"To a star, it's role is to burn bright and give light to the vast surroundings. However if unaware of its purpose, potential or perhaps even existence then hope will be diminished in chaos and it will become the very essence it was to never become: a voice lost into the boundless void of nihilinity."
The first sensation was the cold. A deep, biting chill that seeped through his back, spreading from the hard deck plating into his bones. It was an anchor in a swirling sea of nothingness. Then came the voices, distant and muffled, like lost echoes waiting to be heard.
"...not a flicker. Are you certain the stasis release was clean?" A man's voice, calm and measured, laced with an undercurrent of authority.
"The diagnostics were green, Father. He should be awake. Maybe we should try a Nex-conduit induction?" A woman's voice, sharper, tinged with impatience.
"No. Too risky. His biology is... an anomaly. We don't know how he'd react to a direct surge."
The words floated, disconnected, until a single, thunderous phrase roared through the silence of his own mind, a memory that felt more real than the cold floor beneath him.
"Your time shall come. Your existence, your will shall carve your legacy into eternity."
The voice of a God Emperor. A promise. A command. But what does it mean?
His eyelids, impossibly heavy, fluttered. The dim, emergency lighting of the chamber was a painful glare. He blinked, the world slowly swimming into focus. Two figures stood over him.
The man was tall and stately, his face a mask of dignified concern, framed by silver-streaked dark hair. He wore robes of white and grey embroidered with constellations that seemed to subtly shift and glow. This was power, ancient and controlled.
The woman was younger, her features sharp and alert, her dark hair pulled back as if dormant. She was clad in sleek, functional armor over a dark tunic, a compact glass-like mechanism held loosely but ready at her side. Her gaze was intense, analytical.
The woman knelt slightly. "He's waking up. See?"
The Voidwalker tried to push himself up, a groan escaping his lips. His head throbbed with a dull, persistent ache, a void where memories should have been.
"Easy now," the woman said, her voice softening slightly. "You've been in stasis for a long time." She offered a hand, but he flinched back, instinctively wary. Her hand retreated, her expression unreadable. "My name is Artemis Eldrath. This is my father, Kallus."
The man, Kallus, gave a slow, deliberate nod. "Welcome back to the conscious world."
The Voidwalker's own voice was a dry rasp. "Where... where am I?" He looked around the room—a stark, metallic holding facility lined with empty stasis pods, alarms flashing silently on a far wall. "Who are you? Who... am I?"
Artemis and Kallus exchanged a heavy look. It was Kallus who spoke, his tone that of a scholar delivering a grim lecture. "You are aboard the Nexus Station. As for who you are... that is a question we hoped you could answer. Our archives only had a designation for you: 'The Voidwalker'."
The title felt hollow, a foreign cloak draped over his shoulders. He searched the emptiness of his mind, but found nothing. No name, no home, just the cold floor and the Emperor's lingering words. "I... I don't remember."
"Amnesia is not unexpected," Kallus said, his calm unwavering. "It can wait. What cannot wait is our departure." He gestured towards a shudder that ran through the entire deck. "The station is under attack. We are no longer safe here."
"Attack?" the Voidwalker asked, forcing himself to a sitting position. "By… who?"
"The Oblivion Hive," Artemis answered, her eyes scanning the corridor beyond their chamber. "Creatures of pure Aether energy. Living Darkness. They breached the outer sectors an hour ago and have been consuming everything in their path."
Kallus stepped forward, his presence commanding. "Our directive was to awaken you and ensure your safety. The details are complex, but the focus is singular: we must get the three of us off this station. The invaders have disabled the main transport hubs in the Supply Zone, but I have a way. We need to reach the Master Control Zone."
With Artemis's help, the Voidwalker rose to his feet. His body felt stiff, alien, but a current of something—energy, power—hummed just beneath his skin but he couldn't quite depict what it truly was. He followed the Eldraths out of the holding facility and into a wide, vaulted corridor. The station was a scene of controlled chaos. Emergency bulkheads were sealed, lights flickered ominously, and a distant, unnerving chittering sound echoed through the metal halls.
As they rounded a corner, they saw them. Three amorphous shapes, coalescing in the center of the walkway. They were pools of animate shadow, black and deep violet, writhing with tendrils of non-light. The air grew cold around them, the very sound seeming to be devoured by their presence.
Artemis summoned her weapon, but Kallus held up a hand. "Conserve your armouronius spells. Let me."
He stepped forward, his hands weaving intricate patterns in the air. The faint constellations on his robes flared with cerulean light. Runes, ancient and potent, blazed to life between his palms. "By the foundational law of the Nex," he intoned quietly, his voice resonating with power, "I bind you."
He thrust his hands forward. A lattice of brilliant blue energy shot out, forming a shimmering, three-dimensional cage around the Living Darkness creatures. The shadows thrashed against the glowing bars, letting out silent, psychic screams that scraped at the edges of the Voidwalker's mind. But the cage held firm.
"A containment spell," Kallus explained, not even breathing heavily. "It won't last forever. We must move."
They hurried past the trapped entities, the Voidwalker unable to tear his eyes away from the pure, primal void struggling against Kallus's Nexomancy. It was both terrifying and strangely familiar.
They reached the Master Control Zone, a vast chamber dominated by a holographic map of the station, flickering red with system failures. Kallus strode to a master console, his fingers flying across its surface.
"The primary escape pods are compromised," he announced. "But there's a long-range shuttle in the secondary research bay. It's shielded, off-grid. The Hive won't have detected it. But its launch clearance is locked behind a bio-signature key."
"Who has it?" Artemis asked, keeping watch at the door.
"The head of cyber-tech research," Kallus replied, pulling a small, crystalline data-key from the console. "Dr. Xypha. Her last log pinged from the Monitoring Room. This key will grant us access." He turned to the Voidwalker, his gaze piercing. "Dr. Xypha may have answers about your past. She was the lead on the project that brought you here."
The Voidwalker clutched the data-key Kallus handed him. It felt cool and smooth in his palm. A name. A place. The first concrete threads in the tangled mess of his mind. He still didn't know who he was, or why an Emperor's words haunted him, but he had a mission. Survive. Escape. And perhaps, in the process, find himself.
"Let's go find the Doctor," he said, his voice finally steady.