2026-01-01 23:53:22Chapter 2: Forge Shadows
The 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. Dex had heard the name. Fanatics who believed the Convergence was a sin. Magic pure. Tech corrupt. Anything fused? Heresy. They had a habit of executing anyone who carried hybrid gear. He pushed the thought aside. "We go in fast. Grab what we can. Out before anyone notices." Lira snorted. "Famous last words." They suited up. Dex's armor now had faint purple veins running along the seams. The Core's work. Lira eyed them but said nothing. She carried a compact toolkit and a stun pistol modded with a rune capacitor. "For EMP bursts," she explained. "Tech hates magic. Magic hates tech. I just make them hate each other more." The descent was bumpy. Atmosphere thick with ash. The landing pad was cracked. Vines of black metal snaked through the concrete. Spores drifted in lazy clouds. Dex stepped out first. Hammer in hand. It was still in cutter mode. Compact. Ready. The recall function hummed in his palm. Lira followed. "Air's breathable. Barely. Keep the filters on." They moved toward the main structure. A colossal forge-temple. Doors tall enough for mechs. Inside, darkness swallowed the light. Dex activated his helmet lamp. Beams cut through dust. The place was a graveyard of machines. Half-finished hulls. Conveyor belts frozen mid-turn. Runes on the walls flickered weakly. Like dying embers. Lira whistled. "This was a premium site. Look at those alloy mixes. Pure grade-A." Dex ignored the admiration. He followed the data map on his wrist display. Vault three. Lower levels. They descended stairs. Echoes bounced off metal. The deeper they went, the warmer it got. Not heat from engines. Something else. A low hum. Like a heartbeat. At the vault door, Lira knelt. Pulled out a decryption tool. "Heavy encryption. Give me five minutes." Dex stood guard. Back to the wall. Hammer ready. Minutes passed. Then a click. The door groaned open. Inside, shelves lined the walls. Crates. Consoles. And in the center, a pedestal. On it, a glowing blue core. Bigger than the one Dex bonded with. Intact. Pulsing. Lira's eyes lit up. "Jackpot. That's a master rune core. Could power a ship for years." Dex stepped forward. The Core in his chest responded. A tug. Like magnetism. Then the ground shook. From the shadows, shapes moved. Mutants. Dozens. Bigger than the ones on Zorath. Flesh fused with armor plating. Limbs replaced with industrial tools. Chainsaws. Drills. Eyes glowed with corrupted circuits. They had been waiting. "Ambush," Dex growled. Lira drew her pistol. "No kidding." The first mutant charged. A hulking thing with a drill arm. Dex met it head-on. Hammer extended to full length. He swung. The plasma-rune head connected with the drill. Sparks flew. Metal screeched. The mutant staggered. Lira fired. A burst of EMP-charged rounds. The thing's circuits fried. It dropped. But more poured in. Dex activated Void Rage. The red haze returned. Strength flooded his limbs. He charged into the horde. Hammer sweeping in wide arcs. Each hit crushed plating. Shattered limbs. Void energy crackled along the weapon. Left smoking trails. One mutant grabbed him from behind. Claws dug into his back. Dex roared. Teleported with Eclipse Step. Blinked forward. Slammed the creature into the wall. It crumpled. Lira worked fast. She tossed a grenade. "Cover!" The blast was not explosive. It was a magitech pulse. Runes flared. Mutants in the front row seized. Circuits overloaded. Dex used the opening. Leaped onto a crate. Hammer came down on a cluster. The impact sent shockwaves. Bodies flew. But the numbers were overwhelming. They kept coming. Endless. "Vault door!" Lira shouted. "We need to seal it!" Dex nodded. He fought his way back. Grabbed the master core from the pedestal. It burned in his hand. The Core inside him sang. [Compatible fragment detected. Integrate?] Not now. He tossed it to Lira. "Hold this!" She caught it. "You're insane!" Dex turned to the horde. Rage at max. Vision red. He felt the corruption meter climb. 15%. 20%. Warning flashed. He did not care. With a shout, he unleashed a new ability. The interface called it Eclipse Surge. Void energy erupted from him in a wave. Purple-black tendrils lashed out. Wrapped around mutants. Drained them. Their glow faded. Bodies dropped. The room fell silent. Dex staggered. Dropped to one knee. Corruption at 35%. Pain throbbed in his skull. Lira ran to him. "Hey! Stay with me!" She slapped a stim-patch on his neck. Nanites flooded his system. The pain eased. Dex stood. "We got what we came for." They ran for the exit. But the forge-world was waking up. Alarms blared. Lights flickered on. Automated defenses activated. Turret emplacements. Laser grids. Lira cursed. "The core must have triggered security!" They dodged beams. Dex used Eclipse Step to blink past gaps. Lira slid under one. Rolled to her feet. They reached the surface. But the landing pad was swarmed. More mutants. And something bigger. A guardian mech. Ten meters tall. Arms ended in plasma cannons. Eyes glowed red. It turned toward them. Dex gripped his hammer. "Run to the ship. I'll hold it." Lira glared. "Like hell. We do this together." She pulled out a device. A portable rune beacon. "I can overload its systems. But I need time." Dex nodded. "Then buy me time." He charged the mech. The guardian fired. Plasma bolts scorched the ground. Dex rolled. Teleported. Appeared on its leg. Hammer slammed into the knee joint. Metal buckled. The mech swung. Dex jumped. Landed on its arm. Climbed higher. Lira worked frantically. Beacon planted. She typed commands. The mech grabbed Dex. Squeezed. Armor creaked. Pain flared. Dex roared. Void Rage at peak. He smashed the hammer into the grip. The arm exploded. He fell. Landed hard. The mech staggered. Lira shouted, "Now!" She triggered the beacon. A pulse shot out. The guardian seized. Systems fried. It toppled. Dex stood. Breathing hard. They sprinted to the Nomad. Engines already hot. They lifted off. The planet shrank behind them. In the cockpit, silence. Both panting. Lira looked at Dex. "That was stupid." "Yeah." "But effective." She held up the master core. "This thing. It's calling to your Eclipse Core. You felt it." Dex nodded. "Yeah." "You going to integrate it?" He hesitated. The corruption meter sat at 28%. Stable. But he knew. More power. More risk. "Not yet," he said. "Need to understand it first." Lira leaned back. "Smart. For once." Dex chuckled. "Don't get used to it." The ship jumped to hyperspace. In the quiet, Dex felt the weight of it all. The power. The danger. The woman beside him. She was still here. Not running. Maybe that meant something. The stars streaked past. And in the distance, another signal. Faint. But growing. Someone else was watching. Far away, in a sleek black vessel, Nova Reyes monitored the feed. Her eyes narrowed. The Nullborn had survived again. And he was getting stronger. She touched the fragment embedded in her chest. Superior. Untouchable. "Soon," she whispered. The chase continued. 
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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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