‟Bring me back to Siatia for what reason, exactly?” Xaleyp almost scoffed but kept it from manifesting, though he did let out a weird cough. ‟You left me stranded here with no message even telling me what was going on or when I’d be rescued or what to do, then you expect me to just go back to you like that, because you asked me to?”

‟Damn it, Xaleyp, this is much bigger than you or me, the entire galaxy is at stake!” Ardus slammed his hand on the desk before standing upright and walking back around it, tossing datapad after datapad towards Xaleyp. ‟Bombings, murders, kidnappings, every day I receive a new report of some new heinous act committed by Seth Drake and his Hyperion Resistance just to find you on a cargo barge living carefree.”

‟This has hardly been a cakewalk for me, Ardus. I paid the price with my face, while you have been doing what exactly?” Xaleyp pointed directly at the scar on his face, his breathing coming faster than it had in a long time, and he didn’t bother trying to keep it under control. How could Ardus just come out of nowhere and act as if he was living recklessly or freely or as if he had wanted this all to happen?

‟Xaleyp, you don’t understand, and it’s times like these that make me regret having to work with children.” Ardus emphasized the last word, leaning forward with his hands against the table and nearly spitting on Xaleyp. ‟It is my job to make sure that the people of the galaxy stay safe, and I need you to help me do that by helping me capture Seth Drake and bring him to justice for the many atrocities he is committing every day. If he and the Obsidian Order are not stopped soon, it will mean the reemergence of the Hyperion Empire and the end of all our plans. Is that really something that you want, the people who took and hid your parents from you—then told you they were dead—to regain control of the galaxy?”

Xaleyp felt his chest constrict at the mention of his parents, who he had thought for almost ten years had been killed while he was kidnapped by the Hyperions. There was no way he was going to let them get away with that, and he would make sure that they suffered as he much as he did—that much was certain.

‟Besides, that’s not all—the Hyperion resistance has the backing of the Arcadian government now.” Xaleyp made a noise of surprise before Ardus shushed him, leaving a quiet only accentuated by the crackling in the fireplace behind him. ‟They had a meeting shortly before the crash, after the Siatian Concord was passed but before you arrived, and agreed to be put aside their differences and ally themselves against whom they thought was the real enemy: us. Their rhetoric has convinced the people of Arcadia that Siatia is actively working against their interests and that we need to be stopped, which you of all people should know could not be further from the truth.”

‟As much as I want to believe you, Ardus, everything you’re saying is a little hard to believe, don’t you think?”

‟Oh, believe me, I thought the same thing when my agents came to give me an update on what was going on as I had them searching for you.” Ardus sat in the chair, crossing one leg over the other and folding his hands in front of him. ‟The Dragoons—Arcadian special forces, for lack of a better term—organized a meeting between Castellian and the Resistance, though mainly Seth, just after the Concord was passed and after Tober Delargivic was captured. After a few weeks of scrambling and putting together plans, they came to an agreement on having Castellian as their new leader with the Resistance getting the backing of the government at least until ‘the Siatian aggression,’ as they called it, is dealt with.”

‟Tober is still captured, then?” Xaleyp asked, finding himself somewhat more hopeful than he would have expected.

‟Of course, he is, what do you take me for, some imbecile who can’t keep one man under control for longer than a few months?” Ardus scoffed and lifted another datapad off the desk and brandished it in the air for Xaleyp to see. ‟We have him locked in the most secure facility on Siatia where we keep him under guard twenty-four hours a day. There’s just one more thing that we need before the Siatian Concord can be fully realized, and that’s for you to finish the mission you came here for.”

Vortau shown directly through the window behind Ardus, leaving him fully engulfed by shadow and with a somewhat demonic look. He put down the datapad and walked around the desk to Xaleyp, putting his hand on his shoulder.

‟All you need to do is get Seth to show his face and come out in the open, then we can move in and capture him, end this petty resistance, and make Arcadia bow to us like the scum they are. Then, we take the fight to Grimaldus, get revenge for Lina, and find your parents, just like you wanted.”

Xaleyp resisted the urge to get up and run out of the room. Ardus was right: He did want revenge, he did want to find his parents, he did want to stop Seth and Arcadia, but part of him struggled with the idea of blindly following this man just like he did so many others. It had gotten nothing but pain and suffering, like losing his best friend, and all of those people he led to their deaths at Nevermoor Hold, just for the chance to be able to get to one person. It may not have been all Ardus’ fault, but a whole lot of it happened because of him. Yet, part of him innately trusted him and was willing to follow him wherever he may go, consequences be damned.

‟You know, I’ve known you for less than a year, Ardus,” Xaleyp said after several moments of silence, ‟but I feel like you’ve known me my whole life.”

‟Well, that’s what happens when you have an agent like Mian keeping watch over you and reporting to me on a fairly regular basis.” Ardus smiled and leaned against the desk once more, folding his arms across his chest. ‟So, does that mean that you will get back on task and help me capture Seth? If you do, I’ll ensure the governor releases you and does not pursue the case against you, but, if not, you will stand trial for and be convicted of treason. It is your choice, though I am in a little bit of a hurry so if you could make it quick, that would be great.”

Xaleyp knew that he only had one real choice in the matter, as well as the fact that Ardus ensured that that outcome of this meeting was a desirable one to him. The whole situation seemed surreal to him, especially the fact Ardus put so much trouble into finding him, a teenager with no real powers, rather than simply hunting down Seth himself. He was no chosen one, so why did it matter if he was helping Ardus get what he wanted or not? But just the thought of being able to see his parents again, to get revenge for Lina, was more than enough to get him to go along with whatever the man said.

‟Alright, I’ll do it, but no more of that not telling me what’s actually going on bullshit like back at Nevermoor Hold.” Xaleyp released a breath he didn’t know he was holding and inhaled deeply before speaking in. ‟If you want me on your side, then I want to be fully kept in the loop, not left in the dark like some little kid.”

‟Done, as long as I don’t have a good reason not to,” Ardus said, scoffing and shrugging his shoulders. ‟That was more for your own good, though; if you had known too much about the actual plan, then it would’ve ruined everything and we would be back to square one. Now, the guard who brought you here will escort you to the spaceport where a transport is waiting to bring you to the Starkiller in orbit, unless you have another concern to bring up.”

As Ardus spoke, the door opened and the robot stepped back into the room, its piercing blue eyes scanning in a semicircle for a moment before resting on Xaleyp. With a feeling of trepidation and excitement, he followed as the guard walked out of the room, leading the wall back down the glass hallway and leaving Xaleyp alone with his thoughts.

Three months—or at least, almost—was how long had passed since the crash, and it was also how long he had avoided thinking about whenever he could. He tried to order his CAM to keep all knowledge of the incident out of his mind, knowing full well that he would be unable to think of anything else if it were there, but some portions still leaked out into his subconscious which caused the dreams to haunt him at night. They were always the same and somewhat mysterious: A giant bird crashing into a tree, a ship at sea torn apart by a colossal wave, sometimes even Lord Mattix’s barge slamming into a sand dune. Maybe now was the time to turn those memories back on, and he did so.

At once, a bout of vertigo overcame him as Xaleyp and the robot reached the second doorway. He let out a gasp and clung to the wall, trying his best to stay upright but failing and falling to his knees. The memories flooded through him like a burst dam, screaming inside his mind.

The ship, Pyrrhus, tore through the trees of the swamp outside New Alexandria as the pilots attempted to pull the nose up and out of its death spiral. They failed, and the carrier slammed into the ground, immediately tore in two by the force of the crash. The front half—with half the bridge going with it—spun off to the side, rolling end over end as it threw the crew inside in every which direction. The navigator, though he clung relentlessly to his station as the air rushed around him and other people flew out, eventually was ripped from the inside. The look of fear on the man’s face remained plastered in Xaleyp’s mind for several seconds even after he disappeared.

Mian, Eve, and Xaleyp all clung desperately to their seats, the restraints across their laps straining against the forces acting on them. Somewhere behind them, a shockwave and rumble ran through the ship as something detonated in the back.

Xaleyp inhaled sharply as the memory faded, pushed away by his CAM when it noticed the distress he was in. He found himself on the ground and leaning against the doorframe with the robot, as well as a dozen other people, staring at him as if he were crazy. Beads of sweat were running down his forehead and cheeks, some even dripping to the floor.

‟Are you alright, sir?” the robot asked, its head slightly tilted uncannily to one side. ‟Do you need me to find a medical professional to provide assistance?”

‟I’m fine,” Xaleyp said, pushing himself up with a shaking arm and swatting the guard’s metal hand away. ‟I just need to get moving again, then I’ll be fine and you can stop your worrying.”

They continued walking and went to the right around the curved hallway as most of the bystanders watched for a couple more moments before going about their days. All around was the echoing of footsteps on the metal floor and the gentle white noise of general conversation. Outside the glass of the ceiling height windows, a multitude of different cars and freighters and speeders streaked by, passing by in blurs of light as they moved through the city. To their right was a door leading to the outside, and when they were about to go, another bout went through Xaleyp’s body, and he nearly yelled out as he grabbed the doorframe.

The back half of the carrier was beginning to slow down as the trees and rocks and other landscaping slammed against it. There was a definitive lean to the ship owing to the fact the lower levels were torn away by the grinding of metal against ground. The metal latticework of structural beams and supports were visible now, and some of the framework pushed through different parts of the ground and walls, jutting out at irregular and deadly angles.

Someone screamed from beside him, and Xaleyp saw Mian’s seatbelt tear at one of the ends. She slipped from the chair and began to slide towards the edge, her frantic movements doing nothing to slow her descent. Her arm slammed against one of the jagged pieces of exposed metal, scraping open part of her forearm and leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

Without thinking, Xaleyp’s heart seemed to leap out of his chest as he disengaged his seatbelt and lunged at her, wrapping his arm around a metal pole sticking out of the floor and grabbing her by the wrist just as she went over the edge. She screeched in pain as his fingers closed and squeezed the large, open cut on her arm. Helplessly, she dangled hundreds of meters off the ground with dozens of other ship levels beneath her. Something exploded from below, and a searing hot pain radiated up his cheek to just beneath his eye, almost dazing him enough to release Mian.

‟I got you,” he whispered, more to himself than anything as it was inaudible over the crash.

After several more seconds, the grinding of metal on earth and wood came to a gradual stop, and, for a moment, Xaleyp thought he had gone deaf. There was no birdsong, no insects buzzing, absolutely no sound of wildlife left in the wake of the ship destroying the environment. Then, all at once, the raucous cacophony returned, filling each of their ears.

With all his strength, Xaleyp pulled Mian up and over the edge, helping her grab onto the metal pole and use it to steady herself. The bridge was strewn with bodies, some impaled by the exposed metal and others thrown into their consoles, as well as an odd assortment of different supplies and equipment slowly sliding towards the edge. Several moved, though hesitantly as they tried to get used to the new angle of the bridge, and tried to help some of the others that were more injured. Eve still sat in her chair, her knuckles white as they slowly released the sides. A bloody strip of metal lay next to her, and a long gash ran down the side of her leg, dripping blood onto the floor.