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Everything I’d planned was wrong. The Toads aren’t planning to try and split us up. They’re not going to divert my forces. They’re just going to come at The Instigator in a frontal assault, with ten times the number of assault ships I’d anticipated, and overwhelming firepower.

My mind races.

First they’ll try to cripple The Instigator with a burst of firepower that will shred through our shields. There’ll be no surrender accepted – not that I’d give it. The Toads won’t take prisoners. They know the only way to get away with this affront is to leave no witnesses of their crime. The Toads will obliterate us into dust, and then pick up the Orbs they seek from the remains.

Then, they’ll go down to Tarrion and wipe out the mining crews – slaughtering them to the last man. They’ll steal the ore, wipe out the witnesses – and perform the perfect atrocity.

We were hired to protect those miners from Scorp and pirates. We’d never anticipated a full Toad fleet descending on us. Even worse? It was because of my avarice and arrogance that they’re here at all. If I hadn’t claimed those stolen Orbs, the Toads would have had no reason to bother the mining colonies. Now, I’ve signed the death warrant of every man working on them.

“We have a comms-signal, Captain.”

“On screen.”

Tasha’s projection appears in front of us on the bridge. She’s pale-faced, but she’s alive.

Tasha is a fighter. She managed to escape me – and that’s no easy feat. I couldn’t hold her – and some deep, angry part of me tells me to hold on tighter next time.

If thereisa next time.

I’m ashamed of that instinct, though. It’s what drove her away in the first place. The primal, old Aurelian ways are embedded deeply in my soul, but I can see now that they’re flawed. The part of me that screams to claim her body and soul is why I nearly lost them. My instinct to bind her so close to me she can never escape again is why she’d fled.

The holographic projection shows Tasha behind the controls of the stolen Reaver. She’s a natural at the helm. I can tell a skilled pilot in a second, and she’s better than most of the Aurelians under my command, many of whom have hundreds of years more experience than she does.

Clarity comes to me as I understand that trying to hold onto a woman like Tasha is like trying to hold grains of sand in my fist. The tighter I squeeze, the more escapes. I realize now the only way to keep Tasha is to let herchooseto stay.

To be worthy of that choice.

Vinicus pulls himself back to his feet. “Thank the Gods! You’re alive.”

“I’m alive.” Her feed is cutting in and out. Tasha is at the very edge of the Toad blocking signal, and we risk losing her any second.

But now, we know they’re coming. The Toads think they’re going to catch us by surprise. They plan on ambushing us and taking us out before we have a chance to defend ourselves.

I lick my lips, forcing back my eagerness. A Toad Mothership. That means there’ll be tens of thousands of Toad on board. I’ll finally have my chance to rid the universe of an entire fleet of the disgusting creatures...

…if I can beat them.

If? Where did that thought come from? I’ve never lost before!

But I’ve never had so much at stake before, either.

“Aelon, they had some sort of blocking device,” Tasha pleads. “You need to evacuate before they get here!”

Evacuate? I’ve never backed down from a fight in my life.

I announce: “Do you think I fear a Toad Mothership?”

Tasha’s projection looks down in defeat. I can feel the sadness flowing through our Bond. It’s like shewantsme to be a coward and run.

I’ll admit, this battle will be a difficult one. Even with all my years of experience, I’ve never taken on a Toad Mothership before…

“Aelon – their ship isthree timesthe size of The Instigator. They have a fleet of assault ships that outnumbers you ten to one. The Toads aren’t here to ambush you. It doesn’t matter how good your tactics are. They’re going todestroyyou.”

Unease creeps over me.

Tasha speaks the truth. A Toad Mothership is protected by enough assault ships to rip The Instigator apart even without the massive batteries of las-cannons of the behemoth itself.

Tasha looks up at me, her eyes clear.