The Ark sailed through the void, its alien hull humming faintly as if whispering secrets to the stars. Ahead, the darkness thickened into a sprawling cloud of fractured stone and twisted wreckage. The Shattered Belt.
Kael Ardyn stood at the command deck, jaw tight, eyes fixed on the storm of asteroids. He had seen battlefields before, but the Belt was something different—an open graveyard, where the bones of old wars drifted forever.
Rhea whistled low. "Gods above. I forgot how ugly this place was."
Lyra moved closer to the viewport, her hand brushing against the glass. "It feels… wrong. Like the void itself remembers what happened here."
Kael glanced at her. Her skin still carried the faint pallor of strain from channeling the Ark, but her eyes burned with quiet resolve.
"Wars were fought here long before the Council," Kael said. "Some say the Belt is cursed. Others say it hides things best left forgotten."
Rhea smirked. "And you? What do you say, Captain?"
Kael's hand curled into a fist. "I say my brother's in there. And I'm going to find him."
They entered the asteroid field cautiously. The Ark's alien systems hummed, shimmering shields flaring as debris scraped past. Massive stone fragments spun lazily, colliding with bursts of fire that lit the darkness.
Kael gripped the controls, guiding the ship with steady hands. The Ark responded with uncanny precision, almost as if it anticipated his movements.
Rhea leaned against the console, watching with an impressed smirk. "She flies like she's reading your mind."
Kael didn't answer. His focus stayed razor-sharp, but he couldn't deny it—sometimes the Ark did feel alive.
Then the Belt struck back.
A storm of rocks shifted suddenly, colliding with bone-jarring force. The Ark's shields flared, alarms screaming. Kael cursed, diving the ship through a narrow gap as massive shards slammed into each other where they had just been.
Lyra clutched the console, her voice steady despite the chaos. "The Ark's adjusting. It's mapping the patterns of the Belt."
"Then tell it to hurry," Kael muttered, sweat beading his brow.
Hours passed as they threaded deeper into the Belt. The crew grew silent, tension thick in the air. Every shadow looked like a ship, every flicker of movement like an ambush.
Finally, Rhea broke the silence. "We're being watched."
Kael stiffened. "How do you know?"
Rhea tapped her temple. "Call it merc instincts. Or maybe I just don't like how quiet it's been."
Lyra's hand brushed across a glowing glyph. The Ark's systems flared, revealing faint signatures hidden in the debris. Dozens of them. Ships, cloaked in the Belt's shadows, moving with predatory patience.
Kael's chest tightened. "Taren's fleet."
The hidden ships emerged, sleek frigates painted in midnight black, their hulls bearing no insignia. They surrounded the Ark in a tightening circle, weapons glowing faintly.
A voice crackled over comms, deep and cold. "Unidentified vessel. You are trespassing in restricted space. Power down your engines and prepare to be boarded."
Kael's grip tightened on the console. His heart thundered, but he forced his voice steady. "This is Kael Ardyn. I'm looking for Taren Ardyn."
Silence. Then the voice returned, sharper. "State that name again."
Kael leaned closer to the comm. "Taren Ardyn. My brother."
A murmur rippled through the channel, hushed voices in the background. Then the voice spoke again, slower, measured. "Hold position. Do not resist."
Rhea muttered under her breath. "That's never a good sign."
The Boarding
The Ark's docking bay shuddered as magnetic clamps locked onto its hull. A squad of black-armored soldiers stormed aboard, weapons raised.
Kael and Rhea stood ready, hands on their blasters. Lyra stood just behind them, calm but tense.
The squad's leader stepped forward, visor gleaming. "Orders are clear. Bring them to the Admiral."
Kael's chest tightened at the word. Admiral.
He glanced at Lyra, then back at the soldiers. Slowly, he lowered his weapon. "Take us to him."
They were escorted through a massive frigate, corridors lined with soldiers who moved with unsettling discipline. This wasn't the ragtag force of smugglers or mercs Kael had expected. This was an army.
Finally, they entered the command chamber. At its center stood a man, tall and broad-shouldered, his back to them as he studied a holographic map of the Belt. His uniform was black, trimmed with silver, his posture rigid with authority.
"Admiral," the squad leader said, bowing his head. "We found intruders. One of them claims to know you."
The man turned slowly.
Kael's breath caught. His chest felt like it had caved in.
It was Taren.
Older, harder, his face lined by scars, but unmistakable. The brother he had buried in his heart was alive—and standing as the Ghost Admiral of the Council's shadow fleet.
For a moment, the world fell silent.
"Kael," Taren said, his voice low, almost weary. "You shouldn't have come."
Kael stepped forward, fists trembling at his sides. "I buried you. I mourned you. And all this time—you've been alive? Serving them?"
Taren's eyes darkened. "I didn't have a choice."
"There's always a choice," Kael spat.
Taren's jaw clenched. He glanced at Lyra, then at the soldiers around them, before finally dismissing the squad with a curt gesture. When the chamber doors sealed, only the brothers and Kael's crew remained.
"I survived the wreck," Taren said quietly. "The Council found me. Gave me a choice—serve or die. And if I refused, they would burn everything we ever cared about."
Kael's chest heaved. "So you became their weapon."
Taren's eyes flashed. "I became what I had to. And now, I am more than their weapon. I command my own fleet. I have power, Kael—power to protect, power to change things in ways you can't imagine."
Kael shook his head, fury and grief warring in his chest. "Power bought with blood."
Taren's gaze hardened. "You don't understand. You've been running, hiding. I've been fighting. The Council respects strength. And I intend to use it against them, when the time is right."
Lyra stepped forward, her voice steady but sharp. "If that's true, then why hunt Kael? Why carry the Council's banner at all?"
Taren's eyes flicked to her, studying her with unsettling calm. "Because appearances matter. The Council thinks I am theirs. Let them believe it. When the time comes, I will turn their blade against them."
Kael's stomach churned. "And I'm supposed to just believe you? After everything?"
Taren's expression softened, just for a moment. "You're my brother, Kael. That hasn't changed."
But Kael wasn't sure. Looking into Taren's eyes, he saw both the boy he had grown up with and the soldier who had burned worlds in the Council's name.
And he didn't know which one was real.
Taren turned back to the holographic map. "Stay with me, Kael. Fight by my side. Together, we can take everything from the Council. With your ship—" his eyes lingered on Lyra "—and her connection to it, we could be unstoppable."
Kael's heart twisted. He wanted to believe him. He wanted to trust that his brother hadn't become the monster the Council whispered about.
But Rhea's hand brushed the grip of her pistol, and Lyra's fingers tightened on his arm. He wasn't the only one doubting.
Kael's voice came out hoarse, raw. "I don't know who you are anymore, Taren. But I'll find out. One way or another."
Taren's eyes narrowed, but he gave a slow nod. "Then stay alive, little brother. Because when the storm breaks, you'll have to choose a side."