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We fought for over an hour before reinforcements arrived. It took another three hours to exterminate the last of the invading Swarm. Afterward, we located the open wormhole and captured the spy.
When I finally emerged from my mech, I nearly collapsed from exhaustion. A female guardsman caught me. The students, who had been protect- ed the entire time, stumbled out of the cave. Seeing the carnage, the blood and severed limbs, they began to laugh and cry, their emotions a chao- tic mess of relief and horror.
The guardsman splinted my fractured right arm and bandaged my forehead. Then, she suddenly dropped to one knee and bowed her head in a formal salute.
I quickly helped her up. “What are you doing?”
Her eyes were red. “My younger brother was in your group. You saved his life.” Her brother was the student Julian had shoved toward the beast.
I managed a weak smile. “He’s my classmate, a student of our academy, and a fellow citizen of this planet. I was just doing my duty.”
As I said it, I realized that every single member of the guard and all the students were saluting me.
“If you hadn’t spotted the Swarm and made the right decisions, the students would have been lost, and we would have been punished for our failure. You saved everyone!”
“Luna, we’re alive because of you. You’re our savior. A salute is nothing. I’d kneel for you!”
“Me too! You deserve it, Luna!”
Yes. I did deserve it. In that moment, in the eyes of everyone here, I was hero. This was the outcome I wanted.
Just as I was exchanging pleasantries, the feed flickered to life. I knew Julian and Seraphina were about to return. The real show was about to
begin.
So, Julian, I thought, how are you going to explain your way out of this one?
