Chapter 130 The Spoils of the Stars

Chapter 130 The Spoils of the Stars
The Silent Giant

The dead dreadnought produced a more intense silence than the gravitational pull of a star.

I used Kade as support in the dark reactor room because the Star-Metal plate on his chest emitted the only light through its swirling white-gold and sickly grey energy. He had swallowed a continent-killing bomb and his biological heart was beating with the steady unstoppable rhythm of a god.

Kade whispered to me for walking possibility inside the spherical chamber that he was present in with his deep voice echoing through its vast space. His human hand gently brushed a lock of ash-covered hair from my face while his fingers stayed close to my facial friction burns.

I replied that I could walk however my legs felt as heavy as lead. The silver astral magic was completely drained, which resulted in a hollow state of deep fatigue.

Kade ignored my words. He used one arm to support my back while the other arm he used to lift me up to his armored chest.

Kade told Elara to walk through the slipspace void that he had walked through. "I will carry you out of this place," he said.

We moved through the alien ship's distorted corridors which lacked gravity. The automated turrets and floating debris created a path that we followed through the space. The dust storm outside had cleared by the time we reached the hangar bay's elevated ramp.

The sight that faced us stopped my breathing.

The unified army composed of thousands of Ferals who had taken their human forms along with Earth Mutants and Syndicate Null-Wolves stood in complete silence across the ash-wastes. Orion along with the ancient Star-Beasts traveled above them over the Citadel walls while their cosmic feathers gleamed in the first light of day.

When Kade emerged from the dreadnought's shadow while carrying me Alpha Thorne dropped to one knee.

Valda followed. Bark followed Valda.

The whole worldwide army sank down in the ash at the same time as a wave crashing over the shoreline. The soldiers had progressed beyond the point of submitting to an Alpha Prime. The soldiers had to bow before both Star Kings and Queen Sophia who had faced a cosmic apocalypse and emerged victorious against its worst dangers.

Kade studied our people with his jaw in a fixed position before he shifted his focus toward the Citadel walls.

Kade announced our return to home with his Alpha voice which resonated through the wasteland in his victorious announcement.

The earth trembled under the power of the packs who released their victory roar.

The Iron Harvest

After three days, the fortress at Aurora Citadel became the largest human salvage yard when it transformed from a siege state.

I sat on a medical cot in the War Room which was located below ground while Seraphina treated my arm burn injuries with her application of a thick glowing green poultice. The teleportation stunt I performed had left my skin with unusual silvery fractals that did not follow the normal healing pace for werewolves.

Luna, Seraphina, gently scolded me because your atoms needed to restore themselves back to their original state. "Cosmic light or not, flesh is flesh."

I smiled tiredly and said "It was worth a few scars."

Alpha Thorne and Cipher showed extreme excitement about the holographic table across the room. The group had spent the last three days to extract all information from the Aethelgard dreadnought.

Cipher declared "The entire system operates at terrifying potential because it can create a vacuum effect that redirects kinetic energy toward a hidden space. The slipspace technology creates a localized vacuum that redirects energy into a pocket dimension.

Thorne asked "Can we use it?" while he held his arms in front of his body.

Cipher explained that his team could not create the dark matter material. The Prime's tectonic fusion process gave him an idea. The Aethelgard armor shattered against Kade's Star-Metal. If we forge a hybrid... an under-layer of Syndicate Star-Metal coated with a thin lattice of salvaged Aethelgard slipspace tech...

Valda entered the War Room to complete her sentence about armor body protection. She looked at Thorne, a feral grin on her face. "Your Null-Wolves would be completely invincible to conventional warfare."

Thorne spoke with deep satisfaction when he said "The spoils of the stars." The aliens who came to harvest us ended up delivering the ultimate technological upgrade right to our doorstep.

Kade’s voice echoed through the room as he entered with the warning to handle power cores with caution.

He looked completely refreshed. The dead, grey weight of the inactive iron was a memory. The Star-Metal plate on his chest was glowing with a warm, steady white-gold light, perfectly integrated with his biological heartbeat once again.

He approached me to press a gentle kiss to my head before he began observing the holographic table. "The dreadnought's main reactor is completely neutralized," Kade stated, resting his heavy gauntlet on my shoulder. "The ship's hull continues to endure heavy cosmic radiation exposure. I want Earth Mutants sealing the deeper levels of that wreck by nightfall. The lower decks remain off-limits until I provide my authorization for entry."

Thorne nodded in response to Prime with a statement of understanding.

The Echo in the Deep

The War Room politics of that evening vanished into the peaceful atmosphere of our private quarters located at the Spire's highest point.

The heavy reinforced glass windows offered a breathtaking view of the rebuilt city. The Star-Beasts were sleeping on the high towers, their massive forms looking like statues of pure stardust against the night sky.

Leo was asleep in his bed in the adjoining room. His violet Source magic was entirely dormant, tucked safely away beneath the innocent dreams of a five-year-old boy. Kade had promised him that he would never have to bear the burden of the sky again because he saved his father's life.

I stood on the balcony, wrapped in a thick wool blanket, letting the cool night wind wash over my face. The silver fractals that marked my skin produced a faint hum which served as a lasting reminder of the astral magic that rested within my bloodstream.

Kade moved from his position on the balcony to enter behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my back flush against his warm, humming Star-Metal chest.

Kade said, "You're shivering," as he buried his face in the curve of my neck.

I softly told him, "I'm not cold" as I leaned into his embrace. "I need to be prepared for what will happen next. The Void King, the Shadow Regent, the Aethelgard... it feels like every time we catch our breath, the universe throws something bigger at us."

Kade’s arms tightened around me. He did not speak for an extended period. His heart produced a constant thumping sound that matched the beat of the Engine.

I detected a sudden rise in his heart rate when I leaned against him.

The silvery, liquid veins running up his neck flared with a sudden, erratic burst of blinding white-gold light. Kade gasped and his body went into total rigidity.

I spun to face Kade while I held his shoulders. "What is it? Is the reactor energy acting up?

Kade spoke the word "No" in a whisper. His ocean-blue eyes grew wide with an unreadable emotion. He was looking at the Pacific Ocean while his Architect senses extended across the whole Earth.

I ordered him to speak to me after a new wave of adrenaline surged through my body.

Kade breathed out the name of "The Mariana Trench" while his voice displayed slight trembling. "When I fused the tectonic plates... I had to dig deep. Deeper than the outer mantle. I pulled the bedrock up to seal the Aethelgard's drill hole."

"What happened then?"

Kade used his silver-laced eyes to finally establish eye contact with me. "He sensed something that made the World Engine logic matrix experience extreme terror because of its massive scale." The Aethelgard drill didn't just scrape the mantle, Elara. It sheared the top off a subterranean cavern that has been sealed since the earth cooled.

I asked, "Is it another Void shard?" as I felt dread settling in my stomach.

Kade shook his head as he answered, "No." The structure exists as a city beneath the tectonic plates buried beneath the structure. The structure exists as a city beneath the tectonic plates. The city exists as a space that predates the Void King and the Star-Beasts and the World Engine itself.

Kade looked down at his glowing Star-Metal gauntlet. His voice became a terrified whisper.

"Something down there is waking up. And it's calling to the iron in my blood."