Chapter 21: The First StrikeThe war had begun, but no one had declared it.There were no grand speeches, no official orders, just shadow battles fought in the void, silent ambushes in dead space, and power plays that would decide the fate of the galaxy before most even realized what was happening.The Sovereign Order was moving fast.Kael and the Outliers had to move faster.The Target: Valkar-7Valkar-7 was an old URS supply station, once a critical hub for military logistics. It had been abandoned after the system collapsed, but now the Sovereign Order was using it to fuel their war machine.If they lost Valkar-7, they wouldn’t just lose fuel. They’d lose supply routes, staging grounds, and a crucial foothold in the sector.Kael sat in the Eclipse’s cockpit, staring at the holo-map. The station floated in the darkness like a sleeping giant, surrounded by a handful of patrol ships.Defenses were light—for now. But the Sovereign Order had a fleet on standby, ready to jump in if anyth

Chapter 23: The Forgotten ExperimentThe emergency lights cast a dim, flickering glow across the corridor, stretching Kael’s shadow long against the metal walls. The Starwind groaned beneath them, the bulkheads vibrating as though the ship itself was breathing.The whispers hadn’t stopped.They slithered through the speakers, distorting, breaking, reforming into voices that weren’t supposed to be there.Jyn wiped the sweat from her brow. “We need to go.”Lira had her back to the sealed door, her rifle aimed at the blinking control panel. The metal hissed as something slammed against the other side. The creatures hadn’t given up. They were waiting.Kael’s heart pounded. He had seen war. He had fought soldiers, mercenaries, AI-driven drones.But nothing like this.He turned toward the corridor ahead. “There has to be a command terminal. We need to know what this ship was carrying before it became… this.”Jyn scoffed. “Oh yeah? And what if the logs say, ‘Abandon ship and run like hell?’”