CHAPTER 27

Lumiea

Year -19 (L.D.)

Jace and the rest of the squad were severely outnumbered. Even with the advantage of their more sophisticated weapons and gear, this situation had suddenly turned into an emergency.

Trin called for reinforcements, which would likely only take a few minutes. With the kind of threat they faced, that could be too long.

The four injured rebels had crawled away into other apartments to hide and some of the dozen had disappeared, likely planning to surround them.

Information constantly came through Jace's earpiece, nearly too fast for him to register. Alix ripped off the rest of his deployables and scattered them throughout the hall, some of them providing more eyes for Trin, while others fired laser beams automatically.

Jace and Nikka pressed their backs to one another as they each fired on opposite ends of the hall. Alix and Lyon raised up energy shields with one hand while throwing powered punches at the closest rebels.

He was too busy to check on Trin and Aeryn. Needed to. Couldn't.

Jace and Nikka both leapt to the left at Trin's direction, avoiding a beam of energy that bit a hole into the floor.

Attacks came from all sides, even through the walls and into the hallway.

Jace darted forward and threw himself toward the ceiling with his aerial mod, raining down rapid blasts of energy from his palms on the people below. At the same time, Nikka fired, letting them attack the rebels from both directions.

He twisted mid-air and narrowly avoided the shots from a laser gun.

With a boom, he kicked off the wall and dove for two enemies. One dodged, but Jace hooked his arm around the other's neck and threw him out the window. Glass shattered. The scream seemed cut short.

Too easy. Not all of the enemies were equipped with the same level of advanced weaponry.

"Reinforcements arriving," Trin said in the earpiece.

He finally had time to look at their analyst and bioengineer. Trin equipped a shield around her whole body, like she stood beneath a small shimmering dome. But Aeryn had her rifle against her shoulder, shooting.

A rebel stabbed a knife for his midsection. He caught the woman's wrist, snapped it, and shoved her so hard that she knocked the person near her onto the ground.

Bullets tore through the walls. Jace and Nikka turned as one to deflect them back into the apartment they came from with a wave of energy.

Their fellow combat soldiers from another squad burst into the hall, already attacking.

There was no time for relief, though. Jace didn't know how many rebels were left. They may have been coming to provide back-up as well, because it seemed that for each one they took down, two more appeared. The floor had become a morbid carpet of bodies twisted with one another.

Two men barreled through the wall and knocked a massive hole into the hallway, opening it to the apartment. The studs had gone flying.

Jace used his thrusters to slam his body into one of the men and drove him back away from the hall. A fist slammed into his side. He took the hit, ignored the pain, and slammed his enemy against the far wall with enough force to shake the entire room. Wood splintered.

The man doubled over, wretching on his own shoes. Jace had the instinct to stun him with electricity before remembering his orders. Instead, he put a laser beam through the man's temple.

A wasted life.

He hated missions requiring lethal force.

Uncomfortable with not being able to see his squad, he rushed back into the hallway and joined the chaos. Only it wasn't as chaotic as it seemed. Trin masterfully guided them so they moved like one body.

Aeryn slid to the ground on her knees to refill Nikka's fuel after a blast of energy had knocked the combat soldier down. Two rebels turned for them.

Nikka fired on one. Missed. She twisted to block Aeryn, but their bioengineer twisted instead for a third rebel who suddenly lunged for them. Shot straight through the throat in a burst of red blood.

One of the other soldiers reared his fist back for her.

"Aeryn!" Jace shouted, using his thrusters to rush for her.

Too late. The fist slammed into Aeryn's gut. Knocked her body hard against the wall.

Jace gathered a ball of energy, but Aeryn boxed in the rebel's ears, her own hands glowing red and hot. The enemy soldier fell away from her with a scream, blood dribbling from the burst eardrums.

She aimed her gun at the man's face and pulled the trigger. Only then did she lean against her knees as she gasped for breath.

Nikka punched a woman who came closer to Aeryn and then pushed back two more rebels with a blast of force from her hand.

Jace clenched his teeth. Brought his palms close together and charged up a sparking ball of energy from both hand mods that combined into one.

The rebels tried to evade the hit, but he'd mastered pushing it out at a curve. The energy exploded against two people. The blast threw one through the wall and the other against the floor so hard that his head busted the ground. Clothes sizzled.

The two other squads who had rushed to their aid fought diligently alongside them.

Jace didn't like having to call for help. Didn't like not being able to properly defend their analyst and bioengineer. Didn't like any of this.

He kicked a man in his gut, grabbed the back of his head, and slammed the rebel's temple down into his knee with a sickening pop.

Just as he noticed he needed more fuel, Aeryn caught the back of his shirt, twisted the empty vials loose, and refilled them. She'd gotten so fast that he didn't even understand how it was possible.

Then she pivoted and did the same for Lyon.

If the blow earlier had hurt her too badly, she didn't show it. So hopefully no broken ribs.

They continued fighting, Aeryn attacking when she wasn't busy dealing with fuel or medical.

In the middle of the hall, Trin breathed heavily as sweat dripped down both sides of her face. Was this battle too much for her? It had been a long time since Jace had seen her look so haggard.

It felt like they'd been fighting forever when finally, Jace didn't see anyone else moving.

"We're clear," Trin said, winded. The other analysts agreed but checked the bodies anyway.

As the adrenaline began to wane, Jace looked down at his body and to the blood splattered over his clothes. The dark pool on the ground. A sick feeling twisted his stomach as he stared at the lifeless hazel eyes of a woman and then slowly looked to the dozen more bodies strewn about the hall.

Aeryn passed by him and he caught her elbow. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." She pulled away.

She had to be sore, but she wouldn't admit it.

He eyed her stomach. "You checked for internal bleeding? Broken ribs?"

Aeryn sighed and lifted her handheld scanner. "Yes, Jace. Of course."

Alix was watching them. Jace grunted and turned away, checking to make sure his right hand mod hadn't been damaged from palming a man in the nose earlier.

After searching for useable supplies, their squad left to inspect another building. By the time they'd finished, they fought several more battles, though none nearly as challenging as the first. Still, it had been enough to exhaust almost all of their supplies. Aeryn had made fuel on the spot twice and they needed more already.

When dawn broke, the battle in the city raged on as feverishly as before, but they had done their duty. Due to how long they'd been in the field this time, they were allowed to leave already for camp.

During the ride, Jace looked over at Aeryn while she slept with her head on Nikka's shoulder. The problem with their bioengineer being so involved in combat was that she didn't have the body enhancements of a combat soldier. Making herself a fair target by going on the offensive put her in more danger than the rest of them were in. In what universe did it make sense that bioengineers were not allowed such crucial upgrades? Damn this Witness Program with all the secrecy and ridiculous rules. As a candidate, Aeryn even had to get approval for a piercing or tattoo. The rules were incredibly strict.

He huffed out a breath to calm himself. Miracle they'd made it out of that unharmed. If she'd undergone what the combat soldiers had to strengthen her body, especially her bones, then he wouldn't have to worry about her so much. Next time he saw Vehru, he should question her.

Why did being commander mean they had to blindly trust her judgment?

Jace knew he was just frustrated and questioning the federation's commander was the dumbest thing he could do. Instead, he could chew Aeryn out for jumping into combat when that wasn't her job or what she'd trained for. Trin never overly involved herself in the fighting. She had trained as the analyst and she dedicated everything to that and that alone. While not all rebels would adhere to moral principles, it was considered cowardly to attack a non-combat soldier using a form of combat. So Trin sticking in her lane kept her much safer than when Aeryn decided to box in people's ears.

Now that didn't mean no one would attempt to take Trin out of the action. Hacking was a different story. No one had managed to come close to hacking Trin's neural chip, but that was a fair attack considering she would do the same given the opportunity.

So Aeryn's quickness to pull her weapon meant rebels who would not attack otherwise would feel empowered to do so. But Jace would be the asshole if he said something to her. Just like he was the asshole for not wanting to take her flying across the lake last year.

"You good?" Lyon whispered.

Jace glanced at him. "Fine."

"You look pissed off."

He ran his hand through his hair. "Aeryn needs to stay back with Trin."

The other man smiled. "She'll hurt you if you say that loud enough for her to hear."

"If she's going to fight so much, we're getting her better hand mods. I don't care if we have to steal them for her. Those bioengineer mods are shit."

"Alright, big guy. Calm down. I'll talk to her."

After another few hours of driving, they stopped at a campsite often used by the military on their way back to the nearest base. Jace was thankful for the small cabin off the road and for the quiet area. He was thankful, especially, that they'd made it deep enough into their own territory to be able to relax for the night.

He was too exhausted to spend the night in a tent.

Everyone passed out quickly once they reached their beds. When he woke, it was already late afternoon. Trin still slept soundly and Alix lay on his bed, eyes open, but just barely.

Eventually, Jace pried himself out of bed and walked outside to see Aeryn sitting on a bench facing the woods behind the cabin.

"Hey," Jace said.

She didn't even glance at him. "Hi."

It would have been better if Aeryn refused to speak to him. Instead, she'd been overly polite and stiff ever since their argument two days ago.

"You did well in battle." As tempted as he was to caution her against getting overly involved in the fighting, he realized they'd needed her, even if it put her at risk.

When Aeryn didn't respond, Jace sat down next to her. "You're still mad–"

She turned her face before he could see her.

"Aeryn." Nevermind, the refusal to look at him or speak to him felt worse than her previous stiffness. Jace was about to complain about the childishness when he noticed a bloodied gold chain clasped in her hand. It must have belonged to a rebel.

His heart sank into his gut. "Look at me."

She shook her head, silent still.

The kills he'd seen her make flashed through his mind again. How she didn't blink when she shot one rebel through the throat. Didn't seem to have a flicker of hesitation or moment of sorrow after shooting the next one. Aeryn had been strong and unyielding. Now, he could feel the hurt emanating from her and it made him feel sick.

"It's okay." Jace slid to kneel down in front of her, settling his hands on either side of her. "Sometimes you need to feel it."

Aeryn finally looked at him. Briefly. Her eyes shone with unshed tears, but they also burned with anger.

"This is what I fought my whole life for. This." Aeryn clutched the bloodied chain in her hand. "I'll box it up in my mind and put it away. Laugh with the squad tonight and wake up to fight tomorrow. But it really is like dying over and over."

A tear broke free from her eye and slid down her cheek.

"It only gets worse from here." Her eyes shifted to his again, the raw pain in them sharp and overwhelming. "We left home behind to kill people."

Jace lifted his hand to her cheek and brushed away her tear with the back of his knuckles. Her skin felt so soft against him. He'd meant to comfort her, but it seemed like he only made more tears fall.

Aeryn lowered her head as if trying to hide from him.

"There's only one chosen for the Witness Program." Jace wiped her cheeks again. "That could be you. Imagine what you could do with that kind of power. No one from home has ever had the hope of that."

"What? Like I could make a difference? This has been going on since long before we were born. Long before our planet ever fought this war. When the Federation liberated us, they used soldiers from another planet they'd liberated. On and on before then. We don't even know for how long."

"There's never been you before. You're the first and the only. It isn't like you to count yourself out." He pushed her hair behind her ears, wiped her cheeks once more, and took her face in his hands. "Fight, Aeryn. That is what you've trained to do. Fight the war you want to fight."

"What are we saying?" she whispered.

He took the chain from her hand and looked down on it. It was small, likely a woman's bracelet. Black blood covered the oval plate and dipped down into the engraved name. Rory.

"We're saying something we should put in a box with that grief of yours and forget about until it's time to remember again." Jace slid the chain into his pocket. "This is why I gave you minerals, Aerie. You can do what no one else can."

Jace rose up and offered his hand to her.

"Come laugh with your family," he said. "I'll stick around this time."

She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. He started to shift to walk away but she continued forward after she'd already stood and drew her arms around his middle. Aeryn hugged him tight, settling her head against his chest.

"You don't have shit on your pants," she whispered.

He snorted a laugh he'd tried to hold back and hesitated only a moment before placing one hand to her back. "Okay, Aerie."

When she looked up at him, her face still damp, the smile she wore reached her eyes and mingled with the pain he saw there, bright and impossible to look away from. "Thank you, Jace."

He swallowed hard. Nodded.

Aeryn pulled away. "Now I know how to get you to spend time with us."

The feel of her against his body lingered. Small, soft, curving. Warm. Very distracting. This whole thing was very distracting and everything he needed to avoid.

He forced a smile. "Guess so."

Then Aeryn left, somehow fine despite the tremendous weight he'd noticed for the first time she bore.

That night when he went to refill his pack with what meager supplies he had–a few wraps, some water, one dose of antibiotics–he found a new vial of fuel lying on top of his belongings.

Jace turned it and smiled. "Thanks," he said quietly, even though she wasn't here.

Once they returned to the base, an Aerolux would drop fresh supplies for them. These were the Federation's highly advanced flying ships. In an odd triangle shape, they could operate autonomously or with a pilot. Vehru approved their use for delivering supplies to the war zones because they were impossible to shoot down and could operate undetected, including by the human eye. So Aeryn didn't need to make more fuel. They'd have plenty tomorrow and this was a very secure location. But the gesture meant something. Maybe she'd forgiven him.

"Hey, where is everyone?" Jace called to Trin.

"You're actually going out?" she asked.

"I promised I would this time."

"They said they wanted to swim." Trin stepped into the doorway. She glanced up like she was looking at something. "Looks like Lyon, Nikka, and Alix are already at the lake. Aeryn is in a field nearby."

Jace smirked. "Making more fuel, I'm sure."

"Can't blame her for wanting to be prepared."

"What if the Aerolux breaks down?" he asked in his best impression of Aeryn.

Trin chuckled.

The Federation's ships never suffered malfunctions like that.

"I'll meet up with Aeryn," she said. "She may need help collecting samples."

Jace planned to thank her. He would do it privately, though. Trin would figure out something had happened with them if she heard him say something. "Swimming sounds good. It's hot."

"Aeryn and I will come soon. I'm sure she won't want to miss all the fun."

They walked out of the tent together down the path toward the lake. Aeryn had chosen a field not far away, likely planning to swim when she finished.

It was almost time for Jace and Trin to part paths when an alarm sounded through his earpiece. He froze, eyes widening.

"SOS." A recording. One they all made when they first started as a squad.

It was a recording of Aeryn's voice.

A jolt of panic erupted in Jace's chest. "That's–"

Trin's voice shook. "Aeryn's signal. But it's gone. I can't see her location, Jace."

He was already sprinting for the field before she could finish saying it. As he ran, Trin sent a message to the whole squad through their earpieces, saying Aeryn had sent up the signal for help before all signs of her vanished from her system.

There was only one reason for that. Someone had purposefully disabled or masked her tracking system, which meant they had sophisticated tech that they knew how to use.

Panic pumped energy through all the muscles in his body, quickly sharpening into pure rage.

"Here, Jace!" Trin struggled to keep up. "This is where her signal was."

He skidded to a stop, staring at nothing but grass and a line of trees in the distance. He couldn't accept what he was seeing. Couldn't understand it even though it was obvious. His heart was pounding in his temples as he searched for her.

"Aeryn," he said, voice stripped of all emotion except violent anger. "Aeryn!"

"She's not here." Trin caught his arm and he ripped away, so geared up for a fight that he'd nearly raised his fists. "She's gone. We have to report it. We have to get help."

"How could she just vanish?"

"The only way…" Trin scanned the area and then closed her eyes. "It's all getting jumbled in my head."

"Then calm down." Jace grabbed her arms too tight and had to loosen his hold. He forced his voice to quiet. "Breathe, Trin, and tell me what you see. You can do this."

Opening her eyes again, she looked at the ground and turned in a circle. "There's tracks, there. Boot prints. Maybe a scuffle. I can't tell. I see at least three distinct sets, one that could be Aeryn's. Her equipment…"

Jace saw it too. He gathered the three vials of fuel she'd created and slid the travel equipment into his pockets. "Which way did they go?"

"That's the thing. They're just gone. It has to be flight. And the only kind of aircraft we wouldn't have detected on radar or seen or heard–"

Jace looked up at the sky. "Damn it!" Whoever took her had an Aerolux. How was that even possible? He breathed so hard that it shook his voice. "They know she could be the Witness. That's the only reason someone with resources like that would want her."

Trin gulped loud enough for him to hear. "I'll request that the report goes straight to Commander Vehru."

"Do it. Then send me everything you can come up with–any theories on who could have done this. I'm not waiting even one second." He sprinted back toward their vehicle at the cabin.

"You need supplies," Trin yelled from behind him. "Jace! This is not going to help her. You need supplies and back-up. You don't even know where you're going."

He could hardly even hear her over the rushing throb of his heart.

"This is stupid, Jace! Where will you go?"

Rage darkened his vision.