Gravitational tremors rippled through the void. Lon Nyoe’s core pulsed with immediate alarm as a colossal shadow emerged from the cosmic dark, growing larger with terrifying speed. A rogue proto-planet hurtled directly toward him, its massive form wrapped in storms of molten debris and crackling arcs of primordial lightning. Its sheer scale dwarfed his own nascent world. Jagged mountains rotated across its unstable surface while rivers of magma split its crust apart in glowing fractures. Entire layers shifted violently beneath the pressure of incomplete formation. Impact would mean annihilation. Instinct surged through Lon Nyoe instantly. Energy flooded through the newly constructed nexus within his core, racing along crystalline conduits of condensed starlight. His internal systems roared to life as gravitational pulses erupted outward in rapid succession. Invisible waves of force slammed into the incoming proto-planet. Space distorted. The void itself bent beneath the pressure. For a moment, the massive body shifted slightly off course. Hope flickered. Then vanished. The proto-planet’s momentum was simply too immense. It continued forward relentlessly, crushing through his gravitational interference like an avalanche breaking through mist. Its expanding pull already tugged at Lon Nyoe’s outer layers, stripping loose matter from his incomplete crust. Frustration hardened into cold fury. The memory of destruction surged through him again—the shattered world from his recovered past, ripped apart by forces beyond resistance. Never again. He abandoned deflection immediately. Only one option remained. Absorption. Dangerous. Potentially fatal. But necessary. A tendril burst from his core. Not energy alone, but condensed proto-matter infused with gravitational force and consuming intent. It stretched across the void like a spear forged from his will, racing toward the incoming titan. The rogue proto-planet churned violently as the tendril approached. Lightning exploded across molten continents while entire mountain ranges collapsed inward beneath unstable tectonic pressure. Then— contact. Agony detonated through Lon Nyoe’s consciousness. The tendril pierced the proto-planet’s outer crust and sank into boiling layers of magma and compressed plasma. Violent backlash surged instantly through the connection, threatening to tear his extension apart molecule by molecule. His core convulsed under the strain. But he held. The tendril anchored deeper. Lon Nyoe pulled. The void warped between them as opposing gravitational forces collided head-on. Space twisted around the tether connecting the two planetary bodies while enormous stress fractures spread across the rogue planet’s unstable surface. Still it resisted. Its inertia was monstrous. Its mass overwhelming. For the first time since his rebirth, Lon Nyoe felt truly small. He drew deeper upon the countless fragments he had consumed. Echoes of dying stars. The rage of collapsing entities. Ancient instincts of survival and predation. Every absorbed fragment poured into the effort. The tendril thickened, glowing brighter as concentrated gravity compressed around the impact site. A localized singularity formed briefly, crushing entire sections of the proto-planet inward. The surface began to crack. Fissures spread rapidly across molten continents while rivers of magma erupted into open space. Entire sections collapsed beneath the force of his pull. Absorption had begun. Slowly. Painfully. But it was working. The proto-planet groaned like a dying god. Lon Nyoe pushed harder. He widened the singularity. His conduits screamed under the stress as impossible quantities of energy surged through the nexus. The rogue planet’s crust buckled violently, entire layers peeling away toward him in burning fragments. Then something changed. A new vibration emerged from deep within the proto-planet’s core. High-pitched. Sharp. Alive. Lon Nyoe froze. The sound did not carry the chaos of collapsing matter. It carried intent. The proto-planet split apart suddenly. Not into debris— but outward. A blinding fracture erupted through its center as molten layers exploded away from an awakening presence buried deep inside the rogue world. Something crystalline emerged from the collapsing core. Massive. Radiant. Alive. Its body resembled jagged shards of translucent crystal fused around a nucleus of burning white energy. Geometric fractures pulsed across its surface like veins filled with liquid light while gravitational distortions bent unnaturally around it. It unfolded slowly from the dying proto-planet like a creature shedding a shell. And then Lon Nyoe understood the horrifying truth. The rogue planet had never been the threat. It had been an egg. The crystalline entity turned toward him. Hostile intent exploded outward like a supernova. The tether connecting them snapped instantly as overwhelming force surged through the void. Lon Nyoe’s tendril vaporized under the pressure while his entire planetary body shook violently from the backlash. The entity moved. Fast. Far faster than something of its size should have been capable of moving. It crossed the distance between them in seconds, crystalline limbs unfolding into massive blade-like structures that carved distortions through space itself. Lon Nyoe’s calculations spiraled into chaos. This was different from the Maelstrom. Different from scavengers. Different from cosmic phenomena. This was a living predator. And for the first time since his rebirth— Lon Nyoe realized he was about to face an enemy that could fight back.

Chapter 10: Collision Course