Chapter 178: 178. Kidnapped

The black market station appeared on their sensors twelve hours into the three-day journey.

It wasn’t listed on any official star charts. No designation. No coordinates recorded in standard databases. Just a structure floating in the void between trade routes, hidden in the shadow of a dead moon.

The station was a massive ring, like Veridian Crossing, but older and darker. Sections of the hull were patchwork repairs of mismatched metals welded together. No uniform architecture. Every culture, every species that had passed through had left their mark.

Gorvax guided the ship toward a docking bay. No questions asked. No credentials checked. Just a docking fee transferred in untraceable cores.

The airlock cycled and they stepped into chaos.

The station’s interior was packed. Beings of every description crowded the corridors. Merchants hawked illegal tech from makeshift stalls. Bounty hunters examined weapons in shadowed corners. Information brokers whispered deals behind privacy shields.

The air smelled like sweat, and something acidic that made Owen’s nose burn.

“Stay close,” Gorvax said. “Don’t make eye contact and please, Don’t start any fights.”

Owen nodded.

They moved through the crowd. Past a stall selling black market CE cores (Grade 4 and 5, no questions about origin or it’s purity). Past a being with six arms offering “memory wipes.” Past a corner where something was being bought and sold that Owen couldn’t quite see and didn’t want to.

Gorvax stopped at a booth near the station’s center.

Behind the counter sat a being.

Four arms. Chitinous plating across his torso and shoulders. Compound eyes that reflected light in prismatic patterns. His skin was deep purple, segmented like insect carapace. Two mandibles clicked softly as he worked on a holographic interface.

He looked up. All his eyes focused on Gorvax simultaneously.

“Well, well. Gorvax, the Sower.” His voice buzzed slightly, like multiple tones overlapping. “I heard the Tribunal finally caught ya scent.”

“Zhal’kir.” Gorvax leaned on the counter. “I need ship signature masking. Temporary is fine. Two weeks.”

Zhal’kir’s mandibles clicked in what might have been amusement. “Two weeks? Ya Running or hiding?”

“Both.”

“Expensive. And dangerous. Tribunal’s cracking down on signature tech.” His compound eyes shifted to Owen. “And ya brought the False Fist. The Crucible’s favorite underdog.”

Owen blinked. “You know about that?”

“I know about everything.” Zhal’kir gestured to his interface. Screens appeared, showing feeds from across the galaxy. Arena fights. Bounty postings. Tribunal bulletins. “Information is my business. And you two? You’re very popular right now.”

He pulled up a wanted posting.

[GORVAX, THE SOWER]

[CRIMES: Theft from Noble Race Vault]

[Reward: 1,000,000 Credits]

[ISSUED BY: Cosmic Tribunal]

Then another.

[UNKNOWN ENTITY – “FALSE FIST]

[ASSOCIATION: Accomplice Traveling with Gorvax]

[Reward: 500,000 Credits]

[ISSUED BY: Cosmic Tribunal]

Owen’s jaw tightened. “Half a million for me?”

“You’re associated with a major criminal. They want leverage.” Zhal’kir’s eyes fixed on Gorvax. “Speaking of leverage, you should know, Tribunal’s changed tactics. They’re not just hunting targets anymore.”

Gorvax’s expression darkened. “What do you mean?”

“Hostages. Anyone connected to their primary targets. Family. Partners. Associates.” Zhal’kir clicked through files. “Happened to three other fugitives in the last month. Tribunal grabs someone they care about, uses them as bait.”

Gorvax’s hands clenched. “When did this start?”

“Two weeks ago. New policy from Enforcer Command.” Zhal’kir’s mandibles clicked again. “Why? You got someone they could grab?”

Gorvax didn’t answer. His face had gone pale.

Owen’s stomach dropped.

“C-calm down Gorvax, she should Still be on Kaelos.”

Gorvax turned. Started walking toward the exit.

“Wait!” Zhal’kir called. “The signature masking—”

“Later.”

Owen caught up to him. “Gorvax, we don’t know if they’ve taken her yet—”

“It’s been Three days.” Gorvax’s voice was ice. “Three days. We’ve been running. They’ve had three days to move on Seri.”

They reached the ship. Gorvax’s hands flew across the controls. No careful approach. No stealth. Just raw speed.

The engines roared. The ship launched from the docking bay without clearance. Alarms blared behind them.

Gorvax didn’t care.

He set a course for Kaelos. Maximum warp.

—

They didn’t speak during the journey.

Gorvax sat at the controls, hands white-knuckled. His wound had stopped bleeding, but he hadn’t bothered to properly heal it. CE conservation. Or maybe he just didn’t care.

Owen sat in the co-pilot’s seat. Watched the stars stretch into lines. Tried to think of something useful to say.

Nothing came.

At hour sixteen, Gorvax finally spoke.

“If they’ve taken her…”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

Owen waited.

“If they’ve taken her, I’m burning the tribunal to the ground…”

“That won’t save her.”

“I don’t care.” Gorvax’s voice was hollow. “Five hundred years. I’ve harvested worlds. Killed billions. Run from the Tribunal. All of it. All of it for her.”

He looked at Owen. “And if they’ve used her as bait, if they’ve hurt her, I will show them exactly why they should have killed me when they had the chance.”

Owen said nothing.

What could he say?

—

They dropped out of warp at Kaelos’s edge.

Gorvax didn’t bother with approach protocols. He piloted straight for the lower districts. The ship’s stealth systems engaged, what was left of them.

They landed in the same abandoned sector as before.

The streets were quieter than Owen remembered. Fewer people. More Enforcer patrols.

They moved through alleys. Gorvax knew the route by heart.

Then her place appeared ahead. A squat building, reinforced walls, energy barriers at the windows.

Gorvax stopped.

The building was dark. No lights. No power signatures.

He moved faster.

They reached the entrance. The door was unlocked. Hanging open.

Inside, the home was gutted.

Medical equipment stripped away. Furniture overturned. Walls scorched with energy weapon burns. Blood on the floor—dried, days old.

Gorvax walked through the rooms. Silent. Methodical.

Owen followed.

They found Seri’s room.

The door was blown off its hinges. The medical pod where she’d been kept was shattered. Life support systems ripped from the walls. Cables hung loose, sparking occasionally.

On the wall, burned into the metal with precise energy scoring:

[TRIBUNAL PROPERTY – EVIDENCE SEIZED]

Gorvax stood in the center of the room. Staring at the message.

His hands trembled.

Then his CE exploded.

The pressure slammed outward like a shockwave. The walls cracked. The floor buckled. Windows shattered.

Owen was thrown backward. Hit the wall hard. His CE dropped by 60 just from proximity to Gorvax’s aura.

“GORVAX!”

But Gorvax wasn’t hearing him.

His scythe materialized. The blade burned with energy.

He raised it.

The ceiling cracked. The building began to collapse.

Owen activated Dragon’s Aura. Pushed back against Gorvax’s pressure. Barely.

“GORVAX! STOP!”

The scythe swung.

The entire building exploded.

Stone, metal, glass—all of it blown outward in a massive sphere of destruction. The shockwave leveled three neighboring structures.

Gorvax stood in the crater. His CE still flaring. His scythe raised for another strike.

His eyes were empty. Not seeing. Just feeling.

Rage. Grief. Desperation.

Owen transformed. Half-dragon. Scales across his arms and chest. Wings extended.

He flew forward. Grabbed Gorvax’s arm.

“STOP! THIS WON’T SAVE HER!”

Gorvax turned. His eyes focused on Owen. For a moment, Owen thought he’d have to fight.

Then Gorvax’s scythe dissolved.

He collapsed to his knees in the rubble.

His hands dug into the broken stone. Claws scraping. Blood dripping from his knuckles.

“They took her.” His voice cracked. “They took her and I wasn’t here. I was running. Hiding. And they took her.”

Owen landed beside him. His transformation faded.

“Then we get her back.”

Gorvax looked up. His face was streaked with tears. “How? The Tribunal has her. They’ll use her to draw me in. Kill me. Let her die anyway.”

“There’s gotta be a way…” Owen knelt. “..We should turn ourselves in. Together. We negotiate.”

“They don’t negotiate with criminals.”

“Then we make them.” Owen’s voice was firm. “You’re Tier 4, five-stars. I’m Tier 5, five-stars with Progenitor blood. We’re… valuable. They’ll want us alive.”

Gorvax stared at him. “You really want to surrender yourself….for me?”

“I want to survive. And save Seri. This is the only way.”

“They’ll execute me…”

“Maybe. But Seri will live.” Owen placed a hand on Gorvax’s shoulder. “You’ve spent five hundred years keeping her alive. Don’t stop now because you’re afraid.”

Gorvax’s hands stopped shaking.

He looked at the rubble. At the message burned into the wall fragment nearby.

Then he stood.

“I’ll do it alone.” His voice was controlled again. Cold. “Take my ship. Go home. The cloak on your world will hold for a century. You’ll be safe.”

“No.”

“Dragon—”

“No.” Owen stood. “We’re in this together. Partners. Remember?”

Gorvax’s jaw tightened. “I destroyed your race.”

“Water under the bridge…” Owen’s eyes held his. “You don’t get to push me away now. Not when it matters.”

For a long moment, neither moved.

Then Gorvax nodded. Once.

They walked out of the crater.

Enforcer patrols were already converging. Alarms blared across the district. Ships descended from orbit.

Gorvax and Owen stood in the street. Hands raised. Weapons powered down.

An Enforcer captain approached. Silver metallic skin. Glowing circuit patterns. Kaelon.

“Gorvax, the Sower. You’re under arrest for crimes against the Cosmic Tribunal and the Noble Races.”

Gorvax’s voice was steady. “We surrender. On one condition.”

Kaelon’s expression didn’t change. “You’re not in a position to negotiate.”

“The woman. Seri. She comes with us. Medical care. Protection. Non-negotiable.”

Kaelon studied him. Then tapped his comm.

A moment later: “Agreed. She’ll be transported with you to Tribunal HQ. Under guard.”

Gorvax exhaled.

Energy restraints materialized around their wrists. CE-suppressing. Owen felt his power drain to a trickle.

They were loaded onto an Enforcer transport.

As the ship lifted off, Owen looked out the viewport. Kaelos shrank below them.

Ahead, the stars waited.

And beyond them, the Tribunal.

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