Star-Lore

"Hey!" a voice crackled over the squad comms. It was another soldier, standing by a floating cargo sled loaded with ancient, broken stone carvings. "What the hell are you two doing? Playing hide-and-seek with shadows?"

"There was a man!" the first searching soldier shouted back. His voice was tense and shaky. "An old man! He was right here sitting on this slab! His leg was rotting! He spoke to us and then he just… disappeared!"

"Disappeared?" the soldier near the sled let out a dry laugh. "Vacuum's messing with your brains. We scanned this entire site twice. No signs of life just us and the rocks."

"He was right here!" the second searcher snapped, aiming his light at the slab. The grey dust was still disturbed, the faint shape of a seated figure clearly pressed into it. "Look! The print! He was sitting there! His suit was torn, and he kept saying someone was coming for him!"

A third voice joined the channel, low and tired. Another soldier nearby, leaning on his rifle. "You been on Jaya's Moon too long," he muttered. "Everyone stationed here starts seeing stuff eventually. Whispers in the comms. Shadows where there's nothing. Some folks say the temple's cursed haunted by the gods it was built for."

He glanced toward the shattered ruins, where crumbling arches framed a cold black sky full of frozen stars. Strange symbols still clung to the stone circles within circles, spirals, star-maps carved long before any known empire.

"They say if you stay too long, you feel this strange… peace. A stillness. Like the place is watching you. Some call it a blessing." He paused, then added, "Maybe you saw a ghost."

"It wasn't a ghost!" the first soldier almost shouted. "He was real! His leg was black! The smell came through our suit filters! That doesn't happen with a hallucination!"

And then a new voice cut through the comms. Sharp. Cold. Commanding.

"Report."

All of them froze.

Their helmet lights snapped toward the voice instantly.

Standing at the edge of the shattered altar platform was

"Commander Meglon."

One of the Four Commanders of Sovereign Federation

His armor matched theirs the same grey-white plating of the Sovereign Federation but somehow his presence made it seem darker, more dangerous. Colder. His mirrored helmet reflected the ruins, the soldiers, the empty slab but gave nothing away. No eyes. No expression.

He hadn't walked into view. He had simply appeared, like a shadow that had always been there, unnoticed until now. The air even though there was no air felt heavier with him in it.

The squad leader stiffened at once and snapped a salute. "Commander! Sir! These two" he gestured at the panicked soldiers, "claim they found an old survivor here. Human male. Sitting on that stone slab. He vanished just moments ago."

Commander Meglon didn't speak for several seconds. He remained still, visor fixed on the two shaken soldiers.

Commander Meglon didn't look at the empty stone slab. He didn't even glance at the two nervous soldiers. The missing old man didn't seem to matter to him at all.

His voice came through the comms cold, calm, and commanding.

"Doesn't matter," he said flatly. "Stay focused. Keep clearing the site. We leave for Panda Planet in 48 hours. Get it done. Now."

No one questioned him.

The soldiers quickly turned away from the stone platform. Their helmets dipped in silent nods, and they went back to work. No one spoke of the old man again. They acted like he had never been there. As if he had melted into the dust and wind like a forgotten dream.

Meglon turned and walked away from the ruined altar, moving alone across the dead moon.

His heavy boots pressed into the soft, grey powder of Jaya's Moon with each step. No sound echoed, only the dull crunch of dust underfoot — but in the airless silence, even that was swallowed. He passed jagged rocks, broken pillars, and shattered ruins, all half-buried in moon dust. Bits of ancient stone carvings lay cracked and scattered.

Finally, Meglon stopped. All He saw was, The Planet Jaya down the moon..