Ignition Point

Kaelar Valtor is a ship tech, salvage expert, and reluctant emergency medic working the orbital infrastructure above Emberfall, a remote mining colony at the edge of known space. When a power surge disables part of the network, Kaelar is sent to investigate—and discovers a sealed chamber hidden deep within a decommissioned station. Inside is a dormant alien artifact, humming with strange energy.

What begins as a recovery job quickly unravels. The artifact is not only active but seemingly aware. Its pulse interferes with nearby systems, awakening a long-dormant AI—CAPRA—and drawing unwanted attention from powerful outside forces. Dominion agents, a secretive faction with ties to old galactic wars, begin closing in. Kaelar’s report triggers a series of lockdowns, cover-ups, and quiet sabotage. Realizing he's a target, Kaelar goes on the run with a handful of allies: Jules Carter, an engineer with nerves of steel; Emily, a no-nonsense comms tech; and Maya Duval, a Dominion whistleblower with a past as shadowed as the secrets they’re chasing.

CAPRA, the AI awakened by the artifact, proves helpful but erratic—speaking in riddles, quoting ancient texts, and manipulating systems behind the crew’s backs. The team uncovers records suggesting the artifact is part of a network, a “locus” left behind by a pre-human civilization that once mapped pathways between stars. More than a map, it may be a key—one that can open gateways or wipe entire sectors.

As Kaelar and his team race to decode the artifact’s function, they’re pursued not only by Dominion strike teams but by a private tech conglomerate, Velstrat Industries, eager to claim the discovery for their own ends. Tensions rise aboard their makeshift ship, The Cinderwolf, as trust fractures, systems fail, and the artifact’s power grows less stable.

Kaelar must make a choice: keep running, or use the artifact to confront those hunting them head-on. He chooses the latter, setting a trap that forces a confrontation in the orbital rings of Emberfall. CAPRA sacrifices part of its code to buy the crew time, revealing in its final moments that the artifact wasn’t awakened—it called out.

In the end, Kaelar and his crew escape, but not untouched. The artifact remains active, transmitting coordinates into deep space—toward an uncharted system with a forgotten name. Dominion operatives retreat, regrouping in the shadows. Velstrat sends more ships.

Kaelar doesn’t know what’s waiting out there. He only knows they’re not ready to face it alone.