Page 170 of Star Claimed Omega
He raised his chin and nailed the squad with a stern gaze. ‘Our presence on Cybele will be to remind them that we guard the Wildlight and rule the night.’
The crew replied in unison: ‘We are the night.’
He gave them a grim smile. ‘Get ready. We leave in one hour, at the ass crack of dawn.’
The twelve dispersed, their movements efficient.
Kaal approached first, clapping a heavy hand on his shoulder. ‘Good to have you back,hermano.’
Santi offered a crooked smile. ‘Good to be vertical.’
Within the hour, the team was loading up inThe Sombra’smassive rear deck.
TheÚltima El Lobo was a long, elegant capital-class cruiser that gleamed like a dagger in the shadows, retrofitted for stealth, speed, and war.
It was one of the largest ships in the Signet fleet, the most weaponized, and now his to command as captain.
After a quick inspection of the bridge, Santi headed to his ready room.
His spectral, nanite-powered armor sat waiting, draped on his chair.
He suited up, then caught his own reflection in the polished obsidian of the wall panel.
His eyes gleamed with the hunger of a new mission, yet beneath his newfound energy flamed his pain, deep and molten.
Losing his first love, Naya, years ago had been devastating.
When she died, the universe tilted out of alignment for weeks, but it realigned over time.
Soleil, however, was different.
She became, in such a short span, his sun, his orbit,fokk, the center of his heart, soul, and mind.
It felt like someone reached into his core and switched off all life, light, and fire within him.
The ache she left was not clean like Naya’s.
It was dark, shadowed, messy, twisted, and raw.
Worse, it was his fault.
He closed his eyes for a moment, his jaw locking.
He’d spoken to Soleil in no way a man should talk to a woman he claimed to love.
Words meant to wound; intended to push her away, and they succeeded, leading to her being lost to him forever.
If this pain now was karma, then so be it.
He would accept the sentence.
Still, he was afokkin’ mess for her, but he tamped down the ache, the utter hopelessness of it all, and pushed on.
Stepping out of the ready room, he took the lift, prowling out the rear of theEl Loboto theThe Sombra’sloading deck to check on the final loading of food, weapons, and supplies.
Where the freight gantries hummed and the last systems check blinked across the digital walls.
Xander stood near the gantry edge, eyes on the activity within the hangar with his usual sentinel stillness.
