Aerik noticed the change in the air before anyone said anything aloud. Crews that had been moving with measured calm began to shift more quickly, and voices across the command channel tightened as updates came in closer together. Interceptors that had sat idle moments before lifted from their pads, engines roaring as they climbed to meet contacts forming beyond the perimeter. Whatever had begun elsewhere on Brosi was no longer distant enough to ignore.
Skadi Lightbane
stood close at his side. He felt her attention turn before she looked at him, the subtle shift in her posture familiar now in a way it had not been months ago. She watched the same stretch of sky he did, then glanced toward him without fully turning her head. The question was there in her eyes, unspoken but clear, and it was not born of fear or uncertainty but of a quiet check between equals who understood what came next.
“Yes,” Aerik said quietly.
He did not expand on it, because he did not need to.
Quinn Varanin had taught him that expression often carried more truth than speech, and that waiting for words could mean reacting too late. His mind brushed briefly against the memory of her as that lesson surfaced, the woman who had corrected his stance and his assumptions with equal patience, who had insisted that awareness began before motion and that stillness was not the absence of intent. He wondered where she was now as the battle spread across Brosi, what front or responsibility had claimed her attention, and whether she felt the same distant pressure he did as the lines engaged. The thought lingered only for a moment before he let it go.
Skadi was ready, and he saw it in the set of her shoulders and the way her focus narrowed as the situation shifted. Answering her aloud was enough to acknowledge that he saw it too.
Movement on the sensors pulled his attention back outward as the first Imperial signatures crossed into range. They were still distant, moving cautiously and testing responses rather than committing fully to the engagement, but their approach vectors were clear enough to track. Aerik followed those vectors across the defensive grid, noting how the jungle pressed close to the cleared zones and where the terrain would limit visibility once the fighting moved lower. This was not a place where defensive lines could afford to fold inward, because failure in the air here would leave the spaceport exposed.
As he worked, the Force tugged faintly at his awareness. Heat and motion bled through the background, sharper than the tension that already filled the field.
Irina Jesart
was already engaged, and he recognized the pressure immediately, familiar enough that it carried with it a sense of proximity as much as urgency. She was aware of him, of where he stood in relation to the broader fight, and that awareness reached toward him even without intent.
Aerik steadied himself and resisted the pull just enough to make his position clear. He did not shut her out, but he did not step toward her either. The response was deliberate, a quiet signal that he was close but occupied, and that she could count on him without drawing his focus away from the line he was holding. The pressure eased slightly in response, not withdrawing but acknowledging the distinction. That was enough.
He began moving along the reinforced platform toward the forward batteries, his pace unhurried but purposeful. Skadi fell in step beside him without a word, matching his stride as if it had always been so. Around them, crews locked in firing solutions and secured secondary systems. The jungle crept toward the edges of the platforms, held back by elevation and constant effort, waiting for any lapse that would allow it to reclaim the ground.
Blaster fire flashed overhead as interceptors engaged the first wave of Imperial scouts. The sound rolled across the field, sharp and immediate. Aerik followed the data feeds rather than watching the sky directly, tracking how the engagement altered enemy movement and forced adjustments in their approach. This exchange was still measured on both sides, a contest of positioning rather than force, and the heavier pressure would come soon enough.
They reached the forward position as the guns rotated into alignment. The crews there were steady, hands moving with practiced familiarity as targeting displays filled with updated trajectories. Aerik stepped in close enough to observe, confirming that everything was functioning as it should. There would be no hesitation when the order came.
He turned slightly toward Skadi, keeping his voice low.
“We hold here. If this line breaks, it won’t stop with us.”
The
guns answered immediately, energy bolts streaking upward in controlled arcs. The platform shuddered beneath Aerik’s boots with each discharge, the recoil a steady reminder of what they were anchoring.
The pressure through the Force grew as the battle spread, lines engaging in sequence across the defensive perimeter. Somewhere ahead and to their right, the fighting had already closed to near range. Aerik could feel the density of it now, the way heat and motion gathered where the struggle was thickest, marking the direction they would eventually need to move once their position was secure.
For now, he stayed where he was meant to be. He kept his focus forward, aware of Skadi at his side and of Irina’s presence just beyond his reach, both of them tied to him in different ways by the same unfolding fight. When the line called for him, he would move.
