Chapter 64 | Separation

AUTHOR NOTE: This is the continuation of Chapter 1 flash-forward.


The explosions that had shattered Astralis' colony still echoed faintly in Leon's ears as they moved through the dense forest. The Valkyrie stayed out of sight, forced to take a wide detour around impassable terrain. Each step sank into the damp earth, the weight of his armor pressing down like the memories he couldn't shake.

He recalled the first attack: the massive mana beast erupting from the undergrowth, its scaled hide glowing with pulsing blue and orange energy. Ruby's rifle shot had struck true but bounced harmlessly off.

A flash of Ruby's steady hands tightening her grip on her rifle. Owen's broad shield taking the brunt of the beast's charge. Miles' sharp criticism of the rifle's usefulness echoing in his mind.

Then came the ambush—humanoid figures clad in shifting brown armor with faces hidden beneath smooth helmets. Their hands moved in eerie, synchronized gestures, twisting ambient mana into weapons: searing flames that reduced soldiers to ash and blades of wind slicing through armor like paper. The desperate fight to reach the colony.

How could they bend mana without implants? The question haunted him.

He expected a straightforward mission securing an MRM site overrun by mana beasts, but upon landing it became clear they were here to rescue survivors from a ravaged colony.

They had barely escaped with survivors in tow and one of the attackers' corpses strapped to a stretcher. A grim trophy.

The pointed ears of the fallen figure were etched into Leon's memory, proof these were something not quite human.

Now, deeper into the forest, exhaustion settled deep in his bones. Leon forced his jaw tight.

"What the hell is that thing?" Mason asked, walking beside Leon, eyes fixed on the body.

"I don't know," Leon said without looking. "We'll worry about it after we get back to the Inceptor."

He glanced over his shoulder. The cavora slogged through the muddy forest behind them, boots sinking into the drenched earth. Six and Two held the rear, Nyra moving like a shadow at the edge of the line.

"We already lost a few…" he muttered under his breath.

The cavora was in rough shape—a quarter of his forces gone. There was no time, no strength left to drag the bodies. All they could do was keep moving.

The ambient mana was still unstable, warped by whatever those things were. Comms barely reached beyond a few meters.

Then a blast echoed ahead. Another explosion. Leon's head snapped forward.

"The Valkyries must be under attack," Owen said, slowing his steps. He looked to Leon, awaiting orders.

A moment later, a Valkyrie roared into the sky, breaching the canopy and climbing toward orbit.

"Shit! What is going on?" Ruby spun in place, scanning for answers no one had.

"Increase pace," Leon ordered through the comms.

It took them thirty minutes to reach the landing zone.

Thirty minutes too late.

The site was a massacre. Bodies from Bravo Battalion were strewn across the clearing. Leon's jaw clenched as he stared at the lone remaining carrier, its hull pierced by jagged spikes of earth, groaning under its own weight.

The grinding sound echoed through his helmet.

"Did our pilot take Bravo Battalion?" Mason asked.

Leon didn't answer. His voice was cold. "Set perimeter. One, Three: sweep the area, find anything useful. Stay together, hostiles may still be in the area."

The cavora moved to secure a perimeter around the carrier, weapons lowered but still ready. They needed a moment to breathe. Only six survivors from the colony had made it out and now sat quietly within the perimeter.

"Leon," Nyra's voice crackled through the comms.

She crouched near the edge of the perimeter with her sword resting at her side, examining a body in blue Class II armor that lay before her.

As Leon approached, the Friend or Foe identifier on his HUD flickered. A golden sword and spear flared by the pilot's name.

A Ruinari.

He dropped into a crouch beside Nyra, brows drawing tight. What he'd feared when he saw the Valkyrie was starting to take shape.

"Multiple stab wounds," Nyra said, brushing her fingers over the chestplate. "Looks like MRM sword or spear."

Her voice was low. Quiet. Measured. Like she already knew what they'd find.

She touched the wounds that would never close.

Anger rose deep within him.

Bravo Battalion had left them. Turned their backs. Left them to die.

His grip tightened around the spear. Nyra's hand found his.

He looked down, then met her eyes. Even through the visor, he could tell—the steady, silent eyes.

He let out a breath. Not now.

He had to get them off this planet.

"Leon, the Valkyrie's comms are still active," Mason interrupted, cutting through his thoughts.

The carrier's comms had more power than their armor, which meant the signal should reach the Inceptor.

He nodded at Nyra, stood slowly, letting her hand slip away, then headed toward Mason.

Inside the Carrier, Vora One and Three were rummaging through the crates.

A few shield-bearers swapped out their dented shields, while others stuffed rations into their pouches and hauled armor repair kits outside.

"I don't think the power will last long with the damage," Mason said, standing by the comms terminal.

Leon placed a hand on his shoulder, signaling him to step aside.

"Inceptor, Obsidian-1."

Only static answered. Soft crackling through the line.

"Inceptor, Obsidian-1. Do you copy?"

"Obsidian-1, Inceptor. Stand by," came a reply.

A brief pause. Then Henry's voice came through.

"What's going on down there? We detected Valkyrie-1 entering the other Corvette and leaving the system."

"They abandoned us," Leon growled. "They killed our pilot and took the Carrier. Send down Valkyrie-2. We're holding position. Be advised; hostiles on the ground. Come in hot."

Another pause.

Leon didn't blame him.

Obsidian abandoning their own—resorting to killing a pilot to escape—it wasn't just unthinkable. It was unheard of. At least to him anyway.

"Copy. Sending Valkyrie-2."

Leon cut the line and turned to find Mason and Nyra waiting.

Nyra shifted, helmet tilting.

"Is that really a good idea?" she asked.

"We don't have a choice. Coordinating a new landing zone will take too long. If we're hit again, the mana interference will scramble the signal."

The landing zone had been thoroughly mapped. The Corvette sat in the precise position required for a carrier drop—no adjustments, no drift.

If they moved now, the carrier would have to re-enter from farther out, adding at least a full minute just to reacquire a new drop zone.

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the outside of the carrier.

"Contact!"

"Get those shields up!"

"UGH!"

The once-silent cavora comms burst into chaos. Inside, troops scrambled to their feet and rushed toward the ramp. Outside, the sky lit with balls of fire. They were under attack from the same direction they'd arrived. They'd been tracked. Hunted.

Leon didn't hesitate. He activated Aetheric Combat State. He couldn't hold back anymore.

Even exhausted, with the Valkyrie inbound, he had to hold the line. Had to keep the others alive.

Blue mana vented violently from the ports along the back of his shoulders, trailing light behind him as he steadied his breath and sprinted straight toward the failing shield wall. One surged after him, joined by Vora Two and Three.

"Get the survivors into the carrier!" Nyra commanded through cavora comms.

The Valkyrie's hulls were reinforced but not impenetrable. Still, it was better cover than the open. The survivors didn't have Class II armor. Out here, they were liabilities.

"Ruby!" Leon shouted as they neared the front. "Support!"

Ruby broke off, taking position just behind the shield line. The others vaulted over using the shield bearers' shoulders as springboards.

Enemy attack came from deep within the trees. They couldn't afford to turtle behind the shields forever. They didn't know how long the enemy could keep channeling mana at that rate but they just needed to hold out long enough for evac.

Leon's team, minus Ruby, weaved through the barrage, dodging the glowing balls of fire that hammered down around them. Each time their boots hit the ground, they pushed forward.

Rifle shots cracked across the field.

Rounds streaking past Leon to strike down two of the nearest enemies. The attack tempo faltered as translucent mana shields shimmered into place. More attackers emerged behind those shields, hurling balls of fire with alarming precision, but the Fulgaris' speed made them hard targets.

Leon was the first to reach the tree line. spikes of earth erupted around him. He zigzagged, never settling into a rhythm, pivoting the instant his boots hit soil. He refused to be predictable.

A brown-armored humanoid maintaining a mana shield came into range.

Leon flooded his spear with mana and thrust.

There was resistance, but the weapon pierced through, driving clean into the enemy's chest.

He felt a shove behind him as Owen dove in and covered him with a shield as a ball of fire came crashing down.

A sudden shove.

Owen slammed into him, raising his shield just in time to block an incoming ball of fire that exploded overhead.

Nyra flashed past, sword raised. She brought it down hard on the enemy who'd just tried to incinerate them.

Leon turned, spotted movement to the left, and hurled his spear. It struck clean. Another enemy dropped.

"Back!" Leon shouted, spinning around and sprinting for the shield wall.

It parted just in time, allowing them through before closing back up and taking the brunt of enemy fire.

He collapsed to a knee and deactivated Aetheric Combat State. Color drained from his face. His breath came in ragged gasps.

He scanned the group. Fewer than before. Most had their hands on their knees, struggling to catch their breath.

One of Nyra's shield bearers dropped his shield with a heavy clatter and crumpled to the ground. A jagged earth spike jutted from his chest, still wet with blood.

Mason crouched down and confirmed the vitals flashing beside the troop's name. Another Obsidian had fallen.

Leon turned to Owen. "Caleb and Matt?"

Owen shook his head.

Gone. Two more of his shield bearers—men he trusted to hold the line.

The attack intensified. More enemies had shown up.

Leon sucked in a breath and turned to face the front again. He winced as he reactivated Aetheric Combat State. The mana flaring behind him was weaker now; its color dull, its pulse less stable. Still, he reached for the sword at his hip.

Nyra grabbed his arm. "Leon—"

"I'm fine."

He placed his hand over hers, gave it a gentle squeeze, then let go and sprinted forward, vaulting the shield wall once more.

The others followed. Ruby resumed firing behind them, her shots more spaced.

The distance between the wall and the treeline felt longer this time. Every breath stung. Every step demanded more control over the flow of mana.

He swallowed the iron taste rising in his throat and kept going.

He thrust his sword forward, driving it into the enemy's mana shield. Not as clean as a spear, but it worked. The blade pierced through, just shy of the target's chest. He slashed instead, catching the enemy's outstretched arm.

The humanoid stumbled backwards to the ground, then a sword pierced their chest.

Leon hunched over the body, his weight sinking into the sword. His vision blurred. He could barely stay upright.

Mason and Owen moved to flank him, taking position as his shield while he caught his breath.

BOOM!

Seconds later, a new voice crackled over comms:

"Obsidian-1. Valkyrie-2. Inbound. ETA: thirty seconds."

Overhead, the dark shape of the carrier cut through the sky. Its hull still glowed red-hot from atmospheric re-entry. It tore through the clouds at supersonic speed.

Thirty more seconds.

Leon inhaled sharply and wrenched his sword free from the corpse.

He pushed forward, falling into step behind Nyra, with Mason and Owen at his side.

Another humanoid fell to Nyra's blade. Her strikes precise, her movements effortless. She weaved between trees, striking exposed joints and necks like she'd done this a hundred times before.

The dance was beautiful and brutal. She never stopped moving.

Each arc of her blade left behind ribbons of blood.

They fell into rhythm behind her. Kill. Move. Kill again.

Three more hostiles dropped in the span of seconds.

Nyra shifted the tempo, her path turning subtly, angled back toward the shield wall.

Leon felt weightless. The world blurred around him as they danced their deathly waltz through the woods.

Then—

He saw red.

His visor flashed.

NO! NO! Not now!

The warning he'd been ignoring forced him out of the trance.

Aetheric Combat State deactivated. The light behind him flickered out. His body gave way.

He dropped to his knees.

Blood sprayed inside his helmet as he coughed.

An earth spike tore up through his thigh. Driving straight through armor and flesh.

Nyra appeared beside him, her blade flashing down, shattering the spike from its base.

"Owen! Grab Leon!" she shouted, already moving forward, cutting down the enemy who'd struck him.

Owen hauled him up, an arm around his side, and continued to retreat to the shield wall.

Mason, Nyra, and the rest of the group covered their retreat.

The attacks intensified now that they were on the defensive.

Ruby's rifle shots, once rapid, were coming slower now. She was aiming longer. Choosing carefully. Running low.

They just needed to make it back to the shield wall.

Leon's vision blurred. His mind fogged at the edges like static on an old terminal. His legs gave beneath him, and more of his weight shifted onto Owen.

Then—

"NYRA!!" Mason's voice cracked through the comms.

Leon looked over his shoulder, his body barely obeying.

Nyra was down. Reaching for him. One arm outstretched, fingers curled as if she could still grab him, still anchor him to something.

Static crackled in his earpiece. Her voice came through—soft, strained.

"I'm sorry."

Just two words. No explanation. No time for answers. Then silence.

He tried to move.

Tried to speak.

Nothing. His body refused.

He was done. Burned out.

Only his eyes worked, and even they were starting to dim.

Mason didn't hesitate. He dropped low, scooped Nyra into his arms, and threw her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing.

His voice cut in.

"Priority orders. Ruinari Protocol Zero Zero One."

Leon continued to stare at the Nyra. She was limp and no longer moving.

Other Obsidians surged forward, moving away from the shield wall. It took him a moment to realize these men, meant to hold the shield wall safe, were rushing forward to their death.

They had pushed into the tree line, abandoning the safety of the landing zone. He didn't know what protocol Mason had enacted but he didn't care. All that mattered was Nyra.

Above them, the Valkyrie's mana engines hummed steadily as it slowed its descent. The ramps dropped, and Ordari guards from the Inceptor opened fire into the trees, covering the Obsidians still fighting.

The Valkyrie touched down, its engines humming low as leaves and broken branches whipped across the clearing.

Owen eased Leon into the cargo hold, careful not to aggravate the wound. He lingered a moment, then turned and disappeared back into the trees.

Mason stepped into the Valkyrie, slower than the rest. Blood traced a line down his armor, seeping from the figure cradled in his arms.

He lowered Nyra beside Leon with a quiet care that said more than words ever could, then turned without a sound and walked away.

The noise of the battlefield faded into a dull thrum.

Her body lay still, impaled through the torso by a jagged spike of earth.

The armor around it was split and blackened, edges crusted with dried blood.

He reached for her hand, as if warmth might still linger beneath the plating. Though warmth didn't remain, he held on—fingers wrapped around cold alloy, unwilling to let go.

He didn't move. Couldn't. The world had narrowed to a single pulse of pain behind his ribs.