments on one of the cushioned seats, organizing them neatly before straightening her posture and clearing her throat.
*cough!
Rox was halfway through setting her own pile down when Gelhyne spoke again—her voice quieter this time.
"Earlier… I—I would like to thank you for saving me."
Her eyes lowered slightly, the usual confidence in her tone replaced with hesitation.
Rox paused, then pressed a switch on her helmet.
*tsssssh!
The seals hissed as the faceplate detached, revealing her familiar smirk beneath the dim cabin light.
"Don't worry about it," she said lightly.
"We're basically partners now, after all."
Gelhyne blinked, caught off guard for a brief moment before the corners of her lips curled into the faintest smile.
*cough!
She coughed once again, recomposing herself and returning to her usual calm demeanor.
"Now that's done, let's talk about details, shall we?"
"You're the boss," Rox replied with a short chuckle, moving beside her as she spread out the parchments across the chair where Gelhyne had placed hers.
But before they could begin,
*THUD ! *THUD! *THUD!
*click! *clack!
a heavy thudding echoed across the ship's metal floor—slow, loud, and deliberate.
Each step rattled faint vibrations through the hull until it stopped just outside the hatch.
Then came the knock.
*BANG! *BANG! *BANG!
Not the light, careful kind that Gelhyne had made earlier—but a deep, heavy bang, enough to make the panels tremble.
Rox's head snapped toward the sound, her brows furrowing.
"What the—?" she muttered, irritation flaring as she stood.
"Are they trying to break my hatch or something?"
She marched toward the door, slapping her helmet back into place with a hiss as the seals locked.
With a quick tap on the control panel, the hatch unlatched, steam venting outward as it opened—revealing a towering figure whose head nearly scraped the top of the frame.
The light from the ship's cabin glinted off red exoskeletal plating and cybernetic armor.
Two massive blades were magnetically clamped to his hips, and faint clicks of shifting metal filled the air as he adjusted his stance.
Rox immediately recognized him.
"Oh, it's you again, mandible freak," she said flatly, crossing her arms.
Gunn bent slightly to fit through the hatch, his insectoid mandibles twitching in faint annoyance.
"Shut it, birdmeat," he rumbled, his voice carrying a deep metallic edge as one of his cybernetic arms flexed.
"I want in. She invited me."
He jabbed a clawed finger toward Gelhyne, who was already busy spreading her scrolls across the ship's floor like an impromptu classroom.
Rox turned her helmet slightly toward Gelhyne, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh, of course she did."
Gelhyne didn't even flinch.
"Well, for a spacefighter, the Nightjarr is significantly larger than normal. Abnormally so, in fact," she said, half to herself as her eyes roamed the interior.
"Spacefighter?" Rox cut her off immediately, pride seeping into her voice.
"No. This is an ACE-class ship—fast enough to chase void raiders, tough enough to take a capital hit, and almost the size of a frigate."
She gestured toward the illuminated conduits running along the floor and ceiling.
"Most ships this big need a full crew to manage, but this one's powered by energy cores—each one harvested from the eidra of a sun conduit. Every system, every weapon, every thruster is managed by my AIs."
Gunn tilted his head slightly, mandibles clacking. "Stop blabbing your mouth and stand aside!" Gunn forced his way in, his legs shoving Rox away ass he finally entered the interior of her ship.
"Urgh! You fu—!" Rox gritted her teeth as she clenched her fist in irritation.
"Stop fighting you two!" Gelhyne raised her voice, glaring at the two of them… before clicking her tongue in irritation.
"Both of you are acting like children, you're adults, act like one."
"You heard that birdmeat?" Gunn grinned as his mandibles clicked subtly.
"Damn fucking… insect piece of shit…" Rox grumbled under her voice.