Chapter 26 · Outside the Model

The enemy flagship hung above the stars like a dead moon.

The Dusk Crown had no running lights, no broadcast signature, no visible weapon ports. Its armor swallowed the fleet’s targeting beams and returned only a warped reflection of the Meridian ships approaching through the dark. Around it, the wreckage of three patrol cruisers drifted in slow circles, their hulls split open, their emergency beacons blinking with the patient rhythm of dying hearts.

Evan Venn watched the flagship grow across the forward display.

“Tell me again,” Oren Cade said over the command channel, “why we are flying directly into the mouth of the largest warship in the sector with half our shields offline?”

“Because the other half are still working.”

“That is not a reason. That is an insult to mathematics.”

Mara Quill’s voice cut in, thin with pain and static. “The Dusk Crown is ignoring our approach. No challenge. No interceptors. It knows we’re coming.”

Evan’s fingers tightened around the edge of the navigation console.