The Void-Pocket was peaceful, but the galaxy outside was screaming.
Kael stood at the edge of the floating island, looking at the Celestial Vanguard and the Aurelian Wing. They looked majestic in their docks, their hulls gleaming as the Crystal Tree hummed a song of repair.
"We can't stay here forever," Kael said, turning to Valerius. "The longer we wait, the more people the Vorthax 'integrate.' Every hour, someone's soul is being turned into a processor."
Valerius nodded, his hand resting on the hilt of his amber blade. "Xylos is the heart of their labor. It's a moon made of iron and misery. It's guarded by a Vorthax Null-Field. Your magic won't work there, boy. Neither will the ships' main cannons."
"A Null-Field?" Kael frowned. "Then how do we get in?"
"We go in the old-fashioned way," Valerius grinned. "Through the trash chute. Full-Frontal Assault is what they expect. Infiltration is what they fear. But we need a distraction. Something big enough to pull the Null-Field generators away from the prison blocks."
"I WILL PROVIDE THE THUNDER," Ignis rumbled. "AURELIA AND I WILL FEIGN AN ATTACK ON THE ORBITAL SHIPYARDS. THE VORTHAX WILL THINK THE STARBORNS ARE SUICIDAL. THEY WILL RE-ROUTE POWER TO THE CANNONS."
"And while they're busy trying to hit a moving dragon," Kael said, "Valerius, Lyra, and I slip onto the surface."
Xylos looked like a giant, rusted eye staring into the void. As the two Dragon-Ships dropped out of warp, the moon's surface lit up with thousands of red anti-aircraft batteries.
"Engaging!" Elis yelled. "Ignis, barrel roll! Aurelia, show off those golden scales!"
The sky became a chaotic tapestry of gold and red light. While the massive ships danced through the fire, a small, unpowered stealth-pod detached from Ignis's belly. It fell silently, its hull painted with a matte-black material that absorbed the radar pulses.
CRASH.
The pod slammed into a mountain of industrial waste outside Prison Block 4. The doors hissed open.
Kael stepped out, his violet eyes adjusting to the dim, red emergency lighting of the moon. He tried to summon a spark in his palm. Nothing. The Null-Field felt like a heavy, cold blanket pressing down on his brain.
"It's like being blind," Kael whispered.
"Get used to it," Valerius said, his voice low. He didn't need magic. He had a physical combat-knife and centuries of muscle memory. "On Xylos, you're just a man. Use your eyes, not your soul."
They crept through the ventilation shafts, the sound of rhythmic mechanical hammering echoing from below. Lyra moved with a ghost-like silence, her silver hair tucked under a dark hood.
"There," she whispered, pointing through a grate.
Below them was a massive hall. Thousands of prisoners in grey rags were hauling heavy blocks of "Grav-Ore." Overseeing them were Vorthax Taskmasters—spider-like droids with electric whips.
In the center of the hall, chained to a high-voltage pillar, was a man with a wild beard and eyes that flickered like a failing lightbulb.
"That's him," Lyra said. "Doc Gear-Grinder. The greatest tech-specialist of the rebel front. If anyone can help us weaponize the Void-Pocket, it's him."
"Wait," Kael said, his scavenger instincts kicking in. "Look at the pillar. It's not just a cage. It's the Null-Field Anchor. If we blow that pillar, the field drops."
"And your magic comes back," Valerius added. "But the moment it drops, every Vorthax on this moon will know exactly where we are."
Kael looked at Doc Gear-Grinder, then at his own empty hands. He missed the hum of the Spark.
"I'm tired of being blind," Kael said. He pulled a thermal detonator he'd 'borrowed' from Ignis's armory. "Valerius, get ready to clear the floor. Lyra, get the Doc. I'm going for the Anchor."
Kael leaped from the shaft, falling thirty feet. He landed on a Taskmaster droid, crushing its head under his boots. Before the other droids could react, he sprinted for the central pillar.
"Intruder!" a mechanical voice shrieked.
Kael slammed the detonator onto the base of the Anchor.
"Clear!" he screamed.
BOOM.
The explosion rocked the entire hall. The blue field of energy surrounding the moon flickered and died.
For a second, there was silence. Then, a roar started in Kael's ears. It was the sound of the universe returning to his senses. The Spark didn't just return; it flooded him like a broken dam.
[NULL-FIELD DESTROYED] [RESONANCE SPIKE: TIER 2.5... 2.8... 3.0!!]
Kael's hair began to lift, glowing with violet electricity. He turned to face the approaching legion of Centurions.
"My turn," Kael growled.
He didn't just throw a fireball. He reached out and grabbed the gravity in the room. With a Tier 3.0 surge, he flipped the "Up" switch for the Vorthax.
Fifty Centurions were suddenly slammed into the ceiling with the force of a falling moon.
"Doc! You're with us!" Kael yelled as Lyra sliced through the scientist's chains.
Doc Gear-Grinder looked at Kael, then at the glowing Starborn. "About time," he rasped, spitting out a mouthful of oil. "I've been waiting for a Starborn to show up and break something. Now, get me to a ship before I decide to stay in this dump!"
[NEW PARTY MEMBER JOINED: DOC GEAR-GRINDER (TECH-SPECIALIST)] [TIER 3.0 UNLOCKED: GRAVITY MANIPULATION]