Magnus: 10

Unable , the AI replied. The magnetic field has achieved cohesion with the ship’s core systems. Disconnection would cause a catastrophic feedback loop. Estimated yield: planet-cracker.

And I had swallowed it whole.

Until the next whisper.

The descent was like falling into a god’s lungs. The sky on Magnus 10 isn’t a sky—it’s a ceiling of bruised copper and black lightning. My ship, the Perseverance , groaned as gravity doubled, tripled, then crushed inward until my bones sang with the strain. The landing gear touched down on a plain of jagged, rust-colored glass. Silence fell. Then the wind started—a low, guttural hum that vibrated through the hull like a cello string. magnus 10