“At the very least, you have a good eye,” Vos muttered beside him.

  Malan frowned, trying to gather himself after the onslaught of celestial energy he'd sensed from the man above. They had passed through the doors of the hangar, and were now walking behind Kane at a brisk pace, with Tarai walking wordlessly not far behind. The corridor they were currently in was wide and well lit, panelled with gleaming white and stone grey walls, only sporadically dotted with doors that led into other parts of the Nexus.

  “Who—or what—was that?”

  “Come now, you didn't really think your new colleagues wouldn't be just as curious as the public about you, did you?”

  He remained silent. If he was being honest with himself, he really hadn't thought that. He can understand the public's fascination. The Starbound were near mythical in status, and humanity discovered a new one so infrequently that his arrival was certain to be a large event. To the existing Starbound, however, he figured he would just be an uninteresting rookie. That he would have to earn their attention.

  Vos chuckled under his breath. “You are competition to them. Don't ever forget that. It is far too early for me to have a proper read on you, Tanwen,” he said, with knowing emphasis on his Starbound name. “But you had the honour to thank me, even when it was unnecessary, so I will give you that piece of advice. Even if you are dedicated to using your powers for the common good, know that not all of your new colleagues share that desire. To many, a new Starbound is just an additional obstacle along their own path.”

  If Malan had not already met Namhai, or perhaps had he not already grown into somewhat of a realist, that may have sounded like an ominous warning. However, Malan hadn't exactly expected his interactions with the other Starbound to all be smooth sailing. He, perhaps better than almost anybody not already a Starbound, knew perfectly well that they were just people. People with admittedly extraordinary powers, but still just people.

  All Starbound had the capability to perform incredible feats, but incredible as a descriptive had no moral alignment.

  Eventually, they reach the end of the long hallway after passing several patrolling security officers that each nodded respectfully with fists clenched their hearts—ostensibly at all of them, but with particular respect shown to Vos. The door at the end, dark grey and decorated with the image of a large white, gold trimmed shield, bearing upon its surface a blade burning with golden flame. The symbol of the Starbound.

  Kain hesitated before the entrance and turned with a beaming smile on his face, sweeping his arms out in a grandiose gesture.

  “At last, we have arrived,” he said with a tone reminding Malan of a stage performer. “This is the headquarters of humanities Starbound. Here, you have your own quarters, food, drink and attendant's available to cater to your needs. It is here that you can rest and recuperate between your many vital missions on humanity's behalf, whilst also requisitioning any supplies, personnel or assistance you may need to carry out your duties. If you'll just follow me,” he said, before turning back to the door.

  The door slid open, and Malan followed him through, eyes taking in the grand room on the other side.

  He found himself glad once more for his dark visor. His eyes must have been moving at a rate of knots back and forth, trying to take in absolutely everything he could. The room on the other side of the door was a vast circular foyer. Its white marble floor bore an enormous replica of the same shield and flaming sword insignia that was on the door and lining the walls were dozens of gleaming, golden statues polished to a high sheen.

  The first ring of statues on the ground level, with figures of men and women, each clad in ground suits, helmets and visors propped under arms revealing a variety of stern and heroically carved faces. What really took his breath away, was the ring of statues above, somehow suspended in the air against a black drop of black and white marble that gleamed like stars in space. These statues bore the shape of the ships of their famous pilots below.

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  It was a memorial commemorating the most famous Starbound in history, many of which Malan recognised immediately.

  His eyes first found Saren Voskar, the unyielding—the first Starbound in human history to seal an Abyssal Rift. Above him, hung his titanic ship Verdict, a gargantuan construct capable of producing shields of celestial energy that, it was said, could be breached by no known force in the galaxy. Saren had died in the midst of the first Abyssal Incursion, single-handedly sealing a half-dozen rifts whilst being swarmed by the abyss. Instead of using his shield to protect himself, he'd use them to pin the hordes in with him, preventing them from descending to the planet below slaughtering the civilians colonising surface.

  Then, there was Lyara Senne, the first recorded Starbound ever. She had led humanity out into the wider galaxy with her ship Dawnpiercer, a craft that can enhance the flying abilities of the ships that travelled with her. She led the initial exploratory fleet into the great unknown, and it was they that settled the systems now known as the independent systems. Her and Dawnpiercer that had first broken the hold of the powerful conglomerates on some of humanity's most important worlds, paving the way for the UGC to be formed years later after her eventual disappearance.

  Malan could have stayed and stared four hours, picking out individual faces and recalling their achievements. Halric Dain and Parallax, the only Starbound to have sealed an Abyssal Rift from within, never to return; or Jorik Malcairn the Starforged, whose heavily upgraded ship, Hammerfall, led the nascent UGC's defences against Aeternum Holdings, a corporate conglomerate who once attempted to take back power from the UGC by means of military mega constructs known colloquially as titans.

  “Marvellous, aren't they?” Kain said from beside him, gazing up at the statues with just as much open eyed wonder as Malan was from beneath his visor. “Examples to live up to for certain. If you wish, we can begin our tour of your new home with a stroll through the hall of records. Within are a great many relics and historical documents, including surviving first person accounts of many of your predecessors. If it is of interest to you, I can –”

  “The tour can wait,” Vos cut in sharply. “We have a duty to attend to.”

  Kain's mouth twisted sourly before he quickly forced another ingratiating smile to appear. “Quite right, quite right. Straight ahead it is then. To the Hall of Solemnity.”

  The door that Kain indicated was smaller than the other five spaced evenly around the circular room they were in, and was more plain than any. Despite this, the mood around their small group had suddenly sharpened, the air grown more tense. As keen as Vos was on the surface to attend to this duty, something about it clearly had him on edge as jaw muscles flexed silently upon the side of his face, and even Kain had been able to keep that smile on his face for more than a few steps towards the door.

  Malan looked back at Tarai, but she shook her head, equally as lost as he. Almost subconsciously, he found himself siphoning celestial power towards his gauntlets, making them ready for use at any moment.

  They followed the pair cautiously into the room, only to find it modestly sized, and incredibly plain save for a small central stand that held a control rod not unlike the ones he used to fly Tanwen. He hesitated just inside the doorway, even as it slid shut behind them, locks clicking into place.

  “Why are we here?” Malan asked, muscles tight, ready to explode into motion at even the slightest provocation.

  Kain’s eyes slid significantly to Vos, who rolled his eyes in vague disdain, before walking to the central dais, hands clasped behind his back.

  “This room is called the Hall of Solemnity on the outside. To the attendants it is a place accesible only to the higher echelon of UGC and Nexus officials, and the Starbound themselves. A place to meditate or rest in total solitude without interruption.”

  “Quite the number of rumours exist—some of the more fanciful of the staff whisper to each other that it is a source of Starbound power. Preposterous, of course, but far better than knowing the truth. This room in particular is the reason the Starbound wing is located here in the first place—the reason that the UGC Command and the Nexus Archives flank it, in fact,” Kain added, more solemn and genuine than he had seemed the entire time they’d been together.

  “Its real name is the Hall of Severance,” Vos continued, laying his hand gently upon the control arm and fixed Malan with a cold, weighing stare as the magnitude of the word ‘severance’ reverberated through Malan’s mind. “And it is the only place in the knwon Galaxy that the bond between a Starbound and its Pilot can be severed by anything besides death.”