Chapter 377: Origin story
Chapter 377: Origin story
The training room felt suffocating in the silence that followed Lucas’s admission. His teammates stared at him with expressions ranging from confusion to outright shock. The holographic training systems had powered down, leaving them in the sterile white light of the room’s basic illumination.
“Your family owns a star system,” Sophie repeated slowly, as if saying the words again might make them make sense. “Like… actually owns it?”
Lucas nodded, his grip tightening on the envelope. “Three planets, two asteroid mining operations, and yes, a private military force that’s been fighting Harbingers for over two centuries.”
“Two centuries?” Diana’s voice was sharp with disbelief. “That’s impossible. Harbingers only arrived on Earth nearly a century ago when the seed crashed into our core.”
“No,” Lucas said quietly. “That’s when they arrived on Earth. But you know they’ve been moving through the galaxy much longer than that.”
He moved to the center of the training room, his expression growing distant as he prepared to explain something he’d clearly never intended to share.
“Every planet has a core,” he began, his voice taking on the cadence of someone reciting a story told many times. “That core contains residual energy that keeps the planet alive. What Earth discovered ninety-three years ago with the seed crash, my ancestors discovered fragments of void energy thousands of years ago.”
Noah leaned forward, his interest clearly piqued. “Your ancestors?”
“Seven original humans, back in the cave dwelling days. During a meteor shower that unearthed energy from Earth’s core—void energy, though they didn’t call it that then. My family was one of those seven bloodlines.” Lucas’s jaw tightened. “They gained tremendous power from exposure to that energy. Power that changed them fundamentally.”
“Changed them how?” Lyra asked, her analytical mind already working through the implications.
“Enhanced abilities, extended lifespans, deeper connections to the energy that flows through every planet. But this was during humanity’s early civilization. And back then the original families believed their powers came from the stars,”