The silence was sharp.
The glowing barrier around the glass capsule had fallen, and for a moment, nothing happened.
Then Nyx opened her eyes.
They weren't human.
Twin pools of power, glowing softly at first, then rapidly intensifying. As her eyes adjusted to consciousness, glowing sigils—shaped like ancient star-etched glyphs—began to spread across her flawless skin like living circuits. From her collarbone to her temples, down her arms and along her spine, the glowing runes pulsed in time with the ship's core.
Anna flinched as the entire chamber trembled.
"She's… awake," she whispered.
Nyx's head tilted slightly in the capsule. She said nothing. But her gaze locked directly on Nova—as if she knew him. As if she had always known him.
Anna stepped back, keeping a grip on her sword. "Okay, that's it, right?" she asked, her voice still ragged from combat. "We did it. She's awake. The ship's yours. We're done."
But Nova didn't look away from Nyx.
"No," he said.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"This was just the key."
Anna stared at him, not understanding. "What do you mean?"
Nova's eyes narrowed
"She's testing me."
A pulse rippled through the room. From Nyx's capsule, a shockwave of light radiated outward, flooding the command chamber. The ship responded.
Walls shifted. Compartments slid open. And from within the shadows, something else stepped out.
Anna turned sharply as six new figures emerged—each one a towering humanoid construct clad in dark-plated armor. They were different from the earlier defense units. Bigger. Smarter. Stronger.
Their glowing red eyes flicked between Nova and Anna. The moment they finished scanning, their plating shifted and locked into place.
One of them raised a metal arm and smashed a nearby support table in half.
The reinforced alloy cracked like brittle wood.
Anna froze. "Those aren't drones. They're warframes."
Nova stepped forward, unfazed.
"They're gatekeepers," he said. "Final-tier security. Programmed to destroy anyone not authorized by the AI herself."
Anna's grip tightened on her sword. "So… are we authorized?"
Nova said nothing.
That was answer enough.
The warframes moved. Fast.
The chamber exploded into motion as one launched itself across the floor with a ground-shaking stomp. Anna barely dodged a spinning blade arm as it sliced through the ground where she'd been standing.
Another two moved to flank them, shoulder-mounted cannons charging with a high pitched whine.
Anna turned to Nova, panic rising. "We can't fight these! They'll kill us! We need to fall back!"
But Nova wasn't there.
He was already gone.
She turned just in time to see him racing straight toward the warframes—gun in one hand, Ather screen materialized in the other.
"Nova!" she shouted.
He didn't answer.
He fired.
Each shot was precise—aimed not at the armor, but at joints, optical sensors, and glowing core regulators under the plating. The bullets weren't just metal—they crackled with Ather-infused energy, shorting systems the moment they made contact.
The first warframe staggered. Its leg locked up. Sparks flew from its chest. The second took a round to the neck and collapsed in a seizure of twitching limbs.
Nova dove low, sliding beneath a wild strike and rolling up behind another. A long, gleaming blade appeared in his hand as if summoned from the void. He plunged it between two armor plates at the back of the neck, disabling the construct instantly.
Anna stared.
Her body screamed to move, but her brain was frozen.
He's faster than the machines, she thought, dazed.
Another warframe charged her.
Anna snapped out of it just in time.
She rolled aside, swinging her sword in a wide arc that barely scratched the machine's leg.
It turned its head toward her, unimpressed.
Her stomach dropped. "This is suicide," she muttered.
And yet… she followed Nova.
Because in that moment, watching him fight—gliding across the battlefield, light bending to his will, machines falling with surgical precision—she felt something break inside her.
It wasn't just fear.
It was awe.
This is what power looks like.
Another laser blast flew toward her.
Nova appeared in front of her again—almost like he had blinked into place. His shield materialized, catching the energy and deflecting it with a brilliant flash.
He didn't even look at her.
But she knew that was for her.
Her chest tightened.
"Stop staring," Nova said, voice steady. "Move. Aim for the power regulators on their chests. That's where the Ather flow converges."
Anna's jaw tightened.
"Yeah," she muttered. "Okay."
She launched forward.
The machines reacted immediately. One fired at her with a pulse round—she ducked low, then jumped onto a platform, leaping from it and bringing her sword down hard.
This time, she aimed right.
The sword sank into the exposed node near the machine's collarbone. Sparks erupted, and the warframe spasmed before collapsing.
Anna stumbled back, gasping.
Nova had already taken down three more.
The last one loomed over him, larger than the rest—thicker armor, reinforced limbs, plasma hammer clutched in its hands.
Anna screamed. "Look out—!"
Nova didn't dodge.
He stepped forward.
One smooth motion—his screen glowed, his hand pulsed, and a lance of condensed Ather burst from his palm like a divine spear.
It struck the warframe square in the chest.
The explosion knocked Anna off her feet.
When the smoke cleared, the warframe was slumped, lifeless. Half its body was gone.
Nova lowered his hand, exhaling calmly.
The room fell still.
No more enemies emerged.
Only Nyx remained, watching with her glowing eyes, now unreadable.
Anna struggled to stand.
Her legs shook. Her hands were numb. Her chest heaved.
Nova stood untouched.
As if none of it had been a challenge.
She stared at him in silence.
And for the first time since she boarded this ship, Anna realized something terrifying.
She wasn't just following a man.
She was following a force of nature.
Smoke still curled from the shattered remains of the warframes, their lifeless bodies twitching with the last traces of dying energy. The room, once filled with chaos, was quiet again.
Too quiet.
At the center, Nyx floated in her glass capsule—still, eyes wide, silver runes pulsing rapidly along her skin. But now the light was no longer calm. It flared erratically, as though something volatile was surging through her system
Anna took a step back, sword still raised.
"What's happening to her?"
Nova's gaze sharpened. He took a single step forward.
"She's reacting to the threat level," he said. "The Aether in her core is activating on its own."
Nyx's arms trembled inside the capsule. Her fingers twitched, and the air vibrated with energy.
"She's triggering the self-destruct mode," Nova added, calm as ever. "That's when we strike."
Anna's eyes widened. "What?"
But Nova was already moving
In the blink of an eye, he dashed forward, his body moving faster than Anna could process. The platform beneath his feet lit up with aetheric energy as he passed over it—his screen flashing symbols faster than human eyes could follow.
Nyx's body began to levitate slightly within the capsule. Lines of power rippled across her like flowing rivers of starlight. Her lips parted as if preparing to speak—or scream.
A warning. A command.
Anna's instincts screamed at her to run. She staggered toward cover.
And then—Nova reached her.
He placed his palm flat on the outer glass of the capsule just as Nyx opened her mouth to issue the final ship-wide command.
A pulse of mana surged from Nova's body.
It met Nyx's unstable aether mid-air—and overpowered it instantly.
The clashing lights exploded in a brief flare of energy, rippling out in a wave that forced Anna to shield her eyes. When she looked again, the runes on Nyx's skin had slowed. Then faded. Her breathing steadied, her form descending gently back into the capsule's center.
The glass cracked softly open.
And for the first time, Nyx spoke.
"...Master?"
Her voice was mechanical, melodic, and soft—like the echo of a lullaby sung by a machine.
Nova nodded. "Reboot your systems. Clear all hostility protocols."
Nyx blinked slowly. Her glowing eyes flickered—processing, calculating.
Then she bowed her head.
"Command accepted. Initiating full system reboot."
Her eyes dimmed, and her body relaxed as if her strings had been cut. The capsule sealed around her again, lights dimming to a peaceful blue. The war was over—for now.
Anna stared in stunned silence.
She forced herself to walk up beside Nova, still holding her sword as if it might be needed again.
"That's it?" she asked. "It's… over?"
Nova didn't answer right away.
He stood still, watching as Nyx's pod gently floated back to its resting position in the center of the chamber. The soft hum of the ship changed subtly, like a sleeping beast adjusting in its slumber.
Then he turned his head slightly, just enough for Anna to see the edge of his expression.
It wasn't relief.
It was focus.
"No," he said quietly. "This is only the beginning."
Anna blinked. "What do you mean?"
Nova finally turned fully toward her.
"This ship—this body, this power—was sealed
for a reason. Nyx was left in stasis not just to protect the ship, but to keep something out. Or in." His silver eyes gleamed. "Now that she's reawakening, every sensor in the galaxy will register a shift. It's time for me to take the place I was born for."