Page 63 of Fated to the Dragon Alien
Rinter shifted in his chair, uneasy. Smoke still lingered around the ceiling. “Copy that. No override commands. Thrusters idle.”
“Do you know who this is?” Rek’tor asked, turning to Stavian.
Stavian hesitated. “No, but they’re not acting like an enemy.”
“I swear that ship looks familiar,” Cerani murmured, shaking her head.
“There are only a few places you could have seen a ship like that.” His voice was low. “And one of them was not the mine.”
More lights flashed on the outer screen. The Axis ships had regrouped. Two pursuit cruisers burst into the side view, trying to get between them and the big ship. Their engines burned white-hot, blinking with the signature strobe of an Axis combat vessel.
Jorr groaned. “Fekme. I knew they wouldn’t give up.”
The Axis ships opened fire. Yellow plasma streaked toward the massive vessel, hitting the shield barrier with renewed fury. The lights on the bridge dimmed for a second. Every console flickered from the impact, but it was nothing like before.
“We’re still within their shielding net,” Rinter shouted. The young engineer worked fast, clearly trying to verify what was happening. “It’s…repelling the Axis fire. We’re not taking the hits!”
Outside, the shadows moved. Weapon bays opened along the massive ship’s uneven hull. Turrets like rotating fists spun into place.
Cerani felt Stavian’s body go rigid. And then the intercepting ship unleashed a volley so brutal, the entire bridge trembled. The plasma bursts weren’t laced like Axis shots—they were layered, volleyed beams with piercing frequency bands that tore apart the silence. They didn’t fire in narrow streams—they blanketed space in flame.
The lead Axis ship caught the first barrage. Shields flared white, then collapsed. The hull cracked open in seconds. Debris exploded outward like sparks off a grinding blade, spinning in every direction.
The second Axis cruiser tried to veer out of the cone of fire. Too slow. The giant ship’s lock shifted, still holding the Mirka securely beneath its shields, but now moving with her—turning, rotating, angling to protect.
Cerani pressed her gloved hands to Stavian’s chest, where his heart beat like a fast hammer. Watching this strange ship take down Axis vessels was like watching a butcher carve clean through a beast.
“We should be dead,” Jorr said, stunned.
“Yeah,” Rinter whispered. “Should be.”
Rek’tor’s hands were still on his controls, but he wasn’t in control of the ship anymore—it was being carried.
A third Axis ship spiraled away, its hull gouged and venting atmosphere. Emergency flares snapped from its side, then it reversed course and shot out of there, trailing smoke and debris.
“This isn’t Axis tech,” Talla said. “Whoever this is…they built their ship to end fights, not just survive them.”
“No, not Axis,” Stavian said, half to himself. “No flags. No marks. No pattern registry. That armor plating is asymmetrical. And look at the weapon configurations. That’s not standard issue for any known syndicate or military.”
Cerani turned to him. “Then who is it?”
Stavian met her eyes. There was so much fire in them. So much history and hope wrapped behind that stare. “It’s someone who wants us alive.”
There was a deep mechanical thrum beneath her boots. The light shifted underneath them.
“We’re moving again,” Rek’tor warned, his eyes locked forward. “They’ve got us locked in. Docking tether just converted to a dynamic tow. I’m seeing signatures flickering—they’re going to fold.”
“They’re what?” Jorr blinked. “With us attached?”
“This ship doesn’t have fold tech,” Rek’tor snapped. “We could be crushed.”
Cerani knew little about fold tech, only that if a ship had it, they could travel incredible distances very quickly, by creating a sort of wormhole in space, or folding it. It wasn’t without risks, from what she’d read during her lessons with Stavian, but was quite useful for certain circumstances. Like now, if they survived this.
“No—” Rinter leaned over his console, his voice rising. “They’re enveloping us. Pulling us into their shield matrix. They’re making us part of their fold rig.”
Stavian grabbed the edge of the console and held Cerani closer with one arm. “They’re taking us with them.”
“To where?” Cerani got out, just barely.
