The Queen Who Fights Back (by Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 82

Chapter 82

The moment Harrison heard that chilling voice, a wave of unease swept over him, causing a shiver to ripple through his entire body.

How long had it been since he last heard it? The exact number of years escaped him. What lingered in his memory, though, was the unmistakable dread that accompanied the sound of that crisp, female voice. For Harrison, it was a fear embedded deep within his very being.

He lifted his gaze and was met with a face he knew all too well. Instantly, his expression stiffened. “It’s you,” he muttered, his voice barely steady.

Usually, Harrison carried himself with an air of command and confidence, but now, his complexion drained of color, overtaken by a palpable fright. Without thinking, he took a step back, as if confronted by a specter rather than a person.

“It’s me,” Nova said softly, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Long time no see. Looks like you’ve been doing quite well over the years.”

Despite Harrison’s visible panic, Nova’s presence remained unshaken, even subtly dominating the atmosphere between them.

The special forces soldiers nearby watched the interaction in stunned silence, utterly baffled.

“Miss… you actually know Commander Marshall?” Edward asked, his voice trembling with disbelief and surprise.

He recalled how earlier he had proudly boasted about his team’s ability to snipe targets from 2,500 feet away.

Now, with a rueful grin, he thought to himself, *I must have looked like a complete fool. Not only can Nova hit a target from 6,500 feet with an AMR-2, but she also personally knows the commander.*

Jordan chimed in to clarify, “Nova does know Commander Marshall. She asked me to come back and say hello to him. Since the school’s event is at The Greenwood, I figured it was on the way and brought her along.”

Suppressing his own surprise, Jordan voiced the question that everyone was silently asking, “Commander Marshall… was it really Nova who broke your left thumb?”

What had been mere speculation before now felt like a confirmed fact based on Nova’s words.

The other soldiers had long noticed the oddity of Harrison’s left thumb — an injury that clearly wasn’t the result of an ordinary accident.

Seeing Jordan muster the courage to ask so directly, all eyes locked onto Harrison, wide with anticipation for his response.

Harrison’s cheeks flushed a deep red, and he quickly coughed a few times to mask his embarrassment. “Uh, well… it did have something to do with this lady,” he admitted vaguely.

As the commander of Sector X18, Harrison couldn’t openly confess that Nova was the one who had broken his thumb. Instead, he offered a deliberately ambiguous answer to deflect attention.

Yet, to the special forces soldiers, his hesitation was confirmation enough. They immediately turned to Nova with newfound respect, silently wondering about the mysterious background she must possess.

Even Harrison himself was unsure of Nova’s full origins.

During the Apo Conflict in Xylem, just before he was sent undercover behind enemy lines, his superiors unexpectedly assigned a young girl to accompany him, ordering him to cooperate fully with her.

That had been three years ago. At the time, Harrison resented the arrangement deeply. Being commanded by a teenage girl felt like a slight to his authority.

But during their infiltration of the enemy camp, his reluctance to cooperate nearly blew their cover.

He thought his mission was doomed. Yet, to his astonishment, Nova—a teenager—displayed a ruthless resolve unlike anything he’d ever seen.

To gain the enemy’s trust after their near failure, she deliberately broke his left thumb on the spot and pressed a gun to his temple as if to execute him.

“Oh, I see,” Nova replied, already anticipating the answer from what Jordan had told her. She sounded relaxed but couldn’t help thinking, *Getting guns in Zoria is such a hassle—nothing like the easy access abroad.*

Still, it was a sign that Zoria was a place where ordinary people could live stable lives.

Though born in Zoria, Nova had never experienced a safe, peaceful childhood here. Her fate was forever intertwined with danger and unrest.

She lifted her chin slightly, a fierce determination flashing in her eyes. Taking the initiative, she proposed, “Then how about I join Sector X18, Commander Marshall?”

Harrison’s expression shifted dramatically.

“What? Is that not allowed?” Nova asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

Harrison was caught off guard, thinking, *How could it not be allowed? Someone like her is exactly what we need.*

But the offer had come so suddenly he hadn’t expected Nova to be willing to join Sector X18.

“We would be honored to have an elite like you join us,” Harrison said, straightening his posture and speaking with solemnity.

Yet then, a troubled look crossed his face. “As much as I’d like to welcome you into Sector X18, making an exception would break regulations. I simply can’t do that.”

Harrison was a man of integrity. He continued, “But I can write you a recommendation letter. Next month, the base is forming a new action team. About thirty or forty people will compete, but only four will be selected.

“If you make it onto that team, you’ll officially become a member of Sector X18, and your firearms license will be approved quickly. Are you interested in competing?”