Varik Juno

Log Entry: 3162.10.26 Situation Summary: The Vigilant Dawn remains stranded near the Rift Expanse. Thrusters offline, radiation leakage spreading through the lower decks, and coolant reserves critically low. Structural integrity at 62%. Chief Engineer Varik Juno is overseeing emergency containment protocols while the reactor core threatens to destabilize. --- Chapter II — Chief Engineer Varik Juno The engine room was alive with sound—metal groaning, alarms shrieking, plasma hissing through fractured conduits. Amid the chaos, Chief Engineer Varik Juno crouched beneath a damaged reactor housing, welding torch in one hand, a prayer half-formed on his tongue. “Hold together, old girl,” he murmured to the ship as if she could hear him. “You’ve got one more fight in you.” Sweat rolled down his neck, stinging a scar that ran from his collarbone to his jaw. Radiation warnings blinked red across his visor, but he ignored them. There was no time to think about dying. Not yet. Varik wasn’t the kind of man who fit easily into Imperial order. His uniform was perpetually smudged with grease; his boots, dented and half-melted from years in the engine’s heart. He had joined the Imperial Fleet not for glory, but for machines—the only things he ever trusted to tell the truth. Metal didn’t lie, and it never betrayed you. He slammed a fist against a frozen coolant valve, sparks cascading. “Come on!” The valve shuddered, then hissed open, blue mist flooding the compartment. He coughed hard, mask fogging. The comm on his wrist crackled. “Engineering, this is Vice Captain Venn. Status?” He forced his voice to stay level. “Reactor’s stable—barely. But the containment seals are fried. I can’t hold it much longer unless we get the auxiliary grid online.” “Do what you can. I’ll reroute power from weapons.” Varik laughed bitterly. “Then pray nobody comes knocking.” He ended the transmission and stared at the pulsing core through the thick glass.