Part I: The Labyrinth of the Deep-Star
Kael and Lyra moved through the Deep-Star—the lowest, most ancient sector of the crashed starship.
This was the final, restricted frontier of the Academy, a labyrinth of massive, cold conduits and inactive reactor shielding.
The air was thin, carrying the faint, metallic scent of centuries of unmoving stasis.
The emergency lights in this section were sporadic, casting long, shifting shadows that played tricks on the eyes.
Kael's exposed Genesis Core pulsed steadily beneath his tunic, serving as their only reliable light source.
Lyra navigated using the schematics Jax had illegally downloaded, her face grim. They carried the heavy High-Yield Energy Siphon between them.
"The Vault should be through this decommissioned coolant array," Lyra whispered, pointing to a massive, circular junction where five dormant pipes converged.
"According to Jax's data, the array was installed to shield the Stasis Vault from the initial impact. We're almost there."
"Valerius won't give up," Kael warned, his senses heightened by the raw power now flowing through him. "He knows this is the last choke point. He'll be closing in."
As they stepped into the junction, Lyra stopped dead, her eyes fixed on the alloy floor.
There, etched into the dust and grime of the centuries-old floor, was a fresh burn mark. It was a shallow scorch, concentrated and precise, unlike the messy explosions caused by the Syndicate's typical Chaos energy.
Lyra dropped to her knees, examining the mark.
"This isn't Syndicate work," she murmured, tracing the edge of the burn. "Syndicate Chaos energy is broad and leaves heavy, carbonized residue.
This mark is thin, pure, and leaves behind trace elements of Iron and Silicon—elements not used in Academy or Syndicate weaponry."
Kael leaned closer, his enhanced senses detecting a faint, almost imperceptible psychic echo in the air—a cold, calculated signature completely foreign to the frantic instability of the Conduit or the brutal control of Valerius.
"It's a surgical cut," Kael concluded. "Someone cut through the floor plating here recently. They didn't blast; they engineered the breach."
Lyra moved to the wall, finding a small, high-density optical fiber that had been cleanly severed. "Look. They bypassed the coolant array's access panel using a targeted energy pulse, then cut straight through the hull. They are ahead of us."
"Who uses Iron and Silicon in their weapons?" Kael asked, his mind racing through the limited knowledge he had of the Outer Rim's factions.
"Only one group," Lyra answered, her voice dropping to a new level of dread.
"The Scavenger Lords of Xylos. A militaristic, highly organized pirate faction from the asteroid belt.
They're obsessed with ancient technology and resource extraction, not the Veil. They wouldn't touch the Veil-Breaker..."
"They wouldn't touch the Veil-Breaker," Kael finished, understanding the new threat.
"But they would target the raw Star-Dust at the heart of the reactor. The Vault is a dense containment unit. They think they've found a jackpot of ancient energy."
They moved cautiously through the hole left by the unknown faction. It led them down a steep, narrow passage, finally opening into a vast, subterranean cavern where the Academy's main, inert Star Reactor Core sat—a gargantuan, silent metallic dome.
And there, embedded into the base of the reactor, was the Stasis Vault—a thick, unassuming circular alloy door, utterly featureless except for the twin access panels: the Genetic Sequence Lock and the input for the High-Yield Energy Siphon.
Beside the vault door, however, was another sign of the Scavenger Lords.
A large, complex drilling assembly was currently affixed to the Vault's surface. It was a crude, heavy piece of industrial machinery, vibrating slightly, actively attempting to bore through the incredibly thick alloy.
"They're trying to brute-force the door," Lyra stated, horrified. "They'll never get through the containment layers, but the localized vibration could destabilize the entire reactor and tear the Veil."
"And they sealed the tunnel behind them," Kael noted, pointing to the ceiling. A quick-drying, high-tensile resin had been sprayed, blocking the shaft they had just used. "They don't want the Academy, or anyone else, following them."
The problem had tripled: They had to open the Vault to stop the Syndicate, but now they had to worry about the Scavenger Lords breaching it, and they were trapped inside with them.
Suddenly, Kael's comm unit—a heavily shielded device given to him by Lyra—flickered. Jax's frantic voice came through, muffled but clear.
"Kael! Lyra! I've been tracking you! You're in a total dead zone! I'm trying to override the reactor schematics to get you a clear exit! Wait... I see the reactor core! And... holy Synth-Shake! Someone's drilling it!"
"Jax! Listen!" Lyra shouted into her comm. "We have the Siphon.
We need to open the Vault, but the Scavenger Lords are here. We need a distraction! Something loud, big, and localized! Can you overload the inactive reactor shielding?"
"The Shielding?" Jax hesitated, even his chaos-driven mind balking. "That's Level 10 engineering! It would take a full minute to calculate the power surge! And it might... you know... blow up the Academy."
"Then do it!" Kael commanded. "We need that minute. Focus the overload on the sector right above the Scavenger drilling rig!"
"R-roger that, Agent Kael!" Jax replied, his voice laced with fearful excitement.
"Initiating Level 10 Overload! Calculating Power Surge Coefficient! This is going to be LOUD!"
Kael and Lyra looked at each other. They had their opening, thanks to the oblivious genius of their ally.
"Get the Siphon ready," Kael instructed, moving toward the drilling rig. "When Jax hits that shielding, the Scavengers will panic. That's when we move on the Genetic Lock."
Lyra nodded, her fear replaced by fierce resolve.
The confrontation was no longer just about survival; it was about stopping three separate catastrophes: the Syndicate's betrayal, the Scavenger's destruction, and the ultimate threat of the Veil-Breaker.
Kael and Lyra are trapped in the Deep-Star with the Scavenger Lords, who are actively trying to breach the Vault. Jax is preparing a catastrophic distraction.