The Black Spindle flew like a phantom through the void, cloaked in silence and shadow.
Kiro stood at the command deck, eyes fixed on the map. Prime Sector 14—once the beating heart of resistance before the Kargal Empire drowned it in blood—lay just a day's burn ahead.
"This is the last detour," he said, voice low. "We make for Prime 14. Then we rally what's left."
Around him, tired eyes and bloodied warriors nodded. These weren't soldiers anymore. They were survivors. Bound by a cause too old for memory.
But fate had other plans.
[ALERT: Intercept Warning – Kargal Fleet Incoming.]
[Flagships Detected: 3]
[Viora Energy Readings Detected: Apostle-Class Presence.]
Lishe's voice cracked with panic. "They must've tracked our warp wake! Sir, they're closing in—"
The comms hissed.
A face emerged—crimson armor, golden helm. A Kargal Executor.
"You carry the heretic," the voice boomed. "Surrender the Blood-Bound One, or be erased from the stars."
Kiro didn't answer.
He turned.
And for a breath—his eyes met Kan's.
"Divert everything to evasive," Kiro said. "I'll buy time—"
"No," Kan whispered. His hand hovered near the emergency launch controls.
"You're not dying in this tomb, Kiro."
"What are you doing?" Kiro stepped forward.
Kan smiled. Sad. Resigned.
"Something I should've done long ago."
He slammed the switch.
A violent hiss—
Kiro's pod tore loose from the Black Spindle, ejected at high velocity, cloaked by the emergency shields. He screamed, fists pounding the walls, as the view of his ship shrank behind him.
Kan stood at the helm in his final image—saluting as fire and light swallowed everything.
Then—blackness.
Atmospheric Entry DetectedPlanet: NIGHTFELLStatus: Unmapped World – High Nocturnal RadiationSurface Condition: Hostile.Lifeforms Detected: Unknown.
Kiro's pod struck the surface like a meteor, carving a trail through black sand and ash.
The hatch burst open.
He crawled out, coughing, bleeding.
Above him, twin moons hung in a dying sky. The stars barely pierced the eternal dusk.
Around him, the world breathed like something alive—fog curling in unnatural shapes, bones of ancient beasts rising from the ground like forgotten monuments.
And from somewhere deeper...
A growl.
Not of a beast.
But of something old.
The Blood System hissed in his mind:
[NIGHTFELL DETECTED.][Void Signature... Moderate.][WARNING: This world devours the unbound.][New Objective: Survive.]
Kiro rose, eyes burning.
He was alone.
But not broken.
And from this cursed place—
He would rise again.