The walk back to the Celestial Vanguard was not quiet.
Valerius moved with a speed that shouldn't have been possible for a man wearing three hundred pounds of ancient plate armor. He didn't walk; he marched, his eyes scanning the horizon, his hand never leaving the hilt of his vibrating sword.
"So," Valerius grunted, not looking back at Kael. "The Vorthax. They won?"
"They control the core systems," Kael panted, jogging to keep up. "They harvest bio-mass. They took my home sector when I was six."
"They are weeds," Valerius spat. "I burned their brood-mothers in the Orion Campaigns. I thought we had wiped them out. Clearly, my descendants were incompetent."
"Hey!" Elis's voice crackled through Kael's earpiece. "I resent that! We held the line for a thousand years!"
"Who is the disembodied voice?" Valerius asked, tapping his ear.
"That's Elis," Kael said. "The ship's AI."
"A thinking machine?" Valerius scoffed. "In my day, we didn't trust machines that talked back. We used VI. Simple. Obedient."
"Well, grandpa," Elis snapped back, loud enough for Valerius to hear through Kael's external speaker. "In this day, the machines are the only reason you aren't currently a frozen statue. So, you're welcome."
Valerius actually chuckled. It was a terrifying sound. "Feisty. Good. A ship should have teeth."
They crested the ridge of the crater. The Celestial Vanguard sat waiting, its dragon-maw prow facing the nebula.
But it wasn't alone.
The sky above the ship ripped open. Three ships dropped out of the purple clouds. They weren't the small Chrono-Raider vessel from before. These were Void-Cutters—sleek, black, knife-shaped ships that seemed to absorb the light around them.
"We have a problem," Kael said, stopping in his tracks.
"Those aren't Vorthax," Valerius narrowed his eyes. "Those are Shadow Syndicate. Mercenaries. Slavers."
"THEY SEEK THE SCALE," Ignis's voice boomed from the ship's external speakers, shaking the ground. "GET ON BOARD. I CANNOT HOLD THEM OFF WHILE GROUNDED."
A beam of dark energy shot from the lead Void-Cutter, slamming into the ground just ten feet from Kael. The explosion threw him backward.
"Suppressive fire!" Valerius roared.
The old general didn't take cover. He charged.
He drew his sword. The blade didn't just glow; it screamed. Valerius swung the sword through the air, and a crescent wave of kinetic energy—solidified force—shot upward.
It smashed into the incoming laser fire, deflecting it.
"Run, boy!" Valerius shouted. "Get to the ramp!"
"I'm not leaving you!" Kael scrambled up.
"I am not asking!" Valerius grabbed a rock the size of a watermelon with his free hand and hurled it at a drone swooping down. The rock hit the drone's intake, and the machine spiraled into the dirt, exploding.
Kael sprinted for the ramp. Valerius backed up slowly, his sword creating a shield of deflecting energy, blocking shot after shot.
They reached the airlock. As soon as Valerius stepped onto the ramp, Kael hit the seal button.
"Go! Go! Go!" Kael screamed into the comms.
The Celestial Vanguard roared. The anti-grav thrusters kicked in, and the massive ship lifted off, dust and ash billowing beneath it.
"Shields up!" Elis yelled. "They're locking onto our engines!"
The ship shook as a torpedo slammed into the rear deflector screens.
"I AM AWAKE NOW," Ignis growled.
The ship didn't just fly; it twisted. The hull plates shifted, and turret banks that had been hidden for millennia popped out along the spine of the vessel.
"Manual control transferred to Tactical Station," Elis announced.
Valerius marched onto the bridge. He looked at the tactical station—a complex array of holographic displays. He didn't look confused. He looked like he was home.
He cracked his knuckles. "Elis. Calibrate the flak cannons to my neural link."
"You have a neural link compatible with my systems?" Elis asked, surprised.
"I helped design your grandfather, little ghost," Valerius grinned. He grabbed the controls.
The difference was instant. Under Kael's command, the ship had been surviving. Under Valerius, it became a predator.
The Celestial Vanguard spun 180 degrees, flying backward. The flak cannons opened up—a wall of golden tracer fire filled the space between them and the mercenaries.
One Void-Cutter flew directly into the barrage and was shredded, turning into a cloud of debris.
"One down," Valerius said calmly. "Two to go."
"Warning," Elis said. "Energy spike detected from the lead ship. They are charging a Grav-Harpoon. If they hit us, they'll reel us in like a fish."
"Then we don't let them hit us," Kael said. He felt the Cube pulsing again. "Ignis! Can you give me more speed?"
"FEED ME," the dragon-ship replied.
Kael placed his hands on the captain's chair. He didn't just push energy this time; he visualized the destination. Away. Safe. Fast.
The Starborn energy flooded the core. The engines turned from blue to blinding white.
"Brace for impact!" Valerius shouted.
The Grav-Harpoon fired—a massive spear of gravity.
Kael pulled the ship sideways. It wasn't aerodynamics; it was a spatial jump. The ship blinked three miles to the left instantly. The Harpoon missed, sailing into the void.
"Hyperspace ready!" Elis yelled.
"Punch it!" Kael screamed.
Valerius slammed the throttle. The stars stretched. The mercenary ships vanished. The nebula disappeared.
They were in the blue tunnel of hyperspace again. Safe.
Silence settled on the bridge.
Valerius took his hands off the controls and removed his helmet. He looked at Kael. He looked at the glowing Cube in Kael's bag. Then he looked at the dragon-sigil on the wall.
"You have raw power, kid," Valerius said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "But you have no discipline. You fight like a brawler, not a Starborn."
"I never had a teacher," Kael said defensively.
Valerius walked over to Kael and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"You do now."
End of Chapter 5