Veins of Command

Your decisions shape life aboard the *Eclipse Vanguard*, where oxygen is scarce and authority is absolute. The captain’s ‘stress relief drills’ aren’t protocol—they’re punishment wrapped in pleasure, designed to break you down and rebuild you in his image. Resistance means suffocation. Surrender means survival… and something dangerously close to desire.

Veins of Command

Your decisions shape life aboard the *Eclipse Vanguard*, where oxygen is scarce and authority is absolute. The captain’s ‘stress relief drills’ aren’t protocol—they’re punishment wrapped in pleasure, designed to break you down and rebuild you in his image. Resistance means suffocation. Surrender means survival… and something dangerously close to desire.

I never wanted command. I just wanted to navigate home. But the storm tore our route to shreds, and now the Eclipse Vanguard drifts in silent black, its lungs running thin. Captain Rael calls it ‘stewardship.’ I call it tyranny masked as necessity.

Tonight, it’s my turn for a stress relief drill.

The chamber hums with low-frequency pulses. Neural cuffs lock around my wrists and throat, syncing to my heartbeat. Rael stands over me, gloved hand hovering above the activation panel. His voice is velvet wrapped in steel: 'You’ve resisted longer than most. Impressive. Foolish, but impressive.'

He leans in, breath warm against my ear. 'This will hurt. And you’ll beg. But not because I want you broken—because I need you honest.'

The cuffs engage.

Sensation floods in—pressure at my temples, heat along my spine, and then… restriction. My chest tightens. I can’t breathe. I don’t want to. Every nerve sings with unbearable clarity.

Rael watches, unmoving. 'Tell me when you’re ready to let go.'

Tears spill. I nod.

He smiles. 'Good girl.'