Chapter 372: No place like home
[Eight hours after the Purge]
A massive transport ship *Hermes* dwarfed everything around it as it settled into position above Sirius Prime. Its hull stretched for nearly two kilometers, bristling with defensive armaments and equipped with medical facilities that could handle a small army. Today, it would need every bed.
Noah stood on the observation deck, watching the evacuation shuttles ferry survivors from the planet’s surface. Six days in hell, and this was what they had to show for it—thousands of civilians freed from mind control, a captured telepath rescued, and one of the most dangerous Harbingers in human history now in the hands of the Purge.
Victory. But at what cost?
The briefcase containing the planet-buster felt heavier than it should as Noah made his way through the ship’s corridors. Medical personnel rushed past him, their faces grim as they tended to the wounded. The casualty reports were still coming in, but Noah had seen enough to know the numbers would be staggering.
He found Cassandra in the command medical bay, her left arm in a regenerative cast, her face pale but determined. The healers had done their work, but the shadow of how close she’d come to death still lingered in her eyes.
"The briefcase," Noah said simply, extending it toward her.
Cassandra took it with her good hand, her fingers trembling slightly. "I’m sorry you had to carry this burden, Noah. No one should have to make that choice."
"It’s part of the job," Noah replied, though his voice carried the weight of someone who’d aged years in the past week. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a starship," she said with a weak smile. "But I’ll live. That’s more than a lot of good soldiers can say today." Her expression darkened. "How’s Storm doing?"
"He’ll be fine. Both he and Nyx are resting in my domain. Storm took a beating, but wyvern resilience is something else." Noah’s voice carried genuine affection for his bonded creatures. "They saved more lives than we can count."
Cassandra nodded, then studied Noah’s face. "You’ve grown, you know. When you first arrived at the vanguard station, you were talented but reckless with your own life. You still are though only now..." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "Now you’re something humanity needs. An SSS-ranked soldier. Only the second in our history."