Captured by the Yandere Space Pirates

The fighter ship carrying Syn and Mia sliced through the void, its engines a low, predatory hum that vibrated through his bones.

The small cockpit bathed in the eerie glow of holographic consoles that flickered like ghosts.

Syn slouched in the co-pilot's seat, his hazel eyes darting between the star-streaked viewport and Mia, who sat at the controls, her white hair.

Her fingers moved over the quantum interface with a grace.

The silence between them was a living thing, thick with unspoken questions and the weight of their mission.

Syn just wanted to ask her one main question.

"Who are you?"

At this point he was ready to believe her if she said that she is Mia's twin sister Kia and that she was stalking him to get him back for what he did to his sister. Though a bit extreme for that.

Also

Syn's gut churned—this infiltration into the Kingdom's heart, hunting for the shapeshifters' base, was a risky suicide run dressed as a plan.

With the resources he had at hand which were close to none and along with whatever Vera planned on giving him. He still doubted his chances. But that didn't scare him.

Vera trusted Mia, and Syn trusted Vera.

No other choice.

"How are we pulling this off?" Syn asked, his voice a blade, slicing through the quiet. He leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees, his gaze locked on Mia's impassive face.

Mia's pale eyes stayed fixed on the nav-screen, unblinking. "We ghost in as a Kingdom ship. I've hacked the transponder to broadcast a false ID—a scout vessel from directly under the King's army, clean of any ties to Princess Elara's fleet. Their orbital grid will scan us and see a routine patrol, nothing worth a second glance."

Her tone was ice-cold confidence, different than her usual shy and wriggling personality when she faced him.

Then she tapped a glyph, summoning a holographic model of their ship, its transponder code now a labyrinth of encrypted runes.

"Vera's intel gave us the space metro's transit matrix. We'll shadow a coach, breach it in transit, and slip inside like we belong."

Syn's eyebrows shot up, a grudging respect flickering. "You're a tech witch."

Mia's lips curved, her cheeks blushed, she was back to her shy and stuttering self.

"I... I... I've had years to practice." She offered nothing more, and Syn didn't push.

Mia was a puzzle—her contrasting personalities intensity, the way her gaze seemed to cut through to secrets he didn't know he had—set his nerves on edge.

Syn glanced at the nav-screen, the Kingdom's orbital defenses looming closer.

"The metro breach—how do we cut in without triggering every alarm in the system?"Mia's fingers paused, then resumed their silent symphony.

"The metro's hull is armored, but its dorsal maintenance panels are weaker—thin enough for a plasma torch. We match its speed, I pop the hatch, you carve a hole, we drop in, and I seal it with a nanite patch. Then I remote-pilot this ship to drift on a dummy training route. The Kingdom's too distracted to notice one more blip."Syn's jaw tightened, the plan audacious and razor-thin.

"And if the metro's internal sensors catch us? Or the patch fails under stress?"Mia turned, her pale eyes pinning him like a specimen. "They won't. I have got this." Her certainty was a lifeline, but her serious face was too intense for him.

Is he really safe with this girl?

Syn exhaled, nodding. "Fine. Let's go."

The journey was a silent gauntlet, the Kingdom's perimeter growing larger with every passing minute.

The ship's sensors chirped, picking up the faint signatures of patrol drones, but Mia's transponder hack was flawless.

To the Kingdom's sprawling network of scanners, they were just another scout, one of countless fighters used for training or escort runs. The primary station loomed ahead, a jagged crown of spires and docks that glittered against the void, its surface crawling with turrets and sensor domes.

Syn's chest constricted—he was entering back into the viper's nest. It was oddly thrilling because of the risks he carried now.

Mia piloted with spectral precision, weaving through the chaos of freighters, shuttles, and automated drones.

The space metro track shimmered into view, a magnetic rail pulsing with energy, its coaches streaking through the vacuum like silver comets.

Syn gripped the armrests as Mia nudged their ship closer, the hull quivering as she locked their velocity to an approaching coach. Its sleek hull reflected the stars, a silent giant unaware of the predators at its flank.

"Now," Mia said, her voice a whipcrack. The hatch hissed open, icy air clawing at Syn's face as he ignited the plasma torch. He tethered himself to the hull, the void's pull a silent scream as he leaned out.

The metro's surface was a blur, but he spotted the maintenance panel—a faint seam in the alloy. The torch roared, its blue-white beam slicing through metal, sparks swallowed by the vacuum. The panel fell away, revealing a shadowed access shaft.

Mia dropped in first, her movements liquid, ghostly. Syn followed, his boots ringing against the shaft's walls. He slapped a nanite patch over the breach, the material fusing instantly, and Mia's remote command sent their ship gliding away, a specter in the cosmos.

They landed in the metro coach, crouching amidst a crowd that wasn't what it seemed.

Syn's pulse hammered, as he looked at the unfamiliar faces around, these faces were hard, scarred—pirates, not commuters.

Their Kingdom uniforms were a lie, their eyes gleaming with purpose.

Syn sighed with relief. The plan went well so far.

A burly man with a red bandana stepped forward, his grin a jagged slash across his weathered face."Kaizer," he said, extending a calloused hand.

"I am the leader of this group of pirates. Vera's briefed me on you, Syn. And you're Mia." His gaze flicked to her, wary but respectful.

Syn shook his hand, his grip iron. "Syn Kocrn. This is Mia. We're here to find the shapeshifters' base."Kaizer's bandana flared under the coach's dim lights as he nodded.

"Vera's word is law. We'll bleed for you if it comes to it. Where do we start?"

Syn scanned the group, their faces a mosaic of grit and defiance. "Anyone in the Cyber Biome?"

A woman with buzzed hair and a scar like a lightning bolt raised her hand. "That's me. Data tech, level-three clearance, grid maintenance."

"Know anything about shapeshifters?" Syn asked, his voice low, urgent.She shook her head, her eyes narrowing. "Not a damn thing."

"Restricted feeds? Cameras you can't touch?" he pressed."None," she said, her tone flat. "My access is wide open. If there's a blind spot, it's higher up—or somewhere else."

Syn nodded, unsurprised.

Shapeshifters were the King's darkest secret, their base buried under layers of lies.

But he had a lead, forged in his days as Princess Elara's soldier.

He'd roamed the Main Biome's palace at her command, spying on the King's movements.

Elara, ever hungry for her father's secrets, had tasked Syn with tracking him. He'd seen the King slip into the ground floor's walls, vanishing for hours, only to return with a face like stone.

A hidden basement, whispered among the royals, was the key.

When proof of the King's shapeshifter alliance surfaced, Syn knew—that basement had the highest probability to be their lair.

He turned to Kaizer, his voice steady. "We need to hit the Main Biome's palace. I need soldiers, servants—anyone working inside the palace with access."Kaizer's eyes lit up.

"You're in luck. I'm a palace guard, mid-tier rotation. Got three others with Main Biome clearance right here—two servants, one junior officer." He pointed to a wiry man with restless eyes, a woman with a nervous twitch, and a broad-shouldered figure in a crisp uniform.

They raised their hands, their resolve a quiet fire.Syn's mind churned, the plan taking shape.

"Good. We'll regroup to lock it down. There's a dead zone in the Manufacturing Biome—sector 7, old storage bay by the smelters. No cameras, no eyes. Only Main Biome operatives come. The rest of you, tear through your Biomes for anything suspicious—locked doors, guarded labs, anything that feels wrong. Report to Kaizer, and he'll get it to me."

Kaizer clapped Syn's shoulder, his grin fierce. "You've got stones, Kocrn. We're in."

The metro's intercom crackled, announcing the Manufacturing Biome in thirty seconds.

The coach slowed, its mag-lev hum fading, and the doors slid open with a hiss.

Syn stepped onto the platform, the glare of overhead lights bouncing off the polished steel.

Mia followed, her head low, her movements silent as death.

The pirates scattered like ordinary workers, melting into the crowd of welders and drones.

Syn's heart thundered, but he kept his pace even, his eyes sweeping for threats.

Unseen, in a fortified chamber deep within the palace. In a room with flickering screens on the live cameras across the Kingdom.

One feed zeroed in on the Manufacturing Biome's metro station, framing Syn's face as he stepped into the light.

A crimson outline snapped around his features, a tag flashing: Syn Kocrn, Priority Target.

The system whirred, cross-referencing his biometrics, and a silent alert streaked to a shadowed figure in the palace. Their eyes, cold as the void, narrowed at the screen.