Chapter 566: Common enemy

Noah’s void energy crackled around his fist, purple-black wisps dancing between his knuckles as recognition slammed into him like physical impact. Before rational thought could catch up to instinct, he’d closed the distance, grabbed Lyra by the throat, and slammed her against the corridor wall hard enough to dent the metal plating.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The words came out low, dangerous, void energy intensifying around his hand until it cast shadows across both their faces. "Give me one reason why I shouldn’t erase you from existence right now."

Lyra smiled. That same sleazy grin Noah remembered from back on the vanguard force, the expression she’d worn while feeding their operation details to Arthur, while sabotaging every plan they’d made, while pretending to be their teammate right up until the moment she’d abandoned them before the tribunal.

"Easy there, Eclipse," she said, her voice carrying amusement despite the hand crushing her windpipe. "You’re causing a scene."

"A scene?" Noah’s grip tightened. "You are literally working for one of humanity’s biggest threats. You sabotaged every operation we ran. You’re the reason people died."

Lyra chuckled, the sound coming out strained but genuine. "A threat that no one except Team Seven and the original families know exists. Think about that for a second."

She met his eyes, her smile widening despite the lack of oxygen. "What are you gonna do, Noah? Report me? Arrest me for being here because I work for Arthur?" Her voice took on mocking sweetness. "Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? Remember the last time you tried to convince the board of military big shots at the tribunal? How’d that go exactly?"

The words hit harder than they should have. Noah remembered standing in front of generals and admirals, presenting evidence of Arthur’s existence, his manipulation of several critical events, his thousand-year campaign against humanity. He remembered their dismissive expressions, their carefully neutral tones that said we don’t believe you but we won’t say it directly.

"Get real and let go of me," Lyra continued. "Because it would be very hard not to catch a charge for harassing an Earth Defence Force officer. And you’re not an officer anymore, are you? You quit. Walked away. Chose to play faction instead of serving humanity."

Noah’s mind was already working through the implications despite the rage burning through his chest. Lyra was right about the technicalities. When Team Seven had stood before the tribunal, when they’d tried to explain about Arthur and the shadow army and the larger threat operating behind the Harbinger war, the EDF leadership had refused to acknowledge it. Said they wouldn’t meddle in original family business, wouldn’t commit resources to pursuing threats they couldn’t verify through conventional intelligence.

That refusal had forced their hand. Noah, Sophie, Diana, Kelvin, and Lucas had all quit. Walked away from military careers, formed Eclipse specifically so they could fight the battles that actually mattered without bureaucratic interference.

But Lyra? She’d somehow walked away with nothing more than a stern warning. Still carried her EDF credentials. Still held rank in the vanguard program. On paper, she was a decorated soldier while Noah and his team were former soldiers who’d abandoned their posts.

Noah released her, stepping back, void energy dissipating reluctantly. His hand unclenched, though every instinct screamed to finish what he’d started.

Lyra brushed her uniform smooth, adjusting her collar where Noah’s grip had wrinkled the fabric. "That’s much better. See? We can be civilized about this."

She looked him up and down, her expression shifting to something almost nostalgic. "How’s the gang? Lucas still brooding? Sophie still planning everything down to the smallest detail? Kelvin still making jokes about everything?" Her smile widened. "Diana?"

The way she said Diana’s name, with deliberate enunciation, with knowing emphasis, made it clear she was fully aware that Diana hated her most of all. That Diana had taken Lyra’s betrayal personally in ways the others hadn’t, had made it clear during their final confrontation that if they ever met again, consequences would be severe.

Noah didn’t answer. Just stared at her, trying to read what was actually happening here beyond the surface manipulation.

"What are you doing here?" he asked again, keeping his voice level despite the adrenaline still flooding his system.

"I could tell you," Lyra replied, and her smile became something sharper. "But then again, what fun would that be?"

She started walking past him, moving down the corridor like they’d just had a pleasant conversation instead of a confrontation. "Knowing you’re an overthinker, I’ll leave you to worry about that in the meantime. That should be sufficient to keep you busy during the trip."

She paused, looking back over her shoulder. "Don’t bother raising any alarms, by the way. A current EDF officer in the vanguard program holds more sway over matters like this than soldiers who quit on humanity’s endeavor to preserve her species from extinction. Doesn’t matter if those soldiers had exemplary records that permitted them to quit under fulfillment conditions. Quitters remain quitters."

Then she was gone, strutting away with that same innocent look she’d always worn, the expression that said butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth despite the chaos she left in her wake.

Noah stood in the corridor, anxiety crawling up his spine like physical sensation. His mind was already running scenarios, calculating possibilities, trying to figure out what game Lyra was playing and why she’d revealed herself so casually.

Purple energy flared around his body as he activated void blink. Reality folded, the corridor disappearing, and he emerged behind Sophie and Lila who’d just met up near the main cabin.

Both women spun immediately, hands going to weapons before recognizing him. Sophie’s plasma blades were halfway drawn. Lila had three objects floating around her head, ready to be launched as projectiles.

"Don’t do that," Sophie said, her breathing slightly elevated from the adrenaline spike. "Announce yourself before teleporting directly behind people."

"Sorry, but we have a bigger problem than etiquette." Noah’s voice was tight, controlled, carrying urgency that made both women’s expressions shift immediately. "Forget whatever checks you’ve been running. Lyra is aboard this ship."

Sophie’s face went pale. "What? Lyra? Are you sure?"

"I literally just had my hand around her throat," Noah replied. "Yeah, I’m sure."

Lila’s expression showed confusion mixed with anger. She hadn’t been part of Team Seven during their time in space, had stayed on Earth tracking her parents while the others fought across the void. Everything she knew about Lyra came secondhand, stories from academy friends who’d met her during joint training exercises, warnings from the team about a traitor who’d sold them out.

"That bitch is onboard?" Lila’s hand clenched into a fist. "Why? Is Arthur here? Did she bring him? Are we walking into another trap?"

"We need to calm down," Noah said, forcing his own heart rate under control through conscious effort. "Not jump to conclusions right now. That’s what Lyra wants."

"According to everything that’s been said about this girl, she’s a high-level threat," Lila pressed. "How did she even get aboard? Don’t they screen crew members?"

"However she got into the vanguard program in the first place," Sophie replied, her mind was already working through the implications. "Lyra has connections that don’t just trace back to Arthur. Her entire military file is so classified no one actually knows her real background. Parents, hometown, awakening circumstances—all redacted or missing. She’s a ghost wrapped in an EDF uniform."

Noah activated his comm, switching to encrypted faction channels. "Kelvin, you there?"

"Always. What’s up?"

"Bad news. Lyra is aboard the Peregrine. Repeat, Lyra is on the governor’s transport."

There was static silence for three full seconds. Then Kelvin’s voice exploded through the speaker, loud enough that Noah had to pull the comm away from his ear.

"THAT EVIL, LESSER ATTRACTIVE VERSION OF LILA IS AROUND?" Kelvin’s voice carried genuine alarm underneath his usual humor. "Diana! DIANA! You need to hear this!"

Noah heard shuffling in the background, voices overlapping as Kelvin apparently grabbed whoever was nearby to share the news. Then Diana’s voice came through, cold and carrying lethal intent.

"Tell me where she is exactly," Diana said. "I’m coming to the Citadel right now. I’ll personally halt every molecule of blood in that bitch’s body until she explains what she’s doing there."

"Diana, you can’t just—" That was Lucas’s voice, trying to be the reasonable one.

"Watch me."

"Everyone calm down," Noah said, his voice cutting through the rising chaos. "Listen, as much as I hate it, she made points that are crystal clear and accurate. Lyra is an EDF officer on paper. We’re not. We know she works for Arthur, but who is Arthur to the general public? Besides us and the original families, nobody even knows he exists. Most humans don’t even know their ancestors were living in space with powers before this generation awakened abilities. It’s classified beyond classification."

"So we’re just supposed to let her walk around?" Diana’s voice was barely controlled fury. "Pretend we don’t know she’s a traitor who got people killed?"

"No, we keep eyes on her constantly," Noah replied. "Make sure she doesn’t cause trouble. But we can’t arrest her, can’t expose her, can’t do anything that gives her legal ammunition against us. She’s got us boxed."

Kelvin’s voice came back, more controlled now but carrying tension. "We’re running satellite checks right now. Sam’s pulling surveillance feeds from across the planet, checking for any signs of Arthur or his infinite soldiers. If he’s on Earth or anywhere nearby, we’ll know within the hour."

"Good," Noah said. "Everyone stays on high alert. Lyra on her own is bad news, but the man she works for is the real problem. We need to figure out what connection she has with Governor Sebastian before things get messy."

"What if she’s here to kill him?" Lucas asked. "Political assassination, blame it on Eclipse, destabilize Earth’s government?"

"Possible," Sophie said, speaking up for the first time since the call started. "But why reveal herself to Noah so casually? If assassination was the goal, she’d stay hidden, wait for the optimal moment. She wanted us to know she’s here."

"Which means the plan requires us knowing," Noah said. "Or she’s confident enough that she doesn’t care if we know because we can’t stop it anyway."

The implications of that settled over the conversation like ice water. Lyra was playing a game they didn’t understand yet, with pieces they couldn’t see, and she was confident enough to announce her presence rather than hiding.

"Keep working the intelligence angle," Noah said. "Find out everything you can about this trip, about Sebastian’s actual agenda, about why the Greys specifically requested this meeting. Something doesn’t add up."

"On it," Kelvin replied. "And Noah? Don’t let Lyra get in your head. That’s her specialty. Making people doubt themselves, second-guess every decision. Stay focused."

"Will do."

The call ended. Noah looked at Sophie and Lila, seeing his own anxiety reflected in their expressions. This mission had felt wrong from the beginning, but having Lyra aboard elevated it from suspicious to actively dangerous.

"We need a plan," Sophie said. "Rotation schedule, so someone’s always watching her. Communication protocols if she makes a move. Contingencies if Arthur shows up or if this whole thing goes sideways."

"Agreed," Noah replied. "But first—"

Footsteps approached from down the corridor. Angel appeared, her tactical red suit somehow looking even more pressed and professional than before. Her expression was neutral but her eyes tracked all three of them with clear assessment.

"We’re departing for Raiju Prime in two minutes," Angel said, her tone clipped and efficient. "I suggest you all get to the appropriate travel space and buckle in. Void jump procedures require all non-essential personnel to be secured during transition."

Noah, Sophie, and Lila looked at each other. An entire conversation happened in that glance, time spent working together making words unnecessary. They all knew what the other was thinking.

An undercover traitor was within their ranks. Someone who’d sold them out before, who worked for humanity’s most dangerous enemy, who was now aboard a transport carrying Earth’s governor to meet with one of the original families.

Every instinct Noah possessed screamed that this was a trap. But they were committed now, already aboard, already under scrutiny from Angel and her security team. Walking away would raise questions they couldn’t answer without exposing classified information.

"We’ll be right there," Sophie said to Angel, her voice maintaining professional courtesy despite the tension radiating from her posture.

Angel nodded once, her gaze lingering on Noah for a moment longer than necessary, then turned and walked away with those sharp boot strikes against metal deck plating.

"This is bad," Lila said quietly once Angel was out of earshot. "This is really bad."

"I know," Noah replied. "But we’re already committed. We watch Lyra constantly, we protect the governor like we contracted to do, and we stay ready for whatever Arthur has planned. Because he definitely has something planned."

They moved toward the passenger compartment where the acceleration seats were located. The Peregrine was already humming with pre-flight activity, systems coming online in sequence, crew members moving through final checks before departure.

Noah strapped into his seat, the harness automatically adjusting to his body. Sophie took the seat to his right, Lila to his left. Around them, other passengers were settling in, government staff and crew members, all of them looking relaxed and unconcerned because they didn’t know what Noah knew.

Somewhere on this ship, Lyra was probably strapping in too. Smiling that sleazy smile. Confident that whatever game she was playing, Eclipse couldn’t stop it.

The thought made Noah’s jaw clench.

The ship’s intercom activated with a soft chime. The pilot’s voice came through, professional and calm. "All personnel, prepare for departure. Space jump in approximately ten minutes. Please ensure all safety restraints are properly secured."

Noah closed his eyes, running through scenarios, calculating possibilities, trying to think three moves ahead of whatever Lyra and Arthur had planned.

Five days. That’s how long this mission was supposed to last. Five days of escorting Governor Sebastian to Raiju Prime and back.

Five days with a traitor aboard who’d already proven she could destroy operations from the inside.

Five days to figure out what Arthur wanted before everything went catastrophically wrong.

The Peregrine’s engines ignited, a low rumble that traveled through the ship’s frame. Through the viewport, Noah could see the Citadel growing smaller as they lifted off, ascending through Earth’s atmosphere toward the void beyond.