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CHAPTER 5 — THE FIRST SPARKÂ
Night came quickly to the deep dunes of Virel-9.
The stars flickered behind drifting dust clouds, and the metallic wasteland cooled under the weight of darkness. Kario worked beneath the shimmering distortion of Astrin's cloaked ship, the hull bending light like a ghost against the sky.
He knelt in a crater of sand and scrap, surrounded by advanced tools that hummed and hovered on their own.
He still couldn't believe he was touching technology this sophisticated.
Vexa stood on the dune above him, her scavenger poleaxe balanced across her shoulders. The weapon was crude—half scrap, half welding—but in Vexa's hands, it was terrifying.
"Anything?" she asked.
Kario didn't look up. "Almost. I've never seen a slipband core this damaged, but… the tools are insane. It's like they fix half the problem for me."
Vexa smirked. "So basically, you're in love."
"With the tech? Maybe."
Something Off in the Dunes
The wind shifted.
Vexa's expression sharpened as she scanned the darkness.
There—movement.
Torches and flickering lights bobbed between scrap hills, dozens of figures weaving through the metal dunes. Too many. Too organized.
"Uh… Kario?" she said quietly.
"People. Lots of people."
Kario paused his work. "Locals? Out this far?"
"No. Locals don't come here unless they're drunk or dying."
She crouched, narrowing her eyes.
"And these ones are marching like a militia."
Kario's stomach dropped.
"PWSP must've put out a bounty," he whispered.
"They turned the scavengers into hunters."
Vexa's grip tightened on her poleaxe.
"So they're using the whole planet as a weapon…"
Down below, Kario went still.
Among the approaching figures, one stood out—taller, heavier, wearing layered battle armor. His presence alone made the others move aside.
Vexa swore softly.
"Crovan Thresk," she said. "Sen was right. He's real. And he's walking straight at us."
Kario felt a cold weight settle inside him.
Astrin had warned them.
PWSP didn't want Astrin captured.
They wanted him erased.
Repair or Die
"Kario," Vexa said tightly, "we need to go."
"No," Kario said.
"If I stop now, the ship won't run. We lose everything."
"We lose everything if we're dead!"
He shook his head.
"I can do this. I'm almost done. You all go back to the shelter—I'll finish alone."
"The hell you will," Vexa snapped.
"You think I'm leaving you here with that parade of nightmares?"
Kario hesitated, then:
"…You're staying?"
Vexa smirked.
"That wasn't a question."
The Hunters Arrive
The first scavenger-bounty hunter crested a dune and spotted Vexa.
He raised a stolen blaster.
Vexa moved instantly—swinging her poleaxe in a wide arc, smashing the rifle out of his hands. The weapon flew into the sand with a burst of sparks.
The hunter lunged.
She cracked him in the jaw with the hammer end of her poleaxe, dropping him unconscious.
Kario yelled from under the ship:
"I SAID don't engage!"
"He shot first!" Vexa yelled back.
"I'm being RESPONSIBLE!"
Two more hunters charged.
Vexa braced herself, poleaxe spinning in a circle, metal whining through the air.
But then—
The hunters parted.
A towering armored figure stepped through them like a walking fortress.
Crovan Thresk.
Seven feet tall.
Plated in reinforced metal.
A gauntlet rumored to crush engines with one squeeze.
He stopped in front of Vexa.
"Stand aside," he rumbled through his voice modulator.
"We seek the ROPS Knight."
Vexa spread her feet.
"You'll have to go through me."
Crovan paused… then nodded.
"Acceptable."
He swung.
The impact cratered the sand as Vexa dove aside, rolling and scrambling up with a gasp.
"Oh yeah," she muttered, "this was definitely a terrible plan."
The Engine's Call
Inside the ship, Kario crawled into the internal engine chamber—the beating heart of the star-runner.
The quantum drive pulsed erratically, as if trying to breathe.
Kario touched the outer housing.
A tremor ran through him.
A warmth.
A sensation like recognition.
You know me, the machine seemed to whisper.
You've touched this power before.
Kario frowned.
"I've never even seen tech like you," he said softly.
But the connection deepened.
Light pulsed under his palm.
The drive synced to him—instantly, seamlessly.
The readings stabilized on their own.
Kario blinked.
"…Okay. That's not normal."
He made the final adjustments.
The engine hummed—a perfect, stable tone.
The ship was alive again.
The Moment Everything Changes
Outside, Crovan paused mid-strike.
He sensed it.
The engine activation.
The pulse of energy.
The awakening.
His helmet turned toward the cloaked ship.
"…The Knight is here," Crovan growled.
Vexa's heart stopped.
"KARIO!!!"
Inside the ship, Kario stumbled toward the exit just as the core pulsed one last time—
—and something inside him pulsed back.
A tiny spark.
A vibration in his veins.
A flicker beneath his skin.
He didn't understand it.
But the bounty hunter did.
Crovan pointed straight at him.
"There," the giant said. "The one who awakened the engine…"
His visor glowed brighter.
"…isn't supposed to exist."
Vexa grabbed Kario's arm.
"Run."
The night exploded around them.