"Retrieve all survivors from R22.
If they resist... use any means necessary."
The command came through the rescue squad's comms, mechanical and cold.
Every heart inside the cave skipped a beat.
Tyren stood up sharply. "What the hell does that mean?"
The team lead didn't flinch. "It means we're taking everyone. If Kael resists, we break him."
No one moved.
Lisette whispered, "That's not rescue…"
Kael stood at the far side of the cave, resting against a chunk of Ravager's busted armor. His eyes were half-lidded, but they burned with a strange stillness. As if he already knew.
Vireya stepped forward slowly. "Kael. Please. Just come with us—"
He didn't even turn.
"No."
---
The team lead gave the nod.
They rushed him.
Kael didn't hesitate. His knee shattered the first soldier's mask. Blood sprayed. A baton came swinging—he caught it and shoved the attacker into a wall.
Another soldier pulled a pulse-shot—Kael rammed his head into the man's chest, knocking him flat.
But they kept coming.
Two tasers hit him. He dropped to one knee, eyes glaring as blood leaked from his mouth.
Still, he growled, "You want to drag me back? Then EARN it."
They piled on. Batons, boots, fists. It wasn't a fight. It was punishment.
And Kael never screamed. Not once.
---
"STOP!!" Tyren roared, pushing forward.
But three soldiers grabbed him, slamming him into the wall.
"He's going to die!" Tyren shouted. "You're KILLING him!"
"Stand down," the team leader snapped.
"He's BLEEDING from his goddamn eyes! Look at him!"
Nobody listened.
Nobody cared.
Vireya covered her mouth. Kira turned away. Lisette sobbed silently.
Still, no one stepped in.
---
Kael gasped.
Blood poured from his ears, his jaw hung slack, his body convulsed—and still he stared right at Vireya.
His lips parted.
"You did this."
Then a soldier struck him in the throat.
---
They zip-cuffed him, chained him in reinforced restraints like a war criminal. His head hung limp.
"Package secured," one soldier said.
Tyren thrashed violently as they dragged Kael out of the cave. "YOU—YOU ALL LET THIS HAPPEN!"
"No one laid a hand on him except the team," Kira muttered defensively.
"Oh shut up!" Tyren roared. "You think not stopping it makes you innocent? He trusted us! You all just stood there and watched him be—BEATEN LIKE A DOG!"
Lisette cried harder.
Freya's hands trembled.
Still, no one said a word.
---
Inside the dropship, Kael lay crumpled on the cold floor, his limbs shackled in three places. His skin was pale. His chest barely moved.
And then…
His face darkened.
His lips turned blue.
His chest stopped moving.
Tyren froze. "No… no, no, NO!"
He lunged toward Kael but was held back.
"HE'S NOT BREATHING!"
The medics didn't move fast enough.
"I SAID HE'S NOT—"
A medic scrambled in. Oxygen pack. IV line. CPR.
Too late.
Kael's eyes rolled back.
"DO SOMETHING, DAMN YOU!!"
Tyren's scream cut through the engines.
"HE'S DYING!"
---
And still, for a moment… no one believed him.
Not the squad.
Not the girls.
Not even Oris.
They stared, wide-eyed, as Kael's body stopped twitching and simply went limp.
It wasn't until a red alert pulsed from the onboard vitals scanner that
the horror truly hit them.
---
Now restrained beside him, Tyren's voice cracked.
"You all killed him…"
No one dared to argue.
Not anymore.