White-hot rage seared through me, boiling in my veins at his mocking tone. Too late? After all the sacrifices, all the resources poured into this very operation to bring his vile operation to its knees?
No. I refused to accept that.
My paw lashed out, burying itself in the slaver’s throat as I slammed him against the bulkhead. He gurgled, eyes bulging as I leaned in until our noses were almost touching.
“Where?” I snarled, baring every razor-sharp fang. “Where did he go?”
For a long, tense moment, the only sounds were the slaver’s wet, wheezing gasps as the life drained from him. His eyes searched my own, that same infuriating hint of a smirk still playing across his bloodied maw.
Then, with a final, shuddering exhalation, the light faded from his gaze. His head lolled to the side, jaw going slack as death finally claimed him.
I roared in frustration, hurling his lifeless husk away from me to clatter across the deck in a spray of gore. Bunching on my haunches, I turned to rake my team with a withering glare.
“Fan out,” I growled, ears flat against my skull. “Search every compartment, every crawlspace on this husk of a ship. I want the location of Kruznek, and I want it now!”
The others scattered to obey, disappearing into the haze as I forced myself to take deep, steadying breaths. We weren’t too late. We couldn’t be.
There were always more leads to follow, more avenues to pursue. The Coalition Intelligence Corps would extract every last scrap of data from this wreck’s computers, every coded transmission and encrypted log. If Kruznek was out there, we would find him.
Chapter Three
Sutton
The shrill screech of rending metal made me flinch, my back pressed against the twisted bars as I planted my feet on the opposite side of the cramped cage. Just enough space to brace my shoulders and legs, to throw all my weight into bucking against the unyielding door.
I gritted my teeth, tendons straining as I pushed with every ounce of strength left in my battered body. The reinforced metal groaned in protest, stubbornly refusing to give way. Sweat beaded on my brow, trickling down the side of my face as I tensed every muscle, desperately trying to push that stubborn barrier open.
This was it—my one shot at freedom from this nightmare. If I could just pop the door loose from its frame, create a gap just big enough to tumble through...
A deafening clang made me jump, the abused metal finally surrendering as the heavy door tore free of its frame. I tumbled backwards, choking on a startled cry as the smoking corridor swam back into view.
There, silhouetted in the haze, towered the hulking feline beast from earlier. Its powerful shoulders rose and fell, his body armor creaking with each measured breath.
I scrambled back, heart thundering in my ears as it turned those hellish amber eyes on me. The intensity of that stare bored straight through to my soul, freezing me in place like a prize stag caught in the sights of a skilled hunter.
This was it. The moment of truth, when the alien revealed its true intentions. Would it be the slavering monster of my darkest imaginings, or some holy savior sent to deliver me from this purgatory?
The beast took a single, purposeful stride forward, and I flinched violently, bracing myself for the killing blow. But it never came.
Instead, the creature lifted one enormous paw in a gesture of... what? Placation? A threat held in check for the moment?
“Easy now,” a deep, rumbling voice sliced through the cacophony surrounding us. Male, authoritative, but with an unmistakable gentleness that made me blink in shock. “You’re safe. I’m not here to harm you.”
The words washed over me, alien and guttural. At first, they were just meaningless noise, like the beast itself was simply growling out a series of barks and snarls.
But then, something... clicked. Some strange technology embedded deep in my skull, no doubt implanted by my captors, began to decode and translate the sounds into something I could comprehend.
I blinked again, heart stuttering in my chest as the true meaning solidified in my mind. It was... speaking to me. Calmly, almost gently, despite its ferocious appearance.
“Wh-what?” I rasped, my voice sounding small and fragile by comparison. “What are you?”
The beast cocked its head, whiskers twitching as it studied me with those unnerving amber eyes. “I am Raxon of the Kal’doren,” it - he - rumbled at last. “A warrior of the Coalition Defense Force. I’m here to rescue you and any other captives aboard this ship.”
Rescue me? The words sparked a flicker of hope in my chest, one I quickly smothered beneath a wave of bitter cynicism. As if I could trust anything this... this creature told me. For all I knew, it was the one calling the shots, the slaver kingpin behind this whole twisted operation.
Still, I had to play along for now. Antagonizing the only being here who might get me out of this hellish prison would be tantamount to suicide.
So I swallowed hard and forced myself to meet that piercing amber stare, mustering what little courage I had left.
