Topasa

The landing is as strenuous as Topasa imagined. Upon entrance into the lower layers of Cetus‘ atmosphere, the life-ship begins to tremble and groan. Judging by the sounds it’s a true miracle that it doesn’t fall apart. Yet, the sounds get worse as the ships brake parachutes spring out of their compartments. Thrown around as if by a giant Morphling, the life-ship makes contact with the ground while slowing down considerably. Metal bangs and screeches. A few compartments on the inside open and rain their content down.

By the Void! What if we fall into a lake or even the ocean?, Topasa wonders with her eyes shut tight. Toddy won’t survive this!

The life-ship hits a massive rock and flies back into the air before she can start to worry about the Insectoid. Accompanied by a loud fuck from Nethra, the ship hits another rock a few seconds later and overturns a few times before coming to a stand still.

Dazed Topasa needs a moment to catch her bearings. Unfortunately, the ship got overturned in such a way that they now dangle from their safety-harnesses.

„Is… is everyone alright?,“ she asks after a deep breath.

„I wouldn’t call this alright. Topasa,“ snarls Nethra exasperated.

„It could be worse.“

„How?!“

„We could be dangling off a cliff and fall a few hundred feet into a ravine.“

„You sure know how to induce confidence in others, now do you?“

Before Topasa can respond, the ship groans and starts to move very slow.

„Fuck! Get us out of here!“, screams Nethra und starts to swing around in her harness.

„Stop moving!“, Topasa shouts back, but it’s too late.

With a nerve-wreaking sound, the life-ship slips a few feet from wherever it landed. At the same time it tilts over and rights itself with a snap. In the process Topasa bangs her backwards curved horns at the wall. Scalding pain shots down into her head and nearly causes her to black out.

„Topasa!“

Nethra‘s worried shout brings her back into the present.

„I need a moment,“ she replies through clenched teeth and forces her eyes to focus again.

„You had plenty of moments! Get us out of here!“

„Quit whining and do something for a change!“

For a second Topasa expects Nethra to start an argument, but instead she undoes the belts of her harness and helps her out of hers.

„Happy now?,“ Nethra asks with a scowl on her face and her ears pulled backwards.

„Yeah, thank you,“ Topasa replies and moves over to Serfin, while Nethra moves to the Insectoid.

„Shit landing,“ he says monotonously.

„Well, I doubt no one of us misfits would’ve done a better job than the board-computer,“ she jokes.

Serfin huffs and doesn’t look at her. Feeling downtrodden, Topasa turns towards the main exit of the ship, to find Nethra pulling it open with force. With a dull sound and a few sparks it opens and reveals dry reddish rocks and sand of the same colour with a violet tinge as the moon seems to be high up in the sky.

„Where the hell are we?“, Nethra asks and looks out of the door.

„A desert,“ Topasa replies and looks at Serfin, who sits down and curls up on the ground.

„Duh…“, she sneers. „It sure isn’t an ocean.“

„It leaves just two options,“ she continues unimpressed while pulling Serfin again on his feet. „We’re either in the Elydian or Valonian Desert. Damn it! Could you help me for a moment?“

Rolling with her eyes and mumbling some curses, Nethra walks around Serfin and hooks her arm under his.

„On the count of three,“ Topasa says and does the same on his other side. „One… Two… Three!“

Moving Serfin is like moving a heavy bag full of rocks. He doesn‘t help whatsoever and just looks straight at the ground. In the end he proves too heavy to be lifted without aid. Nethra lets go of him immediately, which leaves Topasa to manage lowering him alone.

„You idiot!“, she hisses at Nethra. „You almost caused my shoulder to dislocate!“

„I say we leave him,“ she says ignoring her.

„Leave him?“

„He’s just dead weight.“

„I doubt he would leave you behind.“

„Oh, Topasa, so naive… He would leave everyone behind except Respin and, lets face it, that hornless freak’s most likely dead.“

Topasa pulls her ears back and shows her teeth in a hiss.

„Wanna fight?“, Nethra asks with a snarl.

„I would love to but at the moment we should get out of here,“ she replies and reaches again for Serfin. „I doubt our landing has gone unnoticed. I bet the Cetusian Fleet already knows and is on its way to get us!“

For a moment Nethra seems to be about to jump at her but after a few seconds she eases back into an annoyed but calmer position.

„I hate it when you’re right,“ she mumbles and finally helps Topasa to pull Serfin up on his feet.

For a moment Topasa is afraid he might collapse right back to the ground, but once upright he remains standing.

„Nethra, would you be so kind and take a look around?“, she asks and steps in front of Serfin, looking up into his absent half-lidded blue eyes.

Nethra rolls her eyes and leaves the ship. The Insectoid follows her but remains in front of the door, where Topasa can still see him.

„We need to go now, Fin,“ she addresses Serfin in a low whisper.

For a moment, he looks at her but she isn‘t sure if he really sees her.

„You know Respin wouldn’t want you to be like this, right?“

No reply.

„Will you go with me?“

A nod.

Well, at least something…, she thinks and swallows hard.

„I’ll get you help once we’re somewhere safe,“ she adds after a moment.

Holding Serfin’s hand and pulling him along, Topasa leaves the ship. After a short glance around and assessing the current time of day, she calls for Nethra.

No replies.

Suddenly Serfin tenses up and snarls. A moment later Topasa feels how someone locks all her muscles into place via a psychic ability. Before she can assess what’s happening, her vision turns black.

Laapis

The landing has been executed smooth and without incident. Just befitting for the Second Steward of the Leviathan. But Laapis has also to give Maurus some credit for being able to assist her in a landing like this since the ground beneath them is littered with massive rocks and narrow passes. Ships of the Jäger-class are always difficult to land on rough terrain.

Laapis leaves the Jäger before Maurus has turned off the engine. The howl of it echoes throughout the area and causes some minor debris like dust and pebbles to fall from the higher stone pillars.

After her companion has shut down the engine, Maurus follows Laapis out of the ship and stops right next to her. In his hands he holds a peeping and blinking device. The thing looks like two different gadgets got cobbled together and secured with duct tape. Laapis has seen enough such devices already to know what this is as well one of Maurus‘ many gimmicky inventions.

„What’s that?“, she asks as the functionality of this patchwork-job eludes her.

„A receiver for every kind of digital or analog signal and message with a build in decoder,“ he explains proudly and pulls a spindly looking antenna out of the small box. „As long as the coding isn’t too complex it can circumvent every kind of security measure.“

„And this will work?“, she wonders and looks over his shoulder.

„It as never let me down in the past,“ he replies smug, which makes her let out a small hiss.

Maurus ignore her for a moment and pushes and pulls at the various sliders and bottoms on the device. Suddenly, the small red-light starts to flicker until it turns yellow and a heartbeat later green.

„Got it!“, he exclaims exited. „It seems we landed pretty close to one of the life-ships. It should be behind the great rock ahead of us.“

Reluctant, she follows his gaze to said structure. The only thing she knows is that she wouldn‘t call it a rock but a massive boulder obscuring everything behind it. Feeling that something dangerous might be lurking there as well, she pulls her guns out of her Hyperspace-bracelets.

Maurus, being not without reasons the agent he is, does the same while switching off the peeping from his little gadget. Side by side they advance and peer around the boulder like they did play as young Morphlings. Remembering her Morphlinghood with him, Laapis can’t help but feel a slight pang of nostalgia. Back then everything had been a lot easier, but now she must concentrate. I’ve no time to dwell on the past, she reminds herself and moves on.

Just as Maurus has said, they find the life-ship behind the boulder but it isn‘t in a good shape. Judging by the damages as well as the trail it has left it seems to have slid a good distance over the desert ground until it graced the rock formations around them and stopped. The whole bottom as well as the left side are full of scratches while the only exit got so deformed that no one should be able to get out. With a few hand signs Laapis tells Maurus to walk around the left side of the ship while she does so from the other side. He nods and starts to move with his laser-gun held high.

As Laapis arrives at the rear end of the ship she half expects Maurus to be waiting for her but he isn‘t there. Frowning, she walks around the ship, thinking he maybe has found something of interest. Still, she holds her weapon ready in the case Maurus has been attacked. To her relief, which makes her stop for a moment and shake her head, she sees Maurus crouching next to the life-ship. He looks at its hull and seems deep in thought.

„What the fuck are you doing?“, she hisses in a whisper. „I thought someone might have knocked you out or killed you!“

„Have you ever seen something like this?“, he asks earnest, which is a rare thing in and of itself, and points to the covering of the life-ship.

Laapis turns her head and sees that there is, in fact, no covering anymore. Instead, there is a large hole in the hull as if acid has been poured on it and eaten away the metal coverings, which should be able to withstand such attacks. Expecting some sort of trap, Laapis holds her gun and looks around before moving closer to the ship.

„Holy fuck, this is unsettling,“ mutters Maurus as he covers her back. „Has it been molten down?“

„No. It’s more like a clean cut,“ she answers and squints her eyes at the damaged side. „But there are no marks of a weapon or any other tool. It’s almost as if this part of the covering has simply disappeared into nothingness.“

„How’s that possible?“, he asks.

„Do I look like I know?“, she snaps at him.

A second later the communication device on his belt cracks into life, although she has seen him switch it off. She turns around with the life-ship at her back and watches how he pushes the speak button.

„Who’s there?“, he asks a bit to nervous for her taste.

„You don’t need to speak into that. I can hear you perfectly fine,“ replies a cracked indistinguishable voice.

„Show yourself!“, Laapis demands and looks around with her weapon ready in her hands.

„No way, woman. I can dodge your fancy energy blasts with ease, but it wouldn’t do much good for you two. Someone’s heading your way and they're all but friendly. They even got a few people I’m very interested to keep alive, but I can’t interfere at the moment.“

„Who the fuck are you?!“, Laapis demands.

„Call me Umbra if you like,“ is the rather cryptic reply. „But this is beside the point… Either you’re going to trust me and enter your ship and fly away or you gonna be arrested by a Chief Executioner alongside his team as well as an Interviewer.“

„Why should we be killed?“, asks Marrus doubtful. „We’re high-ranking officers of the Interstellar Fleet!“

„You were,“ echoes the dry reply from the communication device in his hand. „About an hour ago someone has hacked the files regarding the Starblazer. Although your people weren’t able to find out who it was, they come across the data you two had on your computers. Data you’ve withheld from the Empress. All along the pictures of the poems written about you two and the others. Your names. Your involvement. Although the killing order has been suspended until the Interviewer has had her fun with you. I wouldn’t bet either on her or the Executioners good mood.“

„Where the fuck do you know all this?“, Maurus asks in shock.

„So many questions so little time…“, the voice replies almost singing. „But now it’s too late for you two. Stay put. I’ll try to get you out. Until then, bye.“

„What the hell was that?“ asks Laapis as soon as the communication device turns itself off again.

Maurus doesn‘t answer but looks past Laapis‘ shoulder with an almost horrified expression. Suddenly Laapis can feel the presence of strong psychics coming their way and concentrating on them. Slow she turns around, raises her hands after dropping her weapon back into her bracelet.

Before Laapis knows what is happening to her, she is pushed with unrelenting psychic force against the remains of the ship. Mere moments later her hands get tied together. A thud next to her is all she can perceive from Maurus' fate.

„Laapis Azura and Maurus Serdan,“ addresses them one of the Executioners behind her. „You’re hereby under arrest for conspiracy, treachery against the Empire and Her Highness Aldebaraun, our supreme Empress. You are to be taken to the Leviathan where you will await your trail under the watchful eyes of the Steward of the Cetusian Fleet.“

Turning her head, Laapis tries to look at Maurus to see how he fares. Suddenly, her head gets slammed against the ship, which makes her vision blur for a moment and her glasses to crack. As a very long and sharp pinky-claw is held against her throat her head becomes clear again.

„If you two fuckers try to pull anything stupid, I’m going to cut you up, slow and painful!“ the Executioner hisses into her ear.

Immediately Laapis tenses up and presses her teeth together. She doesn‘t doubt that he is serious. Nobody provokes an Executioner if they want to live. A moment later her head is free again and she and Maurus are hauled off by the Executioners subordinates. All they can do is to wait for their trail to start.

Yet as they are escorted to the large transporter the Executioners use, Laapis has the feeling that someone or something is following them. But looking around is out of the questions since this would result in her being killed on the spot.