Xaleyp’s legs shook as the door of Seth Drake’s cell hissed shut behind him, the guard tapping a few buttons to seal it once more. He glanced sideways at Xaleyp for a moment before resuming his regular patrol around the walkway.

Taking a deep breath, Xaleyp pushed past the guard, heading to the lift and taking it back to the base level. The group of soldiers standing around the center command station looked up at his return, the same one who had met him smirking as he walked forward.

‟Well, did you get what you wanted then?” The laughter in his voice was barely hidden, piercing deep into Xaleyp’s core. Their heads turned to follow him as he walked past the group, his footsteps echoing loudly in the room. ‟Should we let the Acusiont know that you’re ready to be a good little boy?”

Xaleyp’s jaw clenched as he stopped just beyond the soldier, his hands balling into fists. Part of him wanted to throw caution to the wind and lash out at the man, show him what he was actually capable of. Then another remembered what Eve had said about being careful, not showing their too early. Yet that hardly seemed necessary now that Ardus already knew exactly what was going on, what they were doing and planning.

Without turning back, he continued walking, the door hissing open and letting him out into the empty hallway.

Xaleyp didn’t think about where he was going—his mind was much too full for that. He simply followed wherever his legs were carrying him, passing through the familiar hallways until he found himself at the closed door to his room. It opened at his approach, revealing the dimly lit, empty interior, the chair near the far side where he left it and a faint impression on the bedspread from where Eve had been sitting.

He resisted the urge to send her a message, to tell her everything Gareten had told him. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed, falling backwards and crossing his hands on his chest. As he lay down, tears began to stream down his face unhindered. No matter what he said or what he thought, deep down, he knew that Gareten was right about Lina, mostly because it was a fact he tried to ignore since seeing Oliver on the Starkiller. If he hadn’t tried to save her, if he had just let her stay behind, he would’ve had a chance to see her again. But his own pride—his own stupid, fucking ego—prevented him from conceding defeat, and he paid the price. Or, rather, Lina paid for him.

Now, all he could do was hope that he could get to Stariek and get revenge against the man who killed her. There was a small piece of him, however, that wasn’t sure whether it was General Grimaldus he was after or himself.

Eventually, the seconds blended into minutes into hours until he lost track of time and fell asleep as he lay there.

**

The two weeks spent in hyperspace seemed to drag on longer than any of his other trips had taken to and from Arcadia, passing slower and slower as they neared Siatia. He only left the small chamber when he needed to eat or relieve himself, sending Eve short, curt responses whenever she tried to talk to him through the CAM. Even those messages stopped as she gave up when she realized it was a pointless endeavor.

Whenever he could, he slunk away to some dark, forgotten corner of the ship, sometimes by the engines. At times, he also found himself lingering around the hangar and staring at the starfighters within, yearning for the feeling of being in control of one of them again. On those occasions of finding himself lost in a trance, he wondered how his life had gone from so simple—or at least simpler—to so complicated without him even noticing. Those days that he and Rach spent in the mountain with his parents seemed like an eternity ago.

Finally, a message came through from Ardus Kaine himself, and Xaleyp somewhat begrudgingly tore himself away to follow the order given.

He quickly found his way to the lift and took it to the bridge, tapping his foot impatiently with each passing second. According to the ship’s logs, there was about an hour before they dropped out of hyperspace at Siatia, and that time could not pass fast enough.

The door opened, revealing a rather tame bridge than he was used to. Most of the stations were empty save for the navigation ones at the right hexagonal room and the weapons at the left. The middle command platform was empty, and the far wall was the blank, monotonous metal of the ship interior.

Ardus Kaine stood leaning against the doorway to the right, wearing a rather plain black and gray jumpsuit. Next to him and engaged in an apparently disinteresting conversation was Strategos Warwick, who was tapping his foot slowly with crossed arms.. They both looked up at the sound of the lift door opening, their faces mildly interested at the appearance of Xaleyp.

“Ah, Xaleyp,” Ardus said, walking forward and leaving the Strategos behind. “How nice of you to make it here so quickly. Warwick and I were just discussing the upcoming event, as we must move quickly if our plans are to come to fruition.”

“For the record, I would like to reiterate how I am opposed to this plan,” Warwick said, crossing his arms at his chest and glaring at Ardus.

“And I would like to reiterate that, as the leader of this mission, I frankly don’t give a damn how opposed you are to it.” Ardus continued looking in Xaleyp’s direction, though his eyes were somewhat unfocused as he tried to maintain his composure. “Not to mention the fact the Council of Unity has given their approval for it and put you in charge of maintaining security for the event.”

“What event?” Xaleyp asked, holding his hands up in a futile attempt to slow them down.

“You saw what was on the chip.” Ardus’ voice was curt, and he puffed his chest out slightly, raising his shoulders. “Tober and Seth are both to be executed for crimes against the Siatian Concord and the Federation. It’s horrible that it has come to this, as I really hoped we would be able to settle this without any further bloodshed.”

Ardus shook his head in apparent disappointment at the prospect of assassinating two of the former heads of the galaxy. Warwick simply glared at him, his brow furrowed in contempt. Ardus waved his hand towards the Strategos without looking at him.

“Seeing how we will be arriving shortly, I’ll let you go so you have a chance to prepare for the disembarkment of your troops and prisoners.” Ardus wrapped his arm around Xaleyp’s shoulders, guiding him towards the opposite end of the bridge. “Meanwhile, I have a few words I need to discuss with the Levion here.”

Warwick bowed stiffly before walking to the lift, the door hissing open and closed in rapid succession. Once he was gone, the stiff smile on Ardus’ face disappeared, replaced by a scowl. He gripped Xaleyp’s upper arm with a vice-like hand, his fingernails digging into the skin. Xaleyp tried to rip himself free from the Acusiont, but it only served to make the hold tighter.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to,” he hissed, his voice low and dangerous. A chill went up Xaleyp’s spine, and his lips and tongue suddenly went dry. “Obviously you found the chip and saw what was on it. I found some suspicious holocomputer logs for your terminal where there was a period of fifteen minutes where it wasn’t reporting any signal. But don’t worry, I intend to keep Oliver Sudden on this ship assuming he doesn’t try to cause any further damage to the ship’s systems.”

‟Don’t even think about threatening Oliver for something he didn’t do.” Xaleyp struggled to keep his temper under control as he gestured wildly around the bridge with his free arm. ‟You and Seth planned all of this. You’ve been waiting for years to assassinate Tober and Seth so you could just claim power for yourself. They’ve done nothing wrong, at least not that deserves the death you want to give them.”

Ardus shook Xaleyp roughly with the single hand before dragging him to the far wall of the bridge. Xaleyp looked into the man’s serpentine eyes, and they held nothing but fury as he stared back.

‟Don’t even try to bullshit me. You know they deserve this for all the crimes they have committed across the galaxy.” Ardus kept his voice quiet yet full of venom, his eyes darting around the room as he spoke. ‟This is how we usher in a new age of peace of prosperity, by leaving the past behind us and closing the chapter on that book with a definitive ending. Besides, which would you rather have in control of the galaxy: Siatia, or the likes of the Obsidian Order? You can either stand with us or against us, but know this: Choose poorly, and you may just find yourself on the receiving end of justice. Then you may never get revenge for Lina or find your parents.”

He sneered and shoved Xaleyp as he released him, sending the younger man staggering across the bridge just as the lift opened again. Out of the elevator walked Eve, her white hair tied into a single tight ponytail hanging from the top of her head. A shadow of worry passed over her face as she saw the two of them across from the room, but it was quickly replaced by a practiced composure.

Ardus straightened his jumpsuit and cleared his throat, beginning to walk away pointing his finger at Xaleyp.

‟This conversation is not over. We’ll continue it once we get to the surface.”

The look of fury on his face disappeared almost instantly as he resumed his normal patrol around the bridge from station to station. Eve looked at Xaleyp sideways, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

‟What was that all about?” she asked, her voice hesitant.

‟Ardus knows about the chip, that we saw what’s on it, everything,” Xaleyp said, his voice quiet as he gently guided her towards the lift. He kept a watch on Ardus, who watched them go out of the corner of his eyes.

As they walked into the lift and the door closed, he struggled to keep his breathing under control, feeling himself starting to panic. He slumped down the wall and wrapped his arms around his knees, pulling them tight to his chest. The floor of the lift seemed to fall away faster and more violently than usual as it descended into the underbelly of the ship.

‟What are we going to do?”

‟The first thing we’re going to do is fucking relax.” She sat down next to him, placing her hand on his wrist and squeezing tightly in a way that was similar yet completely different to how Ardus grabbed him. Even as she held him, he felt himself beginning to relax, and his breathing settled.

‟Next, we do nothing that we’re going to end up regretting, because that’ll just confirm Ardus’ fears. We have to show him we’re no threat to him so that we can lull him into a sense of security Our plan doesn’t change, we just know now that we need to be more careful like not listening to secret chips on his ships.”

She smiled as she said the final words, nudging him softly to let him know she was joking. For several seconds that lingered on like an eternity, the only sound in the lift was the gentle humming as it descended until it finally came to a halt. She stood, pulling him up by both of his arms as she did so, and half dragged him out of the small chamber.

‟Come on,” she said, leading him down the hallway. ‟It’s time for you to stop ignoring me and finally tell me what’s been bothering you.”