(From the perspective of Kaelis)
The moon hung below them like a silent sphere of crystal. Pale white. Veined with glacial fissures. Its surface shimmered beneath the rays of all three suns—cool blue from the dwarf, soft gold from the main star, and a thin, eerie red from the distant giant.
Kaelis stood at the viewport, unmoving.
"Initiating full spectrum scan," SERA reported. "Thermal, seismic, magnetic, psionic fields—engaged."
He watched the grid unfold across the moon's surface—contours, elevations, shadowed faults. The data scrolled past with calm efficiency.
Then: a pulse.
"Subsurface hollows detected," SERA continued. "Network of natural caverns spanning approximately 47 kilometers. Stable pressure zones. Ambient temperature: minus 22 degrees. One major natural entry located at equatorial coordinates, shielded beneath a collapsed ridge."
Kaelis nodded slowly.
"A fortress beneath the surface," he murmured. "Hidden. Cold. But sound."
"Correct," SERA confirmed. "Ideal conditions for protected construction. Seismic activity minimal. Geothermal vents detected at mid-depths. Atmosphere unbreathable, but modifiable in sealed zones."
It was enough.
"Prepare descent," he said.
---
The Carrier broke through the upper layers with surgical grace. Ice crystals streamed across the hull as the ship angled toward a broad plain—quiet, windswept, untouched.
The craft lowered until its landing struts pressed gently against the frozen crust.
Kaelis did not wait for drones.
He stepped out alone.
The surface was perfectly silent.
The wind didn't scream—it whispered, thin and distant, as if the moon itself was still unsure whether it had just been claimed.
Kaelis knelt, touched the ground with a bare palm, and closed his eyes.
This was his now.
The past had fallen to ash.
But this…
This would rise.
---
He returned to the ship's command core.
"Bring up the geothermal map," he ordered. "Show me pressure zones. Elevation shifts. Access points."
The image unfolded.
The under-ice caverns were immense. Some as wide as protoss war halls. Some formed by collapsed lava tubes, now frozen in time. Others… still warm.
And deep.
---
"Terraforming feasibility?"
"Atmospheric density achievable in partitioned sectors," SERA said. "Using reinforced phase-seal chambers, oxygenation modules, and targeted heating from geovents. Agricultural trials possible within 9–12 cycles."
Kaelis nodded.
He wasn't here to breathe the air.
He was here to change it.
---
Then came the question of power.
"SERA," he said, "long-term energy independence. If I stay here, I won't tether this world to the grid of another."
"Understood. Solar capture from system primary is viable within twenty-four orbital cycles. Suggestion: begin prototype array network in low orbit. Expand later into a Dyson node sequence."
Kaelis stared at the star map—three suns.
Three sources.
He allowed himself a brief smile.
"It begins with the first mirror."
---
He descended once more—this time with purpose.
He activated the psionic tunnel array, a long, bladed structure hovering beside him like a silent sentinel. It began to spin, light flowing through its frame. It did not drill.
It carved.
Tunneled.
Formed.
Not just a hole in the ice—but a structure.
A future.
Behind him, the Carrier remained silent.
Above him, the stars aligned.
Below him, the foundation of something new came into being.
And in his mind, a name for the moon began to take shape.
But not yet spoken.
Not until the first hall stood complete.