Sofia Bennett and Daniel Estevez emerged from the space elevator terminal at Sulawesi Elevator City, stepping into a vibrant swirl of voices, neon guidance strips, and the faint tang of sea air drifting from the waterfront. Only days ago, they'd been on Titan, observing Betelgeuse's fading wave echoes. The brief stopover on Earth felt worlds away already, replaced by the urgent pull of the Federation frontier. Soaring towers and kinetic skyways framed the constant bustle.
They followed corridors lined with translucent paneling, engineered vines coiling overhead in maintained hydroponic beds. Beyond the station's open arches, the Celebes Sea pounded against floating platforms supporting the metropolis. Above, personal flyers wove silent paths, skimming past the immense space elevator spine piercing the cloud-laced sky.
At a junction near a security checkpoint, a Federation liaison waited in an immaculate uniform. "Ms. Bennett, Mr. Estevez," he said with a polite nod, his tone professional. "High Command's ready for your briefing. Please follow me to the shuttle pad." Sofia and Daniel shared a quick glance – the warmth of the tropics already a receding memory against the chill of duty. They fell into step behind him.
They boarded a compact orbital shuttle docked at an elevated pad. During the short hop to Earth's ring station, the liaison—a stern woman with a clipped voice—outlined the core assignment: "Priority mission involving the ISS Cataclysm responding to a distress call near a K-type star system. Your team on the FNS Dawnseeker is assigned to a subsequent coordinated survey of the adjacent supernova corridor sector, Sector A-103. Fleet elements, including the Indomitable, are mobilizing under Commander Laehy and Captain Rourke to secure the region due to instability reports and background chatter regarding unauthorized vessel activity near the corridor edge." Her words hung heavy, confirming the mission's gravity.
"Back towards the corridor already?" Daniel Estevez muttered, eyeing Earth's blue curve receding through the shuttle window. "We just landed from Titan. Was hoping for a few days of solid ground."
Sofia Bennett shot him a half-smirk. "Keep dreaming. If there's a distress call and it's near the corridor, Command won't wait. Besides, those Betelgeuse wave echoes we saw? The whole region's unstable. Flare data is vital out there."
The shuttle clamped into the ring station's concourse, a disciplined swirl of uniforms and logistics drones. A digital board blinked directions to the command briefing; overhead screens showed the Cataclysm hanging in high orbit, its dreadnought frame dwarfing the Indomitable and smaller frigate escorts, its energy shield shimmering faint in the starlight. Sofia felt her pulse kick up—the sheer scale of the operation, the presence of the Cataclysm, felt significant.
In the briefing chamber, they wedged in with other recently arrived personnel around holographic displays flickering with star charts, the Betelgeuse quadrant, and a K-type star system marked with pulsing hazard icons. Commander Nanduri, weathered and blunt, stood at the front, his voice cutting through the room's low hum.
"Alright, listen up. Plans shifted," Nanduri said, tapping a panel. The hologram zoomed onto the K-type star. "Penal hub near this star sent a distress—heavy flares. It's vital for isotopes and comms. Indomitable can't handle the proximity; Cataclysm goes first."
Daniel leaned towards Sofia, whispering low, "Monster ship wrestles a star. Figures."
Nanduri's gaze flicked over, sharp. "Cataclysm's rated for close approach. It jumps first. Mission: Close solar scans, assess stability for the hub, secure the immediate sector." He paused. "Once Cataclysm confirms stability, Scan Group Delta—that's you on the Dawnseeker—jumps to Sector A-103."
Sofia gave a sharp nod, the memory of Titan fresh. "Understood."
"Securing the K-Type hub is phase one," Nanduri continued, gesturing at the corridor's tangled lanes on the display—interference zones, grav-eddies. "Phase two, Dawnseeker group: Your job is scanning A-103 subsectors for anomalies—grav spikes, rad zones, lane instability. Stay alert for unauthorized vessels; intel suggests outlaws use corridor dust for cover out there."
He highlighted the quantum comm system. "Your quantum comm links direct to Cataclysm, bypassing the noise. Use it if threats confirm. Cataclysm holds standby ten thousand AU out—five minutes reinforcement."
He scanned the tense faces. "Timeline: Cataclysm clears Phase 1 in 48 hours. You jump on their signal, split to sectors. Focus on lane integrity, watch for trouble. Stay sharp. Dismissed."
In the corridor outside, Sofia and Daniel stopped by a viewport, Earth's oceans shimmering far below. "K-type star scans first, then A-103 corridor edge..." Sofia let out a slow breath. "Still feels like dancing near the fire."
Daniel shrugged, shoving hands into his pockets. "We've got the quantum link to the 'monster' if those rumored outlaws do show their faces. Muscle helps."
Nanduri's rundown held firm: Cataclysm first to the star, assess, stabilize. Dawnseeker group second, scan the corridor edge, watch for trouble. The pieces were moving, the frontier calling again.
They dodged a pallet of sensor gear, threading toward a console for cabin assignments. A wiry ensign, clipboard in hand, overheard Daniel mention the Cataclysm and perked up, eyes bright. "Heard it's diving sunward soon—science team's begging for a close scan at that K-type star. Must be something, seeing the ship operate that close."
Sofia raised an eyebrow, recalling scraps of chatter. "They say its hull can take extreme heat—magnetic enhancement, toughness rated multiples beyond standard battleship plating. Did they calibration fire that main cannon yet?"
The ensign nodded quick, enthusiasm spilling out. "Last week's calibration shot! Targeted a 1.5km rogue asteroid past the Kuiper drift fence. The Lance struck—just intense white flash saturated sensors, blindingly bright. Afterwards, where the rock had been? Just an expanding cloud of incandescent plasma and scattered fragments. Obliterated. Makes Indomitable's kinetics..." He trailed off, shaking his head again, the comparison stark. "Different scale."
Daniel tipped a nod at the kid, then glanced at Sofia, a half-smile tugging his lip. "That Pluto run right after its deployment wasn't subtle either."
Her brow arched, prodding him. "Pluto? Refresh me—what was the target on that one?"
He leaned in, voice dropping as the memory sharpened. "Deep space telemetry picked up an irregular moonlet near Pluto's resonance point—maybe two kilometers across, mostly ice and rock. Lance's first live-fire system test... Hit it with the main particle beam...." A ripple of acknowledged power passed between them, the scale still immense.
Daniel exhaled, folding his arms. "Good to know it's out there if trouble hits in A-103." He nodded toward a row of fresh-off-the-line scanners, their casings still gleaming. "Won't babysit us forever, though."
Sofia tilted her head, scanning the bustling deck. "Betelgeuse is a mess—half the charts are guesswork, and those gravitational eddies can shift lanes without warning. Still, if any ship's got a shot at securing the corridor, it's that one."
Daniel's grin faded to a thoughtful squint. "Yeah—word is its shield array, scaled up from planetary defense grids designed to deflect asteroid impacts. But it's not just the shields, right? It's foundational. You know standard Federation battleships use that multi-layer armor—specialized plating wrapped in energy fields. They say under fire, it hardens up, maybe hitting three times diamond toughness. Good resilience for cosmic impacts, too. Heard the Cataclysm's hull weave pushes that even further, they integrate structural fields right into the main shield projection. Like the whole frame becomes part of the barrier. And the physical armor plating... deeper, layered thicker than anything else short of a planetary bunker."
He shrugged, a flicker of respect in his tone. "Ten antimatter cores keep that mobile fortress running—fields and materials that strong need immense power, plus cooling systems scaled to match. High Command knew a vessel like that changes the strategic math. Other ships have firepower, but the Cataclysm is the asset you commit when failure isn't an option."
Sofia's jaw tightened, her gaze drifting down the hangar's organized chaos—techs murmuring over equipment checks, crates humming on maglifts. "I'd still prefer tactics over brute force, Daniel. Even with that kind of hull and shielding, Betelgeuse sector anomalies—plenty out there could still catch us off guard."
Before Daniel could reply, a deck officer strode up, his boots ringing on the polished floor. "Bennett, Estevez—Captain Valera wants you at the briefing in two hours," he said, voice clipped. "The Cataclysm's starting its solar scan at the K-type star system. Once it's done in 48 hours, we'll set off for A-103 and link up along the corridor's edge. Might jump to that penal colony after if they need us."
"Got it," Sofia said, locking eyes with Daniel for a split second—a flicker of shared resolve..
The officer gave a sharp nod and moved off, swallowed by the steady hum of preparations—techs hauling gear, overhead lights strobing, air thick with the tang of coolant and alloy polish. Sofia and Daniel stood still for a beat, the Cataclysm's role looming in their thoughts alongside the Betelgeuse frontier's jagged unknowns.
They drifted to an observation window, Earth's ring station filling the view—a lattice of silver arcs studded with docking bays and glowing hubs. Starships darted in tight orbits—some bound for Jupiter's moons, others arcing toward Saturn or frontier outposts, their thrusters flaring against the black. The Cataclysm hung higher, a massive wedge dwarfing the Indomitable and scattered frigates, its energy shield a faint shimmer under the station's lights, poised for its sunward task.
Sofia's brow creased. "That penal colony—what's it called again?"
Daniel shook his head, squinting out the window. "No name yet—just a number, maybe. Nanduri said it's barely a week old, no defenses up. They're yelling for scans on that K-type star—probably scared of flares frying what little they've got."
Sofia drew a slow breath, the ring station's hum vibrating faint through the deck. "Let's hope the Cataclysm's scan clears the way—no surprises," she said, her tone steady but edged with caution.
They split to stash their gear, stealing a last scrap of calm before the mission's demands kicked in. In a couple of days, once the Cataclysm signaled all-clear, the Dawnseeker would break orbit with three other shuttles, heading for the supernova corridor's fringe, plunging deeper into Betelgeuse's half-mapped wilds where flares and anomalies waited in the dark.