**MARS OBSERVATION DECK – NYCTON RECOVERY WING**
Commander Nyctor stood by the reinforced glass window, watching the blue-green curve of Mars. His body still felt heavy from the long jump, but the air on this world was doing wonders. Every breath pulled exotic energy into his cells. His old injuries knit faster. His meridians, dormant for years, woke up and hummed.
Then the pressure dropped.
Not in the room. In his spirit.
Nyctor dropped his datapad. His Planetary-level senses snapped open. He did not need a screen. He did not need a scanner. He felt it through his own cultivation, straight through his meridians and into his spiritual core.
Thousands of signatures flared at the exact same time.
"Lieutenant," Nyctor said, his voice tight. "Tell me I am not imagining this."
Kyce stood beside him, eyes wide, his own spiritual sense trembling. "You are not, Commander. Two thousand. Over two thousand beings just crossed the Planetary threshold. All at once."
