The surface of Planet X stretched out before us, a frozen wasteland bathed in the eerie light of the distant sun. Jagged ice formations jutted from the ground like the teeth of some ancient beast, and the air was so cold it seemed to bite at the exposed skin of our faces. But we weren't here to admire the scenery. We had a mission—to uncover the truth about Amara and the artifacts that had turned our world upside down.
The alien structures loomed ahead, a labyrinth of towering spires and shattered domes half-buried in ice and snow. They had a haunting beauty to them, the remnants of a civilization lost to time and space. But as we approached, something caught my eye—metal glinting in the pale light, something that didn't belong among the ruins.
It was a ship.
A sleek, dark vessel lay nestled between two of the massive spires, its hull marked with the emblem of the Terrestrial Empire. The ship was powered down, its lights off, but the sight of it sent a jolt of alarm through my veins. The TE was here, on Planet X, and that could only mean one thing: they were after the artifacts too.
We moved quickly, ducking into the shadows of the ruins, staying out of sight. Amara led the way, her steps guided by an instinct that seemed to come from deep within her, as if she had walked these paths before. The rest of the crew followed in tense silence, our breaths misting in the frigid air.
As we crept closer to the entrance of one of the larger structures, Amara spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "This place… it wasn't always like this. Nibiru was once a world full of life. The skies were clear, the oceans vast, and the cities… they sparkled like jewels in the night. My people, we were explorers, much like you. We sought knowledge, understanding… until—"
She cut herself off abruptly, and I turned to see her eyes widening, her expression suddenly alert. I was about to ask what was wrong when I heard it too—voices, distant but drawing nearer. I held up a hand, signaling the crew to stop, and we all pressed ourselves against the cold stone walls of the ruins.
Amara's glowing eyes flickered with a mix of fear and anger, but she said nothing more, focusing on keeping us hidden. We stayed perfectly still as the voices grew louder, until we could make out the words.
"…infection is limited to Titan. UNE ships destroyed. Search for the artifacts," one of them said, his voice distorted by the comms link.
My blood ran cold. They knew. The TE had somehow learned about what had happened on Titan, about the infection, and they were here to find the very things that had caused it. I glanced at my crew, seeing the same realization reflected in their faces.
"They spied and know everything?" Luca whispered, his voice barely audible.
I nodded grimly. It was the only explanation that made sense. The TE must have intercepted UNE communications or had their own operatives on Titan. They knew about the artifacts, about the chaos they had caused, and now they were here to claim them for themselves.
The voices drew closer still, and I signaled for the crew to follow me as I crept deeper into the shadows. We had to stay ahead of the TE team, find a way to get to the artifacts before they did—or, if necessary, destroy them before anyone could use them. The stakes had never been higher.
We moved carefully, the sound of our footsteps swallowed by the howling wind outside. The interior of the ruins was even colder than the surface, the air heavy with an ancient, foreboding presence. Every so often, I'd catch Amara's expression, and there was a sadness in her eyes, as if she were seeing her world's demise all over again.
We finally reached a massive chamber at the heart of the structure, its walls adorned with strange carvings that seemed to tell a story, one I couldn't begin to understand. In the center of the room was a raised platform, and atop it, bathed in a faint, otherworldly glow, were the artifacts. They looked just as they had in the lab on Titan, but here, in their place of origin, they seemed more alive, more dangerous.
Amara approached the platform slowly, her hand outstretched as if to touch the glowing objects. But before she could, I grabbed her wrist, pulling her back.
"Don't," I whispered harshly. "We don't know what they'll do."
She nodded, pulling her hand back, but her eyes never left the artifacts. "They're not just objects, Mark. They're… memories. My people's memories. They're trying to tell us something, to show us what happened here, so we don't make the same mistakes."
Before I could ask her what she meant, we heard the TE soldiers again, their voices echoing down the corridor. They were close, too close. We had to move, and fast.
"We need to get out of here," I whispered, motioning for the crew to retreat the way we'd come. "We'll find another way to deal with the artifacts later. Right now, we can't let them find us."
But as we turned to leave, the chamber's lights flickered, and the air seemed to hum with energy. The artifacts began to glow brighter, their light pulsing in time with a rhythm I could feel deep in my chest. Amara's eyes reflected that light, her expression one of sorrow and determination.
"It's too late," she said softly. "They're already awake."
The ground beneath us began to shake, and the walls of the chamber groaned as if the ancient structure were coming to life. The TE soldiers' voices rose in alarm, and I could hear them scrambling to reach us.
"We have to go!" I shouted, grabbing Amara's arm and pulling her toward the exit.
But as we fled, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were running not just from the TE, but from something far more ancient and far more dangerous. Something that had been waiting, biding its time in the cold depths of Planet X.
And as we emerged into the icy winds of the surface, I knew that whatever happened next, we were no longer in control. We had awoken something old, something powerful, and it wasn't going to let us go without a fight.