2026-01-02 00:06:43Chapter 6: Crew of the Damned
The Nomad emerged from hyperspace on the fringes of the Iron Veil sector, far from the Dead Nebula’s grasp. The ship’s hull still groaned from the storm’s punishment, but they had made it. Dex cut the engines to minimal power and let the vessel drift among a cluster of small asteroid outposts. No signals. No pursuit. For the first time in days, silence felt earned. He leaned back in the pilot chair, eyes closed. Tier 2 power hummed under his skin like a second pulse. The new skills—Void Dominion and Eclipse Armor—waited like loaded weapons. He could feel them. Ready. Hungry. Lira stood in the doorway of the cockpit, arms crossed. She had been quiet since the derelict. Watching him more than usual. “You’re different,” she said finally. Dex opened his eyes. “Good different or bad different?” “Both.” She stepped inside. “You move faster. Hit harder. But every time you use the new stuff, your eyes… they get darker. Like the void is leaking out.” Dex looked down at his hands. The purple veins along his forearms pulsed faintly. “It’s under control.” “For now.” She sat in the co-pilot seat. “We can’t keep doing this alone, Dex. We barely survived the Shard. Nova showed up on Vespera like it was nothing. If she comes again, we need more than two people and a rusty ship.” Dex rubbed his jaw. He had been thinking the same thing. The Core whispered agreement. *Strength in numbers. Bonds forge power.* “I know,” he admitted. “We need a crew. Real fighters. People who won’t run when things get ugly.” Lira nodded. “Then we go back to Shadow Drift. Sera owes us. She has contacts. Mercs. Void survivors. People who hate the corps and the Purists as much as we do.” Dex considered it. “Risky. We show our faces there again, bounties might spike.” “Everything’s risky now.” Lira leaned forward. “You’re not just a scavenger anymore. You’re a target. Might as well build an army around the target.” Dex met her gaze. There was fire in her eyes. Not fear. Determination. He smiled faintly. “Fine. Shadow Drift it is. But we go in quiet. No heroics. No bar fights.” Lira smirked. “No promises.” They jumped. Shadow Drift looked the same: chaotic, loud, dangerous. They docked in a lower ring this time. Less traffic. Less eyes. Sera met them at the same bay. She looked them over, optic whirring. “You’re still breathing,” she said. “Impressive.” “We hit the Eclipse Shard,” Dex told her. “Took a fragment. Tier 2 now.” Sera’s optic brightened. “That explains the energy signature. You’re starting to glow like a damn beacon.” “We need people,” Lira said bluntly. “Fighters. Engineers. Someone who can handle a ship in void storms. People who won’t sell us out.” Sera studied them for a long moment. Then nodded. “I’ve got three candidates. They’re waiting in the lower levels. Rough crowd. But loyal. If they like you.” She led them through back corridors. Past gambling dens and repair shops. Down to a dimly lit cantina called the Black Anchor. The place smelled of smoke and spilled liquor. A dozen tables. A few patrons. All eyes turned when they entered. Sera pointed. “Those three.” At a corner table sat two women and one man. First woman: tall, muscular, dark skin covered in faint gene-mod scars. Heavy armor. A massive vibro-axe strapped to her back. She looked like she could bench-press the table. Her name tag read “Kara Vex.” Second woman: slimmer, pale, long silver hair tied back. Eyes faintly glowing blue. Psychic markings on her neck. She toyed with a small holo-orb. Psychic navigator. Name: Veyra Sol. The man: broad-shouldered, shaved head, cybernetic arm. He sipped a drink. Looked bored. Name: Renn Torq. Ex-military. Heavy weapons specialist. Sera spoke first. “These are the ones I trust. They’ve all lost something to the corps or the void. They hate the same things you do.” Dex stepped forward. “I’m Dex Taylor. This is Lira Voss. We’re hunting Eclipse fragments. Fighting corps. Fighting Purists. And now we’re on the radar of something called the Apex Echo.” Kara raised an eyebrow. “The Apex bitch? Yeah. Heard stories. She’s a ghost. Wipes entire squads.” Veyra tilted her head. Her eyes glowed brighter for a second. “You carry one of the Cores. I can feel it. It’s… loud.” Renn set his drink down. “Bounty on you is fifteen million now. Dead or alive. That’s a lot of money.” Dex met his gaze. “I’m not asking you to be saints. I’m asking you to be rich. Dangerous. And alive at the end of it. We split everything. No one sells anyone out.” Kara leaned forward. “What’s in it for us besides credits?” Dex activated Eclipse Armor briefly. Purple-blue shield shimmered around him for a second. Then faded. “Power,” he said. “Real power. Fragments. Upgrades. A shot at hitting back at everyone who’s ever stepped on us.” Silence. Veyra smiled slowly. “I see visions. And in every one lately, I see you. Standing in the center of a collapsing galaxy. You either save it… or burn it.” Dex shrugged. “Then help me choose the first option.” Renn chuckled. “I’m in. Been bored anyway.” Kara stood. Towering. “Fine. But if you turn into one of those void freaks, I’m putting you down myself.” “Deal,” Dex said. They shook hands. All of them. The crew was formed. They moved the Nomad to a private hangar Sera provided. Time to refit. Kara took charge of the weapons bay. Installed heavy turrets. Reinforced plating. Veyra linked her psychic interface to the nav system. “I can feel gravity wells before the sensors. We’ll navigate the Dead Nebula like it’s a stroll.” Renn checked the engines. “This bucket is slow. I’ll fix that.” Lira worked beside them. Bonding. Joking. Fitting in. Dex watched from the ramp. The Core hummed contentedly. *Bonds. Strength. Good.* For the first time, he felt like he wasn’t alone. That night, in the common area, they gathered. Drinks. Food. Stories. Kara told of her squad wiped out by Purists. Veyra spoke of corporate experiments. Renn laughed about blowing up a Helix outpost. Lira raised her cup. “To the damned. May we stay dangerous.” They drank. Dex watched them. Felt something shift inside him. Not the void. Something warmer. The next morning, alarms woke them. Scanners lit up. Multiple signatures closing fast. Helix strike force. Three corvettes. Fighter screen. They had found them. Dex stood on the bridge. Crew at stations. “Battle stations,” he said. Voice steady. Kara grinned. “Finally some fun.” Veyra’s eyes glowed. “They’re coming in hard. I can feel their intent. They want the Core.” Dex activated Tier 2 power. Void Dominion stirred. “Let them try.” The Nomad powered up. Shields flared. The corvettes opened fire. Dex stepped to the viewport. Eclipse Armor snapped on. Full body. He turned to his crew. “We fight together. We win together.” They nodded. The battle began. Plasma bolts streaked past. Kara manned the turrets. Shredded a fighter. Renn pushed the engines. Dodged a volley. Veyra guided them through an asteroid cluster. Dex prepared to board the lead corvette. Eclipse Step ready. Void Dominion waiting. The hunt had turned into war. And the Sovereign was no longer alone. 
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Crew of the Damned
Chapter 6: Crew of the DamnedThe Nomad emerged from hyperspace on the fringes of the Iron Veil sector, far from the Dead Nebula’s grasp. The ship’s hull still groaned from the storm’s punishment, but they had made it. Dex cut the engines to minimal power and let the vessel drift among a cluster of small asteroid outposts. No signals. No pursuit. For the first time in days, silence felt earned.He leaned back in the pilot chair, eyes closed. Tier 2 power hummed under his skin like a second pulse. The new skills—Void Dominion and Eclipse Armor—waited like loaded weapons. He could feel them. Ready. Hungry.Lira stood in the doorway of the cockpit, arms crossed. She had been quiet since the derelict. Watching him more than usual.“You’re different,” she said finally.Dex opened his eyes. “Good different or bad different?”“Both.” She stepped inside. “You move faster. Hit harder. But every time you use the new stuff, your eyes… they get darker. Like the void is leaking
The price of Power
Chapter 5: The Price of PowerThe Nomad limped away from Vespera Station, engines running hot after the emergency jump. Dex sat in the pilot chair, knuckles white on the controls. His armor was scorched in places where Nova's casual shove had sent him through steel and crystal. The nanites were already repairing, but the ache in his ribs lingered.Corruption sat at 38%. Stable, but high. Every heartbeat felt like a warning.Lira paced behind him, boots echoing on the metal floor. She had not spoken since they broke dock. Finally, she stopped."That was her. The Apex Echo.""Yeah.""She didn't even try. She could have ripped the Core out of your chest and walked away."Dex kept his eyes on the starfield. "She wants me to grow first. Test me. Break me. Whatever the prophecy bullshit says."Lira came around to face him. "And you're going to play her game?""No choice. She's miles ahead. If I don't close the gap, I'm dead the next time she decides the test is o
Echo of the Apex
Chapter 4: Echo of the ApexThe upgrades from Sera Kain took the better part of two days. Dex spent most of it in the chop shop bay, shirtless on a raised platform while nanites crawled under his skin like living tattoos. The new armor fused seamlessly with his body. Lightweight plates that shifted like liquid metal when he moved. Purple-blue veins now ran openly along the seams, pulsing in time with his heartbeat. The Eclipse Core approved. Every test made the corruption meter flicker but never climb past 22%.Lira watched from the side, arms crossed. She had spent the time tinkering with her own gear. Upgraded the stun pistol into something that could now fire charged rune bolts. "You're starting to look like one of them," she said quietly."Like what?" Dex flexed his arm. The plates rippled."Like the Convergence legends. Half man, half machine, half monster."Dex met her gaze in the reflection of a nearby console. "As long as the monster is on our side, I'm good."
Shadows in the Black Market
Chapter 3: Shadows in the Black MarketThe Nomad emerged from hyperspace on the edge of the Fringe Belt, a sprawling zone of asteroid stations, pirate havens, and black-market hubs that even the biggest corporations avoided unless they had overwhelming firepower. Nexus Station had been chaotic. This place, called Shadow Drift, made Nexus look like a polite tea party.Dex cut the engines to idle. The ship drifted among the debris field. Scans showed dozens of docked vessels. Most were patched-together wrecks. A few looked like they could still fight.Lira leaned over the console. "Shadow Drift. You sure about this?""We need upgrades," Dex said. "The hammer is strong, but the armor is still street-grade. And we need intel on what the hell an Eclipse Core really is."Lira tapped the master core they had taken from the forge-world. It sat in a containment field on the workbench. "This thing is singing to your Core like a siren. If we integrate it, you might jump tiers ove
Forge shadows
Chapter 2: Forge ShadowsThe Nomad dropped out of hyperspace with a groan that Dex felt in his teeth. The forge-world loomed ahead, a scarred gray ball hanging in the void. Rings of debris orbited it like broken halos. Factories long silent. Forges cold. But the data chips Lira pulled from the outpost console promised untouched vaults. High-grade rune cores. Magitech schematics. Enough to buy them breathing room from the corp hunters.Dex kept his eyes on the scanner. "No signals. No patrols. Looks quiet.""Too quiet," Lira muttered. She sat cross-legged on the co-pilot seat, tools spread across her lap. A small welding torch hissed as she reinforced a weak spot on Dex's armor. "Forge-worlds like this attract scavengers. Or worse."Dex flexed his shoulder. The patch from Zorath still itched, but the Eclipse Core's nanites had already knit the flesh. "Worse than mutants?""Mutants are predictable. They click and charge. Purists? They preach. Then they burn."Purists.
Scavenger falls
Chapter 1: Scavenger's FallThe air on Zorath Prime hung thick with the stench of decay. Dex Taylor crouched behind a crumbled wall of what used to be a towering arcology. His breath came in short bursts through the filter mask strapped to his face. Void spores floated in the dim light like deadly snowflakes. One wrong inhale and you were done. Turned into one of those clicking horrors that shambled through the ruins.Dex gripped his makeshift plasma cutter tight. It was a jury-rigged piece of junk. Salvaged from a crashed freighter last month. But it had saved his skin more times than he could count. He was a Nullborn. No magic flowing through his veins like the elite Hex-Engineers up in their orbital stations. Just wits, grit, and whatever tech he could scrounge.The planet was off-limits for a reason. The Convergence had hit here hard centuries ago. Magic and AI tech slammed together in some cosmic accident. Now the place was a graveyard of fused horrors. Bio-machines tha
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