Page 48 of Stars in Nova

He nodded, his gaze fixed on the cyborgs below. ‘Crat components,’ he muttered. ‘The implants, the gadgetry—it’s theirs. I’d know it anywhere.’

Mirage was silent for a beat, processing. ‘You’re right. They’ve got Crat written all over them. The neural interfaces and limb enhancements are all classic Crat designs. However, it’s like they found a forsaken storage depot someplace and cobbled together the tech.’

Kisan’s jaw tightened as the memories of his past with the monsters he loathed most clawed at the edges of his mind.

The sterile labs, the cold touch of machines, the endless agony of being reshaped into something not quite humanoid.

However, something about these androids and the scene unfolding before him was different. It feltfokkin’ off.

‘Those freakish androids are human,’ he grunted in a grim whisper. ‘Or they were. Look closer.’

Mirage’s node hummed again, scanning the view below through his visor’s enhanced sensors.

Data cascaded across the HUD, and her algorithms dissected the implants, motions, and neural signatures emanating from the cyborgs.

‘Their limbs and components are constituents of crat tech under some kind of unknown command,’ she said after a moment, her tone sharp. ‘It’s an override I’ve never faced before.’

Kisan’s fingers curled into fists as the cyborgs marched in perfect synchrony, their movements too precise, too unified.

He crouched lower, the visor of his helmet magnifying the details of the cyborgs.

Their faces—or what remained of them—bore traces of humanity.

Flesh fused with metal, eyes replaced with glowing optics, neural links visible, with pulsing lights embedded in their skulls.

The remnants of their broken, twisted human features made the sight all the more horrifying.

Could this be what my cowled friend warned me about,Kisan thought, tinged with unease.

Mirage was silent, processing the data at an intense speed.

‘Mirage,’ he asked, in a whispered growl, ‘what are the odds the Crats are behind this?’

‘Minimal,’ she replied. ‘They don’t like imitations; they always use their own soldiers, so this isn’t their style. Whatever’s running this is alien.’

Kisan’s lips pressed into a grim line. ‘What then?’

Her voice grew quieter, almost hesitant. ‘Can’t tell yet. There’s a signature in the coding. It’s buried under the existing software. Not Crat, not from Pegasi whatsoever, nor anything in my database.’

The implications hit him like a blow, his chest tightening as his thoughts raced. ‘A power with the ability to hijack tech, to turn entire worlds into this.’ He gestured at the burning wasteland before him. ‘If they get the foothold they’re after, Orilia may be destroyed for good. Do you concur?’

Mirage’s silence was answer enough.

Kisan took a deep breath, the acrid air stinging his lungs.

His mind churned with questions, but one thing was clear: he first had to find his mask. He sensed that if his spinel innovation ever integrated with the tech in those cyborgs, this planet and quadrant might cease to exist.

‘Keep scanning,’ he said, his voice hardening. ‘Locate any leads, no matter how small. Whatever it takes to figure out what thisfokkin’ shitshow is about. While I look for the woman and any sign of humanity in this forsaken place.’

‘Already working on it,’ Mirage replied. ‘Be careful, my friend. This isn’t just a battlefield. It’s feels like a trap waiting to spring.’

Kisan crouched lower, his adaptive skin rippling again to shield him from the rising heat.

He couldn’t shake the sensation of staring into the edge of something far darker than he had ever faced.

Something that threatened not just Orilia XIV but the entire Pegasi system—and beyond.

Why We Water Dance

---