Survival may have only delayed the killing blow.

Damaged, overcrowded, and stranded behind enemy lines, the destroyer has reached the limits of what its crew can repair. Its radiators are failing. Its weapons are nearly gone. Critical systems depend on precision components the ship cannot fabricate. Their only hope is an abandoned Fleet repair yard broadcasting valid friendly authentication.

The same kind of authentication that led Katana Squadron into an ambush.

Captain Brent Duren knows the yard could save his ship. He also knows it may be another trap. When a desperate warning orders Kusanagi to stay away, Duren sends Marine avatars and recon drones into the station while the destroyer hides outside its sensor shadow.

Inside, the Marines find sealed compartments, frozen bodies, trapped survivors, and automated systems that refuse to remain dead. Every recovered component may carry hostile code. Every restored system risks opening a path into Kusanagi. Every hour spent salvaging brings an enemy recovery force closer.

To escape, Duren’s crew must repair their ship while physically connected to a station designed to compromise it. They will have to choose which survivors to save, which evidence to destroy, and how much of their own machinery they can still trust.

The broken yard can turn Kusanagi back into a warship.

If it does not take the ship apart first.