Chapter Nine: Breach Protocol
I don't sleep.
Not because of fear. I've lived with fear long enough to recognize its rhythm. This is something else. Something older. A memory rattling the cage inside me.
I sit by the crystal core, running gloved fingers along the carved etchings that pulse faintly in the dark. Dominion tech isn't supposed to pulse without power. This thing is waking up—on its own.
Mira's asleep across the room, head resting on a bundle of worn jackets. Her breathing is steady, but her fingers twitch like she's dreaming hard. We all carry our ghosts differently.
My comm beeps—a soft proximity ping from the sensor net I rigged earlier.
Someone's out there.
I spring to the door and ease it open a crack. Just enough to see a shape slipping between shadows outside the substation.
One. Moving slow. Calculated.
Not Dominion. Too quiet.
I grab my sidearm and whisper Mira's name. She's instantly awake, weapon in hand. No questions. Just readiness.
"Someone's circling," I say.
"Hunter?"
"Maybe. Could be a scout. Let's find out."
We split up—standard flanking pattern. She takes the stairwell, I move along the outside wall, hugging the curve of broken steel.
The figure moves again—closer this time. Slender, fast. They're heading toward the Solace's landing site. Recon.
I wait until they pass within six meters, then step from cover.
"Don't move."
They freeze. Hands up. I circle around slowly, keeping my weapon raised.
"Name," I say.
They turn—face shrouded under a rebreather hood, but the eyes are familiar.
Too familiar.
"Elin?" I lower my weapon slightly. "What the hell—"
"I could ask you the same," she says, removing the hood. "You were supposed to be dead."
"So were you."
We stare at each other for a long breath. Elin Voss. Old crew. Pilot. Smuggler. Ghost.
"I tracked the crystal," she says. "Picked up its signal two days ago. Thought maybe I'd find scavengers. Not you."
I glance toward the substation. "You alone?"
She nods. "Now. My team... didn't make it through the drift."
A flicker of truth in her eyes. Maybe more than truth. Pain.
Mira emerges from the shadows, weapon still aimed. "She's not staying," she says flatly.
"We need intel," I say. "And Elin's still one of the best."
"She's also still a liar."
Elin scoffs. "Nice to see your trust issues are thriving."
"We don't have time for this," I interrupt. "If you came for the crystal, fine. You'll help us unlock it. Then we go separate ways."
"No," Elin says. "You don't understand. This crystal isn't just Dominion tech. It's a key. To something buried beneath Orias."
I feel the cold settle into my spine.
"We need to dig," she adds. "Now. Before they find us again."
And in that moment, I realize: the war we thought we'd escaped is just beginning.
And it didn't come from space—it came from beneath.