They did not have long.
CyroN tracking signatures followed them even through folded space, adapting faster than Mira expected.
Which meant one thing.
Someone wanted Historia badly.
Mira rerouted power from life support into the engines, forcing the ship into dangerous acceleration.
Alarms blared.
Structural limits exceeded.
Navigation unstable.
“Hang on,” Mira warned.
Historia braced herself, gripping the restraints.
“…who are we running from?”
Mira’s jaw tightened.
“From the people who left us to die.”
They broke from fold-space above a city that sprawled across shattered terrain like a wound that never healed.
Massive industrial towers pierced the clouds, wrapped in glowing energy grids. CyroN insignias burned across armored walls.
Historia stared in disbelief.
“…Schryza…?”
Mira nodded grimly.
“They call it New Schryza now.”
Her voice was bitter.
“They came back. Slowly. Quietly. By the time the Schryzans realized… it was already theirs.”
Historia’s hands clenched.
“…so the war didn’t end.”
“No,” Mira said softly.
“It just learned how to wait.”
Interceptor craft surged from CyroN fortresses, locking onto Mira’s ship within seconds.
Weapons systems charged.
Historia watched the targeting reticles paint across the cockpit.
“…they’re aiming at us.”
Mira’s voice hardened.
“Then they’ve made their choice.”
She diverted power to emergency weapons, far weaker than CyroN’s fleets, but enough to buy seconds.
Seconds were all they had.
Explosions tore through the sky as they plunged into the lower city layers, weaving between towering structures and collapsing industrial platforms.
Historia felt something stir inside her.
Not fear… but anger.
A deep, burning rage that made her chest feel too small to contain it.
“…they took everything,” she whispered.
Mira glanced at her sharply.
Historia’s eyes glowed faintly with unstable energy.
“And they’re still here!”
The ship slammed into an abandoned transit bay, skidding across scorched metal before finally grinding to a halt.
Smoke filled the air.
Before the engines even cooled, Mira was already unstrapping Historia.
“We can’t stay. Ground units will be here in minutes.”
Historia staggered but stayed on her feet.
“…then we fight.”
Mira hesitated.
Just a second.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
They slipped into the shadows of New Schryza.
And the hunted became something far more dangerous.
[FILE: city_network/intercepted_broadcast.log]
CYRON SECURITY NOTICE:
Unauthorized unit detected.
Classification: HIGH PRIORITY TARGET
Recovery authorization: LETHAL FORCE APPROVED