CHAPTER 7
VESTIAN OUTPOST
THE REEF, ASTEROID BELT
THE REEF WARS
Kira had returned to her own quarters in the Vestian Outpost. Things were starting to quiet down, and finally Kira had the chance to rest. Her quarters were small, and not entirely furnished. The Vestian Outpost had only recently been set up on the inside of a captured Ketch from the Wolves.
She laid down on her bed, holding up a tablet in front of her to watch news of other battles that were happening around the Reef. There wasn't much she wanted to read, since a lot of it involved dead Awoken, but she didn't have much else to do.
After laying in her bed for about an hour she heard a very quiet knocking on the door. Kira rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking at the door until she heard the knocking again. She got up off her bed and stretched her arms before moving over to the door and opening it.
In front of the door was Sedra, who was just about to turn and leave, but stopped when she heard the door open. She looked up at Kira and gave her an awkward but friendly smile.
"Hey, Sedra!" Kira returned the smile, "what are you doing here?"
"I just… thought I'd drop by," Sedra said in her usual soft voice, "if that's alright."
"Of course, come in," Kira stepped back inside and held the door open, "it's a bit empty right now, but you're welcome to visit any time."
Sedra nodded and walked inside the room, taking a minute to look around. Across from the door was Kira's bed, and there wasn't much else aside from a dresser, and a locker for Kira's armour and weapons.
"Not as empty as mine," Sedra commented and looked for somewhere to sit.
"Okay then," Kira giggled and sat down on her bed by her pillow. She looked up at Sedra and saw her looking around, "you can sit on my bed if you want."
"Oh… uh… okay," Sedra sat down on Kira's bed and looked away from her.
Kira saw Sedra's cheeks turning purple while she tried to look away, and she quietly chuckled to herself. The look on Sedra's face finally told her that she liked her back, but she wanted to hear that from Sedra herself.
"Everything okay there?" Kira asked, tilting her head.
"Oh, yeah," Sedra slowly looked up. She always had trouble with eye contact, but she was getting better. She looked Kira in her eyes, blushing even more. "I… uh… n-nevermind," Sedra sighed and looked down again.
"Sedra," Kira lowered her voice, gently reaching over and placing a hand on Sedra's shoulder, "you can tell me anything. You know that."
Sedra took a deep breath and turned back to Kira, staring into her orange eyes while she built up confidence.
"I… I like you," Sedra finally said, plain and simple after the moment of silence.
In her head, Kira was celebrating, cheering, laughing, mentally setting off fireworks, but she didn't want to scare Sedra away. Kira simply smiled and reached down, gently grabbing Sedra's hands and holding them between the two.
"I like you too," Kira said with a warm smile, leaning in close to Sedra, "pretty sure I made it obvious."
"Yeah… it was pretty obvious," Sedra lowered her voice as Kira got closer, "I didn't have a doubt in my mind."
"Good," Kira said, also lowering her voice. She'd never had a girlfriend before, but she didn't want to do anything Sedra was uncomfortable with. "Does that mean I can kiss you now?"
"Yeah… please," Sedra nodded and smiled.
Kira giggled and closed the rest of the distance between their faces, placing a kiss on her new girlfriend's lips. Kira closed her eyes, taking in the moment of her first kiss, it felt far better than she had ever expected.
After the kiss, Kira pulled back to see Sedra genuinely smiling at her. She reached up to Sedra's cheek and gently caressed it with a hand while she stared into her beautiful blue eyes. Kira would do everything in her power to make sure Sedra was safe, until the war ended and things settled down in the Reef.
"You want to stay the night?" Kira asked, figuring Sedra didn't want to be alone.
"Sure…" Sedra blushed again, "if you don't mind sleeping together."
"Of course," Kira smiled. She wrapped her arms around Sedra and pulled her down onto the bed next to her. "There's no one else I'd rather cuddle with."
The bed was pretty small, but it could just barely fit the both of them on it when they laid next to each other.
Sedra giggled, and pulled herself closer to Kira. She closed her eyes and buried her head in Kira's neck. Kira looked down at her and ran a hand through her hair, this was the first time she'd seen her genuinely happy.
SPIDER'S WAREHOUSE
TANGLED SHORE, THE REEF
PRESENT
Yolskaa walked down a catwalk near the roof of the warehouse. He had been appointed by Spider as the overseer of the warehouse, making sure no shipments of weapons or glimmer had been tampered with. He called all of his workers to him after receiving word from Spider that there was a traitor in his midst.
His six workers lined up in front of him. Jekris, Sevik, Sekrevak, Idris, Valisk, and Yiskral. All people he had been working with for months. People he had grown ever so slightly attached to. But Spider's orders were orders, and orders were meant to be followed.
"I have brought you all here on Spider's orders," Yolskaa sighed, "one of you is receiving a promotion! Yiskral, step forward."
"Me?" Yiskral asked. He slowly stepped forward and nervously rubbed his upper hands together.
"Yes you. Spider has taken notice of your work," Yolskaa turned around and closed his eyes for a few seconds.
Yiskral watched Yolskaa. He wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but he figured that Spider had found out about his association with Ketstar. But there was nowhere to run. Nothing to do. If he attacked Yolskaa the others would kill him, if he ran he wouldn't get very far before Yolskaa killed him. So he closed his eyes and accepted his fate.
Yolskaa pulled his shock pistol out of its holster and whipped around, shooting Yiskral through the head at an insane speed. Yiskral's head exploded and showered the room with ether, and then his lifeless body fell onto the floor. The other workers jumped and backed away from Yolskaa, raising their hands.
Yolskaa quietly sighed to himself. The people who worked in the warehouse weren't fighters, he doubted any of them had even held a gun in their lives, but there wasn't any choice. They would have to defend themselves, and they only had so long to get ready for Ketstar's attack.
"He was a traitor," Yolskaa looked up at the other workers and holstered the pistol, "grab any weapon you know how to use. We're about to get attacked."
SPIDER'S PALACE
TANGLED SHORE, THE REEF
Veskras, Kevak, and Seja had gathered in a small and dark room far away from the main areas of Spider's palace. They stood around a table with a holographic map of the valley and the warehouse that Ketstar had planned on attacking.
"Yiskral has been dealt with, that leaves preparing for the attack," Veskras said as he circled around the table, "we will quietly reinforce our warehouse. Let them attack while they don't know the true strength of our forces."
"And so we can bring harm to Ketstar while he doesn't to us," Kevak nodded. He pointed down at the map, "Ketstar has a camp north of Grestiks valley, if his men come from anywhere it will most likely be from there."
"Agreed," Veskras looked up and turned to Seja, who was just silently listening, "Seja. Spider wants you at the front of the defence."
Seja looked up. As always she was nervous, but she tried her best to be confident. Every time she was nervous previously she eventually got over it after the end of whatever she was doing. She slowly nodded.
"Spider trusts you," Kevak turned to her, "we trust you too. Do not worry so much."
Veskras closed his eyes and nodded. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he had come to trust her as well. But he only trusted her to do what she was told.
"We're giving you new weapons as well," Veskras said after opening his eyes once more, "wire rifle for long range, shock rifle for medium range, and a shock pistol for close range."
Seja slowly nodded and looked down at her holster. She still had her pistol on her, her pistol which she had grown quite attached to.
"Actually… Can you hold off on the shock pistol?" She looked up at Veskras.
"I could," Veskras tilted his head.
"I, uh, already have a pistol," Seja turned so Veskras could see her holstered pistol.
Veskras and Kevak looked at each other, and both nodded before turning back to Seja. Veskras figured it was better if Seja kept her own pistol, so he could give the shock pistol to someone else.
"We'll see if we can get our hands on more ammo for it," Kevak said, "if not, you're welcome to any of my guns."
"Thank you," Seja smiled at Kevak.
Veskras looked at the two for a few seconds before speaking again, "if that's everything, I have to go coordinate our defences. You two will have some time before you're needed."
Kevak and Seja nodded to Veskras, and he left the room. Seja awkwardly rubbed her hands together and turned back to Kevak.
"So, we have some time. You up for learning some Eliksni?" Kevak asked with a smile.
"Sure," Seja nodded, returning the smile. She walked over to the door and waited for Kevak.
Kevak walked over to the door and stood next to Seja. He looked down at her and slowly extended a hand out. Seja looked at his hand for a few seconds and slowly grabbed it. Her cheeks turned slightly purple and she looked away from Kevak.
Kevak chuckled internally as he watched Seja. Whatever he felt towards her, he knew she definitely felt the same way. The two of them left the room and Kevak brought Seja back to her quarters.
"She can be trusted to do what she is told," Veskras said as he stood before the Spider's throne, "but I believe she will have further trouble hiding her Light."
"That's a problem," Spider sighed, tilting his head and holding it up with a hand.
"A problem that will be fixed in time," Veskras sighed as well, and looked down, "we have another issue."
Spider let out a low growl. He didn't like that look Veskras gave, or the tone of his voice. It usually meant something very bad. "Well? Get on with it."
"Ketstar's captain saw her face," Veskras looked back up, "and they let him live."
"They what?" Spider sat up and leaned forward, "what the hell were they thinking when they did that?"
"Seja is soft. And for some reason Kevak goes with whatever she wants. They shot him and left him to either bleed out, or be found and have his wounds treated."
"He better bleed out," Spider growled. He wouldn't be this upset if the captain hadn't seen her face, but he didn't want Seja's identity to get out. He shook his head and leaned back again, "how fast can you get back to Grestiks valley?"
"I would say ten minutes at the most," Veskras responded and stepped back, ready to rush to his skiff.
"Find that captain and put him down. Seja's identity needs to stay a secret to everyone outside this palace. Get it done quick."
Veskras nodded and rushed out of the room. Spider watched him go and sighed. From what he was told about Seja's resurrection, he knew the Awoken would want her back if they ever found her. And even if a single person got word out about her, the Awoken would definitely find out.
GRESTIKS VALLEY
TANGLED SHORE, THE REEF
Veskras returned to the same place he had dropped Seja and Kevak off at and hopped out of his skiff. He slowly slid his shock pistol out of its holster and walked through the valley. The Shore was much darker than usual, debris from a massive ship had slowly passed in front of the sun, casting an incredibly large shadow. But fortunately for Veskras, Eliksni could see in the dark.
He followed the same path he watched Kevak and Seja take, and raised his pistol when he neared the place they had told him they fought the captain. But the captain wasn't there. There wasn't anything there. Veskras silently swore to himself and touched the side of his helmet, tapping a button that was there.
A trail appeared in Veskras's view, it was a trail of ether that had leaked out of the captain's body while it was wounded. He crouched and took a closer look at the ground, seeing unusual patterns in the dust and rocks that coated the ground. The captain hadn't gotten up and walked away, a ship hadn't shown up to take him, the captain had been dragged away.
Veskras grunted and stood back up, following the trail of ether in front of him all the way to the entrance of a cave in the side of the valley. The entrance was large, and didn't seem like a natural formation. Veskras closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he wasn't usually one to get nervous. After some hesitation he entered the cave and looked around. Piles of crates lined the walls of the entrance, all marked with the symbol of Ketstar's syndicate. Great… Veskras thought to himself.
A dreg leaped out from behind one of the stacks of crates as Veskras passed it, and it grabbed onto Veskras, screeching violent slurs in Eliksni. It dug its claws into Veskras's shoulders and reached behind its back. Veskras shouted and kicked the dreg in its stomach before it could draw a weapon. He pushed it onto the ground and stomped his foot onto its head, crushing it in one stomp.
He turned back towards where the tunnel led and saw three more dregs coming towards him. Luckily he had held onto his shock pistol, and he gunned down one of them before it tried to lunge towards him. The other two were able to get closer, and Veskras shot another in the head with his pistol. The third drew a shock dagger and jammed it into Veskras's side. Veskras yelped and kicked the dreg onto the ground before pulling the dagger out and stabbing the dreg in the neck with it.
Veskras took a few deep breaths and looked down at the dead dregs. As he expected, their colours matched those of Ketstar's men. He snarled and grabbed his shock rifle off his back before travelling further into the cave. Struts on the sides of the cave held it up further in, and some lights were attached to the walls for the Eliksni that lived here to see easier.
As he moved further in he stopped at a door in the side of the rocky cave wall. There was a small window at the top of the door and he looked through it. On the other side of the door was a small room with a wounded captain laying on a table, the same captain Seja and Kevak had interrogated. Veskras looked down at a scanner on one of his wrists, it showed that the captain was the only person left in the area around him.
Veskras took a few steps back and drew a shock sword. He jammed into the door, slowly cutting it loose and opening it. He could faintly see the captain panicking through the window at the sound of the door being cut open. The sound of screeching metal wasn't exactly a pleasant one. With the door unlocked, Veskras kicked it open and walked into the room. He raised the sword and pressed the blade against the captain's neck.
"What did you tell them!?" Veskras shouted.
"T-tell who?" the captain shouted back. Whereas Veskras sounded angry, the captain sounded frightened.
"You know who," Veskras leaned in closer to the captain, "what did you tell Ketstar about the Awoken?"
"What Awoken!?" the captain choked, as he felt the shock blade cutting into his neck.
"The one that attacked you in the valley."
The captain looked up and closed his eyes. In truth, he didn't think much of the Awoken, he didn't have much to tell Ketstar other than that he was attacked. And he hadn't even reported to Ketstar yet.
"I didn't tell him anything," the captain groaned, "I haven't talked to him yet."
Veskras sighed. He could see the look in the captain's face. Unless the captain was very good at manipulating his emotions, he seemed to not know anything. But because Veskras had come here asking about the Awoken, the captain now knew too much. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Can you… let me go now?" the captain stared up at Veskras.
"I'm sorry," Veskras whispered before thrusting the blade into the captain's neck. As he pulled the blade back, ether sprayed out of the hole in the captain's neck. He sheathed his blade and began walking out before he heard the sound of a skiff's warp engines.
Veskras grabbed his shock rifle and rushed into cover behind a crate. He could see through the cave entrance that a skiff had dropped off a group of more of Ketstar's men. A captain, three vandals, two dregs, and two marauders. Veskras silently cursed under his breath. The marauders and the captain would be a problem, but he would be able to deal with the others.
Veskras rounded the corner of the crates and fired his shock rifle from deep in the cave, and the shock rounds travelled quickly towards the Eliksni that were attempting to enter. The rounds slammed into a dreg, and it fell onto the ground. The second dreg fired into the cave with its shock pistol, and the rounds just barely grazed Veskras's side as he moved in between the piles of crates.
He hurled a shock grenade forward and it landed in the middle of the group. All of the Eliksni spread out, with the two marauders cloaking and running into the cave, causing the grenade's explosion to be useless. He raised his shock rifle over the crate he was behind and started blindly firing, not worrying about missing his targets as the shock rounds from the rifle would track them. He heard the second dreg screech and chuckled, only to be interrupted by a shock grenade being stuck into the ground in front of him.
Veskras dove to the side and bumped into one of the cloaked marauders, which tried to grab him. Veskras backed up and shot the marauder in the chest, causing its cloaking field to quickly deactivate. He tossed the rifle aside and grabbed the marauder's shoulders, he then threw it on top of the grenade just as it exploded, taking the marauder with it. He bent over to pick up his rifle just as the second marauder attempted to stab him. Though the marauder didn't hit Veskras himself, the blade cut through a number of the spikes on his back.
Veskras looked up, he could just barely see the marauder distorting his view in front of him. As the spikes fell onto the ground he grabbed the marauder's arm and twisted it, and then dragged it onto the ground. The marauder screeched, its cloak fading away. Veskras drew a shock dagger, but just before he could bring it down onto the marauder, he was shot through the hand with a shot from a wire rifle. Veskras yelped and dropped the dagger, he crouched on the ground and grabbed a shock pistol with another hand. He raised the pistol and shot the marauder through the head before it could get up. That just left the three vandals and the captain. Veskras closed his eyes and reloaded the shock pistol with a lower hand.
The captain moved into the cave, marching straight towards the crate Veskras was hidden behind, and the three vandals spread out, moving to hit him from multiple sides at once. Veskras saw one vandal out of the corner of his eye and he turned to it. He shot it in the chest five times with his shock pistol, taking it down before it could get any shots out. The other two vandals attacked from behind, blasing him in the back with their shock rifles. Veskras's back wasn't as protected as normal due to the marauder, and he grunted as he felt the rounds burn into him.
Veskras was used to getting shot at, and he had the advantage of stronger armour, so the vandals wouldn't be able to kill him so easily. He fell forward, but turned around as he did so. He fired the last few rounds out of his shock pistol and into one of the vandals, causing it to fall forward onto the ground. He hurled the shock pistol forward at the other vandal, knocking it off balance. And then the captain showed up. The captain leaped over the crate and charged towards Veskras wielding two shock swords.
Veskras drew his own shock sword and blocked a swing from the captain. While their swords were locked, Veskras reached for the sword from the marauder that he had just killed, and stabbed it through the captain's abdomen before it realised what was going on. The captain's eyes darkened and it fell. Veskras let go of both of the swords and rolled to his side, narrowly avoiding the captain as it fell. He hopped onto his feet and lunged towards the vandal that was still standing. The vandal fired its shock rifle into Veskras's chest, and he simply shrugged off the pain. He grabbed onto the vandal's rifle and violently headbutted it, causing it to stumble. He swiped the rifle out of the vandal's hands, dragging it onto the ground.
Veskras sighed and looked around him at the dead and wounded Eliksni. He checked the shock rifle to make sure it was loaded and charged, and pressed the barrel against the staggered vandal's head. He squeezed the trigger, causing the vandal's head to explode, and then he executed the other vandal that was wounded on the ground. Veskras grunted and tossed the rifle aside with the last of Ketstar's men dead.
He then began limping out of the cave, and contacted Spider.
"It's done," Veskras rasped, "the captain is dead. He didn't get… word out to Ketstar."
"You don't sound so good," Spider chuckled in response to Veskras, "I'll send Kevak you get you out of there."
"No… it's fine," Veskras sighed as he made it out into the open. The massive piece of debris that was blocking the sun had floated on, "I'll make my own way back."