I couldn't put my finger on the unease curled in the pit of my stomach. But it made me feel nauseous from the moment we came face to face with the refugees.
Any sane person would want away from the falling apart station as soon as we landed, but it wasn't just that.
I was trained for situations like this. Legionnaire Thea Maverick was ready to step in at a moment's notice to provide technical support or firepower if required.
Maybe it was the immediate hatred displayed towards Kal or the fact that we had been misled into thinking that thousands needed our help, not just hundreds. Maybe it was having to leave Kal unloading med supplies without any kind of backup.
Tyler had denied my request to stay back and help Kal, instead needing me to assist Finnian and Zela with repairs. He is my Alpha after all, so I obeyed, trying to ignore my unease only growing.
The female Syldrathi, Aedra, that the First Walker assigned to watch Kal made me even more suspicious, as even a glance at her was enough to see the disdain she had for Kal. Enough to wonder if she would try to hurt him when we were out of sight.
It seemed silly to be concerned for Kal's safety after seeing his fight the day before, but if that was what he could do, how strong was Aedra? Yes, she was a Waywalker, not Warbreed like Kal, but even the way she gripped her weapon looked like trouble.
But it seemed like that was the least of our problems at the moment. The control room was chaos between our squad and the Syldrathi that were already in there.
Finnian was half in one of the consoles as I tried to test its functionality with abysmal results. A curse left my lips as our efforts barely got me a loading screen. Fin took that as a cue to resurface, his exosuit making soft whirrs as he stood.
"Well, that didn't work." He frowned at my screen, Tyler walking over to join us. He was probably about to ask for a status report when the door to the rickety elevator slid open.
"Aurora?" Tyler's eyes widened at seeing a girl by Kal's side. My gaze flicked from her to Kal, his expression as neutral as ever as my eyes met his. He didn't say anything, just folding his arms instead.
"Hi," Aurora spoke up, giving us a small wave. It was easy to see that she was nervous, and by Tyler's reaction, it gave me a pretty good idea of who she was.
The girl out of time.
"What's she doing here?" I could hear Scarlett's frown before I saw it.
"The Unbroken first, questions later," Kal responds, his gaze shifting to our Face.
Tyler nods, scanning the room before speaking.
"Cat, I want you flying perimeter in the longbow. Say out of sight. Kal, you and Thea are on our defenses. That Wraith is going to be on us in ten minutes unless we give them a reason not to be."
Cat pushes past Aurora to get into the elevator as Kal comes to my side, scanning the half-assembled panels in front of us. The space between his eyebrows creased as his fingers danced over one of the controls. I turned back to the one Fin and I had been fiddling with. Though it seemed that my efforts were completely fruitless.
My frustration was only growing among the chaos of my squadmates yelling back and forth. Kal's voice cut through all the noise, cutting through everything else.
"Station defenses will not be enough to hold off the Wraith. We must break out all available weaponry and prepare a boarding action. The Unbroken will show us no mercy." Kal's words sent a chill down my spine, but I agreed. I didn't want to just sit and wait for the Unbroken to breach.
