Chaos' Heir

Khan finished absorbing the mana accumulated through the [Blood Vortex] in under a day but didn't immediately depart to face the heaviest echoes in his brain.

That training session could be Khan's doom, but he didn't delay it out of fear. He could still prepare better, and adding another day to his timeline would give Garret a higher chance of dealing with the worst-case scenario.

Sadly, Khan had already dealt with the main preparations. The remaining ones only involved eating again and resting. He didn't need to, but the imminent training session's danger forced him to remove every possible variable.

Khan indulged in another feast before sleeping on the same hall's floor. His rest never lasted too long, so he eventually retreated to his quarters, showered, and changed into something better suited to the impending project.

The Thilku cape could hide Khan's right shoulder, so he dropped it, opting for simple trousers and nothing else. He kept the silver crown, but everything else remained in his quarters, including his phone. Khan would need a similar device, but Garret had already prepared something more appropriate.

The atmosphere on the sea station's surface was tense, and Khan's exit from the elevator only intensified that feeling. Few crews knew about the imminent project, but everyone could sense that something dangerous was about to happen. Garret had done his best to contain the news, but his troubled face often revealed clues he couldn't control.

Nevertheless, the tension didn't hinder the preparations. Everything was ready by the time Khan reached the sea station's surface, and Garret even welcomed his arrival.

"My Prince," Garret called while performing a stiff military salute. "The ship is here, and the autopilot knows the coordinates. It will drop you exactly where the nukes are pointed at."

Khan simply nodded, but Garret wasn't done. He broke his military salute to deliver the black device in his hands. The item didn't look like anything special, but Khan recognized chaos-resistant equipment when he saw it.

"This is the best chaos-resistant device the Nognes family can produce, My Prince," Garret explained. "Its holograms should survive the harshest interferences."

Garret wanted to add something else, but Khan knew what the scientist would say and promptly rejected him. "You aren't coming with me. Your mind will be necessary if the worst-case scenario becomes a reality."

"But I could coordinate with the soldiers better from space, My Prince," Garret argued. "Only I know what to be wary of. It's better than leaving that decision to trigger-happy soldiers."

"I'd rather have the trigger-happy soldiers," Khan revealed. "Who knows? The pain might knock me awake."

"The interferences might make us blind to everything that happens out there," Garret insisted, but Khan wouldn't take it.

"I made up my mind," Khan refused. "Stay here and coordinate the evacuation if things go south."

"As you wish, My Prince," Garret stated, giving up and performing his military salute again. "Then, I wish you good luck."

Khan departed without adding anything. Garret turned to watch him reach a small ship hovering right past the platform, and its set-off made him hurry into the sea station's lower floors. The interferences might turn the consoles downstairs useless, but Garret still had to try.

Meanwhile, Khan sat under the narrow canopy while watching the autopilot do its work. The ship flew on its own, escaping Coravis' atmosphere and rushing even further, aiming for a specific location already logged on the control desk.

Reaching the atmosphere allowed Khan to spot part of Coravis' encirclement. Ships and satellites littered its orbit, fending off any probe or explorer. The whole planet was on lockdown, but the scene quickly became too distant to study.

The ship flew at full speed toward another planet in Coravis' system. Its name was Zoyama, but initial inspections had deemed it unlivable. Everything about it was barren and dead, with no chance of saving it. Its high temperatures also made eventual colonies unsuitable, and Khan's training session fell into that category.

Zoyama wasn't the ship's destination. The ride headed for the smallest of its two moons, which featured little to no atmosphere. No one could survive there, and Khan was no exception. However, he could remain alive long enough to complete the training session or die if anything went wrong.

The moon's orbit wasn't empty. Ships and relatively large structures hovered at some distance from it, keeping themselves far away enough to escape the eventual discharge of their weaponry. The latter had enough firepower to turn the celestial body's surface into a sea of dust, but Khan didn't know whether that would suffice with him.

After inserting a few commands in the control desk, Khan let the ship land on the moon. The ride acted as a beacon for the orbital structures' targeting systems, helping calculate the weapons' trajectory. If the worst-case scenario were to unfold, Khan's forces would have no problem aiming at him.

Once the preparations were over, Khan seized the black device and opened the canopy. The moon's almost non-existent atmosphere replaced the ship's, updating him on its extremely light gravity. Khan had never experienced anything weaker, but that pulling force seemed strong enough to keep him on the ground.

Khan hopped off the canopy, ignoring his inability to breathe. His body tried to float, but his cells came alive, pushing him on the grey, barren, and dusty ground. He sat down on the spot, crossing his legs while placing the device before him, and activating it brought up a familiar sight.

Holograms that depicted Khan's tattoo shot out of the device, creating a scene he could stare at to help retain his sense of self. Meanwhile, the almost non-existent atmosphere allowed him to connect his foreign memories to the dark expanse above, spotting those he wanted to explore.

The sensations experienced after the first destruction of Nott Station's training hall were stronger than ever now. Khan's mastery in that mental training session had greatly improved, allowing him to isolate the distant echoes he needed. He heard their call and let them invade his brain to dive into the Great Old One's most important memories.