Autumn Infernos 4, page 4
part #4 of Space Seasons Series
“I have seen what you both can do; the mech merge is not an easy feat. You are both proficient in kenosi. Your own display out there of using it to call on the darker side of its nature told me all I needed to know, that you aren’t just human and denti. You are both something very different. That had my curiosity piqued before you ripped up your own contract that had essentially bound us to you.”
“That shocked you, because…”
“Because it let me see who you were. What you wanted. Without the force.”
“May I see one?” I asked. I knew on the inside I was physically worried about the sheer scale of how powerful they could be. And yet, they’d never used them against the people on Tolsa. There were so many questions running through my head. You and me both, Hiroto said. I wish Xirob was here, he would know the reasons.
I felt sadness, and it must have shown. “Are you feeling alright?” Oron asked.
I looked back to him and answered truthfully. “I lost a good friend recently, one who when I had questions was always patient enough to answer them.”
He nodded. “My father and mother were both patient enough with me, until they realised what we were doing down here and refused our species from leaving the planet.”
“They didn’t want you out in space?”
“It was more the factors around the amplifiers. They are dangerous.”
“Yes, they are,” Tyto said. “In the wrong hands.”
“They’d be everything Arndale needs to keep the whole galaxy prisoner. Without the system.”
“There’s limitations to it, but yes…”
I wasn’t thinking of that, though. I was thinking of the planet. Tyto didn’t know. If they ever found out…
“Fucking shitballs,” I said aloud. “Yun…”
Hiroto cringed. If they break him, and he’s still connected to you, here… now.
I knew he was. I pulled up my character sheet, flicked through quickly.
You can’t tell them, Hiroto said.
I don’t have a choice. I can’t get their ship any other way.
You might! he said.
I looked to Oron. “We need to get your ship in the air.”
He froze, and I knew he was thinking I was going to force them.
I moved to the screen, and placing my hand to it, I focussed in deep. “Do you trust everyone in this room?” I asked.
He looked around. “They’re all family. I’d lay my life down for any one of them.”
Bringing my kenosi straight to the surface, I showed the planet Drudel. “Watch.” I focussed in more, whizzing through the atmosphere. I saw through my mind’s eye the people that were gathering around us. Saw their faces as they watched what I was doing.
“Impossible,” Oron said.
But my eyes locked with his. “Arndale has a way to see this, to find its location. To know what you just told me without even being here.”
He snarled at me. “You’re nothing but a spy!”
All eyes were on me, and then their guns. I didn’t flinch. “No,” I said. “They have one of mine, one who is connected to me in a way that you cannot know. My familiar, my friend.”
Los reached for the gun in Oron’s hands; she lowered it. “I have seen the connection they have when they take on a familiar. What is your pet?” She asked. “How long will it take for them to break him?”
I didn’t want to think on that work, but I thought hard. “He is a prince of his species, a Sitha.”
“So they will not only have the information but the means to put it into practice,” Oron said. “You know how strong the Sitha are, don’t you?”
I nodded. “No matter what we thought…”
“You’re taking this fight to Arndale, and we’re coming with you.”
“You can’t be serious—this was our future!” Los almost whined.
“It is our future I’m worried about,” Oron said and glanced around the M-Wolves crowding us. “You saw what I did. Can you walk away? If you can, tell me. Because if Arndale gets a hold of our tech, or even the inkling of it. Then take that tech and search for that planet, no one is safe. Not one single species on this side of the galaxy. In fact, all of the galaxy, nothing will ever be safe. They’ll consume everything. Destroy everything, within the blink of an eye. It would take one person, one mistake, and this would all disintegrate. The darkness.” He lowered his head. “I know you feel it. I know you’ve seen it.”
Tyto’s eyes narrowed, focussing on me.
“I have,” I replied. “Xirob warned me of it. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it up close and in person.”
“And yet you are here now. You were not swayed to that side.”
I saw the others around me watching carefully. Waiting to see if there was a reaction from me in any way. I paused, I didn’t want to answer if I wasn’t being honest. “I am swayed,” I said. “I’m swayed as much as you would be. It’s more tempting than you’d ever know, especially when there are people around you who are suffering, or who might die because of a decision you’ve just made.”
“You have the constitution of someone very powerful,” he said.
“Or someone very stupid.” I laughed, and at least it got a chuckle from him.
“I do not think you would have been able to get my father to agree to the contract in the first place if you were stupid.”
I had seen my character sheet, and I had to agree—my luck, my stats in general were pretty great. I was proud of them, and of where I was. Levelling to this, to the strength I was, meant everything to me. To us as a team.
I held out my hand again. “Let’s get this mission underway. We have a lot to do, a lot to accomplish and to move. Those who wish to stay on Tolsa may do so; we need to make sure they can survive before we leave. Together we will rebuild, then we will head out. But first…”
“Let’s get this ship in the air.” He grinned. I found it really hard to distinguish their features and their postures, but I was getting there.
Hiroto, I need schematics and ground complications. I have a feeling getting this to move is going to be complicated as hell.
You mean it’s going to take kenosi?
He was on the same wave length as me. Yes, and I don’t think they can move it any other way. We need Denn here, to check their engine over, Jai and Vitya down here, with his father and Aust.
I knew Tyto saw Hiroto’s message come through. “Calling the council together?”
“We can meet here or in Delta 81. I think at least that’s a little more neutral.”
“I agree. I think we can do this easy enough, but the room’s not really large enough for the M-Wolves, at least the larger ones.”
He was right. “Then we have it in the open. The weather is cold, but we’re not under threat of anything, right?”
“But,” Oron stated.
“Afraid people will overhear?”
“A little, yes. Do you want them to know everything?”
“I haven’t kept anything from my guild. I wouldn’t think twice about talking our plans in front of any of them. If you’re worried about what you are doing and what you want from your people, then I think you need to think really hard on who you invite on your ship. There could be some willing to sell all of us out to Arndale.”
He nodded. “What’s your count?”
I didn’t actually know this. Hiroto? Our guild numbers?
Hiroto coughed. Easier if you touch the screen once more.
I moved back to the screen, and within a second there appeared a page of numbers. The tally made me grin.
“I do have something to put against it,” Tyto said. “I’m sorry, but you need to see their numbers. If Xirob was here, he would have shown it to you now, so I am. This is the latest report from the Eekan.”
Oron didn’t flinch, but there were several around the room that did. “You’re Eekan?”
What does this all mean?
What are we really doing?
Many confused voices. Oron looked at the numbers and howled out. “Quiet! What we do is what we want. What is right for us, for our pack.”
“You are welcome to stay as allies,” I said. “Or, I’m offering you a different option: to join our guild.”
“Allies,” Oron said. “I would like to keep my own pack. But I request that you assist us with training, resources, and fighters. If we are to take on Arndale, we’ll need to defend, as well as be capable of attack if you call for us.”
“Understood. If we get you in space, things will be a lot easier to see, to understand, to help with. Rojak and the Cristanna I believe would be similar size, if not levels as you are. You can coordinate with him closer than me. I trust you will both get on. Once you meet.”
“I think I would like that. We have a long way to go, Kyle. But you seem to have your wits and others on your side.”
“Let’s hope luck as well,” I said. “Luck’s going to be very important here.”
Chapter Four
Everything was a whirl of meeting after meeting, with those on the planet surface while we waited on shuttles and ships to bring in the others. I didn’t think I would ever get to sit down, to relax, or just find myself once more.
But as the demand for my attention and that of the others waned away, it left me with an empty stomach and mind. I found myself sitting opposite Tyto, in Delta 81’s mess hall. With a plate of rations in front of me.
I picked at it, not really feeling the need to eat, but knowing my body wanted to. Tyto ate slowly, probably contemplating things as much as I was.
When our eyes locked, he sat back, sighed. “I need some sleep,” he said.
I rubbed my eyes, feeling them burning. “Yeah, I think we all do.” I wanted to go back to Artemis and see Shion, curl up next to her and forget everything that was going on, even for a few brief hours. But that would take up far too much in terms of resources. We had to sort out a lot more here first.
I could see movement at the doors. “Someone’s here,” Tyto said.
I nodded, tried to sit straight, my mind and body didn’t want to respond. I was exhausted still.
That’s when I saw a familiar shape and face appear. Rytin. Walking next to him was Reece.
Rytin looked straight to us both, and then bypassed everyone else clamouring for attention.
Rytin didn’t seem to have changed a lot, at least on the outside. I was sure he’d grown in lots of other ways.
I locked eyes with Reece only for a moment, then he looked away. I wasn’t sure how this would go down at all, and I worried for all four of us. Could we still work together? Tyto and Rytin had history, and well, with Reece…
Tyto stiffened as they stopped in front of us, and I stood to greet the both of them.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you,” Rytin said and grabbed a hold of me.
Eventually when he let go of me from his bro hug, I reached under my shirt and pulled out the chain and ring that he’d given me back on Tolsa.
He took it from me, looked it over. “I thought you’d have lost this,” he said.
“I tried my best not to, had someone look after it for me.”
Rytin slipped it over his own head, tucking it into his shirt. Then he turned to Tyto, and they shook hands. “We cool?” Rytin asked him.
I wasn’t sure how much communication they’d had, if any. The atmosphere between them was thick. They were both seriously intense men, both those I’d trust with any detail of myself and my life.
I placed my hand on both of theirs as they shook, reminding them I was there. “You got Kyle’s back, I have yours,” Tyto said.
“Then we’re all cool.” Rytin smiled.
There however wasn’t much of a response from Reece. I coughed. “Reece?”
“Kyle, I don’t…” his eyes flickered around the room, not really knowing where to settle.
I could see he was more than uncomfortable, and I knew I wanted to talk to him more than anything. The last moments of being on Tolsa, Tyto’s junker, Saskia and Nehi. I could only change the subject, my eyes meeting Rytin’s again. “Did you bring the mech?”
Rytin nodded, “Yes, though I still can’t operate it.”
Tyto’s eyes lit up. I hadn’t really spoken about it; I wanted him to see it for himself. “Mech? What model?”
Rytin’s grin spread and it was nice to see and hear their excitement. “Hand built. It has no class, really.”
“Overall operational level?”
“Hundred, I’m not there yet.”
I saw Tyto grin this time. “Personal level?”
“Low, because I made it. Just 250.”
“The last time I saw your stats you weren’t quite there.”
“Yeah, I’m not quite there on my personal one. But damn, so close.”
“What levels are you at?”
“One twelve, and two-thirty-four.”
“That’s really close. Much closer than me. You’ve been piloting a long time though, I only just really started in the last couple of years.”
Tyto ran a hand through his hair. “What about you?” he asked me.
I was so close, it stung. “Ninety-three and three-fifty-five.”
“You’re close too, that’s amazing!”
“Come,” I said. “Let’s get a proper look at us all. I think it would be good to catch up, share. Somewhere a little more private.”
I didn’t know where, but I knew we needed to go somewhere, and I needed to talk to Reece before we went any further. Now that we had the wolves’ Razor fully laid out beneath us, it was easy to at least get down into it from other sections in their ship. I had made sure we could from Delta 81 right away.
I comm’d Oron a message. “Mind if we come aboard?”
“I see the mech coming in. I would like to meet the designer of a unique mech, especially if he built it himself. He’s got some really good engineering skills.”
It was nice to see Rytin straighten up with the compliment. I closed the comms and looked to him. “Want to grab some food before we leave?”
“I’m good. We brought more rations and supplies with us.” He indicated for me to move, so I grabbed the last bit of my dinner and walked to return the tray at least to the right place.
“Who else came with you?” I asked.
“Alek. Keedo. She’s back with the wounded, doing a fantastic job already. We’d been stockpiling for a while. She was glad of that.”
As we walked to Oron, I filled him in some more. “There’s a lot of chatter about some of the others leaving Tolsa. A lot of people don’t want to fight anymore,” Rytin admitted.
“I know what I said, but we can’t leave skilled people with them,” I replied. As much as I hated to say it, we needed everyone. That either meant leaving those who couldn’t look after themselves to struggle to survive, or they came with us. It wasn’t what anyone of us wanted. But the only safe place for them, really, was on a ship. The army around a dreadnought would not be tackled so lightly, and any smaller ships would be crushed. Put this one with the Cristanna and we were starting to become a force to be reckoned with.
I don’t think I’d want to tackle us in space, Hiroto said.
“I know what you’re thinking, but I do have some ideas. When we get up in space and moving, we’ll start to sort things out. People. Not all of them need to be with us, but they do need somewhere safe.”
Tyto nodded. “I agree. We’ll need to put it to the other leaders.”
I paused in my walking. As much as I loved being an integral part of this world, the men around me knew war in ways I couldn’t comprehend. “I’ll trust all of your judgment when it comes to that. I wouldn’t order anyone to stay around, you know that. I even let the M-Wolves go, remember?”
Tyto walked on. “I still have no idea how it worked in our favour…”
“I would say reverse psychology, but I think it’s more than that. The act of faith, the fact they really want to get off Tolsa, and the need to see through what I’m doing.”
“They all believe there’s a better future for us. They want someone to believe in, someone to follow.”
“Sucks it’s me, right?”
Reece laughed to my side. I sucked at this and not only sensed his nerves being around me, but I felt weird too.
Rytin glared at me. “Takes only one person with something extra to rally the troops. Been that way for many years in and out of war, right, Tyto?”
Tyto nodded. “We would never have made a stand if it weren’t for denti like Xirob.”
Both Tyto and Rytin froze. “I am sorry you lost him,” Rytin said. “I might never get the chance to meet a master of his level again. It was an honour, even if I didn’t know he was there.”
I tried my best to smile at them all. “I never realised the time and dedication it took to reach levels like that in general. A hundred to a hundred fifty is intense. The highest I have in any skill is my Nanite Factory, and I think that’s only down to sheer dumb luck.” I watched him agree with me. “You might not get to meet many more. But because of him, we all will get to aim for it.”
Tyto nodded then. “Yes, we will.”
Things drifted slightly and Tyto, and he started to talk about the mech more and what they both wanted out of a merge. They were also a few steps ahead. I caught Reece looking my way.
“Hey,” I said. “I need to know we’re okay too?”
His eyes locked with mine. “She was bad, Kyle. I know that. From the moment she poisoned you and tried her best to recant it, there were things that started to fall into place.”
I saw his demeanour change, his eyes filled with tears. I can’t imagine how much it hurt. Being so close to her, to them, and having it all fall apart.
“I…I’m sorry,” I said. “If you need to know the full details of what happened…”
He held up a hand. “No, I don’t. I tracked her, when we split up. I caught her out, doing things I never thought she would have. She’d more than changed, on the inside.” He wiped at his eyes and straightened himself up. “She was more than evil. She’d done some terrible things. I went to see her, only the once…”
