Sera's POV
"How long until they breach the station?" I ask, my voice surprisingly steady.
Mira checks her screens. "Five minutes. Maybe less. Their weapons are charging."
Twenty warships against one small station. We're going to die here.
"There has to be a way out," Luca mutters, pulling up tactical displays. "Hidden passages, emergency protocols, something—"
"There isn't." Kael's voice is cold and factual. "This station wasn't designed for military defense. Lyssa knows that. She chose it specifically because we're trapped."
I watch the ships on the monitor. They're beautiful in a terrifying way—sleek and deadly, like sharks circling prey.
"I'm surrendering," I say quietly.
"Sera, no—" Kael starts.
"I'm not discussing this." I turn to face him. "If I surrender, maybe they'll let the rest of you live. Luca, Mira, your crew—they don't deserve to die because I wanted to be powerful."
"They'll kill you the second you're aboard their ship," Kael argues.
"Probably." I try to smile but it comes out broken. "But at least you'll be alive. And maybe—maybe the broadcast did something. Maybe people will remember that an Aelarian commander risked everything for a human. That could matter someday."
Kael grabs my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. "You matter NOW. Not as a symbol. Not as a sacrifice. As a person who deserves to live."
"Three million people in New Angeles deserve to live too!"
"Vex is BLUFFING!" Kael's voice rises. "He won't strike Earth. The political fallout would be catastrophic. He's using fear to control you—"
"You don't know that for certain!" Tears blur my vision. "And I can't gamble three million lives on a maybe!"
"Two minutes until breach," Mira announces. "Whatever you're doing, decide now."
"Open a channel to Lyssa's flagship," I tell her.
"Sera, don't—" Luca tries.
"Do it!" I'm shouting now. "Open the damn channel!"
Mira's hands fly across her console. A holographic screen appears. Commander Lyssa's cruel face fills it, her blue eyes gleaming with triumph.
"Sera Vance," she purrs. "Ready to be reasonable?"
"I'll surrender. But you let everyone else on this station go. No charges. No pursuit."
"Sera, no!" Kael's voice is anguished.
Lyssa pretends to consider it. "Tempting. But I think I'll take you AND execute everyone on that station for harboring fugitives. Two victories for the price of one."
Ice floods my veins. "You said—"
"I said nothing. High Chancellor Vex gave you an ultimatum. I'm simply enforcing it." She leans forward. "You have ninety seconds before my ships open fire. Spend them wisely."
The screen goes dark.
"She was never going to negotiate," Kael says bitterly. "This was always about killing you publicly. Making an example."
I stare at my glowing hands. All this power. All this enhancement. And I still can't save anyone.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. "I brought this on all of you."
"Stop apologizing!" Luca snaps. "Start THINKING! You're enhanced to 73%—use that brain!"
"My brain can't stop warships!"
"No, but maybe it can outthink them." Luca pulls up star charts. "Kael, what's the nearest Aelarian military target from here?"
Kael's eyes narrow. "The Research Outpost. Twenty minutes away. Why?"
"Because if we can't escape, we change the game." Luca's grin is wild and desperate. "We don't run FROM something. We run TOWARD something worse. Make Lyssa choose between capturing us and protecting a strategic asset."
"The Research Outpost has experimental weapons," Kael argues. "If we go there, we're putting civilians at risk."
"Sixty seconds to breach!" Mira yells.
"We're out of options!" Luca grabs Kael's arm. "Either we try something insane or we die right here!"
Kael looks at me. "Sera. Your choice. Risk civilian lives for a chance to escape, or stay and die with honor."
My choice. Always my choice.
I think about Diana. About Marcus. About everyone who took my choices away.
"We run toward the chaos," I say. "We fight until we can't anymore."
Kael's slight smile returns. "That's my girl."
"Don't call me that yet," I mutter. "Wait until we survive."
"Thirty seconds!" Mira's voice cracks.
"Get us out of here!" Luca orders. "Maximum speed! Head for the Research Outpost!"
The station shudders as engines engage. We lurch forward, racing away from Lyssa's fleet.
"They're pursuing," Mira reports. "All twenty ships. They're faster than us."
"How long until they catch us?" I ask.
"Ten minutes. Maybe less."
Ten minutes to live.
I sit down before my legs give out. Kael sits beside me, close enough that our shoulders touch.
"I'm glad you didn't surrender," he says quietly.
"I almost did."
"But you didn't. That's what matters." He takes my hand. "Whatever happens in the next ten minutes, I want you to know: helping you was worth it. All of it."
"Even dying?"
"Especially dying. Better to die fighting beside someone worth saving than live another century as an empty shell."
His words hit something deep in my chest. "You're not empty."
"I was. Before you." He meets my eyes. "You reminded me what it means to feel."
"That's a lot of pressure to put on someone you just met."
"You can handle it. You handled enhancement that kills most people. You can handle one emotionally damaged commander."
I almost laugh. Almost. "If we survive this—"
"When we survive this," he corrects.
"WHEN we survive this," I amend. "I want you to teach me everything. How to fight. How to use my enhancement properly. How to be as cold and terrifying as you are."
"You're already terrifying. You just don't know it yet."
"Five minutes!" Mira calls out. "The Research Outpost is in visual range. They're hailing us."
"Tell them we're under pursuit by Commander Lyssa," Kael orders. "Request emergency docking."
A new voice crackles through the speakers. Male, older, with authority in every word.
"This is Director Kallas of Research Station Omega. Commander Zenthar, you're listed as a fugitive. I can't grant you docking privileges."
"Director, I'm bringing valuable intelligence about a human enhanced to unprecedented levels. This information is critical for the Empire's security."
"Two minutes until Lyssa's ships are in firing range!" Mira's hands shake on the controls.
"I'm sorry, Commander," Director Kallas says. "But I have orders to deny you entry. I suggest you surrender to—"
"WAIT!" I grab the microphone. "Director Kallas, please. I'm Sera Vance. The enhanced human. I'm proof that human integration can reach 73%. Your research depends on understanding enhancement limits, right? I'm a living case study. Let me show you what I can do."
Silence on the other end.
"One minute!" Mira cries.
"Director, PLEASE!" I'm begging now. "I don't want to die. I just want a chance to prove that enhancement can work. That humans aren't inferior. Give me that chance!"
More silence.
Then: "Docking bay three. You have thirty seconds. After that, I'm closing the shields."
"Thank you!" I gasp.
"Don't thank me yet." His voice is grim. "Commander Lyssa is going to be very angry with me. This better be worth it."
Mira pushes the station to maximum speed. We race toward the outpost's docking bay. Behind us, Lyssa's ships fire warning shots that light up the darkness.
"Twenty seconds!" Luca counts down. "Fifteen! Ten!"
We shoot through the docking bay entrance with seconds to spare. The shields slam shut behind us just as Lyssa's fleet arrives.
We made it. We actually made it.
I'm shaking so hard I can barely stand. Kael has to help me out of my seat.
"Well done," he murmurs. "That was impressive improvisation."
"I thought we were dead."
"So did I. But we're not. We're—"
The station rocks violently. Alarms blare.
"What was that?" Luca demands.
Mira checks her sensors. Her face goes white. "Lyssa's fleet. They're firing on the Research Outpost."
"She wouldn't dare," Kael breathes. "This is an active military research facility. Attacking it is an act of war against the Empire itself."
Director Kallas's voice comes through the speakers, filled with barely controlled rage.
"Commander Lyssa. You are firing on an Imperial Research Station. Stand down immediately or face court-martial."
Lyssa's response is cold. "You're harboring fugitives. That makes you complicit in treason. Surrender them now or face the consequences."
"I don't negotiate with terrorists."
"Wrong answer."
The station shakes again. Harder this time. Emergency lights flicker.
"She's insane," Luca whispers. "She's actually attacking an Imperial facility."
"She's desperate," Kael corrects. "We've backed her into a corner. Now she's willing to do anything to eliminate the threat we represent."
"How long can the station's shields hold?" I ask.
"Against twenty warships?" Mira shakes her head. "Ten minutes. Maybe less."
I look at Kael. "So we're back where we started. Trapped and waiting to die."
"Not quite." Director Kallas's voice returns. "I'm activating the station's experimental defense systems. They're untested, potentially catastrophic, but they might buy us time."
"Time for what?" Luca asks.
"For you to reach the heart of this facility. To show me what makes Sera Vance so valuable that Commander Lyssa is willing to commit treason."
A door opens behind us. An armed escort waits.
"This way," the lead guard says. "The Director wants to see the 73% human for himself."
Kael's hand finds mine. "Together?"
"Together," I confirm.
We follow the guards deeper into the Research Outpost. Around us, the station shudders under Lyssa's relentless assault.
We walk through corridors filled with scientists and soldiers preparing for the worst. They all stare at me—at my glowing eyes, my enhanced body.
I'm not just a fugitive anymore. I'm the reason an Imperial facility is under attack.
The weight of it threatens to crush me.
The guards lead us to a massive laboratory. Director Kallas waits inside—a tall Aelarian with silver hair and sharp green eyes. He studies me like I'm a specimen.
"So you're the human who's causing all this chaos." He circles me slowly. "73% integration. Impossible, according to every model we've ever created."
"Yet here I am."
"Indeed." He stops in front of me. "The question is: are you worth dying for?"
Before I can answer, an explosion rocks the entire station. We stumble. Emergency alerts scream through the speakers.
"BREACH IN SECTOR SEVEN! HULL INTEGRITY FAILING!"
Director Kallas's face hardens. "Commander Lyssa just destroyed half my station. Casualties are mounting." He looks at me. "I hope you have answers, Sera Vance. Because I'm about to make a choice that could doom us all."
"What choice?"
His smile is grim. "Whether to hand you over... or start a civil war."