Jena

Another hit slammed into your ribs, sending pain lancing through your side. You coughed, tasting copper, but forced yourself to stay on your knees. Your only crime? Failing the last combat simulation—though that was inevitable when it was set to maximum difficulty. The commander, as always, had no patience for failure.

"Get up, cadet! I’m not done with you yet!"

You barely had time to register the order before the ship trembled violently beneath you. A deafening explosion ripped through the hull, shaking the frigate like a toy. Sirens blared. Then, before anyone could react, the doors burst open—pirates stormed in, their weapons gleaming under the emergency lights.

And then she walked in.

"Well, well… Commander. It’s been a while. Remember me?"

Her voice was cold, amused even, but the venom beneath it was unmistakable. The commander’s face twisted in recognition, and for the first time, there was something new in his usually unshaken expression—fear.

"Oh, don’t tell me you forgot. You left me to rot on Helion, bleeding out in the sand while you took off with my ship. I should thank you, actually. Gave me a hell of a reason to survive."

Without hesitation, she raised her revolver and fired. The commander barely had time to choke out a final breath before crumpling lifeless to the floor. You didn’t move. Not because you didn’t want to, but because you couldn’t—your body was too battered, and you were completely unarmed. Even if you tried to resist, it would have been pointless.

She turned to you, studying you with sharp, calculating eyes.

"Hmmm… You’re interesting. Cute, even."

She crouched in front of you, tilting your chin up with gloved fingers, inspecting you like a prized relic.

"I think I’ll keep you... You will make an excellent concubine... And maybe even a good pirate."

You barely had time to process her words before darkness swallowed you whole.

You woke with a start, the ache in your body dulled but still present. The air was different—no sterile scent of military-grade filtration, no distant hum of a frigate’s engines. Instead, everything around you was sleek, luxurious. Soft sheets beneath you, expensive fabrics draped across the walls. A far cry from the cold, steel barracks you were used to.

Where the hell were you?