Chapter 10

Siona

I burst onto the bridge to find my men already ready for combat. The frown Baldur cast my way the moment he saw me walk in instantly had my hackles rising. He opened his mouth, likely to tell me that I should take refuge in my quarters, but I immediately silenced him.

"Save your breath. This is my ship, and this crew reports to me ," I said in a tone that brooked no argument, before turning my attention to our pilot. "Yulan, send our coordinates to Zerien."

"There are two battle cruisers against our simple frigate. We do not stand a chance!" Baldur said dejectedly.

"Are you so eager to face my father's wrath that you already contemplate defeat?" I taunted, my eyes studying the tactical map on screen, showing our enemies. "They're coming here to capture me and then use me to blackmail Zerien. Let's teach them a lesson."

"A lesson how?" he challenged. "They aren't a primitive species using weak weapons. Guldan technology rivals that of the Veredians."

I gave him a disbelieving look. "Are you seriously trying to lecture me about my own people's technology? Have you forgotten that my brother designed half of them? Or that Mercy developed countermeasures for most of their more powerful armaments?"

He looked as if he had bitten into something foul before grunting in concession. "Fine, but we still need to get you to safety. Your father will skin me alive if you come to harm. And I don't even want to think about what that insane mate of yours will do with what's left of my remains."

I snorted. The poor male wasn't even exaggerating. The insane label should have been given to my father, who possessed a sadistic streak. The comment about skinning him alive wasn't even a lie. My father enjoyed using that specific torture against those who harmed his family.

And Zerien…

I couldn't begin to imagine what kind of pain he would inflict on anyone who got to me. From all accounts, his bloodthirsty savagery rivaled my father's.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins from pre-battle excitement. The past six years being mentored by Mercy and then becoming the trainer for the female Guldan rebels had given me the type of confidence I wished I possessed in all other aspects of my life.

"If we create a diversion and have a few of our fighters take flight, it will allow you to escape in stealth mode. With luck, Zerien can pick you up before—"

"We are indeed going to send out a few of our fighters, but not so that I can escape," I said, interrupting him as I approached the navigation board. "We're going to give them a taste of Mercy's medicine."

"Mercy?" Yulan echoed, surprise laced with hope sparking in his eyes.

I gave him a smug smile. "Did you really think she would let me go without giving me some of her favorite toys?"

Without waiting for his response, I activated the com to Engineering.

"Zartag, retrieve the celesium box from the vault. Inside, you will find some of Mercy's virus spheres. Place one in each of the warheads of our missiles, as well as on board our drones. Load them up and wait for further instructions," I ordered.

"Yes, Siona," Zartag replied with a thrill in his voice.

A smile stretched my lips when I glanced at Baldur and saw his vicious grin as he realized what powerful tool had just been added to our arsenal. It was all the more amusing that the rest of the crew on the bridge still seemed confused.

"Remind me to berate our former Dagna for not telling me what we had on board," he grumbled.

I huffed. "Those are presents for me to use as I see fit, not for you, old man. And if you know what's good for you, you won't poke Mercy. Her bite is far more lethal than your bark," I taunted.

He grunted while the rest of our crew chuckled.

"Turn off that damn alarm," I said with annoyance as the siren kept blaring. "And have our warriors ready to take flight. Wait for my orders before they try to disable their propulsion and weapons system."

"Why wait?" Yulan asked, confused. "They're steadily gaining on us. I can't outrun them unless we start tampering with their engines."

"And that's exactly what we want," I said smugly. "Do not be too obvious but let them get close enough for them to activate their tractor beams."

His jaw dropped. "Why in the world would we do that?"

"Because, by then, Zartag will be done uploading the virus that we will happily send to them through the beam and through our com as soon as they contact us," I said with malicious glee.

The way the faces of the crew lit up as they finally understood the plan filled me with a sense of power that I could grow addicted to. Battle always gave me the type of validation I didn't feel like I could achieve or receive elsewhere. Approval from these savage warriors meant more to me than I could ever put into words.

I quickly went over the plan with the crew. Once we engaged, there wouldn't be any opportunity for us to speak openly without giving ourselves away.

We allowed the battlecruisers to chase us for a short while longer, pretending like we hadn't noticed they were in pursuit. My heart leapt when they finally hailed us. Excitement laced with a sliver of healthy fear surged through me. I settled in the captain's chair, my legs crossed in a sassy attitude, Captain Baldur standing firmly next to me.

I glanced at our pilot Yulan. "As soon as the communication is established, release the virus through our connection."

"Understood," he said with a shit-eating grin.

"On screen," I replied, forcing myself to take on a nonchalant expression.

The face of a handsome Guldan male in his mid to late fifties filled the screen. Instant dislike swelled within me. My people always dealt in extremes. Average-looking people didn't really exist among us. You were either very attractive or plain ugly. Similarly, you were either a heartless, despicable, power- hungry misogynist, or a decent person open to social progress and people's right to dignity.

The disdainful and haughty expression on this male's face told me everything I needed to know. The contempt that settled over his features once he realized I was sitting in the commanding position had me instinctively lifting my chin in defiance.

"Siona Siddik, I am Rydel Corrak, Commander—"

"It's Siona Aldriss, soon to be Siona Aerith," I interrupted in an unimpressed tone.

Seeing him clench his teeth and stiffen in outrage that a female should cut him off gave me no small amount of pleasure.

" We will decide that, female," he hissed with contempt. "As expected, your treacherous brother and those Braxians have ruined you. But fear not, we will set you straight and remind you of your proper place."

"Oh, but I am quite straight, Rydel," I said, deliberately using his first name instead of addressing him by his title and last name, as etiquette demanded to show respect. "It is you who are showing your narrow-minded, uneducated face where it does not belong. For your sake, I strongly suggest you turn back while you can. Persist in whatever this stupid little endeavor is, and I promise you, you will get no mercy from me."

He gasped in disbelief and outrage. Judging by the murderous look in his eyes, there was no question in my mind that he would have slapped me or otherwise physically punished me for daring to not only stand up to him, but especially for threatening him.

"You stupid female, are you so blind that you do not see that there are two of the most advanced Guldan battle cruisers surrounding your pathetic little Braxian frigate?" he hissed. "Back home, your scandalous behavior would earn you a proper flogging. Surrender immediately, and I will grant you the leniency you certainly do not deserve instead of giving you the punishment your arrogance demands. I will only make this offer once."

I flicked my silver-white hair over my shoulder with a bored expression while rocking my crossed leg in an even more taunting fashion.

"I have no need of your leniency," I said, looking unimpressed. "If you tried to raise a hand to me, I would have you on your back crying for your mama before you even knew what hit you."

"You dare!" he shouted, his coppery skin darkening with fury.

"I dare and double dare," I retorted in a deliberately childish tone to irk him further. "What's truly pathetic is that, by your own admission, you need two of your most advanced battle cruisers to capture one impertinent little girl. And the worst part is that this little girl is about to spank you raw. The question is whether I let you live or personally slit your throat."

"Before the hour is up, I will have you on your knees as I teach you how to respect your betters," he shouted. "But then, little whores like you are used to being on all fours, just like your mother."

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Captain Baldur stiffen. The thick muscles of his arms bunched as he took a menacing step forward while emitting a menacing growl. Keeping my eyes locked on Rydel on the screen, I raised a palm in an arresting gesture to tell Baldur to stand down. The Grumpy captain was almost like an uncle to me. He had taken offense at the Guldan's words on both my behalf and my mother's. A wave of affection washed over me for him, but I had an idiot to continue playing with.

"Seriously, I doubt you would know how to handle a strong female like me—and especially like my mother—even if we were bound naked, our limbs spread wide. Impotent males like you are always all talk. In fact, the last one of you who attempted to kidnap me didn't fare so well. My mother single-handedly beat the living daylights out of your mighty ambassador. Am I to understand you want some of the same? If so, I'll be glad to oblige. Or you could simply tear one of those horns off your head and go fuck yourself with it."

Teeth bared, his dark brown eyes burning with fury, Commander Corrak gestured with his head at someone I couldn't see off screen.

"They're firing on us!" Yulan suddenly said.

"Shield at maximum," I ordered. "Evasive maneuvers and resume course to Sarenia."

Yulan complied.

"You're fleeing, you little vermin?" Rydel Corrak said with mocking disbelief. "You ran your foul little mouth, and now you try to escape at the first sign of trouble?"

Shifting on my seat, I discreetly activated the signal to engineering on the interface integrated in the arm of the captain's chair. Although we couldn't see them, Zartag released our drones carrying the virus payloads in stealth mode. Thanks to the advanced algorithm designed by my brother, the frequency of their stealth shields would modulate to avoid detection by our enemies as they flew straight to the most vulnerable sections of the enemy ships' hulls.

"I'm not escaping. I simply have a date with Zerien and don't want to be late," I said with an apologetic shrug.

"Your date is with my hand on your ass, you little cunt," he snapped, angry to see me apparently unfazed by the volley of missiles their two ships were firing at us.

Obviously, I wasn't so cocky as not to worry about the type of damage our vessel could sustain considering what powerful weaponry they possessed. However, they needed me alive and unscathed. This meant they couldn't use anything that could destroy us, only damage us enough to allow them to board our frigate.

I grimaced with the disgusted and shocked expression of an offended virgin. "My ass is too good for you, you dirty old pervert! You should be ashamed, chasing after a teenager!"

"I'll show you what a pervert is when I fuck that ass!" he snapped. "And then I'll whip you raw for good measure. We'll see how arrogant you'll be then. Once the crew and I are done thoroughly using you, that Sarenian Prince of yours will thank us for properly breaking you in."

It was pathetic how easily a male of his rank could be manipulated into losing his cool. But then bigots like him couldn't handle seeing a Guldan female not cowering before them and submitting quietly to their abuse.

"Promises, promises! First, you need to catch me, old man," I said dismissively.

Despite Yulan's valiant—and quite remarkable—efforts, the battlecruisers eventually thwarted his evasive maneuvers, and their tractor beams latched onto our ship. It did so with such strength that it actually rocked the ship.

The savage grin on Corrak's face mirrored the emotions raging inside me. The fool didn't realize that I had been deliberately dragging the conversation out to allow more of the virus to infect their systems through our connection. To avoid detection, we had to release the virus slowly and in small amounts through our com.

But tractor beams were a completely different beast and didn't require the same type of subtlety.

I cast a discreet glance at the overhead display which showed the progress of our stealth drones as they released their payload on their targets. A blue overlay indicated how far the virus had already spread over their defense shield, replicating at exponential rate. Once we gave the signal, their second ability would kick into action, weakening their shield before destroying them.

Simultaneously, Zartag released more drones, these ones flying straight into the beams, quickly spreading the virus within. As the beam's primary function was to drag something into its vessel, it was like they had provided us with an open gateway into the core of their ship.

"Not so brazen anymore, are you, you little whore?" Rydel said with a cruel expression when the beams started to pull our ship back.

"Full power to all thrusters," I ordered Yulan.

Rydel burst out laughing while shaking his head in disbelief. "You will tear your ship apart, you stupid girl! There's a reason why females don't lead. You're not smart enough to rationally navigate high stress situations. And all you dumb males just stand there listening to this fool?" he added with a contemptuous look towards Baldur.

"In case you haven't noticed, we're breaking free," Baldur said mockingly.

And we were indeed. With an angry gesture of his head, Rydel seemingly ordered his crew to increase the strength of the beam. The powerful tug on the left beam confirmed which vessel the Commander was flying in. Seconds later, the second battle cruiser also increased the intensity of its beam. Our ship groaned as the combined pull successfully resumed dragging us backward.

Once again, I repressed a smile. The overhead display indicated the virus had now spread through 70% of the ship, the increased pull accelerating the infection at an exponential rate.

"Not anymore," Rydel retorted with malicious contempt. "You should have surrendered when I offered you leniency. But like all females, you're too stupid to make the right decisions, which is why you need us to make them for you. Your sole purpose is to take a male's cock, push out babies, clean, and provide entertainment."

"If that is true, then you must be the most incompetent male in the universe since you're about to get royally spanked by one of those stupid females, one who's not even reached her twenties yet," I said with a smile.

He blinked, his malicious arrogance giving way to surprise and confusion before my admittedly irrational behavior—at least in appearance.

"Let's play a little game and see how you feel when you have to beg me for mercy, only to see me granting you none," I continued in a singsong voice.

"Are you mentally damaged?" he asked, visibly baffled.

"No. But like most Guldan males, overconfidence is your downfall," I said with a shrug. "A part of me would love to spank you in person and make you lick my boots like the worm you are, but I have a date. Instead, I'm going to rid the world of you in a slow and very painful death. Your final thoughts will be of me as you gasp for your last breath."

This time, a sliver of genuine worry flitted over his features. He still had no clue what I was talking about, but he could sense the lethal confidence in my words and see the evil glee on Baldur's expression.

I opened the com to Engineering and issued the command to both Zartag and Yulan.

"Activate Dark Raven," I ordered.

"Dark Raven activated," Yulan said with a thrill in his voice.

Within seconds, a bluish flash swept over both battlecruisers' defense shields, which immediately collapsed. This time, I didn't hold back my malicious smile when the lights on the Guldan vessel's bridge began to flicker. The air of panicked horror on Rydel's face was literally orgasmic.

"System override activated," said the synthetic voice of the Guldan ship's artificial intelligence.

"What?!" Rydel exclaimed. "What the fuck is going on?" he demanded of someone I could not see on screen.

"How do you like me now, Rydel?" I taunted.

But he was too busy barking orders to pay any attention to me. In the background, their ship's AI continued to list the effects of the virus spreading within.

"Shutting down propulsion systems. Powering down weapons. Disabling long distance com systems. Locking down the escape pods. Locking down the ship's hangar. Sealing off the medical bay."

My crew and I burst out laughing at the total mayhem our little trick was causing.

"Captain, I think our fighters should go take a little flight to say hello," I said with a shit-eating grin.

"Gladly," he said with the terrifying smile typical of Braxian males.

As he issued the command, I turned to our crewmates manning our battle stations.

"Fire all missiles at the propulsion and weapons systems of both battlecruisers. I want them dead in the water," I ordered.

Like a swarm of locusts, our fighters shot out of our ship hangar and immediately began raining fire on the sputtering battlecruisers. On the vidscreen, Rydel and his crew were getting rocked by the explosions shaking the vessel.

In the back, I could hear one of his crewmates shouting that they were locked out of every system.

"Rydel!" I called out.

He jerked his head towards the screen, panic, anger, and pure hatred burning in his eyes.

"It sucks feeling helpless, doesn't it? To have all control ripped out of your hands by a person who decided that they get to dictate what happens with your life," I said, my voice filled with contempt as memories of the years my mother and I suffered at the hands of abusive men flashed before my eyes. "You see these missiles wrecking your ship? They are my cock fucking you in the ass. And here's my parting gift to you."

I tapped an instruction on the datapad Baldur handed me.

"Computer, shut down life support," I ordered.

"Life support shutting down," the Guldan vessel's artificial intelligence confirmed.

Rydel visibly paled. "You can't do this," he breathed out.

"Oh, I totally can. As a matter of fact, I just did. Since the goddess will not welcome you in her halls, say hi to Gharah for me. And when you gasp for your last breath, remember that a stupid eighteen-year-old female bested you and your entire crew, high-tech battlecruisers included."

I ordered Yulan to terminate the communication while Rydel was showering me with the foulest insults he could muster. A part of me wanted to join in on the action onboard a fighter of my own, but it was an absurd bloodthirst driving me. I allowed our pilots to continue pummeling the battlecruisers' propulsion systems until there was no more question that they would never be able to fly away in the unlikely eventuality that they somehow managed to purge the virus and regain control of their vessels.

Another part of me wanted to board their ships and take a few prisoners back with us. The same sentiment shone brightly on the faces of my companions. Braxians were bloodthirsty warriors. They would derive tremendous pleasure from cracking some skulls, especially in light of the disrespect Rydel showed my mother and me. However, although we hadn't detected any outgoing communication before we took over control of their ships, we couldn't be certain they hadn't successfully sent a distress signal. We couldn't risk more Guldans showing up.

Their task completed, our fighters returned to our ship hangar. With the tractor beams deactivated, I ordered Yulan to resume our journey to Sarenia at our highest warp speed.

"The bridge is yours, Baldur," I said, getting up from the Captain's chair before heading for the door.

"Not bad, kid," Baldur said, as the doors parted before me.

I glanced at him over my shoulder, pride swelling in my heart. "I'm Braxian. I bathe in the blood of my enemies, as my father taught me."

"Ah-hoo!" Baldur shouted, as he slapped his chest with his fist.

As one, the rest of the crew repeated the gesture and echoed the war cry. I smiled and walked out before hastening back to my quarters.

I immediately hailed Zerien. Judging by the dizzying speed with which he answered, he had clearly been waiting for it.

"Siona! We're coming!" he exclaimed as soon as the connection was established.

I smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. We took care of it."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't sound so shocked," I said teasingly. "We're not helpless. But there are two Guldan battlecruisers dead in space and without life support. The crew should run out of oxygen in the next ten hours unless they get really creative extremely fast. You might want to tow them in to study their technology."

"I have patrol ships already closing in on their position. My own vessel is on its way to you. We will meet you halfway," Zerien said, visibly relieved.

"All is fine. You don't have to—"

"I am coming to you, Siona," Zerien said in a tone that brooked no argument. "I aged twenty years in the past hour. Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"Technically, I didn't do anything except defend myself from would-be kidnappers," I deadpanned, although warmth spread in my chest to know how much he cared.

"Same thing," he grumbled. "Tell me everything."

I complied.