11
Alexius
The mission was simple.Three starfighter ships, three teams, three targets.
Gustar and Ryzix, Team Two, was tasked with destroying any Scythe fighters or other ships secretly housed in the bay. The other starfighters stationed on Arturri, Zeke and Kalinda of Team One, were going to strike the docking areas on the supposedly abandoned Vion Hex Port—a floating craft that had once dealt in anything from trade to spacecraft manufacturing. It was one of the oldest hex ports around. Supersized, it couldn’t be missed on radar, but obviously the Dark Fleet had given it new cloaking capabilities, or at least their crafts had when they’d seemingly been using it as a mid-grid, temporary battle base. While it wasn’t known as a Dark Fleet ship, it had always dealt in the shadier aspects of space life until production was halted in the plant. After that the entire place had been abandoned and picked apart for scrap metal.
General Aryk and the navigation analysts had determined the attack on Gamma 4 had originated from the abandoned port. The Dark Fleet must have slipped back into the area right under our noses, and that infuriated the general. It had angered me as well because the ships that fired on the Valor had come from Vion Hex Port. Where there was one Scythe fighter, there was a nest. They were like insects living in swarms; at least that’s how I thought of them. I wanted to eliminate anyone who would dare try to blow my bondmate into space dust.
It was our job to destroy whoever was on Vion Hex Port and ensure no more attacks came from that sector.
As Arturri Team Three, Jamie and I were in the Valor and coming around the dark side of the Vion Hex Port to hit their power station and communications, which were most likely being used to coordinate attacks by the Dark Fleet. I’d been here before, years prior when it was still in service.
Between the three teams, Jamie and I had the least dangerous job with the lowest chance of active combat. General Aryk had been impressed with Jamie’s flying during the first battle, but he was in no hurry to throw her into the heat of things. She needed time to adjust.
Fuck that. I needed time to adjust. Watching her and being with her on missions during the training simulations had nowhere near the intensity of sitting beside her in a real battle. And since we’d been bonded and I’d tasted her passion, I discovered a possessiveness I never thought I had. I’d been the one to tell her all along it was real, this war. But until my pair bond had been put in the line of fire and our ship hit and damaged, it hadn’t been all that real to me either. Or not as real. I had so much more to lose now.
I had no idea how any bonded pair were successful in battle, because I was fighting a protective streak with every breath. Voluntarily allowing Jamie to fly missions was completely opposite of what I wanted to do with her, which was to tie her to our bed so I knew she was safe and would stay that way. I kept this to myself because not only would General Aryk yell at me, but Jamie would not be thrilled by my allowing her to do anything.
The truth was, we weren’t heading to the dark, seemingly desolate side of the Vion Hex Port because Jamie couldn’t handle the potential fight that might come, but because I wasn’t ready to risk her life like that again. Not without more training runs, more time for her body to adjust to space.
More time for her to fall in love with me. I’d taken her three times. Three times she’d given over to me completely, with abandon and an explosion of passion I’d suspected had been inside her. She’d been right there with me, as needy and frantic for the connection, for the pleasure we found in each other. My cock hardened, and I had to shift in my seat to get comfortable. Battle ready was not the time for that to happen, but I remembered Jamie’s taste, the little breathy sounds right before she came, the feel of her milking the cum from my balls. Her scent that, even now, filled my head.
“We’re coming up on the target.” Jamie spoke to base command, and I shifted once more. I thought of Queen Raya’s ugly face, and that helped my body calm down.
We were flying in over an unmanned station with nothing but the weapons on our starfighter. The hex port was a thousand times bigger than our tiny starship, but Jamie could weave her way around any of the port’s surface weaponry with ease. I’d seen her do it in training. I’d been at her side then and would be now.
I couldn’t relax, not here. Not with Jamie beside me. Yet I couldn’t help but think that this mission had come at the perfect time. The fucking attack on Gamma 4 was strangely working to my advantage. Nave and Trax, both still on Syrax, had messaged and were headed to a meeting supposedly led by the fucking Velerion traitor, the one who had revealed the location of our Starfighter base to Queen Raya. The one who had ultimately been responsible for my brother’s death. His duplicity had killed my brother and so many others. Weakened the entire Velerion military.
Since I couldn’t be with them undercover on Syrax any longer, I would do anything to make sure they had the extra time they needed. Even if that meant keeping my work with them from General Aryk and every person on Arturri, including Jamie.
The traitor was skilled. He could be any Velerion, the general included. I’d been undercover for months with Nave and Trax. The three of us together had tried to root him out but had yet to do so. They were following the best lead they’d had in weeks. Hopefully Trax and Nave were at the end of the hunt.
Finding the traitor meant saving lives, including Jamie’s. She was my highest priority now. She was my bondmate. My lover. My fighting partner. To the general, she was one of his strongest weapons. I would keep her safe out of duty and, more importantly, out of greed. I was greedy for every look, every kiss.
“I have the comm tower and power grid on-screen,” Jamie said beside me as she slowed our ship to pair with the speed of the lumbering hex port. “This thing is huge. It’s like an international airport terminal floating in space.”
I didn’t know what that was, but I had a feeling she’d said it as a reference more for herself than for me.
“Arming missiles.” I readied the two weapons that had been specially mounted to the Valor in preparation for this target. They were larger than our normal ordinance and would create vast craters on the backside of this floating mega-ship. If we were lucky, it would tear the place apart.
“Target acquired,” Jamie said.
My finger flexed on the kill switch as the other Starfighter’s comm cut through our helmets.
“Starfighter One and Three, there’s nothing here.” Gustar’s voice came through loud and clear.
“Repeat, Starfighter Two,” Jamie said. Her dark eyes met mine, then flicked to the hex port.
“We’re looking at the docking bay. It’s empty. No craft and the scans indicate no life-forms.”
“The attack on Gamma 4 came from here,” I added, staring at the mega-ship. My mind was working over what Gus was saying.
“This is the Triton.” It was Zeke in Starfighter One. “The weapons depot is empty, and there’s nothing in the manufacturing bays. I agree with Gustar. There may have been a squadron here for the attack on Gamma 4, but they’re gone now. They must have known we were coming.”
The traitor. He must have tipped them off. Again.
“Shit,” Jamie murmured under her breath, saying aloud my exact thoughts.