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Chapter 22: The Blood That Remains

Author: You Keika
last update Last Updated: 2025-06-21 19:37:26

The satellite storm hit harder than expected.

Debris rained from orbit scorched plating from a derelict Nexus drone, dislodged by a gravity drift Sera hadn’t anticipated. The impact alarms screamed through the ship’s hull. Lira swore in three languages as the control console lit up with damage reports.

Sera was already halfway to the airlock.

“Where are you going?” Adrian called after her.

“There’s a breach near the cargo hold. Something came through.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Sera didn’t argue not because she wanted help, but because she was too tired to fight him. The connection with WRATH had left her nerves raw, her tether still humming in low resonance.

She didn’t tell anyone that sometimes…

She could still hear it breathing.

The hold was lit in emergency red, casting shadows like bloodstains across the floor. The object that breached the hull was jagged, black, partially melted but not just wreckage.

It was a message pod.

Adrian read the scan. “Encrypted. Mira’s signal architectur
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