Chapter 28: The Light That RemainsThe bridge of The Steadfast was a relic of ane, a stubborn survivor of time’s relentless march. Ohe pride of Fenralis shipwrights, it had beeting edge of ielr travel—its hull fed from void-hardened mithrititanium alloy, its systems once guided by a se AI rumored to rival the itive depth of its makers. Now, it was a mismatched symphony of rust arofit, a corpse reanimated with sged parts and jury-rigged solutions. Its expedition from Skara to Vallorien, Elderwynd, and now Vellmohered the old girl even more, but like a stubbor that won't die, it presses on.

  The walls bore the scars of battles long past, pockmarked with scorch marks from ser fire and emergency welds that whispered of frantic repairs in the void. Dim, flickering overhead lights struggled against the shadows that g to every crevice. The air carried the st of mae oil, ozone, and something older—the faint musk of history, the residue of a hundred souls who had once called this ship home.

  At the heart of the bridge sat the and throne—a worn captain’s chair reinforced with titanium pting to aodate the needs of the me. The inal cushioning had long sited away, repced with a makeshift leather that had begun to fray at the seams. Embedded within its armrests were outdated interface ports, their ss cracked but still stubbornly funal, dispying readouts in a mixture of Fenralis Standard and newer, hastily ied g nguages.

  The trol soles lining the bridge were a patchwork of eras. Some still bore the sleek, geometric aesthetics of their Fenralis ins, their interfaces smooth and minimalist, pulsing faintly with bio-lumi filigree. Others had been ripped straight from salvaged warships, their rugged meical toggles and flickering readouts a sharp trast to the ship’s once-elegant design. A few ss had been crudely mounted onto the walls, dispying scrolling lines of data from subroutines barely held together by quick fixes and sheer willpower.

  The main viewport loomed over the bridge, its reinforced gss smeared with the ghostly streaks of past atmospheric re-entries. Beyond it, the sky of Verdant Vale stretched vast and unfiving, its emerald fields marred by the scars of war. The battlefield below was a maelstrom of g forces—Embercd warriors pressing their siege against Vellmont Keep, their ranks abze with votile magic. Defensive wards shimmered as they intercepted fiery salvos, while terattacks in the form of raw elemental magic streaked across the sky. The once-lush fields bore the sm scars of battle, torn apart by are fury and siege engines alike.

  Garett stood at the helm, his fingers brushing against the etal of the trol panel. He had always felt an odd kinship with this ship. Like him, it had been broken, repurposed, forced to adapt. The Steadfast wasn’t the most powerful ship in the fleet, nor the fastest, nor even the most reliable. But it endured. And in a universe where power ebbed and alliances crumbled, endurance meant everything.

  A faint hum echoed through the bridge as the reactor core cycled, its archaiergy duits pulsing iic rhythms. Somewhere beh the deck, the ship’s automated systems sputtered in protest, trying to recile their a programming with modern demands. It was a miracle The Steadfast still flew at all.

  Behind him, the crew moved with well-practiced precision. The ship’s engineer had her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, arms streaked with grease as she coaxed life out of a particurly stubborn sole.

  Garett was seated o the captain, andeering the ship. Leona and Lyra stood beside him. Garett requested the captain's permission to hail Vellmont Keep. The Captain aowledged and anded his s officer.

  The holo of the Lord Mayor lit up in front of them. He wore the armor of his house, a reli his younger, fighting days.

  "Vellmont Keep, this is The Steadfast, approag your territory. It looks like a shitstorm here. How’s your status?" Garett asked.

  "Lovernor." Lord Maynus curtseyed.

  "We’ve seeer days," the Lord Mayrinned. "The barriers are holding, and lenty of supplies in stock. We’ll hold on until your help arrives."

  Garett smirked. "Good to hear. And the dragon-mech?"

  Magnus sighed, rubbing a gaued hand over his face. "Ah, that ugly bastard? Still prowling the outskirts. It tore through our outer defenses like part, but we mao hold it back with the ented ballistae. Damn thing's faster than it looks. Feels like it’s testing us."

  "Figures," Garett muttered. "Tell your men to hold tight. We’ll ha."

  Lyra turo the captain. "What about The Steadfast's SES (Spell Enha System)?"

  The captain shook his head. "Unfortunately, my girl’s too old for ‘em fancy tech. Took her through the Nyx’thuul wars, the Luminite flict, and tless other skirmishes with minor houses. She’s got spirit, but modern entments? Ain't happening."

  Lyra g the deck. "Then it looks like I'll have to fight the same way my old professors from the Astralis Lyceum did."

  She turo Garett. "I’ll be at the deck, reinf The Steadfast’s modest luminite ons with my offensive spells."

  Garett frowned, mulling it over. Lyra pced a hand on his arm. "Nyx will protect me."

  He exhaled through his nose before nodding. "Leona, go with her. Extra safety."

  Leona furrowed her brows. "art of the word 'personal guard' do you not uand?"

  "Leona please. I have Captain Bckstark's squad to back me up. Besides, if you see me in trouble, you jump down the ded summon your mech quickly to help." Garett insisted.

  Leona sighs. 'Fis not like the furball protect her better than I do."

  Nyx s her. "Hey!"

  As Lyra turo leave, Garett grabbed her hand and kissed her forehead. She blinked, momentarily taken aback, then blushed.

  Leona rolled her eyes, scowling. Nyx’s voice purred in her mind. Jealous?

  "Tch. As if," Leona muttered.

  The two made their way to the deck, their barailing behind them.

  A while ter, Garett ehe hangar, his Fenralis armor-pilot suit. A small embossed emblem of a wolf’s head adors colr. He climbed into his mech, the Sorion-Lupus Revise. The HUD flickered to life, beeping softly as system checks cycled through. Readouts scrolled across his visioor stability, armament diagnostics, mobility calibration. The familiar weight of the trols settled into his hands as the engines hummed, resonating through the frame like a livibeat.

  His thoughts drifted—to Fenris Lupus, to his father Duke Alden, to his mother Era, and to Cassia, his sweet sister. He wondered how they were faring. If word of this distant battle had reached them. He thought of Cassia’s st letter, her warnings about House Drais. She had been right.

  He exhaled.

  "Captain Bckstark, status report. Are you guys ready for deployment?"

  Anya’s voice came through. "Ready."

  Nissa, her vice-captain, doubled in. "Locked and loaded."

  Garett hailed the captain. "Patch me through to the entire ship."

  The holo-feed lit up across The Steadfast. Faces turo watch—the bannermen, meics, officers, soldiers, chefs, even the volunteers from the Vallorien Adventurer’s Guild.

  "Is it o?" Garett asked.

  A static pop. "Oh, looks like it is." He cleared his throat.

  And then he spoke.

  "Welp. Looks like this is the part where I get to have a big speech. To sell war to you and how this is all worth it and all that crap. But if I'm going to be real ho with you - I'm not very good at all those things. You may see me as the great Governeneral Garett of house Fenralis, but in the grander scheme of things, outside this p and into the tens of thousands of world of the Celestial Empire, let's be ho here, I'm just 'That guy who 't do magic."A few ughs could be heard from the s across the ship's hallways."I was ten when I first set foot on the Vale. Just a boy, really. Leona was with me. Two lost children, thrown into a world we didn’t uand, caught in the endless scheming of the great houses. I thought this pce was my punishment. For my failures. For being weak. For not being enough."

  Garett paused, his gaze sweeping across the gathered warriors. The holo-feed flickered, illuminating faces hardened by battle and loss.

  "But the people of the Vale didn’t see me as a lost cause. They didn’t turn me away. They helped me find my footing. Helped me bee the man I am today. I stand before you not just as a soldier, not just as your ander—but as someone who owes this world everything."

  His voice sharpened. "I know what some of you are thinking. That this isn’t ht. That Vellmont isn’t our city. That we shouldn’t throw our lives away for something that doesn’t belong to us. And you’re right." He let the words hang in the air before tinuing. "But look around you. Look at the person standing beside you. Look them in the eye. Are they not of the same flesh and blood? Do they not bleed as you do? Do they not dream, as you do? The people of Vellmont are no different from us. They fight for their homes, for their families, for the right to live free. And if we let them fall today, then what does that make us?"

  The deck was silent, save for the distant rumble of battle.

  "I won’t lie to you. Some of us will not make it out of this. That is the nature of war. That is the nature of life. But even after the brightest stars burn out, their light lingers for thousands—millions—of years. So tell me, what will yht be? What will ht be? Will we let it flicker and die, or will we burn shtly that history will never fet?"

  He took a deep breath, his grip tightening on the trols. A slow gri onto his face.

  "So let’s go kill some motherfuckers."