Chapter Title: Midnight Pursuit
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It turned out Gavin's decision was spot on.
The Imperial Royal Military Academy, cradle of the Empire's future elites, sat on the edge of White Heron Star's barren zone and uninhabited area. It boasted vast open mech training fields and off-road combat zones, surrounded by hotels for students to rest during long field exercises.
Even better, the academy's tech department recruited Omegas with special talents. Given their unique physiology, nearby hotels prepared sealed rooms just for them.
These rooms were airtight and soundproof, completely blocking pheromone leakage, with locks on both sides. If an Omega went into heat mid-exercise, they'd be rushed here and locked in.
Such cases were rare, though. Most Omega students were academics; those joining field exercises were usually mech technicians—a rarity.
Gavin scoured the mech and scraped together a few crumpled small bills from some forgotten corner. He booked a sealed room at a rundown little hotel.
As Gryphon explained, the Empire—born from the fires of war—prioritized military infrastructure. Anything military-related was top-notch. This hotel proved it: the room was cramped and basic, but the seal was impeccable. Sturdy chemical seals lined the walls and door to prevent Omega pheromones from escaping.
Gavin sat in the dark, finally feeling a bit safe. Ever since landing on White Heron Star, he'd felt exposed, like he was stripped bare in a crowd for all to see.
"It's twenty kilometers from the academy headquarters and only eight from the research institute. The inhibitors should be locked in some prohibited drug lab. My system has General Aaron's fingerprints and retinal data—hacking in should be fine. But every step needs careful planning."
Gryphon shifted into a mini optical computer, projecting a 3D map of the academy. Gavin studied it, a vague sense of familiarity nagging at him. The layout seemed... he'd seen it before.
"The academy's one of the Empire's key structures, remodeled from some low-tier Alliance military school... Here's the research institute—twin towers covering five thousand square meters."
A flash lit Gavin's mind, like countless memory fragments surging from the ocean depths. But as he focused, they sank away again.
He stared blankly for a while, snapping back only at Gryphon's urging. They discussed tomorrow's plan, then he showered quickly and hit the sack. Maybe influenced by pheromones from past Omegas who'd stayed here, he slept deeply. Near dawn, he dreamed.
He stood in endless fields of mint, surrounded by lush green, cool sweet mint scent on the breeze. A bell-like voice called from behind: "Gavin! Gavin!"
He turned blankly. A little girl in a floral dress扑 came running. Her face was blurry in the dream, but she asked happily, "Where'd you go? Why won't you play with me?"
"..."
"Are you hiding from me? Are you mad?"
"..."
The girl tilted her head, on the verge of tears. Then arms scooped her up from behind. "Miss Edna! How'd you get out here? Come back with me—the Speaker and everyone are looking for you..."
Gavin looked up, sensing intense hatred and hostility from the man. He stepped back, watching helplessly as the silhouetted figure carried her away into the dream's depths.
The breeze rustled the mint fields. Sunlight vanished behind clouds, the wind turning cold and damp. Rain was coming. Gavin huddled by a ridge, overwhelmed by sorrow and fear, as if the whole world had left him alone.
Just him, waiting in isolation for the storm.
"Gavin, Gavin!"
"Wake up!"
"Wake up, Gavin!"
Gavin jolted awake, bolting upright from the dark, drenched in cold sweat. "What?"
Gryphon—acting weird—had flattened into a mud-like patch stuck to the back of Gavin's neck. It plopped onto the pillow as he sat up. "Ow! Run! Protection Association goons are here—noise downstairs!"
Gavin dropped to the floor and listened. Sure enough, heavy chaotic footsteps pounded up the stairs. No hesitation—he snatched Gryphon, and the five-dimensional alloy core shifted into a thirty-centimeter short military knife. With a crash, he smashed the glass window.
"There!" "Upstairs!"
The Protection Association's enforcers swarmed below too. Gavin gripped the sill, flipped out the window, and instantly detected Alphas among the pursuers—his gut tightened.
He'd never dealt with people firsthand, only roughly distinguishing ABO genders by pheromones. He couldn't tell marked Alphas from unmarked ones.
Marked ones ignored foreign Omega pheromones, their combat prowess elite. Once they encircled him, escape was tough. Unmarked ones lost control to lust, turning feral—even polite guys became ruthless breeders in heat.
Either way, massive trouble.
In a flash, Gavin vaulted out, cat-like onto the eaves. The golden knife stabbed into roof tiles for leverage, propelling him atop the roof.
"Up top! He ran!"
Pursuers charged below, firing into the air, pinning him up high. Luckily, the hotel district roofs connected. In the night, he scrambled over dusty tiles, leaping gaps, until a patrol boat's spotlight blazed behind.
"You're surrounded! Stop!" a voice bellowed amid the clamor. "Drop the weapon! Surrender!"
Gavin glanced back, blinded, hand flying up to shield his eyes.
In that instant, a tranquilizer dart whistled silently, grazing his raised wrist!
Perfect shot—if not for the hand, it'd have hit his forehead, instant blackout. Even so, it nicked him solid. Seconds later, the knife slipped from numb fingers, clanging down.
His heart sank. He bent to grab it—but an enforcer lunged, slamming him flat!
They rolled meters across the grimy roof. Gavin's numb right arm wrenched behind; his left broke free, clamping the enforcer's throat like a vice. The man thrashed wildly, heavy boot slamming Gavin's leg with a dull thud.
The struggle lasted seconds before more dropped from the boat, closing in.
"Don't move! Hands behind your back!"
Gavin hurled the enforcer aside. His lean frame erupted with terrifying strength, sweeping the lead reinforcement off his feet!
Battle instincts from gunfights were etched in his bones—every strike precise, spear-like, piercing the encirclement!
"Second team—!" someone screamed from the boat. "Load live rounds!"
"Damn it!" an enforcer roared. "Don't kill him!"
It all flashed in an instant. Gavin slid on his back, grabbed the knife, and swung with all his might. Clang! It blocked a downward bayonet thrust!
The attacker was a marked Alpha, unaffected by thickening seductive pheromones, strikes brutally sharp. Missing, he retracted for a stab. Gavin's left gripped the knife, right numb—he rolled aside, then slashed at the Alpha's knee.
A solid hit would've severed the leg, but the Alpha dodged nimbly, cursing: "You bastard!"
"Fuck you!" Gavin snarled back, propping up on his numb right elbow, staggering to his feet.
The roof edge loomed behind him—one step back, and he'd plummet. The Alpha, still furious, barked: "What the hell? Come here! Don't make us force you—others will kill you!"
"Better than that!" Gavin dodged a flashing electro-dart by his face. Knife hooked its seam mid-air—he flung it back like a meteor. A distant enforcer howled in pain.
Incredible reflexes—an Omega on the brink of heat holding off armed cops. The Alpha's face twisted in rage and shock, with unwitting respect: "Stop resisting. Go with the Association—no one'll hurt you..."
Bang!
A gunshot cracked. The bullet's force shoved Gavin's left shoulder—he tumbled off the roof!
"What the—!" The Alpha whirled, furious. "What are you doing, you idiots!"
They rushed to the edge. In the night, the youth plummeted, those seconds stretching like slow-motion film frames.
"Gry—phon—"
Gavin's knife hand clenched, veins bulging. The blade blazed brilliantly.
"Roar—!!"
Light swelled like a tide. The five-D alloy expanded boundlessly: claws, wings, flaming mane. The crimson-gold lion reared skyward, roaring in fury!
Earth quaked, wilds shook, half the night sky blazed day-bright. High-energy particle cannons emerged from shoulder pauldrons, spinning to target the sky.
Seconds later, cannons boomed. The armed patrol boat erupted into a burning fireball.
2.
0408 hours. Citywide curfew, alarms wailing through the night.
The crimson-gold lion soared the wilds, pursued by countless armed fighters.
Gavin slumped in the cockpit, left shoulder pierced by bullet, blood caked into a savage stain across his chest.
"Particle vibrations five hundred meters back—enemy prepping high-frequency weapon. Engage?"
Gavin gasped, "Yes."
The cockpit hummed faintly. Rearview showed a fireball blooming in the night. A black speck ejected—a lifepod. All Imperial flyers had them for pilot survival.
Cannon recoil made Gavin groan.
To subdue him fast, enforcers' bullets coated nerve-pain agents. With heat looming, his skin hypersensitive, sensations amplified—agony doubled.
He couldn't pilot. Gryphon's evasion system shone, dodging a micro-missile. "—How you holding up, Gavin?"
Sweet concern from the dumb lion. Gavin softened slightly. "Bad. Might lose mental sync soon—your only chance to bail. Wanna go back to General Aaron?"
"What're you saying? I'm not the type to ditch a partner... mech!"
"...You've always seen yourself as human, huh."
Gryphon let out a bashful whine.
"..." Perfect match for that idiot general. Break them up? Maybe return it after inhibitors—no, ransom it for cash, flee the Empire for freedom.
Gavin pressed his bleeding shoulder to soft neural straps, flexing numb fingers. Anesthesia fading—good, but pain crashed in waves.
"Gavin, important news: actually..."
Gryphon evaded an EM shell mid-sentence. Ahead, signal lights flared.
"Attention all units. Entering academy airspace in one thousand meters. Land and submit to inspection. Repeat: land or face charges for breaching primary military zone..."
Black mechs rocketed from the academy field, railguns trained ahead. Starpoints ignited, weaving a vast EM net. Gryphon's voice shifted: "—Academy mech team! Bad news—elite class specials!"
The EM net surged. Rear boats climbed; someone yelled: "Constitutional Police! Stand down weapons—we're cops!"
"Bust through!" Gavin snapped.
Armed boats scattered like fireworks. The crimson-gold lion charged fearless into interference static, slamming the net. Sparks sprayed a hundred meters high. Black mechs reeled from the impact, comms erupting in curses.
Gavin's ears rang. Gryphon's 3S thrust maxed, acceleration shrieking through the net. Eight seconds: full burn. Like a cannon shell, it tore free!
—Bzzz!
No true sound, but all felt the oscillation buzz.
The rebounding light-net caught lagging boats—they bloomed into fireballs!
Lifepods rained, curses and signals mingling like fireworks.
Chaos reigned. Gryphon streaked miles away.
Gavin curled between console and neural net, body aflame, pain shredding nerves. He bit back screams. "What... the hell..."
"Nerve-pain agent plus heat synergy," Gryphon said grimly. "And bad news: energy's critically low."
Gavin gritted teeth, crawled up, collapsing into the net. Pale from agony, he steadied, trembling: "Marrow fluid left?"
"Not much. Damn Protection Association idiots..." Gryphon braked hard, wailing: "Don't ditch me! Carry me even if dead battery—promise!!"
Stars burst in Gavin's vision: "Shut it! Thanks!"
"No! Crucial! Don't abandon this cute mech! Want bunny dance?! I'll do it! Muah! Keep me on you!"
Mech plummeted. Gavin gripped window rail, muscles straining: "What nonsense..."
"Please! Body carry!" Gryphon screamed in freefall. "Or haunt you forever! I'll come baaaack—!"
Boom! Mech scraped a building, cratering deep.
Lifepod ejected softly via antigrav. Hatch popped. Gavin tumbled out, kneeling wretchedly, glancing back.
Crimson-gold Gryphon shrank in light. Seconds later, it dimmed to a grain-sized earring, clinking to the ground.
Gavin: "..."
Panting, he snatched the earring, clutching it.
"Who's there?!"
"Freeze! Hands up!"
Gavin spun—bam, rifle-butted down. Brutal hit bloodied half his ear, vision blacking with dizziness.
"Fuck..." he muttered, trying to rise—but another butt to the spine dropped him to knees.
Pain and humiliation surged. He pushed up on one hand, but agony dug fingers into dirt, forcing full kneel. Butt to occiput thudded brain-deep—mind blanked seconds, near blackout.
Dazed, voices buzzed. A kick slammed his side—viscera shifted; he vomited blood!
"Stop!"
"What the hell are you doing! Cut it out!"
"He's lost it—grab him! Pull him off!"
"What's that smell—no! Separate them! Call backup!"
...
Gavin sprawled in mud, blood-soaked, rags barely covering, coughing sweet froth. He knew he looked pathetic, pain and shame crushing him—but he couldn't twitch a finger.
Night-patrolling cadets ringed him, uniformed, armed. These arrogant elites could crush skulls barehanded. Those blows had crippled him.
He squeezed eyes shut, forced open—vision blurry, just milling feet. Elbow-propped halfway up, grabbed. Iron fingers dug shoulders, hauling him.
"You fucker..." Gavin gasped through clenched teeth. "Better... kill me now, or..."
No blow fell. The guy buried face in Gavin's neck, sniffing greedily, panting excitedly. Another pinned his arms from behind, groping toward his lower back.
Concussed haze blurred it—situation spiraling.
Hormone-stoked Alphas bred savage attacks, smashing mating obstacles, brutalizing defiant Omegas. Resistance? Harsher suppression—primal instinct unchecked.
Dazed, Gavin twisted away. Something hot and wet lapped his ear—for seconds, he realized: a kiss.