Chapter 7: Leaving Mars Behind
The spacecraft vibrated like a living creature as it lifted off, breaking free from the choking atmosphere of Mars. Li Yan gripped the smooth console, trying to calm his racing heart. Every instinct screamed at him to turn back—but there was nothing left for him down there. Not his team. Not his home.
Beside him, Bai Ling sat silently, her eyes closed as she interfaced with the ship. Strange symbols pulsed around her fingers, flickering through holographic rings of alien code. She moved like someone born among the stars, not on dusty ground.
"You're quiet," she said after a long moment.
"I just left everything I knew behind."
Bai Ling opened her eyes. "You didn't leave it. It left you the moment you touched the Starcore."
The engines roared as they broke into the black silence of space. Behind them, Mars shrank into a lonely red pearl, its secrets now etched into Li Yan's skin.
---
Chapter 8: The Galaxy Watches
Unbeknownst to them, the activation of the Starcore sent shockwaves across space. Every advanced sensor in the known galaxy had registered the pulse.
In the Federation Capital, high above Jupiter's metallic clouds, Admiral Xian gritted his teeth as the Starcore signal replayed in holographic waves. "It's been awakened."
In the Obsidian Monastery, a place shrouded in voidstorms and guarded by warlocks of the Awakened, the High Seer's blind eyes opened for the first time in a hundred years. "The child has touched the gate."
And far beyond the charted galaxies, in the Grave Nebula, a cry rippled through ancient hibernation pods. A voice—cold and emotionless—spoke in the darkness:
"Subject Zero has emerged."
---
Chapter 9: Starshade
Bai Ling's ship slipped into hyperspace, entering a corridor of shifting colors and inverted light. Li Yan stared out the viewport, hypnotized.
"Where are we going?" he finally asked.
"Starshade. A neutral zone. It's where the last Guardians left their records."
Li Yan sat back. "Guardians?"
"Those who once protected the balance between knowledge and power. Before the Federation hunted them to extinction."
He looked down at his arm. The glyphs were glowing again.
"Why me?"
"Because the Starcore doesn't choose at random. It senses potential… or fear."
Li Yan clenched his fists. "I didn't ask for this."
"No one ever does."
---
Chapter 10: The Guardian Vault
Starshade orbited a dead star—an abandoned station woven into asteroid fragments and forgotten wreckage. As they docked, the atmosphere felt heavy, old.
Bai Ling led him through dark corridors until they reached a great hall. In the center stood a monolith, cracked and flickering, marked with glowing patterns.
She placed her hand on it.
"Show him."
The monolith pulsed.
And suddenly, Li Yan was no longer in the room. He stood among stars again, this time watching a war. Ships collided, planets fell, and at the center of it all stood a being—cloaked in flame and void. In its chest pulsed the Starcore.
"The first bearer," Bai Ling's voice echoed. "He tried to use it. It drove him mad."
The vision ended.
"I don't want to be like him," Li Yan whispered.
"Then you must learn to resist it."
---
Chapter 11: The Federation's Bounty
On the other side of the galaxy, Admiral Xian issued the order.
"Initiate Protocol Orion. I want the boy alive. The woman—terminate on sight."
Dozens of bounty beacons activated. Every mercenary, bounty hunter, and outlaw with a ship received the ping: Li Yan. Alive. Reward: 20 million galactic credits.
And so the hunt began.
---
Chapter 12: The Test of Will
In the vault, Bai Ling placed a cube into Li Yan's hand. It was cold, vibrating with silent energy.
"This is the Key of Trials. It will test your mind."
"What does that mean?"
"It means… you're about to see your worst fear."
Before he could react, the world shifted again.
He stood in a cell. His mother was dying in front of him. Federation guards were laughing. He was small. Helpless.
"No—this isn't real—!"
But it felt real. Every punch. Every scream.
"You can't save her," a voice whispered.
Li Yan fell to his knees.
But then… something snapped.
He stood, eyes glowing blue. "I will save her. If not then, then now. If not now—then I will tear the sky apart to make it so!"
The illusion shattered.
He opened his eyes, panting. Bai Ling watched him carefully.
"You passed," she said. "Barely."
He smirked. "You could've warned me."
"You wouldn't have listened."
---
Chapter 13: Blood and Credits
Elsewhere in the galaxy, the bounty ping reached a man sitting in a dark bar on Orion Prime. He had red cybernetic eyes and a cloak stitched from the skins of his enemies.
They called him Vorr, the Ghostblade.
He looked at the hologram of Li Yan.
"Looks young," he muttered.
The bartender laughed. "Just a kid."
Vorr sipped his drink.
"Then he'll scream like one."
---
Chapter 14: Choices
As Bai Ling prepped the ship for another jump, Li Yan stood at the viewing deck. The stars stretched endlessly.
He thought of his family, his old life, the simplicity of being nobody.
"You can still walk away," Bai Ling said from behind him. "We can hide. Change your identity."
Li Yan shook his head.
"No. I'm tired of running. If this thing chose me… I'll see it through."
She nodded.
"You're not the boy I found in the ruins."
He smiled.
"No. I think I'm finally waking up."