The Wraithling responded like a living thing.
Ethan sat in the pilot's cradle, fingers wrapped around the dual control rings, their surface humming beneath his touch. The cockpit sealed with a whisper, and the forward canopy flickered to life—projecting a translucent display of their surroundings in layered glyphs and radar signatures.
Outside, the mountains shrank beneath them. The ship hovered above the cragged highlands like a ghost in the clouds.
Then came the System ping.
[Alert: Unidentified Vessels Approaching – Configuration: Light Interceptors x3][Affiliation: Scorchfang Remnants // Karsos Enclave (Possibly Feral)][ETA: 02:41. Threat Level: Moderate.]
Ethan muttered, "Of course they'd have friends."
Aelira dropped into the co-pilot's seat behind him, pulling the harness over her shoulder. "Scorchfangs must've sold the signal signature of the Wraithling before we hit them. We lit up the sky. Everyone wants to see what flared."
The console flared red.
[Incoming Lock Detected.]
The sky to the north split. Three thin, needle-like ships broke cloud cover in a tight triangle formation. Burnt-amber contrails hissed behind them as their targeting arrays glowed to life—red, bright, and hungry.
"Hold on," Ethan growled.
The Wraithling moved.
Not like a machine—no lurching, no delay. She dove with the grace of a predator, slipping between the clouds with precise, almost instinctive agility. Ethan felt the connection tighten in his chest like a thread winding deeper. The controls didn't need thought—they just responded.
Bolts of plasma ripped past them.
One clipped the rear stabilizer, spinning them into a sharp roll. Ethan gritted his teeth and swung them hard to port, diving low through a narrow canyon, the walls of stone whipping past.
Aelira's fingers danced over the sensor controls. "They're tracking our heat. We need to break LOS—line of sight—or cloak."
Ethan slammed the throttle.
[Cloak not available during high-velocity maneuvers.][Suggest: Terrain Evade // Chaff Dump // Micro-Warp Pulse (Emergency)]
"Micro-warp? That sounds expensive."
"Or fatal if miscalculated," Aelira muttered.
The enemy ships dropped lower, peppering the canyon with rapid pulses. The Wraithling hissed with a glancing blow—shields flaring, hull groaning. Ethan banked into a tighter turn, then saw it—an ancient circular ruin, half-buried into the canyon wall, with a narrow gap at its apex.
"You seeing that?"
"I'm seeing it."
Ethan flipped the control rings and let instinct take over.
[Trajectory Locked: Narrow Gate – 3.2 meters clearance][Warning: Collision Risk – 78%]
"Too high. Drop it!" Aelira shouted.
They dove.
The Wraithling shot through the gap, scraping the energy field against the ruin's edge, sparks flying like comet trails. Behind them, one of the pursuers tried to mimic the move—and failed. The intercept ship exploded in a spray of scorched metal and smoke.
[Enemy Vessel Destroyed. Two Remaining.]
Ethan's pulse thundered. "Warp pulse—now!"
[Micro-Warp Initiating.][Coordinates Set: Null Vector – Atmospheric Breakpoint]
The Wraithling bucked once—and blinked.
For a fraction of a second, they weren't in the sky. They weren't anywhere. Just a flicker between atoms.
Then they reappeared—above the clouds, high enough to scrape the edge of the exosphere. Silence pressed in, broken only by the ship's soft humming. Below, the enemy ships circled like angry wasps, unable to follow.
Aelira let out a low breath, eyes still wide. "That was insane."
"That was beautiful," Ethan said.
[Threat Evaded. Casualties: 1 Confirmed. Tracking Disrupted.][Pilot Aptitude Rating: Improved.][New System Thread Unlocked: Cognitive Link Integration - Stage One.]
Then a new glyph blinked across the console. Faint. Subtle.
[Ghostwake Protocol – Active][AI Node Initializing…][Welcome… Pilot.]
Ethan stared at the message as a voice, low and fragmented, echoed through the cabin:
"This... voice… has been asleep… long. Are you the one who lit the sky with ashes?"