“Goddamn it, Jezai, that’s some fucking 180 you just pulled there. What happened to ‘not our fight’?”
“I am unsure as to what you mean by 180, but you said it yourself, it is very much our fight. Despite the Apochros wishing only a life of peace and prosperity, in some ways we are as guilty as the Fystr of the crimes committed by not doing anything. Perhaps at first it was prudent to leave, as we had nowhere near enough strength to act against the Fystr hierarchy. We most certainly would have been executed as traitors. But at some point, we should have fought back in some way. Instead we have hidden like cowards behind a wall, while the rest of the galaxy suffered. Your arrival, for us at least,” he said, gesturing to his friends, “is the catalyst for a change. You herald the end of hiding.”
“But you destroyed all of our ships. Do the Fystr not already think we are dead now?”
“I don’t know what they think. But I do know if you suddenly reappear, they will come for you and I want you to lead them to us,” Jezai said seriously. His face took on a look I’d not seen on him before. One of long suppressed anger. It left just as soon as it arrived, and he smiled gently at me.
“And this is all because of my Potential, yeah? And I hope you’re going to sort us out with some new ships, if you’re planning on using us as bait?”
“Providing I can bring the rest of the council on board. Either way, yes, we will arrange something. As a minimum you can take the Uprising.”
“What the what, and the what, what! You said you blew up the ships?”
“Just the Fystr ones. The Uprising wouldn’t have been traceable.”
“Hold the fucking phone, Jezai. We need to go there right now! Please! I’ll be a helluva lot more compliant if you do.”
“Okay,” he said slowly and looked at me with uncertainty.
“Is it close?”
“It should still be in the storage section of the docking bay you arrived in.”
“Good. Let's go now.”
“What about the link?” he asked, confused by my change of pace.
“Can it be set up from the ship?”
“Yes, but I hope you're not planning to fly off in the ship before we clear everything up. You must understand that they will not hesitate in shooting you down?”
“Nah, I can't fly ships anyway. As long as you set me off to get the rest of Uprising today, I’ll be happy to go along with what you're asking. But I’ll warn you, there’s no more concessions. I’ll not bargain for freedom that should never have been taken in the first place. If we do anything together from this point onwards, it’s as partners. Not as me being your little pet.”
“Honestly, Shaun, there are incredibly good reasons for me to agree to your wishes. I just hope I can convince the council of that too. Now quickly, if you wish to visit your ship we must go now. It will not be long before we have visitors.”
Chapter 15
Only the Lonely
As we made our way to the ship, Jezai and his group circled me, to both obscure me from view and protect me. I guessed it was also to stop me from legging it. But all in all, I had to admit, they were all being pretty cool.
“Hey guys,” I said quietly as we walked along. “Sorry for calling you all Fystr.”
I got a few smirks in reply. It was enough. I think.
We reached the docking bay where we had to deal with the dock overseer. She looked at me with curiosity but was obviously too cowed by the group I was with to say anything about me.
“Good day to you, Pitre. We need to access the Uprising briefly,” Jezai said.
“Of course, Jezai.” She looked at him for a long second, seeming uncertain as to whether to voice her concerns. “You are aware that the Uprising is not cleared for flight?”
“We have no intentions of taking it anywhere,” Jezai reassured her. “We merely need to check something on board.”
“One moment.” She disappeared into the office, returning with the Uprising remote access panel. “Follow me if you please,” she instructed before setting off across the dock at a quick march.
When the Uprising came into view my heart soared with renewed hope. My baby! I loved this damn ship. The overseer handed over the access panel, and Jezai activated the access ramp. It was two feet from the floor, but I couldn’t contain myself. Dashing past the overseer and Jezai I jumped up and bolted into the ship. The lights inside were still just coming to life. I released a mental cry: “HAVOK!”
There was silence for a second, then “Shaun?”
“Yeah, dude, it's me. Where are you?”
“In our quarters. I’ve been trapped in here since you all disappeared on me. We’re going to have to look at getting me some hands to press door panels. I depleted all of my energy trying to get out the old-fashioned way.”
“I'm coming now, mate, don’t worry,” I said, jogging along the corridor.
“So what the hell happened, Shaun? I’m assuming you have a good reason for deserting me like this.”
“The Apochros knocked out everyone in the crew and wiped my memories. I just got them back like 20 minutes ago,” I summarized, while continuing through the hallways.
“Nice one!” replied Havok, “Did you fuck everyone up?”
“Not really, no.”
“Excellent, then we can do it together,” he said, his voice sinister and full of anticipation.
“Ah, probably not, dude. It's... complicated.”
“It's not complicated at all. Grab my handle, swing me at our enemies, once we have slaughtered one or two, I’ll have regained enough energy to do the rest of the heavy lifting.”
“I meant that some of them are friends. We can't just toast everyone. Not if I want to get Ember and the rest of Uprising back safely,” I said as I finally made it to the door. It was badly beaten with more than a few puncture marks showing through. “Damn, dude, you did a number on this door.”
“My energy was low before I’d even begun levitating and swinging at the door all by myself. It’s very energy consuming, you know. If I’d been charged to full capacity I’d have broken through this stupid door in no time. You need to kill people with me soon. I can’t bear to be this useless.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I answered, as I hit the door panel. An awful crunching and hissing noise came from the wall on either side of the door, as whatever mechanisms were responsible for opening the door tried in vain to move the mangled mess it had become. After producing a half-inch gap, they gave up.
“Shit door is stuck, Havok. Give me a minute.” I desperately attempted to fit my chunky fingers into the gap.
Jezai finally caught up and appeared at my shoulder. “What happened to this door?” he asked.
“It was Havok, trying to smash his way out when he realized we’d all been taken.”
“The council left someone on board?” Jezai asked, his face a mixture of confusion and worry.
“Ah, he’s actually an axe, but don’t worry, I’m not getting him to fight with. It’s just because he’s kinda my best friend.”
“Are you now telling me you have a sentient weapon?” He asked, shaking his head in disbelief, before gesturing at the door. “Remember, you have more than just your physical strength.”
“I thought this would be easier, but I can't get my bloody fingers in the gap.” I focused on the door with my mind now instead and tried to push them apart with telekinesis. They groaned and began to buckle slowly, rather than open.
“Allow me to assist, Shaun,” Jezai said, adding his strength to mine. The doors began to fold upwards steadily. Once they opened up enough to admit easy access, I stopped and moved through, finding Havok a few feet away, looking dull in color compared with his usually vibrant appearance. It was a surprisingly sad sight.
“Hey man,” I said reverently as I picked him up, “is there anything I can do for you, apart from murder death kill?”
“No, sadly not. Unless you know of a random, easily accessible supply of life energy just lyin
g about.”
“Oh! Actually, Havok, I think I might be able to help out on that score.”
“I don’t think so, Shaun. Thanks for the positivity though.”
I didn’t reply. Instead I tried to imagine the sensations I’d felt when Havok had healed me on so many occasions. I was going to try and return the favor. Searching within myself, I tried to identify the specific store of energy. It was tough, as it was essentially what filled my entire being. But there was a definite concentration of the stuff. I concentrated on pushing some of the Omni Energy along the bond I had with Havok.
“Shaun, what are you doing?” asked Havok. “You need to stop! That’s your own life force. Stop please,” he begged.
“Nah, dude, I have a bit of a surplus these days.”
“How? Oooh, thank you! I feel so good.”
“Happy to help, pal.” I then took a brief interlude to check my Interface. My Omni Saturation was now at 24 percent. “How full do you feel now, Havok?”
“Positively radiant, Shaun. I’ve not been this full since Xonico!”
“That is excellent to hear. Now let’s go out and see your saviors?”
“You mean the bastards I’m not allowed to kill?”
“Exactly!” I said as I ducked back out of the room.
Needless to say, everyone’s eyes, raised up in surprise as I revealed Havok. Worried looks passed between the others. “Perhaps I should have better explained his substantial girth,” I said with a grin that was not returned. “Shall we see about that communication now?”
“Melik has already made his way to the bridge to set up the communication,” Jezai answered, watching Havok warily. “I must say, Shaun, I feel you have duped me slightly. I’m not sure ‘axe’ is an apt description for that thing. It’s rather more fearsome-looking than the word axe implies. Would you mind laying it down somewhere while we make this communication?”
“Absolutely no fucking way! He’s not leaving my atmosphere for a very long time. I’m prepared to stow him on my back if that makes you a little more comfortable.”
“This is all very odd, Shaun,” he replied as I flipped Havok over my shoulder and he put himself in his preferred position.
Jezai’s eyes widened. “How alive is it exactly? I have only heard tales of sentient weapons.”
“Two seconds, Jezai,” I said, before speaking internally to Havok. “Hey man, you wanna say hello to Jezai for me?”
“Sure,” he agreed, his voice taking on an extra ominous tone.
“Hold up, Havok, I’ll be involved in this conversation too, because I can just tell you’re gonna cause trouble.”
“Never!” he exclaimed, and I knew he was doing the axe equivalent of a grin.
“Jezai,” I said into the Apochros' mind, “meet Havok.”
“Hello, Jezai,” Havok added.
“That is simply marvelous,” Jezai said. “How developed is his identity?”
Havok answered. “Let’s just say, it is developed enough to say that if you fuck with Shaun again, I’m going to harvest your filthy Apochros soul though your asshole.”
“Oh dear! Very developed then,” Jezai said with concern in his voice.
Havok’s only response was to cackle evilly.
“Havok, man! What have I told you about saying ‘harvest souls’? It’s fucking creepy, dude. Jezai, honestly, don’t mind him. He has a penchant for the dramatic.”
“Indeed, I suppose in the interest of making amends I will try to forget about the very imaginative, angry axe with you.”
“Please do, he’s all good.”
On the bridge we found Melik tapping away on our main communication terminal. He looked up as we entered. “I am close to breaking the encryption for the station. I’ll need just another minute.”
Unable to resist, I went and took a seat in my captain’s chair. Havok instinctively swung round to rest by the side of his own accord.
Jezai smirked at me. “Don’t worry, we’ll have you back where you belong soon enough. I can't fathom how the axe is so responsive to you to move like that. In all my years, I wouldn’t have believed that such a weapon could have the ability to operate at such a level.”
“Oh, he’s a clever bastard. He’s done so much for Uprising and he’s my best bud!”
“As long as I don’t kill anyone without your say so,” came Havok’s voice sounding petulantly in my head.
“I explicitly told you not to kill someone. Don’t go muddying the waters. And in any case, that's not gonna happen again when you're in my hands, is it?”
“Definitely not!” he replied, rather too cheerily.
It set my nerves on edge a little. “No flying off and killing people that I don't want you to when you’re out of my hands either, you tricky bugger.”
“Damn it, you caught me,” he chuckled.
I heard a crackling sound from the comms. “We’re through,” Melik announced.
Jezai nodded at me to speak.
Chapter 16
Fight Club
The weeks on the station passed uneventfully. A continually somber mood penetrated throughout, as almost everyone worked tirelessly on accessing the computer systems without any breakthroughs at all. There were a few people who made efforts to rouse spirits, most notably the budding team of William and Roger. The daft buggers had begun organized fighting matches, without my knowledge. I discovered this after noticing a distinct lack of people in the canteen one day. Curious, it didn’t take long to uncover the fight room they had quietly set up.
Suffice to say, I wasn’t happy at first. It seemed like a recipe for disaster with tensions running so high; we didn’t need grudges developing. On the other hand, I needed to accept I couldn't control everything, and people seemed drawn to the spectacle of it. However, having watched the fight in progress when I discovered them, I had to admit they refereed it carefully, forbade the use of powers, and allowed any who wished to participate to do so.
I could only shout at them a little bit, and that was mainly for not letting me know what the fuck was going on. With my grudging acceptance, the whole thing became common knowledge. Lo-and-behold, nearly all the bloody Torax, along with a good half of the Veilitians, were involved over the following days, and I had no choice but to commend the pair of dickheads for devising the idea. The mood improved notably and all that everyone talked about now was who was fighting on any given day. Including the other Alpha team members.
Sitting in the canteen over lunch, Elyek suggested we should start races too.
“You think there’d be interest?” I asked.
“Absolutely! Everyone would like to be involved, but not everyone feels comfortable fighting their friends and acquaintances,” Elyek replied.
“I can see that, but how would we organize races? Surely it’d become boring when the same people win, day after day.”
Ogun leaned forward. “I think it’s a fine idea, Elyek. I would suggest a tournament at regular intervals, rather than day to day racing. Once a month, perhaps? Then, not only are you providing something to look forward to, but you’re also encouraging people to train. Something that has been sorely lacking since we arrived here. It is a perfect opportunity to keep people progressing.”
“Damn it, Ogun. Smooth way to tell me off indirectly.”
“Not at all, Ember. We are all guilty, each individual member. But it has been a difficult time, and now it looks as though we are about to address the issue.”
“I like the idea,” Calegg added. “I don’t much want to fight, but I’d be happy to take part in races.”
“I’d be up for it, although I’m enjoying the fights too,” Mick said. “I fought a Veiletian yesterday, Harlek was their name, and hot damn! That was an eye-opener, I can tell you! They kicked my ass so fast I didn’t even know what they did before I was tapping on the floor like a baby. But it gives me something to look to improve on.”
“I ain’t doing shit!” Gus grumped, and went back to fiddling with a torn ou
t door panel between mouthfuls of chowder.
I laughed at him. “Don’t worry, Gus, participation is optional. So other than Gus, it’s decided; a competition?” I asked the table, and received a round of nods, other than from Gus, who mumbled at whatever he was doing.
Acclo cleared their throat. “As always, I am happy to organize the event. I will be relieved to have something to coordinate. My mind is clawing at the walls of my head, looking for things to arrange.”
The table as one chuckled at that. “Poor Acclo,” I sympathized, “please, organize to your heart's content.”
“I have countless ideas already. Firstly, we could vary the distance of the races, as we have many different body shapes. I propose a short sprint race, a middle, and a long distance race. As for fighting, I suggest light, middle and heavyweight knockout tournaments. And we shall schedule the first tournament in one week to give everyone time to prepare, then at a frequency as Ogun suggests of once monthly.” Acclo smiled and clapped their hands together with excitement. “How does this sound to everyone?”
“Perfect, Acclo. I think it’s just what we need to raise spirits and it’ll be a great distraction.”
“You all might as well do something,” Gus muttered, slapping the panel he had put down on the table, “because we can’t do a damn thing with this stuff. Everything seems to run off what I think are signal receivers. There is no way to bypass it because there’s just nothing to bypass. Especially not with what we’ve got to work with, probably not even with better equipment. I wish I knew how they did any of this.”
“I am beginning to lose faith myself,” Elyek admitted solemnly. “After these last three weeks, I finally must admit that Apochros technology appears different on the most basic, fundamental level.”
“Something will come up, I’m sure, guys. Don’t get too glum, okay? We’ll continue to search the station until we’ve covered every last inch of this damn place.”
“Bearing in mind that we are limited to only two directions now,” Acclo unhelpfully added. “As Astrid and her group have taken up residence in the other habitation section, it means having to take a large detour just to travel five hundred yards away.”
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