As we glide in closer to the fleet, I seeCenturionprotected beyond theBlazeStarandAegis.
“Anyone missing? How many did we lose?” Esthi asks as she flies up beside us.
“Relic Nix is down. Atox is working on him. Seven Rebel ships,” a Titan I don’t know replies.
More reports come through. We lost a handful of Titans and Rebels. Titan cores and bodies have been salvaged. But human lives are gone forever.
“Aera... What’s your status?” Kelta asks.
I look back at the Titans in the cabin behind me. They look at me like they don’t want to say it.
“Eon and Evo...” My mouth quivers as I report it. “I don’t have them.”
Raven makes a strangled noise. “Eon?”
“I’m sorry.”
Chapter 26: Evo
Demon and Icarus needed help disabling Aidathrin’s thrusters. Turning into Relic Fury is not my favorite, but I was able to overheat the thermocouple and get an engine to shut down with my Rogue Brothers.
But when our other Brothers are overwhelmed by Solcrue squads, we abandon the mission and run to where they are locked in a fiery hailstorm toward the forward section of the ship.
Wraith is a smoky blur as he ricochets his way through soldiers. But they pour out of hatches in never-ending streams. Eon is closest to me. Icarus is almost to Psycho. Demon has made it to Omen, and they’ve teamed up on the port side of the warship when I hear Aera’s warning.
Proximity Alert.
I barely have time to glance back and see the green wave of the detonating weapons system. Eon and I are closest to the blast.
Evo>>Eon: Take my hand!
Eon turns around and sees me as the green light glazes his armor. He extends a hand as I jump for his position. Wraith ducks behind the shield of a space docking mount. Everyone else has time. Eon does not.
His fingers slide into mine as the green heat wave ripples over us. I squeeze hard and don’t let go. But the energy wave knocks me somewhere else, somewhere far away in the Deep Black.
A blue orb shines in the otherwise empty sky. Blue light pours from me as I stumble through the darkness. I look downand see bright spots in my body, two, where I’ve hidden the chips.
As I rotate through space, I catch a glint of light off metal. A monstrosity of a machine looms in the darkness. The void out here isnotempty. It hums with a deep, powerful energy that shudders through me. And it has a message for me, which it sends, like a Brother sends me a memory download.
It knows what I am.
“Evo!” My brother shakes me back to reality. I open my eyes to the battle atop Aidathrin. Eon runs a hand through his hair and looks around at the Rogues.
I don’t know why he looks so scared. We always phase when we collide. And then I realize he’s broken his hold on me, and we’re still translucent.
Eon>>Evo: What the fuck? Are we dead? Is this the Black Death? Do our lost Brothers wander among us like this?”
He swipes his hand through a hatch handle in the hull. It phases without contact.
Evo>>Eon: Oh, shit.
I reach for it and have the same problem.
What are we supposed to do?Eon wonders.
I offer him a hand. He hesitantly takes it.
We phase back into the battle.
