Jonah was at the Genesis forge, with his eyes closed, reaching out across impossible distances. Nine hours. That's how long he had been doing this. Nine hours of stretching his consciousness across the galaxy, touching minds that barely held together, trying to build bridges between broken souls and ancient ships.

It hurt in ways he didn't have words for.

"Your vital signs are spiking again," Vanessa's voice came through the comm, tight with worry. "Jonah, you need to take it easy."

"I can't." His voice came out hoarse. "Almost done. Just one more."

The fourth Weaver's mind felt like broken glass. A girl, he thought. Her name had been erased by Sterling's process, replaced with a designation.

Subject 47.

"It's okay," he whispered into the psychic link, knowing she couldn't really understand words anymore. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to help."

He reached deeper, past the fractured surface thoughts, past the screaming noise that passed for her consciousness now. Down to the tiny spark of self that still existed, buried under all the damage.

There.

He found the ship he'd chosen for her. A small one. Gentle. Built for healing more than fighting. Its mind touched hers, and for a moment, Jonah felt the connection snap into place.

The woman's thoughts stopped screaming. The ship's presence wrapped around her fractured psyche. Not healing it, not yet, but holding it steady. Giving it structure.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

All bonded. All stable.

Jonah opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn't. The room spun. His nose was bleeding again. When had that started?

"I'm done," he managed to say before his body decided sitting upright was too much effort.

Warden's hologram appeared beside him. [Confirmed. All four bonds are holding. Success rate: 100 percent.]

"Great." Jonah wiped blood from his upper lip. "How much time do we have?"

[One hour and forty-seven minutes until Sterling's ship arrives in scanning range.]

Less than two hours. That was cutting it way too close.

"Jonah!" Vanessa yelled, her medical scanner already in hand. "You look terrible."

"Thanks. I feel worse."

She ran the scanner over him, frowning at whatever it showed. "Your neural activity is off the charts. You need rest."

"After Sterling." He tried to stand, made it halfway, then accepted Vanessa's help for the rest. "Where's Ariana?"

"Preparing for her bonding. She insisted on going through with it despite..." Vanessa pointed at him. "Despite seeing what it does to people."

They found Ariana in the hangar, standing before the Celestial Falcon.

"You don't have to do this," Jonah said. "We can manage with what we have."

Ariana turned, and there was something fierce in her eyes. "My entire life, I have been trained to lead. To make hard choices. To sacrifice for the greater good. This is me finally doing something instead of just ordering others to do it."

She walked to the ship and placed her hand on its hull. "Besides, you made it look easy. How hard can it be?"

"It's not easy," Vanessa warned. "Jonah nearly killed himself doing this four times. You are about to do it once with no practice."

"Then I suppose I should stop talking and start bonding."

The process was faster than Jonah expected. Maybe because Ariana's mind was more disciplined than the flawed Weavers. Within twenty minutes, the connection formed.

Ariana gasped, stumbled, then steadied herself against the ship's hull.

"I can feel it," she whispered. "Its thoughts. Its purpose. It's asking me what we should do."

"Tell it we are about to fight," Jonah said. "And we need it to be ready."

The ship's solar sails unfolded. Light rippled across its surface in patterns.

"It says it has waited a long time for this." Ariana smiled. "It says it's ready to fly."

Warden's voice came through the hangar. [All captains, report to your ships. Enemy contact in one hour and twelve minutes.]

In just over an hour, Sterling's ship would arrive. A ship built for war, commanded by a man who had already conquered a nation. And they were going to fight it with a handful of barely-tested ships and captains who had bonded with them less than a day ago.

They were probably going to die.

"Stop thinking like that." Vanessa poked him in the ribs. "I can see it on your face. We are not dying today."

"You sure about that?"

"Absolutely not. But we are also not giving up." She grabbed his hand. "You built a fleet, Jonah. You reached across the galaxy and healed broken souls. You did the impossible. Again. So whatever comes next, we face it together."

Ariana joined them, one hand still on the Celestial Falcon. "She's right. We have come too far to surrender now."

"Then I guess we better get ready." Jonah looked up at the forty-three ships that represented the last hope of a civilization that had died a long time ago. "Warden, put me through to the whole station."

[Channel open, Forge-Heart.]

Jonah took a breath. He had given orders before. But this felt different. This felt like something that mattered beyond just the moment.

"Everyone, listen up." His voice was heard all over Haven. "In about an hour, we are going to face our first real test. Sterling is coming. He's bringing one of his warships, and he expects to crush us."

He paused, gathering his thoughts.

"I'm not going to lie to you. This is going to be hard. Some of us might not make it. But here's what Sterling doesn't understand. He builds weapons. We build partners. He creates slaves. We create family. And that difference? That's what's going to save us."

"So get ready. Check your systems. Trust your ships. And remember why we are doing this." Jonah's hand tightened around Vanessa's. "We are not fighting to conquer. We are fighting to protect. To prove that creation is stronger than destruction."

He closed his eyes, feeling the weight of every mind connected to him through Haven. The flawed Weavers finding stability in their bonds. Ariana, brave and terrified in equal measure. Warden, ancient and patient. Even Nomad, waiting in its berth, ready for Vanessa to take the pilot's seat.

"Let's show Sterling what real strength looks like."

The comm channel closed.

Vanessa squeezed his hand. "Not bad for a kid from the Undercroft."

"I had good teachers."

"The best," Ariana agreed.

They stood there for a moment, the three of them, looking up at the fleet. Then alarms started blaring.

Warden's voice carried new urgency. [Contact. Long-range scanners have detected Sterling's vessel. Updating previous estimate. Enemy arrival in forty-three minutes.]

Forty-three minutes. Less than an hour.

"Positions," Jonah said. "Vanessa, get to Nomad. Ariana, your ship is waiting. I'll coordinate from the Forge."

They split up without saying anything. There wasn't time for long goodbyes or speeches. Just purpose and the desperate hope that they'd all see each other again when this was over.

Jonah ran back to the Genesis Forge, his exhausted body protesting every step. He could feel Sterling getting closer through some sixth sense he didn't fully understand. Like a storm on the horizon. Like darkness creeping toward the light.

He reached the Forge and sat down, linking back into Haven's systems. Through the station's eyes, he could see everything. The fleet forming up in defensive positions. The flawed Weavers in their ships, minds finally quiet and focused. Ariana in the Celestial Falcon, learning to fly. Vanessa in Nomad, running pre-flight checks.

And beyond them, in the dark between stars, something huge was coming.

"Alright," Jonah whispered to himself. "Let's do this."

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