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“Or it moved itself.” I didn’t elaborate on the implications. I didn’t need to. Through our bond, she grasped the severity immediately.

The comm crackled again, breaking the tension.

“D-7, this is Command. Extraction window confirmed in six hours at coordinates Delta-Nine-Seven. Can you reach? Over.”

Six hours. The journey to Delta-Nine-Seven would take at least four at a brisk pace. Longer if we encountered more drones or had to evade Legion patrols. And all while being hunted by tech that seemed specifically attuned to Jas’s presence.

“Affirmative, Command,” I responded. “Will reach extraction point. Be advised, subject shows particular interest in civilian. Recommend immediate quarantine protocols upon arrival.”

There was a pause, longer than standard communication delay.

“Understood, D-7. Quarantine protocols... acknowledged.”

The hesitation told me everything I needed to know. Command was already considering what to do with Jas. With my fate-mate. The anomaly that had awakened dormant tech and threatened an entire containment zone.

Standard procedure would be isolation, study, memory modification.

The bond between us would be noted, recorded, then dismissed as an unfortunate complication.

She would be returned to Earth with no memory of me, of us, of what we’d become together.

And I would be reassigned, possibly after disciplinary action for allowing a civilian to access restricted data. For bonding with her.

I would lose her.

The thought sent a surge of primal fury through me, strong enough that Jas gasped, feeling it through our connection.

“Rhaekar?” she questioned, her hand finding mine. “What is it?”

I couldn’t lie to her, not through the bond. “Command will try to separate us,” I said simply. “Standard protocol for civilians who encounter classified Legion operations.”

Her fingers tightened around mine. “They can try.”

The fierce determination in those three words sparked something warm in my chest, pushing back against the cold calculations of duty and protocol. She meant it. My brave, stubborn Terran was prepared to fight the entirety of Legion Command for what we’d found together.

I allowed myself a moment—just one—to marvel at what fate had given me. Then I returned to the tactical realities of our situation.

“We need to move,” I repeated, gathering our remaining supplies. “That drone won’t be the last. And the longer we stay in one place, the easier we’ll be to track.”

Jas nodded, slinging her pack over her shoulders with practiced efficiency. She’d adapted to this harsh environment, to the rhythms of survival, with impressive speed. Pride swelled in me, tempered by the knowledge that her adaptability would soon be tested even further.

I took point, leading us out of the riverbed and toward higher ground where we could better survey our surroundings.

The twin suns beat down mercilessly, their combined heat enough to blister unprotected skin.

I monitored Jas through our bond, alert for any signs of heat stress or dehydration.

Terrans were notoriously vulnerable to extreme temperatures.

But she kept pace without complaint, her determination a steady pulse against my consciousness. Only when we reached the ridge overlooking the vast expanse of desert did she pause, breath coming in controlled gasps.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, pointing toward a distant shimmer on the horizon.

I followed her gaze, enhanced vision focusing on the anomaly. A cold weight settled in my stomach.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “The Swarm is fully awake.”

Across the desert floor, a network of glowing green lines spread like veins beneath the sand, pulsing with unnatural life. Where they intersected, small eruptions of sand marked the emergence of more drones—dozens of them, rising from their long slumber to join the hunt.

And they were all moving in our direction.

“How did it find us so quickly?” Jas asked, voice tight with controlled fear.

I met her gaze, unable to soften the truth. “It didn’t need to find us. It’s been waiting for you. Since the moment you stepped through that portal.”

Understanding dawned on her face. “The Swarm... it knew I was coming?”

“Not you specifically,” I clarified. “But something like you. Something it was programmed to recognize and respond to.”

The implications hung between us, unspoken but clear. Whatever had created the portal that brought Jas to this world, whatever had drawn her across galaxies to my side, it wasn’t coincidence. It was something older, something planned.

Something the Swarm had been designed to prevent.

“We have six hours to reach the extraction point,” I said, gently redirecting her focus to our immediate survival. “We need to stay ahead of that expansion. Move fast, stay quiet, leave no trail.”

She squared her shoulders, the brave facade barely hiding the tremor of fear I could feel through our bond. “And when we reach the extraction point? What then?”

I met her eyes, allowing her to see the fierce determination in mine. “Then we fight for us. Together.”

Her smile was small but genuine, strengthened by the resolve flowing between us. “Together,” she echoed.

As we turned to begin our journey toward Delta-Nine-Seven, I cast one last glance at the spreading network of Swarm tech behind us. It moved with purpose, with hunger, with ancient programming that saw Jas as something to be contained, studied, eliminated.

It would have to kill me first.