The hangar of the Rust-Bucket smelled of spent fuel, recycled oxygen, and the fear of five hundred different species. Korgos stood at the center, his massive chain-sword humming, his three eyes locked on Kane.
"We've got the ships, Ranger," the Scavenger King rumbled. "But that Planet-Cracker... its shields are tuned to vaporize anything below Rank 8. My boys are tough, but we're made of carbon and scrap. We'll be ash before we get in boarding range."
Kane stepped into the center of the bay. He didn't look at Korgos. He looked at the hundreds of pirates—the forgotten, the glitched, and the hunted.
"You're right," Kane said, his voice dropping into a low, tectonic register. "Separately, you're just prey. But I'm not here to lead a fleet. I'm here to build a Hive."
Kane slammed his Void-Cleaver into the metal deck.
[SKILL ACTIVATION: TOTAL INTERNALIZATION - AREA EFFECT]
[INITIATING: THE VOID-COMMUNION]
Black veins of shadow erupted from the axe, racing across the floor like cracked glass. They climbed up the legs of the pirates, stitching into their armor and sinking into their skin.
"Sarge! You're draining yourself!" Vance yelled, his golden skin dimming as Kane pulled every ounce of his Rank-7 essence to fuel the connection.
"Shut up and hold the line, Vance!" Kane hissed, his teeth turning silver as the hunger threatened to swallow his mind. "Korgos! Give me your hand!"
The Scavenger King hesitated, then gripped Kane's forearm. A jolt of pure, cold vacuum surged through the giant. Korgos's rusted cybernetics didn't just spark; they evolved. The iron turned into obsidian-alloy, and his chain-sword ignited with a violet flame that ate the very air around it.
[LEGION STATUS: EMPOWERED (VOID-SHELLED)]
[TEMPORARY RANK BOOST: +1 ACROSS ALL UNITS]
Across the fleet, five thousand pirates let out a single, unified roar. They weren't afraid anymore. They felt the Hunger.
"Forty-eight hours," Kane panted, his armor cracked and leaking black mist. "The Mercy of Silence is waiting. Let's go show them what happens when the cattle grow fangs."