The Belt’s inner region was worse than any chart described Fields of magnetic storms collided like oceans of metal The Vigilance cut through waves of shattered hulls while Kael wrestled the controls Sweat ran down his temple as alarms screamed Nara’s voice counted impact vectors thirty two seventeen eight

Aiden gripped the support rail shouting Keep her steady Kael growled She’s not built for this Aiden said Neither are we but here we are

They broke through a curtain of glowing debris and entered an eerie calm A vast plain of drifting iron plates stretched before them glimmering under a dead sun It looked like a sea frozen mid-storm In its center a colossal object rotated slowly Aiden magnified the feed The shape was unmistakable a complete Gate structure half submerged in metal

His heart pounded That’s it The real Erebus Gate Kael muttered It’s bigger than a city You sure you want to go near that thing Aiden said We came too far to stop Nara calculated Energy stable surface dormant We may approach

They descended through the drifting field landing near one of the ring’s access towers The hull scraped metal as the ship settled Aiden stepped out onto the platform the void stretching endlessly around him The Gate tower rose above like a mountain of black glass Symbols crawled with faint blue light

He connected his portable console and began linking systems Nara guided him The ancient language translated line by line The Gate responded slowly like an old creature waking from a dream Kael paced nearby muttering I hate this silence Feels like standing on a god’s grave Aiden replied Maybe we are

Suddenly the ground trembled The Gate’s inner ring turned a blinding halo expanding outward Nara’s voice cut through static Core activation detected Control impossible Kael shouted We triggered it Aiden kept typing overriding failsafes Sweat poured down his neck I can stop it

The console flashed ACCESS GRANTED The tremor ceased Light dimmed to a steady pulse The Gate opened like an eye revealing a tunnel of swirling stars and broken time Aiden stared into it mesmerized Kael said Tell me you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking Aiden answered We need to know what’s on the other side

Nara’s tone wavered faint distortion detected on temporal layer presence unknown He said Presence Nara clarify Before she could reply a shadow moved within the tunnel taking shape tall humanoid cloaked in energy It stepped forward voice echoing across dimensions

Welcome back Engineer Cross You finally finished what we began

Aiden froze recognizing the impossible voice It was his own

The apparition smiled identical eyes burning with blue fire I am what you made when you opened the first Gate I am the version that survived

Kael lifted his weapon shouting What the hell is that Aiden whispered It’s me from another line Nara said Temporal loop confirmed dual existence will destabilize this reality The apparition extended a hand Come with me and we can restore it all The Belt the colonies the past everything

Aiden felt the pull the temptation raw as gravity He thought of Marin the crew the years of guilt Kael yelled Don’t even think about it Cross Aiden stepped back shaking his head No I won’t repeat it The other smiled Then you will watch it end again

The Gate roared light surging outward swallowing everything The last thing Aiden saw was Nara reaching toward him as the world broke into white