Chapter 18

Mountain-like sand dunes, the blistering heat of Kanchi’s deserts, vicious ashan bounty hunters, and giant ravenous creatures would not deter Abel from his goal to find Owlen. After deciphering the journal, finding Owlen’s base of operations was a simple matter of plugging in coordinates on a flyer’s navigator.

A temple-like structure sat partially buried in the middle of the desert, perfectly camouflaged, and otherwise would have been impossible to find without specific directions. Abel felt his elation build as they rode their flyer, but now that feeling was slowly fading. Even from hundreds of yards away, the place looked dilapidated. Abel knelt at the top of a high dune and pulled out a pair of electro-scopes to scout the perimeter. Footsteps came from behind, distinctly metallic.

“Commander, my sensors detect no life forms in the structure,” said Rex. “What a shame,” she added in a whisper.

The place looked completely deserted, but there were clear signs outside that someone had, in fact, lived there at some point. Crates and a few flyers, all covered by layers of sand, littered a courtyard. What were probably the main entrance doors lay face down on the ground; beyond the threshold was complete darkness. Abel tried zooming in with his scopes, but he couldn’t see a thing.

“I guess we’re just going to have to go for a closer look. Have your rifle ready in case they have some old battle drones still active.”

“With pleasure, commander.”

They both skirted down the dune, weapons poised, cautiously waiting for something to leap out and start shooting. As they got closer, Abel reached out with his senses, but not a soul could be felt. Like peeking into an empty room. Satisfied that no one was there, Abel decided to inspect some of the crates strewn outside. He swept away a small mound of sand covering it. On top, it read: Super Winds. Inside the box was a random assortment of drone drive motors and mini fuel tanks.

“This stuff isn’t cheap. Looks like someone left in a hurry,” said Abel. He turned to face Rex, looking at her glowing orange eye sockets, which looked no less ominous in broad daylight. “See anything you like?”

Rex reached into the crate and took out a small cylindrical piece of machinery. “No, I’m afraid not, commander. These parts are worn out; I would say they’ve been here for several years at least. Not to mention these are inferior pieces of junk,” she added as dryly a drone could, tossing the part aside.

They weren’t going to find anything outside. But the signs that Owlen had left in a hurry and apparently never came back were promising. “Maybe he left something behind. Stay alert. This place could be booby-trapped.” Cautiously they stepped through the threshold, a column of light stretched just a few feet into the darkness. “I don’t suppose you have a built-in flashlight, do you?” Abel said.

“No commander, I can see perfectly well where I’m going...watch out for that table there.” Rex’s metal footsteps echoed like they had just entered a large cavern.

With a loud hissing shing, brilliant blue light illuminated the immediate area. The cadami sword cast just enough light so that Abel wasn’t going to trip over anything. He started walking in one direction, but Rex stopped him abruptly.

“Perhaps commander, it would be prudent to investigate over here.” Rex began making her way in another direction, Abel followed. “There’s a computer terminal over there. My circuits should supply enough energy to power one of them.”

Stepping over some rubble and metal beams, Abel continued carefully and stopped as something caught his eye. He waved his sword to partially light up what appeared to be humanoid skeletons hanging on the wall. Slowly, he crept forward, fully confident he’d find the grizzly remains of the former inhabitants. But as he got closer, the light revealed two deactivated drones suspended on maintenance racks. The drones were humanoid, their limbs lanky and their faces blank. Each of their joints were lined with small lenses, holo-projectors.

“Rex, what are these things?” Abel called out.

Metallic footsteps came, Rex’s eyes floated through the darkness, her crimson chassis bathed in blue light as she emerged from the shadows.

“Ah- this is a most notable find, commander. These are K-3 series holo-skeletons,” Rex said, sounding impressed for the first time in reference to another drone. “They are highly sophisticated Tuyet Voi infiltration units capable of taking the form of most bipedal organics.”

“Sounds like something you’d like to have.”.

“Er…no, commander. Not exactly. Holo-skeletons cannot properly wield weapons and, therefore, not to my liking. They also come with several more weaknesses…” Rex paused and poked one of the drones with the tip of her rifle. “Their processors and holo-projectors use massive amounts of power, more than their compact batteries can handle long term. They must power down every night to prevent total system failure. They…sleep, in a manner of speaking. A weakness I do not wish to share with you organics…er sorry, commander.” Rex was back to her superior tone.

“None taken,” Abel muttered. “You’d be lucky to get any sleep on this planet.” He paused, a cold shiver ran through his skin. Images of the dark-robed man and the icy forest were always fresh in his mind. “But let’s not talk about that.”

“Indeed,” Rex said. “Another fatal flaw is that they cannot come into direct contact with any foreign object. Were they to be touched, their holo-projectors would falter and their cover blown.”

Abel gestured to a third rack, empty. “Looks like one is missing.

Orange light erupted from behind, Abel whipped around, sword pointed outward. He expected to see Rougar or some other bounty hunter, or even the missing holo-skeleton. But it was simply the main holo-console booting up.

“Jumpy, aren’t you, commander?” Rex said mockingly. “Rest assured, if there are any threats, I’d protect you. With deadly force.”

“Let’s just hurry this up,” Abel said dryly, trying to mask the redness warming his face. He sheathed his sword and approached the console. The light emanating off it was bright enough to light the entire room revealing bent metal, blast scorching, twisted support beams, scattered permacrete rubble, and electronic debris laying in ruins all about. Surprisingly however, there were no bodies.

“What happened to the people here?” Abel asked offhandedly as he scrolled through the console menus.

“Perhaps they were rounded up and executed elsewhere.”

“What, the attackers took the time to collect prisoners but didn’t loot the place?”

Several hours passed in relative silence as Abel and Rex picked through every file stored in the terminal. It was primarily nonsensical junk and corrupted data seemingly without end.

“Commander, I believe I’ve found something!” Rex said excitedly. An orange figure sprang up from the depreciated terminal, a man whose face was slightly distorted, but the bushy eyebrows and ratty demeanor were enough to give him away: Owlen Bek. “It’s a personal log.”

“Play it,” Abel said. Finally, they had something.

“I’ve…and…another…raid.” The orange figure of Owlen was barely audible through thick static.

“Many of these logs have degraded from the elements, commander,” said Rex. “I can sort through them and find more complete recordings, but it will take time. There are almost seven years’ worth of logs here.”

Puffing out a long sigh, Abel said, “then let’s get comfortable.”

Hours upon hours passed with the sounds of Owlen’s garbled voice with the occasional clear message. Sadly, the clearly audible ones were mostly mundane accounts of weekly operations. Abel’s eyes were growing heavy. “Rex…” he mumbled. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Let’s take a break.”

With one hand raised, Rex tapped away at the terminal, and the holographic image of Owlen sprang up for the hundredth time, or maybe it was the five-hundredth time; Abel was genuinely not sure. But this time, a second figure appeared. This one’s facial features were entirely covered by a hood, which sent a slight shiver down Abel’s spine.

“Owlen Bek,” the hooded figure said, their tone was distorted, filtered to conceal their true voice.

“You are?” Owlen said, not looking overly impressed. “Let me guess, Olasqy sent you to check up on me.”

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The hooded figure flashed a cadami sword at Owlen, who was now sinking to the floor, hands raised. “Olasqy Amuv is no longer your concern.”

“Please I…”

“Silence!” The hooded figure jabbed the tip of the sword into Owlen’s shoulder. Thirty seconds of screams later, the figure relented. “Take heart, Owlen, you’re being given a second chance. Not an offer many deserters of the Tuyet Voi get. Felix Reyleonard would see you decapitated, but I have use for you. Now get up.”

With trembling legs Owlen got to his feet, clutching his shoulder. A pained scowl shaped his face. “Who are you?”

“Who am I?” The figure laughed. ”Call me Omega.”

Abel sprang back to attention, batting down the urge to exclaim. The holograms vanished, victim to weathering. “Isolate those logs. Maybe we can…”

Owlen’s hologram reappeared. “A Tuyet Voi Knight approached me today, she called herself Omega, or I think it was a she, more like some demented creature.” Owlen scoffed. “I’ve never heard of a Knight by that name, but I wasn’t about to start asking dumb questions. Those red eyes of hers are going to haunt my dreams. Anyways, she was offering me credits. A lot of credits.” He drew a deep, long breath. “But I have to…” He hesitated, sounding frightened. “I have to kill someone. Laura Finnick, small shop owner in Onesto, an innocent woman,” he continued gravely. “I’m not a murderer, but this Progenitor makes Lord Nefarous look like a kind man. I fear that if I do not comply, then she will torture me, kill me even.”

Standing perfectly silent, Abel listened on, just barely believing the things he was hearing. A Tuyet Voi Knight, but why?

“On top of this offer-“ the recording continued, “-is the groundwork to build an organization, a pseudo-military army made up of whatever manpower and resources I can find. For whatever reason why I could not begin to imagine. My guess is that Omega needs a secret army to attack some Amani stations here. But why wouldn’t she just use her own forces?” He drew another heavy breath. “And how exactly I’m supposed to pull that off is beyond me.” He rubbed his head and paused for several moments. “Mabahse called earlier, saying Omega approached him in the same manner. That big lizard, he’s terrified of Progenitors as it is. Now he’s in the same boat I am.”

Mind racing, Abel braced himself for whatever else Owlen might say next.

“After all that, I’ll be free of this Progenitor, and the Tuyet Voi will cease their hunt. Oh, and there’s a caveat: at some undetermined time, another progenitor, Abel Reyleonard, will come to arrest me for my crimes.” Owlen winced. “I taught some of his earliest lessons at the Academy, quiet as a minki that one. Checking the color of his irises is a sure bet to identify him, one blue, the other is a sickly red. Somehow, when he shows up, I’m supposed to hold up in the Cathedral. Apparently, it’s the only way I’ll be safe. Again, who knows how I’m even going to get there, but my life depends on it.”

Of everything in the galaxy that could have been said, that was the last thing Abel thought he would hear. He felt as though he was just slapped by a sheet of ice.

Owlen drew himself up once more but could not maintain composure, and his head dipped low. “Olasqy will never forgive me for this,” he concluded, and the hologram vanished.

Abel stared blankly at the terminal. Was this a dream or another vision? No, this was real, but how it was real was beyond anything he could have possibly expected. He looked to his drone companion. “How could they have known I was coming? This log is over seven years old.”

Oddly, Rex had no words to shed any light. Abel felt almost as lost and powerless as he did in his sleepless terror visions. Someone had planned this out years in advance, but how was that even possible? The assignment to capture Owlen came down from the royal council, which included Felix Reyleonard. Was this just some elaborate setup to test his son’s capabilities? “Well, at least we know Owlen’s motivations behind all this. And we know where he’ll be hiding now, the Cathedral. I came across that in my briefings, it’s a fortress.”

“A super fortress as it’s technically classified,” Rex quipped.

“Great- thanks for the clarification,” Abel sighed. “It’s a sure bet he knows I’m here already, what with the bounty hunters he’s sent after me. Are there any other logs?”

“I’m afraid not, commander. This was the earliest available entry. All personal entries ceased about two years ago. Presumably when this base was attacked,” Rex said.

“Any idea who this Olasqy person is that he speaks of?”

“I’m afraid not, commander.”

Looking around at the carnage of the shambled building, Abel found himself at a loss of what to do next. “Mabahse never mentioned that he attacked Owlen’s base of operations. Whoever did this must have acted separately and had enough manpower to overrun the place.”

“Not to mention they were smart enough to find Owlen in the first place,” Rex added.

Nodding in agreement, Abel said, “then I want to find whoever is responsible. He clearly is no friend of Owlen.”

“And how do you propose we find him, commander? Owlen has no doubt made hundreds of enemies in his line of work.”

“True, but I have an idea,” Abel said assuredly. “I think it’s time we pay Mabahse another visit. He may know more about whoever did this. And if he really is working out of fear for Omega, then maybe we can help.”

Several loud cracks rang out just beyond the collapsed doors, echoing through the large room. Weapons fire. Abel could sense two beings fighting to the death. Outside, the blazing sun was blinding from the sudden transition from dark to light. Through squinted eyes, Abel could make out a tall red ashan and a fat fuzzy trodarian fighting it out hand to hand.

Rougar was wielding a polearm with a curved blade on one end and using it with swift, flowing strikes, but Numar held his own with a large spiked club. Their rifles laid in the sand, most likely abandoned due to ashans’ and trodarians’ barbaric desire to fight up close. Both beasts clanged their weapons together with enough force to break boulders. Their savage roars and grunts could probably be heard a mile away.

“Can you get these two to stop?” Abel asked Rex. “Without killing them,” he added in annoyance, seeing her eagerness.

“Ugh, commander, do you enjoy making me suffer?” Rex fired a shot just over the battling aliens; they both ducked and locked eyes with Abel.

“Abel Reyleonard,” Rougar snarled. “You were easy to track.”

“All you did was follow me, you bozkish,” Numar scoffed. His typical kind demeanor had been replaced by that of a vicious animal, and for a moment, it looked like he might tackle Rougar to the ground.

“Shall I start firing now, commander?”

“No Rex,” Abel said as he walked closer to Numar and Rougar. “What are you two doing out here?”

“This snog was coming to stab you in the back!” Rougar blasted bitterly.

“I am not!” Numar shot back. “Yah’ve lost yer mind if you think he’ll believe that!”

“Mabahse wants you dead, Abel, so he sent his underlings to do the deed. But don’t worry, I took out the rest of his backup.” He gestured at some bodies, which were dressed in the same armor as Mabahse’s guards. Some had plasma scorched on their chests, others with deep bloody gashes. “Now it’s just him. Let’s dispose of him together, then we shall do battle!”

Numar cupped his furry face. “You ashans and your honor bonds, just yer excuse for bloodshed.” He sighed, then turned to Abel. “You know Owlen revoked the bounty on yah head, not tah mention this pathetic lizard got arrested by the Amani after he tried capturin you. But, he’s not all wrong though, Mabahse does want you dead. But, that’s not why I’m here.” He shot a dark look at Rougar. “Look, I just needed yah to debunk that journal I gave you so I could find this place and pick up a little somthin from here.”

Rougar laughed. “Come now, Numar, not even trodarians can lie right in the face of a Progenitor.”

“Commander, ashans love killing, respectable, but he’s a threat. I say I show him how a true hunter fights.”

“Ha-bring it on, drone!”

“IS EVERYONE DONE!” Abel exploded.

Numar, Rex, and Rougar all went silent.

“GOOD, THEN SHUT UP!” Abel was only feigning being tough, inside he was terrified his outburst would anger everyone into a frenzy. Fortunately, the act worked. “No one is killing or fighting anyone right now, Rex. Firstly, I want to know why Mabahse wants me dead, Numar, and only Numar may now speak.”

Numar looked rather pleased with himself and stepped forward, but not before giving Rougar a nasty sneer. “Truth is kid, Mabahse’s been wantin yah dead since you first stepped into his palace. He’s terrified of you Progenitor types. His orders were to not make any attempt on your life until you were far away from the palace, far away from our cowardly leader.”

“Obviously, you’re not here to kill me. So, what’s so important about this thing you need from this junk heap?” Abel cast his thumb back at Owlen’s old base.

“Evidence of Mabahse’s crimes.”

“I’m pretty sure Mabahse is openly opposed to the law,” Abel said. Mabahse did shout out that his palace was a den of thieves.

“Ha- so you can prove it then?” Rougar said with a great smile across his scaly snout. “He’s talking about acts so heinous, not even the Pulsars and Nova Eclipse will tolerate. Perhaps I underestimated you Numar; you’re not just Mabahse’s loth hound.”

“Pulsars and Nova Eclipse kill for money and traffic illegal substances. How does it get any worse than that?” Abel said, thinking back on his fifth-year studies on galactic factions. He was pretty familiar with the two mercenary groups in question. Ruthless fighters that on occasion had been contracted to battle against Tuyet Voi armies.

“We have our morals, kid,” Numar said. “Pulsars, Nova Eclipse, Super Winds, all have strict internal laws and codes of conducts. Mabahse and Owlen dabbled in the slave trade some years ago, and ever since then, it’s been my job to bring their actions to light.

“I’d think your actions were noble, Numar, but I take it you intend to take over the seat of power,” Rougar said with a devious grin.

Numar looked sheepish but made no attempts to deny it.

“Doubt he’ll just step aside and bow down before you, though.”

This was perfect! Everything Abel needed to capture Owlen had practically landed in his lap. Guess all my hard work is finally paying off. “Numar, he’s right. You’ll need help dethroning Mabahse. With Rex and I at your side, you can’t fail. Once you’re in power, pledge your forces to my cause, and you’ll have the support of the Tuyet Voi Empire at your side. And Rougar, you’ll get that fight with me, but first, help us take down Mabahse.”

Roars of laughter erupted from Rougar. “I like the way you think, Abel! Very well, I accept your terms.”

Rex raised her rifle. “I do not trust this ashan, commander. He has said he still intends to kill you. And this trodarian took us prisoner the first time we met in case you forgot.”

“That’s not my style drone,” Rougar growled. “I will offer Abel a fair duel, but there are higher stakes right now. You know I’m telling the truth!”

“He is, Rex, lower your weapon,” Abel said impatiently. Rougar’s zeal for a good fight was easy to read; he was telling the truth. Numar had gained Abel’s confidence with all the help he had offered in the past week. Trodarians could sometimes get away with tricking Progenitors, but only if they moved quickly enough, and Abel was positive Numar wouldn’t try stabbing him in the back this time.

“Thirty years on the hunt, and never before have I allied myself with my prey and with the prince of the Tuyet Voi no less,” Rougar said.

“Call me prince again, I dare you,” Abel muttered tensely to himself, burying his anger so as to not shatter his newly formed alliance. Putting aside his petty frustration, he straightened himself up. “Now, if you will all listen, I have an idea to get us through the front gates,” Abel said, his strategy training from his sixth year was churning in his head.

Rougar’s lips curled into a smile bearing sharp jagged teeth. Numar rested his huge hands on his hips and had a great smile of his own.