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“What is it?” I blurt out, fear gripping me.

“Your father took the bait. We changed the signature of the rental vessel to mimic ours, knowing he might find it.”

I shiver. My father didn’t make a deal. He’s attempting a rescue.

“Let’s see what he attacks with.” Lazar almost sounds amused as he studies his digital wristwatch. “It will give us an insight into his mental state.”

Lazar presses a button on the watch. A holographic projection of a remote, abandoned building appears in front of me, projected by his smartwatch.

I watch with horrified fascination. I know this sort of thing is routine for Aurelians – but it’s not to me. To me, it’s captivating to watch real battle played out like one of the old holo shows I watch.

My mind races. So, I know my father won’t be able to rely on his Sentinels to attack, since Lazar has already demonstrated that he knows how to hack them.

That means my father will have hired real soldiers to rescue me. I have a morbid curiosity in seeing just how many mercenaries he’s hired to.

But it isn’t mercenary ships that touch down on the abandoned building. The cold breeze that blows all around me suddenly feels like nothing compared to the icy chill that radiates across my body.

Three Reavers are projected on the display – with Aurelian Law Enforcement markings emblazoned on the side of them.

As we watch, the three ships land down on the building. Otho and Lazar stare, horrified – as if unable to comprehend what they’re seeing.

From the Reavers, triads of Aurelian Law Enforcement officers jump down, rushing into the building with Orb-Blades drawn. They’re ready to massacre Otho, Lazar and Brennan – all to freeme.

I knew my father loved me – that he’d do anything to protect me – but to have called in the most fearsome warriors in the universe? How did he even pull that off so quickly?

Lazar cuts the feed from his watch.

The atmosphere has instantly changed. Every muscle in Lazar’s body is tense, now – his biceps bulging, flexed with tension.

“No…”

His voice is barely a whisper.

I stand up, nervous.

“What does it mean? Why are they here?”

I ask, but my mind is already piecing the narrative together from the clues I’ve observed.

Kidnapping is never sanctioned by the Aurelian Empire – even under extreme circumstances like these. Despite their loyalty to their Empire – no matter that their honor has remained without doubt - these three Aurelians have crossed a line that goes beyond what is sanctioned by the Aurelian Empire; and my father has demanded they pay the consequences.

My father saw the opportunity – just like he always spots opportunities others might miss. While anybody else might have hired mercenaries, or recruited more Sentinels, my father cut right to the quick. He went to the Aurelian Empire directly – and merely told them what Lazar, Otho, and Brennan had done.

Brennan’s triad wasn’t Rogue when they kidnapped me.

They are now.

Despite the fact that they were working to protect their Empire, and ignoring how they’d protected me from the moment I’d first been their captive, my triad of Aurelians will now be cast out of the Empire – shamed for all eternity.

Lazar faces me, his eyes wide.

“This means…” He gulps dryly. “It means we’ve got Aurelian Enforcement after us. It means that any deal we make with your father will no longer be on behalf of the Aurelian Empire. We…” He shuts his eyes and takes a ragged breath. “We’vefailed.”

Otho clenches his left fist. His right hand is still instinctively near the hilt of his Orb-Weapon.

“It means all of our fucking work has been for nothing. We’ve losteverythingwe’ve built.”

He looks skyward, pain obvious on his scarred face.