The ventilation shaft rattled above us like metal bones about to collapse.
Dust fell in tiny storms.
Metal groaned.
Something heavy moved overhead.
Lira raised her hand, signaling silence.
We froze.
Rave tightened her grip on her scrap-metal blade.
Kai pressed himself against the wall, shaking so hard the loose wires near him jingled.
The shaft groaned again.
Kai whispered, "Bro… that thing's gonna fall—"
BOOM.
The entire panel tore loose, crashing down in a thunderstorm of rust and sparks.
Debris exploded across the narrow corridor.
I shoved Kai aside, shielding him with my body.
Rave dodged and rolled clean.
Lira dove behind a ventilation pipe.
Before the dust even cleared—
Voices.
Footsteps.
Dominion soldiers.
A squad of five dropped through the broken shaft, rifles raised, visors glowing cold blue.
"CONTACT!" one shouted. "Target group sighted!"
Lira cursed.
"They're fast—too fast."
Rave stepped in front of Kai instantly.
"Get behind me."
Kai squeaked, "I'm already behind you!"
The soldiers opened fire.
Blue shock-rounds blasted into the walls, sending sparks ripping through the corridor.
"DOWN!" I yelled.
We hit the floor as bullets shredded the air above.
Rave launched first.
She moved like a blade—silent, deadly, precise.
Leapt into one soldier's chest, drove her scrap blade straight through his visor, twisted it, and tore him down in one fluid motion.
Kai stared.
"Holy—Rave is built DIFFERENT."
Another soldier charged her with a shock-baton.
Rave blocked once, twice—
Metal rang.
Sparks flew.
But he was stronger.
Better equipped.
She faltered.
He raised the baton to crush her—
I didn't think.
I moved.
Heat surged through my veins, the fractures on my ribs lighting up.
I grabbed the soldier by the back of the helmet and slammed him into the wall so hard the metal bent.
He dropped instantly.
Two more soldiers aimed at me.
"K-17!" Lira shouted. "Don't flare too high—"
Too late.
My fractured arm pulsed—
glowing molten orange beneath the plating.
A small spike of the Beast pushed against my skin.
Not enough to take over.
Enough to hurt.
I grunted, nearly losing control.
A razor of heat escaped through my fingers, carving three smoking lines across the wall beside me.
The soldiers froze.
"What the—what IS that?!"
Lira jumped between us and fired two shots, dropping the closest guard.
"K-17! Focus! Don't let it out!"
I forced the fractures down—
the glow dimming,
the Beast's claws retreating a little.
But it still growled in my ribs, angry and hungry.
One soldier remained—the squad leader.
He pointed his rifle at Kai.
"Android scum! Hands UP!"
Kai froze, eyes wide, breathing sharp.
"Bro—bro—help—"
Rave lunged, but she wasn't close enough.
Lira aimed her rifle, but the angle was terrible.
The soldier's finger tightened on the trigger.
The Beast inside me smiled.
I didn't let it out.
But I let it touch me.
Just enough.
Heat rippled through my left arm—
plating cracking,
gold veins flaring bright.
I struck.
A single punch.
A Sun-Sunder Strike.
Half-controlled.
It hit the soldier's rifle first—
shattering it into molten scrap.
Then it hit his chest—
launching him across the corridor into the metal wall.
He slid down, unconscious but alive.
Good.
Barely.
We all stood there, panting in the dust and smoke.
Rave wiped blood off her cheek.
"That was… insane."
Kai peeked out from behind me, eyes huge.
"Dude… you SMACKED him into another dimension."
Lira approached slowly.
Her face wasn't angry.
Wasn't scared.
It was something worse—
concern sharpened into fury.
"You slipped," she whispered.
I didn't deny it.
"I know."
"You almost transformed."
"I didn't."
"You almost did."
Her voice shook.
Just once.
"You can't let that Beast taste blood. Not even a little. If it wakes—"
"It didn't," I said, too firmly.
She stepped closer, face inches from mine.
"You don't get it," she whispered.
"You think fighting Dominion soldiers is dangerous?
It's not.
Losing yourself is.
That's the only thing I can't fight for you."
Her breath hit my cheek.
Hot.
Angry.
Worried.
Rave cleared her throat loudly.
Lira didn't move.
Kai whispered to Rave, "Uh… should we, like, look away or something?"
"No," Rave said flatly. "They need to finish whatever this is."
Lira finally pulled back.
"We need to move before more soldiers drop in."
We stepped over the fallen guards and sprinted down the corridor.
But before turning the corner, the last surviving soldier—broken, coughing—tapped his comm unit.
"General Calder… target… confirmed… Sun-Class anomaly… moving toward Neon Spine—"
Lira's eyes went cold.
"Shit."
Kai panicked.
"Bro—the butcher is coming HERE?!"
Rave tensed.
"We need to vanish."
I exhaled, fractures dimming slowly.
"He's close," I said quietly.
Too close.
And behind my ribs, the Beast purred again—
soft, cruel, eager.
"Soon."