Page 132 of Stars in Nova

Skimmers crashed into the ground, their pilots rendered inactive.

The once-imposing Corilian forces were reduced to powerless husks, scattered and broken.

In the Cephei’s bridge, Kisan’s glowing aqua eyes narrowed as he focused his energy, pushing the pulse outward. The ripple traveled like a silent wave, dismantling the final remnants of the Corilians.

Below, in the throne room, the silence that followed was deafening.

Marius sagged in his chair, his psionic shield flickering out.

His mechanical limbs spasmed weakly as he struggled to rise, his expression twisted in pain and rage.

With a roar, he pitched forward, rolling down the steps until he slumped at the bottom of them.

Around him, the Vaelorii began to cheer, their voices echoing in triumphant waves.

Their cries reverberated through the shattered bastion.

The air was thick with dust, raised by the crumbling infrastructure of the citadel, which had been devastated by Kisan’s kinetic pulse.

Smoke hung close to the surface over the Cygnus Stronghold, drifting between the jagged, blackened towers as the last cyborg soldiers collapsed.

Sparks shot from their broken bodies, their once-imposing forms now twisted heaps of alloy and flesh.

The Cephei hovered over the torn space.

Kisan’s suited silhouette descended from it using his mag boots to hover down.

His gaze was fixed on Samira, who stood amid the palace ruins, her eyes on him.

The second he touched down, he raced toward her, his steps crunching on the debris-strewn ground.

Her hair was windswept, her face streaked with dirt and defiance, and his heart clenched at the sight of her alive, whole, and still standing.

Without a word, he pulled her into his arms, his grip fierce and unrelenting.

Their lips met in a kiss that was equal parts relief and desperation, the burden of their ordeal rolling over them.

‘You’re safe,’ he groaned against her mouth.

‘I am,kralji,santefor the pick up.’

They stared at each other in disbelief as Sax and the Vaelorii sifted through the damage.

Abruptly, with no warning, something began to stir.

A shadow crawled from the crumpled cyborgs, tendrils of inky murkiness seeping out of their shattered forms.

The black streams coalesced, twisting together like smoke caught in an invisible current.

They spiraled upward, gathering above the palace into a swirling mass.

The thundering of wild energy intensified, a guttural reverberation that resonated deep in the bones.

‘Thefokk?’ Kisan growled.

They all turned their eyes skyward as the cloud commenced to take shape.

It stretched and expanded until a grotesque, shifting face emerged from the darkness. Its features were distinct yet extraterrestrial, its eyes glowing with an unnatural red light.

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