Page 24 of Kazmyr: Molten for Her
The chamber temperature spiked as my anger flared. "Then we destroy it. Simple."
"Not simple." Silvyr projected a new set of images… a twisted debris field surrounding a shattered moon. "Asset P's main consciousness is on Earth, but its operations are coordinated through a network of satellite relays. The strongest node is here, hidden in this debris field. It's the direct line back to Earth, the primary conduit for all its commands."
"If we take out the relay..." Jenna began.
"We cut the line," Silvyr finished. "Asset P loses control of its network, at least temporarily. Enough time for us to track it to its source and eliminate it permanently."
Jenna stepped forward, her eyes fixed on the holographic projection. I watched her study the twisted crown of metal that formed the satellite fortress. Her jaw tightened, determination hardening her features into something fierce and beautiful that made my ember marks pulse with pride.
"So we burn it down," she said simply.
My scars flared in response to her words, heat radiating through my body. "It won't be that easy. The fortress will be heavily defended. Asset P will have anticipated our move after the Voraxx ambush."
"I don't care." Jenna's eyes found mine across the chamber, her gaze steady and unflinching. "I'm not afraid of burning, Kazmyr. I've been burning my whole life." Her voice dropped, weighted with emotion that cut deeper than any Voraxx blade. "What I'm afraid of is being silenced. Having my choice taken away. Becoming just another piece of genetic material to be bought and sold."
Her words struck me like a physical blow. My scars pulsed jaggedly, torn between contradictory imperatives… to shield her from danger and to honor the fire that burned within her. The same fire that had drawn me to her from the beginning.
"No one's silencing you," I growled, fighting to keep my temperature regulated. "But I won't watch you throw yourself into unnecessary danger."
"Unnecessary?" She crossed the chamber in quick strides, stopping just short of touching me. The heat between us created visible distortions in the air. "They came for me, Kazmyr. The Voraxx attacked our ship, breached our defenses, and tried to take me because someone decided my DNA was valuable. This is exactly necessary."
I couldn't argue with her logic, but fear clawed at my insides. The memory of her pinned against the wall, vulnerable and exposed while I fought to reach her, replayed in my mind with excruciating detail.
"We'll need to approach from the shadow side," Silvyr interrupted, his practical nature cutting through the tension. "The debris field provides cover, but also presents navigational challenges."
"The Heartforge can handle it," I said, more confidently than I felt. The ship hummed in response, its systems synchronizing with my determination despite its damaged state.
"I'll create a remote access point," Maya offered, her focus returning. She moved to a secondary console, fingers dancing across the interface. "If I can tap into their communication protocols, we might be able to confuse their defense systems."
Silvyr joined her, silver skin rippling with code as he interfaced directly with the ship's systems. "Reality syncing with Heartforge now," he announced, his form blurring as he established the connection between his hybrid mind and the ship's neural network.
I watched them work, these two brilliant minds channeling their frustrations into productive action. Beside them, Vylit stood silent, his luminescence still dimmed to twilight hues. Whatever had happened between him and Maya had left wounds that wouldn't heal quickly. Not my concern. Not now.
Jenna's hand touched my arm, the brief contact sending sparks across my marks. "I need to be part of this," she said, her voice low enough that only I could hear. "Not as cargo. Not as a victim. As a fighter."
I turned to face her fully, drinking in the sight of her… auburn hair wild from battle, eyes bright with purpose, the scar on her forearm catching the light. My mate. My equal. The realization hit me with the force of certainty: I couldn't protect her by diminishing her fire.
"Then we fight together," I agreed, the words feeling right in my mouth despite the fear that lingered beneath them. "But you follow my lead in the fortress. No heroics. No solo missions."
Her smile, quick and fierce, sent heat spiraling through my core. "Deal. As long as you promise not to go all alpha male the moment we're in danger."
"I promise nothing," I rumbled, unable to suppress the answering smile that pulled at my scarred lips.
The ship lurched suddenly, compensating for a damaged thruster as we angled into the debris field. Chunks of shattered moon and twisted metal floated past the viewport, casting eerie shadows across the command chamber. I returned to the primary console, pouring stability into the Heartforge's systems as we navigated the dangerous terrain.
"Distance to target?" I asked, fingers spread across the obsidian surface.
"Three thousand units and closing," Silvyr replied, his form occasionally phasing through solid objects as he maintained his connection with the ship. "Defenses active but currently blind to our approach."
Through the viewport, the satellite fortress gradually took form. A twisted crown of steel and alien alloys, studded with sensor arrays and weapon platforms. Its central spire pulsed with sickly green energy, humming with the stolen mate-signatures of thousands of bonded pairs across the galaxy.
"We can see them," Maya whispered, her hand unconsciously moving to touch the bond marks on her skin. "All those connections, being used as tracking beacons."
Vylit moved to her side, not touching but close enough that his dim glow illuminated her profile. "The fortress feeds on the bond energy," he confirmed. "It's how Asset P maintains control of its network."
"Then we're the perfect weapon against it," Jenna said, her voice steady despite the danger ahead. "Our bonds are real. Theirs are just stolen echoes."
My marks blazed in response to her words, heat flowing through my veins until my skin glowed like molten metal. The fortress loomed larger through the viewport, its malevolent presence an affront to everything I held sacred. Bonds weren't meant to be commodities. Mates weren't breeding stock. The perversion of something so fundamental violated every code I lived by.
