The ship ruptured at 30,000 meters, its hull screaming like a blade through flesh. Captain Mara Voss gripped the controls, her knuckles white as the altimeter spun. Below, Virelia’s surface loomed—a sapphire expanse flecked with obsidian scars. The mist clung to the terrain like a living thing, curling around jagged spires that pierced the sky. “We’re not going down,” Engineer Rho muttered, his voice tight. “We’re falling.” The ship shuddered, metal groaning. Mara’s boots pressed into the floor as she leaned forward. “Brace,” she said, but the word was already lost in the roar of failing engines. The crash was a thunderclap. When the dust settled, the crew lay sprawled in the wreckage, their breaths ragged. The air here tasted metallic, like rust and static. Biologist Tessa Kael knelt, her gloved hand brushing the ground. “This isn’t soil,” she said. “It’s… crystallized carbon.” Rho kicked at a shard, and it shattered into dust. “We’re not on a planet,” he said. “We’re on a corpse.” The mist thickened, swallowing the wreckage. Mara stood, her boots crunching on debris. “We find the comms array,” she said. “Then we get the hell out.” Tessa hesitated, her eyes fixed on the horizon. “There’s something out there.” A low hum vibrated through the ground. Rho’s hand went to his sidearm. “What the hell is that?” The mist parted, revealing a structure—massive, angular, half-buried in the sapphire terrain. It pulsed faintly, as if breathing. Mara’s pulse quickened. “That’s not natural.” Tessa stepped closer, her voice hushed. “It’s… organic.” The structure’s surface rippled, like a wound healing. Rho raised his weapon. “We don’t know what it is.” “We don’t have a choice,” Mara said. “If it’s alive, it’s got the same instincts we do—survival.” The hum grew louder. Tessa’s hand hovered over her scanner. “It’s emitting a signal.” Mara grabbed her arm. “Don’t touch it.” But Tessa pulled free, her fingers brushing the structure. A jolt of energy surged through her, and she gasped. The mist around them thickened, coalescing into shapes—humanoid, featureless, their limbs elongated like shadows. Rho fired. The bullets passed through the figures as if they were smoke. “What the hell?” he shouted. The figures didn’t react. They simply stood, silent and still, their heads tilted toward the structure. Mara’s mind raced. “They’re not attacking,” she said. “They’re… waiting.” Tessa stumbled back, her breath ragged. “It’s a beacon. It’s calling them.” The ground trembled. The structure’s pulse quickened, and the mist began to swirl, forming a vortex that spiraled upward. Rho’s voice was barely audible over the rising hum. “We need to move. Now.” Mara nodded, her eyes locked on the vortex. “Back to the ship. If we can’t fix the comms, we’ll have to outrun it.” They ran, their boots slapping against the sapphire ground. The figures followed, their movements eerily synchronized. Tessa glanced over her shoulder. “They’re not chasing us.” “Then what are they doing?” Rho panted. “They’re… guiding us.” The ship’s wreckage lay ahead, half-buried in the mist. Mara reached it first, her fingers brushing the dented hull. “It’s still functional,” she said. “But the array’s damaged.” Tessa knelt, her hands trembling as she scanned the structure. “It’s not just a beacon. It’s a… transmission hub.” The hum swelled, and the mist around them solidified into a wall of light. Rho’s weapon slipped from his grip. “We’re out of time.” Mara grabbed Tessa’s arm. “Get inside.” They scrambled into the ship, the hatch slamming behind them. The engine roared to life, but the comms array flickered, its screen blank. Tessa slammed her fist against it. “It’s jammed!” Mara’s jaw tightened. “Then we take the ship and fly through the storm.” Rho stared at the viewport. “You’re insane.” “We don’t have a choice,” she said. The ship lurched as the vortex expanded, its light engulfing the terrain. The figures stood motionless, their forms dissolving into the mist. Tessa’s voice was barely a whisper. “They’re not following us. They’re leaving.” The ship’s engines screamed as Mara pushed the throttle to maximum. The sapphire ground blurred beneath them, the mist swirling in a cyclone of light. As they broke free, the structure vanished, swallowed by the vortex. The comms array crackled, and a voice echoed through the cabin—deep, resonant, and alien. “You have seen the truth. Do not return.” The ship shuddered, and the viewport filled with stars. Tessa stared at the empty void. “What do we do now?” Mara’s hands tightened on the controls. “We find out what they meant.” The ship drifted into the dark, its engines humming softly. Somewhere in the distance, a new star blinked to life.
