The Polaris pirates were busy stripping the civilian transport ship bare.
Jewels, precious metals, advanced tech equipment — nothing was spared.
They even snagged rare art pieces, anything that could fetch a good price.
The ship's navigation and comms had been shut down long ago.
No distress signals. No way to call for help.
And once the ship was emptied, the pirates moved like clockwork — tearing apart the engines and key systems, making sure the vessel couldn't be restarted or traced.
The final step?
Gather the passengers and crew, load them onto a landing craft, and dump them on the nearest habitable rock to fend for themselves until the Empire's patrols stumbled across them.
Cruel? Maybe.
But it was the unspoken rule of the game.
The pirates and the Empire had an understanding —
Stealing was tolerated.
Pointless slaughter wasn't.
Murdering civilians outright would bring the Empire's full wrath.
And the Polaris crew?
They knew how to dance that fine line.
When Leo Vaughn stepped out of Vivienne's room, fresh off stabilizing her mental state, the first thing he got was Anthony's sneering voice:
"Feels good, huh? A little kindness and the trash Sentinel's ready to worship you. Real power trip, isn't it, little lord?"
Leo didn't even bother slowing his stride.
"Get lost."
Anthony's scar twisted as he grinned. "Tch. Every time I look at that pathetic little Sentinel, I feel embarrassed for the whole damn species."
Leo shot him a cold glance.
"Then stop looking."
But Anthony wasn't done.
He'd hated Leo for years and wasn't about to let this go.
"She's weak, Vaughn. That fragile Sentinel's not even worth the air she breathes. You can't even sell her for scraps, typical Guide behavior — bleeding-heart sympathy for every lost cause."
One sentence.
Two insults.
-- Both directed at Vivienne and Leo.
Of course, Anthony's take was a little skewed.
Vivienne had dealt with her fair share of human traffickers back on the slum planets a lot, all because of that pretty face.
Leo shot him a look, cool and sharp.
"Jealous much? Can't help it.
Guides like me always have a soft spot for Sentinels like her."
That's why Captain Shari never gave you the time of day. Not that Leo actually cared that much about this type.
But Anthony?
Anthony was the kind of guy who made everyone lose their appetite. So what if he couldn't stand Vivienne Cross? Like Leo gave a damn about what Anthony thought. And sure enough — The scar on Anthony's face flushed an angry red, like it was about to crawl off his skin.
"Good work on this raid. That transport ship was more loaded than expected. But don't get comfortable — The Empire's patrols will be sniffing around soon."
"If we stay on course, according to intel, we'll cross paths with another civilian liner within the week..."
"Captain, As long as the military keeps their noses out of it, we'll be out of border space in two weeks."
"Leo Vaughn, stay."
Onboard the Tianshu, after Anthony had finished his mission report, the rest of the crew filtered out of the conference room one by one—
leaving only Leo Vaughn and the man seated at the head of the table.
Jasper Vaughn.
Current captain of the Tianshu. Leo's half-brother.
He was only eight years older, but Jasper carried himself like he was born to command — calm, sharp, untouchable.
This raid hadn't just been about looting a couple of civilian ships. Even now, Jasper barely glanced up from the data streaming across his terminal, multitasking with surgical efficiency as he dropped the next line:
"Anthony tells me you've taken an interest in a Sentinel woman."
Leo "....."
All he'd wanted was to stop Anthony from roughing up a Guide —
How the hell had this turned into gossip fodder?
He hadn't planned to get involved in some pitiful Sentinel's mess. But then he'd seen her.
Vivienne Cross.
All broken pride and bleeding eyes. And somewhere in the back of his mind, something had whispered:
Help her.
Maybe it was a rare stroke of decency.
Maybe it was sheer stupidity.
Either way, he'd stepped in and pulled her out from under Anthony's boot.
Leo kept his voice even: "I just didn't like watching Anthony lose his mind over nothing. She wasn't fighting back."
The man at the head of the table finally lifted his gaze, meeting Leo's eyes.
They shared the same mother, but not the same father — and on the surface, you'd never guess they were brothers.
One carried himself like still water — calm, composed, impossible to read.
The other burned hot and reckless, like wildfire tearing across an open plain, ready to ignite at the slightest spark.
Jasper's gaze was calm, almost bored when he finally spoke:
"Leo, don't make Uncle worry about you."
That tone —
Condescending. Detached. Older-brother superiority complex in full swing. And Leo hated it. Jasper always looked at him like he was some wild, unruly child who couldn't be trusted to clean up his own mess, let alone run with the crew. They shared the same mother —
Lydia Vaughn, Sentinel, pirate queen, famously known as "The Blood Dawn."
Jasper was her firstborn, the product of her teenage romance with the man she never quite forgot. Leo was the son she'd had later, with her current husband.
And naturally —
Lydia Vaughn had always favored the Sentinel son.
The one who'd inherited her power.
The one she'd handed the Tianshu to, like it was written in the stars.
That was the root of it —
why the brothers barely tolerated each other.
The first son got the legacy.
The second son? Just a shadow trailing behind.
Leo's father had spent years quietly mourning for his youngest, whispering that it wasn't fair, that Lydia only cared about Jasper because of some lost teenage love.
Leo had never bought that nonsense.
First love? What a joke.
What chance did that have against a Sentinel's bloodline?
What chance did first love have against Jasper's precious Sentinel blood?
Leo knew the truth.
No matter how hard he fought, a Guide like him would never inherit Polaris. Not when his mother had made it clear from the start —
he was born to serve, while Jasper was born to rule. And, as if to make matters worse, Jasper lived up to it.
Flawless battle records, cold precision, and more and more, he looked and acted exactly like their iron-fisted mother.
Leo's jaw clenched. His mind drifted —
Vivienne Cross.
Another Sentinel. But nothing like his mother. Where Lydia Vaughn was all steel and order, Vivienne was chaos in silk.
Jasper's voice cut in, even and unimpressed: "You know your little stunt will raise questions, don't you? Anthony's parents have been with Polaris since day one. Pissing him off isn't exactly smart ..."
He'd never seen eye to eye with that overbearing Sentinel. And he'd had no intention of sticking his nose where it didn't belong ... Forget it, what's there to say !
Leo snapped, his voice sharp: "So what? You want me to tuck my tail and bow to that moron?"
"You know that's not what I meant," Jasper said. He found it exhausting to communicate with this willful younger brother of a Guide,who always acted as if the world owed him something.
Then Jasper pivoted, tone deceptively casual: "So. What's your plan for the girl? You actually like her?"
There it was.
Always the question.
Always the assumption.
Leo groaned, dragging a hand through his hair. Vivienne's face flashed in his mind — all big dark eyes and a mouth made for trouble.
He was so done with this conversation.
"Yeah, fine. She's pretty. So what?"
If he wanted something, he wanted it. Why did he have to care so much about what others thought?
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The lock light blinked green.
Leo stepped inside without ceremony, tossing a nutrition pack and a tube of med-paste onto the table like he was discarding trash.
"Dinner and your meds. Figure it out yourself."
Vivienne blinked at him, staring at the storm cloud currently disguised as a pretty boy.
Oh, he was pissed. And that, darling, was an opportunity.
Vivienne's lips curved just slightly.
Time to work.