Varik Juno

Log Entry 3162.10.30 Situation Summary: Engineering Sector 04-A is under Hive assault. Power fluctuations persist across secondary conduits. Lira Voss and a stowaway survivor, later identified as Nyssa Vey, have reached Chief Engineer Varik Juno to deliver urgent data concerning the Dead Man Signal and its potential catastrophic effects on the ISS Vigilant Dawn’s reactor systems. Moments after relaying the message, Hive infiltration compromised Engineering containment. --- Chapter XXXIX — Varik Juno The low thrum of the engines had become a rhythm of dread—steady, fragile, too alive. Varik barely looked up when the side hatch sealed behind Lira Voss and the blue-skinned scavenger who shadowed her. Relief flickered across his face only for a moment before the urgency in her eyes cut through the static haze of exhaustion. “The signal’s active,” she said, voice trembling. “If the reactor chain syncs with it—Eretheon-6 will take us with it.” He froze. Every part of him, every instinct born from a lifetime of service, knew what that meant. “The Captain…” “She made the call,” Lira whispered, and then—motion. A blur of movement at the periphery. A rasping growl. The hiss of torn metal. The Hive grunt lunged from behind a coolant conduit, its limbs distended and slick with synthetic oil and blood. Lira barely turned before its claws found her throat. Nyssa screamed. Varik moved. Plasma cutter in hand, he buried its beam deep into the creature’s chest, the smell of burning flesh and ozone filling the air. It shrieked, body spasming as Hive filaments recoiled, snapping and curling into the dark. “Seal the bulkhead!” Varik shouted, dragging Lira’s body aside, his voice raw. He hit the manual controls—locks jammed. Sparks spat from the control board. The Hive behind the door were coming. Nyssa’s eyes darted between systems, mind already racing. “That damaged corridor—the one sealed from the pirate hit—if we vent it…”