(From the perspective of Kaelis)
There was no flash of light. No tunnel of stars. No hyperspace.
Only stillness—
—and then sudden acceleration.
The warp field enclosed the Carrier like a second skin. Reality folded, but did not vanish. Starfields distorted into spirals, suns became stretched echoes of themselves, and all around the ship the warp corridor pulsed in slow, synchronized rhythm—like a heartbeat between galaxies.
"Phase shift in progress," SERA intoned calmly. "Stabilizing warp envelope. Estimated transition duration: four minutes, twelve seconds."
Kaelis stood in silence at the central viewport.
He had made jumps before—military, functional, clean.
But this was different.
Warp travel was not just motion. It was vibration. A psionic tunnel shaped by will, not coordinates. The Protoss once called it khalara thun: "the silent bridge."
And now, for the first time in this galaxy, he walked it alone.
---
As the stars twisted around him, fragments began to surface.
Not memories. Not quite.
Resonances.
A shimmer of gold and blue—Aiur, burning under endless Zerg tides.
The hum of a Protoss Gate forming beneath his feet.
And… her. The silver-haired form he had once worn. A moment of quiet clarity.
A gaze. A whisper he never heard, but always felt.
Was she a projection of self? Or something remembered?
He touched the console—felt the pulse of the warp resonate with his own.
"You are changing," SERA said, without prompt.
"So is the path," he answered.
---
The warp field collapsed silently around the Carrier as space reasserted itself. One moment, they hovered within the corridor of minds and memory. The next, they floated within the gravity well of a system untouched by cartographers, politics, or war.
"Phase jump complete," SERA confirmed. "Stabilizing systems. No navigational anomalies detected."
Kaelis opened his eyes.
Beyond the viewport, three suns burned in quiet rhythm—one pale and steady, one golden and warm, and one deep red, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat in the dark.
The system was… raw.
Unmapped.
Untouched.
Perfect.
---
"Initial celestial scan complete," SERA continued. "Seven major planetary bodies. Two within viable atmosphere parameters. Four moons of interest."
Kaelis reviewed the holomap as it unfolded beside him:
A massive gas giant with pale green stripes and thirteen rings
A smaller, bluer gas world, with magnetic storms sweeping its poles
A jungle planet, half-shrouded in thick clouds—rich in chlorophyll, life signs dense
A water world, endless and shimmering, with deep oceanic trenches and a thin band of archipelagos circling its equator — highly magnetized, atmosphere rich in ionized vapor.
A volcanic world, scorched and jagged, its surface crisscrossed with glowing magma rivers and frequent tectonic storms — atmospheric pressure high, energy emissions volatile but stable in pattern.
He paused.
There.
A pulse.
It wasn't audio. Or visible light. It was... resonance.
Like a voice with no words.
"SERA?"
"Detected psionic flux originating from third planet," she replied instantly. "Biological signatures show inconsistent but active psionic fields. Estimated 12–17% of surface fauna affected."
Kaelis narrowed his eyes.
"Sentient?"
"Unconfirmed. Adaptive neural patterns suggest instinctive manipulation rather than structured thought."
He stared at the swirling green mass on the display.
Not yet, he thought.
Not first.
That world was alive in ways he didn't yet understand.
And understanding came before contact.
---
"Mark the jungle planet for observation. Passive scans only."
"Acknowledged."
His gaze shifted to the outer orbital ring—where a large, frozen moon rotated in distant silence.
It had no storms.
No voices.
No war.
Just potential.
"Initiate descent protocols for polar orbit," he said. "Prepare landing procedures for surface survey."
"Confirmed. Atmospheric entry in six minutes."
Kaelis leaned back as the ship moved—the first breath of movement toward a destiny untouched by anyone but him.
Below, the ice reflected the light of all three suns at once.
And above, the stars remained indifferent.
For now.