If We Had One More Mission

That was how Alex knew something was wrong.
Neon lights still flickered between broken buildings, and the rain still fell in thin silver lines, but the usual noise—hover traffic, street vendors, distant sirens—was gone. Silence pressed against his ears like a warning.
His comm device buzzed.
Unknown Signal Detected.
Alex stopped walking.
“Don’t do this,” he muttered, tightening his grip on the energy blade at his side. “Not tonight.”
A familiar voice crackled through the comm.
“Still talking to yourself, Captain?”
His breath caught.
“No,” Alex said slowly. “That’s impossible.”
A laugh followed—soft, sarcastic, unmistakable.
“Wow. That hurts.”
The rain blurred his vision as he turned toward the abandoned tower ahead. He hadn’t heard that voice in three years. Not since the mission that broke the team. Not since the explosion that was supposed to have killed her.
“Nova?” he whispered.
“Come upstairs,” the voice said. “We’re running out of time.”
The elevator didn’t work, so Alex climbed the stairs two at a time, heart pounding harder with every floor. Memories flooded back—missions gone wrong, victories celebrated too quickly, and one final moment he replayed every night in his dreams.
He burst through the door on the fifteenth floor.
Nova stood by the window.
She looked exactly the same. Same short silver hair. Same scar on her left cheek. Same confident posture that once made Alex believe they could survive anything.
“You’re real,” he said.
“Last time I checked,” she replied, turning toward him. “Unless you’ve finally lost it.”
He crossed the room in seconds and stopped just short of touching her. Afraid she’d disappear.
“You died,” he said. “I watched the tower collapse.”
“And I watched you leave,” she said quietly.
The words hit harder than any weapon.
“There was no choice,” Alex said. “Command ordered a retreat. The blast radius—”
“I know,” Nova interrupted. “I heard the transmission.”
Silence stretched between them.
“So,” Alex said finally, “if you’re alive… why now?”
Nova’s expression hardened.
“They’re activating the Core tonight.”
Alex’s blood ran cold.
“The Core was destroyed,” he said.
“They rebuilt it,” Nova replied. “And this time, it won’t just control the city. It’ll control every connected system on the planet.”
Alex ran a hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you contact me sooner?”
Nova looked away.
“Because I wasn’t sure I could trust you.”
That hurt more than he expected.
“But I need you now,” she continued. “And I don’t have anyone else.”
Alex exhaled slowly.
“One more mission,” he said. “Just like old times?”
Nova smiled, just a little.
“Exactly like old times.”
They moved through the city like ghosts.
The Core facility was buried beneath the old transit tunnels, guarded by automated drones and biometric locks. Alex hacked the systems while Nova covered him, their movements synchronized in a way that muscle memory never forgot.
“You’re slower,” Nova teased over comms.
“You’re meaner,” Alex shot back.
“Someone had to survive.”
They reached the final chamber—a massive sphere of pulsing light, humming with raw energy. The Core.
Nova stared at it.
“This thing ruined everything,” she said. “Did you know they blamed you for the failure last time?”
Alex clenched his jaw. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
He started uploading the shutdown code.
Red lights flared.
WARNING: MANUAL OVERRIDE REQUIRED.
Nova’s eyes widened.
“No,” she said. “That wasn’t in the plans.”
Alex scanned the interface.
“The Core needs a physical anchor,” he realized. “Someone has to stay behind to hold the link open.”
Nova stepped forward instantly.
“I’ll do it.”
Alex grabbed her arm. “Absolutely not.”
“You already left me once,” she said, meeting his gaze. “Don’t make me watch you do it again.”
“You’re not dying for this,” he said. “Not after everything.”
Nova smiled sadly.
“I already did.”
Before he could react, she pushed him back and connected herself to the Core. Energy surged around her, lifting her off the ground.
“Nova!” Alex shouted.
“Listen to me,” she said, her voice steady despite the light consuming her. “I didn’t survive that explosion by accident. The Core saved me—changed me. I was never meant to walk away.”
Tears blurred Alex’s vision.
“I should’ve stayed,” he said. “I should’ve come back for you.”
“I know,” Nova said softly. “But this… this is how we finish it.”
The countdown hit zero.
The Core imploded in a burst of light that shook the tunnels.
Alex was thrown backward.
When the dust settled, the chamber was empty.
The Core was gone.
So was Nova.
The city slowly came back to life.
Weeks later, Alex stood on a rooftop, watching hover traffic weave through the skyline. The world was safe again. Free.
His comm buzzed.
Unknown Signal Detected.
His heart skipped.
A single message appeared.
“Mission complete, Captain.”
Alex smiled through the ache in his chest.
“Yeah,” he whispered. “It is.”