"What for?"
"There is a colony there called Tunizha that is a well-known hideout for rogue soldiers. It's far from the reach of my people, so we never frequent the sector. Just a few hours will let me check for any signs of my father."
Reaper tapped on his screen to pull up the map. A quick once over showed they were about to fly right by the planet.
"All right. We can stop there for a while."
"Thank you, sir. I'll make quick work of the area."
"How have you been settling in?"
"Surprisingly well!" She smiled. "I expected quite the opposite, but everyone has been kind. Sparrow has asked me to teach her to fight better. Mjolnir makes for a great sparring partner. Fenris on the other hand doesn't speak to me, and Jackal...well.”
"He's still young. That war was all he knew and propaganda runs unchecked on Mars. He'll warm up to you eventually."
"I've been meaning to ask, sir," she gently hugged herself. "Your superiors...what--"
"They think you're still on the run. We are searching for you as we speak with no luck to be had. I've busied the Admiral with the prospect of the eos. He has faith that we will find you one way or another."
That made her smile.
"Will I be able to get my armor back soon?"
"To visit Tunizha? Absolutely not. Your armor is quite iconic. I don't want to risk the truth of your status getting out there."
"I see. You are right about that. Perhaps it needs a new paint job."
"Meanwhile, you can visit the armory to get new clothes fit for the security team, I'm sure there's something...in your size."
"Thank you, sir."
It had been a long time since she acted like a lower rank. Her rank belonged on the field anyway and terrestrial warfare acted much differently than ship. Answering to a Captain was bizarre. She normally commanded them.
Alas, this was not her military. The ranks were different and she was technically not part of the Federation. Yet her rank was not ignored. She was still treated as a Sergeant Major with salutes, and even questions. Many of the folk simply fell in line without question. Either they didn't care, or had the utmost faith in their Captain's decisions. She had no intentions getting in the way of the Syndicate's operations. She was a guest here. Still when lower ranking personnel came to her with questions, she answered them the best to her ability, or directed them to someone more knowledgeable. Humans had a lot of questions.
Perhaps these humans really weren't as bad as her empire made them out to be. They weren't little gremlins out to destroy everything. They simply reacted violently to attempts at their own destruction. She saw the kindness in them, and the openness. They accepted her and gave her a home when her own home casted her out.
She would do her best to fit in. This was a good chance to learn something new. She gathered up the basic bag of boot camp goodies for the Federation. While she studied it all, the hardest thing to commit to memory was the rules of conduct and rules of engagement. She thought Garchtun had a lot of pointless rules….
In an attempt to be friendly with Jackal, she searched for him while reading one of the books. She found him in the barracks gym, going through the daily workout regime. Extreme resistance training.
"Oh, Lieutenant, there you are." She closed the book and tucked it under her arm.
"What do you want, raven?" He sat upon a seat, strapped in and using his legs to pull on the bands strapped down behind him.
Fenris was sitting on the floor not too far off, watching them in silence. Yaaranam, rubbed the back of her neck.
"I just talked to the Capta---"
"Yeah, he told me." He didn't even look at her. "I'll be going down with you."
She glared at him. "Just us?"
"Mjolnir, too. Just in case there's trouble."
"There shouldn't be. Fleebeeron and glurone are quite peaceful."
"Captain's orders." He stated. He unhooked his legs. "If I could have it my way, we'd leave you there."
"Oh, when are you going to grow up?" She put her hand on her hip. "By the Emperor's Will, I am trying to be patient and nice with you."
"And I tolerate you."
"What's your fucking problem? Our teamwork will suffer if we can't get along."
"Hah!" He grabbed the bar hanging above him. "Me and you? We'll never be a fucking team."
"First thing's first, Lieutenant," she had that tone as if she were pulling her rank. "You don't fucking know me. You don't know a damned thing about me. You can hate my people all you want. I get it. We kicked your fucking ass in the war. I'm not happy about being here either. Your food is shit. Your clothes are shit. Your ship is utter garbage without a single weapon in sight! You don't even have fucking gravity! I may think the way you live your lives is fucking disgusting, but that's because you're primitive, and that’s forgivable. You treating me like I killed your mother and forced you to watch isn’t. So, why don’t you cut the shit, get the stick out of your ass, and act like a lieutenant.”
Jackal watched her with a blank expression. She made a few good points though he would never admit it. He couldn't get a thought out of his head. It felt like Spectre was yelling at him again. Boy, how she loved to yell. She could turn anything into an argument like it was an art form. Yaaranam sounded just like her with less cursing and less physically in your face. Spectre was always itching for a fight and most verbal ones turned into physical fights with her.
He smiled at the memories.
"You look awfully happy for being yelled at." Yaaranam raised a bony brow.
"Hopefully it's not insulting her, but you remind me of an old friend. Talk just like her."
"She sounds like a good soldier."
"One of the best." He pointed at her without even looking. "Put you and your champions to shame."
Yaaranam snorted.
Jackal's attention suddenly went to Fenris who had been sitting quietly just out of the way.
"Because that's the way it is." He said.
Two of her ears twitched to listen in better, but she heard no voice from the valkyrie.
Jackal let out a sigh and shook his head.
"How can you hear him? Is it a certain frequency only humans can hear?"
"What? No. I...don't know how, but I can hear his voice in the back of my head." He gestured at his head. "I'm the only one that can apparently."
"But he has a voice? I could have sworn I heard him speak before."
"He doesn't talk much." Jackal frowned. "It hurts to speak."
"Strange. Anyway, I'll see you when we head planet side, Lieutenant. Hopefully you'll be more relaxed then."
"No. I'm not done." He said to Fenris as she walked away.
Mjolnir and Yaaranam chatted on the way down to the planet. They shared a few stories of battle. How they got some scars and how they triumphed against the odds. Then they discussed the plan. She had no idea if her father ever came here. She knew of the colony and knew that many traitors flocked there. It took too much time to reach typically, so the eldiravan never bothered to come out this far.
There were rumors of a group of people here that helped AWOL soldiers with new identities and new jobs outside of the eldiravan empires.
Yaaranam felt they had a good chance at finding a trail. She hoped so anyway.
Large trees were used as buildings and homes, though most were not big enough for the glurone who were big, four legged creatures with two prehensile appendages in place of a nose. They lived in tent like structures well reinforced to withstand the winds.
Yaaranam asked around if anyone saw someone matching the description of her father. Not good at pulling on heartstrings, she failed to stir any emotion to help her cause. As far as they were concerned, she was going to kill the man she was looking for, or bring him back for execution.
After getting nowhere for an hour, Jackal finally piped up with an idea.
"Y'know the Black Wolves paint their sigil on walls and buildings. Maybe there's something simi
lar here?"
"I have noticed an interesting sign cropping up throughout the town." Mjolnir stated.
"Really? I haven't noticed anything like that." Yaaranam said.
"It's a hammer and a wing." He scratched his beard. "There's a gray one over there."
They nearly missed it. Both looked for something gray, but what they found was something red. It blended into the bark of the tree like any other stray mark. The hammer and a wing crudely painted by hand.
"It's red," Jackal said.
"Looks more brown for me." Yaaranam stated.
"It's obviously gray." Mjolnir frowned.
"Wait." All four of her ears folded back. "Don't you see ultraviolet?" She pointed at the ardrizi.
"Oh! You're right. You guys don't see that spectrum, do you?"
Jackal put his palm to his face. "How could we forget? This is basic."
Yaaranam laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to dealing with other races." She gave a soft, toothy smile. "I never took political classes. Humans have quite limited vision, don't you?"
"I'm not sure." Jackal shrugged. "Naturally, we're somewhere in the middle."
"We see closer to longer waves," she nodded.
"Why don't we see where the sigil leads?" Mjolnir suggested.
"Which way do we go? There's not exactly an arrow there." Jackal said.
"I see another one over there." He pointed.
"Maybe that's the trick!" Yaaranam started ahead.
When they reached the next one, they searched for another in sight. Then another. They were led to a small shop built into a tree. The sigil was painted on one of the windows, barely visible. Inside the shelves and tables were lined with bottles and jars of natural, home remedies for ailments. A little fleebeeron with wide, overstretching pink petals and short, fluffy stems sat at the counter. She was adding dried herbs to a new jar.
She jumped up, at first in greeting, then spying Yaaranam, her happy face darkened with fear.
"I'm looking for a safe space." She said sweetly.
"A-are you?" The colorful bird squeaked.
"Yes. I'm looking for a man who may have come this way as well. We were supposed to rendezvous, but I haven't seen him." She paused. "He's about eleven feet, short, red hair. He has two rows of scutes on his head."
"I don't know! I don't think I've seen someone like that."
"Please, you must have."
The shopkeeper looked the others over.
"Are they hiding, too?"
"Yes. It's important we find our friend, he could be in serious danger."
The fleebeeron hummed. "Okay...last I saw, they headed to the hideout north in the mountains. Go down through the basement and grab the climbing gear, you'll need it."
They did just that. Slipped around the counter and down the stairs into the roots of the tree. A tunnel barely big enough for either raven, or ardrizi. Fireflies the size of a head decorated the walls. Lights flickered on and off, giving an endless sensation to the tunnel.
At the end was a wooden door. Hooks and ropes hung on the wall. Mjolnir slung them over his shoulder and Yaaranam opened the door, sliding it across the ground above.
They were well from the colony, hidden among a tiny grouping of trees and boulders.
"You believe she saw him?" Mjolnir asked as he picked himself up out of the hole.
"Fleebeeron are terrible liars." She smiled. "Still, doesn't mean he's still here. Or that he was here at all…"
"We'll check the hideout for clues. He's bound to make a mistake eventually." Jackal said, pushing the door shut.
"My father makes no mistakes." Her ears folded backwards.
"Hey, it looks like we're gonna have a long walk." Mjolnir pointed.
They had to trek at least two miles to get to the foot of the mountain. From there, they had no clue how far they would have to climb. All they had to go off were the footprints that eroded the grass into dirt.
A long and quiet journey. They had been taking so long that Reaper called Jackal over the radio.
"Has there been any luck?" He asked.
"I'm not sure if it’s luck yet. We're headed to the mountains north of the colony. There's a hideout there. Another raven matching the description was sent that way." Jackal answered.
"Hopefully he's there still. If not, I pray for a lead to the next location."
"Not sure praying will do the trick."
"Luck isn't much different, brother."
"I don't believe in that either."
"Whatever you believe in, just get it done soon. Fenris is acting angsty. I think it has something to do with being apart from you. He's waiting at the shuttle bay like a dog." Reaper laughed.
"What? I don't know why. Anxious to get to B-58?"
"Maybe he's worried about you."
"I doubt that."
"Call me when you find something."
"Roger."
"Out of curiosity," Yaaranam looked over to Jackal. "Is Captain Reaper your father?"
"What? He's like five years older than me! Hell no he ain't my dad."
"Oh! Then is he your...uh, assuming humans have it legalized, mate?"
Mjolnir had to stop walking from laughing so hard.
Jackal's face turned red. "What the fuck is that?!" He couldn't even form the words. He just mouthed nonsense sounds trying to figure out an explanation.
"Are you embarrassed?" Yaaranam leaned over to him.
"I'm confused!" Jackal snapped. "I don't get how you'd think that! Neither of us are into dicks."
"He seems to treat you like a worried wife that's all!"
"You ravens are royally fucked."
"If all he is is your captain, you two are awfully, uh, sweet on each other."
"It's called friendship. Not sure if you heard about that befo-- Will you stop fucking laughing, you damned cat!"
Mjolnir couldn't control himself. Arms wrapped around his stomach. He wheezed from laughter.
They stopped walking until Mjolnir pulled himself together.
"Sorry. That was too good. I've been wondering the same thing myself." He rubbed his muzzle.
Jackal grumbled. "You wouldn't understand. It's not like ravens know anything about loyalty, or friends."
"Now that isn't true. We know plenty! We just hold the mission above all else."
"You also worship the very ground your stupid emperor walks on, so there's not much there."
"Excuse you?"
Mjolnir cleared his throat.
"All Jackal is trying to say is that he and Reaper are bonded like family. Family cares about one another and humans show it a lot differently than how eldiravan, or ardrizi do." He slipped between the two of them.
"Besides, Reaper has a mate as is!"
Yaaranam decided to let the comment go.
"Oh, he hasn't mentioned her!" She looked at Mjolnir.
"It's a sensitive topic."
"Not one you need to know." Jackal glared.
"Ooh, did he steal her from you?"
"Fuck no. Not my type." He waved her off and started down the path again.
"Humans are so strange…"
Mjolnir patted her shoulder. "They are a blast though once you get used to them. They never cease to amaze!"
When they finally made it to the foot of the mountain, they were met with a steep cliff. Hooks and rings were already hammered into the stone winding side to side to follow the cracks of the face. No ribbons to help, the hooks were nearly impossible to see. They didn't even have harnesses. They would have to climb up freely with only a rope they would have to place as they went.
"Humans can climb, right?" Mjolnir asked.
"Of course! It's not hard." Jackal frowned.
"I'll go first to lay down the rope." Mjolnir pulled some of the rope loose from his shoulder. His claws could fit within the cracks to help support his weight.
He started his ascent, claw over claw through the crack. Up to the first ring about twenty feet up, he threaded the rope through.
Knotted. With something safe to fall back on, he continued up.
Yaaranam slipped right past Jackal to climb up first.
Albeit nervous, Jackal was not about to let a raven out show him. He half expected the ardrizi to make short work of the climb. Cats were great climbers after all, so why wouldn't he be? Even if he weighed half a damned ton, he made the climb look easy.
Yaaranam did not show quite the same ease. She had a few slips, her fingers unable to get a good grip in the cracks. She made her way up, hooking herself to the rope when she reached it.
Jackal jumped up, gripping the rock to pull himself. Surprisingly, his fingers fit through the crack easily. Clearly plenty of eldiravan scraped through the surface to widen it. His hands, tiny in comparison, found plenty of small dips to dig into.
Jackal did not have this kind of training. His muscles were built up for endurance and combat, not to climb up by the tips of his fingers and toes. He wasn’t even wearing good shoes for this!
Just about half way up, he watched Mjolnir disappear over the edge. Yaaranam soon followed. By time Jackal made it up, they had analyzed their next course of action. Multiple cracks gave way for different ascents. The hooks went only one way, further up the mountainside. They could faintly see the light of a glow stick at what they assumed was the end.
"No one would go through this much trouble to find traitors." Yaaranam stated. "This is too much."
"Well, it's not too late to turn around." Jackal exhaled.
"Already out of breath?"
"No!" He lied.
"Let's go before we run out of light." Mjolnir said.
He made his way to the next part, working his way up by tiny edges and cracks. Yaaranam followed. Then Jackal.
The whole while he cursed under his breath. He thought about training for this more to be better prepared for next time, but when would there be another time? Most of his missions were urban, or on ships.
Jackal found few spots to grip, most being far out of his reach. Slow and barely steady, he had to take an altered path. One he could reach the edges of stone that rippled the surface.
The mountain shook. Its rumble like that of a hungry beast waking up from hibernation.
"What the fuck is that?!" Yaaranam shouted.
The sound was too loud to hear what was happening around them.
The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) Page 28