The Dominion hunter ship didn't move at first. It hovered in the shadow of a starless region, as if watching, studying, deciding how to strike. The hull was sleek and black, shaped like a blade meant to cut through worlds. No lights. No markings. Pure silence.
Predator silence.
Nova stood behind Kael, nails digging lightly into her palms. "Why aren't they firing?"
"Because Rhel doesn't fire first," Kael said. "He makes his target panic. Then he moves in."
Nova swallowed. "So what do we do?"
Kael kept his hands steady on the controls. "We don't panic."
But Nova could see the truth Kael wasn't calm. He was calculating. Preparing for the moment everything went wrong.
A soft beep chimed from the monitor.
Incoming transmission.
Nova's heart skipped. "Are you going to answer?"
Kael didn't blink. "No."
The transmission repeated, louder this time.
Nova touched his arm gently. "Kael… if it's him, maybe we need to know what he wants."
Kael finally exhaled. "He wants me."
Then he pressed the button.
The screen flickered, then filled with static. A voice filtered through smooth, cold, dripping with control.
"Kael Mercer."
Nova shivered. The voice didn't shout. It didn't threaten. It didn't need to. Authority wrapped around every word.
Kael's eyes darkened.
Rhel Arcis.
"Still running," the voice continued. "Still pretending you can outrun your origin."
Kael replied without emotion. "Say what you want and leave."
A pause. Static hummed like distant thunder.
"You have something of mine," Rhel said.
Nova felt her breath catch. She took a tiny step back, but Kael reached behind him and pulled her closer not looking at her, just keeping her near.
"She's not yours," Kael said.
Rhel chuckled. The sound was soft, controlled, and terrifying. "Everyone is mine, Kael. You most of all."
Nova felt Kael tense, every muscle sharpening like drawn steel.
Then Rhel said, "And I'm here to take you home."
The connection dropped.
Electric silence filled the cockpit.
Nova whispered, "He knows."
Kael nodded once. "He always knows."
She stepped beside him. "So what happens now?"
Kael switched the engines to combat mode. "We run."
The ship lunged forward, engines roaring as stars streaked into long white lines. Nova gripped the chair as the Astral Warden pushed into maximum thrust.
"Is this going to work?" she yelled over the rumble.
"No," Kael answered honestly. "But I need time to think."
The hunter vessel appeared behind them like a shadow tearing through space. It didn't struggle. It didn't fall behind.
It stayed right on their tail.
Nova glanced at the scanner. "They're copying our exact speed."
"They always do."
"How is that possible?"
"Because they built me with the same reflexes they built that ship," Kael said. "It's not following our course. It's predicting it."
Nova felt ice slide down her spine.
"Then change the course!" she said.
Kael smirked faintly. "I already did."
The Astral Warden twisted sharply to the right a maneuver so violent Nova nearly fell.
The hunter ship matched it perfectly.
Nova grabbed his shoulder. "Kael. Talk to me. What's the plan?"
"There's only one thing Rhel hates more than losing," Kael muttered. "Being ignored."
Before she could respond, the cockpit lights flashed red.
"Warning," the ship's AI said. "Lock-on detected."
Nova's heart raced. "Missiles?"
"No," Kael said. "Something worse."
The hunter ship unfolded like a waking beast. Panels along its wings shifted, revealing a glowing core of pale light.
Nova's voice trembled. "What is that?"
"A stasis pulse," Kael said. "If it hits us, our engines die and we get dragged in."
The core charged.
Kael tightened his grip on the controls. "Nova. Hold on."
The stasis blast fired a ring of shimmering energy expanding toward them like a collapsing star.
Kael snapped the ship downward, engines flaring.
The pulse grazed the rear of the hull, sending a shockwave through the ship. Nova crashed into the console, gasping.
"Are you okay?" Kael asked.
"I'm fine," she breathed. "But the engines"
"Yeah," Kael said grimly. "We lost twenty percent thrust."
The hunter closed in behind them.
Nova looked at Kael. "We can't outrun them."
"I know."
"Then what do we do?"
Kael's eyes shifted focused, dangerous. The gaze of a man ready to burn his own past to ash.
"We stop running."
Kael yanked the ship upward, turning sharply until they faced the hunter head-on.
Nova gripped her seat. "Kael? No no, no, what are you doing?"
"He expects fear," Kael said. "So I'll give him something else."
The hunter vessel didn't slow.
It surged toward them like a blade meant to split them in half.
Nova pressed her fists together. "We're going to crash into them!"
Kael whispered, "Trust me."
At the very last second, Kael drove the ship into a sharp roll. The hunter passed so close their hulls almost scraped.
Nova felt her stomach twist. "Kael-!"
Before she finished, he fired the rear cannons.
A direct hit.
Not enough to destroy the hunter but enough to annoy Rhel.
The hunter ship tilted, reassessing them.
Nova watched Kael's face. He wasn't scared. He wasn't angry. He was… alive.
"This is how he wants it," Kael muttered. "A duel. A test. A reminder that he still owns me."
Nova shook her head. "He doesn't."
Kael looked at her, a flicker of something soft something vulnerable passing through his eyes.
"I'm trying to believe that."
The hunter ship charged again.
Kael set his jaw.
"Then let's make him understand."
He pushed the throttle, and the Astral Warden hurled forward, straight into battle two ships slicing through empty darkness, two lives tied together by fear, defiance, and something neither of them dared name.
Kael whispered as the hunter loomed ahead:
"Rhel… I'm not yours anymore."
And this time, he meant it.