Chapter 3
The ready room door closed behind us. Whatever had passed between Torvyn and me in there had shifted something fundamental. I could feel it in the way his hand found mine as we walked back to the bridge.
"We are changing our strategy," Torvyn announced as we stepped onto the bridge together.
The crew looked up. Then they looked at our joined hands.
Vaelix was the first to react, eyes wide with surprise. He glanced at me, and I shot him a grin. He nodded, just enough for me to catch it. I looked over at Lyrin. Relief washed over his face. He'd never been good at conflict. Finally, I looked at Kaedren. His expression was stoic, a warrior ready to go where ordered.
"What's the new plan?" Vaelix asked.
Torvyn turned to me. "Would you like to fill them in?"
I squeezed his hand, then looked at the Knights. "We're going to run silent and keep a low profile, but we're focusing our efforts on freeing the service colonies."
"Will that actually do anything?" Kaedren asked.
"We think it will," Torvyn said. "Kira has years of experience working under corporate rule. I deferred to her expertise in making this plan. We need to hit the corporate leadership where it hurts."
I nodded. "The goal is to make them scared and uncomfortable."
Lyrin's eyes widened. "We make them rely on themselves."
"Exactly," Torvyn said. "This is a strategic adjustment, not a retreat. The corporations have focused their security countermeasures on the things they think we've assigned high importance."
"The money and factories," Kaedren said.
"Yes," I said. "They don't consider the service colonies valuable in the traditional sense. To them, what those colonies provide is taken for granted."
I'd seen it firsthand. The way corporate overseers walked past cleaners like they were furniture. The way "companion" schedules were optimized for executive convenience, rather than human rest cycles. Workers weren't people, they were infrastructure that happened to bleed.
"But this isn't just about changing targets," I said. "It's about changing what we stand for. The old way was about hurting the corporations. The new way is about who we protect. We lead with liberation, not destruction."
"Freeing laborers doesn't move the needle on the news broadcasts. Money isn't being lost. There aren't any flashy images to project to the galaxy."
Vaelix looked up from his screen. "According to my analysis, freeing five service colonies will create a chain reaction that could decimate vital services in the corporate headquarters' worlds."
Kaedren grunted. "It would also slow down repairs to their frigates. What happens when they start protecting the service colonies?"
Torvyn grinned. "That's when we hit the supply chains and production centers. We use the money we... liberate... to pay off the bounty hunters chasing us and give them new targets. Thoughts?"
"We'll need to select our targets carefully," Vaelix said, already pulling probability matrices onto his screen. "If we liberate too many service colonies in one sector, we'll increase our odds of being captured or destroyed by forty-seven percent."
"Our medical bay is already close to full capacity," Lyrin said, concern underlining his words. "We'll either need to move our current patients to allied worlds, which I hate, or reconfigure a supply bay. These people need stability."
"I'll need to double-check our weapons stockpiles and recalibrate the shields," Kaedren said. He didn't look happy about it. "Our shuttles will need to be inspected as well. We'll be leaning on them hard, and I don't trust anything that hasn't been tested under fire."
Torvyn nodded. "Excellent. We have our plan. You all have your assignments. It's time we take the fight to the corporations. Dismissed."
I cleared my throat.
Torvyn looked at me. I raised my eyebrows, jerked my head toward the ready room, then jerked it back toward the Knights. Torvyn threw up his hands and shrugged.
Kaedren, Lyrin, and Vaelix stood there, each trying to shield the awkward feelings radiating through the tether.
I sighed. "Torvyn has one more thing he wants to say about what happened earlier."
Understanding washed across his face. "Ah, yes, of course." He cleared his throat. "The way I spoke to Kira earlier was unacceptable. I was disrespectful in both my tone and words. I want to make it clear that I was wrong in how I approached her, and it will never happen again. She is our equal and deserves to be treated as such."
