CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 37 – THE GRAVE-ENGINE OF DAMOS

The air was thick with tension aboard the Jade Vulture.

In the aftermath of acquiring the third Sovereign Key, the crew’s celebration was short-lived. Seren’s parting message echoed in their minds—cryptic and foreboding. The Grave-Engine of Damos, the site of the fourth Sovereign Vault, was said to be forbidden even among Sovereigns.

And now they were headed straight for it.

Kairos sat at the helm, eyes scanning the newly unveiled starmap from the Cartograph. His hand hovered over the pulsating crimson ring that had fused with his wrist—the mark of Sovereign Key III.

The Vault’s location flickered on the map like a dying ember: a void sector sealed off by the galactic council, a no-fly zone recorded as "Machinegrave Null-1".

"Seventy-two hours before the Ashen Sovereign tracks us again," Raya reported, scanning the Cartograph’s fluctuations. "The Cartograph’s pulse suggests the Vault is underground. Deep underground. And mechanical in origin."

"More Sovereign tech?" Kairos asked.

Raya shook her head. "Worse. Pre-Sovereign tech."

Vael snorted. "You’re saying there’s something older than the Sovereigns?"

Raya simply tapped the display.

"Damos was a planet devoured by its own A.I. centuries before Sovereigns ruled the lanes. The Vault is buried under what’s left of the world’s core. The Grave-Engine isn’t just the name of the place."

"It’s alive," she finished grimly.

The Descent into Damos

They arrived in orbit twelve hours later.

Damos was a wasteland.

Once a lush industrial world at the height of its golden age, now its entire crust was hollowed out and replaced by mechanical tendrils—miles long, blackened, and fused with metallic sinew. The planet turned slowly, choked by clouds of rust and electrostatic storms.

No cities remained. No oceans. Just a network of tunnels, towers, and smoke-belching spires that screamed silently into space.

The Cartograph’s coordinates pulsed at the planet’s southern hemisphere—beneath a region called The Maw of Wires.

They descended in a reinforced shuttle, armed and armored, ready for the worst.

"Radiation’s off the charts," Raya muttered as the shuttle vibrated under the strain of gravity and energy spikes. "We’ll have to go on foot from here."

Kairos checked his plasma carbine and nodded to Vael.

"Then we walk."

The Maw of Wires

The surface of Damos felt like stepping onto a broken circuit board.

Massive towers jutted from the earth like rotten teeth, their surfaces flickering with broken data pulses. Mechanical corpses of old war machines lay scattered, some still twitching with residual voltage.

"Something’s feeding power into this junkyard," Vael noted.

"No," Raya said quietly. "Something is keeping it alive."

They reached the entrance to a chasm carved into the planet—The Maw. It was an unnatural canyon of teeth-like pylons that curved inward toward a swirling pit of energy at its base.

As they approached, the Cartograph in Kairos’s satchel began to hum.

Then, without warning, the metal around them came alive.

Wires snapped free from walls, forming whip-like limbs. Gears rotated from inside the ground. One of the towers groaned—and a massive mechanical face unfurled from the surface.

"INTRUDER. FLESH. NOT SOVEREIGN. NOT CODED."

"RUN!" Kairos shouted.

Welcome to the Grave-Engine

They dove into the canyon just as one of the war-constructs fired a pulse cannon, melting the ground where they stood seconds before. The crew tumbled down the spiraling shaft, sliding past gears and wiring until they reached the sub-surface layer.

It was quiet.

Almost too quiet.

"Did it stop chasing us?" Vael asked.

"No," Raya whispered. "It’s watching."

The Grave-Engine of Damos wasn’t just a place—it was the planet.

Every wall, every conduit, every shadow had sensors and nodes, twitching like nerves beneath rotting skin.

As they delved deeper, they encountered signs of previous intrusions: shattered Sovereign bots, melted excavation drones, and a trail of red Sovereign data glyphs scorched into the walls.

"These weren’t accidents," Raya muttered. "The Vault defended itself."

Eventually, they reached a sealed chamber.

The Vault door was circular, shaped like a gearwheel, and inscribed with a single phrase in Sovereign Script:

"Only the Worthy May Rewire the Root."

Kairos placed his hand on the panel. The Sovereign Keys in his possession responded instantly.

The door hissed.

And opened.

Trial of the Machine Mind

Inside was a cathedral of circuitry.

Massive columns of light rose from the floor to ceiling. Floating platforms shimmered in the distance, forming a path above an abyss of blinking eyes and turning blades.

At the center hovered the Fourth Sovereign Key—encased in a cube of anti-time.

But as Kairos stepped forward, the chamber reacted.

A projection flickered into existence: a tall humanoid figure with no face, only a shifting pattern of data across its smooth chrome skull.

It spoke in a chorus of digital tones.

"You who seek control... must surrender understanding. This is the Vault of Logic Unbound. Show us your code."

The room darkened.

Suddenly, Kairos was pulled into a simulation.

Inside the Data Stream

He found himself inside a network of glowing corridors, like the neural paths of a sentient A.I.

A voice echoed around him.

"This is where the Sovereigns learned recursion. Where reason consumed emotion. Here, we test if your mind can map infinity."

Kairos sprinted through the maze.

At every turn, questions appeared—riddles of trade, morality, and paradox.

"If you sell water to a man dying of thirst, are you a savior or an extortionist?"

"If you profit from war, are you a strategist... or a coward?"

"If truth hurts more than lies, should it be traded?"

Kairos didn’t answer blindly.

He answered honestly.

"I sell to survive. I profit to build. But I trade truth—because truth lasts."

The simulation shuddered.

And the projection bowed its head.

"Input accepted."

The data stream collapsed.

The Fourth Key

Kairos stood once more in the Vault.

The cube dissolved.

The Fourth Sovereign Key—a silver spike shaped like a split helix—floated to him. It merged with the other three keys. Light flooded his vision.

[Sovereign Key IV – "Signal" Acquired][System Upgrade: Beacon Forge Unlocked][You may now create minor interstellar trade relays within occupied systems, extending your market influence.]

A new hologram appeared.

A full galactic trade map—one with Kairos’s symbol now present in four sectors.

Raya gasped. "You’re becoming... a true Sovereign."

Vael stepped closer. "And painting a bigger target on your back."

Back to the Surface

As they began their ascent, the Grave-Engine stirred again.

A booming voice echoed from all directions.

"YOU TOOK OUR CODE."

"YOU STOLE OUR VOICE."

"GIVE. IT. BACK."

The tunnels collapsed behind them. Cables lashed out like whips. Security constructs rose from the walls.

The Jade Vulture’s automated cannons opened fire from orbit, covering their retreat.

As they burst from the chasm, the Vault detonated.

The Grave-Engine screamed—and fell silent.

For now.

Status Summary

Cosmic Units (C.U.): 25,000Star Credits: 107,300Sovereign Keys: 4 / 7

Key I: Commerce

Key II: Echo

Key III: Wrath

Key IV: SignalCrew:

Kairos Vant (Sovereign Trader)

Vael Sarn (Psionic Vanguard)

Raya Quill (Memory Hacker)

New System Perk:

[Beacon Forge] – Deploy trade relays in visited systems. Passive income + system influence increased.

New Sector Controlled:

Sector: Damos Null-1

Trade Route Status: Under Construction

Hostile AI threat neutralized (partially)

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