Bringing up his gauntlet, Malan allowed some celestial energy to activate its interface and directed it to open a backdoor connection with Iven’s computer using the security information he’d already taken from Eidolon’s systems.

A subtle ding rang through his helmet to indicate the connection’s success at almost presicely the same time Iven’s fingers froze above his touch screen for just a moment, his eyebrow twitching in slight surprise. Malan watched for a moment as the man’s eyes slid over to his guards and his fingers moved to pretend to feign work.

This is the Starbound, Tanwen. Are you seeing this Iven?

The man’s eyes narrowed, but his fingers moved for real this time. I am receiving. Where are you? A connection like this would have to be short range—you are already here, aren’t you?

Iven’s message flickered across his HUD, and Malan merely had to think his response to send it.

Unimportant. I am here at Bessna’s request.

This time, Iven’s hands froze, eyes widening before regaining his composure. Is she safe?

She is. A few of Standarr’s men made that difficult, but I was able to deal with them. She is in a safe place, and said you would know where that was.

It felt a little shady to neglect Elena’s more than significant role in things, but Malan did not fully trust Iven, and he saw no reason to disclose more than he had to.

Then I owe you a favour, Starbound. I’m afraid to say, though, I cannot come with you. They have my children on their main craft. If I leave, they will kill them.

I’m not here for you, Malan replied simply. Bessna has asked me to retrieve your children and get them to safety, but I need to know where they are.

Iven grimaced, shaking his head as he responded. It is not possible. There is an entire Crimson Fleet Wing in-system. Several dozen ships. They have made a base of the research station on Cul. You will not be able to get to them before Standarr has them killed.

Malan frowned. Those numbers were too high for a simple drug-running operation. The hallucinogenic they were making was a good score, but didn’t need twenty plus ships.

What else are you making here to warrant that kind of presence?

Iven’s head bowed, and despite his obvious strength, he suddenly seemed incredibly small hunched over his monitor.

I am sending a data package. It will explain. I’ll also include information about Eclipse’s base. I should not have this, but Standarr is not the only one with a colourful past. Whatever you need to do to save my children, Starbound Tanwen, you do it. Damn the consequences.

I intend to.

Iven’s eyes closed for a moment and he took a deep, shuddering breath. Thank you. Now go. Standarr has been called off-world. That gives you a window to get back to your ship before the colony’s real security forces connect the explosions to you.

I’m sorry I can’t break you out.

The man’s head shook slowly. If you did, Standarr would carry out his threats. They are not empty, Tanwen. It’s important you know that. I will likely not live long beyond the rescue of my children. It will not be long before Eclipse will be able to replicate what I am doing here. I have made my peace. This is the consequences of a life poorly lived. Penance, you might say.

Malan sighed soundlessly, but said nothing more. Critiquing Iven’s life choices seemed more than a little hypocritical after how he’d spent his last two years. Instead he slipped away into the shadows of the vents. Moving through the facility on the way out was both more complicated, and easier than it had been the first time.

Elena’s diversion had achieved their goal of giving them access to Iven—as well as putting some significant dents in Eclipse’s operations here—but it’d truly stirred the hornets nest. The security presence on the way out was hugely increased, and the patrol patterns had changed wildly. It had taken another hack, this time into Eidolon’s camera coverage, to navigate his way through the bodies, and Malan had taken the time to wipe the footage of his break-in to boot.

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However, this now wasn’t his first rodeo, and he found himself recognising doors and corridors fairly well, despite the sameness of the whole place, and so he found his path out fairly quickly.

From there, it was a frantic groundsuit-powered sprint through the night-time jungle to meet Elena at their rendezvous point.

His HUD pointed out Elena faster than he saw her with his own eyes. She leaned back against a tree in a dense thicket of undergrowth that lay at the crest of a small ridge that overlooked the port. She, too, had seen him well before he’d spotted her, and she watched his approach with the whites of her teeth visible from the grin written large across her face.

Slightly out of breath, Malan dropped into a crouch beside her. “Have fun?”

“Explosions are always fun. Get what we need?”

“Yeah. The situation’s looking pretty fucked, though. The kids are off-world, for starters.”

Her smile faded, but not the determined glint in her eye. “Let’s get safely into the sky. We can evaluate our options from there.”

Malan glanced across the port below, already growing accustomed to the flickering data indicators that flared momentarily across his HUD as he looked at various objects and scattered night-shift workers. “Security is light.”

“It won’t be for long. First responders are still heading out to the Eclipse facilities. Once its clear that it was attacked, we’ll be the first suspects.”

“Let’s not waste the opportunity, then.”

Nodding, Malan broke from the tree line, and made for the spaceport in a hurried crouch. There perhaps wasn't the need for attempting to move with stealth this late into the night, especially since the bulk of the colony did not know he and Elena were responsible for the explosions at the facilities. However, there were still Eclipse mercenaries posing as security among the real deal at the colony, and if he could reach his ship without discovery, so much the better.

With everything that had transpired, he’d expected his muscles to burn more than they currently were. Even after several fights and infiltrating a laboratory, the dash towards the port felt smooth and easy. The groundsuit was still surprising him in its adaptability, and with the extent to which it bolstered his physical capabilities. Malan had never been unfit, necessarily, but an early life spent studying and researching, whilst maintaining the minimum physical requirements to be eligible for Starbound testing meant he had never been exactly fit, either.

Physicality coming with such ease was a new experience for him, and it was one he was finding he enjoyed.

The journey across the open field between the jungle treeline and the spaceport was crossed with little drama. As best as he could make out, nobody had seen them—two dark shadows scurrying across the earth in the inky black. The landing pads themselves had no fences or physical onstructions, and Malan and Elena were able to emerge from the dark with little hassle.

The mechanics and engineers scurrying back and forth, servicing shuttle craft and other docked ships paid little heed, each appearing to assume they had simply not noticed the passage of the Starbound and his companion from the colony proper. There were several double takes, a few muttered comments of co-workers pointing them out to each other, but little actual fuss.

Most appeared to simply assume they were there to check up on their ships, or perhaps even to leave, as almost none of these men and women were high up enough in the Caezo hierarchy to be kept up-to-date with such things.

It made reaching Tanwen stunningly easy. Elena merely nodded to him as she boarded the Sparrow to make herself ready, allowing Malan to turn towards his own craft.

It was still alien to say that. His own craft. He ran his eyes over Tanwen, carefully taking in the shape, with its sleek curves and rounded edges. Malan couldn’t help but realise he'd never had the opportunity to stop and actually see what his ship looked like from the outside. It had sprung into life with him inside of it, and when he’d disembarked for the first time, he'd been immediately harangued by two of the mechanics and Talorcan.

Tanwen was a handsome thing. His hull was jet black, with the bridge section a large triangular segment, with tinted viewing screens, and a variety of sensors and instruments dotted across its surface. Behind that, the main bulk of the ship was crescent shaped, like a scythe, it's pointed edges facing forwards. All along its body, the edges of the panels lining its surface shone with amber motes of celestial energy, giving the distinct impression that beneath the black armour panels, the ship itself burned with power.

The hair on his arms stood up the longer he looked at it, the nascent energy of the ship calling to him, even from outside of it. He could feel the bond at all times, but now the connection between him and it seemed to sing through him, and he realised that once again Tanwen’s consciousness was not only present within his mind, but active.

“Tanwen?”

“Yes, pilot. Welcome back.”

"Thanks. Tanwen, do we have long-range communication capabilities?”

"Negative. I am not currently capable of communicating outside of the system. However, with your current gauntlet interface skill level, I am able to hack into the communication facilities of this colony from the bridge once the groundsuit has been reintegrated into my main body.”

"How about whilst in low orbit?”

“That should still be within the required parameters for me to achieve this, yes.”

Malan nodded. “Then you begin the hack, whilst I get us into space. I think I know how we can rescue those kids.”