The air ihan's docked hover truck felt cooler than the desert sands he had left behind, but it wasn't much of a fort. The molecur dagger hung at his side, its faintly glowing carvings casting soft patterns of light on the walls of his small makeshift workspace withiruck. He had secured a private dog bay oskirts of Valeris, a quiet space away from the bustling guild hall or the crowded tinas. He ime to think, to uhe yers of mystery surrounding the on he now carried.

  The dagger seemed to hum faintly whenever he touched it, a subtle vibration that resonated with something deep inside him. Etha carefully on a metal workbench, its glow refleg off the worn tools and datapads scattered around.

  Iris's voice broke the silence, cool and ical as always. "eng molecur analysis. Please stand by."

  Ethan leaned back against his chair, crossing his arms as he watched the ser embedded iruck's ceiling sweep a beam of light over the dagger. The glow of the carvings intensified slightly, as though responding to the intrusion.

  "Any initial readings?" Ethan asked, his voice low.

  "Preliminary ss indicate the material's molecur structure is unlike anything in my database," Iris replied. "It possesses a level of density and resilience far surpassing ventional alloys used in onry. This on would be capable of cutting through most known materials with minimal resistance."

  Ethan frowned, leaning forward. "That's not surprising. But you tell where it came from? Or how old it is?"

  "ive," Iris said. "There are no isotopic markers or manufacturing signatures to trace its in. However, the carvings on the bde may hold cultural or historical significe. Cross-refereng with known symbols across the Orion Federation's historical archives."

  Ethan watched as Iris dispyed various a symbols on a small holographic s. Most bore no resembo the dagger's carvings, but a few shared faint simirities ts associated with long-lost civilizations.

  "This isn't getting us anywhere," Ethan muttered, rubbing his temples. "All I've got is a on that's probably worth more than a starship, and no idea why it was buried in a ruin in the middle of nowhere."

  Iris chimed in again. "Molecur ons are exceedingly rare across the gaxy. Their stru requires advaeology typically restricted to the wealthiest noble houses or powerful militaristic fas."

  Ethan raised an eyebrow. "You're saying this thing could've been made for someone… important?"

  "Correct," Iris replied. "Possibly a royal or military elite. Such ons are symbols of both status and unmatched lethality. It is highly unusual for oo be found abandoned, particurly in a setting like Kynara."

  Ethan leaned over the dagger, his firag the glowing carvings. "Why here? Why now? The ruins, the stranger… none of this makes sense."

  He paused, sidering Iris's earlier ss. "What about its e to the Syndicate? Could this dagger have something to do with that mind-trol alloy?"

  "The possibility exists," Iris admitted. "The mind-trol alloy's properties, both psychid physical, are still not fully uood. However, the energy resonating from this dagger shares a faint simirity with the alloy's psychic signatures."

  Ethan's jaw tightened. "So the Syndicate might already know about this pce. Or they're trying to replicate whatever teology made this dagger."

  The thought chilled him. The Syndicate's experiments had already created terror on Kynara. If they could reverse-engineer something as advanced as this dagger, the sequences would be catastrophic.

  The memory of the ruins lingered ihan's mind. The glowing carvings, the eerie psychic resonance, and the stranger who had guided him to the on.

  "Who was that guy?" Ethan muttered aloud. "The pale stranger… he kly where the dagger was. And he knew what I'd find in those ruins."

  Iris, uo provide input on something so abstract, remained silehan sighed and leaned ba his chair, staring at the dagger. He thought about the fleeting visions he'd seen in the ruins, images of a civilization that had ohrived, its people wielding incredible psychic powers. They had created wonders and fought battles with teology Ethan could barely prehend.

  Yet they had fallen. To what, Ethan couldn't say, but the sense edy in those visions was undeniable. The dagger felt like the st remnant of their legacy, a tool or oed for a purpose long fotten.

  "Was this meant for me?" Ethan asked quietly, almost to himself. "Or am I just… some guy who stumbled into the wrong ruins?"

  The doubts swirled in his mind, but they didn't st lohan shook his head, banishing the thought. Whether fate had led him to the dagger or it had been mere ce, the fact remaihat he had it now. And he would use it.

  "This dagger isn't just a relic," Ethan said firmly, standing up. "It's a on. And if it help me cut down the Syndicate and their warlords, then that's exactly what I'll do."

  Iris responded in her usual even tone. "Analysis suggests that the dagger's capabilities extend beyond ventional onry. Further testing and training are reeo ensure safe and effective use."

  Ethan smirked faintly. "Safe and effective, huh? Doesn't sound like the kind of thing I've been dealing with tely."

  He picked up the dagger, feeling its weight in his hand. Despite its pact size, it felt impossibly banced, as though it were aension of his own body. The carvings glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.

  "Yoing to be useful," Ethan said softly, gripping the bde. "I feel it."

  Ethan leaned against the wall of the hover truck. He pulled out his personal information tablet, its sleek surface lighting up at his touch. With a few swipes, he navigated to a folder tucked away in the er of its interface.

  There it was: a photograph from months ago, taken at Nara's . The s dispyed Dax, Leena, Rourke, Kara, and himself seated around one of the tina's battered tables. They were ughing, their faces flushed with the excitement of victory after pleting one of their earlier missions together. Nara had insisted on taking the picture, calling it a "keepsake for mercs who ayed still long enough to make memories."

  Ethan stared at the image for a long moment. Leena's bright grin, Dax's lopsided smirk, Kara's wry expression, and Rourke's gruff but amused face. It all felt like a lifetime ago. He swiped his thumb across the s, enrging their faces one by ohese four were his first friends in this new world, at a time whehi him on edge.

  "Dax, Leena…" Ethan's voice was barely above a whisper. "I couldn't protect you. But I'll make it t, I swear."

  He closed the tablet, the image fading bato the darkness of the truck.

  The weight of the past few weeks pressed down on him. The battles, the losses, the mysterious stranger, and the ruins. It was all too much to process at once. But Ethahere was no time to dwell on it. The Syndicate was still out there, strohan ever, and Kynara's people were ting on the coalition to finish what they had started.

  As night fell, Ethan stepped outside the hover truck to gaze at the cityscape of Valeris. The bright lights of the city felt both distant and f, a reminder of what they were fighting to protect.

  The dagger hung at his side, its glow faint but ever-presehan tightened his grip on its hilt, feeling a renewed sense of purpose.

  "Tomorrow," he said to himself. "We keep fighting."