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Brennan

Ikeep my eyes focused on the three abominations hurtling through space ahead of us.

Scorp Org-Ships.

The floating eggsacs of the Scorp are biological spacecraft – huge, fleshy eggs that plummet wildly through space, weaving past asteroids and rocks as if the Gods themselves are guiding them.

The sickening truth, however, is that nothing we know of guides those living, obscene spacecraft. They’re mindless – just like the hundreds of Scorp writhing around inside. The single purpose of an eggsac is to plunge through the atmosphere of an occupied planet and release its disgusting cargo.

The Scorp that are unleashed from the eggsac will be equally single-minded in their one goal – to tear apart all sentient life on the planet, and drag what crippled survivors remain back to their Scorp Queen. In her terrifying nest, she’ll implant her eggs deep into the bodies of the survivors; so that they become living foodstuff for the Scorp larvae that emerge from those eggs a short while later.

A fate worse than death – and one any surface dwellers face if an eggsac lands on their undefended world.

Aurelians protect surface dwellers who pledge allegiance to the Empire. Out here in dead space, there’s no one to protect them.

I grip the controls of my Orb-Beam, and focus on the mission.

Our Reaver screams through space in pursuit of the eggsacs.

A huge rock – practically the size of a small moon – hugs our flank as Otho skillfully pilots us through space – remaining far enough behind the disgusting eggsacs that the livingthingwon’t sense we’re trailing it and change course.

Suddenly, something flashes across the empty space ahead of us. It’s as if the vision clicked into my mind like a snapshot. Where there was once empty space, there’s now only death.

An asteroid big enough to fill an Aurelian swimming pool has appeared, traveling so fast that even my enhanced senses couldn’t detect its approach.

Likewise, there’s no time for deliberate thought – only action.

I squeeze my fingers onto the trigger of my Orb-Beam. A lance of blue-black death spears out – skewering the enormous asteroid, and instantly shearing it into chunks.

As I shoot – more through instinct than intention – something other than the asteroid fills my vision.

Sheflashes through my consciousness.

The woman I’ve never met. The woman Ifeelevery time I close my eyes. My Fated Mate – the one, specific woman each Aurelian is destined to seek out for the remainder of their thousands of years of life.

But Otho, Lazar, and I won’t have any remaining years if I don’t destroy that asteroid. Rock and metal spell our end.

My instinctive blast strikes true. Our Reaver is rocked as huge chunks of the fractured asteroid bruise our shields – but none of them are large enough to damage us.

The Reaver careens right as we’re rocked by debris. At the helm, Otho’s aura spikes with terror.

When Otho is afraid, all men should be. I’ve seen that man rip the head off a Scorp with his bare hands – but out in the dead of space, even he feels powerless to the whim of the Gods.

My heart pounds. “Gods dammit! You’re getting slow in your old age!”

We’re in an asteroid belt so filled with hurtling death that only an idiot or a suicidal maniac would attempt to navigate it.

I don’t know which we are.

“Sensors are fucking useless! We’re going to lose them!”

Up at the helm, Otho’s voice is strained.

I share his concern. Back when we’d faced that asteroid, we’d also nearly faced our end. If I’d fired my Orb-Beam just a millisecond later, we’d all have been wiped out of existence – splattered across a million tons of rock. The shields of this Reaver might be strong – but even they can’t deflect an asteroid traveling at that velocity.

“We’re on it. Keep the path.”