Page 108 of Rebel Fates

Serrat soothes me, sensing why I’m upset. “They knew the risks. This is what they do. They fight against the forces of evil and oppression. Your fate was always to be a rebel.”

While our five ships engage with the Syndicate, Crax works to hack various Earth databases for their DNA profiles of our planet’s inhabitants.

Rok and Zeek—and from what I understand, other Freedom Raiders—are busy with crashing LunaTek’s computers and sabotaging their efforts to entice innocent women into falling into the same trap I did.

My mates frantically work to change the course of Earth’s future. I bite my knuckles, worrying while Serrat maneuvers the ship to avoid damage to Leva.

“Oh, my god!” I shout.

“What?” they all ask me.

“Leva! She’ll be really hurt if she gets hit!” My blood goes cold with this thought. I hadn’t considered before now that she can feel any blasts her hull would take. “She’ll feel it!”

Serrat takes a moment from the controls to squeeze my hand. “She’s tougher than she looks. She might even be tougher than the regular ships. She can regenerate her outer layers and even then, she is hard to damage.”

“Oh, yeah.” I consider what she’s able to do. Fly through space. And yes, space might be a lot of … space, but it’s also filled with particulates and space junk. She would have to have a resilient outer shell to compensate for that.

“She also can repel most stuff being shot at her,” Rok adds, as he types away on his console.

I collapse against the wall, breathing easier for Leva and for our safety. Then my interest turns to their mission. “How’s it going?”

Rok curses and informs us, “LunaTek executives are vacating their headquarters.”

“We can’t allow them to escape and regroup,” Zeek snarls.

Serrat growls and dives toward Earth.

“What the fuck?” I ask, clutching at him.

The other guys look surprised but don’t comment.

“Serrat, what are you doing?” one of the other ships asks.

“Taking out the ones responsible,” he snaps back. “Follow or don’t, but I’m going in.”

“Holy shit.” I’m excited and terrified. I secretly hope I see the asshole who interviewed me get taken down.

In a matter of seconds, it seems, we land on the grassy area in front of the LunaTek main offices.

I watch through the cockpit as the fleeing employees scream and run away.

They know their end is nigh.

Two other ships land next to us. The Hathoran males charge out and herd the fleeing employees back toward the building. Security guards from inside come charging out of the offices, weapons blazing to eliminate our people.

Serrat grabs me and nuzzles me urgently and then rushes toward the back of our ship to join the skirmish.

“No!” I shout, but it’s too late. He’s gone.

“He’ll be okay,” Zeek assures me, and keeps working on his attack on LunaTek’s computers.

While my three mates are consumed with their work, I slowly exit the room, knowing what I need to do.

Once I’m out of the cockpit, I race to their armory and throw on an ill-fitting armored vest and grab a gun and tuck a large knife in my belt.

Thankfully, the guys gave me clothing for this battle since they worried we would have face-to-face dealings with the others.

I whisper as I walk down the ramp, “Leva, don’t alert the guys. I’m going to help.”

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