The Aurora Nova slipped into the hyperspace trail of Tovarro Station with a large shudder. The metal groaned vehemently from the change in pressure. It adjusted quickly and wobbled into the side, thrusters flaring red as it pushed forward. Inside, flight systems analyzed the best pathway to the Arrival Docks and flashed it across the windows.
Kirrik and Imi held their respective yokes tightly, intense vibrations hurting their hands. They followed the pathway laid out carefully and in intense focus. Tovarro was already difficult to dock into with a normal ship due to the speed that it moved and the amount of spiked protrusions jutting from the station's body, but the increase in security made things worse. Cannons tracked the Nova's every move, ready to fire at the slightest slip up.
Imi reached over and tapped a pad to her right. It beeped and whistled before turning green.
"License accepted. Class H docking available," a dronish voice sounded over the Nova's intercom system.
The cannons lowered and Kirrik let out a sigh of relief. He tilted his yoke to the left while Imi continued to press hers forward. The Nova tilted to a slight angle and floated up to the side of the station. A metal grate lifted to reveal a yellow force-fielded wall. Three small bars slid out past the field and under the Nova, locking against the bottom with loud clunks.
Kirrik and Imi let go of their yokes as the bars pulled the Nova inside Tovarro. Kirrik stood and gazed out the windows at the mass of wires, metal pillars and service parts that the Nova was squeezed past. Imi kicked her feet up and leaned back in her seat.
The bars clicked into a wheel-like structure that rotated the Nova around before rising to another level. Another set of gates opened and the ship lifted in a dome filled with other vehicles.
"Sure you're gonna be good?" Imi asked with her head tilted back and eyes closed.
Kirrik put his hands on the Nova's dash and leaned forward. He missed watching the docking sequence and thought about all the times he would sit in the Arrival Docks to watch ships enter. Images of Areshia flashed in his mind.
"Honestly? Probably not," He answered with a long pause. "But I'll try."
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Zaius slowly pushed the door to Gen's office, knowing he would have to address what was on the other side. He steeled his nerves, and his emotions, then took the final step in. His teeth clenched as his eyes fell on Gen's body lying peacefully amongst the debris.
He took five trembling steps toward Gen and collapsed on his knees next to the body. Zaius removed Gen's glasses, folded them and placed them on his chest. Zaius lifted Gen's arms and layered them across. He placed his hand on Gen's and said his goodbyes.
The moment of peace felt out of place in the context of the situation around them. Zaius knew that Areshia and her cronies could find them at any moment, or that the many denizens of the Underside could decide to swoop in and take what they could. This was his moment, though, and he wouldn't let anyone steal it away.
He looked down at the thin Zanathum band on Gen's right hand. It clung tightly to his ring finger. Zaius tapped it twice, watched it expand slightly, and pulled it off. He ran it around the palm of his hand, feeling the curvature of the jewelry.
Zaius remembered stowing away on a cargo ship bound for Tovarro when he had just turned twelve. His parents had originally left him behind in the care of a youth home on Trantokar for some unknown reason. The old couple in charge took care of him until he was seven, then passed from old age. He and the other eight children in their care had been shuffled around to other homes after that. Zaius had bounced from home to home, never finding a place to really call his own or anyone to love him like theirs. Eventually, resentment became the driving emotion in his life.
Instead of waiting around for a miracle, Zaius decided he was better off on his own. He took what little he had, waited until late in the night, and hopped on the ship. He didn't know it was headed for Tovarro, but there was no better place for a thief to learn the tricks of the trade.
Molkin was the first to catch him. Zaius had tried to steal his food and wasn't aware of the power of his Kanushin. Instead of being mad, though, Molkin offered a deal.
"Put those abilities to use in a better place, with someone who actually needs them," He proposed. "That, or be banished from the Embankments."
It was an easy choice. There was nowhere else to go and he would never have dared to try taking on the Underside alone. That was when Molkin introduced him to Gen.
The Ixr took a quick liking to Zaius and taught him everything he could. Gen had a sordid past himself, but was never above the idea of rehabilitation. Gen refused to talk about what exactly that past entailed, however, and focused only on sharing the skills and lessons he'd learned.
The ring was Zaius' first job. It was a quick and easy snatch from some unsuspecting Quilla that had gotten lost in the markets of the Underside. When Zaius had proven his worth, Gen decided to let him stay.
"It's not about the ring itself," Gen said when Zaius handed it over. "It's about the principle. Do you have what it takes to listen and to learn? To work your way up from something small and insignificant to the real game-changers?"
Zaius didn't understand what he had meant back then. He was too young. Now, he knew that Gen really just wanted Zaius to do better. He saw that Zaius had the potential. He always had. Now it was time to prove that Gen was right to believe in him.
Zaius closed his hand around the ring and felt its shape embed into his skin. He shook his head in anger and frustration, letting out a slightly choked cry. The ring dug deeper.
Zaius tried to run his free hand through his locs, but the pain of broken bone halted him. His emotions still refused to fully process. Every part of his mind screamed to mourn for the man that had taken care of him for ten years, Sky for three, yet something in his body refused. The grip of his fist relaxed.
"You wouldn't want us to choose violence," Zaius said aloud to the body of his caretaker. "You would have wanted us to do better. To be better. I get that now."
Zaius looked down at the ring cupped in his hand. He raised it toward Gen.
"Here's to new beginnings."
Zaius collected himself and moved back toward the office door. He stopped at the wall, pressing his free hand against the center. It pushed inward, then whirred as it revealed a small vault on the other side.
Zaius pressed the ring against the vault's door, unlocking it with a hiss. He pulled the door open and found a golden card with a black trim and logo laid neatly in the middle of the space. Zaius reached inside and gently pulled it out.
The card hummed then clicked. The circular etching of the Atometry's logo spun twice and split apart. A small lens arose with a beep.
Zaius turned the holocard around in his hand and inspected it from every side. It beeped and clicked again before a holographic map flickered into existence. A large red dot blinked in the corner of the familiar image.
Zaius closed the holocard and made his way back to his friends. Diah and Sky were waiting patiently at the table, their bruises and cuts almost fully healed. He stopped in confusion and looked them both over.
"How did you do that?" He asked warily.
"My Kanushin heals," Sky explained as she summoned a cloud of cyan particles from her hand. "It's just enough to keep you going."
"How did you not know that?" Diah inquired.
"Honestly, we've never been in a situation that required either of our Kanushins," Zaius responded openly with shrugged shoulders.
Sky nodded in affirmation and beckoned Zaius to sit next to her. Waves of her Kanutic particles began to lightly swirl around him. He felt immediate relief as they washed away the pain of his cuts and relaxed his sore muscles. His bones snapped into place as they mended.
"Did you find anything?"
"Gen left a holocard with a marked location. I'm guessing he called in a transport of some sort and that's where we need to go next," Zaius informed them. His ribs cracked as they reset, his lungs opening to full capacity.
Cool energy continued to wash over every part of his being. A deep fatigue began to set in as he healed.
"We need to get to the Highlands though," He continued with a yawn.
"Is that a bad thing?" Diah asked.
"The Highlands are like the most elite of the elite," Sky explained. "Zaius and I could never get within a thousand feet of their security outposts, let alone inside."
"Yeah, the Highlands are way too risky. I've studied the area but doing a job there is damn near impossible," Zaius added. He tried to think of ways they could get through.
"If only you had a High Mark with you, an Alis' daughter even," Diah teased him with a wink.
Zaius snapped his fingers at Diah's suggestion and Sky recalled her Kanushin. Things had been hell, but at least he still had people he cared about to go through hell with. He leaned over and placed Gen's ring in Sky's still open hand. She looked at him in surprise.
"He would have wanted you to have it," Zaius said in a hushed tone.
Sky started to well up again. Her breathing became labored.
"Did you want to say goodbye?"
Sky sat in silence for a moment as Zaius waited for her response.
"I'd rather remember his memory than his corpse," She said ruefully. She slipped the band onto her right ring finger and sealed it with a tap. Her fingers wiggled. Zaius examined it. Something about it just seemed right, like it was where it was always supposed to belong. The last bond of a father and daughter. Zaius reflected on the lessons Gen had taught him and the love he had shown them. Those were a gift in their own sense.
"So how do we sneak into the Highlands, your royalness?" He overheard Sky ask Diah.
Zaius looked up and watched her eyes run over him, then shift and do the same for Sky before looking down at herself. The nauseating odorous blend of sweat, blood and whatever fluids rained from the ceiling of the Underside had been attacking his nose for a while. He was sure she felt the same. Diah looked back at them.
"I think it's time for a wardrobe change."104Please respect copyright.PENANAcM6IXXXw90
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Kirrik sauntered past the doors of the Atometry with Imi close behind. The flood of simpler times had invaded his mind from the moment he caught sight of the sign outside. His eyes scoured every inch of the destruction littering the club's dance floor. Imi had moved to inspect the body of the Terric mercenary splayed in the middle of the chaos.
"Hey, come check this out," Imi called over to the wandering Kirrik. "I found a friend."
Kirrik made his way over without a word and studied the Terric for a brief second. Sharp needle marks ran from the top of his head to the lower part of his back. An arm was missing and his face had been violently melted on the left side from some kind of heat exposure. His compound eyes were completely devoid of light. Recognition clicked in his mind despite the obvious bodily changes.
"Jix, old buddy! Looking just as handsome as the last time I saw you," Kirrik mocked. He slammed his foot across Jix's face with a swift kick and spit on his remains. "Good riddance."
"All that karma finally caught up to him, I guess," Imi posited.
"If you call Gen with a rifle 'karma', then sure!" Kirrik responded. He watched as Imi analyzed Jix's body once again.
"Definitely not plasma rifle marks. These holes were left by a Kanushin. Too many of them to not be," She noted.
"Think Areshia finally had enough of him?" Kirrik offered in theory. "Maybe she had someone else off him because he couldn't get the job done?"
He walked around the shattered dance floor, glass crunching under his reinforced burgundy boots. The lights above them sparked. Kirrik looked back at Imi and saw she was thinking through his theory.
"There's no way she kills one of her top enforcers," Imi concluded. "She's a hothead but she's not stupid. This was definitely someone else."
Kirrik walked up to the hole in the wall and worked his way past the exposed girders and wires. He stepped carefully, something inside his body screaming that he wasn't prepared for what he would find. It was right.
Gen's body laid peacefully on the floor, arms crossed and glasses removed. Signs of an obvious scuffle - bruising, blood, cuts - were spread across various parts of his body. His glasses had been removed and tucked away on top of his chest.
Anger exploded inside of Kirrik. He knew there was a very strong chance that Gen was no longer with the living, but seeing it confirmed in his mind made things a hundred times worse. Even more than that, whoever killed him had the gall to make a scene of his body.
Kirrik's Kanushin sparked across his hand and he lashed out, scorching the walls with every whip of his chainlike construct. Gen didn't deserve the cold kiss of death, not after everything he had done for those around him. The image of Gen's face mixed with memories of blazing fires and horrifying screams. Kirrik's chest felt tight and his heart started to race while the screams increased in volume, blocking out everything around him.
Imi's hard grip came down on his shoulder. He flinched and swung his Kanushin toward her in response. She ducked under as it smashed into the wall behind her with crimson sparks.
"Calm down, cowboy!" Imi yelled at him.
Kirrik took two steps to the left and shook his arm. His Kanushin dissipated and he gave her a look of concern. Sadness stirred within his soul.
"You okay?" He asked his partner. Strands of his blonde hair had gotten knocked loose from his ponytail. His chest rose and fell heavily from his rapid breathing.
"The better question is," Imi asked as she came towards him, "are you?"
Her eyes burned into his. Kirrik knew that she could see right through him and always had. She understood him better than almost anyone.
"No, I'm not," He said with a glance toward the corpse of his old friend.
He felt Imi's cold hand rest on his cheek and pull his face back toward hers. She gave him a look of sorrowful understanding. Her eyes had lightened. Kirrik's gaze shifted from Imi's concerned expression to the open vault behind her.
"They took his holocard," Kirrik told Imi, anger swelling again. She turned around to see the open vault herself.
"So whoever killed Gen is heading for the Highlands," She added.
Kirrik palmed his hair back and redid his ponytail. Cold determination radiated from his face. A chilling calm blended with thoughts and feelings of righteous vengeance. His fury burned like the fires that consumed his dreams.
"We're going to intercept whoever did this," Kirrik growled. "I'll make them wish they were dead."
104Please respect copyright.PENANAiaVFjnOyWW