“This is where scum and criminals go when they don’t wanna be found,” Vanakis explained. “It’s a breeding ground for the galaxy’s most horrible folk. Now let’s go meet the riff-raff,” he smiled.
Vanakis guided the ship down to a secluded spot and landed in a tiny outcrop. It almost formed a roof for the ship to be housed in a cliff face. As they landed in the cliff, shrubs and vines covered most of the ship. The outcrop provided a perfect place to hide the Azura. As the ramp lowered, Akrillis, Vanakis, and Laurelle stepped out onto the jungle floor. Laurelle was seeing grass for the first time, seeing trees and natural life. Animals and flora were all-new sightings for the little one. Swamps and bogs littered the majority of the planet. She felt the cool mud between the toes on her shoeless feet.
“Why did we land in the middle of nowhere?” Akrillis asked.
Val walked out to the edge. There, he pointed to a settlement not too far away. A smokestack stood on one side of this rounded building. The rest was covered by the planet’s vegetation. Between them and the settlement was a thick jungle and an ocean of green sludge to be crossed.
“It’s best to keep your possessions away from these people. Trust me,” Vanakis assured them.
“Why do I get the feeling you knew this spot was here,” Akrillis stated.
“Of course I did. Didn’t you see the reserved sign? Let’s get moving, and watch your pet,” Vanakis warned, referring to Laurelle, of course.
Akrillis’ foot sunk beneath the inches of water—not even clean water; it was green and thick like a milkshake.
This place does not make it onto my list of holiday destinations.
Laurelle wasn’t dealing with the situation any better. The water was a lot higher on the little one. The water almost reached her hips. Akrillis felt the sludge drain into his boots. After crossing the dense marshland, they soon saw the large building right before them. Akrillis was glad the moist terrain had passed, as his blisters were already forming.
As they approached the door, Vanakis turned to the other two behind him. “Now watch yourself. This place is no breeze. These are scum, killers, thieves, ex-politicians, probably,” he said, rolling his eyes then chuckling at that last one.
“I can handle myself,” Laurelle mentioned.
“Well, good,” Val continued, “’cause I was talking to him,” he clarified as he pointed at his brother. He then continued toward the establishment. “Don’t feel too bad if we happen to lose that annoying tag-along in here,” Vanakis remarked to Akrillis.
Laurelle looked up at Akrillis with a worried look projecting at him.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he assured her.
“Val,” said the bouncer with a smile. “It’s been a while,” the Karaan fellow mentioned. He was of a lizard-like race. His green scales blended quite well with the environment here. His snout opened as he grunted, and his long, pointy tongue extracted from his jagged mouth. He watched the other two closely as they entered.
Inside was a large cantina with patrons from all corners of the galaxy. They were of all different shapes and sizes, different colours, and they all had different reasons for being here. Music played across the establishment.
‘Not like traditional stuff you hear back in the city,’ Akrillis thought.
A Tureth lady sat at a booth, her serpent figure wrapped around the table’s single leg. The group of tree-like Yonnu sat at a table, their leafy hands grasped their drinks. An Orion sat at the bar; Orions were a wolf-like race that were big and menacing. This Orion was in conversation with a human fellow who was bald and covered in tattoos.
Laurelle displayed a moment of happiness when she saw a Zantian walk past. Then she quickly remembered the hell her friends remained in.
A man came up to them as they passed the many people inside. “We don’t want your kind here, feline scum.”
“Watch your mouth, Oonaka. You might just find yourself not welcome here,” said a stranger.
Val let out a slight chuckle, “Daxx.”
Daxx was of a little furry race called the Belor.
Daxx, Val, and company sat down at a table in a private booth, shielded from the rest of the cantina by a small sheet.
Daxx sighed, “What do you need this time?”
“Just like that?” Vanakis questioned. “I need a reason to see an old friend?”
“Come on, you wouldn’t show your face here unless you wanted something, so what is it?” Daxx quickly pushed for the true meaning of their visit.
“I need a way to sneak people out of a secure facility,” Val rolled his eyes, as he gave in.
“You’ve wanted to steal some weird shit over the years,” Daxx mentioned, “but people? That’s a whole new ballpark.”
“Not me. This asshole,” Val clarified as he pointed to Akrillis.
“We need to free Tarian slaves from captivity. Problem is they’re all locked up in concentration camps across Rynok,” Akrillis notified.
“Slaves? You?” Daxx questioned Val’s part in it, even laughing at it.
“Look, do you have a way to do it or not?” Vanakis asked in a slightly frustrated manner, as if his ego had taken a blow.
“Look, I’ll do some research and look into it a bit. In the meantime, stay out of trouble,” Daxx warned.
“Oh, we will,” Akrillis assured Daxx.
“I was talking to him,” he clarified as he looked over at Vanakis, who rolled his eyes in response.
Once Daxx left the booth, Akrillis showed his doubts. “You really think this guy can give us a way?”
“This guy is the best,” Val assured. “Trust me if he can’t come up with something, then it’s just not possible. Whenever I’ve needed something I couldn’t figure out, he’s had the answer.”
“Not sure if I trust a Belor, but we’ll see what he can do,” Akrillis added his two cents.
“No one’s asking you to trust him,” said Vanakis. “Besides, what do you care as long as you can get the job done?”
Nightfall had arrived over Sorgos. Laurelle admired the view from the balcony; the three recent arrivals had purchased a room to stay for the night. From their balcony three stories up, she could see the swamps and trees and the whole valley. In the dark, it was quite the sight. Some plants and insects had bioluminescence, making it a sight to behold.
“It’s something isn’t it,” Akrillis said as he walked outside.
There was no light on the balcony. They were left in the dark, but the nearby light from inside provided enough for them to see each other.
“I never imagined anything like this existed. It’s beautiful,” she responded. She looked out at the marsh without even bothering to look at him.
“I didn’t even know they had slaves at such a young age,” the prince mentioned.
“I was born there,” Laurelle clarified, still in awe of her surroundings.
Akrillis noticed a slight smile that she just couldn’t hide.
“Makes sense. I suppose there’s not much else to do as a slave except, well, you know…” Akrillis responded.
“Huh?” She wondered as she finally turned to look at him.
“Never mind.”
“Your brother doesn’t like me very much,” Laurelle pointed out as she returned to her gaze at the landscape.
“It’s not you. He’s not very fond of children…or people in general, really,” he specified to the young hybrid.
She almost felt as if she had to prove herself to Vanakis, like she had to gain his trust, had to work at it.
“I hope he’ll like me one day,” she hoped.
Akrillis chuckled. “Sorry to tell you, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up. He’s got a few loose bolts.” Akrillis leaned up on the balcony railing, took a deep breath, and looked out at the swamps. “Besides, everything he touches turns to trouble anyway,” the prince added.
“So, how do we save my friends?” Laurelle asked. Trydon and Mantis were still in the camps, and she worr
ied about what was happening to them. She wanted to help them but didn’t know how.
“Well, hopefully this Daxx fellow can tell us how.” Akrillis was still hesitant to trust him. “Although I have no idea how we’re going to pull this off.”
“Well, I’m not giving up.” Laurelle told him, determined to help her condemned brothers and sisters.
“Good. Neither will I,” he promised her.
“And me? I’m runnin’ away the first chance I get,” Val interrupted. “I went downstairs and got some food.” He then turned and made his way back inside. “Feel free to put some in your pet’s bowl.”
Akrillis and Laurelle looked at each other before heading inside.
Akrillis opened the door for Daxx. As he walked in, the rays of sunshine through the open window suddenly blinded him when he stepped into their path. The morning was generally not the best time of day on Sorgos. As the swamps heated up and the dew dried, it left a less-than-pleasant smell in the air. The room they rented was small and bland. A simple bed and bathroom was all it really had.
Quick to step inside, Daxx got straight to the point, “Well, the obvious approach is to go in guns blazing with a full army, but seeing as you came to me, I’ll assume that’s not an option,” Daxx mentioned.
“So, what do we do?” Akrillis was eager to hear.
“I’m afraid beyond that anything else is a long shot,” the Belor responded to the prince.
“Of course it is,” Akrillis said. His hopes of helping dropped.
“Wouldn’t be any fun if it was easy,” Vanakis added with a cheeky smile.
“Well, Avayan soldiers are implanted with mechanical enhancers,” Daxx pointed out.
“With what?” Akrillis was left confused.
“Makes them tougher,” Daxx continued. “Their reflexes, combat abilities, and intelligence are all boosted because of these things.”
“Didn’t do them much good during our escape,” Val mentioned.
“So, how do you stop them?” Laurelle wondered.
“Well, these things are hooked up to their brains. I’m thinking if we find a way to overload them, it just might do the trick,” Daxx explained.
“So, we fry their brains?” Vanakis clarified.
“Of course, the trouble is,” Daxx carried on, “you’ll have to find something to produce enough energy to have an effect.”
“And dispense this energy,” Akrillis added.
“I went over these scans your ship made,” the Belor pointed out. “The relay tower near the very top will be sufficient enough to handle that. Just need a source of power. That’s where I’m stuck,” Daxx concluded.
“So, we pull this off,” Akrillis spoke, “and wipe out the Avayans running the show. They drop dead, and the slaves can basically walk out.”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Daxx confirmed.
Daxx left them to themselves. Once he was gone, Val quickly expressed his opinion. “Well, show’s over. Let’s head back home.”
“What?” Laurelle worried, not wanting to give up.
“We’re not just going to walk away from this,” Akrillis told Val.
Vanakis sighed. “In order to pull this off, we need a power source strong enough to send a shockwave across the entire planet. Last I checked, you don’t find that kind of thing in your local store. Things like that only exist in myths, mate. Quell artefacts and crap.”
“So, we’re not just going to give up!” Akrillis exclaimed.
“It’s over! Forget it! We’re goin’ home,” Val snapped back and then promptly left the room.
Akrillis new the odds were impossibly against him, but he wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Just what every story needs—an impossible situation for our heroes to overcome. But with all the twists and turns in the story ahead, can they accomplish their objective, or will they fail? Find out in the next episode of… Oh, wait; wrong script. Back to this other one.
TEN
It blew through the compound with vicious ferocity, a sandstorm for which there seemed no end. The guards didn’t care; they forced the slaves outside as usual anyway. They were all crammed together under what little shelter there was. Mantis raced through the storm to a small wooden structure. There he found Trydon keeping himself out of harms way.
“By the maker, what happened to you?” Trydon immediately noticed the bruises, cuts, and sores on the Zantian’s body.
“I have good news and bad news,” Mantis forewarned him. “The good news is, the guards don’t have Laurelle. The bad news: We still have no idea where to find her.”
“The guards did this to you?” Trydon asked.
Mantis nodded in response. “You really think you can escape this place, think you can find some way out?” Mantis asked.
“I think, with enough determination and perseverance, anything is possible,” Trydon replied.
“I’m in.” Mantis told the ambitious tarian.
The following day, Trydon brought the stolen blueprints to the yard. He met Mantis and a group of slaves under the same wooden shelter. Trydon looked around, careful not to let the guards know what they were up to.
“Okay, I’ve been looking them over,” Trydon said. “This, here, looks like our best option; it’s a drainage tunnel. It goes from below the compound to a watering hole in the desert.”
“We wind up with people stranded in the desert, we’re not going to end up any better than we were,” Mantis pointed out.
“No. We go prepared,” Trydon added. “Gather whatever food and water we can, scavenge anything and everything.”
“And look at this entry point,” Mantis noted to Trydon. “It’s deep in the facility, there’ll be far too many Avayans for us to even get near that tunnel.”
“Then we go armed,” Trydon suggested.
“Armed with what?” another slave asked.
“Anything we can. What about if we built weapons? We have wood, steel, and plasma at our disposal,” Trydon proposed.
“Makeshift weapons? We’ll have to work hard to keep that kind of thing away from the guards,” Mantis pointed out. “Not much happens here without them knowing about it. If they found out, we’re dead…or worse.”
“We’ll need to bring others on board as well,” Trydon hid the blueprints away once more. “The more people, the better.” Trydon noted.
“I agree,” said Mantis. “Everyone needs to go and spread the word,” Mantis told the slaves around them. “One way or another, we’re getting out of here.”
Fleiss stood at the fence which adjoined two sections of the compound. She gazed through the wiring and into the other yard.
“Hey,” Trydon said as he approached, his Zantian friend with him. “This is Mantis.”
“A pleasure,” Mantis greeted her.
“I’ve heard about you,” she revealed with a sly smirk.
“You have, have you?” The Zantian asked while he turned to Trydon with a half smile.
“We’ve got a plan, but it’s going to be tough,” Trydon explained to Fleiss, squinting ever so slightly with the suns behind her.
Mantis and Trydon spent some time going through it with Fleiss, devising a plan to escape their captors. Together, they worked out odds and ends. They tried to cover all they could, leaving as few loose ends as possible.
“The only problem is how do we sneak all these people out without the guards noticing?” Fleiss asked.
“We don’t,” Trydon explained. “Once we start the escape, there’ll be no way to hide what we’re doing.”
“We should acquire some Avayan weapons as well; those who leave last can be better-equipped to defend themselves for longer,” Mantis told them.
“And to get to that tunnel, we’re going to have to gain access to the guards-only areas of the compound,” Trydon noted.
“There are guards who patrol in the yards,” Fleiss said with raised eyebrows. “We could attack one of them first, use their keycard.”
“There are thou
sands of guards here, but millions of slaves,” Mantis pointed out. “Tarians far outnumber Avayans. Give each of them a weapon, and we’ll overrun the guards. They’ll be overwhelmed.”
“But how would we acquire the guard’s weapons?” Trydon asked Fleiss.
“Guerrilla tactics,” Fleiss responded. “I know my way around those sorts of things. I used to be a part of the Black Cross.”
“Black Cross?” Trydon's eyes were gaping. “The terrorist group? You’re an extremist?”
“That was a long time ago. I don’t do that anymore,” she clarified, “but I know all about that sort of battle strategy. Hit the enemy hard from the shadows, then disappear back into the night.”
“And we’ll disrupt Avayan operations at the same time to make life harder for them,” Mantis pointed out.
“Can’t believe I’m working with a terrorist,” Trydon whispered to himself as he looked away.
“All right, we’ve got a plan,” Fleiss proclaimed.
“Let’s get to work,” Mantis said.
And so, the rebellion begins. I wish I could rebel against these stupid employers. Seriously, after this I’m quitting. This stupid writer is an idiot anyway. What? We’re still recording? Turn it off, you idiot!
ELEVEN
The cantina was just as packed with scum and thieves today as it was on any other.
All manner of weirdos in here—Is that a Karaan woman? My ex-wife was like a Karaan. Real pieces of work, those ones.
Vanakis, Laurelle, Akrillis, and Daxx, met in a private booth once again.
“So, what’s this great idea of yours?” Val asked his brother.
“Okay, so I was thinking,” said Akrillis. “I was trying to work out what produces more energy than anything else, and that’s when it hit me: the prymus.”
There was a moment of silence among them. Val quickly laughed at the idea.
“The prymus?” Daxx questioned.
“What a load of crap,” Val exclaimed. “The prymus is an old legend, a Quell Tale.”
“The Quell had to get their energy reserves from somewhere,” Akrillis pointed out. “There were no power stations or plasma refineries back in those days for them to use. They hadn’t even been invented yet.”
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