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Valtus:
Damaged. Broken. Scarred.
A Braxtharian Warrior built for one purpose:
Conquering the galaxies and bringing honor to Vindar.
The Braxthar Legion has been my only salvation.
Conscripted into service after I disgraced my family,
I live with the guilt and trauma of my past.
Undying loyalty. Total obedience. Swift justice.
The creed of the Braxtharian Warrior.
But when I find a human female taken against her will,
My protective instincts rise to the surface and I’ll do whatever it takes to seek justice.
Kacie is mine to protect. But my heart knows she’s more.
I can’t be the mate she needs.
I don’t deserve her.
Kacie:
I’ve been taken prisoner by alien slavers.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
When I signed up for the Interstellar Space Program,
All I wanted was a chance to prove Earth was ready to join the Galactic Assembly.
When I’m rescued by a sexy warrior and saved from a terrible fate,
I know I have to trust the silver alien with brooding eyes and a thirst for vengeance.
My heart aches for his suffering.
His scars run deeper than his damaged skin.
But my champion doesn’t think he deserves a chance at love. He’s wrong.
If we both want to survive, we’ll have to trust one another and confront our deepest pain.
I’m not giving up. I’ll fight for Valtus.
He may be scarred but he’s not broken.
I’ll just have to prove it.
Chapter 1 – Valtus
“Blasters ready.”
I nodded, staying silent as we disembarked from the transport and placed our feet on solid ground. The crew spread out around us as Motok stood next to my side. He tapped into the wrist comm he wore and perused the Intel we gathered about Cryton to verify we landed at the correct coordinates.
My job was a little more complicated. I pulled my portable comm unit from the pocket of my flight suit and scanned for bio-signs. Humanoid species were the priority, but other organisms would need to be catalogued in the final mission logs once we returned to space. Multiple species of life were present. On board the Vindicator, I had used the starship’s extensive systems to scan Cryton in detail before we joined the transport. Much of the life on this planet was recorded in our archives but there were enough species unidentified which meant I would be taking samples along the way.
The majority of the planet was tropical and resembled the rainforests of Earth. Hot, humid, and dangerous with creatures that were as deadly as the atmosphere. Oxygen was plentiful where the plants grew in abundance but below ground in the caverns it was nonexistent, extinguished by harmful gases that bubbled up from the core. Cities were located in the regions that were less densely populated with vegetation. Scans of the planet revealed humanoid life didn’t venture below ground for obvious reasons.
Our transport purposely avoided those areas. Several habitats were sprinkled throughout the closest region, but scans provided evidence of a large settlement built in the center of a rainforest in the southern portion of the planet. Interference with the scans in that particular area blocked our readings and we were unable to detect how many bio-signs were present from space. There was no way to obtain accurate information on how many human captives, slavers, or other species inhabited Cryton until we landed.
I hoped for one bio-sign only. Senator Rymar.
The Braxtharian Elder was responsible for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of hundreds of human females. His brother Bly assaulted Motok’s mate Kerra and would have harmed her if we hadn’t arrived in time. Both males were dishonorable. Their lies, deceit, and despicable violation of Vindar’s laws in addition to treaty violations within the Conclave put the Braxtharian people at risk.
My fingers twitched with the need for retribution.
“Valtus, are the scans clear now?”
“Still scanning, Commander,” I replied crisply, focusing on the task at hand.
The crew spread out and searched the area under Motok’s orders. Two transports were already on the ground when we landed in the only available space that wasn’t too close to the nearest civilized settlement. No hostility was discovered other than native creatures that inhabited the planet.
I finished the scans and reported my findings. “Straight ahead. Over fifty bio-signs detected. I won’t be able to determine which are male or female until we’re inside the structure. A few are weak and I assume those are human captives.”
“Understood. Move out,” Motok ordered, leading the crew as was his normal custom.
Armed and ready, we pushed through the overgrown vegetation and approached the set of buildings I detected from the south. Scans confirmed the number of bio-signs, but the readings were still unreliable. We didn’t know if they were human or not. I assumed the slavers were using tech to block my device. They didn’t have the buildings shielded but they weren’t expecting our attack either.
The first structure was large and square shaped, used mostly for storage. We entered quietly and cleared the area, noting the abundance of crates and supplies. Basic building components were stacked at the rear of the building. Only a small gap separated this one from the next. From the scans, we knew there was one more structure that stood empty. The building beyond contained vehicles, a singular transport, and primitive farming machinery that filled a majority of the interior. Gulping, I understood the significance. This planet was being prepared for a large number of inhabitants.
Cryton had been claimed by the slavers.
We were taking it back.
“Valtus, can you hack this terminal?”
I moved forward and approached the monitor, tapping away on the keys as I lifted my comm device and entered encrypted data from the system. The code wasn’t hard to crack. Punching in the correct password on the terminal, I found data that corroborated my earlier findings.
According to the blueprints, this settlement would serve as a holding facility for captives and a small breeding house, as well as an auction block. Human females were scheduled for arrival within the next solar cycle. Dozens more were located inside the remainder of the buildings.
This was a large-scale operation. Human slaves would be sold by the hundreds if not thousands.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know where the shipment was coming from. It could be from any planet within the Hofkel system.
I growled with disgust as Motok reached the same conclusion. “We need to destroy this settlement completely. They can’t be allowed to bring additional captives here.”
“Agreed.”
Motok signaled to the other warriors and we moved into the next building, shocked to find little to no resistance. A few guards had been posted – nearly all of them Zhorn – and we eliminated each one without great effort. The bodies were stashed in closets or behind crates. We left no evidence of our arrival, continuing to pass in and out of each room, from building to building. The schematic didn’t do the settlement justice. It was much larger than I originally anticipated.
“They’ve built additional structures that aren’t located on the schematic,” I informed Motok as he frowned.
“How many?”
“At least three.”