The void of space stretched infinitely around them, a silent expanse punctuated only with the distant glimmer of stars. The crew sighed as one, briefly taking respite in the tranquillity. Leonye uncurled his white-knuckled fists from the armrests of his chair, jumping up to quickly stem the flow of steam escaping from several pipes. Staggering slightly over to a viewport he gazed out towards Illadria, glimmering behind them. As he turned a valve to stem the rushing hiss of steam next to his head he mumbled, “Feels strange, doesn’t it?” His voice was barely audible. “Leaving home behind. Without a way to return.”
Leonye took a moment to gaze at his reflection, shifting his gaze from Illadria to the ominous presence looming above the planet. There, amidst the stars, hanging above Illadrias largest continent, swirled a mass of darkness and shadow: the artificially created gravitational anomaly. The weapon that had forced the Illadrians into their year-long protective isolation, ‘affectionately’ named the Kromas’s Embrace. Onyx and emerald in its shifting chaos, it cast an eerie glow over Illadria’s shield, tendrils of energy lashing away at the barrier that they had just breached, threatening to tear the planet apart if the ward wavered even for a moment. Leonye couldn’t help but shiver at the sight, a chill creeping down his spine as he contemplated what could have happened if their escape had caused the shield to irreparably collapse.
Casting his eyes around the bridge, he frowned, noticing everyone but him was engrossed in their terminals. Cedrik, however, nodded thoughtfully as if he could hear Leonye's nervous musings as his fingers tracing over the holographic star maps with a sense of quiet contemplation. “Aye, it does feel strange,” he agreed with trepidation. “But every journey begins with a single step, or in our case, a daring breach into the unknown.”
“At least we’re in one piece,” Selune muttered quietly, her voice tinged with apprehension. Leonye’s gaze lingered on Selune, feeling a deep anger bubbling up within him.
“For now,” he growled under his breath, eyes flicking back to the anomaly outside before returning to his seat to check the status of the ship's engines. He smirked wryly, despite the ship straining against Illadrias barrier so aggressively the damage to the engines and even the hull appeared to be only marginal. Easy to remedy. Taking a moment to breathe, he cast his gaze to the wider bridge. They had been in such a unceremonious rush to depart he had barely had time to take in his surroundings.
The ship, at first glance, appeared fairly ordinary by Illadrian standards—a fusion of advanced technology and rustic charm that defined most of their architecture. To one side, a panoramic window offered a view of space ahead with the remaining walls adorned with sleek cream panels, wooden inlays and intricate brass fixtures that complimented the exposed piping and various levers, gauges, and dials that whispered tales of Illadria’s roots. All of this tradition intertwined seamlessly with both the holographic and crystalline displays that flickered with life with each tap of the crew's fingertips.
In the heart of the room, an unfamiliar command console stood tall, replacing the more commonly expected commander's chair. Turning his gaze upward, a domed canopy offered him an uninterrupted view of the stars to which he could not help but smile, despite his trepidations. They had achieved two almost impossible things already today, that should be worth a little celebration.
As if shaking him gently from his stupor, a loud ringing suddenly filled the bridge. “What the blazes is that?” Theron piped up, turning away from the helm. Leonye shrugged slightly, it wasn’t a familiar alert to his ears.
Elowen stood and approached the central console which Leonye had recently been pondering. With a curious raise of her eyebrow she explored the interface cautiously. “Seems there’s an encrypted file here, courtesy of Marcus, along with some conditions for its unveiling…” Looking up from the console she directed her words to the helm. “Theron, how quickly can you get us to Pyrosia?”
“Pyrosia? That molten pit of a planet in the hellscape that is the Grimlands?” Theron turned back towards the console, contemplating, “Our Aetherdrive looks pretty standard, I reckon we could make it there comfortably in about six hours. Maybe less if Leon can squeeze a bit more power out of her.”
Leonye smirked, turning back to look at his terminal, “I’ll need to take a gander at the engine itself. But if it's fresh off the line and not too banged up from our little getaway, I reckon I can optimise a few of the systems and shave an hour or so off that trip. Any idea why Pyrosia?”
Shaking her head, Elowen tapped at the console. “Not a notion. The decryption apparently just hinges on us reaching orbit around the planet. I say we set a course. Although, Cedrik, do you think you could try to crack it before we reach the Grimlands? Given our mission to acquire intelligence it might be prudent to know more before we dive into any danger.”
“I’d be delighted to try!” Cedrik beamed, already making his way to join Elowen at the console.
“I’ll head down to the engine and get to work.” Leonye stated, hopping up and making his way towards the only door out of the bridge. “Set course for hell, Theron!” Leonye chirped, barely catching the “My pleasure” that came in reply as the doors closed behind him.
Making his way down a narrow series of corridors and ladders towards the engine room he was abruptly reminded of the compact size of his cosy new mobile home. He swallowed nervously. The Desolate Grimlands, to give them their full name, were hardly the most hospitable environment even with a full-sized vessel. Their shielding would be sufficient for a quick gallivant into the region, but an extended stay would certainly not work in their favour.
Amidst his thoughts, the ship gave a subtle shake—a well known prelude to any spacefaring Illadrian—a brief yet unmistakable shudder that ripped through the ship’s framework. A familiar, ethereal sound followed, a shimmering, almost musical note that filled the air and reverberated in his chest, signalling that the ship’s Aetherdrive had sprung to life. They were transitioning from the known universe though a breach into the very undercurrents of reality itself, the Shardscape, a domain of fractured realities and ephemeral vistas; it was safe haven for the most part and it turned many journeys into a mere jaunt rather than a long haul.
Leonye took a deep breath as he reached the engine room, the air hummed with the steady thrum of the ship's reactor, a sound he found oddly comforting under the circumstances. He could almost feel the aetheric crystals at the heart of the engine resonating in harmony. Surveying the engine, he noted a few fresh signs of wear and stress from their recent escapades alongside an unusual lack of organisation. Spare parts lay strewn all over the floor with many of them looking well-used. “Well, certainly not fresh off the line then…” He grumbled with a slight shrug as with practised hands, he began to assess the systems. Repairing minor faults as he went, assisted by the versatile tools built into his gauntlet and putting his decades of experience to use.
As Leonye continued his inspection of the engine, adjusting valves and tinkering with terminals, his attention was drawn to the aetheric chamber, the heart of the ship's Fusion drive. Leonye approached it with a puzzled expression, carefully studying its assembly. It seemed a little too jury-rigged, even for his liking. Sure, every engineer governed their own machinery with personal flair, and whoever had assembled this may have had a more haphazard style than he personally preferred. But as his eyes traced over the piping, shielding, and gauges, he could not shake the feeling of unease that gnawed at the edges of his brain. Leonye’s eyes narrowed sceptically, his hands deftly navigating the controls, gradually uncovering more signs of wear than he would expect on an engine within a ship this new. Something was off, something not quite right about the chamber's readings and the way it was responding to his inputs. ‘A malfunction in the containment?’ ‘Too much fluctuation in the fuel flow rate?’
“I wonder…” He pondered aloud.
Flexing slightly and with a flick of a switch Leonye started increasing the output of the reactor, twiddling dials with finesse. Watching with intense curiosity as the energy levels surged and ebbed, he continued to gradually test the limits of the chamber's capabilities. As minutes passed the piping surrounding him began to groan and creak. Coolant pipes ruptured along the walls in several places as the chamber itself began to shudder. Urgency gripped Leonye as his deft hands now had to fight with the consoles and levers to quickly stabilise the reactor. But despite his efforts, the chamber continued to rebel, its systems stubbornly refusing to cooperate.
Each passing second the situation grew more dire, curiosity had been replaced with alarm in the face of a catastrophic meltdown within moments. Leonye gritted his teeth, leaping over to the reactor's manual terminal, he wrestled with valves, howling in pain as the reactor's leaking pipework had heated several of the manual override levers far beyond safe limits. The heat from the pipework seared his skin, sending waves of agony shooting through him. Pushing through the discomfort, with a guttural cry, Leonye exerted every ounce of strength he possessed, wrenching the manual override levers downwards with a primal rage.
The chamber protested with a cacophony of grating noises, but slowly, agonisingly, it began to relent, the shrieking sound of the engines beginning to soften as the reactor began to stabilise. As the threat of meltdown receded, Leonye collapsed to the ground, nursing his scalded hands in his lap, panting heavily. “Those damned corner cutting gear-fumblers…” he growled, devolving into a series of mumbled swears in an attempt to numb the pain.
A chime interrupted his panting and self-medicating grumbles with Theron's voice suddenly emanating from the engine room's intercom. “Hey Leon, is everything peachy down there? My console’s showing a twenty percent drop in reactor output. Not to rain on your parade, but whatever you did down there is threatening to put our engines to sleep and I’d have to drop us back into normal space. Care to shake ‘em awake before the void-moss starts growing on the hull?”
Leon gritted his teeth, his tone caring the weight of his pain and frustration. “I hear you, Theron. The damn Gearsmiths that threw the ship together tossed in some old reconditioned reactor,” he stated matter-of-factly, tone tinged with irritation. “Looks like they cut some corners to get the Wardbreaker ready in time. The ‘minimal damage’ I was receiving on the bridge is because most of the damage sensor array parts are sitting in a box in front of me. Any functional patches they slapped on the core to bring it up to spec must have burnt out during our tussle with the shield. It’s…It’s not great down here.”
“Copy that.” Theron replied, his voice trailing, “You alright?”
Leonye sighed, “burned my hands pretty badly preventing a meltdown. Care to put your medic skills to use and make a house call? Before the moss turns our hull green.” He paused for a moment, allowing a faint hint of a wry smile to push through his grimace.
“Afraid not, the power drains are messing with our flight stabilisers, backups are kicking in but I'd rather not leave the bridge. The reactor has sent quite a few systems haywire so it's all hands on deck up here. Selune is on her way down to you. Theron out.”
Leonyes' weak smile melted into a scowl, “Well if that Kromas cur thinks a little burn will make me easy pickings she’ll have another thing coming.” He snarled.
As he waited for Selune’s arrival, a tense silence filled the engine room, broken only by the strained hum of the reactor and the occasional groan of stressed metal. Each passing moment felt like an eternity, eyes fixed on the door as Leonye’s mind raced with speculation of the impending encounter.
Finally, the door to the engine room slid open with a hiss, and Selune stepped inside cautiously. Her presence was a stark contrast to the chaos that had engulfed the room only moments before, calm and composed carrying a small med-kit under her arm.
Leonye’s muscles tensed instinctively, clenching his hands only to be met with an involuntary yelp like a wounded pup as the pain from his burns overwrote his innate mistrust. Seeing his reaction, Selune slowed her approach, hovering just out of arm's-reach. “Let’s be frank.” she spoke softly, her expression firm, “You don’t want me here. But right now, I'm your only option if you want to avoid infection, and those burns look pretty bad. The sooner I get your dermis mended, the sooner I can return to the bridge and leave you to your tinkering. Okay?”
Leonye stared at her for the longest of moments before he nodded begrudgingly, his muscles still tense with apprehension, but as she knelt beside him, her well-honed bedside smile gave him a faint glimmer of relief. Despite his reservations, he knew that she was right; his injuries needed attention and Selune was his sole choice.
Carefully setting the med-kit down and opening it, Selune began to tend to his wounds. Her movements were precise, first running a sleek medical scanner over his hands to assess the damage before following with a cautious physical examination. “Second degree burns…” She remarked, her voice thoughtful as she observed Leonye’s reaction to her examination. “...And judging by your expression, painful. But it seems you’re no stranger to this type of injury. Not to worry, a few minutes with the Dermografter should have this healed up in no time.”
Leonye frowned distastefully as he watched Selune put away the scanner and pull out a second device which hummed pleasantly as she began to pass it over his palms. “How’d you know this isn't my first bad burn?” He reluctantly asked, his expression softening slightly as the pain in his hands began to subside, skin bubbling under the gentle beam of the Dermografter, back to its regular pinkish hue.
“If it was your first time I’d have expected more tears.” Selune replied, smirking softly. “Plus there’s evidence of previous regenerations along your wrist and hand. Do you always prefer to treat yourself? Most medics wouldn’t be so laissez-faire about scarring.”
His cheeks tinged with warmth, Leonye averted his gaze. “They’re not that noticeable and it’s a lot quicker to patch myself up.” he admitted shrugging, his tone candid.
Selune smiled wryly as she stowed away the Demografter and reached to pick up the medkit. “Well whether you like me or not,” she began, “while we are on this mission together, no more patch-jobs.”
Leonye glanced down at his hands, flexing them experimentally as Selune stood and began to walk away. He turned his hands over, eyes widening in astonishment seeing all signs of previous scarring were gone too. Just as he heard the door open, Leonye looked up swiftly, mumbling a faint “Thank you.” Selune cocked her head slightly in acknowledgement before disappearing out of sight.
Silence fell like a cloak as the door sealed behind Selune, leaving Leonye to the hum of the engines and his own swirling thoughts. In the aftermath, the engine room felt like a beating heart for the Wardbreaker, pulsing steadily as they pushed forward into the unknown. Rising to his feet, he flexed his hands affirmingly, once again steady at the controls he began to tweak the engine, but with more caution than before. While the ship carved its path through the Shardscape outside, the boundaries between moments twisted and ebbed, and Leonye set about repairing and reconfiguring the damaged and improvised setup. With every repair, every tinkering of the engine, the ship sailed hour by hour closer to its destination. As the Wardbreaker prepared to exit the Shardscape, the shift in the ship’s rhythm and a beckoning over the com signalled Leonye to set aside his repairs for the moment.
Returning to the bridge, Leonye gazed in familiar awe as the shimmering glass-like vista before the bridge’s viewport shattered into an aperture back into normal space, beyond it, a silvery-orange hued nebula bloomed into view. Leon’s admiration shifted quickly to a more calculated observation as the reality of their mission settled back in. The crew, each absorbed in their tasks, shared little in the way of Leonyes admiration as he returned into his chair by his console.
“The Shardscape is behind us,” Theron announced, his voice cutting through the silence that had settled on the bridge. “The Grimlands await”.
The view from the bridge's window revealed the nebula’s eerie beauty, three faint stars cast a pallid backdrop to a graveyard of ships that marked the region's treacherous reputation. The beauty of the Grimlands was deceptive after all. Many ships and lives were claimed by those inexperienced with the nebula's erratic currents and the lethal Celestrix-Shards that littered the region.
Theron adjusted the ship’s course, charting a route through the most hospitable corridors of the nebula that he could find, setting a direct path towards Pyrosia. As they ventured deeper into the nebula, the ships external lights illuminated streams of glittering, glass-like splinters that flowed and danced in columns and streams like schools of fish. Their striking, deep red and silver hues and iridescent sheen created a mesmerising spectacle that belied their deadly nature.
Cedrik hummed slightly as kept a weathered eye on the ship's shields. “Shields are satisfactory, for now” he confirmed, eyes darting between the readouts and the nebula outside the window. “But try not to steer us into any of those shard-eddies. I’d rather not find out just how quickly they could turn this ship to confetti if the shields fail.”
Theron scowled, his hands begrudgingly altering their course away from a nail-biting graze against one of the shimmering rivers of blades, and adjusting the sensors to more optimally avoid any of the crystalline particulates that could spell disaster for them. “Honestly…no sense of adventure.”
Selune stood by, her gaze fixed on the external views, the deadly beauty of the nebula not lost on her. “They’re beautiful,” she remarked, a hint of awe in her voice as she gestured towards a blanket of shimmering red shards to port, “in a ‘beauty that bites’ sort of way.”
Leonye cocked a slight smile as he glanced towards Selunes view. “How long to Pyrosia?”
“In this beauty of a cobbled-together ship? Not long now. Fortunately, Pyrosia’s orbit currently has it at its closest point to the nebula's edge, so we avoid much of the nastiness this place has to offer. Nice work on the engines by the way…” Theron remarked.
“Well with the engine room looking like it was hit by a cyclone of scrap metal, and a reactor that was being held together by willpower, I was practically turning water into steam by hand to get us this far.” Leonye chuckled, “But I’m glad it didn't go unnoticed”
“Not at all, and hey, at least if this doesn't work out, you know you'll be a great employee at a makeshift sauna.” Theron quipped, a hint of a smirk playing at the corners of his lips.
Leonye’s amusement turned into a squint at the comment, opening his mouth to retort he was abruptly interrupted by a familiar trilling sound emitting from the centre console.
“Ah, it seems we’ve arrived at our destination. Theron, guide us into orbit, if you would be so kind, and let's see what this file is all about.” Elowen chimed.
As Theron manoeuvred the ship into orbit, the crew gathered around the central console in anticipation of the encrypted messages contents. With a few deft gestures, Elowen initiated the file, a holographic projection of Marcus flickered to life before them.
“Hello, crew of the Wardbreaker,” Marcus’s hologram began, his voice echoing through the bridge. “If you are receiving this, I trust your journey has gone smoothly so far. We apologise for the secrecy, but this next part is slightly ‘off the record’ as it were.”
The crew listened intently, Leon’s brow furrowing with curiosity. “By now you may have come to realise the ship we gave you was… a beautiful facade, we designed it to get through the shield and be manoeuvrable, hopefully enough to get you to safety, but beyond that, it is not equipped for an extended voyage the likes of which you are bound to endure.”
“You can say that again.” Leon snorted, rubbing his palms, his face changing to surprise as the hologram glanced a look towards him as if it had heard his quip.
“Despite my reservations, the Illadrian council insisted it was the best they could spare and so given the gravity of your mission, I think it is time to let you all in on a few secrets beyond your normal clearance levels. Pyrosia was home to a covert Timekeeper shipyard before the war. The Desolate Grimlands made a perfect backdrop since even experienced pilots will rarely set-engine in the region. Most dart through from the outer clouds to the farlight settlement and back. Assuming you arrived safely and Cedrik didn’t bypass my encryption…again, the shipyard we hope, will house a more suited vessel for your adventures. Hidden away from prying eyes, I would like to present your new and more robust home, ‘The Endless Wonder’” Marcus’s hologram blinked out and was replaced by a rotating model of a sleek and considerably larger vessel than the wardbreaker.
Marcus’s voice continued as various statistics and information floated in the space above the ship. “The Endless Wonder is no ordinary vessel, almost every system is a fully functional prototype which symbolises the most cutting edge technology we have either developed, or acquired from colonies as far away as Nyxguard. Some of this technology no doubt never even made it to Illadria before our isolation and will require a bit of brushing up. But…it will at least provide you with a far more suitable platform for gathering intelligence than a simple shuttle. Your next mission will be making your way to the surface and retrieving the vessel as quickly as possible, access codes and a set of instructions for the ship's computer have been downloaded to each of your respective terminals. No further instructions bar your standing orders to gather intelligence and, if necessary, tactfully disarm any and all impending threats to yourselves or Illadria. Assist where you can, hide when necessary. Good luck, all.”
As the hologram dissolved, the crew exchanged looks of nervousness and excitement. Cedrik broke the silence first, already turning to return to his station. “Well, looks like we have our next destination. Who’s ready for Endless Wonder?”
Elowen nodded in agreement, tapping away at the console, “Sending coordinates to the helm now, Theron?” she asked, voice tinged with anticipation.
Theron leaned back in his chair gingerly, “Two new ships in one day? Count me in!” As he punched commands into his console, the ship rumbled to life again. The rest of the crew muttering amongst each other.
“Whatever lies ahead, we’ll face it together.” Selune declared, voice ringing with resolve. Affirmative nods met her statement as the ship began its descent to the surface. Anticipation bubbled in the air, the crew eager to discover what secrets awaited them aboard the Endless Wonder.
