“You cannot be fucking serious!” shouted Nimore. By the way her face was distorted by anger, she was the one that felt more vividly about it all. “What the hell are you thinking? Are you really going to made them jump on board? Now, that we’re this close?! This is bullshit. Plain bullshit!!”
Without giving Arturyll a chance to calm her down, the woman stormed off, bumping into Vindril’s shoulders. While she obviously didn’t apologize, choosing to simply ignore him in any way she could, she also didn’t take out all her frustration on him. Vindril also noticed how strong and toned were her muscles, despite how lean and nimble her whole body seemed to be. Now that was curious. Were all indorians like that? As far as he could remember, no. He had once met a man, an indorian like she was, and he had a real bulky musculature underneath the layer of clothes he had worn. It seemed that there was more to that woman than what met the eyes…
Arturyll sighed loudly, interrupting such thoughts.
“…Ahhh, what a pain…” he said. His gaze soon landed on Vindril, who stood there motionless. “You’ll have to excuse her. She’s amazing you know? Once you get past her scalding hot character. She’s the person I trust the most in the entire galaxy. Without her, I wouldn’t be here. We…wouldn’t be here. It’s not an exaggeration saying that this…thing has managed to achieve what it had mostly thanks to her.”
“…Why are telling me all of this?”
The orange eyed man took a step forward, stopping only a couple of paces away. Now that he was this close, Vindril realized that a scar ran from the cheekbone all the way down to his neck. Whatever had caused such an injury, he could certainly count himself lucky to be alive; severing the jugular was a pretty painful and bloody way to go…
“Because if you are to help me, you need to understand how important of a person she is to me…to us.”
“Wh-”
“Wait a damned minute!” blurted out Sully, effectively interrupting Vindril. He turned around, glaring at him. Did he really had to… “Why the hell are you so sure we’re going to help you out? You’ve kidnapped us! Who in their right mind would help his jailers?”
If Arturyll felt perturbed by such irreverent attitude, it didn’t show on his face. “Because you don’t have a choice. Even if I’m sure that you’re not a threat to me, leaving you free is not something that I can order without something in return. Something got to give…”
“…And exactly is required to us?” asked Luzir, who was now standing right behind Sully. Vindril chuckled at the sight; a giant and a half man right in scale. It reminded him of those obscene jokes that were told on the roughest bars around the galaxy.
“The day after tomorrow we’ll launch an attack at the King’s Palace. We must, at any cost, succeed in getting inside. I won’t let my planet fall into the abyss just because some corporations had commanded so, or because some bureaucrats had bartered its future for abundant riches. It’s time for Girunne to finally break free from the chains that had enslaved it to the will of the misguided.”
“Whoa, whoa.” blurted out Sully. “What the hell are talking about?”
Arturyll placed a holoprojector at the center of the table. After clicking it, a perfect rendition of the King’s Palace, the residence that had always been used historically by the reigning person in charge. Now, if Vindril remembered well, Count Berschild was the man currently in charge of the planet. But, if that was the case, Girunne should have won its independence war and joined the Kingdom of Voldir. So why did Arturyll speak as if the planet was still held in a yoke?
“What do know about my planet?”
The three of them exchanged a puzzled look.
“Well, what do you expect? What is written on the Star Net I suppose…”
Arturyll smiled bitterly. “Then you’ve been fed just a bunch of lies.”
“What do you mean…” asked Luzir.
“…If I were to take a look at what information are currently being told on the Net, then I’m sure I’ll only come across a bunch of lies. While Girunne has become part of this Kingdom of Voldir, nothing has truly changed. Just like in the past, the corporations, like the LOMAAB lab we’ve just raided, are the ones who’re really in charge. Don’t be mistaken. Their are the hands that trade the fate of this planet like it’s a plaything.”
“So what? Are going to start another war?” asked Sully. “Don’t get me wrong. You’re committed. I can see that. I’ve seen my share of people, so I recognize when someone is adamant about something. But you don’t exactly seem ready to take control of a planet…”
A laugh, short but firm, made Arturyll pause for a moment. “We’re ready, mister Sullivan. Ready as we can ever be. The wheels of fate have already been set in motion. Now it’s just a matter of seizing the moment.”
Vindril paused, trying to process all the information that had just been revealed. Talk about shock. He had arrived on the planet's surface with the sole intention of resupplying and stealing from a laboratory the size of LOMAAB; and now he was forced to take part in a revolution that would throw the entire planet into mad chaos. The realisation hit him, causing his eyes to open wide. The Silver Death! Shit! He had to find a way to contact her and get her to leave the orbital station where she was currently docked. After all the trouble he had gone through to get her back on track, he would never jeopardise his safety and that of the crew just because the man in front of him wanted to play revolution. That was simply not going to happen.
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“I still fail to see why you need our help specifically. It’s not our war to wage.” stated Sully in a completely calm tone. “And, quite frankly, aside this mountain-” he pointed at Luzir. “We’re no war material.”
Arturyll smiled amused. “You give yourself too little credit, mister Sullivan. After all, weren’t you the one who managed to steal the Tear of Yen’Kran? Surely you’re a quite skilled individual, if you managed to get your hands on such a jewel. Am I right?”
In that moment, Sully’s gaze went from being surprised, to utterly dark and menacing; all of that, in the span of a few seconds. Vindril was surprised himself. First, because he had never seen Sully react that way. Second, because he knew exactly what was the Tear of Yen’Kran. To his knowledge, the Tear was a jewel, a pendant to be exact, that had been crafted by a famous smith using one of the rarest gems ever found on Yen’Kran’s surface, a frozen wasteland where temperatures rarely exceeded the minus twenty degrees Celsius. It was the blackest gem ever found, with a few touches of white that shone in it like stars in the infinite cosmos. Some even believed the powers that regulated all cosmic events were to be found in its attracting appearance. It was all nonsense, as far as Vindril was concerned. Still, some people had lost everything, even their lives, for the chance of holding said piece of jewellery in their hands. Truly, it just was better to stay from that jewel, and anything that gravitated around it.
Doubts began to crawl their way into his mind. From memory, he remembered reading that the Tear had been boldly stolen some couple of years ago by a never identified culprit. It was also suggested by the authorities that most likely it had been a collective of people that had somehow managed to infiltrate the secure compound in which it had been stored. So…it that was true, did that mean that Sully had taken part in one of the most famous cases of theft in all galactic history? No. That couldn’t be it. Why the hell would he have ended up on Keelo Prime if he had such powerful friends? That just didn’t make any sense…right?
“How…do you know that?” asked Sully, his eyes emitting a murderous aura. “Who are you?”
Arturyll sighed. “Threatening you is not my intention. As to why I know that, I believe we share a bond with a certain…person that is currently helping me.”
“Who is it? Tell me!”
“Why tell you when I can just call him over?”
The rebel leader pressed a button on the projector he had prepared earlier. After a few seconds of silence, the image that was displayed, that of the palace, quickly disappeared; it was immediately replaced by the projection of a man, with skin as grey as ash and completely black eyes.
“What is it? I’m busy.” said the man. The bangs that were under his eyes gave him an even more ghostly appearance. “I’ve told not to conta-”
He stopped. “…Oh. Hi, Sully. Long time no see.”
“…Hi?” asked Sully, barely maintaining his composure. “After two fucking years, that’s all you have to say? Just a normal hi?”
The man yawned. “…Well, what did you expect? It’s not like we were that close to begin with. Also, after the last heist we all decided, together, to lay low for quite some time. You cannot fault me for that.”
Sully ran his hands over his face, only to heavily exhale, trying his best to suppress the anger he was clearly feeling. When he calmed down enough, he recomposed himself. “…Where are the others?”
“As far as I know, no one has been caught; though I haven’t heard a thing about Red in a long time. It’s like he has completely disappeared from the galaxy.”
“What about Urian?”
“Oh, do not worry about him. He has found himself some good clients in the Outer Ridges. The kinds that are willing to pay real money, unlike my friend there.”
The man turned his gaze to stare down at Arturyll. Vindril observed all of that without uttering a word, trying to discern what kind of relationship linked those two together. He couldn’t tell whatever they were just customer and seller, but he knew it wasn’t a tight bond that connected them together.
“When the hell are you going to pay me, Arturyll? You are late with your payments. I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart, you know? I expect you to keep your end of the bargain.”
“Of course. I just had…some unforeseen situations that had to be resolved at the soonest opportunity. Also, we have successfully robbed one of the LOMAAB lab. But I’m sure you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Of course I knew. Who did you take me for? Besides, with all the chaos that-” another yawn escaped him. “…that you’ve rained down on that building, even a deaf person would have been able to hear it.”
“I admit it wasn’t exactly ideal how we acted. But we had little time to come up with any other real alternative. Time was pretty much against us.”
“Still, alternatives could be found. By bombing a lab as big as LOOMAB you’ve surely attracted unwanted attention, from authorities and whatnot. That will surely come bite us later. I’m sure of it.”
“…We cannot postpone our attack. We’ll proceed as planned.”
“Arturyll, you have to understand. If you launch yourse…”
As the conversation dragged on, Vindril felt like leaving that room behind and lying down to get some rest. The headache that had been tormenting him since he regained consciousness hammered at his temples, making him increasingly frustrated. Of all the moments they had had, did they really need to argue now? Those sons of…
“I’ll be going to lay down…” said Sully, his voice a little bit undertone. At least for what he normally was.
“Prefect! I’ll be going to. My head is killing me.”
“Then I’ll meet you later.”
Vindril arched his brow. “…What does that mean?”
“Yeah…I just need some time alone…I think.”
Sully turned around and slowly walked out the room. Vindril tried to stop him, feeling like he need a helping hand. After all, he was the first that had agreed to join up with him in his conquest of the galaxy; he also was the one that had given him a helping hand when he had felt down. He to do be there for him. However, Luzir stopped him from even reaching out.
Vindril cursed. Why the fuck had he done that?
“…Leave him alone. He needs to come to terms with these new developments…alone.”
“…Why?”
“…Because that’s what’s best for him.”
Vindril digested that information in silence. Leaving aside his head, which had now oh so kindly gifted him with a nausea so strong he was at risk of vomiting right where he was, he just didn’t know how to respond to that. If there was one thing he was sure of was that his energies were quickly reaching a dangerous low point. And it wouldn't do anybody any good to be unconscious once again. He still wanted to check up on his friend though. But that would have had to wait.