SAGE
Commander Sage Voss stood perfectly still in the command center of the Nex flagship, watching human ships burn.
Her hands rested behind her back in parade rest. Her expression remained neutral. Years of military training had taught her to show nothing, feel nothing, react to nothing.
She was a weapon. Weapons didn't have emotions.
The tactical display showed the battle unfolding in real time. Human vessels trying desperately to maintain formation. Nex forces pressing the attack. Explosions lighting up the void between ships.
It was beautiful in a terrible way.
General Hax's orders had been clear. Destroy the human captain's ship. Eliminate Kieran Hayes. Remove humanity's greatest tactical mind from the battlefield.
Sage had executed similar orders seventeen times before. This should be no different.
But something felt wrong.
Dr. Elan Kross stood at her intelligence station nearby, monitoring communication intercepts. The doctor was brilliant. Sharp mind that caught patterns others missed. Loyal to Sage personally, not just to the Nex military.
Right now, Kross looked worried.
The human formation is strange, Kross said quietly, meant only for Sage's ears.
Sage didn't respond. Just watched the tactical display.
Too exposed, Kross continued. Too vulnerable. It's almost like they were positioned to lose.
Sage had noticed that too. Captain Hayes was supposed to be a tactical genius. The kind of commander who won battles through careful positioning and smart resource management.
This formation was suicide.
No experienced commander would put their flagship in such an exposed position. Not unless they had no choice.
Not unless someone ordered them to.
Commander, one of the tactical officers called out. The human flagship Valiant has taken critical damage. Their defensive grid never activated.
Sage's eyes narrowed slightly. Defensive grids were automatic. They activated the moment enemy fire came within range.
Unless someone disabled them first.
Show me the attack trajectory, she ordered.
The tactical officer pulled up the data. Sage studied it carefully.
The blast that crippled the Valiant hadn't come from Nex forces.
It had come from inside the human formation.
Dr. Kross saw it at the same moment. The doctor's face went pale.
Commander, she whispered urgently. That attack originated from human coordinates. Their own ships just fired on them.
Sage's stomach dropped but her expression stayed neutral. She'd learned years ago never to show surprise. Never show weakness. Never show that anything affected you.
But inside, her mind raced.
The humans had sabotaged their own flagship.
Why?
Verify the data, she ordered quietly.
Kross worked her console quickly. Ran the numbers three different ways. Same result every time.
Confirmed, Commander. The attack came from a human destroyer. The Achilles.
The Achilles. One of Admiral Reeves' personal command ships.
Sage knew Reeves by reputation. Ambitious. Ruthless. Consolidating power within the human military for years.
And apparently willing to murder his own people.
The tactical display updated. The Valiant was falling now. Pulled into the gravity well of the planet below. Their engines failing. Their crew dying.
Sage watched it happen and felt something she'd trained herself never to feel.
Guilt.
Not for attacking the humans. She was a soldier. That was her job.
But for being part of whatever this was.
Because if the humans were sabotaging their own ships, what did that say about her orders?
Commander, Kross said very quietly. There's something else you need to see.
The doctor transferred data to Sage's personal screen. Communication intercepts. Coded messages between human and Nex command.
Between Admiral Reeves and General Hax.
Sage's father.
The messages were encrypted but Kross had broken the cipher. The content made Sage's blood run cold.
References to maintaining the conflict. References to eliminating complications. References to specific operations.
Including today's battle.
Her father and the human admiral were working together. Coordinating. Manufacturing escalations.
They'd created this war.
And they were using her as a weapon to maintain it.
Commander, the tactical officer interrupted. The human flagship is entering the planet's atmosphere. Should we pursue?
Sage's throat felt tight. She forced her voice steady.
What's our status?
We have a fighter squadron in range. They can intercept before the Valiant crashes.
Finish them. That was the order. That was her mission.
But something stopped her.
If Reeves and Hax were working together, if they'd sabotaged the Valiant deliberately, then pursuing it would make her complicit in whatever conspiracy was unfolding.
Stand by, she ordered.
Kross looked at her with understanding. The doctor knew. Saw the same thing Sage did.
They were being used.
Commander, the tactical officer pressed. We're losing our window.
Sage made a decision that would change everything.
Deploy one fighter. Send it to investigate the crash site. Report back with confirmation of casualties.
Just one fighter meant limited firepower. Meant investigation instead of execution.
The tactical officer looked confused but complied.
Deploying fighter seven-three. Commander Voss, you'll be piloting personally?
The words came out of Sage's mouth before she'd fully thought them through.
Yes. I'll confirm the kill myself.
It was a lie. She wasn't going to confirm anything.
She was going to find out what was really happening.
Kross caught her eye. The doctor's expression held a warning.
Be careful, Commander.
Sage didn't respond. Just headed toward the flight deck.
Fifteen minutes later she was in her fighter, breaking atmosphere in pursuit of the falling human ship.
Her cockpit displays showed the Valiant's descent. The massive starship tumbled through the sky like a falling star.
Sage's orders were clear. Investigate. Confirm. Report back.
But her father's coded messages to Admiral Reeves kept playing in her mind.
Eliminate complications.
Was Captain Hayes a complication? Was his crew?
Was she?
Her fighter's sensors detected a gravity anomaly ahead. Strong enough to affect flight paths. Her navigation computer screamed warnings.
Sage tried to pull up but the anomaly caught her craft like a hand grabbing a fly.
Her fighter lurched sideways. Alarms shrieked. The controls stopped responding.
She was falling.
Just like the human ship.
Aimed at the exact same planet.
The exact same impact zone.
Understanding hit her like cold water.
She'd been positioned. Set up. Her father had sent her here knowing the anomaly would pull her down.
He'd executed her just like Reeves executed Captain Hayes.
They were both problems being eliminated.
Sage fought the controls desperately but nothing worked. The planet's gravity had her now.
Through her viewport she saw the jungle world rushing up. Saw the human flagship crash into the canopy in a shower of fire and debris.
She had maybe thirty seconds before the same thing happened to her.
Her hands moved on autopilot. Hit the ejection sequence. Grabbed the survival pack. Braced for explosive decompression.
The canopy blew off with a crack that rattled her teeth.
The ejection seat fired and Sage was thrown clear of her dying fighter.
Below, the jungle waited to swallow her whole.
And somewhere in that jungle, Captain Kieran Hayes was either dead or alive.
Either way, they were both casualties of the same conspiracy.
Her father had betrayed her.
And Sage was going to make him pay for it.