The spacecraft shuddered violently as sirens echoed through the narrow control chamber. The system AI's voice rang out with urgency:
"Warning! Internal energy fluctuations are intensifying. Hull integrity at risk. Immediate action required."
Behind them, luminous blades shimmered into view, orbiting like satellites. Caleb winced as the gravity in the cabin distorted briefly.
"It's getting harder to control them," he muttered, beads of sweat forming on his temple.
"Likewise," Mira said quietly, her eyes locked on the crimson gleam radiating from the floating blades that circled them like silent sentinels. They both knew—entering warp with this instability was dangerous. But it was their only option.
Another alarm blared, shrill and urgent, slicing through the tense silence. Red warning lights bathed the cockpit in pulses, flickering across the reinforced panels as if the ship itself was panicking.
The system AI's voice rung:
"Warning. The spacecraft is under heavy bombardment. Shield integrity at 70%. A massive fleet is approaching. Contact will occur in approximately 30 seconds. Please execute tactical evasive maneuvers."
Mira flinched. A flash surged across her vision: "Contact will occur in approximately 25 seconds."
Five seconds early. She felt the wheels of fate turning into their favor for once.
Then the warp drive began its countdown, the numbers glowing bright against the screen.
"Can we... skip the countdown?" Mira asked, eyes darting between the flashing warning lights.
"We can't," Caleb replied grimly. He reached over, initiating another shield reinforcement cycle.
Then she saw it—a flicker of Caleb, eyes filled with grief, disappearing before her eyes. But the real Caleb was right beside her, gaze clear, filled with resolve.
"Stay here," he said. "I'll engage them."
Mira's glare was sharp. "WE will engage. I'm not leaving you alone."
Caleb saw the unshakable resolve etched in her every movement, the fire in her eyes refusing to waver. He exhaled slowly and smiled. "So we go down together?"
"Yes," Mira said. "We're escaping together. Or we go down TOGETHER. No matter what happens."
The spacecraft's hull retracted as the rear hatch opened. They stood at the precipice of the void, the surrounding stars flickering like static. Caleb expanded his gravitational field, warping the space around the ship, bolstering the shield. Then they leapt.
Out into open space.
Their visors snapped down, internal comms linking their voices. Trajectory lines and projected targets danced across the HUDs as the enemy fleet closed in. Drones swarmed around them, bullets of concentrated plasma zipping past.
Caleb launched forward, redirecting incoming fire by bending the gravity of surrounding debris. Mira mirrored him, slicing through the airless battlefield with dazzling arcs of Resonance energy. Her motions were swift, graceful—chaotic yet calculated.
"Behind you," Caleb warned, catching a missile's path and slinging it sideways with an upward flick.
"Got it," Mira replied. Her blade spiraled through the vacuum, tearing through enemy armor.
The countdown ticked down.
30 seconds.
They split for just a moment—Caleb rising, Mira diving low. In tandem, they decimated a wave of drones, their powers resonating in bursts of light and distortion.
25 seconds.
Mira spun mid-vacuum, catching Caleb's extended hand. Their bodies twirled together like binary stars before launching off again in opposite directions.
20 seconds.
"We're running out of time!" Mira shouted.
Caleb grunted, holding the gravitational pull steady around the warp entrance. "Just a little longer. Push through."
A dreadnought loomed in the distance, larger than any of the other ships. It opened fire. The beam seared past, barely missing Mira.
"Caleb!" she screamed.
"I'm here!" he answered, yanking her with gravity as the second beam exploded behind them.
10 seconds.
The AI voice spoke calmly in their comms: "The warp drive is open for travel."
Their chance.
Together, hand in hand, they darted toward the widening portal.
It was now or never.