Chapter 27: Shadows of Deception

The Starblade drifted in the void, its hull scarred from the battle at the ruined citadel. The crew had barely escaped with their lives, and the weight of their losses hung over them like a specter. In the dim glow of the command deck, Li Wei stood at the viewport, staring into the abyss of space. His body ached, the crystalline fractures along his arms pulsing with an eerie light. The Eleventh Core's remnants still thrummed within him, whispering secrets in a language he did not yet understand.

Kara approached, her mechanical eye scanning him. "You haven't spoken since we left the citadel."

He exhaled slowly. "We won, didn't we?"

She folded her arms. "If you count surviving as winning."

Li Wei turned to face her, the cracks in his skin glinting like shattered stardust. "We stopped the Eleventh Core from falling into Elysium's hands. But at what cost?" His gaze flickered toward the med-bay doors. Behind them, Aria lay unconscious, her life tethered to the ship's failing medical systems.

Kara sighed. "We knew this would be a war. And we're still standing."

"Barely." He clenched his fists, the spear shards embedded in his chest flaring for a brief moment. "The cores are waking up, Kara. The Prisoner's influence is growing. I feel it… inside me."

She frowned. "Then we stop it before it takes hold."

A crackling transmission interrupted them, static rippling across the comms. The voice was faint, distorted, but unmistakable.

"This is Captain Raze of the Celestial Vanguard. We intercepted a signal from the ruins. You're not alone out there."

Li Wei and Kara exchanged a look. The Celestial Vanguard—once a faction of neutral enforcers—had kept their distance from the core conflicts. If they were reaching out now, it meant trouble.

"Patch them through," Kara ordered.

The holographic display flickered, revealing a rugged man with silver-threaded hair and a scarred face. His eyes, sharp and calculating, met Li Wei's. "You've stirred a storm, Sovereign."

Li Wei's jaw tightened. "We didn't have a choice."

Raze tilted his head. "No one ever does. But your war has drawn attention from something older than the cores."

A chill ran through Li Wei's spine. "What do you mean?"

Raze leaned forward, his voice dropping. "The Wardens. The ones who sealed the Prisoner away the first time. They've returned."

Silence settled over the deck.

Kara's expression hardened. "The Wardens are dead. Their order fell long before the cores went dormant."

"Then explain how we found their ships in the next system over." Raze's gaze darkened. "They're searching for you."

Li Wei's breath hitched. The Wardens—the mythical jailers of the ancient age, those who had forged the original prison—had been little more than legends. If they were truly back, it meant one thing.

The Prisoner's cage was failing faster than they'd feared.

He turned to Kara. "Set course for the Vanguard's coordinates."

She hesitated for only a moment before nodding. "We need answers."

As the Starblade's engines roared to life, Li Wei felt the weight of destiny pressing heavier upon him. The past was catching up, and the war was far from over.