In the ship's massive training bay—a room where the gravity could be dialed up to "Neutron Star" levels—the squad was pushed to their limits.
Kane didn't just watch. He sat in the center of the room, leaking Void-Energy like a broken reactor. "If you can't move in my aura," Kane roared, "The Golden Fleet will turn you into ash before you can even draw your weapons! Again!"
Vance was pinned to the floor by the sheer pressure, his golden-iron skin sparking. He roared, his muscles tearing and reforming as he forced himself to stand up. He wasn't just a Juggernaut anymore; he was becoming a Singularity.
Doc was practicing her Nanite-Blight. She wasn't just rotting targets; she was learning to "stitch" the ship's coral-walls back together using her spores. She was becoming the ship's living immune system.
And Sully? Sully was floating in a data-tank, her mind spread across the entire five-mile length of the ship. She was learning to "feel" every bolt and every circuit.
"I see them, Sarge," Sully's voice echoed through the ship's speakers, sounding distant and ethereal. "The jump-exit is coming up. The Aurelia System... it's beautiful. And it's a fortress."