Kaita glanced over her shoulder and pulled her hood up over her head. This stupid shikta planet was a wasteland compared to her homeworld. Terra-forming had done nothing to make it lush and fertile; there was no way when for most of the cycle Seprilles was too far from the sun to grow much outside of a greenhouse. The air was barely breathable outside the domes and the air inside of them was stale and bitter.

It had been months since she had barely escaped the Khara galaxy and her home planet with nothing but her life. All alone with only a few men and women loyal to her, they fled to the Draga galaxy. Kaita had no plans for the future other than to survive and search for her people, the ones lucky enough to escape.

When she’d heard Prince Nash had survived the attacks as well and somehow managed to get to Draga Terra, and how he pleaded with the King for assistance – Kaita had been relieved. Grateful she wasn’t the last royal of the Khara galaxy left alive.

Unfortunately, there was no safe way to send a message to her fellow royal, not on the border where Draga had forsaken their own and only the noble family of Seprilles ruled this barren world. Even the nobles were on Draga Terra, and the stewards and cousins had to rule in their stead.

Her boot splashed through a puddle she didn’t wish to know the contents of. With her knives strapped to her back, her fighter’s uniform and billowing cloak she was nobody among the crowds of people pushing through the market.

Metal was everywhere. It formed cubes of buildings, stalls and the stench of the tang permeated everything. Kaita fastened her mask over the lower half of her face. The piece of tech hid her features from scanners and filtered the air. She pushed past the dirty miners, the soldiers, and the merchants until she reached her destination. The tavern was busy as usual. It was after work hours and the citizens liked to let off steam with alcohol.

It was like any world in that sense, Kaita supposed. Despite their lack of beauty on this planet the citizens were surprisingly happy. Word had come the capitol had sent warships and soldiers with supplies to refortify the border. With the Neprijat a quick jaunt away the relief was palpable.

At the back of the tavern near the bar was a large table, and she slid into the chair next to Mak. “No luck,” she told her soldiers. “The genetic ping revealed nothing in the immediate area. Hoping and waiting for Prince Nash to find us is a fool’s hope. We need to make a better plan.” Kaita slapped the table and the metal groaned. Shikta gravity made her stronger than normal and it was difficult to get used to.

“Are you sure we cannot contact Prince Nash? The person I spoke to said he’s friends with the Prince of Thieves. He has to know we’re here.”

“And then what?” Kaita snapped. Her pale, rosy pink eyes held his and the male flinched. “Wait around for sweet Prince Nash to rescue us? We’ve been here for months – and months before that limping through space. I’m done hiding and skulking about. We need to head to Draga Terra. The royals finally acknowledged our alliance and if they have granted sanctuary to Prince Nash they will grant sanctuary to a Princess of Khara as well.”

Her second shook his head. “We don’t have the fuel to reach Draga Terra, or the food. The starships are running on fumes. Unless we can get our hands on more gold we’re stranded here until we can make contact with Prince Nash and his forces.”

The drab flight suits they all wore had their insignia ripped from the sleeves. Nothing indicated they were anything other than Draga citizens. Their tech hid their true identities, and the small bit of gold Kaita had smuggled out had kept them from going hungry, but they were down to their last few ingots and something had to be done.

Kaita considered her soldiers. The males and females who followed her looked tired and worn out, there wasn’t a spark of hope left in their eyes. She was a princess which meant they all looked to her. Kaita protected them and she had to step up, make sure she fulfilled her duties.

“I want all of you to scatter, find out if there are fights, legal or illegal I don’t care. Find something that makes us cash. Bring me back the info and we’ll go from there. A few fights and we’ll have all the gold we’ll need. We’ll head to Draga Terra and join with Prince Nash as a united front.”

The soldiers perked up and started to smile. A good fight would bolster everyone’s mood. Kaita turned her hand palm up. “Once we have the gold to repair our starships and tech I will send out a coded message to the Prince. From what I’ve heard he’s looking for us, which means he has not forgotten we exist despite his romantic flirtations.” Each of her soldiers placed their hand over hers in agreement and she gave them all a nod. Kaita took care of her own.

She took care of her people while Prince Nash cavorted with the royals in luxury as his own people suffered. Kaita shook her head. It wasn’t fair to him, but the last few months had been the hardest of her life and she had no more energy for sympathy and understanding. Kaita wanted retribution. She wanted justice.

Her plans to gather enough forces to rip those monsters limb from limb hadn’t quite panned out yet, but never once had she wavered from her goals. Those monsters had murdered her entire family. A few were missing, but she hadn’t dared ping their genetics while in Khara space. Not even on Seprilles, they weren’t far enough away from the Neprijat and Kaita didn’t know enough about the Neprijat tech. Her ping could alert those abominations to her family’s location.

Just last week they’d been able to modify the genetic tech and encoded a transmission, but it had been too long since the original attack. There weren’t any pings of her people in the Outer Rim other than the ones already with her. Kaita sighed and signaled for a round of drinks.

“Hey turn that up!” someone yelled.

The livestream constantly displayed on the wall showed Prince Nash clasping the arm of the King of Draga. It looked like he was saying goodbye. Kaita narrowed her eyes and focused. The voice coming from the livestream explained Nash had been granted permission to travel to Seprilles in search of his people. Apparently a princess had been sighted.

Relief flooded Kaita; she was ashamed at how much she’d secretly wished Nash would remember her. He had an entire contingent of soldiers with him and with their tech he would be on Seprilles in a matter of days. All that prancing about in the palace had finally gained some traction.

The livestream was always a day or so behind by the time it finally reached Seprilles. With any luck Prince Nash would be there within the day.

“Plan stays the same. We cannot rely on Prince Nash having extra gold or the supplies we need. Find ways to get what we need. I want every starship fueled, supplied, and ready to go when Prince Nash arrives. No doubt he’s managed to locate others.”

The soldiers clapped each other on the back and started chattering about who might be with the prince and if any of their loved ones were with him. It was more hope than she’d seen in months. Those weeks when they were on the run, before they reached the border, had been…harrowing. Kaita would never forget those hounds on her trail or the skirmishes where they’d lost so many of their people.

The entire tavern shuddered and a blast reverberated through her skull. Kaita fell to the floor and ducked under the table as she shouted orders. Her people followed without hesitation but they were all trapped. “Report!”

Her second tapped his armband and studied the streaming data for a second before his mouth became a grim line. “Seprilles is under attack. It looks like the Neprijat.”

Kaita let out a stream of very un-princess-like curses and then another explosion rocked them. “Everybody single file, we need to exit the building before it falls down on us. I want everyone to our ships now. I don’t care if you have to steal or kill. Gather fuel and supplies. We’re leaving this blasted planet now. Masks up!”

They all covered their mouths and noses with the filters. Kaita pulled down her goggles and signaled for her soldiers to follow. Debris rained down on them and she tried to ignore the screaming and shouts from the poor souls all around them. These were not her people and she couldn’t do anything to help them.

It was like the attacks on her homeworld all over again. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. Kaita would get them back in the sky and blow as many Neprijat out of existence as possible. She only had to survive for a little bit longer. Gather supplies, fuel, and weapons. Destroy the Neprijat. Live long enough to regroup.

The streets were a nightmare. People ran to and fro. No one knew where the next strike would be and they pushed and shoved in pitiful attempts to save themselves. A child all alone sobbed as adults ignored it, running right by. Kaita scooped up the little one and kept running. Their ships weren’t far.

Only a building to scale and four more blocks to get through, she thought sarcastically.

Thanking Fate for her new strength she picked up speed, yelling orders at her soldiers. Kaita pointed and they scavenged what they could in all the chaos. Despite the tragedy it finally allowed her to gain what she so desperately needed.

They ducked, tucking into the side of a sturdy looking building. The dome was crumbling and the harsh air whipped all around them. Soon people would start to suffocate, unused to so little oxygen as they panicked and ran from the death and destruction.

Kaita held the tiny child close as she cried and yelled for her momma. She tried to soothe her, but she had no idea where the parents were or if they’d survived and Kaita wouldn’t leave the little one alone in this madness.

She threw a helpless look at Mak. The male shrugged and ducked as another blast rained down on them, throwing people against buildings, to the ground, or shattering them to pieces.

“Do we have a spare mask?” she yelled over the screams of fear and despair.

A young female held a body, crying as the dust and chemicals entered her lungs. Kaita looked away.

Mak took out a spare and covered the child’s mouth and nose. “Close your eyes, baby,” Kaita murmured, hoping the child wouldn’t see the gore all around them. “We’ll get you somewhere safe.”

The child clung to her as Kaita stood and ran hard and fast towards their starships. Gravity wasn’t as dense on Seprilles, and she flew. Another blast had her flying and she held onto the child tightly. A shard of metal tore through her shoulder and pinned her to a building. The little girl screamed as Mak tried to get to them. Blood ran in rivulets down her suit and over the child.

“Keep your eyes closed,” Kaita said. “We’re almost there.”

Mak finally reached her and yanked out the metal pinning her to the wall. Kaita fell to the ground, somehow managing to keep from dropping the child. The rest of her soldiers picked themselves up from the ground. Not all of them had made it.

Then a hair-raising screech bounced off the walls and the sound made her shudder. They were in the city, and the hounds had her blood-scent.

“Here,” she told her second, shoving the little girl into Mak’s arms. “Get her safely on board. I’ll hold them back while you take a group and fuel up the starships. Have them ready by the time we reach you. It’ll be a hard and fast launch with these assholes on our trail.”

Mak protested but she screamed out orders and the others dragged him down the street. Kaita turned back to her remaining soldiers and flung off her coat, exposing the plasma swords at her back. She reached up with both hands, grabbed the hilts, and drew the deadly blades. A flick of her finger and the plasma activated. They would cut and burn through just about anything.

“Get ready,” she warned her people. They hunkered down into crouches, ready to fight bloody and rough. This was not their first experience with the hair-raising monsters.

With a nasty grin Kaita twirled the shimmering blue blades. Her hair fluttered in the wind and as the monstrous hounds burst through the street in a glittering black mass of limbs and teeth, they scurried over bodies and chunks of buildings.

Kaita threw her head back and let out a screeching war cry before diving into the slaughter.