The ship Synchron bursts into orbit around Nexus-Prime so violently it feels as if reality itself cannot tolerate its presence—and simply spits it out.
The shock runs through the hull.
Through the seat.
Through my spine.
I feel it even in my teeth.
The gravity compensators absorb most of the strain, but space around us still creaks—softly, almost imperceptibly. As if somewhere beyond physics a massive door is slowly opening.
Very slowly.
And, of course, a thought immediately slips into my head.
What if that door isn't opening for us…
…but for something else?
I exhale slowly.
Panic is best vented early. Leave it inside and it starts interfering with clear thinking.
Kelith's voice appears on the comm channel.
"Axiom, move out."
Calm voice.
Too calm.
That's usually how people speak when they've already written their will and are now just checking the spelling.
I answer in the same tone.
"Copy that."
If we're going to die, we might as well do it without theatrics.
The hangar doors of Synchron begin to open. Massive segments slide apart like the petals of a gigantic mechanical flower.
And before me unfolds the orbit of Nexus-Prime.
I expected hell.
Flashes.
Rifts in space.
The fire of battle.
Instead—
silence.
The kind of silence that usually follows something very, very bad.
The Phoenix glides out of Synchron's belly like a fish leaving the shadow of a whale.
I guide the ship forward.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Ahead of us hangs the Nexus-Prime fleet.
Dozens of ships.
Hundreds.
Frigates.
Cruisers.
Carriers.
But they are silent.
Not a single shot.
Not one siren.
No distress signal.
Just dark silhouettes against the planet.
My survival instinct begins to grumble quietly.
This is a trap.
Or worse.
This is the aftermath.
The attack of the Sigil rupture bombers passed through here not long ago. I watched it through the matrix network.
Hundreds of strikes.
Each one a crack in the fabric of reality.
If everything worked as intended…
this fleet should be dead.
But it isn't.
It's just…
silent.
I let out a quiet snort.
"Fantastic."
Liara throws me a quick glance.
"What exactly is fantastic?"
"Either we won…" I say. "…or we made the situation a lot stranger."
She thinks for a second.
"I'm betting on the second one."
"Me too."
At that moment Kelith's voice returns over the channel.
"Your objective: conduct reconnaissance on the nearest vessel."
Of course.
Who else.
I answer calmly.
"Understood."
Then I switch to the internal channel.
"Well… looks like we're the first ones who get to check how bad things really are."
Sergeant Kael reacts instantly.
"Platoon. Combat readiness."
Inside the Phoenix, systems come alive.
Locks snap open.
Panels slide aside.
Armor unfolds.
The new Ironheart-civilization weapon systems literally merge with the soldiers' hands.
Metal flows across their gloves.
Plates reshape themselves.
The synchronization system links neural impulses directly to the weapons.
Now the rifles are extensions of their bodies.
I watch it happen and can't help thinking:
Very convenient.
And slightly terrifying.
These technologies look a little too alive.
I glance at Liara.
She stands across from me.
Her armor wraps around her figure in a tight contour. Her weapon is already active.
Her face is calm.
But through the matrix network I can feel her state.
Pulse slightly elevated.
Muscles tense.
She's afraid.
Just a little.
And that's good.
People who aren't afraid before a fight usually don't live very long.
I nod to her.
She answers with a brief smile.
That one.
We're about to do something incredibly stupid again.
Yes.
And, as usual, voluntarily.
The Phoenix approaches the Nexus-Prime fleet.
The ships hang around us like dead cities.
Some are damaged.
Some aren't.
Far too many intact hulls for an attack like that.
I don't like it.
Not one bit.
I'm already considering an unpleasant possibility.
What if the Sigils didn't work?
But just then the comm channel comes alive.
A voice.
Alive.
Cold.
"Identify yourselves or we will open fire."
I blink.
Alive.
Well, of course.
I smirk.
"Looks like they're still in the mood for conversation."
Liara murmurs quietly.
"Or execution."
"Also a possible scenario."
I open the external channel.
"Where are Council Head Orion Vale, President Cade Morrow, and Admiral Grey Talbot?"
A pause.
We continue approaching the nearest frigate.
I can feel sensors beginning to work on us.
Scanning.
Targeting.
Weapons locking.
I continue calmly.
"I am Axiom."
"My team is with me."
"This is the ship Phoenix. You know it."
A short pause.
"Let us through."
Silence.
Too long.
Through the matrix network I feel the crew's reaction.
Tension.
Fear.
Anticipation.
Kael is already preparing to order an evasive maneuver.
And at that moment the Phoenix speaks calmly.
"Enemy weapons are locking onto us."
I look at the frigate.
Its batteries slowly rotate.
Like metal flowers.
Each one capable of turning the Phoenix into a cloud of dust.
I sigh quietly.
"Hold position. Stop the approach."
The ship freezes in the void.
We are standing under their guns.
I can almost feel it physically.
Like a cold barrel pressed against my temple.
No one speaks.
Not even Tarek.
That alone is a worrying sign.
A few seconds pass.
Then the channel activates again.
"You are identified. Proceed to the landing platform."
I blink.
Too easy.
I don't like that.
Not at all.
"Coordinates received," the Phoenix reports.
We begin the approach.
The frigate grows in front of us.
Huge.
Dark.
Without lights.
It looks like a dead city.
And yet it just spoke.
Liara says quietly,
"I have a bad feeling about this."
I grin.
"Excellent."
She looks at me.
"What exactly is excellent?"
"It means we both feel it."
That increases our chances of surviving.
She shakes her head.
"You're impossible."
"Occupational hazard."
The Phoenix gently touches the landing platform.
Metal meets metal.
A light impact.
The ship locks into place.
The cockpit becomes too quiet.
I look at the team.
Kael is already by the hatch.
The soldiers check their weapons.
Armor hums softly.
Through the network I feel their state.
Adrenaline.
Fear.
Readiness.
And one shared question.
What is waiting for us out there?
Honestly…
I don't want to know.
But I will in a few seconds.
I rise from my seat.
"Prepare to disembark."
And at that exact moment a signal passes through the matrix network.
Very weak.
Foreign.
But familiar.
I freeze.
No.
Not this.
The signal repeats.
Stronger this time.
As if someone on that ship…
recognized that I'm here.
And has been patiently waiting.
My heart slams heavily once.
I force myself to exhale.
Easy.
First look.
Then panic.
Quietly I say,
"Looks like…"
The team turns to me.
I finish the sentence.
"…we have some old acquaintances here."
And for some reason that sounds anything but reassuring.
**
The ramp of the Phoenix lowers slowly.
Too slowly.
Metal slides down with a heavy mechanical sigh, as if the ship itself isn't entirely sure it should let us out.
The landing deck of the Nexus-Prime frigate gradually reveals itself before us.
Almost sterile darkness.
Half the light panels are still functioning. The rest flicker with nervous persistence—or have died completely. Their broken casings hang from the ceiling like knocked-out teeth.
And directly in front of us stands a line of soldiers.
Black armor.
Faceless helmets.
Not a single movement.
I count the barrels automatically.
Twelve.
Pause.
Fourteen.
Plus drones.
Combat drones lift from the deck like irritated metallic insects. Their sensors ignite in red points, and thin turrets begin to rotate slowly.
Wonderful.
If this is an ambush, we'll live for about three seconds.
I mentally add one more.
For optimism.
I take the first step down the ramp.
My armor whispers softly.
My heart beats faster than normal. The Matrix tries to stabilize the rhythm.
It fails.
Fine.
Let it pound.
That means I'm still alive.
And that's already a decent starting position.
Liara walks beside me.
Through the network I feel her state: tension, carefully contained fear, cold concentration.
She's holding it together.
As always.
Sergeant Kael comes down last.
His gaze is a separate weapons system.
He scans everything.
Distances.
Firing angles.
Cover points.
If shooting starts, he'll fire first.
And very likely last.
We take a few more steps.
One of the soldiers moves forward.
His voice passes through the helmet amplifier.
Cold. Emotionless.
"Drop your weapons."
I exhale slowly.
Of course.
A classic.
The combat drones instantly shift into positions around us. Tiny turrets lock directly at chest level.
I feel the tension ripple through my team.
Kael's fingers move almost imperceptibly.
Liara tightens her shoulders slightly.
Tarek exhales quietly.
One wrong move—and this deck becomes a very short story.
I raise a hand.
"Easy."
A pause.
I look at the soldiers.
"If you wanted us dead… you would've already done it."
Kael snorts quietly.
"Not necessarily."
I grin.
"Don't ruin the diplomatic moment, Sergeant."
A dull ache pulls inside my chest.
Adrenaline.
Fatigue.
The overload of the past hours.
I accept it and keep moving.
No heroics.
No grand speeches.
Just work.
I slowly lower my weapon.
The armor reacts instantly.
Plates open. Ironheart technology folds smoothly back into the structure.
The weapon disappears.
One by one the soldiers repeat the movement.
Our rifles collapse.
The armor shifts into safe mode.
The drones watch closely.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Finally, the soldier nods.
"Follow us."
Too calm.
I like it even less than gunfire.
The escort turns.
We follow them.
Into the frigate.
The doors behind us close with a heavy sound.
Claaang.
Cutting off the Phoenix.
Retreat.
Freedom.
Sometimes I think space is more honest.
At least out there you immediately know what's trying to kill you.
The frigate's corridors are dark.
Damaged in places.
The walls are scarred by energy strikes. Some panels are torn out. Others melted.
We walk in silence.
I smell it.
Ozone.
Burned electronics.
And something else.
The faint scent of blood.
I clench my teeth.
So yes.
Things were very bad here.
We turn a corner.
The doors of a large chamber open.
And a voice greets us before I see the face.
"Well, look who it is."
I stop.
That voice is impossible to mistake.
President of Elindra Prime—Cade Morrow—stands in the center of the hall.
He looks… older.
Not in body.
In the eyes.
That's the look people get after staring into the abyss for too long—and realizing it's staring back.
He looks at me.
And smiles.
A tired, human smile.
"Long time no see."
I snort.
"True."
A pause.
I look straight into his eyes.
"Not since the entire Nexus-Prime system became a puppet of the Dark Mind."
The hall grows quiet.
Very quiet.
Cade nods slowly.
For a moment his gaze turns inward.
"Yes…"
He rubs a hand over his face.
"It was like a fog."
His voice grows dull.
"I had no will of my own."
A pause.
"The parasite worm completely took control of my mind."
He says it quietly.
Almost in a whisper.
"Bound in chains of someone else's will."
There's so much pain in those words that even Kael stops moving.
Cade closes his eyes for a second.
As if returning there again.
To that nightmare.
"Now…" he finally says, "I fully understand the horror of the Dark Mind."
He exhales sharply.
As if shaking off the memory.
President again.
Leader again.
His gaze shifts to my team.
"And how are you, Liara… Sergeant Kael?"
Kael answers first.
"Fine."
Dry.
Precise.
Liara simply nods.
Cade looks at us.
"I'm glad you came back."
He walks a few steps across the hall.
"It was hell here."
I believe him.
"A swarm of unknown ships emerged from space…"
His voice quickens.
"And then all hell broke loose."
He gestures upward.
"Flashes swallowed the entire sky."
"Energy waves destroyed the noems…"
"And tore apart the noetic network."
I listen and realize one thing.
He witnessed the rupture Sigils at work.
I nod.
"I know."
Cade looks at me.
I hook my thumb over my shoulder.
Toward where Synchron hangs beyond the frigate's armor.
A giant.
A silent god of war.
I shrug.
"My friends did that."
A pause.
"The Dark Mind is destroyed."
I add,
"At least… in this system."
Cade studies me for a long moment.
Then nods slowly.
"Then we continue the offensive."
Something changes in the room.
The pressure shifts.
Hope appears.
A very dangerous thing.
I speak calmly.
"We'll prepare for the next battle, President Cade Morrow."
He straightens.
"Yes."
"I'll take you to the Nexus-Prime leadership."
He turns.
"Follow me."
We leave the hall.
The corridors stretch ahead.
Metal.
Shadows.
Occasional lights.
Footsteps echo dully from the walls.
I walk behind Cade.
And at that moment…
something happens.
At first—a light pressure in my head.
Then cold.
As if a thin needle of ice slides down my spine.
I keep walking.
I don't stop.
Sometimes it's better to make sure first…
that it isn't just fatigue.
But then a voice appears.
Quiet.
Slippery.
"You think…"
A whisper.
"…that you've won?"
For a second my step slows.
Cold sweat spreads across my back instantly.
No.
That's impossible.
We destroyed it.
We saw it happen.
But the voice continues.
Almost gently.
"Axiom…"
"I'm still here."
I raise my gaze.
Look at the back of Cade Morrow.
At the soldiers ahead.
At my team.
And for the first time since all this began, a thought appears in my mind.
A very bad thought.
I force myself to inhale calmly.
Then exhale.
Control.
Always control first.
Only then fear.
Think.
Observe.
Don't make sudden moves.
I quietly smirk to myself.
Well done, Axiom.
Looks like your day just got interesting again.
But inside me another possibility is already taking shape.
Far colder.
What if…
…this really is a trap?