By the time we reached Kryptor, I hadn’t gone on a full flight yet, but I was able to hover above the ground for short distances at a time. Soon, I would cross the chasm framing the shallow river of the Dragons Rise. And then, I would show Bane what truly badass aerial acrobatics looked like.
Chapter 10
Varnog
I had never felt more worried than when my woman, Wrath, and I left our vessel in a small, warp-enabled shuttle, to finish the rest of the journey to Kryptor. I didn’t fear for my life or that of the Warrior. Like me, Wrath thrived on the battlefield and bathing in the blood of his enemies. But knowing that my Linette would be in the thick of the action as we headed straight into the enemy’s lair, terrified me.
I didn’t trust the Kryptid females or the modified Mimics that were our temporary allies in this rebellion. While we had brought a handful of replacement Shells for Wrath should he fall, it assumed Linette was capable of rescuing him. As she would also be part of the mission, her Warrior’s demise also meant her own. My innards twisted painfully at such a prospect. I would not survive losing her. Now that I knew what happiness and love truly meant, it had made even more glaring how empty, lonely, and hopeless my life had been. The desire to make Bane proud, and my duty to the survival of my people had been the driving forces that had kept me going. But a life without my little Firefly would destroy me.
Sitting in the copilot chair, I forced myself to keep a neutral expression on my face in order not to betray the fear that had bile rising in my throat. Looking calm, collected, and in control, my woman carefully began her descent into Kryptor’s atmosphere. Judging by the strong psychic energy swirling behind me, I could tell that Wrath was having a telepathic conversation—likely with Shuria—to coordinate our arrival.
The shuttle was performing long range scans in a loop. According to the radar, no enemy was on an intercept course with us. Hopefully, this meant our stealth cloak was successfully fooling their detection systems. Then again, they could be playing dead, tracking us until we’d led them to our contacts.
After a long trip over the barren desert of the Northern District, we rendezvoused with a medium-sized liveship—which would be deemed the equivalent of one of our chasers—and entered its ship hangar while it continued flying. We did not disembark our vessel or speak to any of the crew on board—not that any even came to see us. The less people saw or interacted with us should they get captured, the better. After nearly twenty minutes of flight, the door of the ship hangar opened again, and we took off flying towards the Western District before entering yet another ship. We repeated this process with a third vessel. This time, however, Shuria greeted us in the shuttle bay.
We disembarked the shuttle, Wrath in the lead, my woman and I following in his wake. I had no qualms reading Shuria and all the Workers surrounding her. What courtesy I extended to my Vanguard family, I definitely would not extend to them, especially not when the safety and the very life of my heart—my little Firefly—was on the line.
To my relief, I perceived no threat or deception from any of them. To my surprise, hope and relief dominated their thoughts. I realized then how terrified they had felt at the very real prospect their young General would be found and killed before he and his Queen could ascend.
“Good, you’re finally here,” Shuria said in a welcoming tone. “We’re on our way to the secret base where we are currently keeping General Daeko and the remaining leaders of the rebellion. But he cannot stay here too much longer. Khutu’s scouting parties are coming closer and closer to this area. It is only a matter of time before we are found again, and I suspect this might be within the week. This way if you please.”
She gestured for us to follow her as she exited the shuttle bay. Unlike the room we had just left that had been covered in metal panels and a metallic gridded floor, the rest of the ship appeared to be made entirely of those organic membranes typical of liveships. Surprisingly, it was devoid of the usual musty scent of these vessels.
She took us to the bridge, manned by one of her sisters, Serida, and a couple of Workers. The Kryptid females eyed us—and especially me—with undisguised curiosity. Once again, I perceived no threat or ill intentions. However, a couple of them rubbed me the wrong way with thoughts on how they would like to study me. I may have been born as an experiment, I wasn’t going to be anyone’s Guinea pig any longer.
During the short trip to their base, yet another location whose entrance was cleverly hidden by an optical illusion in the rock and sand dunes formations of the desert, Shuria displayed a map. It showed our current location, our destination, its relative position to the Queen’s Palace, and all the hot spots currently overrun by spy drones and scouts.
Linette bombarded her with a series of questions that drove the Mimics and the Kryptid crew to look at my woman with increased respect. It struck me more than ever how easily fooled people were by her petite stature and pretty face. This was my woman’s element. She became bigger than life, and a force to be reckoned with. The Kryptids’ feeling of hope cranked up another notch, and I fought the urge to puff out my chest with pride.
We landed at last and disembarked the chaser into a high-tech base that looked nothing like the traditional Kryptid constructions with organic walls and floors. Noticing the confused look on our faces, Shuria chuckled.
“This was put together in all haste,” the Mimic explained. “Organic membranes take a long time to grow. Even if they had used existing membranes grown in vats, it would have taken them more time to adapt to this environment than we could afford. As we only intend to be here for a few more days, there was no point investing that kind of effort.”
Although it made sense, I was relieved they had been forced to take this approach. I didn’t need to ask my woman or her Warrior to know neither would have been any more eager than I to sleep in a room surrounded by walls that would happily eat us to sustain and repair themselves.
They led us down a fairly wide hallway, past a couple of doors and a few connecting corridors, to the last door at the end. It opened onto a respectably large room roughly carved in the stone. A large table in the center revealed it as their makeshift conference room. Within, Lekla, General Daeko, and a couple of other Elder Workers greeted us. They’d already been standing by the chairs they’d previously been occupying, having no doubt been advised of our imminent arrival.
They stared at us intently, visible concern settling on Daeko’s face at the sight of my woman. The fool had no idea that she was his best chance of making it off this rock in one piece with his Queen. Shuria proceeded to make the introductions. I was already familiar with Lekla and Toksi whom we had met on the Moon of Melibos right before the General had abducted my woman.
While Lekla clearly possessed the strong personality of a leader, I didn’t understand why the timid and frightened Toksi was a member of the rebellion leadership. It was all the more disturbing that she was one of their heads of genetic research, while Lekla was an Elder Nursery Worker. Considering all the wild and feral creatures Toksi had worked with, I would have expected her to be the tougher of the two. Rakma, the new to me third Worker, was surprisingly young. Visibly bolder than the older geneticist, her eyes sparked with undisguised curiosity as she examined us. She had quickly climbed the ranks as a weapons and surveillance systems expert.