Leonora didn't hesitate. The moment the feed cut and the coordinates of the wreckage locked onto her display, she turned sharply toward the helm. "Turn us around. Outer Rim corridor. Maximum burn."
The helmsman barely had time to acknowledge before the Millia pivoted in orbit, her massive frame rolling with controlled precision. Her engines roared to life as the power spiked, and the flagship surged forward until the stars stretched into long streaks as the drive pushed past its standard cruising speed.
"Engines at full output, General."
"Push them harder."
The ship shuddered as the reactor poured more power into propulsion, and within seconds the Outer Rim corridor came into view. And then they saw it: wreckage. Not the scattered debris of a chaotic skirmish, but hull sections cleanly severed and drifting in eerie silence — whole cruisers split in two, patrol frigates carved open as though by a blade the size of a building, no burn patterns from missiles, no signatures of fragmented explosions. The Millia slowed and came to a halt in the middle of the graveyard, and Youri stood beside Leonora at the viewport, scanning the destruction.
"This wasn't pirates," he said quietly.
Her jaw tightened. "No. This was deliberate."
Before another word could be spoken, the radar console erupted in alarms. "Unidentified object!" the operator shouted. "High-velocity signature — closing fast!"
"Vector?" Leonora demanded.
"Directly at us!"
She turned toward the operator — and the world went white. A massive beam of condensed light slammed into the top of the Millia and tore through her armor like paper. The impact rocked the ship violently; consoles exploded in sparks and officers were thrown to the floor as the gravity stabilizers flickered. Alarms screamed through the control room. Leonora hit the floor hard. Her head struck metal, and for a moment her vision blurred and she tasted blood. She forced herself upright by a railing. "Report!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos. "Is everyone alive?!"
The crew scrambled back to their stations. "Upper command deck destroyed!" "Sectors five and six offline — automatic lockdown engaged!" "Power still stable — backup systems holding!"
Leonora scanned the room — and Youri was gone. Her eyes narrowed. "Where is he?" There was no answer. "Damage assessment!"
"We've lost the entire top section of the ship, General," an operator answered. "Structural integrity compromised, but core systems intact."
"What hit us?"
An image flickered onto the main screen, and the whole control room fell silent. It was an Orbiton — wrapped in sharp, interlocking plates of matte-black armor, its silhouette angular and predatory, with a narrow amber visor slit glowing across a featureless mask and orange accents pulsing along its chest and collar like veins of fire beneath obsidian. Twin vertical cannons rose from its back like dark spires, with wing-like assemblies flexing outward beneath them. Its long segmented arms ended in articulated claws. Its legs were digitigrade, tapering to blade-like points, with gold-toned joints gleaming at the knees — subtle hints of advanced engineering beneath the armor.
"This is no standard unit," Leonora muttered.
The alarms flared again. "It's closer!" The viewport darkened as the black Orbiton appeared directly in front of the Millia, hovering with terrifying stability. A crimson plasma blade ignited in its hand, humming with lethal intent. It raised it.
"Brace!" Leonora shouted.
But before the blade could fall, a blur of white light streaked across the void at supersonic speed. Another Orbiton slammed into the black unit in mid-swing with explosive force and sent both machines spiraling away from the flagship.
"What the hell—?" Leonora breathed.
"General! The hangar hatch has opened! One of the Royal Knight units has deployed!"
Her face darkened. The Royal Knights were elite machines — ivory-white armor curving smoothly over dense mechanical musculature, organic yet deliberate in its rounded plating, heavy cylindrical shoulder units anchoring their upper frames and a streamlined head beneath a protective hood of armor, more visor than face, emotionless and imposing — with hydraulic arms ending in skeletal claws built for crushing force, and broad, reinforced legs built for stability and raw power. She was their commander. Nobody launched a Royal Knight without her authorization. "Connect me to that unit."
The comm line opened. Her voice cut through it, sharp and furious. "Who authorized your deployment?"
Static crackled, and then a familiar voice answered. "It's been a while since I've been in one of these. Didn't miss it, though."
Leonora froze. "…Youri?"
A soft chuckle. "Hi."
"How did you even get off the bridge?"
"Long story. Short version — I saw the hangar was still operational before the upper section came down. I figured we'd need something heavier than words."
On the external feed, the white Royal Knight steadied in space with its thrusters flaring blue as it turned to face the black Orbiton, which was already recovering, its twin cannons swinging toward him.
"You should be in the control room," Leonora snapped.
"And you should be out of firing range," he answered calmly. "We're even."
The black Orbiton fired first. Twin beams lanced across space, and Youri's Knight rolled sharply with its engines roaring as the beams sliced past. Then it surged forward instead of retreating, closing the distance in seconds.
"He's engaging at close range," an operator said.
"Of course he is," Leonora muttered.
The rogue unit's plasma blade reignited, and Youri answered in kind, a brilliant white blade extending from the Knight's forearm, clean, focused, humming with controlled power. The two machines collided with an impact that sent a shockwave rippling through the debris around them, crimson and white grinding violently together.
"You're outmatched," Leonora said into the comm, though she knew he could hear the worry beneath it.
"Doesn't feel like it."
The black unit's back cannons fired at point-blank range. Youri twisted at the last possible instant. One beam grazed his shoulder plating, which flared but held, and he answered with a brutal knee into the rogue unit's midsection that bent its plating inward. "Its structure's denser than it should be," he muttered. "This isn't standard imperial design."
Leonora's eyes narrowed. "You think it's ours?"
"No. But whoever built it knows us."
The black Orbiton broke away with its wings flaring and its amber visor brightening. Suddenly it accelerated backward, faster than before.
"Energy spike!" an operator shouted. "It's charging something!"
The twin cannons on its back began to glow as the power built rapidly. "Youri, fall back!" Leonora ordered.
"No." The Royal Knight's shoulder units shifted and locked into place, and for a split second there was silence. Then both machines fired. The two beams met in the middle of space in a blinding explosion of light. The shockwave tore through the wreckage around them and vaporized it, and the lights in the control room flickered with the surge. When both Orbitons came out of the blast cloud, the rogue unit's left cannon was gone, and Youri's right shoulder plating was cracked. They hung there facing each other again.
"This thing isn't just attacking trade routes," Youri said quietly over the comm. "It wanted us."
Leonora's voice dropped. "A message?"
"Or bait."
Then, without any warning at all, the black Orbiton broke off, its thrusters flaring violently as it shot away at extreme speed and vanished into the void before any targeting system could lock on.
"Tracking lost!"
Silence fell across the control room, while Youri's Royal Knight hung alone among the debris.
Leonora let out a slow breath. "Return to the ship."
A pause. "You okay?" he asked softly.
She hesitated. "Yes."
A faint smile colored his voice. "Good."
The Knight turned and began its approach back toward the damaged Millia. As Leonora watched it through the viewport, her anger from earlier felt very far away, replaced by something heavier. Whoever had sent that machine had known exactly where to strike, and exactly who would answer. This was no random act of violence. It was a declaration. And somewhere beyond the Outer Rim, someone had just tested the Empire's sharpest blade — and found that it cut back.