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CHAPTER 7 — AWAKENED SPARKSÂ
The dunes were quiet when they finally reached the shelter.
Inside, the recycled air hummed with the weak pulse of half-dead generators. The others—Sen and Juno—waited, tense and sleepless.
When Astrin stepped inside behind Kario and Vexa, the air shifted. He moved with purpose, eyes colder than before.
"You made it," Sen said, relief showing for just a second.
"What happened out there?"
"PWSP scouts," Astrin said flatly, dropping a scorched satchel onto the table. "And a bounty hunter named Crovan Thresk."
Juno frowned. "The Crovan? The one that leveled an outpost last cycle?"
Astrin nodded once.
"He won't be walking for a while."
Vexa smirked. "You should've seen it. Crovan tried to turn him into dust, and Astrin didn't even—"
"Enough," Astrin interrupted softly. His eyes flicked to the satchel. "We don't have time to brag."
He opened it, revealing a cylindrical crystal about the size of Kario's arm. It pulsed with a faint, living light.
The Core
Kario leaned closer, breath catching.
"That's—"
"The Primordial Core Fragment," Astrin said. "The last piece I stole from the PWSP before my ship went down."
The core hummed, faintly echoing like a heartbeat.
"It reacts to potential," Astrin continued. "To those who can carry an Art. I don't know if any of you can, but if you can… it will know."
Sen's brow furrowed. "And if it doesn't?"
Astrin met his gaze. "Then it simply stays silent."
He placed the core on the table. The light brightened slightly, as if aware of their presence.
"Who's first?"
The Test
Vexa stepped forward before anyone else could move.
"Guess I'll find out what happens if I touch it."
She placed her hand on the crystal.
A sudden pulse of heat rushed through her body—like fire running through her veins—but no flame appeared, no light. Only warmth.
She gasped and staggered back.
"What the hell was that?"
Astrin watched the light fade. "It recognized you."
"That was recognizing? It felt like I got hit by lightning."
Astrin almost smiled. "Then it worked."
Next was Juno.
She hesitated, then touched the surface. The light flickered—this time sharper, faster, almost impatient.
A faint static spark leapt from her fingertip to the floor. She yelped, jerking her hand back.
"It bit me!"
Astrin only nodded. "It knows you too."
Juno rubbed her fingers, muttering, "Yeah, well, I don't know it."
Sen approached more slowly. His hand settled on the core, and instead of heat or sparks, there was a low vibration—a pulse like the ocean in the distance. Calm but heavy. The glow deepened to a cool blue.
He blinked, confused.
"It's… peaceful."
Astrin tilted his head. "It should be."
Finally, Kario.
He hesitated, the others watching. His hand hovered, trembling just slightly.
When his skin touched the core, the light flared—then screamed.
The shelter filled with blinding white, the hum turning into a roar. Everyone stumbled back, shielding their eyes. For a moment it felt like the whole world tilted, gravity twisting in on itself.
Then silence.
The core went completely dark.
Vexa was the first to speak. "Did… he just break it?"
Astrin looked at Kario carefully, his face unreadable.
"No. It's not broken."
Kario's heart pounded. "Then why didn't anything happen? I didn't feel anything."
Astrin's voice softened. "Sometimes it takes time to connect. The core may have drained itself."
He didn't add the truth—the readings had overloaded because of Kario.
The boy's resonance was beyond the fragment's measure.
Astrin turned away, his tone steady.
"Get some rest. We move at dawn."
The Hunt Begins
But they never made it to dawn.
Sirens wailed across the desert, deep and mechanical. The ceiling trembled as distant engines thundered overhead.
Sen peered through a crack in the hull.
"Dropships," he whispered. "At least five—six."
Astrin's jaw clenched.
"They're scanning the area. Crovan must have reported my signature before he went down."
Vexa grabbed her bag. "Then what are we waiting for?"
"Nothing," Astrin said. "We move now."
 The Chase
They ran into the cold night, boots sinking into metallic sand.
Searchlights carved across the dunes, each one sweeping closer.
"Stay low," Astrin ordered. "The ship's only a few ridges out."
Juno glanced up as a light passed overhead. "They've got patrols everywhere. If we run straight—"
"Then we don't run straight," Vexa hissed.
She led them down a slope between wrecked hulls, the path twisting through shadow.
Engines howled behind them. A spotlight flared.
Someone shouted, "CONTACT!"
Bolts of plasma hit the sand near Kario's feet, glassing the ground.
Astrin spun, firing twice with a stolen blaster—clean, quick, precise. Two troopers dropped, armor sparking.
"Move!" he shouted.
 The Fracture
They scrambled up the last ridge. The cloaked outline of the ship shimmered faintly below, distorted by heat.
Vexa gasped. "There it is!"
But as they neared the ridge's peak, another beam seared the air past them. Kario flinched, nearly losing balance.
Juno pulled him up. "Keep moving!"
Another explosion threw them off their feet. The blast disoriented them—the sound shrieking like metal tearing itself apart.
Kario coughed, ears ringing. For a second, the world went silent except for his heartbeat.
He thought he heard a voice—distant, echoing inside his skull.
Awaken…
He blinked, shaking his head, the world snapping back into motion.
Astrin's hand clamped on his shoulder. "Eyes up, kid. Almost there."
Lift Off
They reached the ramp, and Astrin slapped a sequence on his wristband. The cloak shimmered away, and the ramp descended.
"Inside!" he barked.
One by one they piled in—Vexa first, pulling Juno behind her, Sen carrying the satchel with the core. Astrin was last, firing a few covering shots before slamming the ramp closed.
The ship rumbled as it powered on. The floor shook beneath their feet.
Kario slid into the co-pilot seat beside Astrin.
"You think we can make it out?"
Astrin smirked faintly, hands gripping the controls.
"Kid, if I thought we couldn't, I'd have stayed behind."
The thrusters roared.
Outside, the dunes lit up with plasma fire as the star-runner lifted, cutting through the storm of light and smoke.
In seconds, the horizon vanished beneath them—Virel-9 shrinking away, just another forgotten world swallowed by darkness.
The Quiet After
In the silence of orbit, everyone sat breathless.
Sen still clutched the satchel, the core faintly glowing again, almost like it was watching them.
Vexa broke the silence. "We just escaped the most powerful force in fifteen galaxies."
Astrin didn't turn from the controls.
"You're welcome."
Kario sat back, staring out the viewport. The stars stretched endlessly before him—cold, brilliant, and free.
But his thoughts were elsewhere.
On the core. On the flash. On the fact that he'd felt nothing.
He clenched his fists, staring down at his hands.
"Guess I'm just the normal one," he muttered.
Astrin's eyes flicked toward him for half a second.
Normal, he thought, watching the faint energy readings spike again behind Kario's seat.
You have no idea.