Kilkaja

I kept myself hidden from the guards, but it did not work for long. The mine shaft had almost no place to hide. I managed to knock out some of them, but my physique and my poor knowledge of various alien bodies meant that I failed to knock them out most of the time. In fact, I was caught several times.

The only saving grace I got was to accept that I would not be able to get out of this without seriously injuring my enemies. I did not like taking lives, but sometimes, I needed to accept that it would be impossible to get away without a little violence. The suffering of the slaves all around me provided a good boost of raw psychic power that helped me immensely. More than that, I also found out that being a Nuoevan meant being a natural psychic. Even if I had no idea on the more advanced psychic abilities, it was easy for me to use telekinesis. Moving and manipulating objects remotely felt like a natural process to me, which gave me a certain edge, especially in regards to utilizing blind spots and surprising my enemies.

But even if I could do telekinesis, it strained me due to my lack of training. Also I needed to get to the tracker point and escape, not beat up, injure, or kill these slavers.

I ran towards where the tracker point was and quickly found myself in a different mine area. I needed to stay put until the tracker updated, and my telekinesis helped. My weak control, even with the boost of the slaves' suffering, meant that heavy mine carts were out of questions. I could only use light, improvised weapons like a dagger or orichalcum ores littering the mine. A pickaxe was still to heavy for me.

I tried my best not to kill everyone, only injure and incapacitate. For me, it was harder not to accidentally kill them since using telekinesis mean that you could strike your enemies on their blind spot. I know I was making it harder for myself, but I would hate it if the people I was supposed to liberate ended up fearing me.

Then there was the ping indicating the tracker's updated. By then, however, I was already surrounded. Good thing they had batons I could use to telekinetically bash their heads in. My poor telekinetic control also meant that I might inadvertently crack some of their skulls.

Trying not to kill them was not just because of personal beliefs, but also because of necessity. The slavers were mostly Felinians and, thanks to Sel, I knew the could resurrect upon death. There was a chance that I might permanently kill them, but that's one out of nine and I did not like the odds. In fact, while I hated it, not killing them fueled my telekinesis due to their suffering. It's twisted, I know, but I couldn't afford to be nice in a fight.

But even with all that telekinesis, I still had limited awareness of my surrounding. I did not know one of the slavers crept towards me before he let out a pained yell. I did not have time to turn around when I heard a feminine voice.

"Can you knock them out?" said the voice.

"What?" I asked.

"That loud ringing noise. Can you do that?"

I assumed she was talking about the psychic attack Nuoevans were notoriously known for. I shook my head and said, "I can't do the mind attack thing yet."

"No need. Knock them off their feet. Let me do the rest."

Which I did. A strong psychic blast powered by the slaves' suffering was enough to push even the burliest of the slavers off their feet. It was enough for whoever told me to do so to rush and hit them in the head, knocking them out or incapacitating them. Before long, it was over.

The person then approached me. She was a Saukaur female with black scales, bright blue eyes, and scales that form ridges, giving her an armored look in contrast to Astha's smooth scales. She was already freed from both her collar and her shackles. Unlike most of the slaves in the mine, her clothes were only mildly damaged by the conditions in the mine. She turned and looked at me, with a feeling that could best be described as wondering. She looked at me with those reptilian eyes while occassionally flicking her forked tongue

"I know you," she said after a short while. "You're Kilkaja, right?"

"How do you know my name?" I asked, confused. "Have we met?"

"I was on Aurelis Three. I saw you a couple of times. I don't think we've met. I'm Shennesi. Call me Shen for short."

Her calling herself Shennesi quickly reminded me about Sethis. Shennesi was the name of the Saukaur female who was taken alongside Sethis. I almost forgot about her since I was so focused on finding Sethis, and I guess the others forgot too, or maybe just me. I grabbed her shoulder and said, "Shennesi?! You're with Sethis, right?! Where is he?"

"He...." She looked away. Her hidden emotions turned into sadness. Oh no. I had a bad feeling.

"He's...dead?" I said, voice cracking thinking that we came here for nothing.

She shook her head, which made me sigh in relief.

"No, he's not," said Shen. "But he's condemned to it. The pirates running this place sold him to a blood arena syndicate. If he's not dead now, he's going to be."

"You can't say that," I said, trying to assure her and myself. "Listen. I came here with a couple of friends. We can still help him."

"You might be, but I fear it's far too late now," said Shen, dejected. "Look, Kilkaja. Sethis is a great hunter, but he's not the best out there. It's going to be a miracle to see him staying strong after all this, but..."

"You have to be strong," I said, trying to lift up her spirit. "Sethis is not going to die that easily. I know he won't let himself do that. Be strong and believe in him."

It wasn't much, but it was enough to lift Shennesi's spirit up. She looked at me and smiled, or at least I thought it was a smile, on her Saukauri face.

"You're right," she said, brimming with hope. "I'll trust you on that. Sethis is tougher than he looks."

"So, let's get out of here and--"

"Wait," she said, remembering something important. "Free these other slaves first."

"How?"

"With this," said Shennesi as she showed me something that looked a lot like a blocky short arrow. "It's a restraint control key. It will unlock every restraint on the section written on this key. I already got the key for this section just before you intervened."

I knew this was a chance for me to show that I was not just a Nuoevan, even if this ended up delaying what we're supposed to do. However, I got the work around by asking someone I freed to help the others. I had made sure to find someone whose intention was freedom for everyone, not just for themselves. Turned out the Nuoevans also believed the return of a Nuoevan Sage, especially after I showed them that I was an empath.

"I don't believe there's any Sages left," said the Nuoevan I freed. "It has been 200 years since there's one."

"I don't call myself a Sage, either," I said. "I am not even aware of the story."

"You're a former slave?"

"Not too long ago. Now go and help the others."

The Nuoevan nodded before he helped the others with their chains. I was just trying to get to a different sector when I heard energy shots. A second later, I could see Astha running towards a different corridor.

"Astha!" I shouted. "Over here!"

The Saukaur heard me and ran towards me, all the while doing acrobatic moves to evade and stun those standing in his way without stopping (he must've been aware of a Felinian's multiple lives). He reached me and said, "Hey! You're fine. Turns out you're a good fighter yourself."

"Yeah, thanks. Oh, and..."

I punched him. It was a weak punch that did not even topple him, only causing him to reel in from the unexpected punch in the face. That punch ended up hurting me more than him

"Why the hell am I a sex slave?!" I said with an angry tone. "I have been anything but one!"

"What?" He said with a shrug. "I mean, I'm not wrong. No one's going to believe that you can lift rocks without telekinesis, right? I mean, you look more like a lover boy than a proper miner, especially when you're wearing nothing but my old training cloth." He then made a rather seductive hiss. "And oh, do you look so sexy right now."

Remembering that Astha was into guys, I backed away and said, "Astha, I appreciate you flirting with me, but don't. And besides, I'm already accounted for."

"Oh, right. That's a shame."

He sounded disappointed, though I had a feeling he was just joking. Maybe he was just teasing me. Well, at least he was 'distracted' by Shennesi, who walked to us and said, "You never skipped a beat, huh, Ash?"

"Shen?" said Astha, surprised. "But if you're here, then..."

"We have no time to lose," she said. "Seth's sold to a blood arena syndicate. He's fighting in a blood pit somewhere out there. If we're hurry, we might still be able to save him."

"Is he still wearing his hood piercings?" said Astha.

Shennesi nodded, which I confirmed with the tracker point update. Astha then said, "Then, that make things easier. Let's go."

"Wait. We need to free these slaves first."

"Nah, they can take care of themselves. The Nuoevans can be particularly nasty."

The Nuoevans I freed turned out to be better psychics than me. They helped the other slaves by knocking out the aliens with psychic blasts and well-placed mind attack. Even so, I was still concerned that they might not be able to escape the mines.

"Will you be alright?" I asked, worried.

"Go, Sage," said one of the Nuoevans. "I know you're concerned, but don't worry. We can fend the Nuoevans by ourselves. We'll meet again."

"I hope we will." Then I paused, contemplating what I do next, before I said. " And my name is Kilkaja, in case we do meet again."

"So, you remembered your name," said another with a smile, though I sensed a hint of sadness in his heart. "That's great."

I nodded before I followed Astha and Shennesi out of the mine. The slaves rebelled all around us as the Nuoevans led the charge. It felt so good being reminded that I knew my name despite of being a former slave. Most slaves had either forgot their names as it held no meaning in their life or their masters forced them to forget with a psychic 'lobotomy' or some frightening things I heard from many of them. I was on the verge of losing it, too, if it wasn't for George and the others saving me.

Regrouping with Sel, we fought our way out of the mines and towards one of the elevators. With a couple other slaves, we got out of the lower level of the mines and towards our ship. Given that everyone had known our identities, the ship was being attacked, but the force field held on. We quickly tried our best dealing with the attackers, but then we quickly found out that we were not the only ones trying to protect the ship.

As we approached the ship, I saw a dark cream-furred Felinian covered in spots barking orders near the ship. She looked more imposing than Sel and clearly from a different kind of Felinian because she had sharper fangs compared to Sel's. I didn't know who she was, but Sel seemed surprised by her.

"Efelci?" she said in confusion.

"Well, what do you know," said the Felinian. "You got out. Your Nuoevan friend is reliable."

"I don't understand," said Sel, still confused with Efelci's actions. "Why are you...?"

"Like I said. It's pirate business, Sel. You are not part of it, so get on the ship before I change my mind. But before you go...."

Efelci threw something towards Sel which looked like a card.

"It'll come in handy, so hold on to it," she said.

Sel read it for a moment before she took a glance at Efelci and nodded. I sense a feeling of relief and determination in both females before I joined her, Astha, and Shennesi onboard the ship.

We got to our mission and we could finally continue, but we had a problem: the ship. Its shield was holding, but Astha then told us why this would be a very dangerous ride.

"I really hope the ship's gonna hold," said Astha as he primed the ship for takeoff.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"The shield's not part of the ship's system. The ship only has a shield for planetfall and it is used to protect the ship from atmospheric burn," said Astha. "If I want to take off, I need to completely lower the ship's shield and transfer the power to the engine. Given that we're in the middle of a gunfight...."

"The ship's going to be shot down before we even can get out of this planet?!" exclaimed Sel.

"Astha, why the hell do you even buy a piece of junk like this?" said Shennesi. She took a glance of the trophy room and said, "With your whole trophy in it?!"

"I'm broke, alright? It's a risk I must take."

"Being an idiot, more like. I can't believe you'd take your trophies with you to a dangerous place like this!"

"Alright, enough of it already," said Astha with a sigh. He silently flew the ship away amidst energy weapon fire that rocked the whole thing.

"Are your trophies far more important than family? Is that what I can see here?" I asked.

"Not far more important. It's just as important," said Shennesi. "Losing your trophy is the same as losing your family. It's a memory that will last long after a hunter's death. That's why taking them around like this is the same as destroying your own legacy."

"At least you have a legacy to tell," I said. "We former slaves don't even remember our names after a while. I'm one of the fortunate ones."

What I said seemed to make Shennesi wondered if Saukauri culture had that kind of problem with material trophies more than familial bonds. I sensed doubt in her heart, possibly because of the Saukauri Civil War that happened due to the consequences of the war against the Felinians. With Saukaurs killing each other, no one would want to tell that history with trophies from their own brethren, unless someone's undoubtedly a psychopath.

"I...guess you have a point there," said Shennesi. "But still..."

"We won't be able to find you or Sethis if we can't use the system of the ship in tandem with his tracker," said Sel. "Getting the ship out of your planet's already a risk."

"He could've put the trophies in somewhere permanent," said Shennesi.

"Hey!" he shouted in frustration. "This is not the time making fun of my choice!"

The ship rocked again. Alarm started to go off all around us as the ship's damage started to become severe as electric sparks flew all around us. Astha kept flying up until we got off the planet's atmosphere and back to space. Just then, one of the ship's components near the bridge short-circuited and burst into flame. Astha quickly put it off with a nearby extinguisher, but then sighed.

"Well, there goes the autopilot function," he said. "And several navigational control. This ship can only go to one planet and that's it. We need to ditch it afterwards. Shame about the trophies, but well...live with your mistakes."

"Now would be a best time to consider buying a new one," said Sel. "Preferably with a shuttle."

"Not sure if I have the credits for it, though." Astha sighed. "And I'm not sure any towing services want to get in here."

"We don't need to hire one," I said. "We can call the Vyrkaya. Zarya and the others might be willing to help."

"By risking themselves? I prefer not to."

"We have no other choice," said Sel. "In fact, knowing Zarya, she'll come and help her friends. She's the bravest woman I've ever met, and I trust her."

And I concurred. Zarya, despite her humble beginning as a Vyrnian healer, was fearless and stayed on her feet even in the face of danger. She proved it herself on Ijuri. Even with the Trikelian-controlled zombies surrounding us, she kept her composure and tried to protect us, even if the bulk of that defense came from my psychic shield and Sel and Astha's support, along with George and Arcturus's offensives. She loved adventure and danger, and she got it.

She would come if we called. Not sure if she could, however, knowing that she was involved with Arcturus and George in finding allies for our eventual fight against the Trikelians. I did not know when or where would they strike. In fact, no one did. We could only prepare ourselves.

Well...to be truth, it was more 'them' than 'us'. We were in the Frontier area to find Sethis, not help them preparing. The Trikelians may be a Vyrnian problem, given how vulnerable they were, but without other support, they would fall victim to these parasitic invaders...then it would be our turn next.

We may not contribute to their efforts in finding allies, but we could still hope. Right now, we would finish the reason why we embarked on this journey in the first place: Sethis.

And Sel knew where to look.