A low groan resonated through the Cataclysm''s bridge deck plates as the ship dropped from quantum space, the frame settling into silence. Outside the main viewport, the void showed sharp. Ahead hung the target planet – a sphere wrapped in thick, churning clouds of rust-red and dirty ochre. Jagged trenches scarred its surface, veins of raw crystalline ore glinting faint where they caught the pale, distant light of the system''s primary star. Silhouettes materialized nearby as the Indomitable, Regulus, Vanguard, and Stalwart exited their own jumps, thrusters flaring brief white against black, settling into tight orbital formation around the Cataclysm.


    Captain Nathaniel Rourke gripped the command dais railing, eyes fixed on the churning world below. "Fleet status?" His voice was a low rumble against the bridge''s quiet hum.


    "All vessels report stable orbit, formation locked," Commander Laehy stated from the navigation console, her gaze moving across the tactical display. "Penal colony designated RX-7 registered planetside. Heavy atmospheric interference readings."


    Rourke nodded, jaw tight. "Quantum comm integration required. Jansen''s team ready?"


    "Shuttle prepped, sir," Laehy replied.


    "Launch," Rourke commanded. "Node installation priority."


    The Federation shuttle vibrated as it entered RX-7''s upper atmosphere. Hull plates rattled hard as the craft moved through thick, ash-laden clouds that scraped against the viewports. Lieutenant Mark Jansen braced against his harness, watching the altimeter spin downwards through turbulent, ruddy haze. Below, glimpses of the surface showed—a landscape of rock and ravines flashing past. With a final lurch and the high whine of strained engines, the shuttle’s landing gear impacted hard on a wide, dusty platform of scarred ferrocrete.


    The ramp hissed open. Wind pressed inward, carrying the metallic tang of sulfur and grit. A Junior Officer, Lieutenant Aris, strode up, her uniform streaked crimson with dust, lines showing near her eyes under flickering floodlights mounted on battered turret towers. "Lieutenant Jansen?" Her voice was clipped, almost lost in the wind''s howl. "Aris. Chamber prepped—mostly." She gestured towards the dim entrance of a bunker carved into the cliff face. "Grid''s unstable. Star flares active. Caution advised."


    Jansen nodded, pulling his collar tighter against the grit. "Understood. Lead on."


    Aris turned, moving into dim, low-ceilinged corridors lit only by emergency strips casting long shadows. Overhead bulbs blinked erratic. A narrow, grime-streaked viewport showed the trench outside—sheer walls laced with veins of crystal that pulsed with a faint, irregular inner light. They reached a heavy blast door that hissed open into a large chamber hollowed from bedrock. Scaffolding crisscrossed the ceiling. Old server racks emitted a low, uneven whir against one wall, cables snaking across the floor. In the center, cleared space held the heavy-duty framework for the quantum comm node. Two colony engineers—one older woman (Chen), her gaze fixed on readouts, the other a wiry younger tech (Jax)—worked at a jury-rigged console nearby.


    "Reyes, Hara—interface alignment. Howell—power coupling specs with Engineer Chen," Jansen directed, shrugging off his jacket as he moved towards node components laid out on tarps. Tools clicked; cases opened. Node segments scraped faint as they settled onto the framework, their polished surfaces contrasting the chamber''s rough rock and older tech chassis nearby.


    "Power feed nominal... for now," Chen reported from the local console, her voice tight. She tapped a flickering gauge. "Voltage dipped twice during landing. Heavy draw could trigger a surge."


    Jax, grease staining his fingertips, worked a thick connection cable. "Patching into auxiliary grid B. Less stable, avoids overloading primary rectifier." Static crackled loud over his shoulder-mounted comm unit. He winced. "Interference spikes increasing."


    Lights overhead stuttered—a jarring flicker leaving spots dancing in Jansen''s vision. Hara, kneeling beside Reyes as they aligned the primary data conduit, paused, her head tilting. A low groan vibrated faintly through the deck plating, persistent.


    "Grounding rods unstable," Jax muttered, tightening a clamp. "Star''s emitting EM pulses."


    Reyes slotted the main conduit into its receiver. Green diagnostic lights blinked on the node''s panel. "Interface locked," he confirmed. "Running initial sync."


    Lights flickered again, strobing rapid, accompanied by a harsh crackle of static from the wall speakers. Chen made a sharp sound, hands moving fast across her console. "Major voltage spike hitting now! Rectifier three offline!" Smoke puffed from a panel across the room.


    Jansen’s head snapped up, eyes narrowed. "Hold diagnostics! Isolate that circuit!"


    A klaxon shrieked from Chen''s console – a high, piercing tone. Red hazard symbols flashed across her screen before it blanked. "Massive energy spike detected—star flare!" Chen''s voice sounded, loud, tight, as her hand slammed onto an emergency power cutoff switch. Sparks jumped from the panel under her touch.


    Simultaneously, the overhead lights burst in a shower of hot fragments. Darkness slammed down, absolute except for the weak red emergency strips pulsing along the floor edges. The steady hum of the server racks died with a choked whine. Consoles went dark. The air crackled sharp with the smell of ozone and burnt insulation.


    A deep roar pulsed up through the bedrock floor—not sound, but heavy pressure. The chamber shuddered violently. Loose stones pattered down from the unfinished ceiling. Dust billowed thick, catching the red light in swirling clouds, choking the air. The heavy scaffolding rig above the central console groaned loud, metal joints screeching under strain. A wrench fell from its perch, hitting the deck plating with a sharp CLANG that echoed in the abrupt silence.


    Reyes lurched sideways, his hands grabbing the quantum node framework as the floor bucked beneath his boots. Debris – small rocks, wiring fragments – rained down around his shoulders. Hara pressed her back against the rock wall, boots sliding inches on the vibrating deck.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Through the grime-streaked viewport, the trench outside ignited. Crystalline veins embedded in the rock walls flared with intense, pulsing violet light. The glow surged, rhythmic, casting strobing, distorted shadows across the chamber, painting faces pale, stark against the red emergency lighting.


    "Node status!" Jansen''s voice sounded, sharp, near the central framework. He sidestepped a fallen chunk of rock, pulling a high-lumen tactical light from his belt. Its beam sliced through the dust haze.


    "Main power feed''s dead!" Jax yelled back near the wall. He wrestled with a backup battery connection panel, sparks spitting from frayed terminals near his hands. "Auxiliary grid failing—can''t hold!"


    "Isolate the node''s internal buffer!" Jansen''s voice clipped the air as he reached the framework. He ran the light beam over the primary connections Reyes and Hara had made. Metal gleamed; diagnostic lights stayed dark. "Reyes—check relay harness! Hara—structural point, conduit C-7!"


    Reyes scrambled towards a side panel, yanking it open with a screech of warped metal. Wires sparked within. "Thermal overload!" he shouted, using the insulated handle of a screwdriver to shove blackened components aside. "Relay fused!"


    Hara moved fast along the wall, light beam sweeping conduits. "Conduit C-7 holding, Lieutenant," she reported back, her voice tight. "Wall mountings near main power trunk show stress fractures!" Dust sifted continuously from cracks spreading near the heavy metal trunking.


    Outside, the violet pulse from the crystal veins intensified, its rhythmic beat throwing stark flashes across the red-lit chamber. The light pulsed through the thick viewport glass.


    "Grid''s completely offline!" Chen called out near her dead console. "Auxiliary power down to ten percent—node''s running on internal buffer only!" Smoke curled thin from beneath her console. "Capacitor drain critical!"


    "No time," Jansen stated, voice hard. He shone his light on the damaged relay. "Reyes, bypass—spare patch cable, kit gamma. Jax—divert remaining auxiliary, only to node life support circuits! Ignore peripherals! Hara—reinforce C-7 brace now!"


    Figures moved fast in the pulsing red and violet light. Reyes ripped the fused relay out with a grunt, grabbing the patch cable. Jax slammed levers on the auxiliary panel; sparks showered down near his boots as circuits rerouted with harsh clicks. Hara anchored a portable tensioning strap around the groaning C-7 conduit, ratcheting it tight against the bedrock wall. Shadows jumped, elongated, distorted by the strobing external glow and the flickering emergency strips. Dust filled the air, thick on the tongue, caught in rasping breaths. The low groan of stressed metal overhead continued, a baseline vibration beneath the shouts and the clang of tools.


    The deep vibration humming through the floor lessened, then faded. The high whine of strained metal overhead persisted, alongside the hiss of venting smoke from Chen''s console. Outside the viewport, the intense violet pulsing from the crystal veins dimmed, softening to a persistent, rhythmic glow. Dust rained slower from the ceiling cracks.


    "Flare peak passed," Chen reported, her voice raspy. She wiped soot from her cheek with the back of her hand. "Grid''s completely dark. Auxiliary''s draining fast—node buffer at sixty percent."


    Reyes jammed the patch cable connector into the bypass socket. A sharp click echoed. Sparks spat bright blue from the connection point for a split second, then stopped. "Bypass engaged!" he called out, reaching for a diagnostic tool. "Testing circuit integrity..."


    Jax slammed the final lever on the auxiliary panel. The emergency red strips along the floor flickered once, dimmed, then held steady at a weak, pulsing level. Active console lights nearby flickered out. "Node buffer power isolated," Jax confirmed, voice tight. "Drawing minimal load now. Should hold... maybe twenty minutes."


    Hara finished tightening the tensioning strap around the C-7 conduit brace. Metal creaked under the pressure; visible stress fractures near the wall mountings showed no further widening. She secured the ratchet lock with a final, loud CLICK. "Brace holding," she stated, pushing herself upright, boots sliding on the dust-covered floor.


    Jansen moved between Reyes and the main node framework, his tactical light beam cutting sharp cones through swirling dust. He ran the beam over the connections Hara and Reyes had made earlier – primary data conduit, power linkages. "Connections look intact despite the tremor," he reported, kneeling beside the node base. He pulled a portable power tester from his belt kit, clipped its leads onto terminals near the buffer capacitor. Small amber lights flickered on the tester''s display. "Buffer charge stable... dropping point-one percent per minute. We have time." He looked up, beam sweeping across the team. "Final connections. Reyes—secondary data link. Hara—secure the primary power interface. Move!"


    Red and residual violet light pulsed erratic through the dusty chamber. Reyes wrestled with the thick, shielded secondary data cable, aligning its heavy connector head with the port on the node framework. Metal scraped against metal. It resisted. He grunted, shifted his angle, pushed hard. CLICK. The connector seated firm. He secured the locking clamps.


    Hara worked opposite him, guiding the primary power interface cable—a heavy bundle ending in fused alloy contacts—into its shielded housing on the node. The cable felt stiff. She braced her boots against the framework base, easing the connector into place millimeter by millimeter. It slid home with a faint scraping sound. She locked the retention bars across it. Thump. Thump.


    Jansen knelt at the node''s main interface panel, portable tester leads still attached. He tapped commands onto a small keypad built into the tester. Power indicators on the node itself flickered—red, then amber. He paused. Held his breath. Amber held steady. "Minimum buffer power stable," Jansen stated, voice low. "Initiating quantum handshake sequence with fleet relays..."


    Amber lights on the node panel pulsed slow, rhythmic. Seconds stretched. Outside, the crystal veins pulsed faint violet, casting long, moving shadows into the chamber. Another minute passed. Then— BEEP. Sharp. Clear. Five distinct green indicator lights flared to life across the node panel, labeled: CATACLYSM, INDOMITABLE, REGULUS, VANGUARD, STALWART. They held steady, casting a clean green glow against the surrounding red emergency lighting.


    Static hissed loud from Jax''s shoulder comm unit—the feed patched direct from the node now. Jagged bursts of noise. Then, Rourke''s voice cut through, strong, clear despite a faint undertone of static. "Cataclysm to ground team. Quantum link established. Receiving node telemetry. Report status, Lieutenant."


    A collective exhale sounded through the chamber, audible above the low hum of the now-active node buffer. Reyes slumped back against a console, wiping sweat from his brow, leaving a clean streak through the grime. Hara leaned against the rock wall near the conduit brace, her posture easing. Chen let out a shaky laugh near her dead console.


    Jansen keyed his tactical light comm. "Node online and stable, Captain," he reported, voice steady now. "Fleet network integrity confirmed. Local grid remains offline—operating on internal buffer. Ready for extraction."


    "Acknowledged," Rourke''s voice returned. "Shuttle inbound, ETA five minutes. Secure sensitive equipment and prepare for immediate departure."


    Jansen nodded. "Aye, sir." He disconnected the tester leads, began packing his kit. Reyes retrieved the patch cable coils. Hara moved towards the entrance, scanning the corridor beyond with her light. Jax and Chen gathered their local tools, movements slower now.


    Jansen took one last look through the viewport. The crystal veins in the trench wall still pulsed with that faint, rhythmic violet light. Their glow painted the rough rock faces outside in shifting patterns against the backdrop of the swirling red dust storm, now beginning to settle. The mission objective met. But questions remained. He turned towards the chamber door, boots crunching on fresh debris. "Let''s move out."