Chapter 32: Into the Maw of Death

The G’Tarok shuddered violently as another energy blast rocked the hull. Sparks erupted across the bridge, the emergency lighting casting everything in a blood-red glow. The enemy dreadnought loomed ahead, a monstrous, wedge-shaped leviathan, its dark hull covered in glowing crimson runes.

“Shields at twenty-three percent!” Sa’Kari shouted over the alarms. “Hull integrity is failing!”

“We’re almost there!” I barked. “Get us as close as possible!”

Ny’Vara gripped the tactical rail beside me, her expression set in stone. “We’re not going to have time for a clean docking maneuver.”

“Then we don’t dock,” I said. “We crash.”

Her eyes flicked toward me, disbelief warring with something dangerously close to admiration.

“Helm!” I roared. “Ram us into their hangar bay!”

The helmsman hesitated only for a second before slamming the controls forward.

The G’Tarok surged ahead, engines screaming, barreling straight into the enemy flagship.

### Impact

The dreadnought’s hangar bay rushed toward us at breakneck speed.

Enemy fighters scrambled to evade as our ship roared in like an avenging war-beast.

“All hands, brace for impact!”

The moment stretched, the universe hanging in silent anticipation—

Then we hit.

The G’Tarok slammed into the deck of the hangar, metal screeching as our hull carved a trench into the enemy’s interior. Flames erupted. Fighters were crushed under our bulk. The entire ship shook as we came to a bone-jarring stop.

I unbuckled from my command chair, already moving. “Seal the ship behind us and deploy boarding teams! We take this vessel from the inside!”

Ny’Vara was at my side instantly, already checking her pulse rifle.

“Hope you’re ready for a fight,” she muttered.

I pulled my sidearm free, chambering a round. “Always.”

### The Enemy Within

The hangar descended into chaos.

Eternal Ones—tall, humanoid figures wrapped in shifting black armor, their faces obscured by glowing crimson visors—rushed forward in a wave, weapons blazing.

Our troops disembarked fast, returning fire. Plasma bolts crisscrossed the air, tearing through metal and flesh alike.

I moved fast and low, diving behind a fallen fighter craft as enemy fire streaked past my head.

Ny’Vara rolled beside me, slamming a fresh power cell into her rifle. “We need to get to the bridge before they seal us out!”

I peeked over cover, watching as enemy shock troopers poured into the hangar from all sides. We were being surrounded.

“Push forward!” I shouted into my comm. “We punch through them now, or we die here!”

The Narn warriors roared in response, surging ahead in a brutal hand-to-hand melee.

Ny’Vara and I moved with them, firing as we advanced.

An Eternal One lunged at me, a vicious energy blade crackling in his gauntleted grip. I dodged, barely avoiding the downward strike that melted a chunk of the deck plating.

I spun, bringing my pistol up, and fired point-blank into his visor.

The force of the shot sent him staggering, but he wasn’t down.

He snarled something in a guttural, inhuman tongue, reaching for my throat—

Until Ny’Vara kicked his knee sideways, dropping him to the ground.

I didn’t hesitate. I pressed my pistol to his temple—

And pulled the trigger.

He went still.

I met Ny’Vara’s gaze. “Thanks.”

She smirked. “Try to keep up, Captain.”

I grabbed an enemy rifle from the fallen soldier and kept moving. We didn’t have time to waste.

### The Bridge Assault

By the time we reached the main corridors, the battle was spilling into every deck of the enemy dreadnought. Our fleet was still fighting outside, but the enemy was pushing back hard.

Va’karr’s voice crackled through my comm. “Harper! We can’t hold much longer! If you’re going to take this damn ship, do it now!”

I gritted my teeth. “We’re almost there!”

The bridge was just ahead—two massive security doors sealed tight.

Ny’Vara slammed her rifle against the console beside it. “Locked down. We need another way in.”

I turned to the demolition squad behind us. “Blow the doors.”

The Narn engineer nodded, already setting the charges.

We pulled back as the explosives ignited, blasting the reinforced doors inward in a shower of molten metal.

The moment the smoke cleared, we rushed in.

### Final Push

The bridge was a towering cathedral of war.

Glowing consoles lined the walls, tactical holos displaying the chaos outside. A massive viewport stretched before us, revealing the last desperate stand of our fleet as the battle raged beyond.

And in the center of it all stood the Eternal One War-Master.

Eight feet of towering, black-armored menace.

His glowing crimson eyes locked onto me as he turned, his voice a deep, unnatural growl.

“You should not have come here, mortal.”

He raised his hand—a pulse of energy surged forward, hurling three of our soldiers back like ragdolls.

I dove aside, barely avoiding the blast. Ny’Vara opened fire, but the shots dissipated against his armor like water on steel.

I gritted my teeth. “We don’t have time for this!”

I charged.

The War-Master moved faster than anything that size had a right to.

One second he was across the room—the next, he was on top of me.

His fist slammed into my gut, sending me skidding backward across the deck. Pain erupted through my ribs.

I barely rolled aside as his blade-like gauntlet drove into the metal where my head had been a second before.

Ny’Vara leapt onto his back, wrapping an arm around his throat and driving her blade deep between the plates of his armor.

He roared in fury, grabbing her by the arm and hurling her across the bridge. She hit the wall hard, collapsing to the floor.

I snarled. Enough.

I grabbed a fallen enemy rifle, setting it to overload.

As the War-Master turned back to me, I shoved the weapon straight into his chest armor and pulled the trigger.

The rifle detonated.

A blinding explosion of white-hot plasma engulfed him, sending me tumbling backward.

When the light faded, all that remained was a smoking, crumpled husk.

I gasped for breath, staggering to my feet.

Ny’Vara groaned, pushing herself up. “That ... was reckless.”

I grinned, spitting blood. “You love it.”

She smirked. “Maybe a little.”

I turned toward the command console, slamming my palm against the controls.

The ship was ours.

Outside, our fleet was still locked in battle.

But now, we had a dreadnought.

And it was time to turn the tide.

### Chapter Thirty-Three: The Last Battle

The void burned.

Streaks of plasma fire and ion blasts crisscrossed the darkness, illuminating the massive battlefield unfolding before us. The Eternal Ones’ armada—once an unstoppable force—was now on the defensive, reeling from the loss of their flagship.