The sun rose over the hidden temple in the Silver Phoenix Empire. In the middle of it all, the Synthesis Loom stood still, and beside it, the crystal sphere of the Runic Cockpit waited.

Jonah and Vanessa walked towards it, their special flight suits making a soft sound as they walked towards the cockpit. They had said all they needed to say last night. Today, there was only the mission.

Seraph and Draven were already there, waiting. They didn't try to give long speeches or cried while saying goodbye. They were soldiers, and this was just what they had to do.

Seraph gave Jonah a sharp nod. It was a gesture that said everything: I trust you and I'm proud of you. Make sure you come back alive.

Draven, however, looked a bit awkward.

"So," he started, his voice a low, deep sound. "Space, huh? Don't get eaten by any moon monsters."

Jonah managed a small smile. "Well, we'll try not to."

"I used to think power was about being the strongest one in the room," Draven said, the words feeling heavy and important. "About having the biggest sword or the toughest shield."

He looked at Jonah, a genuine smile appearing on his face. "You taught me it's about being the one who flies highest." He placed a hand on Jonah's shoulder, a gesture of true brotherhood. "Go give them hell."

"We will," Jonah said, his voice firm.

He and Vanessa looked at their friends one last time, making a silent promise to come back. Then, they climbed into the cockpit.

Hiss. THUNK.

The entrance door to the cockpit closed, and everything became silent. The cool morning air was replaced by the clean, filtered air inside the cockpit and the low buzz of Vanessa's systems. They were alone now, in a tiny bubble of technology, about to be thrown into space.

Vanessa's fingers moved quickly over her control panel, starting up the cockpit. "All systems green," but Jonah noticed how tightly she was gripping her controls. "Ready when you are, Weaver."

Jonah closed his eyes. He reached into his mental workshop. He called its name.

Nomad.

A strange feeling came over them. It felt like the cockpit was sinking into something huge and alive. Through the window of the cockpit, they saw a spinning cloud of purple and blue nebula appear, covering them like a piece of clothing. Nomad's body was forming, its space energy wrapping around their small sphere. They were now inside the creature, acting as pilots inside a living star-ship.

"Bond is stable," Jonah said, his voice a little shaky from the sheer power of it. "We're ready."

Outside, the everything was changing.

Hundreds of the Empire's mages, all dressed in robes, stood in a formation across the valley. They began to chant. It started as a low deep sound, a note that seemed to make the ground shake.

On a high platform, the Empress and Princess Ariana stood with their hands raised. They led the chant, their voices rising above the others, weaving the hundreds of streams of power into one.

The thousands of magic runes carved into the valley's floor began to light up. A soft light came from the ground, growing brighter and brighter. The air buzzed with energy. The ground itself seemed to shake with a deep sound.

Seraph and Draven watched, their faces showing how amazed they were. They were standing at the heart of a magical machine the size of a mountain.

The chant became louder, the combined voices becoming more complicated and powerful. The seperate lights of the runes joined together, turning the entire valley into a bright bowl of pure, white-gold energy. All that power flowed inwards, drawn towards the dark shape floating in the center: Nomad.

Inside, the low humming turned into a very loud roar.

"Energy levels are off the charts!" Vanessa yelled over the noise, her eyes wide. "They're not just powering the ritual, they're pouring it all into Nomad's core!"

Jonah gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay focused as the energy surged around him. it was huge wave of pure magic, a force that would have vaporized any other Progeny. But Nomad was born of the stars. It drank the power in, its own inner galaxy spinning faster and faster.

Then, the chant reached its peak.

The Empress and Ariana brought their hands down in a single, sharp motion.

A huge beam of white-gold energy came out from the ground. It hit Nomad with a sound that was felt more than heard, a deep, ground shaking BOOM.

The force slammed Jonah and Vanessa hard against their seats. The force was huge and crushing. It felt like a giant was trying to smash them flat. Outside their viewer, the world became just a blur of fast-moving light. The cockpit's alarms all went off at once, making a terrifying sound of ripping metal and systems struggling to hold up.

"Hold on!" Vanessa shouted, her hands moving fast across her console, trying to stabilize them.

Jonah could do nothing but grip his controls tight. He focused all his will on his connection with Nomad, trying to hold the Progeny from tearing apart as it was forced away from the world.

From the ground, Seraph and Draven covered their eyes against the blinding which was now a bright, blazing star, fly upwards at a speed that didn't seem possible. It was a man-made comet, a bullet of light and hope fired into space.

It went up, faster and faster, getting smaller from the size of the sun to a star, and then from a star to just a tiny spark.

Then, it vanished instantly.

The pillar of light disappeared. The humming of the runes faded. The chant of the mages went silent.

Seraph and Draven stood alone in the quiet valley, looking up at the endless blue sky

They had done it. They had taken off.

Jonah and Vanessa were now in space. The journey was over. And the war was about to start.

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