Light tore the universe apart The Gate’s roar became silence so deep it hurt Aiden woke to smoke and flickering light The Vigilance lay tilted its systems bleeding sparks He coughed metal in his mouth vision blurred Nara’s voice echoed faint distorted like a ghost I am operational damage severe

He pushed himself up the corridor walls melted and reformed around him Gravity pulsed wrong a wave of nausea rolled through him He forced his boots to magnetize and stumbled toward the control room Kael was slumped over the navigation console helmet cracked blood streaking his cheek but breathing Aiden shook him Kael groaned What year are we in this time

Aiden looked outside The stars were different again bent and shimmering with unnatural light The Belt was gone replaced by a sky split with two suns one pale white the other dark red He whispered Where did it send us

Nara’s projection flickered across a damaged panel Sensors unstable temporal readings inconsistent Multiple timelines overlap in this sector Kael muttered We’re inside the Gate aren’t we Aiden frowned The Gate folded space it didn’t just move us It stitched us into something new

The hull groaned Pressure rising from nowhere Aiden slammed emergency seals The ship steadied barely He tried the comms All frequencies dead Nara said External interference unknown presence detected outside

A shadow drifted past the viewport tall thin moving like liquid metal Aiden froze Kael raised his weapon What the hell is that The shape pressed against the glass its surface rippling faces flickering across it one of them Aiden’s own

He stepped closer whispering No way The creature tilted its head copying him perfectly Then it spoke with his voice You opened the door now live with it

The glass fractured web lines spreading Aiden grabbed Kael and ran The impact shattered the viewport as the thing poured inside like smoke metallic tendrils slashing through the air Nara’s voice cut through static Hostile entity nonbiological suggestion evacuate

They sprinted down the corridor toward the docking bay alarms screaming Kael fired behind them bullets slicing through mist but doing nothing The creature reformed moving faster Aiden dove into the escape module slamming the hatch The ship’s AI sealed the locks The creature struck once more cracking the metal before the thrusters ignited blasting them into space

The Vigilance imploded behind them a silent flash swallowing itself The module spun through debris fields fragments of old ships floating between shards of light Kael gasped You killed my ride again Aiden didn’t answer eyes fixed on the two suns in the distance Nara said There is a habitable signal two thousand kilometers below planetary surface intact

They descended through glowing storms clouds of magnetic dust dancing like auroras The capsule slammed into a metallic plain sending sparks across the horizon They climbed out boots crunching on dust made of iron The landscape stretched endless towers like bones of machines reaching for the sky

Kael muttered Welcome to hell Aiden scanned the distance and froze At the edge of the horizon rose a structure identical to the Gate but smaller pulsing faint blue He whispered We’re not done yet