The air in the prison block was thick with the smell of ozone and the terrified gasps of five hundred prisoners. Above them, the ceiling groaned under the weight of the Centurions Kael had pinned there with his new Tier 3.0 powers.
"Kid, you're bleeding from the nose," Valerius warned, his sword humming as he decapitated a Taskmaster that tried to sneak up from behind. "Manipulating gravity for an entire room is a Tier 5 feat. You're redlining!"
Kael's teeth were gritted so hard he thought they might shatter. Every muscle in his body felt like it was being pulled apart by invisible hooks. "I... I can hold them... but we can't... walk out... the front door."
"We aren't walking," Doc Gear-Grinder barked. The old tech-specialist was already at a terminal, his fingers moving like a frantic pianist. "This whole prison block? It's a modular unit. It was designed to be dropped from orbit. If I can hotwire the emergency ejection thrusters, we can fly this whole box of misery right off the moon!"
"Fly the prison?" Lyra asked, her eyes wide. "Doc, that's insane."
"Insane is my middle name, girlie! Now, Starborn! I need you to stop holding the guards up and start pulling the floor up! If you don't create a localized gravity bubble around this block, the atmospheric friction will turn us into a five-hundred-person barbecue!"
Kael let out a roar of pure agony and effort. He released his grip on the Centurions.
CLANG.
The Vorthax soldiers hit the floor, but before they could level their weapons, Kael slammed his hands onto the cold iron deck.
"UP!" he screamed.
The violet energy didn't just glow; it solidified. A sphere of starlight wrapped around Prison Block 4.
"Ejecting in three... two... one!" Doc slammed a heavy red lever.
KRA-KOOM!
Explosive bolts shattered the connections between the prison block and the rest of the moon. The emergency thrusters fired, and the massive rectangular building shot into the sky like a clumsy rocket.
Inside, the prisoners screamed as they were slammed into the floor by the sudden acceleration. Kael stood in the center, his arms outstretched, his veins glowing violet. He was the only thing keeping the building from shaking itself to pieces.
Outside, the sky of Xylos was a nightmare. The Aurelian Wing and the Celestial Vanguard were locked in a dance of death with a Vorthax Destroyer.
"Elis! We've got a flying building coming your way!" Kael's voice cracked over the comms.
"A what?!" Elis shrieked. "Kael, I am currently dodging anti-matter torpedoes! I don't have room in the hangar for a house!"
"I HAVE ROOM," Ignis rumbled. "OPEN THE VENTRAL CARGO GATES. I WILL CATCH THEM."
The Celestial Vanguard dived, its massive obsidian belly opening like a whale's mouth.
But a shadow loomed over the escaping prison block. The Warden of Xylos—a massive, six-winged Vorthax monstrosity the size of a small starship—descended from the clouds. It didn't use guns. It used its massive, bladed wings to slice through everything in its path.
"Target identified," the Warden's voice boomed, shaking the prison walls. "Unauthorized exodus. Termination initiated."
The Warden dived, its wings glowing with red thermal energy, aimed straight for the center of the prison block.
"Kael, you can't hold the gravity and fight that thing!" Lyra cried. She stepped forward, her silver hair turning into a halo of light. "I'll take the shield! You take the Warden!"
"Lyra, no! You're still weak from stasis!"
"I am a Starborn Pilot!" she retorted, her eyes flashing gold. "Do your job, Kael!"
She placed her hands over his. The golden energy of the Aurelian Wing flowed through her, reinforcing the bubble.
Kael felt the weight lift. He looked up at the ceiling—at the Warden screaming toward them. He reached out with one hand, his fingers curling into a claw.
"You want gravity?" Kael hissed. "Have all of it."
He didn't push the Warden away. He multiplied the gravity in the space directly in front of the Warden's nose.
In a split second, the air in front of the monster became as dense as a neutron star. The Warden slammed into the invisible wall of gravity at Mach 5. Its wings snapped. Its obsidian hull crumpled like paper.
BOOM.
The Warden exploded in a fireball of red oil and sparks.
The prison block drifted into the open hangar of the Celestial Vanguard. The cargo doors slammed shut, sealing them in.
Kael collapsed. The violet light died out. The silence of the hangar was broken only by the cheering of five hundred freed rebels.
Doc Gear-Grinder stepped over to Kael and patted him on the head. "Not bad, kid. You broke my favorite moon. I think we're going to get along just fine."
[QUEST COMPLETED: THE JAILBREAK OF XYLOS] [500 REBELS RECRUITED] [LEVEL UP: KAEL ARDENT - TIER 3.2]