It had been two days since the collapse in the crystal caverns—two days of waiting, hoping, and going slowly crazy. Theon Had suggested that I start looking at other problems facing Drakara. Even Jax supported the idea. Mara was still leading the search parties. Zara, I hadn’t seen you since the cavern. I guessed she was avoiding me altogether.

  I stared at the image of the storm plains before me. They were death incarnate—a writhing expanse of ash-colored sky and endless lightning, stretching far beyond the Spire’s reach. Even in the age of orbital supremacy and interstellar colonisation, no one had ever tamed that place. It had its own rules, and none of them favoured the living.

  Theon stood before the central holo-table, the glowing display of the planet’s topography flickering under the pressure of his palm. Rain-lashed cliffs. Choked valleys. And above it all, the endless surge of electrical fury, rendered in shifting arcs of white and violet.

  “Two days ago, the outer relay near the storm plains detected an energy signature,” he said, voice clipped but steady. “It flared for less than four seconds. Not natural. Not atmospheric. It spiked in a vertical band—like a beacon. Then it vanished. The signature seems to match Reuben’s old military codes. I have people working to confirm.”

  I sat at the head of the table, my eyes hollow but alert, the bruises on my face half-faded but still visible. The medbay hadn't cleared me for active command, but I had never been someone who asked permission to do things.

  “Coordinates?” I asked quietly.

  Theon nodded. “Near Sector Delta-Seven. The northern ridges are uninhabited. Supposedly. We dispatched a probe, low altitude. It was destroyed before transmission. We tried again. Same result.”

  Theon let out a breath before continuing. “That wasn’t the worst thing to happen, though. One day ago, a Kragthar scout ship appeared on the outer limits of our system scanner range.”

  I curled my hands against the armrests of his chair. “Where?”

  “Outer orbit. No response to hails. No transponder data. It hovered for ninety seconds, then vanished. Lost tracking and we haven’t seen it since.”

  Thunder cracked somewhere beyond the shielded windows of the command floor, distant but sharp, like the planet itself was listening.

  “And no Empire ships reported Kragthar contact?” I asked. I could taste my fear. The Empire was fighting a war against the Kragthar—a war we were barely holding to a stalemate.

  “Nothing. Which either means the scout slipped in under the net… or the Empire isn’t saying anything.” Theon’s eyes met his. “Neither answer is good.”

  I grunted as I stood slowly. Every movement still hurts. But it felt good. I needed to stand. “How many more probes can we send?”

  “Not enough to make a difference. Storm interference eats up most of the signal. And we can’t risk a crewed flight unless you want another stack of paperwork on your desk.”

  I paced to the table's edge, staring at the swirling tempest map rotating in the centre. Theon watched me carefully as I tried to process what to do next. Jax was always better at this. He declined this meeting and told me he had something important to do. He was acting distant since the caverns.

  “You’re asking if I think it’s them,” Theon said. “The rebels. In the plains.”

  I nodded. “They’ve been quiet for the last few days. That doesn’t mean dead.”

  “No,” Theon agreed. “Just patient.”

  I felt my jaw tighten. “If they’re using the storm cover… it means they are planning. Waiting. Watching.”

  I turned toward Theon again, my voice low. “Bring the planetary defences online. I want a shield grid across every major city. Full orbital sensors. I want our guns pointed at the sky. Get me three squads to run a sweep of the plains.”

  “Understood.”

  The table dimmed slightly, holo-rings blinking red around the storm plains’ coordinates—like a wound, waiting to bleed.

  “Where are you, Seraphina?” I whispered. “I need you”

  The doors behind him hissed open before Theon could reply.

  “Talking to yourself now, Baron?” The voice was like rust scraping on steel. Measured. Cold. Calculated for disdain. I hated that voice.

  Minister Varek entered the chamber with the slow confidence of a man who had never once feared consequence. His uniform bore the crimson trim of the Empire’s central command, starched to the point of arrogance. Two aides followed silently behind, each carrying aglow slates with reports I knew I hadn’t read.

  Varek didn’t salute. He never did. Not to me. “You’ve wasted two days playing detective in a pile of rocks,” he said, circling the holo-table without glancing at it. “While our enemies move in the dark. At the same time, Kragthar scouts penetrate our orbit. While entire cities lie undefended.”

  I kept my voice even. “We’ve activated planetary shields. Started to—”

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  “Not fast enough.” Cut Varek. Not even giving me a chance to finish. He turned on his heel, gesturing vaguely to the storm plains projection. “This is what your attention has earned us—ghost readings and theories. You have wasted time. Baron. Time we don't have a luxury for.”

  I wanted to hit him. So fucking badly. I let out a breath. Trying to calm my anger. I stepped around the table, every muscle in my back wound tight. “People died in those caverns. My people. Seraphina—”

  Varek cut me off. “Ah, yes. The missing baroness to be. Or rebel. Or whatever title she’s claiming this week. I wonder if the Kragthar will care when their warships arrive. The Kragthar don’t scout dead worlds, Baron. Someone invited them.”

  “Varek—” Theon started, warning in his voice.

  But it was already too late. “You think this is about her? I know what a threat they pose.” I snapped. “You think I’m blind because of this childish obsession? She is my betrothed.” I slammed my fist into the console, the holo-map distorting with a brief flicker. The aides flinched. Theon didn’t move.

  “This is about control,” I growled. “Of this planet. Of the people on it. Of the air we breathe. And yes, of the ones we lose. Because if we forget what we’re fighting for, we’re already dead.”

  Varek’s expression didn’t change. He thrived on these outbursts. Fed on them. And I realised too late that I was playing straight into his hands.

  “And what are we fighting for, Baron? A collapsed cave and a handful of rebels? Or an entire world about to become the next Kragthar target?”

  Before I could answer, Theon stepped forward. “We can argue about caves and caverns all day,” he said, tone firm but calm. “But the Kragthar aren’t a theory. They’re here. They’re scouting us. And we’re not ready. Compared to them, the rebels are not worth worrying about.”

  Varek glanced at him, brow raised. “You agree with him?”

  “I agree that we’re exposed. And arguing about the past won’t change that.”

  “Get the Empire on the line,” I said finally. I hated that I was playing to a tune that wasn't my choice. “I want authorisation for full fleet support—ships, weapons, all of it.”

  Varek gave a dry laugh. “You think they’ll just hand you a new fleet? They’re barely holding the front line.”

  “Then buy them,” I snapped. “Pull from the war chest. Surely this planet has the funding. Requisition every privateer with a functioning engine if you have to.”

  Now Varek’s eyebrows lifted slightly. A rare gesture of approval. As he straightened his cufflinks. “Finally, something practical. The Empire rewards results, not sentiment. Fail again, and even your title won’t protect you.”

  He turned toward the doors, motioning for his aides to follow. “I’ll make the arrangements. Let’s just hope you’re not already too late. Remember Baron. The Empire’s eyes are everywhere—even on you ”

  The doors closed behind him as I looked down, my hands shook as I tried to calm myself. I looked up. Staring at Theon. But he didn’t say anything.

  I turned back to the storm plains map with a sigh. The swirling mass of violet and ash looked no different than before. Still violent. It seemed to match how my rage surged. For the first time, I had to let others do what I wanted to do so badly myself.

  “Theon,” I said after a moment. ” Where's Jax?”

  Theon hesitated. And in that hesitation, I knew something was wrong.

  “He’s in the medbay,” he said quietly. “You... You should go see him.”

  The words barely registered as my heart panicked. I ran from the room as fast as I could.

  ***

  The medbay lights buzzed overhead, too bright, too clean. I entered as fast as I could. I couldn’t stop shaking. Couldn’t stop thinking something wasn’t right.

  A metal folder slammed into the wall beside me hard enough to rattle the frame.

  I didn’t need to look up. I knew it was Jax who had thrown it.

  He crossed the room in three strides and grabbed the front of my shirt, hauling me upright with a snarl.

  “You selfish, reckless bastard.” His voice cracked like a whip across my skull. His eyes — usually so steady — were wild now, bloodshot, betrayed.

  I didn’t fight him. Couldn’t. Some part of me thought maybe I deserved worse.

  Jax shoved me back against the wall hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs. “What the hell were you thinking? Charging into a warzone like some half-dead maniac?” he snapped. His hands curled into fists at his sides, like he couldn’t decide whether to beat the sense into me or walk away before he said something worse.

  I wiped a line of blood from my mouth, staring at the floor. “I had to find her.”

  “Find her?” Jax’s laugh was hollow, broken. “You had people bleeding and dying behind you, and all you could think about was your guilt. You left us, Alex. You left Zara.”

  The words hit harder than any punch. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

  “She almost died because of you!” Jax roared, voice ripping raw at the edges. “A frag grenade hit the pillar she was hiding behind. She would’ve been dead, Alex. Dead because you couldn’t stop chasing a voice on a broken comm. Wouldn’t listen to reason. Dammit Alex. Even Lyra was injured because of your stupidity.”

  My throat tightened. “I—I didn’t know—” I knew it was a weak excuse.

  “You didn’t care!” Jax snarled, stepping closer, jabbing a finger into my chest. “Don’t you dare tell me you didn’t know. You heard her screaming for you to stop. You heard me screaming.”

  Each word felt like another blade sinking into my ribs.

  “She’s in surgery right now. Shrapnel tore through her side. She was still bleeding when they dragged her in here, you know that?” Jax hissed. His voice dropped lower, more lethal. “And she kept begging me not to go to you the whole time. Begged me not to tell you. Because she knew.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut, guilt flooding me so fast I thought I might drown in it.

  “She knew you weren’t going to come back for us. That we weren’t important enough.”

  Silence swallowed the room whole. I pressed my forehead to the cold wall, the shaking worse now.

  Jax’s following words dropped like a hammer:

  “You think you're the only one who cared about Seraphina?” His voice cracked. “You think you’re the only one hurting?”

  I swallowed, but it scraped like glass.

  “She trusted you.” Jax's voice was shaking now, not with rage but grief. “She trusted you. Now she’s on a med slab. Was she worth the trade?”

  I turned, barely able to stand under its weight. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “You meant to, Alex.” His voice dropped to a vicious whisper. “You chose her ghost over us.”

  I staggered back a step, like he'd struck me. Jax looked at me for a long, raw moment. I saw it then — the fracture lines running through him. The grief he was carrying. Not just for Zara. Not just for the others who died back there.

  For me, too. For the man he thought I was supposed to be — the man I wasn’t anymore.

  Without another word, he turned, stopping before the door. "I thought I could keep this in, keep doing my job as your aide. But Zara didn't deserve this, Alex." He said softly before he walked out, the door hissing shut behind him with a finality that felt like a gunshot.

  I stood there, shaking, breath ragged. In the silence that followed, I heard Seraphina’s voice again, faint and broken in the back of my mind:

  Alex… promise me you won’t do anything reckless.

  I pressed my palm to the wall, the bandages on my shoulder bleeding through, my lungs heaving against the weight of everything I’d destroyed.

  For the first time since this all began, I realised. I wasn’t just losing the people I loved. I was throwing them away.