[Cathedral, Workshop]

Pahanin and Void walked across the hall, heaps of trinkets and gadgets were scattered across the floor.

Void felt intrigued as his eyes darted around. However a second later he furrowed his brows.

'They're all broken or damaged.' He sighed, slightly disappointed.

"Here."

Suddenly, Pahanin threw him a helmet.

"Hmm? This is ?" Void inspected closely, as he grabbed the sleek headpiece.

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Anti-Extinction Mask (Helmet) [Reforged]

Rank: Legendary

""Let us describe the art of mapping a dream. First, all former dreams must be crushed. This makes the ink with which we draw."- ????

Perks:

Heavy Armor: Improved Resilience

Restorative: Increases Health Recovery

Atmospheric Disruptor: Allows disruption of toxic atmospheric gases

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"Take it, your armor filters won't hold up." He chimed and continued to rummage through his workshop.

Void nodded, and switched out his gear. He sucked a quick breath in, feeling refreshed.

'The improved Resilience is definitely active'

"Did you make everything in here?" Void began looking around once more.

Pahanin nodded, "Centuries of work."

His eyes seemed to shimmer as he recalled those days, but soon snapped back to reality.

Pahanin continued rummaging, as he finally found a few odd looking chips, neatly banded in a small transparent cache.

"What are those?" The case caught Void's eye, and the microchips were quite exquisite.

"Isometric-harmonizers." Pahanin answered, handing one to Void.

Void questioningly stared at the chip in his palms, as he saw Pahanin gesture towards his transponder,

He flicked his wrist and clicked open his bracelet, adding the chip into an empty slot.

Void did the same as he felt a sudden influx of static flush his ears. But a second later, a beep sounded.

Pahanin tapped his wrist lightly, and Void felt the vibrations resound in his ears.

"Woah, these are way better than the City's comms."

"Yes, emp-resistant." Pahanin was quick to reply, almost reveling in his own inventions.

Void looked around at the piles of trinkets, "Neat. Do we have any other gadgets to take?"

" Just one more." Pahanin answered as he carefully pulled out another dusty cache from the pile.

Void's keen eyes caught on, as Pahanin opened it to reveal more intricately packed chip modules.

"GPS-Node. You will always see where we are." He threw one to Void.

"Obsidian" Void called out as Obsidian appeared and quickly copied the node data to a backup and linked the chip to his visor.

Void inserted the chip into his bracelet as Pahanin closed the cache. The two made their way back to the control room as they saw Kabr striding out.

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"Are you ready?"

Kabr's seemed irritated as he quipped.

"Good to go." Pahanin tossed him the two chips as Kabr swiftly inserted them into his transponder.

Void nodded, as Kabr lead them outside, three jumpships hovered closer and a moment later their figures disappeared inside.

Void swiftly brought maneuvered the ship as Obsidian appeared beside him. The sonic engines blasted as they shot through the horizon, in line with Kabr and Pahanin.

A static sound buzzed as Kabr's voice resounded.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"Ok. Follow my lead, we'll shoot towards the minor asteroid belt and warp from there." Kabr's ship launched across the stratosphere as streaks of light lingered behind.

"Affirmative." Void answered, as he sucked in a breath and went full throttle. A shockwave reverberated through the skies as the three ships exited earth's atmosphere.

"Preparing for warp. I've sent you the coordinates." Kabr chimed in, as his warp drive activated.

The space ahead began to twist, as a slight whirlpool formed and Kabr's ship accelerated inside, disappearing from view.

Pahanin was the next to follow, plunging into the wormhole.

Void felt slightly nervous as he blasted forwards into his first jump.

His ship entered the wormhole. For a few seconds, the world had stopped for Void. Gravity fluctuated as an extreme load burdened his body, yet he felt light as a feather.

'F***' Void squeezed his steering tighter,

The horizon outside twisted into itself, colors previously impossible seemed to emerge, as light itself raced alongside him. Then, a sudden crack propagated as space unfurled.

He took it as his signal and steered closer, it took him in and spit him out to the other side. A jolt ran through his ship

"That was...amazing" Void took a deep breath as he saw the red planet in view.

A few jumbled words resounded in his ears as the signal attuned.

"Void, follow my lead, we'll orbit the planet at hyper-speeds until the orb gives a reaction." Kabr announced. His ship steering into view.

"Alright."

The fireteam circled around until Kabr felt a slight deviation in the shards position.

"Change trajectory, eastern side. Follow me."

All three ships zoomed towards the eastern hemisphere of Mars. Kabr held the orb tight as the shard began spinning, ultimately pointing downwards.

"The shard is directing us here. Prepare to land." Kabr ordered. steering downwards.

Void pushed his ship down, "Preparing to transmat, entering land zone in four minutes."

"Affirmative."

The horizon shook as three jumpships pierced through the dense Martian sand clouds, racing towards the surface. Sonic thrusters triggered as the ships hovered to a halt.

Void, Pahanin and Kabr transmatted down, a fierce sandstorm erupted, dusty plumes hung in the air, hindering all vision. The red rocky surface of Mars churned under their steps.

Kabr scoured the area, "Mission Log #001, establishing ground zero, scouting peripherals, over and out."

"The dust is too heavy, my sensors are clogged." Void fidgeted with his Visor but his radar seemed to glitch.

An eerie sensation permeated through, "The shard is reacting. We are not far. Keep your guards up" Kabr clutched the orb putting it safely in his pocket.

His words seemed to stiffen the air, as Void and Pahanin pulled out their rifles.

Kabr glanced at Pahanin , "Set up the network array, make sure we're transmitting to the city."

"I will stand guard and secure the perimeter. Void yo-"

Void switched over to his sidearm, "Scout out the area? I am already on it."

"Good, if you run into anything, transmit first. Do not engage." Kabr shot him a somber look and Void nodded.

Kabr turned away as he chucked a few trip mines around the area, "Meet us back here in ten."

"You got it."

Void flickered away as his figure turned translucent, blending in like a phantom in the raging dust storm.

'To think the Martian storms would be this fierce', Void felt the howling wind sting through his armor.

He focused his eyes, his pupils turning blue. Void darted around the area at lightning speeds, surveying absolutely everything.

Halting his stride, Void stood at the peak of a rocky cliff, gazing down at the vast Martian desert. Endless red dunes stretched towards the horizon, not a trace of life to be seen.

"Obsidian, find anything?"

"Hmm, according to analysis, everything seems...normal. Far too normal, no energy signatures detected."

"Nothing? The orb definitely reacted around here." He furrowed his brows, gazing with a skeptic eye.

"Reporting, all status normal. No signs of activity." Void pressed near his ear.

".....Affirmative, circle back to camp. We'll move in a group." Kabr replied, slowly a frown appeared on his forehead.

"Roger, moving back soon." Void replied, as he zipped away.

Kabr looked to Pahanin as the city's comms node seemed to have sprang to life.

"Any problems?"

"No, we're transmitting to the city. All signals are normal."

Kabr glanced at the orb with curious eyes. However, he knew better than to question Praedyth's device.

A gust of wind flushed the camp as Void entered the perimeter his cape fluttering and steps heavy.

Pahanin and Kabr shared a glance.

"How's it looking outside?" Kabr asked shuffling around the node.

"The dust is bad, but it's nothing serious. We should probably gather the others and start searching."

Kabr felt a faint smirk tug on his lips as he turned towards Pahanin.

"Yeah, we're setting up the comms relay now, the reserve team should be here soon."

"Did you already setup the satellite?"

Pahanin dusted himself off as he stood up, "No."

"No need to worry. Void, you reckon you could put down this node for us on a mountain nearby?" Kabr reached into his pocket as he pulled out the orb.

Void scratched his head, "Yeah, that'll be easy don't worry about it."

Kabr's eyes lingered on the shard, "Thanks." He chucked the orb to Void, his own hands lingering towards his side.

A second later, it fell into Voids palm.

Pahanin and Kabr locked eyes, as Void looked strangely at the orb.

And then.....the shard twitched.