Chapter 157: Shadows of Retaliation
The Revenant drifted through the void of space, the scorched remains of the Syndicate station shrinking in the distance. Raizen sat in the captain's chair, his gaze locked on the swirling hyperspace lanes ahead, but his mind remained on the war he had just ignited.
Liana's holographic projection flickered beside him. "The Syndicate won't take this lightly. You didn't just poke the hornet's nest—you lit it on fire."
Raizen smirked. "Good. Let them come. I'm tired of hunting shadows. It's time they started running from me."
Selara, still cleaning the blood from her dual blades, snorted. "You know they'll send their elites after us now. The ones who don't play by the rules."
"Let them," Raizen replied coldly. "I've been waiting for a real challenge."
The bridge fell silent as Lylith entered, her steps light but measured. Her once-defiant expression was tempered now with something more cautious—respect, perhaps, or maybe fear.
"You know," she began, "this isn't over. The Syndicate won't stop until they've either killed you or burned everything you care about."
Raizen leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "Then they're in for a long, miserable failure."
Nyx's voice crackled over the comms. "Raizen, I'm picking up a faint distress signal from a nearby freighter. Weak, but it's there."
"Details?" Raizen asked.
"It's unregistered. Could be a trap."
Raizen's smirk widened. "Or an opportunity. Plot an intercept course."
The Distress Call
Minutes later, the Revenant emerged from hyperspace, the looming silhouette of a battered freighter drifting in the darkness. Its hull was torn open in places, debris floating around it like broken teeth.
"Looks like it took heavy fire," Liana confirmed. "Life signs are faint."
Raizen stood, strapping on his armor. "Let's go say hello."
Selara and Malakar flanked him as they boarded the freighter. The air inside was thick with smoke and the scent of burnt metal. Lights flickered sporadically, casting jagged shadows across the ruined interior.
Raizen's boots echoed in the silence as they moved deeper into the wreck. The life signs were weak, almost gone.
"Up ahead," Malakar rumbled, his massive hand pointing toward a sealed chamber.
Raizen pried the doors open with a screech of metal, revealing a single figure slumped against the wall—a woman, her long auburn hair matted with blood. Her armor was torn, but she clutched a data core tightly to her chest.
Her eyes flickered open, locking onto Raizen with startling intensity. "You… you're him."
Raizen crouched beside her. "You know me?"
"You're the one they're hunting," she rasped. "But they don't know… about this." She weakly held up the data core. "Syndicate movements. Codes. Their real fleet locations."
Raizen's eyes darkened. "Why give this to me?"
She coughed, blood speckling her lips. "Because… they burned my world. I want them gone."
Raizen took the core, his jaw tightening. "You'll get your wish."
Her breath hitched—and then she was gone.
Selara crossed her arms. "She died for this. We better make it count."
Raizen stood, his resolve solidifying. "Oh, we will."
The Next Move
Back on the Revenant, Liana decrypted the data core. "She wasn't lying. These are real fleet coordinates—hidden Syndicate strongholds, even a few of their black sites."
Raizen's grin was feral. "Then we start dismantling them. One by one."
Nyx's voice carried through the bridge. "Raizen, incoming transmission. It's encrypted."
"Patch it through."
The holographic display lit up, revealing the scarred face of a Syndicate warlord. His cybernetic eye whirred as it focused on Raizen.
"You've stirred up quite the mess, Izumoto. But this ends soon."
Raizen chuckled. "If by 'ends' you mean your entire operation, then yeah, I agree."
The warlord's eye glowed. "You'll pay for what you did today."
The signal cut off.
Raizen turned to his crew. "Let's show them what real destruction looks like."
The Revenant surged forward, the engines blazing as they vanished into the stars—hunting their next target.