“...And that’s what we have been saying, Jorre, there have been more disturbances to our once peaceful city than ever before. How are we meant to feel safe in our own homes, how can we expect parents to walk their children down the streets? Now I’m not saying that I am against the Yelean Reform, in fact, I think it’s important, as you know, but people are starting to ask the question, when will the Traes respond to the accusations being laid against them? Do they even care about what their citizens are going through?”
“They have responded, let’s not pretend as though we don’t know that the Traes have reinforced their guard with Kryptea. What does that mean for us? You can pretend like that is enforcing the protection of the people, but only three Kryptea, clearly that is for the protection of the family itself, not the people. Once again, the Traes show their true colours”
“I think that’s a great point, Huwe, all we see from them are PR stunts and a nonchalance like nothing is happening to the people of Det’er, but clearly the Traes are concerned over themselves. Olivia, of course, the daughter of the planetary heads, parades around through the city with her guards and her posse acting like meeting with the people and passing platitudes will make everything alright. When are we going to dig into the real issues here, our planet is being strangled by regulation from an alliance that we aren’t even part of, how does that make any sense?”
“Look, the Kryptea being here is because of the attack on Lord Louis Matise, we all know that, dont we? It’s clear that there is unrest in this sector and it is perhaps precautionary”
“Yes that’s a convenient story, Huwe, let’s put that into perspective shall we, yes, Prince Louis Matise was attacked, but on the Lotus, a place that is known to draw in the wrong type of crowd, a dangerous lot, and if rumours are true, it was an Ortu attack. A terrorist organisation that has nothing to do with Yeley at all. Honestly, we should not be linking the two at all, on a separate note, I dont think that a Prince should be doing whatever he does on a ship like the Lotus anyway, but that’s just me, maybe I’m old school”
“The bigger problem that the Traes have is that Professor Grasci, of course, the head of Yelean Reform has told his members that he will be speaking at the Suns Rising Festival. The Traes have said nothing”
“I get that, Mev, but are we not blowing this all out of proportion? The Traes have steered this planet well for generations now, surely we should trust them in times like this rather than question it? I know that these new standards are forcing difficult conditions, but last time they spoke they did ask for patience, surely we should give that to them?”
“Nonsense, the people of Yeley have allowed Yeley to succeed, the Traes are figureheads, and they are proving that now, more than ever. It’s only the lunatics that are supporting the Traes now, a dangerous lot that believe that everything rests on their shoulders, they dont believe that Yeley can succeed without the Traes and I must say, it is behind the times”
Are you then in support of Reform?”
“I’m in support of the people of Yeley, and for that…” Meno held his hand up to pause the hologram of the news show that was playing in the lounge of their apartments. He looked over to Angie who was sitting at the table and had also been watching the news show.
“If you are watching the news and hearing opinions, that is propaganda,” he said to Angie, reminding him of the lesson from Swan. He was trying to swim through the thoughts running through his own mind and could see that Angie was too.
“We need to start thinking about what we do if this all goes tits up” he nodded solemnly and knew this was something that she had been thinking about for some time now. The last thing he wanted to do was leave, but if things became too complicated here, they wouldn't have a choice. It already seemed that the city was on the brink of something big, and unfortunately, the only thing offering them protection here was the Traes, if they fell, then they would be alone. Was this their test from Worrec?
“Where is Paba?” he asked,
“She’s implementing the new algorithm she built for the weather system” Angie said looking out of the window, “Harold is very keen to get her to improve it as much as possible”. Meno stared at the still holograms strewn around the room. Were they right? Were the Traes blind to the effects of what was happening to their people, was he himself? After all, they were living within the temple in all of this luxury, with no real duties, just their whims being answered every day with no worries to weigh them down. He wondered what it was like to live as a citizen. Part of him thought that all of this talk was the cause of these issues, a causa sui, Swan would have said, but did that matter much? There was no point in denying the occurrence of something to its face.
The Kryptea’s arrival had caused more of a stir than Meno had originally and potentially, naively, thought it would. He knew the stories of the Silent Army, named so for never questioning or denying an order. They would do whatever was asked of them, with no dispute, no required reason, they simply acted. They had always been fascinating to Meno, an army known throughout the galaxy as being the most powerful, the most effective. They had come under the command of the Autarch after previously being an independent House after they destroyed the Sha-En House. It was the last Sha-En who had fought against them, and in their defeat, they were punished by the Autarch to servitude.
‘...of course he did’ said Angie as though this should have been a given, ‘You don’t get rid of the galaxy's most powerful armed force. I’m sure the Autarch always had his eyes on them’ she added quietly, as though not wanting to be overheard, even though it was just Paba, Angie and himself in the apartment when she had said it.
They were not permitted to take part in the ceremonial welcome when they did arrive but stood on a balcony overlooking the grand entrance of the temple when they were greeted by the Traes. Meno had only met Pac and Eher Traes once before, in a similar welcoming, though not in a great hall, or a ceremony, but rather within their apartments on the top floor of the temple. While they both still stood tall, ethereal, and beautiful, there was an exhaustion to them now. They looked, depleted.
There were three Kryptea that had arrived, and even with the sombre mood that hung over their arrival, Meno had found himself excited to see one for the first time. There were two men and a woman, she was the one in charge by the looks of it walking ahead of the other two. Each of them tall, much taller than the average person, lean though wrapped with muscle. Their skin was red-tanned, she was darker than the men, and their heads were shaved. All three were barefoot and wore simple beige robes. They looked more individually powerful than anyone that Meno had ever seen before, and if he had not known that they were Kryptea, he would have thought that they were professional athletes or survivalists, but it was their look that made them seem even more. Their ascetic gaze and harsh features showed them as hardened soldiers. Even though the oldest seemed only a couple of years further than Meno, their youth was gone, stolen from them.
‘They are taken into the Kryptea as children, left out in the wilderness of their world, Lacedon for years, only then the survivors are trained into soldiers. They are broken, then rebuilt, they give them food that grows them, that’s why all Kryptea are big, strong and wickedly fast. They are soldiers from the moment that they are taken in and stripped of any individuality. They merely serve’ Angie had shivered while saying it. She had seen them in action, and the only thing she had said was that they were like a hurricane, they ripped through cities, tearing out what needed to be destroyed without mercy, without prejudice. Simply following orders.
The woman and the man behind her to the right both held simple, iron swords in their hands, the point or what should have been a point but was rather a blunt end, resting on the floor. The third and the largest of the three didn't carry a weapon at all. Angie had told him that they were always permitted to carry weapons by the Autarch, and because they were bound by orders, the risk of them using their weapons against those they were charged to protect was non-existent, it was never seen as a threat. When he asked about the third that didn't carry a weapon, thinking that this meant he had another speciality, Angie frowned and said,
‘He must not have taken a name yet. The Kryptea are not given an identity, you must take one and then become a Kryptea. Before you ask, it’s not about choosing a name, it’s about taking one, by blood. If he isn't carrying a weapon, it’s because he hasn't taken a name yet, and isn't officially a Kryptea yet, which is why he can’t carry a weapon in public. He probably goes by a number she had finished examining him. Meno thought this strange because out of the three, he looked the most fierce.
“This again, it’s everywhere,” said Olivia from behind Meno who quickly jumped up after being lost in thought. He looked at her and saw that she was looking around the room at the Hologram news that he had paused.
“Shit, sorry Liv, I didn't know you were coming,” he said making the holograms disappear. He looked at Angie, questioning why he didn't get a warning that Olivia had entered the room.
“It’s okay, there’s no escaping it. I should perhaps just accept that we are evil” she said throwing her hands up with a quick smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.
“We think it’s all nonsense if that helps” said Angie now perched on the balcony.
“Yes, well, your accommodations dictate that you need to say that doesn't it?” she said with a wink. Liv was trying to put on a brave face, but Meno could tell that everything that was being said about her and her family had been taking a toll. She had been quiet for a few days after Meno’s sparring match, and they had all questioned why, but the Traes must have had word that news like this was coming and therefore they forgave her for not being as present as she had been. It wasn't long until she was popping back into their apartments when she had free time, with all of her usual questions, trying to dissect their lives and find out more about them. They had managed to turn this into a bit of a game, her knowing that they didn't want to tell all, and not accepting that. Angie had masterfully been able to make this seem as though they were somehow very important, and everything about them was classified, Liv hadn't bought this for a moment, but she understood that there were secrets around them. They had, after all, come to a foreign planet with no previous ties and handed over a coin, offering them safety in the home of the planetary heads and protection, they were wrapped in mystery, what Liv didn't know, was that it was all very mysterious even to them.
“Well, should we go, Paba will meet us at the glider, she’s already in the hangar,” said Angie standing and dropping the datapad that she had clearly been messaging Paba on. They joined Efreet who had been standing outside of the doors, now more comfortable to let Liv be in their company alone and made their way down the lift that Meno was now comfortable with. He internally praised himself for this every time. The doors opened and they were met by Paba, who looked anxious,
“Do we need that to come with us?” she said throwing her thumb over her shoulder. She was pointing to one of the Kryptea who was standing next to the glider, with two other guards standing a few paces away from him. It was the nameless Kryptea, the one that didn't carry a weapon.
“He’s got orders and so do I, unfortunately” Liv said making her way passed Paba but placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s just the way things go”
Their journey on the glider was silent, and uncomfortable, on their way to the library as they did once a week, Meno sat watching the Kryptea who sat opposite him staring out of the window. It was clear that nobody else was comfortable for him as the guards had been relegated to sitting on his side, perhaps as a way to protect against him, but Meno knew it was because Liv, Angie and especially Paba wanted to be as far away from him as possible. At first, he was surprised by the size of him, he was by all accounts, larger than most people, it wasn't that he was just tall, he was just bigger. He had deep lines under his eyes, and his expression never showed any interest, familiarity or friendliness, nor malice if Meno was to be honest. He just looked. It was sad, thought Meno. He also looked younger now that Meno was close to him, close to his own age. Meno couldn't understand what needed to be done to someone to make them like this, what this person needed to go through. He thought about what Angie had told him about this one's name, and that he didn't have one.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Stop staring” Angie whispered with a now familiar elbow in his side. Liv tried to act like it was all right, but Meno could see that something had changed. Their usual fun was now interrupted, and conversation was now limited from its usual game of questions and answers and stories, it felt as though it was interrupted, invaded. The Kryptea didn't seem to show any notice of their unease, or Meno’s staring at him.
“I’m Meno by the way,” he said leaning over and reaching his hand out to the Kryptea, before he could stop himself. The cabin held its breath and it seemed that even the Kryptea was shocked by the gesture. Meno’s hand was left dangling in front of the Kryptea whose arms remained folded as he stared blankly at it.
“Why don’t you…” Angie started and pulled at the back of Meno’s shirt. He sat back down and looked at the room, Paba was looking at him with her usual wide eyes of shock, Angie looked incredulous but Liv had a slight smile and he saw that Efreet was worried with his hand resting on his weapon. “They dont do that” Angie whispered to him. He and the Kryptea looked at each other for a while, until the Kryptea looked back out of the window.
“We’re here,” said Liv, trying to ease the tension in the room,
“Thank fuck” said Paba almost jumping to her feet. Meno watched as the Kryptea made his way to the doors first and waited outside for them to depart. He stood there by the glider while they made their way in.
“Why was everyone so tense?” Meno whispered to Angie as they walked into the library away from the swarming kids. She looked at him as though he knew absolutely nothing.
“They have full authority to eliminate anyone they see as a threat, Meno. If you hold a weapon to a Kryptea, they attack” she said very seriously, “If he thought that you were trying to attack him, he would have killed you, that’s why people limit their interactions with Kryptea. You can’t risk them thinking that you might want to harm them or someone they are protecting or following”
“You're an idiot” added Paba with a quick bark of childish laughter. Meno didn't realise how nervous the rest of his group was around the Kryptea, he had understood that they wanted to be cautious around him, but he didn't expect them to jump like that. He looked out of the doors of the library and saw him still standing by the glider, scanning the rooftops. Even after his sparring match, which even Pac Traes himself had commented on - in a message sent to him by Olivia - doing a great job, just looking at the man, Meno knew that he didn't stand much of a chance. He had scars on his shoulders that looked as though they moved onto his back but the beige cloth of his clothing covered it. He was battle-tested. Even if he wasn't officially a Kryptea yet.
After being swarmed by children, Meno was shuffled into a corner where he once again, as he had on five separate occasions now, started to read to the children, and like on all occasions, he had chosen a book that he had wanted to read.
“...And so King Locne stood against them, his own House, his own people” he said standing over the children his free hand looming over them as they watched with rapt attention, “Betrayed and cast out, but not defeated, oh no, Locne made his stand and fought for three days and three nights, alone, against the tyranny of his brethren for the injustices they hurtled across the galaxy, and on the final day, with the Shaking Spear in hand, he claimed victory and rid the universe the scourge of his kin!” the children clapped and cheered as Meno finished reading his story. He bowed to them and upon coming up saw that Angie was watching him with a smile on her face, she gave him a nod, almost congratulating him.
He made his way over to Angie and Liv after the children were scampered away by one of the Matrons and saw that once again Paba was standing to the side as one of the guards was reading for her. They now made her wait for the story to be finished as a method of punishment.
“What was it this time?” he asked,
“She got into an argument with a five-year-old. Called the kid dumb” Angie answered trying not to laugh. Meno rubbed his eyes and tried not to laugh. She seemed to notice that they were laughing at her and crossed her arms, hoisting her nose up. “She really isn't good with kids” continued Angie, but Meno was no longer concentrating on their conversation. At the doors to the library, he saw the Kryptea, he had not entered the library but was looking in, watching the children, and he had the first hint of softness to his harsh face with its heavy lines under the eyes. He was watching the children as though happy for them, glad that they were playing and enjoying the sight of their joy. He looked up and they locked eyes, and Meno saw him turn, looking somewhat embarrassed that this had been seen.
They waited for Olivia to finish up with her story, and then watched as she spoke with the matrons, nodding and taking their hands, the elder woman looking as though they were offering words of encouragement to her. Liv graciously thanked them, and Meno saw the now familiar look of telling people that everything was fine, and not to worry. At this point though it was clear to everyone that not everything was fine, and that she was under a great amount of strain. She stayed cheery as they made their way into the glider and lifted off, laughing at Paba who was still sulking at the fact that she had received punishment,
“I know that this sounds childish, but that little shit started it” she said indignantly,
“Yes, well, he is a…”
“Down!” roared the Kryptea reaching for Olivia across the cabin, they all jumped in shock at the eruption of light outside of the glider which was followed by an enormous clap and a rumbling of the ship, they shook in the glider as they felt it jerk and start to spin. Meno looked at Angie who was pushing her arm against the walls of the cabin looking outside. Meno felt the entire glider start to spin, his stomach lurched with the motion. The gravity engines were out, there was no other way that they would feel this motion otherwise. Liv and Paba were screaming, and the initial shock from the Kryptea’s movement had caused Efreet to get in between his charge and the warrior.
“We’re going down, I didn't see where it came from!” roared Angie who was still looking out of the window. Meno tried to pull Paba off of him as she screamed into his ear. He looked over to Liv to see that sheer panic had set in for her, it didn't look like she was able to take a breath. The glider came to a sliding crash along the streets of Det’er, the hull of the glider buckled under the weight of the crash and the screeching of the metal against the cobbled street became deafening, and sparks continued to wasp up outside of the windows. Meno caught glimpses of people rushing away as the glider spun with sparks flying up from the side. Meno spotted it though, through the spin and the flashing from the windows, he saw two of them, two people in black exo-suits. This was no accident, they were under attack.
“Weapon!” Angie screamed at Efreet with her hand held out. The guard seemed to be in a manner of shock too and looked at Angie with confusion, “Now, Efreet!” he handed over a pistol to her and she shook her head. “We need something that will cut through the shields, lasers won’t work,” she said looking around, Meno was reminded of what Mr. Dimitri had taught him around this, that energy shields were effective against energy weapons where they could absorb or deflect laser fire for a while, but would eventually break, but the shields were not as effective against projectiles that could penetrate them if there was enough velocity. One of the other guards struggled to get to the centre of the cabin as the spinning began to stop, and pulled up a hatch, which revealed a number of weapons.
Angie made her way over and Meno stood, checking on Olivia, who still seemed to be in a panic. Efreet had seemed to come to and was now trying to calm her while preparing his own weapon. The other guards were handing out rifles to Angie, and gave her a look before releasing the weapon, giving her a sharp nod as though saying, ‘I am trusting you’. The Kryptea was already making his way to the door, and Meno followed him. The guards tried to hand the unarmoured man and himself a weapon, the Kryptea declined but Meno took one and a shield from Efreet.
“Do we have a count?”
“I saw two” Meno said,
“Five” Angie said, “And they will have cover from the rooftops so prepare yourself”
“Comms are down” said Efreet who had now gathered himself, “You two, stay with them” he said to his accompanying guard, pointing at Liv and Paba, “Don’t let anyone in here, and keep trying the comms. The crash would have been noticed” he added to ensure that nobody panicked, “But we need as much support as possible”
“Shields up front Meno” said Angie pulling him back, and allowing Efreet to step forward next to the Kryptea who had not said a word yet. She was looking at him as though she regretted that he needed to do this. He swallowed and focused. There was no sound coming from outside yet, but the smell of burning metal was now quite pungent. Meno considered what was happening for a moment, they didn't want to destroy the ship, which meant that they wanted to capture Olivia, which meant that they were going to need to fight them all off and prevent them from getting to the glider, and without the comms, it was going to be just them for the time being. They couldn't count on help and had to assume that the attackers had planned on this.. He readied himself to prevent anyone from getting into the cabin of the glider..
“Three, two…” said Efreet holding up a gloved hand counting down, “One!” the door swung open and they were met with bright laser fire which hit each of the shields creating cracking noises as the light met with the bubble-like barriers. The Kryptea was already gone, and Meno who had momentarily closed his eyes at the brightness of the fire had not seen where he had gone. “Deploying!” roared Efreet who dropped a steel plate on the ground which released a bubble that engulfed them, Meno recognised the hum as a gravity shield and realised that it had been deployed just in time as he heard bullets stream past in screams as their trajectory was altered and shifted, he heard pops as they hit the glider behind him. They could protect the ship and themselves with the energy shields, but their enemies were using different types of rounds.
Meno stuck his head out now under the cover of the gravity shield and his own energy shield and saw that there were two black exo-suited soldiers firing from behind a fountain at them, Efreet was firing at a rooftop and Meno decided to act himself he pulled the trigger of his own weapon which released a stream of red light towards the two enemies, it bounced off one soldiers shield, his aim failed him and the weapon hit the wall spraying dust below.
“The Kryptea?!” said Angie who was firing in the opposite direction. Meno looked around trying to find him, but didn't see him anywhere. From what he could see, they were surrounded from the front, at least five soldiers were firing at them from around the street, and they couldn't be in a worse position, they were close to the middle of a four-way intersection, with all of the paths for enemies to attack from each direction, with high rooftops hanging above them with countless windows looking directly onto their position. They planned this well. He couldn't see behind him as the glider was blocking that path and could only imagine that there were more of them coming from behind,
“I’ll cover our backs!” he roared to Angie over the chaos and he could see that she wanted to say something but decided against it and nodded. His breathing was heavy and uneven now, but he somehow felt clear and calm.
“Smoke,” she said pointing at the ammunition box that one of the guards had brought out, he pulled one with a blue tag and hurtled it over the glider, thanking the moment that Efreet had decided to explain what their different weaponry was in the training room,
He grabbed a belt of grenades as well from the box, and watching for fire, made his way over the glider before sliding onto the other side before he could draw any fire. As soon as he landed he saw that he was correct and that soldiers were making their way to their position, but he also saw the Kryptea through the smoke, he had forward kicked one of the attackers against the wall and saw a blood spray from the black exo-suit, he still had no weapon. He had another two attackers around him and he easily dodged their shots, with a calmness and ease that Meno couldn't fathom. With lightning speed, he gripped the arm of one of the soldiers, pulled it and thrust a palm into the chest of his victim which caved in the attacker's chest. The last soldier tried to fire at him from behind but the Kryptea deftly moved out of the way. The attacker dropped the rifle and thrust both hands forward and Meno could see that it was an energy push, and it released flames from his hands in a desperate attempt to try and drive the Kryptea back, but to Meno’s horror, the Kryptea walked through the flame and gripped the attacker's wrists, snapped them and pulled the man down thrusting his knee up which collided with the attacker's chin, bending his neck backwards violently.
Holy shit, thought Meno. all of that had happened in a second.
The Kryptea looked at Meno and pointed across the intersection, and Meno saw that there were two attackers setting up in a position. Without thinking he released one of the grenades from the belt and hurled it at them, he seemed to have thrown it before they could set up their own shield and their focus was on the Kryptea soldier. Meno could understand that. The grenade exploded, at the feet of the soldiers, the blast hit Meno with a shockwave and caused his ears to ring, he felt the heat on his skin as the entire intersection became consumed with even more smoke and dust with the explosion of the grenade.
Meno gathered himself and through the chaos saw, coming through the cloud that they were in a glowing bubble, only then noticing that it was a rushing attacker hurtling their way toward him, with arm outstretched. Meno knew that he was either going to try a primer ability or use tech on him. He readied himself and lowered down, placing his left foot on the side of the glider to be able to push himself off. Meno was counting that the visibility was bad and disengaged his own shield, which if the soldier was also experiencing a lack of visibility would have made him near invisible, but the soldier continued his path and Meno pushed off of the glider with all his might and struck. He needed to endure the strain of shield, pushing himself through it, a familiar feeling to when he had fought the Dorlec soldier on the ship when leaving Gol. He thrust his hand up and caught the chin of the soldier and with his free hand gathered all of his strength and delivered a mighty blow into his solar plexus which folded the soldier. Meno then kicked the soldier's weapon away, pulled the rifle that was hanging on his back and shot the soldier in the leg so that they wouldn't be able to get away. He stopped himself from apologising but did wonder how that looked to the onlooker.
He then needed to duck and cover himself as light hit through the cloud of dust and smoke as blue laser fire hurtled toward him, he miraculously managed not to get hit by the fire that looked as though it was going to hit his shoulder, and his back hit against the glider. He quickly engaged the shield once more knowing that it would make him visible.
“I’m at your back!” he heard Angie scream behind him, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling at her arrival.
“Kryptea is out there, I don’t know how many we have,” he said, only now realising that he was panting. The smoke was now gone, and it seemed that it was just dust ahead of them, but that too was now starting to clear. “Throw grenades that way, I’ll use the dust to go that way,” he said pointing to the left. He disengaged his shield once more and saw Angie nod as he ran passed her wanting to use the slight cover that they had left as best as he could.
He could see three bubbles in the dust and knew that his only chance was to catch them off guard and get into their shields, as he only had a laser rifle with him, useless against a shield unless able to constantly fire and deplete the energy. He barged forward and knocked one of the soldiers off balance, not quite hitting him, but he did enough to compress the shield and push the soldier off of their feet. He quickly made his way around the other soldier to cover himself, discharging the rifle into the soldier's chest, who hadn't reacted in time, but just then the soldier who he had shot who had gone limp was now pulled backwards and Meno was faced with the barrel of a rifle.
Two blasts went off on the other side of the intersection and the slight shock wave allowed Meno to push the barrel to the side, but he didn't move fast enough, and then laser ripped into his shoulder with searing heat, he cried out but pulled himself back and stood up to the soldier, he pushed the rifle away from himself, his now wounded arm, not able to do much more, it felt as though it was now lame, but it did enough. He used his other hand and gripped behind the soldier's helmet and crashed his own head into it, cracking the glass which shot a shooting pain into his brain. He felt a whoosh next to him and realised that he had forgotten about the third soldier, he turned, his vision now blurry, and received another laser shot on the left side of his gut before he saw the Kryptea once more as he delivered an all mighty blow to the soldiers helmet, Meno had barely seen the movement he had thrust so quickly, but he heard it, the crack of the helmet and the sounding of his jaw dislodging, and saw the soldiers head stopped in an unnatural position.
Meno stumbled trying to hold himself up, his left arm now dangled next to him, unable to move. He looked around and saw laser bursts flying through the street from the glider, but these were not black exo-suited soldiers, but people wearing brightly coloured clothing, and loose cloth, they were shooting at the the attackers. These were the people of Det’em. He smiled in disillusion.
Meno fell to one knee, his consciousness fading. He felt a hand hold him up by his collar and looked to the side unable to turn his head up, and saw the beige cloth hiding the almost red-tan legs of the Kryptea. He felt himself being held up with ease. This Kryptea was unbelievable. He turned back and as he was about to lose consciousness watched the people of Yeley, protect Lady Olivia Traes, daughter of the Planetary leadership. Peace was gone now, it had all but vanished with this attack against them, but the people of Yeley had made their decision.
“You’re…so cool…” was the last word that he managed to mutter before black engulfed him.