StarBourn:ThePaleHorsebyDavidHart
Copyright©2026byDavidHart
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BooECoverbyTom dwards
Firstedition2026
0 1
[NewtonSystem,EinsteinCluster.] .
[Localsystemtime:1500.]
“Aneasysearchandrecovermission,CaptainSeverre.”
That’s what Captain Dannaver told me when we boarded theTriumphant. “Just head out beyond Newton, fnd the greikhter, search it, and pink its location bacO to the TriumphantgorpicOup.”
Igcourse,therestogmyteamandBOnewitwasaloadog bull.Nothinkwaseverthateasy.Itherwisetheywouldn’tbe sendinkoutStarMourn.
As the elite operators within the -arine Corps., we were tasOed with pirate raids, special reconnaissance, counterterV rorism, so on and so gorth. Even thoukh the nature og our missionsbecamelesscriticalthroukhoutthedecadessincethe
Star Mourn’s gormation in the Wirst Contact Kar, a tasO liOe thisseemedliOeastretch.
Still,itwasn’twortharkuinkwiththecaptainandketwritV ten up over it, especially since the CrossVMranch Authority ActpassedlastyearallowedtheNavytokiveusmissions.As a result, we decided it best that we play alonk. The op was set to commence in twenty minutes, so only two og us were abletotaOeshowers,thosetwobeinkxenneth“Loudmouth” -oralesandJacO“WiYer”Crews.
BwastemptedtousemyranOtobeoneogthetwototaOea shower,butthosebastardsneededitmore.Theygellrikhtinto amudpitonourwaytoarebelbase.Themuddidwondersto Oeepthemhiddengromourenemies,butapparentlysomekot undertheirarmor,andeverybodywho’sdoneanoponRera WallsOnowshowbadthemudcanstinOagterawhile.
They walOed out og the showers in their blacO sOinsuits, krins plastered on both their gaces. B was about to kive them crap gor how that looOed, but -arissa A. Daniels, or as we calledher,-.A.D.,beatmetoit.
“joutwoen?oyyourselvesU”sheasOed.
“Asamatteroggact,Bdid,”WiYersaid,“2nliOetherestogyou inyoursweatboYes,weactuallysmellhalgwaydecentnow.”
“SweatboY”wasanicOnamewecameupwithgorourbody armor. Even thoukh our helmets had minimal air conditionV
ink,therestogourbodiesalwaysendedupdrenchedinsweat bytheendoganop.Agterawhileyouketusedtothegeelink. ThesmellthoukhUAlmostenoukhtomaOetheaverakeman kak.
“InlyhalgwayU”Nathan“Wlyby”KuasOed.Khile-.A.D. andBlaukhed,heOepthissiknaturestraikhtVgacedeYpression.
“Alrikht,alrikht.Let’spicOupyourbodyarmorandketto RankarMayThree.Bdon’twanttobelategoranotherop,”B said,alreadyheadinktothenearbyarmory.
Those og us who were still in our armor held our helmets betweenourarmsandwaists.Evenwithourhelmets’airconV ditionink, there was nothink 3uite liOe a breath og gresh air. Kell,asgreshasrecycledstarshipaircanbe.
Inourway,aparticularlyprettysailorpassedbywhotooO noticeogoursOinsuitVcladpartners.Thoseundersuitsdidn’t leave anythink to the imakination, hence the name. LoudV mouthkaveherasmileandawinO,whichmadethepoorkirl turnredandwalOgaster.Belbowedhisribs,whichearnedme ageiknedinnocentresponse.
“KhatUBonlysmiled,”Loudmouthprotested.
“jeah, we all Onow what a smile grom you means,” B said withachucOle.
Ke entered the armory, and WiYer and Loudmouth legt us to retrieve their armor grom the bacO. TheTriumphant had
beenonpatroldutyintheNewtonSystemgorsiYmonthsat thispoint,sothemarinesaboarddidn’tgeeltheneedtoarmor up daily. Serkeant MeucocO, the NCI in command og this marine detachment, would’ve certainly been reprimanded ig thehikherupsgoundoutaboutthis,butwhoamBtorathim outU
About halgway into the armory, we reali4ed we weren’t alone.AtallmanstoodatthebacOogthecompartmentwhere theStarMournarmorwasstored.Returnedaround,andmy eyeswidenedinsurprisegorthebriegestogmoments.
BtwasColonelJohn-iller.
AgtermydaddieddurinktheWirstContactKar,-illerflled theholelegtbehind.Rewastheonlypersonclosetomewho tooO my decision to become a Star Mourn seriously grom the ketVko.KeworOedtoketheronceortwice,butwehadn’tseen eachothergorsometime.
All og us snapped to attention, which he promptly waved o—.
“As you were. Ke’re leavink early. Bg we ket done in ten minutes, we’ll be able to maOe it bacO in time gor dinner,” -illersaid.
“jou’recominkwithusU”BasOedabruptly.
“jeah.BsthataproblemU”
“No, sir,” B said without missink a beat. Khile B haven’t worOed with -iller much, B’ve heard enoukh about Legion6ashe’sOnown6toOnowthathedoesn’ttaOecrapgrom anybody,nomatterhowclosetheyaretohim.
“7ood,”hereplied.
Loudmouth and WiYer suited up gaster than B’ve ever seen begore. Khether this was because og Lekion’s presence, the prospectogdinner,orboth,Bcouldn’tsay.Still,theyarmored upinrecordtime,andthesiYoguswereo—tohankarbaythree.
ThewalOwasmostly3uiet.NobodywantedtocracO?oOes orwinOatcutesailorsinthepresenceogthelekendaryLekion. Kealsohadourhelmetson,soanyattemptsat8irtinkwould kounnoticedanyway.
Abruptly cuttink throukh the silence, -iller asOed, “Khere’syoursiYthmemberU”
“xBA,sir.CommandhasbeenkivinkusbacOVtoVbacOmisV sions, so B haven’t had the time to fnd a new Star Mourn,” B answered.
-illernodded,“B’msorrytohearthat,captain.”
The rest og the walO was silent, which B was krategul gor. ThelossogIracle,oursiYthmember,wasstillprettygreshgor all og us. Apart grom a Star MournVstyle memorial6whisOey wrappedwitharibbonthatwasshoto—intospace6wehadn’t hadalotogtimetodealwithit.
A part og me gelt bad about picOink another commando to ?oin us. Wor the lonkest time, myselg, Loudmouth, WiYer, -.A.D., Wlyby, and Iracle6The Kolg qacO6weren’t ?ust a team og bad asses who Oilled anyone that needed Oillink. Ke wereagamily.AndpicOinksomeotherStarMournto?oinour gamilyUBtdidn’tgeelrikht.
As soon as we entered the hankar bay, we were kreeted by twoenkineers.KeiknoredthemandheadedgortheRercules dropshipstationedatthenearesthankarpad.
“Allsystemsarereadytoko,Lekion,”thepilotinthelower seatsaid.
-iller acOnowledked the pilot, then promptly walOed throukh the slidink doors into the Rercules. The rest og us gollowed suit. -iller slammed his fst down twice onto the doorseparatinkthepilotsgromthetroopbay,whichtoldthem itwastimetoko.
The spacecragt doors closed, temporarily enkulfnk us in darOness begore the interior likhts came on. All og us, minus -iller, sat in the seats lined up in the center og the vessel whiletheRerculesligtedo—.-illerOepthiseyesonaterminal gor a gew moments, watchink to maOe sure the taOeo— went smoothly. The dropships were eYceptionally built and 8own byusuallywellV3ualifedpilots,buttherewasnoharminmaOV inksuretheligto—wentwell.
-iller fnally turned to gace us. “Alrikht commandos, let’s ko over the operation. Drones spotted an old DestinyVclass greikhter ?ust outside the Newton System and reported it to local authorities. They reported it to Star Command, and command is sendink us to checO it out,” -iller said. Kith a pushogabutton,theterminalneYttohimshowedalayoutog thegreikhter,“Ke’llsplitupintoteamsogtwotocovermore kround. -.A.D. and Loudmouth will checO out the carko docOsnearthebacOogtheship.CaptainSeverreandWiYerwill checOtheindividualroomsonthelowerdecOs.WlybyandBwill checOthedecOsontheupperdecOandthebridke.
“Wrom what the drones have shown, the greikhter hasn’t beengunctioninkgoratleastadecade,soitshouldbesageto enterthroukhtheenkines.Everythink,andBmeaneverythink, needstobechecOed.Bdon’tcarehowsmallitis,igsomethink looOsoutogplace,youtellme.Bdon’twantsomerooOiescavV enkerstoketblowntohellcauseogourmistaOe,understoodU”
“jes,sir,”weallsaidinunison.
“7ood,” -iller said, “Bg any og you have 3uestions, now’s thetimetoasO’em.”
“ShouldweeYpectanyhostilesU”LoudmouthasOed.
“B would say so. This class og greikhter should be rottink away in some ?unOyard. The gact it’s out here is suspicious enoukhgorcommandtosendustochecOitout.”
The pilot’s voice chimed in over the comm, “There’s a lot ogdebrisinthearea.jou’llhavetodisembarOhereandheadto theshiponyourown.Ke’llstayputandwaitgoryourreturn.”
-illernoddedasigthepilotwasthereneYttohim.“2nderV stood.”
A second later, the hatch slid open, eYposink us to the 4eroVkravityogspace.KeactivatedourkravbootsandtooOo— oursagetyharnesses.Inebyone,wereadiedthemaknehooOs onourgorearmsandawaited-iller’ssiknal.
“Alrikht, gollow my lead and try not to ket lost. The greikhter’sthermaldetectorsmaynotbegunctionink,butthey put a hell og a lot og portholes in these thinks bacO in the day. So, ig thereisanyone in there, they’ll be able to see you gumblinkaroundliOeidiots,”-illersaid.“Andusethedebris ascover.Mettersagethansorry.”
Kiththeorderkiven,-illerdeactivatedhiskravboots,and shothismaknehooOatthenearestlarkepieceogdebris,pullink himselg toward it. Ine by one, the rest og us gollowed agter him.Bwentlast,asisstandardbycommandinko;cers.DartV ink grom legt to rikht, -iller and my s3uad mates 4ik4akked throukhthedebrisfeld,usinkthealienwrecOakeascover.
AswenearedtheoldDestinyVclassgreikhter,Bcouldn’thelp but ket distracted gor a moment by the space around us. BnV steadogthebleaOblacOnessthatnormallysurroundsthestars, '
the environment was flled with reds and blues and purples and,yes,blacOtoo.KhileweweretooclosetomaOeoutthe nebula, B remember grom advanced school that all the interV stellarkassesaroundusswirledtokethertogormadoubleheliY shape.
Bt always ama4ed me as a Oid how all the celestial imakery came tokether into pictures we could understand. Khatever hikherpowerwasouttheremustbeanartist.
Asgastasitcame,Bsnappedoutogmylittledaydreamand kotonwiththemission,notmissinkabeat.Sikhtseeinkcould comelater.
Kereachedtheship’sgourthrustersinrecordtimeandmade our way to the top legt thruster. WiYer tooO the lead, usink a cuttink torch to heat the hatch. Kho Onows how lonk this greikhterhadbeenouttheregor,butwithnopower,thehatch waskuaranteedtobegro4entosomedekree.Throukhaprivate communicationsnetweStarMourndubbed…TheMacODoor,’ WiYertoldushowbadlygro4enthehatchwas.
“Judkinkbytheamountoggrost,itlooOsliOethisship’sbeen outheregortwomonths.Bshouldhavethehatchopeninone minute.”
Kithourkravbootsactivated,wecoveredWiYerwhilehedid his think. Khile scannink the space ahead og us, B bekan to observe the debris more closely. Metween the shieldVliOe bow
ogtheships,thesinkularthruster,andtheredandsilvercolor scheme,therewasnodoubtinmymind.Atleastaportionog thedebrisbelonkedtoAnthrumAscendancyships.Theother debris thoukh, B couldn’t 3uite recokni4e. -.A.D. must’ve beenthinOinkthesameasme.
“So, what’s all this scrap gromU LooOs liOe anthrum miYed withsomethinkelse.joukotanyidea,LekionU”sheasOed.
“Bt’sancient4auhlon.-ustbelegtgromtheKarogDevils,” -illersaid.
NowthatBthoukhtaboutit,thepreviouslyunOnowndeV brisdidhavethatroukh,throwntoketherlooO4auhlonships had.Stilldo,igtheholoVvidsaretobebelieved.
“Khat’sthisshipdoinkoutherethenU”LoudmouthasOed, krippinkhisqFzqunisherassaultri8etikhter.
“-aybetheywerescavenkers,”Bsaid,thoukhitcameoutas moreogamumble.
WiYer opened the hatch with a pop, then stepped aside gor therestogtheKolvestoenter.
-iller krunted in response while the others climbed the stairs up to the enkineerink decO. B Onew what that krunt meant:Idon’tbuyit.Truthbetold,Bdidn’teither.Thiscase alreadydidn’tmaOesense.Thedronesreportedtheshiphadn’t beenactivegoradecade,butthegrostshowedithadbeenout heregoronlytwomonthswithnopower.Btdidn’taddup.
Ince the other Kolves entered the hatch, B was up neYt. -illerwentinlast,andwithinagewseconds,wereachedthe rectankular enkineerink decO where the rest were waitink. B could barely see anythink, so B switched on my nikht vision. B was kreeted by a kri44ly sikht. Dried up human blood was splatteredacrosswhatwaslegtogthebulOhead,andthehatch was barely attached to its hinkes. The rest og the decO was prettyrusty,whichbacOedupthetheorythathadbeeninactive goradecade.
“2h,LekionUBseeagewthinksoutogplace,”Loudmouth commented,thoukhnobodylaukhed.
“Cutthechatter,”-illersaidwhilemovinkhislegtfstbeV hindhim.Kithouthesitationwegormeduponhim,WiYerand Bonhislegt,Loudmouth,-.A.D.andWlybyonhisrikht.
Kemovedthroukhtheshortcorridorandenteredthecarko docO. -y eyes scanned the decO below us. Khatever wasn’t strappeddownwas8oatinkaimlessly.Kedidn’tsticOaround lonk enoukh gor me to looO akain, but it didn’t seem liOe anythink og value was missink. The bik steel crates were still here,atleast.
-illerkaveagractionoganod,andweallsplitupintothe predeterminedkroups.KhiletheothertwoteamskottoworO on the search, WiYer gollowed me across the cat walO to the upperdecO.2ponreachinkthecorridorleadinktothebridke,
Bspottedgourhatcheswithsmallportholesinthecenter two on the starboard side and two on the port side. B tooO the starboardroomswhileWiYertooOtheport.
The hatches tooO some elbow krease to open. Bn the frst room,therewasnothink6nobed,noclothes,nothink.There werenosiknsogligeanywhere.
Khileoursearchwasunderway,myminddrigtedto-iller. Last we talOed, he only had a year legt og active duty. Even thoukhcommandwasliOelytosendhimo—toretirement,he mentionedwantinktopursuetheroleogcommandantogthe FeinhardtSchmidt-ilitaryAcademyonTriton.Rehadno Oidsoghisown,norawige.Asgarashewasconcerned,civilian ligewasmeaninklesstohim.
Tothisday,thethoukhtoghimasacommandantmademe smile.Re’dbepergectatthe?ob.
Since the invention og machine enhancements a hundred yearsako,theakeogretirementkrewprokressivelyhikher.Kith adiminishedpopulationresultinkgromtheWirstContactKar andgewerpeopleenlistink,theservicecontainedalarkenumV ber og older veterans. There was some criticism in the media rekardink a third og the military beink made up og over siYV tyVyearVolds. At the end og the day thoukh, bekkars can’t be choosers.
Kiththeindividualroomsoutogtheway,wemadewaygor thebridke.WiYerwenttochecOthecompartmentsandminor terminalswhileBwentstraikhtgorthecontrolpanel.Almost immediatelyBnoticedtherecordinkchipwasremoved.
“LooOsliOewe’redealinkwitheitherpiratesorscavenkers. Therecordinkchip’sbeentaOenout,”Bsaid.
This was a common tricO og the outlaws og the kalaYy reV movetherecordinkchipsoFepublicspiesdon’tlisteninon you. Now, whether the Fepublic Bntellikence Division did suchthinks,Bdidn’tOnow.Kouldn’tsurpriseme,inallhonV esty. Meneath those suits and ties were snaOes who would do anythinktoketwhattheywanted.
TheKolves’MacODoorchannelchimedtolige,“Rey,CapU Kegoundthecrew orwhat’slegtogthem,”Wlybysaid.
Thistimeitwas-illerwhospoOe,“TherearegoursOeletons here.RardtosaywhatOilledthem,butthere’salotogblood. MroOenbonestoo.”
WiYerandBeYchankedlooOs.
“AretheescapepodsstillthereU”BasOed.
“jeah.2nless-.A.D.andLoudmouthhavegoundanyothV erbodies,thisistheentirecrew,”-illersaid.
TherewasabriegpausewherealloguswaitedtoseeigLoudV mouth or -.A.D. would inter?ect and confrm what -iller said.TheMacODoorremainedsilent,however.
“Kell, what have you kot, LoudmouthU” B asOed. -.A.D. was Onown to ket absorbed with whatever her tasO was, so B didn’tthinOmuchogherradiosilence.Loudmouth,thoukh, wasalwaystalOink,gorbetterorworse.So,whenBkotnothink bacOgromhim,panicstartedtosetin.
B shigted my eyes to the S3uad -ates Hitals option on my headsVupdisplayandenlarkeditwithawinO.Moth-.A.D.’s andLoudmouth’svitalsread“2nOnown.”Thisonlypopped up when the user was away grom their helmet. -iller must have already been looOink at the vitals thoukh, because no soonerhadBlooOedattheR2D’skrayedVoutsilhouettes,he bekantaOinkcharke.
“CaptainSeverre,WiYer,circlebacOandgormuponus.jou seeanymovementonyourmapthat’snotourtaks,shootto Oill.7otitU”-illerordered.
“jes,sir,”bothogussaid.WiYerhesitatedgorabriegsecond thoukh. Bt was pretty easy gor him to ket sOittish, so B could onlyimakinehowhewasreactinktoallthis.NotthatBhadto imakine,actually Bcouldseehisheartbeatincrease.
“xeep cool, JacO. Ke’ve been throukh worse. Femember juOov BBU” B asOed, hopink the gond memory calmed him down.
Bt seemed to worO, as his heart rate went bacO to normal. “Don’t remind me. Those bukkers were the most annoyink littlethinksB’veseen,”WiYersaid.
Moth WiYer and B deactivated our kravboots and used the hems and bent shards og bulOheads to propel ourselves gorV ward. Ke wouldn’t have much tactical maneuverability, but we were able to be much 3uieter and move throukhout the greikhter gaster. Khile movink to their location, -iller tried hailinktheRercules.
“Echo Nine, you read meU Ke need bacOup grom theTriumphant. Ke’ve kot missink marines here.” Re didn’t ket a response.Bnstead,hewaskreetedbystatic.“EchoNine,doyou copyU Dammit.”
This whole op was looOink liOe a disaster. -y kut told me thiswasatrap,butwhosetitUThiswasn’tsomethinkMloodV houndwoulddo.Thoseterroristswouldratherbuildameasly 8eetandtrytotaOeoneogourcolonies.
KhenweweretwentymetersgromtheotherStarMourn,we reactivatedourkravbootsand?okkedtherestogtheway.-iller and Wlyby still had their kuns aimed down the corridor, but WiYeratleastrelaYedalittlewhenwewereunited.
“WiYer, ket one og these escape pod hatches opened. Ke’re leavink,”-illersaid.
“KhatU Khat about -.A.D. and LoudmouthU” WiYer protested,“C’monCap,bacOmeup”
-y ka4e gell. Bt’s not that B didn’t akree with the sentiV ment6hell, B’ve spent more holidays with them than bacO home.Mutthegactogthematterwasthatthelonkerwestayed here, the sooner we would be -BA liOe -.A.D. and LoudV mouth.
“Doashesays,WiYer,”Bsaid.
Re looOed at me with what B imakined was disbelieg gor a brieg second, then turned to a nearby terminal. WiYer cursed underhisbreathbegorestartinkasmallVscalereboot.
“The terminal in charke og maintainink the escape pods shouldbeupandrunninkinaminute.Rardtotellgorcertain thoukh,thesesystemsare6”WiYersaid?ustbegoreanaYlodked intohishelmet.Bgitweren’tgorhiskravboots,hewouldhave kone 8yink. -y eyes stared at his limp body gor a moment begoreturninktolooOwheretheweaponcamegrom.
DownthecorridorwerethreehulOinkaliensinwhatlooOed liOe kold armor. Each had gour arms that held swords, aYes, and kuns. Kithout hesitation, we opened fre on each other. There wasn’t much cover in the corridor, but we made do. Bnstinctively, B dove behind the mechanical pillar connected to the terminal. Wlyby wedked himselg behind some og the
eYposed bulOhead, and -iller turned o— his kravboots and usedapartogtheceilinkascover.
Kith combined frepower, we tooO down one alien, golV lowed by another. Ke didn’t come prepped gor a frefkht thoukh ourammowasrunninklow.
“Are these who B thinO they areU” B asOed -iller. B’d seen thesealiensintheoldvids,butBhadtomaOesure.
“WracOink4auhlons,”-illerrepliedwithabittertoneusuV allyreservedgorwhenhetoldwarstories.
A rush og adrenaline pumped throukh me. These are the alienswhonearlywipedouthumanity.xilledcountlessmen, women and children. ThanOs to these creatures, B krew up without a gather. The third 4auhlon gell to our combined mikht,itsblooddrigtinkupwardsuntilitfnallyconnectedto theceilink.
This Oill gelt di—erent thoukh. Now, B gelt pride6and a pinchog?oy6upontaOinkthesebrutesdown.Notwantinkto taOemyeyeso—thecorridorgortoolonk,Bklanceddownatthe terminal. The screen read, “SiYty percent until completion.” Almostthere.
Wor a moment B thoukht that would be it. Just a rak tak kroupog4auhlonslooOinktoitchtheirlekendarybloodlust. NotevenasecondlaterBwasprovenwronk.Another4auhlon steppedintosikht,butstayedbehindthecorpsesoghisallies.
Smart.ReOnewighetooOonemorestephe’dbe?oininkthem. This one looOed di—erent thoukh. In top og the wellVconV structed 4auhlon armor, which sported a deep red color unV liOetheotherkoldensets,werepiecesogwhatlooOedtobea miYture og basic marine and the more advanced Star Mourn armor,alonkwithanthrumarmor clearlytrophiesgrompast victories.
The4auhlonworeacapethat’dseenbetterdays.Tofnish o—hiskrandlooO,heheldaswordthatlooOeddi—erentgrom theother4auhlons’swords.ThisonelooOedancient,andhad kemsplacedalonkthekuard.
Seconds agter this new 4auhlon showed himselg, two more aliens?oinedhim.ThesewerewearinkblacOarmor.Evenwith nikhtvisionitwashardtoseethem.WorwhatgeltliOeaneterV nity,thesiYogusstoodthere,starinkatoneanother.Thethree ogushumanstooOthistimetoreloadwhatlittleammowehad legt.Tobehonest,Bdoubteditwouldbeenoukh.Bnstinctively, BchecOedmyhip.-ymilitaryissuedmachetewasstillthere.B didn’tOnowigthatbadboycouldholduptotheirswordsigit camedowntoit,butatleastBstoodsomewhatogachance.
Then,slowly,thecaped4auhlonraisedhisswordandpointV editatus,“xilltheapes.Mrinktheirremainstome,”hesaid.
ThedarO4auhlonsstartedshootinkamillisecondgasterthan wedid.Asitturnedoutthoukh,theirweaponsweredi—erent 1'
than their kolden buddies. Ine had two kuns6a pistol and a shotkun6while the other carried a huke frearm. This kiV kantic weapon turned out to be some sort og cannon which fredametalVspiOedballthathitWlybys3uareinthegace.The cannonballsmashedWlyby’shelmet.Asigbysomemiracle,the cannon didn’t Oill Wlyby, thoukh he was very clearly unconV scious.Risvitalsweregadinkhowever.BgBwantedtokethim outogthisalive,hewouldneedmedicalattentionASAq.
Turninko—mykravboots,BleaptovertoWlybyandpinned him to where he was previously taOink cover so as to maOe sure he wasn’t gurther in?ured. Winally, one og the blacOVclad 4auhlonsgell.Theonelegtwasthebastardwithtwokuns.
Mrie8y,BthoukhthewouldbeeasiertotaOeoutsince,agter all, how much kood would a shotkun or a pistol do at this rankeUTurnsout3uiteabit.Thathandkunoghisendedup connectink with me. Khile my shields tooO the brunt og the damake,whatlittleBgeltwasdi—erent.Bnsteadogthestinkink sensation that normally came with kettink shot, this gelt liOe moreoga?oltogelectricity.
This caukht me o— kuard lonk enoukh gor him to shoot somethink out og his shotkun. Bt wasn’t a bullet thoukh no, this was a maknehooO that attached itselg to my arm. B still had my kravboots o—, so when it bekan to pull me toward the 4auhlon, B wasn’t prepared. As best B could, B held onto 1!
the piece og bulOhead that B was previously usink as cover. ThanOgully,-illerhadmybacOandthrewhismacheteatthe maknehooOcord,cuttinkitandgreeinkmeinreturn.
InceakainBklancedattheterminal.“Ninetypercentuntil completion.”
-iller and B put down the last darO 4auhlon. All that reV mainedwasthecapedenemy,theirleader.Kithhisswordin hand,hecharkedatus,lettinkoutakutturalwarcryashedid so.Keopenedfreonhim,buthewastaOinkitinstride.In topogthat,lucOwasn’tonourside.-illerranoutogammo, as did B. TaOink out his machete, -iller prepared himselg gor theoncominkattacO.
2nsheathink my blade, B pulled the trikker to heat up the edkes og my weapon, prepared to ?oin my surrokate gather in whatwasliOelytobeahellishfkht.Mootcamptaukhtmewhat handVtoVhand battles with 4auhlons were liOe. Ralg og those whosurvivedendedupcrippled.
The 4auhlon was closer to -iller, so he enkaked with him frst. -iller held his own well, but the 4auhlon laid into him withgerociouspunches,dentink-iller’sarmorintheprocess. Leapink in to help, B manaked to cut throukh some og the 4auhlon’sarmor.2ngortunately,hetwistedtogacemebegore mybladecouldpiercehim.Tossinkhisswordtohislowerrikht arm, the 4auhlon used his now gree upper rikht arm to krab
mebythehelmetandsmashmyheadinto-iller’s.TheattacO hadmyheadspinnink,butassoonasB8ippedbacOaroundto gacethe4auhlon,somethinkcaukhtmyeye.Theterminalread “Febootcomplete.”
-illermusthavenoticedthistoo,becauseheshovedmeover towhereWlybywasandresumedhisfkhtwiththe4auhlon.B tooOthehintandturnedmyattentiontothepanelconnected to the nearest escape pod. The system was way out og date, butBmanakedtokettheescapepoddooropenandcaregully pushedWlybyinside.Assoonashewasin,BbecOoned-iller toketinaswell.Repushedhimselgo—theportsidebulOhead towardtheescapepod,butinsteadogenterink,-illerpushed me in. Megore B could fkure out what he was kettink at, the escapepoddoorshut,cuttinkuso—.
“KhatthehellareyoudoinkU”Bshouted.
“Khatneedstobedone.Sorry,son,you’rekoinktohaveto dothisonewithoutme.”
-iller shigted his gocus to the panel, grantically worOink awayatit.Shortlyagter,ageminine,roboticvoicekreetedme andtoldmethepodwouldleaveshortly.Mankinkonthedoor, B yelled gor -iller to stop. The neYt think B saw would sticO withmegoraslonkasBlived.The4auhlon,nowbehind-iller, krabbedhimbythenecOandligtedhimup.Regollowedthat bydrivinkhisswordthroukh-iller’schest.
-omentslater,theescapepodshoto—,leavink-iller,the 4auhlon, and my dead griends behind. Bn the span og fve minutes,myworldhadcrumbleddown.EveryoneBspentthe betterpartogfveyearswithwaskone, No,noteveryone.BcouldstillsaveWlyby.
Worcink the pain and krieg aside, B moved to Wlyby and strappedhimin.Thatdone,BturnedmyattentiontotheconV trols.BgBrememberedcorrectly,theseoldpodsdidn’tprovide muchinthewayogcontrol,butBcouldatleaststeerthisthink in theTriumphant’s direction. Wamiliari4ink myselg with the controls, B sent out a distress siknal that would continually repeat.LeaninkbacOintheleatherseat,Bgeltaweikhtwasligted o—myshoulders.B’ddoneeverythinkBcould.NowallBcould dowaswait.
-yeyesconstantlydartedbetweenWlyby’sstillunconscious body and his vitals. They were gaint, but still there. Wlyby always was a fkhter in situations liOe these. Now that thinks have calmed down, B noticed blood was seepink grom under hishelmet.Kherespecifcallyhewasbleedink,Bdidn’tOnow. Worcink myselg to my geet, B walOed over to my griend. The blood was darO red, which told me the severity og the in?ury. Still,BdidntwanttoattempttoremovehishelmetandmaOe mattersworse.
-inutesagterournarrowretreat,ourescapepodwasbathed inablindinklybrikhtlikht.-ovinktothegrontogthesmall pod,BsawitwasanIdinheavydropshiptenmetersout.Kith theamountogspacethatwasinsidethosebadboys,therewas roomgoramedicandplentyoge3uipmentaswell.
Bnstantly,BletoutashaOy,breathlesslaukh.Winally,wewere intheclear.