Astha

We got Shennesi, we knew where we were going, now it's time to save Sethis.

I never thought it would be that easy to find someone. Good thing that little tracker really worked. Shame about the ship, though. I should've just followed everyone's suggestion and put my trophies somewhere safe, but it's already too late for that. Couldn't cry about it, too, since it was my fault. Once we got to where Sethis was, the ship's done, along with the trophies in it. With the danger that we would surely face, it would not be possible to save the trophies. We needed to escape using a different ship, presumably one that we'd hijack once we're there.

But that was not our only problem. Our more pressing problem was what Shennesi said about Sethis's situation. I only heard about blood arenas a couple of times during my hunting journey. It was basically a gladiatorial pit where people were pitted against other aliens and even beasts. There was no limitation or even rules. Anything could happen in there.

However, slavery was part of that business, too. Since blood arenas were illegal in many space-faring civilizations, slaves were usually the ones being put in the fight, at least from what Sel said. The business thrived from violence, and many, especially in the Frontier region, used it as a source of bloody entertainment. No legitimate entertainment business wanted having anything to do with the Frontier region, especially since the region was lawless for most of its history.

Sel also said that the blood arena business was notable for two other reasons: their repeated violation of the non-interference policy and the use of dangerous illegal performance-enhancing drugs. You may have heard about it from the Vyrnians since they were the first to enforce it, but in truth, every space-faring races in this galaxy had their own rules regarding non-interference. Except the Orians, of course. They're just assholes. The reason why I met George was because of them. Why would they not act like their cream-skinned counterpart anyway?

Blood arenas were notorious for pitting aliens, space-faring and pre-space alike. You got a fighter who could fight and kill, and you got a contender. In the pit, everything's fair play. You only got your fighting skill, your grit, and your determination. No technology, just skill.

Except it's anything but 'fair', which was the second concerning problem: the drug. Sel had seen many contenders acting more like feral beasts than a proper alien from a civilized planet. They were so wild and rabid they were kept in chains and were muzzled until the fight started. She only knew that it was drugs because she had an 'insider info' about what happened to the obviously not feral contenders.

I wanted to say that it was sick, but it wasn't as bad as some entertainment. Even Saukaurs did not consider hunting as entertainment, just a rite of passage. Outer space was mostly lawless, and you could pretty much do anything outside the space-faring civilizations' law. There were legitimate businesses and illegitimate ones. It complemented each other perfectly. A blood arena in a remote planet out here would not actually mean much in a more civilized region.

However, the arena did mean a lot to us since we still needed to find Sethis. The tracker had not failed us, and I really hoped we could save time by the next tracker point. It turned out to be much further than we thought. The Frontier Area was extensive enough to be its own sector. There were many uninhabited planets and many of them were inhabitable unless you built a pressurized space colony. Our only saving grace was that Sethis had a more direct path since we only needed to update the tracker several times and travel for at least one and a half day before we got to a planet. I do hope this was the planet we were looking for. Traveling on a cramped ship really starting to affect my mood. Saukaurs do not do well in enclosed environment. That's why I decided to move to Arkari. The air was dry and hot, but at least it was fresher than a controlled environment. And on top of it all, Arkari wasn't wracked with civil war.

All Saukaurs have that problem, which was the reason why Shennesi felt sick and borrowed my bed to lay down and rest. Saukauri ships did not have food synthesizers, so we had dried food and easy to prepare instant meals, along with the foods we might got from our hunting trip. Given that we only resupplied back on the pirate planet, we were good to go for a week or so on a trip. Our only problem was the ship's damage and our effort to keep it operational until the end.

So, in short, the only reason we succeeded this journey was because everyone struggled through, which clearly paid off. If not, I won't be able to write about my experience and you'll have to assume we all die.

The planet was called 'Ends' for some reason. It sounded like someone did not complete the nameplate of their planet and thought it was a good idea. It wasn't a glitch or anything, either. The planet was populated by a big assortment of races, but as you might've guessed, they were mostly criminals, both actual criminals and even those claimed to be wrongly prosecuted, along with pre-space races as Sel pointed out. I usually doubted that until proven, so let's just assume it's full of fuckups and assholes.

The planet, however, was not a free planet. It was governed by the syndicate that ran the blood arena. I wasn't sure about their name, but what I knew was that they were big and extensive. I was a bounty hunter, but I never got involved with the notorius ones. I usually took jobs given by all major space-faring races, even if many of them were illegal in their own rights. I never took a job that could make me notorious, like this one time I saw a job posted by someone who promised a lot of credits to find someone I found out was innocent except being a thorn to this poster's side. I simply took the one with less credits, but it was to find a murderer wanted by the law of the colony. The irredeemable one, mind you, not the one wrongfully convicted. You won't believe how easy it is to judge someone from the lengthy description given to them. I hope the person writing those fake description got paid, or maybe realized he was wrong and make a good story out of it. Hey, at least you got the money by using your skills the right way, right?

So, like many other times, I relied on Sel to explain what Ends was. She knew about Ends since the colony with the blood arena was something of a pastime for her former crew. It was one of the more popular one in the Frontier region due to the variety of the show and the menagerie near the blood arena where they showcased beasts and sometimes pre-space aliens. As she explained what happened in Ends, Kilkaja started to become more and more uncomfortable. I could understand why. The whole business was practically slavery.

Then she gave us the name of the syndicate running the show: Red Arramer. Considered very dangerous with a lot of connections. They practically governed a portion of the Frontier region. In short, getting into trouble with Red Arramers in the Frontier region was equivalent to a death sentence. Couldn't run from them into the more lawful area, either. So, guess what we did? You guessed it. We got into trouble.

"Let me give you an advice," said Sel. "Don't be a hero. Just don't. Whatever happened on the street could happen to you if you anger the wrong person. Ends is just like most of the Frontier Region, but worse: you got into trouble with Red Arramer, then consider your freedom's gone."

"But we can't find Sethis without being involved," I said. "I may not be involved in this world, but the experience on the pirate planet taught me that you need to be one if you want to get in."

"Except this time Sethis is part of the blood arena and breaking him out will need more than just someone posing as a slave. You need to be inside the blood arena and be part of the spectacle. If you have a plan to do that, don't. No matter how good you are, your real enemy is not the fighter you're up against. It's the people sitting in the soapboxes watching you and devising a way to give you an offer you can't refuse."

I wanted to say something else, but I couldn't. Sel clearly knew how the blood arena worked and the business running it. I knew at this point being part of the arena would not be the right option, nor the business part. Even Sel admitted that her savings from her time as a pirate would not be enough to buy out Sethis.

Knowing that we had no plan, we decided to just go to Ends and see what we could do and improvise. I knew this was not optimal, but I could not do anything.

Landing on Ends and saw the town for the first time felt like going into a completely different world altogether. I had seen worlds with no technology, worlds with primitive technology, and even contemporary ones. This planet and Ends felt and looked more like a mix of post-apocalyptic hell and contemporary. I did not know what they were thinking or if they were sane, but you clearly could easily judge the place after you see it with your own two eyes, infrared or not.

There was no semblance of civilization in the town and the landing pad. The whole town looked as if they were cobbled together from junk that fell from the sky (i.e. spaceships) or stacks of metal put on top of one another with a high risk of toppling over. I felt like the moment we got out of the ship someone or a group would just shank us and hijack our ship unless we shoot them first. Luckily, that was not the case, but it was not made any easier when we saw naked slaves being put on display and promoted like they were objects. Kilkaja, especially, felt so uncomfortable he looked away in disgust and sympathy, while Sel helped comforted him and tried to shield him from it.

I walked with Shennesi and to be fair, we were not prepared to see the atrocities. We've seen deaths and suffering, but this was not war; this was degradation of everything that's right. My hand's shaking and I'm so tempted to just power up my wrist gun and shot the Orian degrading and giving insults to the slaves, aside from being generally annoying in the first place. That's when I felt Shennesi's hand grabbing me, and said, "Hold me, Ash."

Being tactful, I said, "Got the urge to shoot him, too?"

"And get us into trouble," said Shennesi. "I...don't know how Kilkaja endures all this.

"You must ask him about it later, but right now...I think it's best we focus on how we got Seth out."

Shennesi nodded. It's better if we just get out of this forsaken place and leave it behind once we got Sethis.

We got into the town without encountering any problem and tried to find information regarding Sethis. Right then, I passed the menagerie and saw that it was not a menagerie at all. In fact, it looked more like what people in the past would say a freak show. Most, if not all, the aliens locked behind the cage were clearly sentient and capable of speech. You can't fool the universal translator, unless the people here had no such technology on their disposal, which was impossible given the high amount of race variety in this place. They, however, were prevented of speech by either a silencer collar or simply a muzzle.

I wanted to get angry for this, and yes, I know we need to focus, but I could not let them suffer like this. Of course, I could not go there and act like a hero or some shit like that. I was still conscious about it.

So, why not create one hero among them and revel in the chaos? No one's going to suspect anything if you're subtle about it. An eye for an eye. That's how their world worked, right?

It was much easier to do so. You simply need to grab one of the weapons lying around without stopping, check to see if there's any charge or bullets left, then simply throw the gun into one of the cages holding one of the aliens. The thing was primed and ready to shoot. Shennesi saw what I was doing and said, "Ash. Don't."

I walked away in silence, quickening my pace as I pulled Shennesi's hand a little. I gestured her to look away as the sound of energy blast and the screams of someone filled the place. I hissed and let out a grin as we nonchalantly walked away.

"It wasn't me," I said with a shrug.

"Look, I saw you--"

"I wasn't the one shooting that gun, Shen," I said with a happy hiss. "And besides, it lifts my mood a little."

Well, it turned out to be more than just that. In fact, that simple act of giving one of them a gun turned out to be the start of a fire, just like a little spark in a very dry grassland. It was due to one very crucial factor: the pre-space I gave the gun actually knew how to use it and was so capable himself. Before the handlers could even take control, the whole menagerie was already fallen into chaos.

In fact, the chaos was so bad that we almost got caught in it. Sel and Kilkaja did not know what I just did, but they seemed to think of it as a good fucking luck. Why? Because everyone got so distracted that it was the right window to get into the arena through the back gate while the guards were preoccupied. I did one of the stupidest thing I've done in my life, and right then I realized why I did that. It was fun.

I released a caged beast nearby with a simple push of a button. The beast rampaged across the town as we got in discreetly.

Shennesi slapped my hood and said, "This is not the time to act like a child!"

"Better than just shoot someone in the face and direct every last scum in this town towards you," I said.

"How...do you even have that kind of idea in the first place?"

"When you hunt, sometimes brute force or traps won't work. You need to play a little game to trick those you hunt into destroying each other before you can reap your reward in the end. The rite of passage does not specifically mean that you need to hunt with your strength alone, right? You gotta have a mind for it, too."

Shennesi looked at me as if I was lying. But then, she shook her head and said, "You know, Ash. I think you and Seth are not so different at all. You two are gifted strategists, only he's more a proper one and you're the chaotic one."

"That's common sense, right?"

"Not for everyone," said Shennesi with a smile. "Especially not someone who had the idea of using your dead comrade as a trap."

Yeah, I was responsible for that. Given the situation we faced back on Aurelis Three, we had no choice but to improvise with the traps. Me, being the slightly sociopathic and the pragmatic one, used our dead comrades as part of a trap or a diversion. Normally, anyone would be disgusted and condemn the action, but they only label me as the evil half of the Melser twins. Sethis did not agree on what I did, but even he knew it was essential for surviving.

Much like this situation, I simply did not care what happened to those people in the menagerie or even anyone out there. I mean, there was a chance some people were just innocent and being unlucky. But then, you chose to live in one of the worst places I knew, so suck on you, buddy. Next time find a place where you don't get slaves out for revenge.

I wanted to just let the combatants loose and add up to the chaos, but I knew that by that time, we would not be able to get out as easily. With the riot brewing outside, it would soon be difficult to get Sethis out without a problem.

I knew we hoped that nothing bad would happen, or something that would impede our rescue operation, but I already anticipated some form of problem.

Our first realization that the blood arena was much sicker than we thought was when we found a dead Saukaur combatant. His face was behind a very restricting mask that was locked. From the design, it was intended as a muzzle to prevent him from speaking. Other than that, he was wearing a very light armor that did not cover his vitals and looked more like it was used as an entertainment given the feather getup that made this poor Saukaur look a lot more like a bird.

At first, I thought this combatant (or simply a sacrifice) was killed out there, but it was not the case. He got bruises, but no stab wounds. It was hard to determine if he died with an internal injury or not, so we needed to open his mask.

"Please don't be Sethis," I murmured. "Please don't be Sethis."

"No, he's not Sethis," said Kilkaja. "I know you're worried, but his scales are a different gradient of green."

I would only be able to sigh in relief when we opened the mask and saw his face. He's not Sethis, and I was glad. Still, I felt sorry for this Saukaur's fate, only to realize that we needed to hasten when Sel took off his collar and saw something on it.

"A syringe?" She said "And the content of the vial...oh no."

"I hate those words," I said.

"And I really hate to tell you this, but even if we save Sethis from further harm...I'm afraid he's still done for if he's injected with the drug inside the vial."

"Sel," I said, hoping she would stop. I knew what she was going to say. Whatever's injected into this Saukaur's blood vessel must've been injected into Sethis's own, and it would kill them.

"It's a berserker drug, isn't it?" said Shennesi. "I've heard about it before, but I never thought they use it for the blood arena."

"What's a berserker drug?" asked Kilkaja.

"A drug to enhance a person's strength in expense of sanity," said Sel. "The drug turns them into bloodthirsty warriors with no regard for pain or mercy. That's how they put these poor souls in the role of the hunted in the blood arena. It made more of a show if they can't think for themselves."

"What...will it do to a Saukaur?" I said, realizing that this drug was not just fatal. "Is it...?"

I did not need to ask for details when Sel looked at me with an expression of sympathy. She may be a Felinian, but I had known her long enough to know her range of expression.

All sorts of normalcy turned into rage when I realized that Sethis's fate was sealed. I became hasty and quickly tried to run towards the end of the corridor, hoping to find Sethis before the worst could happen. Shennesi tried to stop me and said, "No, wait, Ash! Don't do it!"

"Do what? Kill the sick fuck who did this? I might just do that after I find Sethis first! We need to get him out of here before--"

Just then I heard an announcement. It was clear enough to tell us about the audiences not to worry of the riots outside and an assurance that it would be under control. The next piece of sentence, however, was the announcement of the combatants for the day, and one of them was a green-scaled Saukaur with a rebellious streak who's out for blood.

I knew it would not be specifically Sethis, but I needed to know. I just...I just wanted to see my brother while he's still alive. Even if I could not save him, the least I could do was save him before he expired. I needed at least that.

I usually thought my actions first, but this time, I had enough of that. I was so ready to walk out there and give the syndicate a piece of my mind when Kilkaja tried to stop me. He was physically weak, so in my rage, I ended up dragging him along.

"Astha, stop! You can't get out there with your emotions clouded with rage!" pleaded Kilkaja. "You'll be killed!"

"Get off me, Kilkaja," I said with rage apparent in my voice. "I don't care if it's stupid. I have to save him."

"By killing yourself?!"

"By doing whatever I can. You are always welcome to help, but if you're reluctant, then...don't try and stop me. This whole trip's my idea, so it makes sense if my journey ends here."

"We will get out there together and fight for Sethis," said Shennesi. "We will save him. But before we do...calm yourself. We need the proper Astha, not the raging one. Do whatever is best, but don't rush out there and kill yourself."

"She's right," said Sel. "But we don't have much time. We might still be able to save Sethis before the berserker drug takes over his body and mind completely. It usually takes more than just one shot. A big shot would only be lethal and...how long has Sethis been gone from Okshosha?"

"Three days at most," said Shennesi.

"Then let's hope he's not a one-off. Oh...I think I shouldn't have said that. I mean, let's make sure he's going to be alright after we are safe ourselves. So, we need a plan."

Now, I really should say that we had no other plan other than rush out of the gates and into the arena proper. We killed the guards near the door and we got into the arena, but then we were given a spectacle that surprised even me.

I know I said that Sethis was more a thinker than a fighter, but that did not mean he was completely helpless. When we rushed out to the arena, what I got was my brother casually fighting a couple of other aliens with such a skill that made those aliens seemed like they did not know how to even swing a weapon. The arena did not permit energy-based weapons, so everyone here used a wide assortment of medieval era weapons. Some of the aliens clearly knew how to use them, while Sethis was trained with swords as per the usual Saukauri training.

He made a short work on a beast set on him before he noticed the commotions we caused for rushing in. I could see that he thought that we were the new combatants before he realized that all of them were familiar faces after all.

"Astha? Shen?" He said with a bewildered look on his face. "Sel and Kilkaja too?"

I was still prone to emotional weaknesses to the point I did not even notice an alien warrior rushing towards me. I only realized that I was being ambushed when there was a yelp of pain behind me. I turned around to find that he was impaled by a spear, and the force of his rush towards me effectively pushed in further into the spear, past the sharp point.

"Nice save, Kaj," said Sel. I turned to see Kilkaja's hand stretched forward, telekinetically controlling the spear. I silently nodded as I returned my sight to Sethis, who walked towards me and...gave me a punch in the face. I was not expecting this, so his punch stunned me before he grabbed me.

"What took you so long?!" he shouted. "I thought I've already given you my badge!"

"Hey, is that how you say thank you for someone who literally have to follow the tracker path and got sidetracked as a result?! What are you even fucking doing in an uninhabited gas planet system anyway?!"

"You could've found me back on that orichalcum planet!"

"The ship's old, alright? It can only go warp 3 to 4 without risking the--"

"The same ship you used to store your trophies in?! Astha, what did I tell you about lugging your trophies around?!"

"Oh, not you too. I already got lectured by everyone for carrying the trophies with me and now I lost the ship. I know I'm a fucking idiot, so..."

"No...you're not." Sethis then hugged me. "I should be sorry for being so ungrateful. I mean, you and your friends risked your lives to find me. I...shouldn't even..."

"Sorry to interrupt this tender moment," said Sel approaching us. "But we got a problem."

We turned to see some of the combatants in the arena looking like they were crazed and started attacking us without even waiting. If it wasn't for Kilkaja's psychic shield, we might be done for. The shield, however, was not strong enough to hold back the combatants. We also needed to get out of the way before the combatants overwhelmed Kilkaja's shield.

"What the hell is happening?" I asked.

"They're in berserker rage," said Sethis. "And this time, I think it's going to kill all of them."

"Fuck.... Wait, why aren't you...?"

He then showed me the collar he was wearing. It was a simple leather collar with a leash tether for dogs.

"I figured that the collar they gave us had a syringe on it," he said. "I know it's used to inject something to let us fight from the shows they did before, so while I was free from my shackles, I quickly replaced the collar with a harmless one before anyone noticed. This place is not that good in regard of security. I mean, most of the staff do not even know what spaceships are."

"And the mask?"

"They removed it before we fight," he said. "Good thing no one noticed that I wore a different collar. The holding cells are dark and it's easy to keep things hidden, especially with the body paint I was forced to put on."

Now that he mentioned it, Sethis's scales were colorful, but dull in color compared to mine. The green was still prominent, though. I guess that did help.

But we could keep the talk for later. Right now, we needed to escape this arena while fending off the berserkers rushing at us with no regard for their own safety or even life. I knew it was bad, but it was inevitable. Our mission was not to save them.

We were here to save Sethis, and now that we accomplished it, it's time to go home.